On Saturdays We Play with Makeup

I know, I know… It has been a while since I actually posted something. I’ve been so busy with work and trying to create videos for my YouTube channel that I always forget to actually write. For today’s post, I will be sharing a new look I created using – mostly – new makeup.

Just as a little side note, I apply my makeup in somewhat of a weird order. Check out the look and steps below.

Step 1: Spray Urban Decay’s B6 Complexion Spray all over your face. This will help absorb any oils you may have on your face prior to primer and foundation application and will help get rid of any redness you may have.

Step 2: Gently rub Too Faced Hangover Rx Primer on your face. When using a water-based foundation, this is a great primer to use since there is no oil and helps hydrate your skin. For me, since the weather here in the Bay Area is still really cold, it helps with my dry skin.

Step 3: Apply five to six drops of Tarte Cosmetic’s Rainforest of the Sea foundation on a damp beauty blender and stipple on your face. This foundation is medium to full coverage and can easily be built up. I am in the color light sand. If you have use Too Faced’s Born This Way foundation, you’ll like this one. I am actually liking it a little bit better, but we’ll see how the day progresses.

Step 4: Once you have blended out your foundation to the coverage you’d like, apply the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea concealer and blend with your beauty blender. I am in the color light medium and usually apply concealer in a triangle under my eye, on my forehead, bridge of my nose, my laugh lines and on my chin.

Step 5: Set your foundation and concealer with a transluscent powder. I use the Bye-Bye Pores powder from it Cosmetics. I always apply a little more under my eye since the next step for me is my eyeshadow and the powder will help catch any fallout from the shadows and can then be wiped away easily.

Step 6: I fill in the gaps in my eye brows using Benefit Cosmetics Ka-Brow! in 4, as well as the Goof Proof Brow Pencil in 4.

Step 7: Next, take the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer and apply on lid up to brow bone. I then take a concealer brush and smooth it out.

Step 8: Now for the eyeshadow. For this look I use Colourpop’s new pressed powder shadows.

  1. Using an all-over eyeshadow brush, apply the color Firefly on your lid and up to the brow bone. This neutral color will help with blending other shadows.
  2. Using a fluffy blender brush, apply the color Made to Last generously in your crease and outer-V of your eye. Be sure to tap off excess color as these are powdery shadows, but have great color payout.
  3. Next, using a firmer blending brush, apply the color Going Steady in your crease and outer-V. Stay close to the crease line. This color will give a great purple effect, while still looking neutral. If you see that you applied too  much color, go back with that first blender brush with the color Made to Last and soften the color a bit.
  4. Using an all-over eyeshadow brush, apply the color Time Out on your lid. This is a beautiful peachy-nude color and would even look great by itself with Firefly in the crease. To bring the look together (with the purple theme), add a tiny bit of the color Pinky Promise on top of Time Out.
  5. Using that firmer blender brush, apply the Going Steady in your outer-V again. Guaranteed you covered a bit of that up when applying the lid colors. Then go in with your fluffy blender brush and Made to Last and apply to the crease to combine the colors.
  6. Taking a clean, fluffy blender brush, blend your crease colors to get rid of any harsh lines.
  7. On your lash line, apply Going Steady close to the roots of your bottom lashes and then Firefly over it. On your brow bone and inner corners, apply the color Pep Talk.

Step 9: Take the Too Faced Sketch Marker Liquid Liner in black and apply a thin line on your lid. Next, apply the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara on your lashes, starting with your bottom lashes first. This will help prevent any mascara ending up on your lid. If you get mascara under your eye or on your nose, wait until it dries and brush it off with a clean eyeshadow brush or Q-Tip.

Step 10: Apply your contour. I use the Cocoa Contour palette from Too Faced and apply in the hollows of my cheeks and on my jaw line. If the color applies too dark, take your beauty blender that still has your foundation and concealer on it and stipple it over your contour. This will lighten the color.

Step 11: Time to get that sun-kissed looking skin! Apply your bronzer.

Step 12: Apply a pinky-nude blush color to the apples of your cheeks. On your cheekbones, nose and Cupid’s bow apply your favorite highligher. I use the Too Faced Candlelight Glow in Warm Glow.

Step 13: Line your lips with a nude lip liner. I used Colourpop’s Skimpy pencil. Then I applied Too Faced Melted Matte Liquid Lipstick in Child Star.

Step 14: Time to set it all! Spray your favorite makeup setting spray and voila! Your look is now complete.

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I know this may seem like a lot of steps, but the result will yield a great day-to-night look, perfect for any time of year.

If you like this look, leave a comment below!

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Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation

So, while I won’t be posting a video on YouTube this week as we are gearing up for guests to stay with us and  a housewarming party, I did want to write a blog post or two. This one is about the new All Nighter Liquid Foundation from Urban Decay. Now, I am an avid Urban Decay lover. I use their eyeshadow primer potion, setting spray, B6 spray, have many of their palettes… When I saw that they launched this completely matte foundation, I knew I had to give it a try. I purchased it last Saturday and have worn it the last three days.

Unfortunately, this is one of the worst foundations I have ever purchased. I have tried with with different hydrating and moisturizing or tacky primers, but this foundation leaves my skin cakey, flakey and makes me look 30 years older than I really am.

When I first apply it, it goes on smooth – and when they say a little goes a long way, it really does. I applied a pump and a half on my damp beauty blender and dotted it all over my faced and then proceeded to tap it into my skin. It goes on flawless. Adding the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer in the shade Light Warm (one of my new faves) ties the whole look together.

After setting my face (just a little since it’s a full coverage concealer) my face looked really amazing. Flawless, even. Fast forward five hours later and the foundation has started to come off around my nose and chin (my oiliest points of the face) and has cracked and looks cakey. My not-deep laugh lines look deep (I’m talking, I need botox deep) and it just doesn’t look good.

Here’s a right after application photo (from Sunday) and a five hours later photo (from just now):

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As you can see from the first photo, it looks really pretty when it first goes on. The second photo is only after five hours of wear! That’s ridiculous. My chin looks all cakey and my laugh lines look so deep. Mind you, this is after blotting the oil away from my face.

Looks like I’ll be sticking with the Born This Way foundation from Too Faced for a while.

Have you tried the Urban Decay All Nighter foundation? Do you like it? If you have any advice on how to avoid the cakeyness, please leave me a comment below.

First Impressions: Andalou Naturals Coconut Water Firming Toner

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It’s been a whirlwind the last few weeks. We finally moved into our new house, but my office is still getting set up, so in the meantime I’ve been unpacking boxes and getting other things organized, but I wanted to do a first impressions on a product I received at my full-time job yesterday.

So if you recall from a previous post, I work for Marin Magazine based in Sausalito, CA (10-minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge) and in the July issue we featured a local beauty company called Andalou Naturals in our Made By Marin section. Andalou Naturals is a 100% Non-GMO verified beauty brand, using fruit stem-cell science in their products. Another great note is that they are certified organic, fair trade, gluten free, cruelty free, and certified vegetarian and vegan.

One of the founders and CEO’s dropped off a box of goodies to the office yesterday and what first caught my eye was Andalou Naturals’ Coconut Water Firming Toner. I love anything that has coconut or rose water in it, so I knew I had to try it. My coworker tried it the last time Andalou sent us a package and she says she loves it, so I had to try it.

First off, the packaging is super cute. It’s simple, clean and since it’s a quenching product, the coconut water is in a blue bottle (my favorite color!). After removing my makeup and cleansing my face, I followed the directions and shook the bottle well and sprayed all over my face and neck. My face had an even complexion and felt hydrated just minutes after use. I used it this morning prior to using my moisturizing primer before applying my makeup. I definitely will keep using after cleansing my face each morning and night. I cannot say enough great things about this product.

I have also used Andalou Naturals’ shea butter hand cream in clementine and it’s amazing. It hydrates my skin without feeling greasy and smells amazing.

Andalou Naturals is available in more than 22 countries and carried by Target, Whole Foods, Ulta, Pharmaca and others – and online.

Have you seen or tried Andalou Naturals products before? I’d love to know. Leave me a comment.

Grav3yardgirl x Tarte Swamp Queen Palette First Impressions

If you’re an avid YouTube beauty vlogger follower like me, guaranteed you’ve stumbled across Grav3yardgirl’s channel. The quirkiness of Bunny is so appealing and her looks are super unique. So when other people like Jeffree Star and MannyMUA were reviewing her new palette (a collab with Tarte Cosmetics), I knew I had to buy it. I mainly purchase my makeup goods from Ulta, so the moment they told me it was available online, I added it to my cart and bought the palette. Unfortunately, the liquid lipsticks that came with the palette were sold separately and sold out when I last looked (I may have to go to my nearest Ulta location to purchase).

In Grav3yardgirl’s palette you’ll find a brush, a bronzer color, a highlight and a blush. You’ll also find nine eyeshadow colors including some matte, some shimmer and some glitter. The names are super cute. When I swatched after I got the palette (and then stupidly deleted the photo of the swatches), the colors are super pigmented. This palette helps you accomplish a full-face glam or natural look. I can’t wait to experiment more with these colors. Take a look at the palette below. I’m in love with the packaging and the sturdiness of it, too.

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Here are the color names and the type of shade from the Tarte website:

  • #SFS (rose gold)
  • natural peaches (peachy nude)
  • dogman (burnt sienna)
  • big baby (cream)
  • sassy bun (copper peach)
  • sippy sippy (glittery brown)
  • haunting (lavender)
  • uncommon (purple slate)
  • mancat (deep plum)
  • sweet tea (bronzer)
  • gator wings (highlighter)
  • does this thing really work? (blush)

Have you used this palette or created looks with it? Let me know in the comments.

Urban Decay Vice Lipstick First Impression

While making a purchase on Ulta.com, I needed an add-on item to get free shipping. That day, Urban Decay had just launched their Vice lipsticks (100 different shades in 6 different finishes), so I decided to pick a color and lip liner and add it to my bag to get that free shipping.

What a good decision that was! I’m in love with the color I got, as well as the finish. I am obsessed with matte finishes right now, so when I saw that the Vice lipsticks come in a comfort matte, I had to try it. The shade I purchased was Backtalk (a mauve-nude pink) in a comfort matte finish. The comfort matte finish feels like a regular, creamy lipstick, but looks 90% matte after it dries. I am really digging it. I will probably purchase a few other colors. Look at that packaging! Loving it. The Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on lip pencil in Rush (pictured) is super pigmented, so keep that in mind. Ulta’s site has a perfect couples section that matches a shade of the Vice lipstick to a lip liner, so give that a whirl if you’re interested.

Have you tried Urban Decay’s new Vice lipstick? Let me know in the comments.

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YouTube channel coming soon! Stay tuned for how I get this look. 

Born This Way Concealer & Lip Injection Glossy Review

Finally! My Too Faced Born This Way concealer came in on Monday (I teased a photo on my Instagram). When Too Faced teased this concealer weeks ago, I was so excited. I swear by the Born This Way foundation and I had high expectations for this concealer. Let’s just say I wasn’t disappointed. I purchased the concealer in Light Medium, which is one shade lighter than my foundation (in warm nude), giving my face a highlight.

The concealer smells amazing due to the coconut water ingredient. The applicator is perfect for big areas (like under your eyes) or smaller areas, like near your nostrils or your laugh lines. You don’t need to blend this concealer right away (which I do anyway) in order for it to look great on your skin. I find it super hydrating. I have not been disappointed with this concealer. It provides a flawless look all day, which is great for me.

I also purchased the Lip Injection Glossy in the color Angel Kisses (a super sheer light pink color). I haven’t used a lip plumper lipgloss in quite a while, so I totally forgot about the subtle burning sensation it has in order to plump your lips. I applied  the lipgloss before leaving the house for work at around 8 a.m. and the burning sensation didn’t really subside until about 8:45 a.m., but it wasn’t super intense either. I’d say that’s the only thing I don’t really like about the lipgloss. The color is pretty and the gloss lasts. I didn’t put a lip primer on, so surely it’ll last longer with that (mine lasted a little past lunchtime). I’d probably layer it with another pink lipstick.

All in all, it was a good purchase. I will keep using both products. Have you tried either of these yet? Let me know in the comments.

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