Festive gold and green look

Here's a festive look I wore a few days ago, a subtle gold and green look with colored liners. Perfect for a day of Christmas shopping to get you in the mood :)









What I used:

MAC Fluidline in Brassy on upper lashline
Gosh Velvet Touch pencil liner in Green Grass on outer lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liner in Yeyo on inner 1/2 of lower lashline
Blinc Kiss Me mascara on lashes

Korres Mango Lipstick in 14 Pink

MAC MSF in Stereo Rose
MAC Emote to contour
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Porcelain
Cle de Peau concealer stick
Eve Pearl Salmon concealer

Spring blues

I promised a while ago to do some looks using the new Annabelle trios - first up is the Blue Hue trio:





Used:

• Gosh Waterproof Eyeshadow Stick in Love that Beige! as a base
  
• Annabelle eyeshadow trio in Blue Hue
• MAC Kohl Power in Feline (thanks Sugabum!)
• Annabelle Glitterama liner in Blue Comet (blue glitter over the pencil liner)
• Marcelle Volume Precision mascara

The blues in the Annabelle trio were gorgeous, but I found that the yellow undertones in my skin would eat them up giving it a more faded turquoise look on my skin.

So I used the Gosh shadow stick as a base / canvas and it made the blues really pop! Any champagne to beige toned base will do. The Gosh stick is a pretty good dupe for the MAC shadesticks though.

midnight aqua

Finally took pictures of a look using the Barry M pigments I got from Liz. I also use the Gosh liners mentioned in my previous post here.







My nose is a bit red because I had allergies that day...

What I used



Face
Everyday Minerals Winged Butter Intensive foundation
Everyday Minerals Multitasking concealer
MAC Emote to contour
Everyday Minerals Soft Touch blush

Eyes
Smashbox Photofinish Lid Primer
Barry M Dazzle Dust in Aqua Gold all over lid
MAC Aquavert on inner 1/2 lid
Barry M Dazzle Dust in Midnight on outer corner of lid
Gosh Velvet Touch liner in Metallic Brass (not pictured) to line top lashline
Gosh Velvet Touch liner in Green Grass on lower lashline (not waterline though)
Guerlain le 2 mascara in Bleu Cerise

Lips
Dior Addict Ultra-reflect gloss in 347 Raffia Orange
(ignore the MAC gloss in the picture, I ended up not using it)

a touch of velvet

Move over Urban Decay and MUFE, these liners are my new obsession!

Gosh Velvet Touch Eyeliners:



The product blurb:

"GOSH VELVET TOUCH EYELINER belongs to a new generation of semi-permanent make-up. It does not smudge. It is 100% waterproof, long lasting, and resists almost anything. It has excellent coverage and a smooth, soft quality. GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner is soft and easy to apply. It contains vitamin-E and Jojoba Oil to care for your delicate skin, however it does not contain animal or mineral oils. It is also fragrance-free to prevent allergic reactions."

Closeup and swatches:



Green Grass is well, a green that reminds me of lush summer lawns, while Metallic Brass is a black-brown with very subtle gold shimmer.



These go on effortlessly and smoothly, similar to Urban Decay's 24/7 and Make Up For Ever's Aqua Eyes. However the difference is these last longer on my lashline compared with the above. UD liners were way too soft and smudged easily, while MUFE, though better would still smudge occasionally. These Gosh liners hardly smudge at all, maybe only if it was an extremely humid day and without any eye primer.

I don't use these on the waterline though, as I am not sure if they are safe. The website does warn that they are not designed for waterline use so do take note of that.

Price-wise they are a few dollars cheaper than MAC, UD, and MUFE, I can't remember the exact price though. I think they are somewhere around CDN$14. I picked these up when Shoppers Drug Mart had a 40% off sale, so they were definitely worth it!

They come in all sorts of colours too, comparable to the MUFE and UD selections.

Overall, definitely a must have if you have access to the brand! Gosh is available at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada, and probably most of Europe. I don't think it is sold in US stores, but the website looks like it does have online shopping available.

Price: 8/10 Cheaper than MAC and goes on sale way more often!
Performance: 8/10
Packaging: 10/10 No complaints
Repurchase?: Definitely.

Do checkout another review of this product from Rae!

Moto Jewelry + Chyi's contest surprise

I bought Izumi's chunky heart bracelet a while back during her Memorial weekend sale. Little did I know she was going to include lots of yummy goodies, plus a cute note :)



A look at the bracelet - blue + white beads + pink crystal rounds + heart shaped dangle. I love chunky bracelets, and particularly liked the hoop in the middle because its quite unique.





I adore the dangly heart, and of course it has to be blue!



Thank you Izumi for everything! I'm looking forward to seeing more creations from you :)


Also, I received a package from Chyi, who was sweet enough to award me with one of her prizes from her Spring contest :)



She included a sweet note on the back of the Denmark postcard and some chocolate as well :)


Closeup of the Daim chocolate bar - I haven't had one of these in ages so it was the first to go!


Gosh eyeshadow in Aqua



Gosh Lets Twist waterproof eyeliner in Grey Mink




Swatches of the eyeliner and shadow:




Two Labello lip balms (just in time, I literally just finished my last one) and Gosh nail colour in Purple Passion




Thank you Chyi! Will do a look with these products soon :D


P.S. Some people were asking me about my skin in the previous post, and to be absolutely honest its because of the H&M changeroom lighting, haha :D Seriously though, just go in there and take a look because those lights really make your skin look better than usual :P My skin lately has been quite red and sensitive, but even today when I went to H&M (yes again lol) it looked *much* better under their lights. LOL :D

Gosh 40% off + a recent shimmery look

First, thank you for all the recommendations so far! One thing though, please note I do prefer more specific recommendations so those may have a better chance of winning a surprise :) Note that for fairness's sake I won't be publishing any entries until after the deadline.

Anyway, thanks to Rasilla, I found out that there is a 40% off Gosh sale at Shoppers Drug Mart today, and tomorrow (May 7 to 8). I think this is the first time I've seen them discounted so much so hurry! If you manage to get to a location by midnight tonight, they are having their Spend $50 and get a $10 store credit until the end of today.

If you can't make it until after May 8 they are still discounted 20% for the rest of the week. I believe this sale is on most of their products, but check with the cashier before you pay. The flyer says the discount is on "selected products", but even the store associates couldn't tell me which were the specific products. Today I bought the Velvet Touch liners and the Multicoloured blush, and those did turn out to be 40% off. Check out the lovely Rae's review of the Velvet Touch eyeliner here. I had to get some to try, since she said it stayed on better than MUFE for her.

***

Here is a closer look at a palette I acquired recently, thanks to Yumeko :)




The colours are shimmery to the point that they look almost wet.




I used it last weekend when I went to H&M:






Products used:

Cargo blu-ray concealer
Dior Hydraction tinted moisturizer
Cargo blu-ray powder
MAC Lovejoy blush

Yumeko's palette
Lorac Visual Effects mascara

NYC Rose Gold lipstick
Dior Ultra-reflect gloss in Raffia Orange


Me in the H&M changeroom with one of their Fashion against Aids tees:

Another Spring FOTD + MAC Blossoming

Somehow I'm stranded without my computer today, so instead of posting what I had originally planned, I'll post about some stuff that has pics already uploaded on Photobucket :)

So....Shoppers Drug Mart had a sale on Gosh products a few weeks ago, so I picked up a few things as I had never tried them before but heard good things. 

I got two of their eyeshadow sticks in Love that Beige and Love that Cool Mint, a limited edition quad in Toucan , and the lipstick in Darling.

The eyeshadow sticks are quite good, they go on similarly to MAC's shadesticks and the colours are good dupes. Love that Beige is quite similar to Lemon Chiffon from Sugarsweet, while Love that Cool Mint would make a great base for Aquavert as they are very similar greens.

The lipstick in Darling has a smooth texture similar to MAC lustre formula which I like. The reason I got this shade was because it seems to be quite popular on Makeupalley as a nude, however I am not so sure it works for me. The formula goes on really well but the colour seems to clash with my skintone.

Swatches of Love that Beige and Love that Cool Mint on the left, and Darling lipstick on the right:

The eyeshadow quad I got is a limited edition for Spring '09, the colours are vibrant but tend to be on the matte / satin side:

Swatches of the Toucan quad (no base used):

Spring is almost over, but I did a Spring inspired FOTD again because I wanted to try out the MAC blushcreme I got a while back, and also to try the GOSH palette :) 

What I used:

Skinfood Aloe Sun BB cream

Cargo blu-ray concealer

MAC Blushcreme in Blossoming

Gosh waterproof eyeshadow stick in Love that Beige

Gosh quad in Toucan (yellow and green colours)

L'oreal HIP liner in brown

Too Faced Lash Injection Pinpoint mascara

Majolica Majorca Honey Pump gloss in OR122

I found that Love that Beige really brings out the colours of eyeshadows when it is used as a base. The colours may not have looked all that bright in these pics but believe me in real life they were quite vibrant!

Regarding the MAC blushcreme, I was not a fan of it. The colour of Blossoming is a natural looking coral-peach, however I couldn't get myself to like it because of the texture. It is a very creamy blush so it was hard for me to blend compared with the gel / mousse blushes that I am used to. I also thought this shade seemed to have too much of a coral tone to it, so it seemed to accentuate the redness on my sensitive skin. I do have this for sale on my sale blog if anyone is interested in trying it for themselves.

Thats it for today, I hope I'll get my computer back tomorrow as I have loads to catch up on!