Almost natural...but better

Thanks to a tweet from Fei, I found out about a technique that Queenie (Beauty QQ) was using to apply falsies - underneath her natural lashes instead of over:

Youtube video of her explaining it in Cantonese
Youtube video tutorial applying the lashes - skip to 3:40

These are the fake lashes I used - Andrea #53's. I used a pair that I had already worn a few times, so they look a bit scraggly and more natural rather than being completely uniform.



I followed Beauty QQ's instructions and cut them into 4 pieces. Applied them with tweezers, very carefully underneath my natural lashes. Trust me, this is not a time for your annoying sibling/significant other to goof around and run into your elbow...



Don't these look pretty natural? Even from the side view you can't see any tell tale misalignment of the fake lash with natural lash, or heavy eyeliner to cover fake lash spine.



I love how you can barely see the spine of the lashes, even from underneath. As Fei said they look almost like lash extensions.




Anyway, here is the rest of the look!








What I used:



Face
Lunasol Water Cream Foundation
Eve Pearl Salmon undereye concealer treatment
Maybelline Dream Matte powder

Cheek & Lip
Annabelle Zebra Bronzer in Haute Gold
MAC Emote blush
MAC Brave New Bronze Lipstick
Balmshell's Weekend in the Hamptons gloss

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Lavshuca Eye Color Select PK-1
Marcelle Minerals eyeshadow in Playa
Kate Frame Impact eyeliner
Andrea Modlash #53s



I still can't get over how natural the fake lashes look compared with applying them on top...will have to do this more often! I think this technique works best with natural hair lashes though, since the spines are thinner and lashes more flexible than plastic Asian lashes, and thus more comfortable.

Have you tried this technique before? What do you think?

Gold Ransom

Its been awhile since I used false lashes. These are Ardell Demi Pixies, which look a lot like the popular MAC #7 lashes



Featuring Shiseido Hydro-Powder cream shadows in Glistening Sand and Violet Visions as a base, and MAC Gold Mode pigment, Urban Decay Ransom eyeshadow on top. I also used a black liquid liner to hide the spine of the lashes.



Face was done using Lunasol Water Cream foundation, MAC Emote, Shu Uemura blush in Peach 47. Lipstick used was Shiseido Maquillage PK730.

Shiseido Hydro-Powder Eyeshadow

Another overdue review, on Shiseido Hydro-powder eyeshadows I bought a few months back.

At first I bought the colours in Languid Lagoon and Violet Visions:




Later I saw that Facial Shop was selling for a cheaper than retail price the colours Bare Pink and Glistening Sand:

(Sorry for the small picture, I don't have them on hand right now but this pic is a crop from my haul post)





Swatches:




Languid Lagoon - Vibrant green-blue
Violet Visions - Blue toned violet
Bare Pink - Warm brownish pink
Glistening Sand - Light champage-y gold


Pigmentation and Texture:

The colours are quite pigmented, and depending on the colour, can be very vibrant. Languid Lagoon in particular is a very bright blue-green. I actually don't like it too much on my skintone but it looks great when used with darker colours. Also it livens up duller green or blue shadows when used as a base.

Texture is creamier compared with MAC Paint Pots. I prefer the softer texture because I feel it doesn't drag on my skin as much when I'm trying to blend the colour.


Staying Power:

Pretty good - they don't crease on me. The colour stays just as vibrant the whole day when used alone, and definitely helps powder shadow stick around longer.


Side note: I tried using some of these as liners too, and they apply nicely because of the creamy texture. Glistening Sand and Languid Lagoon in particular stand out when applied on the lower lashline. However their staying power won't be as good as MAC Fluidlines, so watch out for that if you have oily lids.


Looks:

1. I've used Violet Visions as a base and colour for this:




2. Languid Lagoon before as a base and colour for this look:




3. Violet Visions again for this, taken a couple months ago but never posted. I think the inspiration for the purple and grey came from a similar colour scheme done by Princess Peach (aka Her Peachieness).






Getting sidetracked here ....but here's yet another example of the difference between using the Foliage setting and without with my Canon Powershot 870:

This is how vibrant Violet Visions looks in real life:



Without Foliage setting, the true colours get washed out and it looks more blah




Again I gotta say love Missha lashes:




It looks like I used everything but the kitchen sink for this look, haha :P

But really its only because I was using one shade from each of the palettes shown :D

trying to get back on track

A long overdue haul post!

My Everyday Minerals haul:






I was sooo surprised at how short the EM flat top brush is. It is seriously tiny! Its almost half the height of my Coastal Scents' Italian badger brush. But it doesn't shed at all, and dries faster than natural hair brushes. Its even shorter than the MAC 187SE. Great for travelling though, I brought it to NYC with me !






I also got two finishing powders:




Haven't tried the Silk Dust yet. I hope its as good as Silk Naturals; perfecting powder that I'm hooked on. The Sunlight dust gave me a cakey look the only time I used it; it might be due to the cornstarch formulation but I"ll give it another go sometime.


Some swatches:




I've already used Bubble Tea eyeshadow and found that the colour payoff kinda sucks. But the good news is that its a bit similar to MAC Mutiny pigment once applied, though with less shine/frost.

Soft Touch blush is the perfect hint of soft pink, I used it last weekend for the wedding and it was great :) Its more for lighter skintones though, if I'm flushed or if I got darker, it won't show up on my skin. And as you might know already I LOVE EM's blushes :) so more swatches of Everyday Minerals products can be found filed under the Everyday Minerals label :)

Also, a review on the Lavender concealer is upcoming for Jejuney who requested it - sorry about the wait!


Madame Madeline order:

I ordered this AGES ago...when I went off my ban in the beginning of May. Somehow due to a glitch in Paypal I never got my order until 3 weeks later.






Andrea Modlash 53's (I ordered two but they gave me 2 more as part of the free lash code I guess...)
Elise lashes #79
Elise lashes #55



I actually haven't been able to try any of the Elise lashes yet. But they look a bit too long for me :( I was hoping from the pictures that they would be more like Missha/asian-style falsies: [edit: in terms of length i mean :)]



This Missha pair is my favourite, but I have no idea where to get a back up of it :( I picked it up in a random store while on vacation last year.



DUO surgical adhesive - just a backup in case I misplace my regular clear DUO adhesive.
Ardell Growth Accelerator - the second one the bottom is my first tube that got all clumpy after 2-3 months :( I never got around to replacing it til now.




Old one on top, new at the bottom - the old one has white specks on the brush = clumpy gooey product :( I wish the shelf life for it was longer. I can't find it in stores, so I've always had to order it online. Note that I use it more as a lash conditioner. I don't find that it makes lashes actually grow longer, but it helps protect my lashes from breaking off as easily.

Speaking of lash conditioners/accelerators, I noticed Talika Lipocils is now sold in Sephora stores in Canada - it wasn't previously. But the price is a bit expensive, I think it was over $30? If you live in Toronto you can get it for $25 in Bloor-Yorkville at Pir Cosmetics on Bellair Street. I found out about the store when searching for MB retailers in Toronto. They have some MB products, but sadly they don't carry the infamous MB Silver Powder so I'll have to ration mine carefully.

And more on the subject of lashes, apparently there is a product (not yet FDA approved) that really does make your lashes grow longer. Unfortunately the side effect is darkening of the skin around the eyes....-.- which to me seems pointless. Why swap one problem for another? I'd rather deal with short lashes by using falsies, than have to apply loads of concealer to hide the darkened eye area.

P.S.
To Anonymous from my LORAC fotd post, yep I have on contacts, I'm wearing Freshlook Colourblends in Amethyst :)

Also, thanks Fiona and Starry x2 for your feedback!

As a result, I've put up a poll to see if there would be enough people interested in buying samples in baggies. I'd appreciate it if you let me know what you think :)

face of a day from the past

This eyeshadow colour combination was inspired by one of Rolos' looks on ABB. I miss her posts, they always motivated me whenever I was feeling makeup burnout...

She did a look with Parrot eyeshadow and some purple. I loved it because I would never have thought Parrot would go with purple, but it surprisingly does. So I tried it a few days ago.





This one below without falsies, the one with the falsies came out blurry.



Now with falsies.





I love the Andrea Modlash 53's. They are just a little bit more dramatic than your natural lashes but you can still fool people into thinking they are real. I found that these ones actually looked more natural now that they have been a bit broken in, compared to when they were brand new.





What I used:

[Eyes]

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• MAC Zonk Bleu! on innermost corner of eyelid to brighten
• MAC Parrot on inner half of eyelid
• Everyday Minerals Snowflakes eyeshadow on outer half of eyelid
• MAC Modern Heir eyeshadow on outer V (very small amount...you can hardly see it.)
• Andrea Modlash #53 lashes
  

I also added the silver shade from the MAC Royal Assets Cool Eyes palette as highlight later but its too subtle to show up here.

[Lips]

• some random lipbalm
• MAC 3N lipstick

[Face]

• some crappy foundation that was a shade too dark for me thus not worth listing
  
• MAC Emote blush to contour
• Everyday Minerals Best Friends blush

I would definitely have used a cooler pink blush in retrospect...but it was too late to switch.


Picture of the eyeshadows I used...because i took the picture so it has to go someplace :P

L-R: Zonk Bleu!, Parrot, Snowflakes, Modern Heir




Oh, and I found the trick to taking pictures that show the colour true to life....I just told it I was a plant. Yes, a plant.

I think this will depend on your camera though. What I did was to set my camera on the 'Foliage' setting. Seriously, the colours were so true to life. The only thing is my skin does look more orangy, so I had to lighten the contrast a little or look like a tangerine!

I haven't tried using the Foliage setting in dim lighting. But I think in that case it would be better to use the Indoors setting.

update and a green Everyday Minerals eotd/fotd

I went snowboarding on Friday and now my legs are stiff. Didn't remember hitting my knee at all but now there is a nice bruise on the right one. Strangely, my butt was bruised on saturday but now its gone, while the knee bruise and stiffness only started showing itself today. weird...

Haven't been online very much the past couple days. mostly because I was mentally wiped out from work, and now physically wiped out from snowboarding (because I am such an out of shape wuss...lol)

I did get off my (bruised) butt though and make myself a dinner of chicken wings and baked potatoes :) I stupidly overdosed on the pepper, which i shouldn't have because my skin has been looking irritated lately. There are some reddish patches on my cheeks now, which really worries me because my skin doesn't do that very often. I think my system is too "heaty" right now so i really should've cut down on hot/spicy foods. any suggestions on what cooling foods i should make for myself?

I hope my T'estimo palette will be in my mailbox when i get off work tomorrow...but I think its too soon for that.

I sorted out my traincase last weekend, and am a bit depressed at how little of it I actually use :( Having many blushes and eyeshadows are fine by me, but I have a lot of drugstore lippies/lipglosses that just don't work for me :( and they just sit there making me feel guilty about not using them. I might have some kind of clearance sale / giveaway just to get rid of those things that don't work for me. Will be looking into shipping costs first, and also maybe i'll wait until i have a bit more time to spare.

Oh and I also just revamped my labels, so it should be easier to navigate :)

Green EOTD/FOTD:





Picture is a bit blurry...because at the time of taking this pic i hadn't figured out the trick of taking clear, true to life colour pictures. But I discovered it today so my next couple FOTDS will be better :)



Here you can see that the Ardell InvisiBand Fairies are super crazy long...a bit too long for me to wear during the day. At least not in the company of people I know that is :P



I love MAC 3N lipstick. It is the FIRST and ONLY nude lipstick that, without any concealer, shows up true to life on my lips, and mutes them just the right amount. Am wondering if I really need a backup of it though...I don't really believe in backups because I figure there's always going to be a new product that is just as good by the time the old one runs out. But then ...a good lipstick is such a rarity for me...



Yeah...my lips are dry :S but see, even though they are dry, 3N doesn't show up cakey at all. I'm so surprised that it even shows up because its a lustre and I always thought lustres are the sheerest MAC lipstick formula. A lot of frost lipsticks don't even show up on me (like Sandy B. for example...). I have a hunch now that it is the shimmery lipsticks that are sheerest and don't show up on me, rather than whether it is lustre versus frost.

I gotta say thanks to blogger psychoexgirlfriend though, the only reason I checked out 3N lipstick was a comment she left on one of my entries. Otherwise I wouldn't have gone back to check it out again...so thank you :)

For anyone thats interested here's what I used for the eyes:

• Wet n Wild Mega Eyes Envy cream eyeshadow all over mobile lid as base
• Everyday Minerals Pressed Olive eyeshadow on inner corner
• Everyday Minerals Cypress eyeshadow on middle of lid
• Silk Naturals Lush eyeshadow on outer corner of lid
• Everyday Minerals Tinsel Time eyeshadow in crease
• Ardell Invisiband Fairies with DUO clear lash glue and Sephora Lash Placement tool :)

purples galore~

another purple one, this time using the Ardell falsies I just received.

[Face]

- Laura Mercier Hydrating Primer
- Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation #3
- Silk Naturals Perfecting Powder
- MAC Sculpt/Accentuate Powder to contour/highlight
- Everyday Minerals Photo Album blush

[Eyes]

- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- LORAC Greatest Hits CD2 palette - Pink Mist eyeshadow from lashline to browbone
- LORAC Greatest Htis CD2 palette - Dreamy eyeshadow on inner corner
- MAC Beautiful Iris eyeshadow on middle of lid
- NYX Deep Purple eyeshadow on outer corner
- NYX Lavender Jumbo eye pencil on lower lashline.
- MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
- Ardell InvisiBands lashes in Demi Pixies

[Lips]

- Blistex SPF30 lipbalm
- MAC Mattene lipstick in Poise/Flattering in the pics - but I ended up taking both off and using NYC Ultra Last lipstick in Fragile Pink because that colour was more subtle,

Random useless fact....in here I ended up using a complete mix of brands - higher end and drugstore brand stuff.





The dark version of DUO glue works better than the white ones, but still not perfectly. I covered up the lighter bits with more liner afterwards.

I really like this lash style though, its very different from anything I have. Definitely not that natural because of the spiky design, but because they are demi length they don't look as over the top as most other lashes in this style.

My eyes being retardedly assymetrical - the one on the right wanted to be double lidded while the left wanted to be monolid - which i find makes me look super retarded / cross-eyed? in pictures...:(



They're all right by themselves, its just that together they look odd.

Left (my right one):



Right (my left one):



And...this is me looking really suprised...because doing that seemed to be the only way to get the falsies to really show on camera. They're all nice and long in real life but on camera they don't show up too much.






P.S. Elizabeth - I know, I tried taking a 'cutesy' one but just couldn't! I ended up looking super creepy - like mad Samira of The Ring crazy LOL. Maybe I'll give it another try on my next post :)