Raspberry Lip Tutorial!

Hi everyone!

I know. I am way overdue for a tutorial. Luckily I was totally inspired by a lipstick I bought over the holiday weekend to do this easy-to-wear raspberry lip tutorial. Raspberry lips really seem to be on trend for the fall so I hope to be getting a lot of use out of this look myself, actually. Darker lips have always scared me off in the past so this is definitely more out of my comfort zone but I'm glad I did it. Anyway, on to the tutorial!

So to start everything off I used Revlon Colorstay Makeup for Combo/Oily Skin in the shade Ivory. I bought this at the end of September and it's honestly been my holy grail foundation this month with my long days going from school to work. It doesn't budge at all and it offers great coverage. I buffed this in all over my face with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, paying extra close attention to my chin and nose where I've been red and spotty. 

I then primed my lids using the e.l.f. Eyelid Primer. This is the only primer I use after spending big bucks on the Urban Decay Primer Potion and finding that this e.l.f. stuff works just as good. I find that it actually has an extremely similar consistency to the Chanel eyelid primer, so why not save your money, you know?

For eyeshadows I went to my Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio in Walking on Eggshells, using the pinky eyelid color all over my lid (with a Real Techniques Shading Brush) and the brown crease color in the outer corners of my eyes and through the crease (using a Real Techniques Domed Eyeshadow Brush that I can't find a link to, sorry!). Imagine - using shadows what they're meant for! I used the same brush that I used for the crease to kind of blend everything together to get a soft, neutral look. 

I lined just my top lashes using Maybelline Line Stiletto liquid eyeliner in black. I actually did a pretty thick line because I wanted it to be a bit more dramatic than just an everyday look. I think it pairs well with the drama of the dark lip, but doing your normal eyeliner is fine too. This would also look really nice with a cat-eye, but I wanted to keep it on the simpler side. For mascara I used my Benefit Bad Gal Lash Waterproof in black that was in my September favorites as I still have yet to get a replacement of my lost The Falsies. Boo on me. Last for my eyes I filled in my eyebrows using Mac Omega, which is basically the brow powder to end all fair-haired brow powders.

I left my cheeks really simple and went for a soft, pinky-mauve flush. This worked better than a bright pink for me, as it looked more natural, like you'd just come in from the cold. The blush I used was e.l.f. Studio Blush in Mellow Mauve, which I hear is a really good dupe for the Nars blush called Sin. I can't personally attest to that as I've never owned Sin (or any Nars blush) but I really, really love this one by e.l.f. It's actually the only blush I currently have in my makeup bag.

Finally the most important part! The lips. I put on a little bit of lip balm (I used Maybelline Baby Lips in Peppermint but I would've preferred something a bit waxier, as the thicker base works better for lipstick) before I actually started the whole process, but putting on a waxy balm like Burt's Bees now is perfect. It's also a step you can totally skip. Then I just put the lipstick on as I would any lipstick! I used Rimmel's Lasting Finish by Kate Moss Lipstick in the shade 09, which I'd been eyeing for awhile and I love dearly. The only thing I wish it had was a real name and not just a number!!!

So - there you have it! A really easy dramatic lip to wear to any sort of occasion. I paired mine with my hair off my face and a big cozy sweater from Forever 21. What would you pair this look with?

As always, thanks for reading and I love you!

x Kristin

August Glam Bag Look and First Impressions!

I subscribed to Glam Bag ages ago and I finally got my first one this month, which was way exciting. The products were a very good fit for what I use - a mascara by Pixi, a cream blush by Nyx, a BB Cream by Pacifica, a scrub by Michael Todd that right off the bat I knew I couldn't use because it has jojoba in it and I'm allergic, and an Urban Decay lipstick. All of these were new to me, so I thought I'd do a look just using the products and a first impressions-type post! 

The look is super simple and can be easily mimicked with my starter makeup kit or any other products you have that you like. After my typical skincare routine, I applied the Pacifica Alight Multi-Mineral BB cream evenly. I really wasn't impressed with it on first application; it was very dark for me and smelled strange with no coverage. It was also a radiant finish and, as someone with oily skin, it made me look way too oily for my liking.

I then put on the Pixi Beauty Lash Booster Mascara in Blackest Black and it was fairly nice. It made my lashes look longer but very natural, not how I normally like it with an extremely dramatic look. The formula was also a little watery to me. The Nyx Cream Blush in Boho Chic was what I was actually most excited to try, as I'd heard a lot about Nyx cream blushes but had been too afraid to buy one and try it. I get scared around cream blushes, honestly, but this one was really nice! I applied it with a stippling brush very lightly and built it up just slightly before I found a natural flush I liked. It was very easy to blend and incredibly pigmented. I LOVED it. 

Finally I put on the new Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Anarchy and, guys. It was beautiful on first application. It was so light and moisturizing and pigmented and the color was so my cup of tea. I do own colors pretty similar but I really liked the formula of this lipstick and was seriously considering shelling out the full price for a full size lipstick. It really took the simplicity of the overall look and lifted it up a step, which was nice because I felt very much incomplete before it.

Here's the thing though: after only half an hour, I seriously needed powder. I felt so oily and gross that, even though I tried to go without it, I couldn't not put on powder. I hadn't even left the house yet. So - not a huge fan of the BB cream at all. That was around noon (I did my makeup at 11:30 that morning). By 4 PM it was very clear to me that none of the makeup had much staying power; the BB cream was all but gone, as was the blush, and the lipstick was sinking into the creases of my lips. The only part of my look that had stayed was the mascara, and there wasn't much of a difference there to begin with.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed! As this was my first experience with ipsy and I'd heard a lot of positive things about it previously, I was expecting a lot more. Hopefully in future bags I'll get some really great products and find stuff that I love!

Thanks for reading!

x Kristin

Meeting New Work People - Face of the Day

Hello friends!

Today I met a new supervisor at work so I decided to do a little more than my basic BB cream-neutral eyeshadow sweep-bold lip. It's still along those lines - I'm not a monster, guys - but it had a little more oomph, let's say. I've also been testing out some new products that I'm pretty happy with so I'll talk about those, too. :)

To start off I used L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable liquid foundation, a new addition to my makeup collection. I've only used it three times but I think I like it? It takes a long time for my skin to absorb it, but once it does it's like I'm wearing one of my BB creams. I just apply things like powder, blush, and eyebrows last, which is the order I usually do things in anyway. I'm the shade soft ivory and it blends in perfectly to my skin. I applied it all over my face, including my eyelids, using my Real Techniques expert face brush, and blended it up into my hairline and down my neck to make sure I didn't have any sort of mask thing happening. Even though it's a really natural-looking foundation, blending is still super important.

While my foundation set, I moved on to my eyes. I stuck to my neutrals - I love my neutrals - but instead of my Mac palettes I cracked open my Naked 2 palette. I started with Booty Call (a light, shimmery nude) all over my lid, then followed with Chopper (a glittery bronze) in my crease and outer corner. I blended those out until I was happy with them, which with neutrals is pretty easy, I think, because it's going to be a lot more seamless. Instead of a pencil, liquid, or gel liner, I used Busted (a velvet purpley-brown) from the same palette on an angled brush along my top lashes and smudged it along my bottom lashes. I felt like my eyebrows could be done, so I used a different angled brush with MAC's Omega eyeshadow to fill them in. I finished off my eyes with my trusty Maybelline The Falsies Flared; you'll be hard-pressed to find me using anything else, unless I'm going to the beach and need a waterproof formula.

By then my foundation had sunk in enough to work with, so I pulled out bronzer. Now - I don't wear bronzer usually, but I felt really pale. This isn't an abnormal occurrence for me, honestly, and I battle with whether or not to wear bronzer most days but because I'm so fair, finding a bronzer that isn't too much is a struggle. One bronzer I do love is the e.l.f. Studio Golden Bronzer, so I pulled that out with a contour brush and swept the two bronzier colors on the tops of my cheekbones, up over my temples to my hairline, and down my nose. I followed that with e.l.f.'s Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink on the apples of my cheeks, and finally finished everything off with L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable powder in soft ivory. The powder is super important, even with the bronzer and blush, because I get really oily and shiny during the day and it's not at all flattering.

What I wore to work for lips is different than what I have on in the picture, but I actually like this better. For work I layered MAC Tart and Trendy over Maybelline Baby Lips Electro in Oh, Orange! It's a nice combination for an orange lip but when I got home I wanted something a bit tamer, so I put on Pink Shock in the same Baby Lips Electro line. I'm obsessed with that line, I swear. I'm so glad I found them!!!

So that's my face for today! I put this look on at around 8:30 this morning and it's lasted really nicely through now. Let me know if you like it or try something similar because I'd totally love to see it.

As always, thanks for reading!

x Kristin