Makeup Fun With Desi 11/12

I've been actively finding friends who are willing to let me experiment with makeup on them since I want to practice matching foundations to the right skin tone. Luckily, Desi (whom is a dear family friend of mine) invited me over last week to her place so we can play makeup.

Since Desi already had her face moisturized and primed, I went straight away to foundation matching. I just used a clean q-tip and swiped a little bit of foundation near her jawline. It was not as hard as I thought but I could use more practice.

The closest shade that matched Desi from my RCMA Shinto palette was Shinto 8. After I shot the pics, I learned that I didn't bring the foundation all the way to her hairline. I need to work on having better lighting while applying makeup. Other than that, I thought the end result turned out great!

Taken with no flash via Nexus 5 

Taken with flash via Nexus 5 phone

I don't remember what I used for the rest of her look but I will update it when I get home.

Guest Post on YUP NYC

Winter is coming up, meaning it's even more important to care for your skin. Y.U.P NYC has kindly asked me to guest blog my skin care routine with Dermalogica products (which I am a huge fan of!). Read all about it here.

Stay tuned for more reviews on skincare products and tips. Coming later in the week, I'll be blogging about my thoughts on Embryolisse's Lait Creme Concentre 24 Hour Miracle Cream.

Makeup Gig: November 8, 2013

I had the honor to do the makeup for my friend (and fellow PNI sister) Charmane for her wedding, as well as her wedding party. Charmane's typical makeup look is low maintenance but loves black eyeliner. She wanted to go a little dramatic with the eyes yet keep the rest of the look more natural.

Products used

Face:
Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre 24 hr Miracle Cream
Urban Decay Complexion Primer Potion
RCMA foundation (Shinto II)
NARS bronzer (Laguna)
NARS blush (Deep Throat)
RCMA No Color Finishing Power

Eyes
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Original)
Urban Decay Naked Palette I (virgin, buck, dark horse)
Urban Decay 24 hr pencil (Zero)
Maybelline waterproof mascara
Ardell lashes (110)
Anastasia brow powder (Ebony duo)

Lips
NYX lip pencil in nude
Revlon Lip Butter (Pink Truffle)
RCMA No Color Finishing Powder 

My beautiful friend, Charmane

A gift from her bridal party

PJ and Charmane

Congratulations again Charmane! It was an honor to do your makeup on your wedding day.

Review: Z-Palettes

Its a pain to haul around a heavy train case, let alone digging for a tube of lipstick or eye shadow while applying makeup. Since I am in the process of restocking my train case, I have been finding ways to organize and lighten up my supplies so I don't break my temporary train case.

Thanks to Camera Ready Cosmetics, I found Zpalettes. Zpalettes are affordable makeup palettes that can hold any type of potted cosmetic, or you can buy empty rounds to pot your own. If you want to use it for your favorite cosmetics (MAC, Nars and Urban Decay to name a few), there are various tutorials on how to depot your favorite makeup item and stick it in a Zpalette. The inside bottom of the palette is magnetic so if your depotted item isn't magnetic, don't worry each palette comes with metal stickers to stick on the bottom of the item so it adheres to the palette.

Clockwise: Empty Zpalette rounds (small) , Revlon lip butter in Fig Jam (size comparison) and a small Zpalette

To test it out, I decided to use Revlon lip butters. There are various methods to pot lip products but I chose to pack it in with clean disposable spatulas. I know melting them would look nicer but after reading reviews of lip products changing in color and texture while using that method, I did not want to risk doing that to my lip butters.

Depotted Revlon Lip Butters in Red Velvet, Fig Jam, Pink Truffle, Berry Smoothie, Creme Brulee, Peach Parfait & Wild Watermelon.

Due to the lip butter's texture, these were easy to pack in the metal rounds. At first glance I was a little disappointed with the size of the empty rounds and found it annoying that there were only 10 rounds in a package. After packing in my lip butters, they actually do hold about half of the stick. I really like how there's a clear window so I can see the contents of the palette. 

Overall, I am extremely satisfied with Zpalettes, especially since this will reduce the amount of digging I'll have to do for lip products during gigs. 

Holiday Collections

Thank goodness my birthday is coming up this month because of all the holiday palettes and collections that will be releasing soon! Here are some that I have my eyes on, whether its for me or for the ladies in my family:

Lorac Pro Palette

I've been looking for a palette to complement my Urban Decay Naked 1 palette and I have high hopes Lorac's Pro Palette will fit the bill. I have read reviews that Lorac eye shadows are long lasting and have little fallout. I love the fact that this palette comes with 8 matte shadows and 8 shimmer shadows. I actually do prefer mattes over overly shimmery/glittery shadows.

Stroke of Midnight: Viva Glamorous Bag
The original Viva Glam diva, RuPaul, is back to promote one of MAC's holiday sets. The Stroke of Midnight: Viva Glamorous Bag will feature the Viva Glam I lipstick (Burgundy red) as well as a matching lipglass. It has been awhile since I purchased this shade but I do miss wearing the beautiful red shade.

Tarte Off The Cuff Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush Palette
I have never tried Tarte Cosmetics but I have been hearing their Amazonian Clay blushes are long lasting and highly pigmented. I may consider adding this to my makeup train case for future gigs.

NARS Guy Bourdin Blush palette

NARS blushes have always been my favorite to use since I have found their blushes flattering with my skin tone. I recently purchased this palette since I lost my NARS All About Cheeks palette not too long ago. In the Guy Bourdin palette, this one contains my favorite NARS colors (Orgasm, Deep Throat and Laguna). I will be posting up a review shortly since I have yet to wear the other 3 colors (Mistinguette, Goulue and Devotee). My last palette lasted me awhile, which was the same size as the Guy Bourdin palette so I know I'll be getting my money's worth.  Personally I think this is great to have in your train case or even as a gift during the upcoming holidays.


Edward's Best by Edward Bess
I personally have never heard of this cosmetic line. This palette by Edward Bess features the line's best selling lipstick shades, which looks like a great basic lip kit to haul around. I hope these will be in store at Sephora soon so I can sample it.

That's what's currently on my radar at the moment and I hope I'll find the time to test them out. What holiday collections are you eyeing at the moment?

Halloween & NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation Review

Happy Belated Halloween everyone! Normally I plan and make my costumes ahead of time but I had no motivation since a lot of my friends don't seem to care to dress up nowadays. Last Saturday, I got invited to a Halloween party last min. I thought putting together the cooking outfit from Breaking Bad would have been super easy, but I thought wrong. It seemed like every hardware store (and Walmart) in Kitsap County did not carry yellow coveralls. So I did what every desperate person would do in this situation: buy a costume at Walmart. The only costume that did fit me was this $20 Minnie Mouse get up. Not too bad:

Products used: NARS Radiant Cream foundation in Stromboli, NARS blush in Orgasm, NYX retractable lip liner in True Red, Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet, Urban Decay Naked Palette (Virgin, Buck, Smog & Dark Horse), NYX black eyeliner, Maybelline Blackest Black Mascara & RCMA's No Color Finishing Powder.

Also that same day, I purchased the NARS Radiant Cream Compact foundation. I know I'm a little late to jump on the bandwagon but I have been loyal to the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation for the last 4 years since it looks amazing on my skin. Since it's been 4 years with the Sheer Glow, I figured I might as well give the cream foundation a try.

What initially drew me to this product was the fact that the compact itself was reusable since NARS is trying to reduce excessive packaging waste. I love that this also includes a mirror since I am constantly on-the-go and often I don't have time to put on a full face of makeup. The compact does come with a sponge (which I already lost :( ) but I believe Nordstrom and Sephora do sell replacements.

Left: foundation compact Right: Blush Palette (Guy Bourdin)

Inside compact (foundation is in Stromboli)

So far I have worn this foundation 5 times. What I do like about the foundation was that there is more coverage than the sheer glow. The application itself isn't too bad: I use a foundation brush and simply pat/lightly brush on the foundation until I'm satisfied with the coverage. It also is less messy to deal with compared to the sheer glow (which isn't too bad either). In my Halloween photo, it looks like it photographs nicely as well.

The one thing I don't like about this foundation is how it feels on my face. With the sheer glow, I feel like it melts into my skin. The Radiant Cream feels like it just sits on my face. It is prone to "rubbing off" unless if I dust finishing powder (I use either MUFE's HD powder or RCMA's no color powder) all over my face, unlike just on my t-zone with the sheer glow. With this foundation, I do have to haul a foundation brush which can be an inconvenience if I'm in a hurry while the sheer glow can be applied with my fingers.

I probably need to perfect my application with this product but in the long run, I do prefer the NARS Sheer Glow foundation simply because its easier to build up coverage, low maintenance and it looks a lot more natural than the Radiant Cream. However, if you are in the market for a great cream foundation I recommend giving Bobbi Brown and Chanel a try.