Seeing things rosy…

It’s Wednesday. I know a lot of you lovely ladies wear pink, but as we’ve seen here I don’t. Can I has pink eye instead? No, not the kind readily spread by snotty first graders! This kind…

MAC Painterly- lid primer

Joe Fresh Vintage Pink-lid colour (are you starting to see a pattern here? )

MAC Cranberry- crease

Nars Mandchourie (the darker one)-crease

MAC Naked Lunch-inner corner, brow highlight

Yves Rocher Waterproof liner in Black-upper lashline

L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara

Andrea 21 lashes

My first endeavours into this new realm of pink happened when i fell in love with MAC Cranberry, and realized how much it accentuates my eye colour. The only word of caution, ladies, when working with anything with red undertones is to be careful when putting it near your waterline. It will immensely amplify any redness you already have in your eye…
The way to make something this bright wearable, as we learned here, is to pair it with a neutral. I used a greyish navy (navy is KINDA neutral, no? ) in the crease and the bottom lash line. Normally I’m not a big fan of a harsh black line along the lash line, but in this case I think it adds structure to the whole look and anchors it quite well…

Sporting such colourfulness today, the world took on a completely different hue…

So ladies, are you also feeling adventurous today?

A Walmart gem…

Usually when I use those two words in the same sentence it refers to the various “gems” that can be found on the pages of http://www.peopleofwalmart.com . This one, however,  truly earns this title.
After reading various reviews on many sites, including Temptalia and Makeupalley, I decided to hunt down this little treasure. The “pot of gold” I’m alluding to is the Comfort Zone palette by Wet n’ Wild. Yup, THAT Wet n’ Wild, notoriously known in the 90s for frosty lipstick and chalky shadows. Well, they’ve definitely stepped up their game!

Primed, indoor light                                                              Primed, natural light
The 8 shadows in this palette are incredible! Not only are the pigmentation and colour payoff UNREAL, I swear a bunch of them are exact dupes (quality and colour) for MAC shadows. Oh yeah, and this set set me back $4.64 for EIGHT shadows. I almost felt like I was stealing…almost
So, on the top of the left side we have a yellow beige labelled “brow” ( for you novice ladies ) which really reminds me of MAC Rice Paper. Next, we have a warm peachy pink labbelled “eyelid”….*cough* MAC Jest *cough*. This is followed by a warm bronze shadow labelled “crease”. No joke , this is an exact dupe for MAC Bronze, which I have gone through 674535 of. The last one in this column is labelled “definer” and really, really reminds me of MAC Beautymarked, though a bit lighter.
On the right, up top, we have a grey shadow with a pearlescent sheen labelled “browbone”. I find this one to be thisclose to MAC Vex. Below that is a warm green labelled “eyelid”. This is probably the only one that I couldn’t find a dupe for. Still very pretty, though. Right underneath we have a grey with a gold shimmer, which is meant for the crease. OK, I lied. I don’t have a dupe for this one either . And the last one in this column is a brown with a greenish duo-tone. Very, VERY reminiscent of MAC Club.  Word of caution, the “definer” shadows are SUPER pigmented and are kinda dark to blend out in the crease.  Let’s just say I MAY be speaking from experience
So there you have it. That’s what I call beauty on a dime…
And I have a funny feeling that the gems AT Walmart won’t be sporting the awesomeness OF this Walmart gem

Question: would you be interested in seeing a look using this palette?

Birds of a feather…

Hi, my name is Magda and I have an addiction. To makeup that is! So much so that when I see the various wonders nature has to offer the first thing that comes to mind is “How can I take this concept and translate it into makeup?!?” Take peacock feathers for example. The average person sees the unbelievable melange of rich, saturated jewel tones. I see an eye “look” . Yeah, it’s THAT bad…
So, when I recently saw these magnificent feathers popping up all over the runways and in accessories, I figured it must be a sign! I MUST recreate! Aaaaaannnd….voila!

 

MAC Painterly-lid primer

Joe Fresh Peacock-lid colour

Kat Von D Johnette-outer lid

MAC Bronze-crease

MAC Coppering-inner corner    * I’m not a 100% sure on this, as all my shadows are depoted and the name is gone

Nars liner in Campo de’Fiori-inner corner

MAC liner in Teddy-upper lashline and lower waterline

L’Oreal Voluminous False Lashes Mascara

Andrea 21 lashes

 

I’m a big fan of jewel tones to start with, so putting them together only seemed like a natural progression. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely not a Saturday-morning-Home-Depot-shopping kinda look, but in the proper setting it’s quite stunning! It being Hallowe’en today, the opportunity is definitely there to test drive it…

And if you ask me, these colours flock together quite well…

Ladies, what do you take inspiration from when it comes to makeup?

Tools of the trade…

Ok, so I’ve been mentioning this “fluffy dome brush” in my make up posts a LOT. Well, today I figured I’d actually explain to you what I mean.
For you ladies with a basic knowledge of brushes, I wouldn’t wanna bore you, so click here.

Normally when I think of a tool, this comes to mind…

but, I figured I’d explain the OTHER kind to you…
A fluffy dome brush is one that is extremely versatile, hence I own 5674683264 of them It gets it’s name from the shape, which is tapered into a dome. This allows for a subtle, smoky wash of colour. They’re usually made of natural hair  (and we remember that natural hairs deposit less colour, than synthetics, right?!? ) and vary in size from tiny to quite large.

Can you see how the swatched line gets thinner and thinner? That’s because the size of the brush is proportional to the application you’re gonna get. Smaller brush=thinner, more precise line. Larger brush=broader, more diffused line. This was swatched with a pretty dark eyeshadow (Nars), which shows you just how diluted the application can be! These brushes are fantastic for novices and pros alike, as they are very forgiving and hide any mishaps quite well…
Their uses don’t end at eyeshadow either. They can be used to apply concealer under the eyes, highlighter where needed, as well as transculent powder exactly where necessary…

Now, if I could just find a tutorial on these brushes, I’d be set…

Let me know ladies, was this helpful at all?

This blue me away…

So, this is what we’ve learned so far about Magda’s colour preferences: pinks and reds-no, browns and oranges-yes. But what about blues?!? Much like Friday’s leftover Chinese food on a Sunday, it’s a maybe. Buuuut, I did promise to branch out. So, following the advice of my bestie, Marta at Chitchat Nails, I decided to give Rimmel Midnight Blue,a deep royal blue, a whirl.

Ok, I’m not gonna lie, I COULDN’T STOP staring at my nails!!! This blue colour is gorge on its own. The formula is fantastic, and covers really well in just two twin coats. Rimmel also did a fantastic job with the wide brush. And I do have to say that after three days, no chips in sight! I figured that adding a contrasting stamp would bring out the shimmer in this polish. And, boy, was I right. Using China Glaze Hi-tek and Bundle Monster 207 plate I applied the design vertically. A complete epic fail! This was my first attempt at stamping vertically, and we didn’t hit it off right away. But, much like that whole bike riding thing and the heavy European accent, I will over come this as well!

Thanks to this decadent colour, being blue isn’t such a bad thing for once!

So, are you dabbling with these oh-so-of-the-moment darks?

Falling for these colours….

Considering this is what I see every morning when I look outside (the Niagara Escarpment), or into my closet, really, it was just a matter of time before I would try to recreate it. As you’ve already heard me affectionately describe my love of autumn colours here on nails, I figured this time I’d adapt it to eyes…

I tried to incorporate the colours of the leaves, without making it look like it belongs at a fall parade.
As always, a good base is a must. I used MAC Painterly paint pot to prime. In order to get a nice wash of a warm brown across my lid, I used a fluffy dome brush to apply NYX in Rust. Also using a similar brush, but smaller, I applied NYX Walnut Bronze in the crease. Incorporating the last colour in that NYX trio, I applied Golden in the inner corner, using a small stiff eyeshadow brush. Along both lash lines, I applied MAC liner in Rosemary & Thyme, a deep olive green with golden shimmer. Curled my lashes, and coated with L’Oreal Carbon Black mascara. I purposely left off false lashes, as I felt there was enough going on the lash line…

And I promise next time I fall into Cosmoprof, I vow to branch out…

P.S. I’m a HUGE fan of NYX shadows, and promise to do another post dedicated to them. The pigmentation is unreal!

Let me know, have you ever tried this type of combination?

I beLEAF this is it…

Since my last post discussed (in depth!) colours I don’t normally wear, I thought it would only be fair to mention colours I actually DO wear. Pretty simple. If it can be spotted during autumn, I’ll wear it. Exciting, I know! Burnt oranges, rich chocolate browns, decadent olive greens…yup! After years of experimentation (not THAT kind of experimentation! ) I’ve found that these types of hues complement my hair and complexion best. So, without further ado, my latest mani…

As a base, I used China Glaze ‘Goin’ my way?’ a deep chocolate brown with golden shimmer. Using Bundle Monster’s plate 225 I stamped with Konad orange polish. Topped it off with Essie “Good to go” for a little extra shine. What I love most about this mani is how subtle it is. You can only see the leaf-like design when the light hits it at the right angle. Definitely work appropriate, which is more than I can say for my Snooki creation…
However, with the trends constantly changing, I just may be turning a new leaf…

So, let me know. Do you lean towards warmer or cooler hues?