Green-Eyed Goddess with a Flashy Red Lip

Hey, y'all! I'm happy to present this look to you seeing as I created it for my long-time hair stylist and friend, Sarah. 

Being a fellow artist, she isn't afraid of wearing color and experimenting with wild shades of lipstick or hair color. And since she normally wears a very bold eye with black winged liner, I chose to go with a more subtle yet glam look to make her green eyes glow. 

Sarah usually wears red or berry shades on her lips, so I felt this super vibrant liquid lipstick would be fitting. It also goes along with the eye look, which goes well with the end of summer, but would also work well for fall. 

And we all know that red is timeless and classic, so it can be worn year round. 

Below, I will be providing the product list for the look as per usual. 

And if you have any questions, suggestions for future postings, or comments, please leave them all below. 

Products Used: 

Primer: Mirabella Prime  $29

Eye Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion  $20

Foundation: Graftobian Hi-Def Glamour Creme Foundation shades "Graceful Swan" & "Ingenue"  $19.99 each 

Concealer: Graftobian "Ultra Lites" HD Glamour Creme Foundation shade "Lady Fair"  $28.99

Setting Powder: Ben Nye Luxury Powder "Cameo"  $12-20 

Bronzer: Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer  $30

Blush: Jordana Powder Blush "Touch of Pink"  $5.79

Highlighter: Pacifica Natural Coconut Eyeshadow in "Ethereal" (no longer available) 

Eyeshadow: 

• Maybelline New York Expert Wear Eyeshadow Single in "Vanilla"  $3.26 
• Jaclyn Hill Favorites Palette by Morphe Cosmetics (no longer available) shades es76, es74, es54, es48, es24

Liner: MAC Fluidline in "Dipdown"  $16

Mascara: UD Perversion Mascara  $20

Brows: ABH Brow Pro Palette   $88

Lip Liner: Maybelline ColorSensational Lip Liner in "Clear 10"  $6.19

Lipstick: Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in "Venezia"  $24

Setting Spray: UD All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray  $30

Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette

I am so, so sorry for not having a post up sooner. It feels like much longer than a month has gone by since my last one. I don't even have much of an excuse for my absence, either, unfortunately. The lazy bird doesn't get the worm, so here we are.

Luckily, I have a bunch of post ideas, so I have gotten photos and drafts ready for three new items. I hope to have the other two posts up tomorrow and Friday. Let's just say: I'll have them done before the weekend actually starts. 

As I am sure you can see, this post is a long overdue review of the Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette, which I purchased a while back for $46 from Sephora. My last post on the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette should have been uploaded after this one, but I thought I had already reviewed this contour kit for some reason. 

Regardless, we are here now and I plan to diverge my innermost thoughts on this palette. No, really, though. 

The packaging is really nice with the black and gold cardboard print and magnets for opening and closing. It's basically the same as the eye palette. I don't have any real issues with the palette packaging. I think it's the standard for many palettes. 

I also really like the bold Gothic font used. It goes well with the shade names and the overall theme and the mood the palette sets. I think it's pretty perfect for a Kat Von D palette, because its so vibrant and bold like her.

Left to Right: Lucid, Lyric, Levitation
                                          Sombre, Shadowplay, Subconscious

Left to Right: Lucid, Lyric, Levitation
                                          Sombre, Shadowplay, Subconscious

The back of the palette is nothing special. It is basically just a blueprint of the colors we get inside, which I like. I like when shades are named more so than when it's a palette with no specific names.

The palette itself has a nice mirror on the inside and fairly large shades. I wish they had made the contour and highlight shades the same size, though. I have a friend who has already hit pan on one of those. 

Also, the thing about these highlight shades is that they're all matte, so they're more for setting the highlighted areas of the face-- or the areas you've highlighted with concealer, I should say. 

Any contour kit is good as long as it has highlight and contour shades that are going to complement all skin tones. I think this palette does that. While the average user could get away with simply owning the right color bronzer and a nice translucent setting powder, many makeup artists and makeup lovers are flocking to these kits 

This one has been out a while now, so there are probably plenty of other reviews on it. Before purchasing anything, I often do skim others' blog posts and YouTube reviews to make sure I feel I am getting the bang for my buck.

Left to Right: Lucid, Lyric, Levitation
                                          Sombre, Shadowplay, Subconscious

I have also provided a swatch photo of the shades. I am very partial to the bronzer shade called "Sombre" on the bottom left and the highlight shade "Lyric" in the middle on the top row. "Sombre" is the most cool-toned brown of the three, while "Lyric" is the perfect highlight to set your concealer with if you have more warm-toned skin. I usually mix "Lyric" and "Lucid" (pale white shade) since I've been pale all through the winter. 

I find that often many people with either olive or yellow skin-toned look a lot better with the cooler tones. I think it really deepens up the natural shadows on the face. Someone with a more pink skin tone is going to look better with a clay or more of a red-brown shade. But either way, you do you. I am just providing my opinion from my own personal experience.

The palette itself is phenomenal! I can honestly say it is one of my favorite ones on the market right now. I would even choose it over the Anastasia Beverly Hills powder and cream contour kits. I just really love the contour shades and the size of the palette. I think it's very versatile. And if someone asked me which high end contour kit they should consider, I'd definitely suggest the Kat Von D one first. 

I give the palette an A+ because there's not really anything I don't like about it. The shades are pigmented and smooth in formula, its going to work for a broad range of people, you get a lot of product for the price, and the packaging and design is nice. 

Until next time.. xx 

NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette

So, I am so excited to be sharing another contour kit with you all today, especially one that is more affordable for those of you that want  one to practice with, but don't want to spend as much money on one while you're still learning. 

I picked this up about a month ago when I randomly spotted it at my local Ulta. I didn't even check the price right away, I just made a grab for it--and I am glad I did. NYX Cosmetics is one of my favorite drugstore brands, too. I initially got it because I felt like it would be a really suitable contour palette to add to my growing makeup kit. 

At first glance, the $24.99 palette looks very professional. Much like many other professional makeup palettes and sets these days, the palette has a clear cover, which allows you to see the product inside. As you'll remember from my last post, I love the clear covers because it's easier to find what you're looking for when you have a slew of palettes to rummage through.

I like the color selection in this palette as well. You have warmer toned shades, but also more wearable, slightly deeper shades. Personally, the third bronzer shade is my favorite, but I've been switching it up and trying them all out. 

And, I also think the highlight shades in the top row are really great! They are the perfect pigmentation and smoothness for a good setting powder over concealer and foundation. The highlight shades are also really good for all skin tones, There is a highlight shade with a bit of shimmer, the neutral white shade, the yellow-toned shade for warmer skin tones, and the more pink-toned shade for those with cool undertones. 

Actual versatility in a contour kit is part of what makes it a good kit. Formula and consistency play a huge role, too, but contour kits are mostly for makeup kits and artists, so variation in color and use is a positive.

Here are a few swatch photos, one with flash and one without. You can see the pigmentation is really exceptional, even for the highlight shades, which surprisingly all showed up on my arm. 

All in all, I think this palette is top of the line quality, especially for a drugstore branded product. The only slight negative I found is that the shades are all a little powdery, so you have to swirl your brush in them lightly to keep from having a bunch of fallout.

I think a bit of fallout is a minor infraction when the other components of the kit are all as expected.

If you all have any questions regarding this contour kit or the kit versus another I've previously reviewed, then feel free to contact me or leave me a comment on this post.

I'm giving this palette an A because of it's pricing, formula quality, packaging and presentation, and overall versatility. I think it would make an excellent addition to anyone's collection, whether it be artist looking to expand their kit or beginner wanting a beginner's contour kit. 

xx

Anastasia Contour Cream Kit Light

I know that contour kits have been all the rage lately, which is why it seems fitting for me to review some of the ones I've been trying out recently. With so many different contour kits out there that offer a variety of formulas and color ranges, it's often confusing and can be hard to decide which is best for you. And honestly, unless you're a makeup artist or a makeup obsessee, you really don't need a whole contour kit. One good bronzer is all most people need. 

Up until about a month ago, I had only used powder products to contour, but did want to try a cream formula. I've heard people say they really love cream contour shades, too. 

Anastasia Beverly Hills is known for an array of top of the line brow products, a pigmented eyeshadow line, popular liquid lipsticks, and really awesome powder contours. I had yet to try a product by the company that was lacking, so I went out on a limb and purchased this cream contour kit in hopes that the orange looking bronzers in the stock photos were an illusion. 

Sadly, they weren't.. 

This Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit in Light (with a $40 value) is the first product I've purchased from the company that left me supremely disappointed. While I was able to apply the contour and blend it out to make it work, I just did not like the color range. I'll explain a little bit more about it further in this post. 

The packaging (as seen below) is very nice and very similar to the sleek black packaging of the original powder contour kits. The one most notable difference I found between the two different kits is that the cover of the contour kit is clear, so you can see the product inside. I appreciate this type of packaging where I can see the product inside the palette.

The clear cover could also really come in handy for an artist using the multiple kits, which I think are Light, Medium and Dark, so that he/she wouldn't have to sift through their stuff to find the right shade. 

Left to Right: Banana, Vanilla, Cool Pink
                   Cream, Nude, Cinnamon

Left to Right: Banana, Vanilla, Cool Pink
                  Cream, Nude, CinnamonNow, on to the good stuff! 

When using the product, you're supposed to apply the contour underneath the foundation to give it a visually smoother appearance overall. I did try to apply it that way, but found that I ended up still applying a powder bronzer over the foundation to further accentuate my contoured areas. 

I'm not sure whether you're supposed to apply the highlight shades under the foundation as well, but I found that it was best to apply those after the foundation so that they give an actual brighter appearance to the skin. I did really like the highlight shades despite the shortcomings of the bronzers.

I have warm-toned skin, so I mixed the Banana and Vanilla shades together for a nice yellow-ish medium highlight. It covered well and did give me a really great natural glow once I set my makeup with powder and finished my makeup. 

The bronzers, as I've already mentioned, were just too orange for me. The first two shades, Cream and Nude, are a little too light to contour with--in my opinion. So when I tested them out, I used the Cinnamon shade for my contour. Cinnamon is the perfect name for the color, because it really is that gingery color of the cinnamon spice in your spice cabinet. Actually, I have an even better description of this color for you. If Oompa Loompa's wore foundation, Cinnamon would be their shade! 

I would liked to have seen a more taupe/ashy shade in these palettes. I know Anastasia has additional powder shades not found in the basic powder contour kits, so I'm hoping she offers a larger selection of the cream ones as time goes on.

And with color ranges aside, all six of the shades were very pigmented, creamy and very good coverage. I don't want to completely hate on the kit. The formula is good, but the color range is what I mostly disliked.

I wouldn't recommend this contour kit as a first choice for most people, if anyone. I think powder formulas are a lot easier for someone who is just learning, because most people know how to use a brush to apply powder to their face. But I feel that the cream application takes a little more practicing and learning of blending techniques. 

Contouring is an advanced artistry skill that takes time to learn. And not everyone has a facial structure that needs extra shadowing to enhance it. It's important to really know what flatters each individual. 

There's a first time for everything, and while I've never given anything less than A thus far, I'd give this product a C+. I like the packaging and highlighting shades, as well as the formula, but definitely not the selection of bronzing creams.

I will be reviewing a few more contour kits over the course of the next several weeks, so check back soon! 

xx