Summertime Smoky Eye with Gold, Bronze & Brown

First off, thank you to all of you who have been following me on this journey of exploring and evolving my passion into something more than a hobby! I cannot express enough how grateful I am to be able to make people feel beautiful and express myself while doing so. 

Having hazel eyes myself, I am fascinated with working on other eye colors, on discovering ways to make them all appear vibrant and as unique as they truly are. I love working with blue eyes. And I really wanted to do a bronzy gold and brown smoky eye that would be perfect for summer and would only brighten and enhance the cerulean hue. 

I did an almost ombre effect for this look. Later on I may try to do step-by-step tutorial photos for some of my work. But for now, I will give you a step-by-step run down on what I did for this one below: 

1. I first used a rich & warm mid-toned brown as a transition shade.
2. Then, I applied a deep bronze shimmery shadow on the outer third of her lids.
3. I used a bright gold shimmer shadow in the middle of her lids, making sure to blend it in well with the bronze shade I applied first.
4. Next, I put a shimmery champagne shade on the inner third/inner corner of her eye to brighten everything up. 
5. I used a mixture of the bronze shade and a lighter bronze on the bottom lash line. 
6. Then, I deepened up the outer corner with a dark burgundy and reinforced the brown crease shade to make sure all was blended nicely. 
7. Lastly, I used a stark matte white shade to highlight the brow bone. 

For the face, I went for a sleek finish with a bit of light contouring, a peach blush for a natural flush, a lot of highlighter for a soft and sun-kissed glow, and topped it off with a bright rosy-mauve lip to add some color to the face. 

Products Used: 

Face Primer: Mirabella Prime for the t-zone $29 & Skindinavia The Makeup Primer Spray all over the face $35-49

Eye Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion   $20

Foundation: Graftobian Hi-Def Glamour Creme Foundation shades "Sunlit Linen" & "Buttermilk"   $19.99 each 

Concealer: Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette  $14.95

Setting Powder: Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in "Honey Beige"  $6.99

Bronzer: NYX Cosmetics Highlight & Contour Pro Palette  $24.99, currently on sale for $14.99

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

Highlighter: E.L.F. Studio Baked Blush in "Pinktastic"  $3

Eyeshadow: 

• UD Vice Ltd. in shades "Deeper" "Blitz" "Last Sin" & "Chase" (palette no longer available for purchase)
• Coastal Scents Hot Pots in shades "Snow Bunny" "Oatmeal Tan" "Midnight Rodeo" & "Burnt Umber"  $1.95 each

Eye Liner: Wet N' Wild Fergie Creme Liner in "Cocoa Riche"  $4.99

Mascara: Maybelline Volum' Express The Mega Plush Mascara "Blackest Black"  $7.49

Lashes: Andrea ModLash Strip Lash  33 Black  $3.99

Lip Liner: UD 24-Hour Glide On Lip Pencil in "Paranoid" (now discontinued)

Gloss: NYX Lip Butters "Tiramisu"  $4.99, currently $2.99

Setting Spray: UD All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray  $30

Thanks again, for all of you who have been supporting and following me on this journey. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below or message me via Facebook. 

I am doing another one of my volunteers tomorrow, so I'll have photos and details for her makeup up within a few days! 

xx 

Festive Fourth of July Makeup Look

Alas, the time has come to share with you the Festive Fourth of July look I created today! 

I rarely ever get time to just "play" in my makeup, even though nothing would make me happier. It was a rare treat, but I had so much fun I anticipate doing many more of these from now on. It's also fun to come up with holiday-inspired looks, but anything outside the norm of my usual, everyday beat face will offer diversity to my blog and help me to better develop my skill set. 

Beat Face: When the makeup applied to a person's face is so powerful and amazing that it makes them look truly stunning. 

     [Definition Courtesy of Urban Dictionary]

It actually takes a lot of work to put together these posts: a few hours to throw a flawless look together, uploading and editing them, stamping them with my name, uploading them all to my blog, then writing the post and linking all of the important stuff. 

I'll be linking most of the products at the bottom of this post. If there is an item that IS NOT linked below, then it is because it was a L.E. item at some point and is no longer available. 

I tried to create an iridescent blue smoky eye with a decent amount of shimmer and a lot of smoke. I wanted my face to be a bit dewy, but not too much for my severely oily skin. You could tone down the natural glow or define it even more to meet the needs of your skin type. Lastly, I paired it off with a vibrant, matte red lip using my all time favorite red lipstick! 

You may be wondering why I am making this silly fishy-face in the photo below. I wanted to show you how my contour matches up to my natural jaw line. You can see how the fishy-face form accentuates that line so I can more clearly see that I've filled my contour in right. If you're having trouble finding the hollows of your cheeks to apply the contour, make your own stupid fish-lip face so you can find the right place to apply it. 

I wish I could condense the makeup list I am about to type up, but the truth is-- I used a crap-ton of products for this look, so bear with me! 

Products Used: 

Primer: Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner Primer for my t-zone & Skindinavia The Makeup Primer Spray-Oil Control all over the face

Foundation: Kat Von D Lock-it Tattoo in "Light 45" mixed with NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat in "Nude" 

Concealer: Revlon Colorstay Concealer "Fair" Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer "Radiant" 

Setting Powder: Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in "Honey Beige" (I tried the "baking" method with this today)

Pressed Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in "Buff Beige" or "Creamy Natural" 

Bronzer: Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette 

Blush: NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette, using "Miss Liberty" highlighter underneath "Final Cut" blush

Highlighter: E.L.F. Studio Baked Blush in "Pinktastic" 

Eye Primer: Sadly (because I was one of the people who got hacked and am afraid to purchase from them again), I used my favorite Lime Crime Eyeshadow Brightener. I like it better than NYX White Eyeshadow Base or the Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Milk," because the NYX products crease on me. 

Cream Shadow Base: I applied the MAC Trend Forecast Spring 2015 Eyes shade in "Blue Forecast"to the lid. 

Eyeshadow Shades: 

• Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar "Peanut Butter" & "Blueberry Swirl" 
• Coastal Scents Hot Pot in "Snow Bunny" for setting primer and brow highlight (it's my favorite white to highlight the brow bone, because it is a stark, matte white and provides a nice smooth base to begin any look with)
• UD Vice 3 shades in "Bobby Dazzle" for the inner corner, "Heroine" for the outer corner" and "Revolver" to smoke out the outer corner 
• UD Vice Ltd. shade "Roadstripe" is the whitish shade with blue multidimensional shimmer that you see on the first 2/3 of my lid.

Liner: MAC Fluidline "Blacktrack" & Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner "Perfect Black" 

Mascara: Maybelline Volum'Express Colossal Waterproof Mascara in "Classic Black"
Brows: NYX Cosmetics Micro Brow Pencil in "Taupe"  $9.99

Lashes: Kiss Chic Lashes 

Setting Spray: Skindinavia The Makeup Finishing Spray-Oil Control 

Liner: Maybelline New York ColorSensational Lip Liner in "Clear 10" 

Lipstick: MAC Lipstick "Relentlessly Red" 

Extras: 

• MUFE Aqua Seal 
• Lorac 3D Liquid Lustre "Opal" (was limited edition & currently sold out)

I think that just about covers it. Let me know what you all think, how often you think I should do these looks, and ask any questions you might have. Thanks for supporting my "livelihood" as I like to call it! Makeup is my favorite thing in the world & I love sharing my love for it with everyone!

I hope everyone has a fun-filled, safe and blessed Fourth of July! 

xx