A FOTD with MAC Style Snob and Club

I thought I'd share this face of the day from yesterday, as I was really pleased with how the eyes turned out. It was a bit of a random pairing of two of my well loved MAC eyeshadows, I've already mentioned MAC Club quite a few times but I don't think I've shared Style Snob before other than in swatch comparisons. Unfortunately, it is one of those 'taupes you can't have', unless of course you're lucky and find one in a blog sale.

I started off with a base of Le Metier de Beaute Dualistic pencil in Champagne smudged over the mobile lid. Despite the name, this is a lovely matte taupe colour. I find it lacks definition as a liner but it's excellent used like a paint pot. I patted Style Snob on top of the Champagne base, blended out at the crease and then pushed Club along the lashline, concentrating on the outer third of my eye.

Apologies in advance for the hair band. I'm dithering over whether to stick or twist with the short hair. As much as I love short hair, I don't love regular trips to the hairdressers...

Face
NARS TM in Finland mixed with BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl
BECCA Concealer Duo in Praline to cover blemishes, redness and also on my undereyes
Hourglass Duo in Sunset, blusher on the cheeks and a bit of the bronzer
MUFE HD Powder
Shu brow pencil

Eyes
NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base
LMdB Dualistic Pencil in Champagne used as a base
MAC Style Snob
MAC Club
Clinique High Impact Mascara (magazine freebie)

Lips
RBR Lipgloss in Coy

Swatches: MUFE Black Tango Palette

I had a request from the lovely Leanne of Do Not Refreeze for some swatches of the Black Tango palette I showed you yesterday. Thankfully the sun was on my side today.

Slightly out of focus so that you can see the reflects

The darker three colours all contain shimmery reflects and the base colour sets to quite a matte finish. All three are well pigmented too. The plum colour has a brown undertone with stunning red reflects. The blue and green both have quite a black base however they do read as a colour rather than an off-black, if that makes sense. The ivory highlighter shade has a frosty finish and is more sheer than the other eyeshadows in the palette.

This is the result of a quick play with the palette from yesterday. I applied the plum shade as a base from lash to crease and then applied Ikat from the LMdB Silk Road Kaleidoscope over the top. I used the blue along the lower lashes, the green on the upper lashes and the ivory on the brow bone. I lined both upper and lower waterlines with Kevyn Aucoin Basic Black pencil.

Face of the Day using RBR and LMdB

Sorry for the rather heedless use of abbreviations in the title. I tried and failed to come up with something more catchy, I really did. In case you haven't come across these abbreviations before, RBR = Rouge Bunny Rouge and LMdB = Le Metier de Beaute. I seem to have posted quite a few face of the day type posts recently, we mostly have the school holidays to thank/blame for this as I have more time to play with makeup but less time to write. I'm sure I'll be catching up with lots of reviews in September.

Today, I went for more golden toned neutrals on the eye than is my usual habit. I resisted the urge to reach for one of my beige-pink blushers and used MAC Prim & Proper instead. This blusher went in my 'maybe' box during my sort out a couple of months ago. I'm still not sure about it and I think it turns too orange on my skin to be entirely flattering. Time to go back in the box, maybe? Let me know what you think.

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance - I'm not sure if I've said it before but with oily, hooded lids, an eyeshadow base is an absolute must for me.
RBR Atlas Swallowtail* cream eyeshadow from lash to just above the socket
LMdB Bronze Topaz* eyeshadow from the Penelope Kaleidoscope layered over Atlas Swallowtail
LMdB Brocade* eyeshadow from the Silk Road Kaleidoscope on the outer corner and into the crease
RBR Unforgettable Oriole dusted lightly on the inner corner and a tiny bit on the centre of the lid
RBR Caress of Mink loose glitter pigment lightly pressed onto the outer corner over Brocade
Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara* (this isn't as dramatic as the Clinique mascara on my lashes)

L-R: Unforgettable Oriole, Brocade and Bronze Topaz

Face
RBR Sketches on Water tinted moisturiser in Adansonia
Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer* on undereyes and around my nose
MAC Prim & Proper blusher
Shu Uemura brow pencil

Lips
Hourglass Femme Rouge in Fresco lightly tapped on from the bullet

Swatches from left to right: Unforgettable Oriole, Brocade, Bronze Topaz, Atlas Swallowtail, Prim & Proper and Fresco.

* PR Samples

FOTD with Shiseido Patina and LMdB Come One, Come All

We practiced quite a lot of product layering to create different textures on the BECCA course and I was inspired to give this a go on the eyes using Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colour in Patina as a base. Patina applies as quite a yellow based green on my eyes and I wanted to temper the yellow a bit, so I applied the silvery grey-green from the Come One, Come All Kaleidoscope. I put some of the peach just above the crease but in retrospect, I probably should have given this a miss!

I'm trying to get into the habit of curling my lashes. I still need to improve my technique some more as I frequently end up with a right angle rather than a curl and more bend in the centre of the eye, rather than the outer corner where I really need it. I find curling them before using the Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume mascara* does make them look more dramatic and I get better separation if I use the bristles at the tip of the wand.

Here are the products that I used for this look...

Face
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in Finland
Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer*
BECCA Shimmering Powder in Nefertiti
MAC Cubic Blusher
Shu Uemura brow pencil H9 Seal Brown

Lips
Lancome Rouge in Love lipstick in Rose Thé*

Eyes
Shiseido Patina applied with finger tips just passed the crease
Kevyn Aucoin Basic Black liner along the lashline*
The taupey grey colour from the LMdB Come One, Come All Kaleidoscope applied over Patina and the black liner
The peach shade from Come One, Come All applied above the crease
Kevyn Aucoin Lash Curlers*
Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume mascara*

* Denotes PR Samples

Face of the Day with Burberry Rosewood Eyeshadow

I finally had opportunity to wear Burberry Rosewood eyeshadow today. I had a moment of guilt as I spoiled the pristine surface but that soon disappeared as the the joy of applying a new silky smooth taupe eyeshadow kicked in! The Burberry eyeshadows are more pigmented than you would expect from something called 'Sheer Eyeshadow' but because of the colour and finish, Rosewood does have a slightly transparent quality when applied. As I suspected, the colour is similar to Solstice Halcyon but Rosewood has more of an obvious iridescent sheen quality to its finish.

I kept everything else pretty simple but as ever, I probably look a bit more made up in real life than I do in the pictures. Here's a complete breakdown of the other items I wore today:

Face
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser in Finland
Perricone No Concealer Concealer* applied to undereye area
Shu Brow Pencil H9 Seal Brown
Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Cheek Colour in Rose

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in Rosewood
Annabelle Smudge Paint in Sludge applied with Louise Young liner brush
No.7 Lash Adapt mascara*

Lips
Voltaic lip gloss from the Aurora LMdB Lip Kit*
I changed to Shiseido Perfect Rouge in Venetian Rose later as I fancied something a little darker

* PR Samples

My Blues, Greens and Reds

The weather is so miserable outside that I felt inspired to do another colour grouping post. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not great at experimenting with colours but I wondered what a hunt for blues, greens and reds would uncover. I suspect that I'm repeatedly drawn to a single shade from a colour family rather than collecting a range from across the spectrum. So, no pretty rainbow of colours here.

Greens

Eyeshadows: MAC Club, Rouge Bunny Rouge Olive Violeteare, Green eyeshadow from Le Metier de Beaute Penelope Kaleidoscope, Green from the Chantecaille Sea Turtles palette, Lancôme Erika F, NARS Dogon and Rajasthan.
Eye Pencils: Annabelle Smoothliner in Jade, No.7 Metallic Eyes in Green, Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier in Bangalore and MAC Kohl Power Pencil in Mystery
Nail Polish: Barry M Racing Green, YSL in Wintergreen, Le Metier de Beaute Dionysus and Athena, L'Oreal Innocent Green, Nails Inc freebie in an unnamed Teal colour

Blues

Eyeshadows: YSL Pure Chromatics in shade #3, Sephora eyeshadow in Preppy Look (#41) and  L'Oreal Infallible Colour in Innocent Turquoise.
Eye Pencils: MAC Pearlglide liner in Petrol Blue and Annabelle Smoothie Crayon in Blubomb
Nail Polish: Joe nail varnish in Persian Blue, YSL Moonlight Blue, Lancôme Vernis in Love in Bleu de Flore (573B), China Glaze in Tempest, Orly Star of Bombay, Butter London Victoriana, L'Oreal French Riviera.

Reds

Nail Polish: Butter London Knees Up, Orly Glam, Lancôme Vernis in Love in Miss Coquelicot (154M) and Lancôme Rouge Saint Honoré (22)
Lip Liners: MAC Cherry and Le Metier de Beaute Rose
Lip Products: Tom Ford lipstick in Smoke Red, Ilia Crimson & Clover, Max Factor Colour Elixir lipstick in Ruby Tuesday, Lancôme lipsticks in Rouge Faubourg and Rouge in Love (159B), Revlon Colourburst in Raspberry, Kevyn Aucoin Liquid Lipstick in Aquarouge, Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Fume and Ellis Faas in L303
Cheek Colour: W3LL People Universalist Stick #5

I thought I'd add this final picture, so you can see exactly why all the images are so dark. I know we really need the rain but, seriously, enough already!! Hopefully I will get opportunity to take some of these again when the sun finally reappears.

Disclosure: The items shown here are a mixture of things that I have purchased myself, been gifted to me and PR samples. If you want to check the origin of any particular item, do feel free to ask.

My Z Palette and Depotting LMdB Kaleidoscopes

Last night I suddenly got an urge to try depotting my Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscopes. So, whilst most people were watching the England match go to penalities, I took a small screwdriver to my makeup and hoped I wouldn't live to regret this rash decision.

The Le Métier de Beauté Kaleidoscopes come with a small hole in the back of each layer which allow you to free the eyeshadow pans without the need for a heat. Hopefully you can see from the pictures that the hole is very close to the edge of the pan. It is important to angle the tool you are using towards the centre of the pan, rather than straight up, as it is possible for it to slip straight past the edge of the pan otherwise. I first of all tried using a needle but this didn't enable me to apply enough pressure, so I switched to a thin screwdriver which was more successful.

The pans came out relatively easily and I found it best to cup my hand over the pan whilst pressing from behind, so that I could catch the eyeshadow as it popped out. Freeing the eyeshadows in this way causes no damage to the packaging and I intend to keep the kaleidoscope casing just in case I change my mind about storing the eyeshadows in a free palette.

I depotted three eyeshadow kits: Silk Road, Penelope and Le Cirque. I would have depotted Come One, Come All if I hadn't run out of space in my Z palette. The fact that the Z palette was filled so quickly made me realise just how big the Le Métier pans are. I probably should have compared them to a MAC pan for reference but the RBR refill pan that you can see on the right hand side is a very similar to a MAC pan. The square pan that you can also see on the right hand side is a depotted Shu Uemura eyeshadow.

The Z palettes have a magnetised base so there is no need to add magnetic stickers to underside of pans and refills. Sometimes you will find that eyeshadow pans are made from a non-magnetic material. I discovered that both the Shu and the pans from Le Cirque were non-magnetic so I applied the 'metal stickers' that came with the Z palette to these pans. This is where I feel the need to have a little whinge. I think it's a shame that the free palettes haven't settled on a universal system. I would like to be able to swap and change pans around across all of my palettes (MAC, Z palette and Unii palette) but this isn't possible as about a third of my pans have magnets on their base. I have no desire to start removing stickers that I have carefully applied just so that I can put them in my Z palette.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the Z palette. I don't think it is as attractive as a Unii palette and although the cardboard is sturdy, I'm not sure I'd feel safe using it for travel. Of course, the Pro Z palette does have size on its side, you can see how it compares to the MAC 15 pan palette above. The old style Unii palette remains my personal favourite. You can find an excellent comparison of the old and new style Unii palettes on Everyday Beauty.

I purchased my Pro Z palette from Cocktail Cosmetics where they cost £19.95.

That Was The Week That Was

I was struggling for post inspiration today and in the course of checking up on my regular splogger, I went back to have a look at my posts from this time last year. It was interesting as I remember many of the posts well and was surprised that a whole year had passed since I wrote them. I thought it would be fun to revisit the items and see whether my feelings have changed towards any of them.

Some of the items I wrote about in that first week of June 2011 include Giorgio Armani's Eyes to Kill in Pulp Fiction, the Kate eyeshadow palette, NARS Dogon eyeshadow duo, Le Metier de Beaute blusher in Echo and BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl. To my shame, none of these items get enough use and languish in my makeup collection, with the exception of Echo which I no longer own.

Although I don't use them often, I'd consider both the Georgio Armani E2K and NARS Dogon as cherished items in my collection. Pulp Fiction is really pretty but it's also quite sparkly so I tend to overlook it for everyday wear. I put it on today and it was really nice to be reminded that this pot does not belong in the bottom of a drawer for 'best'.

NARS Dogon is one of the items I took on holiday with me at Easter and I wore it a lot. It'd probably say this is one of favourite NARS purchases and I prefer it to Rajasthan, which I have often pondered selling.

I wrote about the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector as part of a post comparing several of my liquid/cream highlighters. I keep meaning to make the comparison between Pearl and the Rouge Bunny Rouge highlighter in Sea of Clouds. I tend to reach for Sea of Tranquility when I use my little RBR samples as I feel its pinky tone is softer and more flattering. However, BECCA Pearl does give a lovely lift to the face if applied as a thin layer underneath my foundation or tinted moisturiser. Like many things, I forget to use it as I'm usually in a rush and it's an easy step to skip.

I haven't used the Kate eyeshadow palette for months but it was lovely to see it again. I want to have a go at using the brow powders in this palette for a bit of a change from old faithful Seal Brown. 

Le Metier de Beaute's Echo was an item I lusted after for a really long time and it's often touted as a must have. The colour wasn't really for me though. It's quite similar in my mind to NARS Orgasm and as I mentioned in a recent post, if I'm in the mood for this sort of colour, I reach for the blusher in my Chantecaille Sea Turtles palette. Echo has been re-homed as I thought it was silly to hang on to when someone else could enjoy it.

Do you ever look back on your purchases and feel bad for neglecting things? Do you find you get as much enjoyment out of items you've owned for a long time or does nothing quite beat the thrill of new a shiny for you?

Updated Brush Collection

I rearranged my brush collection over the weekend and as most of the brushes were clean, I thought it would be a good moment to do an updated collection post. The number of brushes I have seems to have grown again since this post. Judging by my original brush collection post, this urge to talk about my brushes seems to be an annual event!

Rather than make the post overwhelming by commenting on each brush, I will simply name the brushes pictured and provide links to previous reviews where possible. Hopefully it will help me identify any brushes that I haven't reviewed yet. Also, if there are any which you would like me to discuss in more detail or compare you can put a request in the comments.

Previously I had my brushes split between the handmade brush roll I bought from asoftblackstar's Etsy Store and a glass vase. The brushes in the vase were often neglected and I was fed up of having to clean them because they had collected dust. I bought this Stilazzi mesh bag from Cocktail Cosmetics (as modelled by my furry helper) to store the brushes from the vase in order to keep them clean and tidy, and also to allow me to store them in the plastic drawer unit I keep my makeup in. I have the STZ-027M mesh bag and it fits my brushes perfectly but the bags are available in a variety of sizes.

The brushes in the picture above all fit in the Stilazzi bag. The Rouge Bunny Rouge Contour and Blusher brushes don't normally live in there as I keep these loose in my drawers with my face products. I managed to miss a couple of other brushes as they are also slotted into my storage drawers or hidden in makeup bags such as my Le Metier Concealer Brush and my short handled MAC 213 Fluffy Brush. Otherwise this is better much a complete collection.

FACE BRUSHES

Left to right: Essence Blusher brush, Sigma F25, MAC 187 duo fibre, MAC 188 small duo fibre, Hakuhodo B214BkSL Highlighter and The London Brush Co. #12 brush.

Left to right: 2 x MAC 168 Contour brush, MAC 129 SH, discontinued Ruby + Millie Blusher brush, Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher brush 012 Face Contour brush, Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher brush, Illamasqua Blusher brush1, MAC 109 Contour brush, MAC 165, RMK Cheek brush and Hakuhodo Medium Pointed Yachiyo.

Left to right: adesign Angled Concealer Brush, GOSH Professional Face Brush, Hakuhodo G5552 4mm Powder & Liquid round/angled brush, adesign Flat Topped Foundation Brush, Le Metier Angled Foundation, Max Factor Foundation Brush, adesign Cream Cheek Brush and MAC 242 SE brush.

EYE BRUSHES

Left to right: The Body Shop Shadow brush, 2 x MAC 239, Hakuhodo Kokutan ML, Hakuhodo K024, Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher brush Large Shader 003, The London Brush Co. Shadow Blender, Japoneque Fluff Brush, The London Brush Co. #14 and Cozzette D225.

Left to right: GOSH Smudger brush, MAC 266 Angled Brush (brow), The Body Shop Angled Eyeshadow Brush, KIM E131 Angled Eyeliner, MAC 210 Eyeliner Brush, Louise Young Eyeliner Brush, The London Brush Co. #18 Small Blender, MAC 219 Pencil Brush, The London Brush Co. #17 Blender Brush and the Smashbox Definer.

Left to right: Hourglass Crease 04, MAC 217, Sigma E35, Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher brush Crease 011, MAC 224, Japonesque Angled Eyeshadow and Sigma E40.

Top to bottom: MAC 226 Crease Brush, Louise Young LY38, Cozzette S175 and Cozzette D330.

LIP AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS BRUSHES

Left to right: MAC 316 Lip Brush, KIM L311 Narrow Lip Brush, discontinued Ruby + Millie Angled Liner Brush, MAC 204 Lash Brush and adesign Short Handled Foundation Brush.


Listing everything and looking for links highlights the fact that I have a few reviews outstanding. I was certain that I had reviewing the Rouge Bunny Rouge Blusher brush before but it seems I was mistaken. Both the Hakuhodo B214BkSL and G5552 also warrant further mention.

I shall leave you will a picture of my furry friend enjoying the brushes (just before he started to eat them). Do let me know if there are any brushes which you would like to know more about.

Disclosure: The brushes shown here are a mixture of those bought by me and sent for review.