Freitag, 27. April 2012

Look Of The Day

It's spring today! It will be 20°C :-)

Time for wearing something white and soft fair grey paired with my favorite lilac eyeshadow from The Make-up Store and THE statement lipstick from Mac in matte neon pink.

To soften the pink flash lipstick I didn't use a lip liner. I just tapped the color on with my finger.

Have a great day everybody!


Products used:
Make-up Store Microshadow Boheme
MAC Lipstick Matte Candy-Yum-Yum







Donnerstag, 26. April 2012

Square Eyeliner

Being really busy with commuting and traveling in my home town, the best city in Europe according to the Mercer list, I had no time for LOTD.

But I found this and I want to share it. If you're not already following LOVE AESTHETICS, check out her block. I love her clean style and her DIY.




If your skin is sensitive, don't use duck tape for your eyes because the glue is very strong and might cause irritations. Better take black paper and use lash glue.

Check out her nails in the video, too. Just the "moon" of the nails is colored. Like!

Here's the video!



Pics and video via http://love-aesthetics.blogspot.com

Mittwoch, 25. April 2012

new in: Lime Crime Chinadoll Palette

It's here :-)

I took me a long time to order from Lime Crime because I don't like ordering without testing on my own skin. But so many reviews (here, here or here) showed that the red eye shadow must be really great.

And a really good red is seldom for eye shadows!



I have to say it's a very lovely packing.
I know... it's just the packing, but I love it. It's really wrapped like a gift.

And I got a small eye primer for free!









Fly Dragon Fly - Parasol - Goldfish - Jade-o-Lade - Lotus Noir

Swatches without flash
Swatches with flash
... and I always wanted to have those lipsticks:
Chinchilla opaque grey lipstick (left)
Coquette opaque nude lipstick (right)
Swatches without flash
Swatches with flash
The lipsticks are great, although they are really strong opaque and your natural lip color won't come through, they are not drying out your lips. I'm looking forward to do some cool make-up but for today I'm too tired. Good Night, Bellas!





Dienstag, 24. April 2012

Look Of The Day

I had a gorgeous shooting yesterday and I fell in love with liquid latex. Such an amazing material!

Today I did a purple-golden look.

Products used:
MAC Paint Pot Hyperviolet
MAC Pigment Golden Lemon
MAC Eyeshadow Spellcaster
YSL Eyeliner
Dior Extase Mascara
Isadora Inliner white








Sonntag, 22. April 2012

Tutorial: Fat Black Cat Eye

Ever wanted a fat eyeliner like Amy Winehouse, or a neat line like Holly Golightly? But when you draw it, it only looked good on one eye? Or it doesn't look good at all?
Remember your eyes are not identical, they are more sisters than twins. So what might work on one eye doesn't work on the other one.

Here's an easy tutorial how to draw the lines until it's like the way you want it.

Enjoy! Hope you like it!

sorry for spooky lenses... need to buy new ones.



start with a primer: I used MAC Paints Bare Canvas

draw a line along the lashes with a white pencil
I used Isadora Inliner Satin White

mark with a point the end of your wing

draw the line thicker and thicker
and then connect it with the point

correct it with a q-tip if necessary (until it's symmetric on both eyes)

fill in with a black kohl pencil
I used Maybelline's Expression Eye Liner

Fill in again with a liquid liner for more definition
TIP: miss out a tiny white line above the black line.
It will be like a white shadow of the black one.
This is to receive more contrast and a more 3D look of the line

Give your eye more shape: add some color to your crease
I used the third one of the Isadora Matte Chocolate Palette
it's a brownish taupe

add the same color under your eye

Form your eyebrow with some powder and fix it with gel
fill in the last white spots between the line and your lashes
Eye lash curler, some mascara and your done!




Test Run

Since I have a shooting tomorrow with black liquid latex, I'm doing a little test run today with airbrush and a black liquid color from Kett.

It's so much fun, but the removal is a little bit hard. With glitter everywhere and black color in my hair, it's time for a shower ;)


Happy Sunday!



Samstag, 21. April 2012

Look Of The Day - Airbrush

Today I did this look with airbrush. Yes, no eye shadow powder this time. It's liquid eye shadow. But it's very hard to do this on myself since I have to close my eyes. Need more training (and more colors!).

Products used:
MAC Paint Pot Quite Natural
Dinair Blush Peach Pink
Dinair Shimmer Onyx Black
YSL Shocking Black Mascara

Happy Weekend everybody!






Freitag, 20. April 2012

Carine Roitfeld for MAC



After Iris Apfel and Beth Dito, Carine Roitfeld, former chief editor of the French Vogue, does a make-up collaboration with MAC as WWD reports.

Roitfeld's look is all about big statement brows and dark smoky eyes paired with pale lips. (that's sooo me!).

So I'm really looking forward to this collection but we all have to wait until fall/winter 2012.




Brushes - Must Haves - Face

As promised here's the second episode about brushes. The last time I showed you my must-have brushes for eyes. (here).

So today I wanna talk about brushes for the FACE!

First the good news, if you don't wanna buy so many brushes, you dont' have to. Since you are using it for your own face, you can use your fingers. They work perfectly for liquid foundation and concealers.

Even many make-up artists are working on clients with their fingers. They can better press and tap the texture in your skin and the fingers also warm the foundation up for an even complexion.




Duo Fibre Brush 187 from MAC (not a "must")


This brush has mixed hair - the dark part is goat and the white part are synthetic fibres. Colloquial it's also called "skunk". Guess, why!

I use it for liquid foundation applying it in circular motions. But MAC says you can also use it for blending face powder or pigments.

I got this brush from a holiday collection. It's good for traveling because the shaft is short, but the quality of this brush is very low as you can see on the pic. It has lost many hairs, especially the synthetic ones. I hardly use it anymore.

You can use your fingers instead, but if you wanna treat yourself nice use the brush - it's like a mini massage for your face.





Concealer Brush (not a "must")

For yourself you don't need a concealer brush. You can use your little finger or your ring finger to tap in the texture. It often works better than a brush. 

Of course for clients it's not nice to work with fingers on spots or pimples.






Pro Performance Sponge from MAC 

Talking about the normal white sponges, I'm not into sponges for a classic foundation. If you want to get a white clown face or a blue Avatar-face, you like working with a sponge, but for your daily foundation I think it's not necessary.

But this sponge makes a different! You can use it for liquid and cream foundations and with the pointed end you can apply easily concealer.

If you don't want to work with your fingers on your face: buy this sponge.

Foundation Brush 190 from MAC (not a "must")

This is a good classic foundation brush. You can use it especially for creamy and liquid foundation. It's a very soft and gentle one. I also use it for concealers under the eye.

I like it very much, but it's not a must at all.






Buffer Brush 182 from MAC 

Now we are coming to the musts. This is a brush for powder and you can not apply powder with your hands.

I love this one! Best buy ever! It's very soft and has a lot of hairs. I apply everything with it: face powder, bronzer, ... also rouge, because of the round shape you can use the edges for exact applying.

Also good for traveling because of the size. 

Large Angled Contour Brush from MAC

For me it's a must if you wear daily (powder) rouge. 

If not you can use the buffer brush but then you have to clean it in between otherwise the rouge will get mixed with bronzer and might loose the bright fresh effect and might look dull.

For liquid rouge you can use your fingers.





Perfect Foundation Brush from Shiseido (not a "must")


This luxury brush is not a "must", it's treatment for your face ;-)

It's unbelievable soft. The hair is very short and so the brush is very compact but still soft. You can use it for everything: for creamy or liquid foundation, concealer and also for powder.

You dip the texture in your face. I use it for MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation.
Don't use it for water resistant foundations, it's hard to clean it afterwards!


Tapered Face Brush 138 from MAC (on my wish list)


This one is on my wish list. It looks like the perfect powder brush for everything: face powder - especially for the hard to reach parts like under the eye, around the nose..., contouring with bronzer or rouge, for highlighting...

And it's also very soft and gentle. I've already been to the counter to check it out, but the price is a little bit too extraordinary. Here's a review saying it's worth to invest ;-)
(pic via MAC)




Check out the Don'ts & Tips for brushes at the end of the Must Haves for Eyes here.






Donnerstag, 19. April 2012

Look Of The Day

Still cold outside. And grey like my beanie.

I did a simple look today, but to cheer me up I added some lip stick in bright orange-red.

Products used:
MAC Paint Pot Constructivist
MAC Eye Shadow Handwritten
NYX black glitter eyeliner
IsaDora Inliner White
YSL Shocking Black Mascara


MAC Lip Pencil Redd
Givenchy Lip Stick Fruity Orange 14
MAC Cream Color Base Luma

Spring is coming soon. I know it. Be patient.




Mittwoch, 18. April 2012

Brushes - My Must Haves - For Eyes

Today I'd like to start a new episode about brushes.

Very often the question comes up "Do you really need so many brushes?"
Yes. I do. And I need even more!

No kidding. I often see brushes and I think, this one might be better than the one I already have. The truth is, that also for brushes there might be (a little) R&D and therefor there are better brushes. Or new brushes that works for new textures better.

But for private use, of course you don't need all of them.

I'd like to introduce you to my top favorites.

Let's start with brushes for EYES!







Creme Shadow Brush 235 from Sephora

This is obviously for creamy eyeshadows, like MAC Paint Pots or MAC Paints or you can use it for eye primers as well. It's a very good tool to blend the texture well up to the crease or to the eye brow.

The brush itself is very soft and gentle to your eye.

I have mine for more than one year and it's daily in use and still in a good shape!



Classic Rounded Crease Brush 13 from Sephora

This is an excellent brush for blending - especially in the crease (and upwards), but also for under the eye. It's also good to add some more depth to your eye.

This one here is also more than one year old and in daily use - still in a good shape. I have to say it's actually a better quality than the one I got from MAC. MAC's 226 is spiny and hurts a little.




Small Angle Brush 266 from MAC


This brush is perfect to create sharp lines, e.g. for eye liners like MAC Fluidline or you can also make a good eye line with an eye shadow with it. Also good if you like to blend a line (one side hart cut and the other side fade out).

It's also a good tool for your eyebrows: to bring them in shape and fill in with eye brow powder.

Or you can use it for precis highlighting for the inner corner of your eyes or your cupid bow. It's definitely a must in your bathroom.

Pencil Brush 219 from MAC


This one is necessary for blending liquid eyeliner or kohl pencil for a smudge smokey eye look.

Be sure, that the brush you choose is not itchy at all. It can really hurt and make eyes red if you are sensitive.

Mine is about three years old and has lost a few hairs, but this doesn't matter.
Tip: at the beginning all new brushes loose a little bit of their hairs, but after  3 to 4 times washing they shouldn't loose hair. If that is so, they are damaged, return it to the cosmetic counter.

Eye Shader Brush 239 from MAC

Finally you will need a brush just to simply apply eye-shadow on your lid and under your eye.

This one from MAC is very good, but I also like this one from Sephora Eye Brush 22 which is a little bit smaller.





Dont's & Tips

I don't like 2-in-1-brushes. I store my personal brushes in a jar, so the other side will get damaged soon.

Avoid buying MAC brushes via eBay. There are a lot of fakes and you won't have fun with fake MAC brushes. Their quality is low, they are itchy, loosing hair...

Always keep your brushes clean! They can be a nest for bacteria and can cause skin irritations. Here's a DIY for a brush cleaner.

Better invest in a good, expensive brush than in cheap quality. You'll regret it long-term and have to buy a new one. If you are carefully with your brushes you can have them for years.

If you are a beginner (with no brushes at all), I recommend to go to Sephora (it's cheaper than MAC and the brushes are surprisingly good) or wait until MAC has their Holiday Line Extension sets. Then you can get a bunch of brushes for a good price, but it's only available around X-mas.