February 23, 2012

Hey beauties! I've noticed I've been going back to the same few products for the last month of so. So I thought I compile a list of my favourite products for this time of the year. i.e., late gloomy winter days.

Face stuff - double up on the highlighter!

I know most people like to bring out the glow in the summer when they already have a tan. For me though, I'm much more minimal in the summer and more hands on around now when I have lost all of my tan. To give myself for of a glow, I use TWO highlighters. How I go about it is mixing Nars Copacabana Illuminator (pearly pink liquid - my review here) with a light water based foundation such as Lancome Teint Miracle (shade Buff 4C - my review here). I apply this mixture with MAC 187. Once I do my blush, I add my second highlighter is MAC Pearl Blossom beauty powder most days. Pearl Blossom was LE but it's a light glowy pink.

Blushing - Pale pinks and Rosy Neutrals

I play up my late winter complexions with neutral shades that have rosey undertones like Nars Madly or light pink shades like MAC Pink Cult (LE). These shades go with pretty much any makeup I pul on my eyes and are also ideal for my 'barely there' makeup days. Since I tend to be heavy handed with blushes, I use a big powder brush for application (using Quo at the moment).

Lips - Berry-er the Better!

I love my bold lipsticks most of the time but now is when I'm doing mostly neutral toned berry lips. They just have an appeal for me this time of the year. Three of my current faves are MAC All's Fair (LE) which is a shimmery light strawberry pink, Chanel Romantic RA which is a very subtle rosey red and MUFE Rouge Artist #34, a pigmented rose.

Here's some swatches of the lipsticks (on NW20 arm):

Left to right: All's Fair, Romantic, #34

What are some of your fave late winter products?

Posted In Chanel, Favourites, MAC LE, MUFE, Nars | 2 comments | edit

February 21, 2012

Hello my beauties! I've been pretty good with my low-buy since fall last year and definitely don't feel I need any new makeup. When I buy somethings once in a blue moon, it's more to reward myself for being good, lol! In the meantime, I've been shopping my stash quite a bit for the last few months.

I was inspired by the super talented Makeup Your Jagsara to use my old Style Black MES for this look. I remember been so excited over these MES when they came out (umm....3 years ago?) but haven't been using them much since that year. I used the MES damp with MUFE Mist and Mixed. I also went for pale lips with my all time fave nude lipstick Blankety and made it even lighter with the milky pink Glamour for All l/g (LE).

Hope you like this look:

Face

Nars Copacabana illuminator

mixed with

Lancome Teint Miracle foundation - Buff 4C

Pink Cult blush

Eyes

UDPP - base

Young Punk MES - inner lid

Cinderfella MES - outer lid and crease

UD Virgin e/s - highlight

Vanilla p/m - highlight

Blue Flame MES - to line around the eyes

Lancome Hypnose mascara

Lips

Blankety l/s

Glamour for All l/g

Posted In FOTD | 2 comments | edit

February 13, 2012

This look was from last week but somehow got lost. I did an all out neutral look using my Naked 2 palette. I knew I didn't waste my money getting this, I use it every other day! Believe it or not it's actually more difficult for me to do this neutral look than wear a bright lipstick. But it's nice to do the whole nude make up thing every once in a while.

Face

Nars Copacabana Illuminator

Mixed with

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in BR20

Ben Nye powder

Nars Madly blush

Chez Chez Lame powder

Eyes

UDPP - base

Treasure Hunt p/p - base for inner lid

UD Half Baked e/s - inner lid

UD Pistole e/s - mid lid

UD Busted e/s - outer lid

UD Foxy e/s - highlight

UD Stash 24/7 - lower lashline

BB Chocolate Brown g/l - to line

Lancome Definicils pro mascara

Lips

MUFE 12C l/l

MUFE #29 lipstick

Nars Risky Business l/g

Posted In FOTD | 4 comments | edit

February 12, 2012

Hello my pretties! I did some hauling this past week which for once did not include my basics and refills. Thought I share this haul and some quick thoughts with you.

MAC Shop Shop Shop, Cook Cook Cook

Admittedly, I had not been to a MAC counter/store in about a year but this collection peaked my curiouseity. It is a pretty large collection too but I came away with a few items that were must haves for me.

1. Runway Red lipstick (satin) - I know I know, I bought another red lipstick! But honestly I went through my 23 red lipsticks and none are exact dupe for this. It's a blue based red and somehow in between being vampy and retro. Gorgeous shade on me and I would imagine all skintones. Here's a swatch of it comparing it to some of my other reds (my inner arm is NW20):

left to right: Runway Red, So Scarlet (LE), Port Red (LE), Chanel Precious RA, MUFE #45, Chanel Famous RA (LE)

2. Added Goodness fluidline: I really like MAC fluidlines and the ones offered in this collection are so sophisticated. I purchased Added Goodness, a beautiful shimmery taupe. I don't have any liners like it. It applies soft and pigmented and is perfect for day time.

3. Florida creamblend blush - Now, I was first terrified of all three creamblushes as they are so friggin bright! But my fave SA applied each of them on my cheeks (lightly and buffed) and I fell in love with Florida. It gives me that beautiful flushed/glowy from within look.

And no haul is complete with a little Chanel....

1. Illusoire Illusion d'Ombre: I had wanted to try these eyeshadows since their release in fall and finally got around to it. The Illusion d'Ombre have an almost spongey texture and are a gel/powder hybrid. They are long lasting, blendable, builadable and have a sophisticated shimmer to them. Illusoire is a purpley taupe, very unique to my collection.

2. Romatique Rouge Allure: I told my Chanel SA that I wanted a more demure lipstick but wanted to stay in my comfort zone of reds and berries. She recommended Romatique and boy was she on point! Romatique is a strawberry red with very smooth texture. It's beyond pretty on and really brings out the rosiness in my skin in a good way. I can see myself wearing this a lot.

What did you guys think of the latest MAC collections? What are some of your fave Chanel items?

Posted In Chanel, Haul, MAC LE | 11 comments | edit

February 10, 2012

Hey beauties! Last week, I ventured into the mall after I'd say two months to pick up some of my hair and skin basics that I'd ran out of. Thought I share the haul here with you. It's not super exciting, but I also did a small MAC and Chanel haul that I'll share next week to spice it up :P

At Trades Secret, I picked up a bottle of Moroccanoil hair oil that I had finally ran out of after almost 2 years of consistent usage. I'm very low maintenance hair-wise and this product is really the only thing I use on my hair. I don't do mouse, wax, gel, spray....I just put a dollop of this oil after each wash (twice a week) and I'm good to go.

I also am a fan of Moroccanoil hair mask and mine had just ran out (also after 2 years) and wanted to get a replacement but my store was out. So I decided to give the Macadamia Deep Repair Hair Mask a try. The sales girl told me to use this the same way, a tiny bit in my wet hair once a week, let is set for a few minutes and then rinse off.

Then while I was there, I picked up two of Zoya's spring collection nail polishes. I got Skylar (see swatch in my previous post) and Bevin. Both are so cute!!

I got a replacement for my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion as well. Another product I've been using forever (close to 10 years) just coz it works for me. I don't like to switch my skin products too much.

The bottle next to it is a self tanning lotion called FakeBake that they gave me at TS with my $50+ purchase. I'll be interested to try it as I definitely could use some colour on my face right now. I've lost all of what was left on my tan and now am as light as NW20 :/ The sales girl really raved about it but I gotta use it before giving my opinion.

Have you guys tried any of these products? What are your holly grail skin and hair products?

Posted In Haul, Zoya | 2 comments | edit

February 7, 2012

Hey beauties! For once in my life, I actually was randomly at Trade Secret when they had got a new nail polish collection. The collection was Zoya's Spring 2012, True and Fleck Effects. I'm not a fan of flakies unlike other nail polish lovers out there but the True part of the collection was beautiful. I'm an a super strict beauty buy so I only picked out two shades that stood out the most; one of them being "Skylar".

Skylar is a beautiful and opaque blue gray shade. What I love about it is the tiny gold and pink glitters that really set it apart from all my other blue polishes. It's such a gorgeous shade and should suite most skintones. Skylar was easy to apply and opaque in 2 coats. Zoya polishes last over a week on me without chipping (and I don't use top coat, too lazy).

Have you guys picked up and nail polishes recently? What are some of your fave Zoya shades?

Posted In Blue, NOTD, Zoya | 2 comments | edit

February 6, 2012

Hey beauties! I celebrated my 30th birthday which was yesterday mostly with family and close friends as I mentioned in the last post.

On Saturday, I had lunch with my best friend and then dinner at one of my fave restaurants with hubby and all my other close friends. After dinner, we all came back to our house for drinks and a few rounds of our fave game, Jungle Speed.

The face I wore for dinner was pretty much the same makeup I had on for lunch (all from UD Naked 2 palette) except I added some black in the outer corners and added bold orange red lipstick. Here's the breakdown:

Face

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua - BR20

MUFE Full Cover - #6

Ladyblush c/b

Ben Nye powder

Chez Chez Lame powder

Eyes

UDPP - base

UD Verve e/s - inner lid

UD Half Baked e/s - mid lid

UD Pistol e/s - outer lid

UF Blackout e/s - outer v

UD Foxy e/s - highlight

Cargo swimmable e/l - blue shade on lower lashline

MUFE gray l/l - to line

Lancome Definicils Pro mascara

Lips

Inglot red l/l

Chanel Coromandel RA Laque

Nars Babe l/g

Here's an outfit shot for you guys. The dress is from Tristan and America and I love the shoulder design. I have teeny tiny shoulders and big chest so I find that this design helps balance me out. Necklace from Le Chateau, tights from American Apparel, boots by Steve Madden and the clutch I got from a boutique in Montreal:

Then on Sunday, my mom cooked a Persian feast for lunch and had all close family friends over for my actual birthday. It was a tone of fun and I opened all my gifts after lunch and cake.

Here's my look from Sunday:

Face

Cover FX Primer

MUFE HD Foundation - 118 (Flesh)

Ben Nye powder

Sculpt

Chanel Plum Attraction blush

Eyes

UDPP - base

GA Eyes to Kill #2 - lid and lower lash liner

Cranberry e/s - crease

Blanc Type e/s - highlight

Jest e/s - tear duct

Chanel Cassis e/s - to line

Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara

Lips

Inglot berry l/l

MUFE #13 Rouge Intense Artist

I didn't take an outfit shot but my sis took this picture of me and her toy Pomeranian dog, Gerdoo (means walnut in Persian), when I got to my parents. Dress is by Calvin Klein and tights as always by American Apparel:

And last but not least, my hubby really spoiled me this year for my birthday. He got me this gorgeous of Louboutin Creve Coeur <3 <3 I was just trying them on in this pic, but they are love already :)

Posted In FOTD, OOTD | 3 comments | edit

February 4, 2012

Hey lovelies! Hope you're all having a great weekend so far. I'm doing much better these days, still not back to 100% goofy and care-free self but I'm on my way to recovery...

I actually wore colourful eyeshadow after what seems an eternity! It actually felt good to get creative with colour again, I had missed that. This is I guess more of a spring colour and by no means we're even close to there here in Ottawa (high of -10deg today). But I just went for it anyway.

Feel like the whole thing could be blended more. Looked better in person, or maybe I', alreday outta practice ;)

Face

Lancome Teint Miracle Foundation - Buff 4C

Nars Copacabana Illuminator - mixed with foundation (this is my winter face combo, will do a post on it soon)

Ben Nye powder

Sculpt

Pink Cult blush

Pearl Blossom bp

Eyes

UDPP - base

Fresco Rose p/p - base for lid

Ego e/s - lid

Fuchsia p/m - outer lid

MUFE #18 (orange) e/s - crease

MUFE #15 (light peach) e/s - above crease

Solar White e/s - highlight

Inglot AMC #60 (yellow) - inner lid

Inglot #74 (purple) g/l - to line

Gosh Golden Cadillac e/l - lower lashline

Lancome Definicils Pro mascara

Lips

In Synch l/l

Chanel Empire RA Laque

And here's an outfit of the day for the office. Blush shirt is from Jacob (old), wool pleated skirt by Club Monaco (I ventured outta my pencil skirt comfort zone by wearing this looser shape), tights by American Apparel and last but not least, my beloved leather boots from Venice. I seriously wear this boots to death!

On a final note, tomorrow is my 30th birthday! I always thought I'd celebrate it big but now that the time is here, I'm opting for an intimate dinner with my closest friends tonight. My mom is also doing a family brunch tomorrow at their house. As I get older, I find the only things I truly value are my hubby, family and close friends. Nothing else matters as much, I just want to be surrounded by my loved ones on my special day :)

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Posted In FOTD, OOTD | 5 comments | edit

February 2, 2012

Hey guys! I'm still slowly getting back into blogging so please be patient with me while I take my baby steps. Hubby and I spent last weekend in NYC for hubby's best's 30th birthday. My own 30th birthday is this coming Sunday so we were sorta celebrating mine as well.

The guys had booked us a table at "Big Black Pussy Cat" club for Friday night. Now I'm not the biggest fan of the name but the club was just amazing! We were in the Moroccan room and the decor was exquisite withe lush red velvet, gold accents and random angel statuettes. Here are a couple of pics from the night:

lounging

Hubs and I <3

Party-goers

We spent Saturday sight-seeing around midtown where we were staying a block down from the Rockefeller centre. This was my third time in NYC and I must say definitely the glitz and glam dies after the first visit. After that it's all about spending time with friends and dining, lol! We did have a 5-course dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant which was awesome!

I didn't do much shopping this time around, but I did ensure to pick up UD's Naked 2 Palette from one of the Sephoras. I own and love the original Naked and despite the good reviews for Naked 2, up until I saw it in person I was not planing on getting it. But as soon as I saw it, I had to have it! It's a lighter and cooler version of Naked. I find the colours of Naked 2 just work better for me. I've been using mine everyday since I got it.

I snapped some quick pictures for you guys. I didn't swatch it as there are already so many great swatches of it online. I especially like Temptalia's.

I even like the packaging for Naked 2 better, it's much more durable. I don't think I'll use the lipgloss or brushes much though. I would have liked to get another duo 24/7 liner like they did with Naked 1.

I would say my favourite shades so far are Tease, Pistol, Verve and Blackout. I'm not so thrilled about Half Baked being included again (even though it's a nice shade) and Foxy (the highlight) is too warm for my taste...pretty much yellow on my cooler skintone.

I used Naked 2 today again for a quick look with Pistol on lid and Tease in the crease. Lined with EL Blackened Brown kajal liner and added MAC Undercurrent pearlglide liner on the lower lashline. I finished with a dusting of Nars Madly on the cheeks and MAC Up the Amp on the lips; simple and quick FOTD:

Posted In About me, FOTD, random thought, Urban Decay | 3 comments | edit