October 26, 2013

I know every blog has been posting fall favourites for the past 2 months. But fall really started here about 3 weeks ago, and I live in cold Ottawa, Canada. By fall I mean actual cold weather (temperature below 10deg), leaves all turning orange and cold rain....so I'm "technically" not late with my fall favourites post :)

Some of these products are new (well to my stash) and some I've been enjoying for a few years. I just have rediscovered them:



1. Nars Brousse eyeshadow duo - This duo is a favourite because I love smokey eyes, especially softer shades of smokey for fall. I usually wear the black violet shade on my lid, the sable shade in the crease and then smudge a black liner close to my lashline. It's a very easy duo to wear and the result is HOT! This is a product I come back to every fall.

2. Chanel Plum Attraction blush - another old favourite, Plum Attraction looks very bold in the pan but I use a powder brush to apply a bit on my cheekbones and love the effect it gives. It goes very well with Nars Brousse on the eyes too ;)

3. Dior Etoile fusion mono eyeshadow - I've been eyeing the Dior fusion shadow for months and two weeks ago I finally pulled the plug on shade Etoile, a gorgeous shimmering white. Etoile looks amazing on the tearduct or as an overall wash on the lid with my favourite matte shade in the crease (usually UD Naked or MAC Plum Poison). I debated between the Dior or the nearly identical Chanel product but went with Dior in the end as this particular shade was more pigmented and also you pay less for more product with Dior.

4. Makeup Forever Aqua Liner #4L - I'm a huge fan of the MUFE aqua liner for pigmentation and durability and 4L in particular gets a lot os use as I adore burgundy with my amber shade eyes. I usually wear this liner on the lower lashline and then smudge with MAC 229 brush.

5. Annabelle Cherry pencil - This shade is totally me, it's a reddened plum and goes with all the makeup described above. I get a good 4 hour wear with these pencils and the pigmentation is phenomenal. Definitely a drugstore gem!

6. YSL #27 (Peche chera-cola) Rouge Pur Couture - Another product it took me a while to try but glad I did. It's a pricy lip product but I love how soft and creamy this feel on my lips and it truly lasts a long time. I also usually have a hard time with peach shade but this one is very flattering on cool complexions.

Some swatches for you guys:





Oh and in other news I put in an order over at Sephora with my friends and family 20% coupon. I caved in and got the Hourglass powder palette and one of Nars eye paints. Cannot wait to get them and play. Did any of you guys get something from Sephora lately?

August 8, 2010

Happy Sunday! I still haven't cleaned around here and am quite annoyed with my lazy self. I shall get to it soon but in the meanwhile, I wanted to show you this:



I picked up Misty Mauve quint which was just released with Dior's Fall 2010 collection. I have a soft spot for anything with the word "mauve" in it and always wanted a Dior quint, so I picked it up. Most Dior quints I've seen in the past offered iridescent and shimmery shades only. I love that this one hs a combination of shimmer, satiny and matte shades.

The middle shade is a deep redtoned purple with tiny glitters. It swatches like a dark eggplant though. Then there's a matte purple toned taupe that's one of the prettiest "fall" shades I've seen. Next we have a shimmery dusty lavender that is similar to MAC's Illegal Cargo (LE - Naughty Nautical). Then we have a shimmery iced white and a shimmery light lilac. All shades swatched with ease and are very pigmented with the exception of the white that is a little on the chalky side.

Dior Quints are $58 and you get 7g of products. They are on the expensive side and I find that the pigmentation is hit and miss with them. I do love Misty mauve though as all shades are decently pigmented and are shades I would wear. Mauve shades tend to bring out the gold in hazel eyes which I love.

Here are some swatches of the quad:


Have you guys bought anything from Dior fall? What is your favourite Dior quint?

March 26, 2010

I'm on a roll with the blog posts today! I guess I'm trying to forget about a couple of annoying days at work but throwing myself into blogging. This is a simple and sorta boring look I did today, I must have worn these colours together 100 times! But I wanted to post it coz I need you guys' feedback.

In the last set of FOTD's I posted in Specktra, a couple of ppl suggested that my eyebrows are too close together and I should make the space bigger to bring out my features. Now you guys know I'm Persian and by default most of us have long and full eyebrows. My mom who's a certified asthetician (sp?), hair stylist and makeup artist has been threading my eyebrows since I was 16. She always says that my eyebrows look best if I kept the length and I trusted her. But now I wonder, what do you guys think I should do? I don't wanna loose my Persian look, lol! and I also don't wanna look too different so I'm not sure.

Here's the looks, let me know what you think.

Face
LW Portfolio - Light
Diorskin Nude - 022 I am so friggin tempted to go and get a full bottle of this!
Ben Nye Translucent powder
Cantaloupe blush
BB Nectar shimmer brick

Eyes
Cashflow p/p - base
Gorgeous Gold e/s - inner lid
OCC Lafayette p/m - lid
Espresso e/s - outer crease
Cork e/s - crease
Solar White e/s - highlight
US Stash 24/7 - lower lashline
LW Black Gold e/l - to liner

Lips
Nars Niagara l/s - love love love this!

March 25, 2010

I did this sorta metallic look today and loved it! I've been feeling pretty uninspired lately so this was a nice change of events for me. The only thing is I wish I didn't put Coppering on my lower lashline; it makes me look sleep. Oh well we live and we learn!

I'm also trying out the Diorksin Nude sample I got yesterday. I got the shade 022 and it matches perfectly (not that you can tell coz I took the pics with flash). I love how this foundation feels on my skin. It truly feels nude. I'm very tempted to go and buy a full bottle but I'm on foundation nobuy till I finish at least one of the bottles I have laying about!

Let me know what you think of this look. I cannot believe it's already Friday!

Face
LW Portfolio - Light
Diorskin Nude Foundation - 022
Ben Nye Translucent Powder
Prim n Proper blush
Shell Pearl bp

Eyes
Rubenesque p/p - base
Chartreuse p/m - inner lid
Gold p/m - outer lid
MUFE #39 - outer lid and crease
Coppering e/s - crease
All That Glitters e/s - above crease
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
Smashbox Heartbreaker l/l - to line

Lips
Naked l/l
Blankety l/s
Glamour for All l/s

January 26, 2010

I'm actually not digging my face in either one of these pics. I absolutely need to do something about the fine hair above the lips (didn't have time to do it last weekend). I did like this colour combo though so I thought I post the look anyway. We had quite bit of snow today, right on top of the freezing rain of yesterday and hence there were tones of accidents on the highway. Gotta love winter driving!

Here's the look with my weird face. Again, excuse the stupid fine hair, will be removed tonight, I promise guys!

Face
LW concealer
SSF NW25
Ben Nye Powder
Cantaloupe blush

Eyes
Greenstroke p/p - base
Lucky Green e/s - inner 1/3 lid
Crest the Wave e/s - middle of the lid
Solar White e/s - on top of CTW
One Off e/s - outer lid
Plumage e/s - outer v
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
UD Stash 24/7 - to line

Lips
Myth l/s - I see an obsessing beginning. I feel like I wear this everyday!
A random Dior peachy gloss

December 1, 2009

I guess it is finally time to start my x-mas shopping. It's officially the first day of December and we even have a lil bit of snow now so I should be in the mood. Except that I'm still extremely busy at work and I also have to sit in this first aid course after work for three days this week (starting yesterday). So I'm so exhausted when I finally get home at 9 pm that I don't even want to think about shopping, lol! That's also the reason why I'm behind at commenting on all your blogs. I promise I will catch up this weekend.

Anyway, I did a peach and dark teal look today, hope you like it. There's no closeup though due to the cloudy and snowy skies.

Face
Lise Watier Concealer Wheel
Studio Sculpt Foundation NW25
Love Joy mb

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Annabelle Lapis k/l - to cut crease and blend
Plumage e/s - crease
Clarity e/s - above crease
Vanilla p/m - highlight
Naked Ivory set (peach colour) - inner lid
OCC Glisten - outer lid
Lise Watier Marin e/l - to line

Lips
Honeylove l/s
Dior peachy gloss

August 18, 2009

The heat wave in Ottawa continues with a high of 40 deg (humidity included) for today. I barely was able to put make up on. It's kinda hard to put on makeup when it's too hot. Anyway, I was trying something here with green base in the crease and it didn't quite work out. It seems like I always use my Tan pigment when it's very hot out, lol! Let me know what you think. I look like I'm gonna pass out from heat exhaustion in these pics :/

Btw, how's the weather where everyone lives?

Face
Same as usual
Eversun bpb
BB Apricot Shimmer Brick

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Melon p/m - inner lid
Tan p/m - outer lid
NYX Horseradish Jumbo Pencil - base for crease
Green Brown p/m - crease and above
Creme de Miel e/s - highlight and tear duct
Golden Olive p/m - to line and lower lashline
Kelly Green p/m - to liner outer lid

Lips
Vegas Volt l/s
Dior Ultra Addict 158 l/g

I didn't get a chance to do any blogging yesterday. I was cleaning up after Saturday night's party and that took a while. Especially cleaning the fondue set :/ The hubby and I went to my parents at around 3. He took off on a business trip soon after that. My sister and I spent the remaining of the day shopping, swimming in my parents pool and sunbathing. I got a much deeper tan now, hehe.

So Sunday was fun. On the downside, since I slept over at my parents and my sleep location was different, I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. It's been an incredibly hard day at work because of that. I'm gonna try to be good and still go to the gym after work but we'll see.

Here's part 3 of the makeup stash. This is going to be all lip products plus mix products. I was in a hurry at the end of the picture taking process and missed some photos :/ Let me know if you have any questions.

Lipsticks - first set

First row: Blankety, Honeylove, 3N, Lollipop Lovin
Second row: Strange Hybrid, Please Me, Viva Glam VI SE, Red Pepper
Third row: Up the Amp, Pomposity, Girl About Town, Gladiola

Lipsticks - second set

First row: Ruby Woo, So Scarlet, Port Red, Swelter s/s, Powersuite Mattene
Second row: Snob, All's Fair, Big Bow, St-Germaine, Creme Cup
Third row: High Top, Vegas Volt, Craving, Chatterbox, Kirsch Matten
Not pictured: Show Orchid, Marquise D'

Lipsticks - third set

Last row: Long Stem Roses s/s, Lavender Whip, Spirit
Not pictured: Tropic Glow, YSL No.1 plus two Dior lipcticks

Dazzleglasses

Left to right: Love Alert, Date Night, Seppin Out, Honey, Money, Rags to Riches

MAC lipsglasses/lustre glasses - I don't have a lot of these, not really a gloss person.

Top row: Snowscene, Opal, VS lavender gloss, She Loves Candy
Second row: Gold Rebel, Magnetique, Cult of Cherry, Jampacked
Third row: Clear gloss, Palatial, Strawberry Blonde, Nymphette
Last row: Live n Dye, Sock Hop, Soft and Slow, Pink Grapefruit

Mix gloss

Left to right: Smashbox O Gloss, two Dior glosses, Lancome Hallucination

Brushes - these are a combination of MAC and Quo brushes

Left to right: Quo Powder brush (I use this for blush), Quo foundation brush, MAC 168, MAC 187, Quo creme shadow brush, MAC 194, MAC 224, MAC 217, MAC 226, Quo small blending brush, MAC 239, MAC 242, MAC 219, Quo eyeliner brush, MAC 209, random big eyeshadow brush I use to apply my eyebrow highlight

Mix stuff that didn't fit anywhere else:

My mascaras (CG volume exact and lash exact), Benefit Browsing in Dark, eyeliner mixing medium, Quo kabuki brush and Posper TLC.

Wow, this took a while again!

I was not in a matchy matchy mood so even though I was wearing pastel colours, I went for a bolder eye look. Copper Sparkle is a beautiful pigments but I find it kinda chunky without mixing medium and really loud with it! I still love it though. It's also amazing as a liner, in fact that's all I did with it first when I first got a sample of this pigment.

Face
Cover FX primer
Studio Sculpt concealer NC30
MSFN medium plus
Eversun bpb
BB Gold shimmerbrick

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Vanilla p/m - inner lid
Copper Sparkle p/m - lid
MUFE #92 e/s - crease
Graphology e/s - outer v
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
UD 24/7 Bourbon e/l - lower lashline
Lise Watier Noir Intense e/l - upper lashline

Lips
Blankety ls/ - I'm so glad to have this again, I need to stop myself from using it all up again
Dior Ultra Addict l/g in 151

A relatively quick look I did this morning but I liked the result. I think I'm forever a slave to my blue eyeshadows...haha! I cannot go too many days without wearing either Freshwater, Tilt or Climate Blue. I did realize that my Pastoral pigment hasn't been used for a while so I made my look around that pigment.

Oh, I went to see "I Love you Man" yesterday coz it was cheap Tuesday at Cineplex by our house. We got there early to make sure we get seats. I sent the husband to get our tickets and I went the SDM nearby and bought a QUO kabuki. This thing is so cute and is half the price of MAC 180. I used it today with my MSFN and just love it! oh, and the movie was pretty funny too, make sure to check it out.

Face
Studio Sculpt concealer NC30
MSFN Medium Plus
Too Faced Love is Lust Blush
Petticoat MSF

Eyes
Greenstroke p/p - base
Pastoral p/m - lid
Cool Heat e/s - outer lid
Climate Blue e/s - crease
Your Ladyship p/m - highlight
Delphic f/l - to line
Lise Watier Marin e/l - to line lower lashline

Lips
Dior Addict ultra shine l/s in 612

I wore this look the Persian New Year party I attended last night, was lotsa fun. I also died my hair dark brown again except this time it has red/purple undertones. You can probably see it best in the last picture. I guess I'm a big fan of blues these days and Freshwater e/s is always included!

Face
Cover FX primer
Studio Sculpt concealer - NC20
Studio Sculpt Foundation - NW25
Hard Candy bronzer to contour
Nars Deep Throat blush
BB Apricot Shimmer Brick

Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Silver Fog p/m - inner lid
Freshwater e/s - outer lid
Climate Blue e/s - to cut and blend crease
Stars 'n Rockets e/s - above crease
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
Stila Black Smudge Pot

Lips
A peachy Dior Gloss (can't remember the number)

I'm not big on Valentine's Day, never was. I just don't see a point of dedicating one single day to love. I rather celebrting our love on days that are "us". Our dating anniversary, our wedding anniversary....and I much prefer getting flowers from my husband when i least expect it, that is, any day but Valentine's Day. Anyway, I'm probably the only person on Earth who feels this way, but again I've never been the conventional type..hahha.

Anyway, this weekend is the long weekend here in Ontario as Monday is Family Day. I've been reaxing at home after a long long week at work. But here's a look I wore yesterday when one of our friends was over. I don't think browns are my best colours, but meh...need to use all of my makeup.

Face
Same as usual
Nars Deep Throat blush
BB Apricot Shimmerbrick

Eyes
Stila Bronze Smudge Pot as base
Mauvement p/m
Bronze e/s
Melon p/m
Embark e/s
Your Ladyship p/m
Lise Watier Noir Intense e/l

Lips
An old red Dior gloss, forgot the number

I have done this look or something very similar before, I'm pretty sure it was in the summer. It's more of a warm weather look but I really can't wait till summer so I decided I recreate it today :)

Face
Same as usual
Eversun bp
BB Gold Shimmer Brick

Eyes
Stilife Paint
Goldmine e/s
Amber Lights e/s
Expensive Pink e/s
Embark e/s
Solar White e/s
NYX Sky Blue jumbo Pencil
Cool Heat e/s
Gorgeous Gold e/s

Lips
Dior Addict Ultra Gloss No.151

I'm on a roll today with the FOTD's! So here's a look I did a few hours ago. My eyebrows are badly in need of shaping :( but try to see past that. I took the pics in my car and the sun was blazing so it washed the colours a lil bit. Ok, enough rambling:

Face
Same as usual
MAC Eversun bpb
BB Gold Shimmer Brick

Eyes
MAC Bare Canvas paint
NYX Sky Blue Jumbo Pencil
MAC Tilt e/s
MAC Amber Lights e/s
MAC Embark e/s
MAC Solar White e/s
Lise Watier Black Gold e/l
CG mascara

Lips
Dior Ultra Addict l/s in 612