Romantic Purple Smokey Eye Tutorial

Hi guys! I hope you're all doing well and are enjoying the warmer weather.

I filmed a "Romantic Purple Smokey Eye" tutorial for my YouTube which you can watch by clicking HERE. 

Eyeshadows Used:

MAC Blanc Type (obviously..)

Urban Decay Virgin

MAC All That Glitters

Urban Decay Naked

MAC Trax

Urban Decay Hustle

I hope you like it! I'm such a neutral girl so I wanted to take a baby step towards going for a more smokey look which can be used for the upcoming Prom season! I figured Purple was a good colour to start off with. :) My mom liked the look so much that after I finished filming I went and did it on her! She has blue eyes and it still looked beautiful on her. 

 

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Romantic Purple Smokey Eye Tutorial

bareMinerals Matte Foundation

I've been hearing about this mineral foundation for ages now and when I purchased it back in December I wasn't sure how much I would really enjoy it. Lemme just say right now - I'm in love.

I've never (ever) liked the idea of using a powder foundation on myself since I figured I'd look just so dang powdery! I figured you'd be able to see the powder sitting on my skin and that the coverage wouldn't be all that great. I was so wrong! The bareMinerals Matte Foundation is so amazing at reducing any redness, keeping you shine free for hours, and it doesn't give me a powdery mask like finish at all! I apply my foundation using the Sephora Mineral Powder #45 brush and it does an amazing job of buffing it in flawlessly. It is similar to the Real Techniques Buffing Brush but I like using them each specifically for one product to prevent spread of bacteria.

I have the lightest shade called Fair which suits pale ladies and gents like me who have a cool undertone. If you're not sure what undertone you may be, you can read my post all about that here.  As you can tell by the photos below all my redness around my nose and chin are reduced and it looks like my skin - not a powder foundation. I wanted to include that bottom photo of my chin and nose specifically because the sides of my nose tends to be really red and my chin is my problem area due to past acne scarring - and everything is covered so naturally. That's another thing I love about this foundation - it looks natural. I do have the matte formula but you can really still see here that I still have a "glow" and I'm not looking very "flat faced" what-so-ever.

I could probably go on and on about my love for this mineral foundation (did I mention that it's also good for your skin since it's natural cosmetic brand!?) but from here I'll let you try it out for yourself. It is reasonably priced and if you don't like matte skin then you can definitely try out the Original formula which does provide more of a glowy appearance.

**There was zero editing done to these photos as I really wanted you to see how flawless and natural this foundation is. All I did was sit by a window for some natural light!**

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bareMinerals Matte Foundation

Makeup Medley #4

Another day, another simple makeup look. I swear I'm the queen of doing simple makeup in 5 minutes or less! Today I am home studying for my last final exam on Thursday and I could not be happier to almost be on summer holiday!

I first applied the L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer to my skin which personally I don't find makes my base stay on any longer then it would without it...but it does provide such a lovely luminous affect that I've been craving lately! On top of that I applied the Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream which I honestly love so much! I find that it gives me the light coverage I like while still covering up any redness around my nose and cheeks. To bring some colour onto my cheeks I applied a beautiful watermelon pink blush (after I just covered up the redness...girl logic?) in the shade True Love by Tarte to the high points of my cheek bones to sculpt my face and give me a natural flush. Next I applied L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara to my top and bottom lashes - this is an amazing mascara! You can read a full review here. On my lips I applied a Revlon Lip Butter in the shade Berry Smoothie, a firm favourite lip product of mine.

Then I did a few spritzes of my forever favourite perfume, Marc Jacobs Daisy.

Now I'm all set to sit on my bed and study for my last final exam! As to why I'm wearing makeup when I'm home all day...this seemed like the best way to procrastinate!

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Makeup Medley #4

Finding Your Undertone - Cool Or Warm?

*NOT MY PHOTO* Photo Source

Finding what colour undertone you have can be quite complicated but is very important to be sure that you have been matched to the correct foundation for your complexion. As you probably know if you are a makeup lover that foundations generally come in "warm", "cool" or if you're super lucky - "neutral". I personally have a cool undertone but my gosh if I had a neutral undertone it would make choosing foundations so much simpler!

The easiest way to learn what your personal undertone is is by looking at the veins in your wrist (these are generally the easiest to see), eyelids, or even in that sensitive spot by your elbow where you tend to get blood taken from!

If you are cool toned (like me!) then your veins will appear more blue or purple. While I was reading some articles for this post to make sure all my information is accurate I also read that you can tell by which jewellery flatters your skin tone more. I find this to be a very difficult way so I tend to stick to looking at veins - but if you're cool toned then it's silver jewelery that can flatter you. I guess that could be very true because ALL my rings and necklaces are silver. Your skin may also have a slightly pink or rosy tint to it - again this is very true for me, just look at my cheeks!

If you are warm toned then your veins will appear more green or olive. Your skin may appear more yellow or have peachy hints to it. Also - if you wanted to try the jewellery trick, then try gold! Another little trick to find out if your warm/cool tone, think about summer when you're soaking up the sun (with sunscreen of course!) if you get a stunning golden bronze tan (warm tone) or if you tend to get a little pink before tanning (cool tone).

If you are one of the lucky bunch who are neutral then you are basically a combination of warm and cool! Your veins are a blue-green colour, silver and gold rings and necklaces look awesome on you, and you can't really tell if your skin has a pink/yellow tinge.

I also wanted to touch on the MAC Cosmetics "lingo". I'm sure you've all heard it before - NC and NW. Now I did want to say that I've never tried a MAC foundation before but I do use their studio finish concealer.  If you were to take the same number shade in MAC but change the undertone you would see a huge difference. What I mean is that if you were to swatch a NC25 and an NW25 right beside each other you'd notice that the NC is more yellow whilst the NW is more pink.

Basically everything I just wrote above is almost in reverse for MAC, from my understanding. Again, I've never owned their foundation and I haven't asked the lovely associates if this is all 100% true but this is just my personal understanding - do correct me if I'm completely wrong! NC stands for Neutral Cool so for MAC this means that you have more of a yellow undertone. NW then stands for Neutral Warm - again for them this means that you have a pink undertone. Slightly confusing isn't it? Maybe this is why I've never tried their foundations...I get confused myself!

I hope that this helps you better understand what your personal undertone is which will make it easier to find the perfect foundation shade for you.

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Finding Your Undertone - Cool Or Warm?

Minimal Makeup

I'm not sure if it's the warmer weather we've been having or if it's the stress of finishing my final exams - but one of those two options have made me really love wearing such minimal makeup.

I start with a clean and moisturized face then I apply the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in the shade Nude. I've owned (and loved) a full size of this product previously that lasted me over a year, so when it was time to repurchase it I went for the travel size because I use such a tiny amount of it. Even this travel size I've now had for months and it's still so full! The shade Nude is probably one shade too dark for me but it is so perfect because for a shade darker it doesn't go orange at all, but honestly makes me look healthier because it gives me such a stunning bronzed look. And don't worry - it matches my neck! I promise I'm not going out in public with a line across my jaw of product that clearly doesn't match.

On any extra redness I have such as around my nose, any spots I may have, or the darkness in the inner corner of my eyes I apply the MAC Studio Finish SPF 35 Concealer in the shade NW20. I really ignored this concealer in my stash for quite a while but I've really been enjoying it the past few weeks! I then use a soft powder brush to do a light dusting of the popular Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder. I have the shade Transparent mainly because I do get quite the bronzed tan in the summer (who knew? Little ol' me being tan?!?) and I like how I can use it all seasons! I find that face products last me ages because I really prefer more natural makeup and I'm okay with any imperfections showing through.

At this point I may be looking slightly one dimensional (is that even the right word...?) so I then like to apply my favourite Tarte blush in the shade True Love to add some life back to my complexion. For my eyes I'll use Painterly Paint Pot by MAC to conceal any redness or veins around my eyelids, and then go in with my mascara of choice. My lipstick of choice the past few weeks has been either Syrup or Coral Bliss both by MAC. I must say...Coral Bliss is very similar to a huge favourite lippy of mine - if you read my posts often I'm sure you'll be able to guess what lipstick that is!

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Minimal Makeup

Daytime Smokey Eye - Urban Decay Naked Palette

Since buying my mom her Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette I put my Naked 3 aside for the day and went with the original palette. I always lean towards such neutral and simple eye looks that for today as I was getting ready I decided to smoke it up a little - even though I was just going for a 6 hour day at school.

 

I've been using this palette for almost three years now and I can't get over how much I love it! As you can tell from the photo, I hardly ever use the darker shadows, which can be a bit of a waste honestly!

I first primed my eye with MAC Painterly Paint Pot and then moved on to using the lightest shade Virgin on my inner corners and brow bone with a small pencil brush. Next I used my finger to apply the beautiful shade Sin all over my lid - from end to end! Next I blended the shade Naked with my MAC 217 into my crease as a transitional shade so everything flows well. Next I took the shade Smog in my outer corner and into the outer portion of my crease as well. I can't believe I hardly use this shadow - it's so beautiful! Lastly I blended in a dark brown shade with gold shimmer called Darkhorse to my outer V (on top of Smog) for that extra deepness.

I have definitely found my day time smokey eye and I can't wait to wear it more. It really is such a beautiful combination of colours and I'm glad to be getting some use out of the darker shades. I'll be taking baby steps while working my way up to the shades Creep and Gunmetal ;).

What's your favourite way to wear this palette?

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Daytime Smokey Eye - Urban Decay Naked Palette

It had been months since I last uploaded a YouTube video to my channel - Valentine's Day was the last day to be exact! I've been loving MAC Cosmetics lately and I find myself constantly on the website. I think it's partially because I really want to update my eyeshadow palette and partially because I'm basically just addicted to makeup.

I've been wearing these eyeshadows the past few days which is quite rare for me to find a look and stick with it since I'm always using different palettes and creating different looks. Here I used 5 of my favourite MAC shadows and I also provided two lip options :)

You can watch the video on YouTube by clicking HERE, I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to click the subscribe button. ;)

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MAC Neutral Eyeshadow Tutorial

Makeup Brushes - My Essentials

As I had just done my weekly washing of my makeup brushes, I wanted to share with you my favourites and the ones I strongly recommend you add to your brush collection. These are amazing brushes whether you're a beginner in the brush world or I can just to fill you in on my favs!

The majority of my brushes are by Sigma that I've had for almost two years and after each washing they feel just as soft as the day I opened them on Christmas morning. They are such excellent quality brushes and I really can't recommend these enough! Also if you look in several YouTubers (Jaclyn Hill and MakeupbyTiffanyD for example) information boxes they usually have a 10% coupon code for you.

The first face brush shown in the lineup is my Sephora Mineral Powder brush. Such an amazing soft and dense brush that I mainly use with my bareMinerals Matte Foundation but it's very similar to my next brush of choice. Since I like to keep the Sephora brush separate for the mineral foundation, I use the popular Real Techniques Buffing Brush for any liquid or moose foundation. I find this brush gives me such a flawless and airbrushed finish that I crave! Some foundations I do like to blend into my skin using my fingers, but I always seem to do a quick once over blending with the Buffing Brush just to make sure everything is looking extra seamless.

I've confessed recently that I am becoming such a huge blush lover - the Sigma F40 brush is honestly the best brush I own for applying my blushes (lets be real I'm probably applying Tarte's True Love blush). I personally like to apply my blush a little higher up on my cheek bone closer to my hair line to sculpt rather then applying to the center of my cheeks or on the apples. I suggest trying your blush closer to your hair line and see if you like it!

Lastly, I wanted to mention a brush that you can buy for a reasonable price at Shoppers Drug Mart for all my Canadian girls. This is by the brand Quo and it's the powder brush. I personally use this brush with my bareMinerals Ready Bronzer in the shade Skinny Dip as it's so soft and it blends my bronzer on so perfect. I bought this brush 4 years ago not thinking much about it, and here I am today still using it daily and loving it. For the price, it's such good quality and hardly ever sheds!

The biggest and fluffiest brush you see here is the Sigma Tapered Blending E40 brush - amazing. It's so soft feels so lovely on your eyelids as you close your eyes (since you just woke up 15 minutes ago) and just blend, blend, blend...try not to fall asleep now! I don't usually apply shadow using this brush, I use it for the last step before I apply my liquid liner to really make sure my shadows have no harsh lines and that all the colours are flowing well together.

The next brush is one of my absolute favourites! This is the Sigma E70 brush and it is so amazing for either applying shadow into the outer corner or even blending shadows as well - can you tell I like my blending brushes?! I generally apply the pointed tip into my crease and apply shadows like that (think of flipping the brush upside down from how it is in the photo and applying it in your crease that way) or I will use the tip again and very, very, lightly feather colour into my outer V.

The next two are two very well known MAC brushes. The first one is the MAC 217 which is the queen of blending. I currently own one but in my dream world I would own about 4 because it can be so multipurpose! Blending eyeshadows, blending in concealer, lightly dusting shadows on to the lid, so many options! The shorter MAC brush here is the 239 brush which I mainly use for packing colour onto my lids. Whether its in the inner corner, brow bone, or on the lid this is the perfect brush for it. I don't know what it is about it, but my other shadow brushes just can't grab the eye shadows the way the 239 does!

Lastly for my favourite eye brushes is the Sigma E55 Eye Shading brush. It does look slightly similar to the MAC 239 but it's much more dense and the hairs are definitely different. This is what I generally reach for when I'm applying my MAC Blanc Type Eyeshadow to my brow bone and inner corner. As it's so small and jam-packed with hairs (in a good way!) that it just works so well for highlighting your eyes!

What are your essential makeup brushes?

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Makeup Brushes - My Essentials

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

If you follow my Instagram account (which you should be ;) hehe!) then you will already know that I surprised my mom with the Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette. She's been wanting it since November when we flew to NYC and I had the Sephora 15% VIB coupon code so I wanted to surprise her with something special. I knew I wouldn't be using the discount for myself as I'm trying really hard not to buy myself any makeup as I will actually be going to work at a summer camp from May-August which sadly means less blog posts & not wearing any makeup. I'll be in withdrawl.

I wanted to do a quick small feature post on this lovely palette because I think I'm waaay more excited about it then my mom is and I'm hoping if I ask super nicely that I'll even be allowed to do some looks for you and feature it in some of my makeup medley posts. This palette is quite cool toned from what I'm used too but the shades Snakebite, Suspect and YDK are really catching my eye.

I would really love to know what your favourite ways to use this palette would be - whether it's for a neutral day time look or more of a smokey eye. To tell you the truth, right now I'm feeling like a fish out of water because I'm so used to warm tones I don't know how I should wear this one! So with my mothers permission, you just might be seeing this palette a few more times! ;)

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Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Spring Blushes

There is nothing I love more then a pop of colour on my cheeks for spring and I wanted to share with you my current favourites!

I talked about NARS Deep Throat in my March Favourites so I wont say too much here, but if you don't own this blush...where have you been?! The Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour Cheek Gelee in the shade Poppy Paradise is one of my favourite blushes for that bright shade to really brighten up your complexion. It is almost undetectable on the cheeks because it really does just look like skin! The texture of this cheek gelee is unlike anything I've ever felt before. It isn't oily, waxy, or greasy at all - it's a cooling soft gel that is so easily bendable and buildable! It's definitely a stain and it can last all day, so wonderful.

I've confessed my love for the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes so many times but I really can't get enough of them! Dollface is the perfect natural pale pink shade and True Love (which is definitely my favourite out of the ones I own) is such a beautiful watermelon red that looks STUNNING on the cheeks! This is currently my most reached for blush and I can't wait to wear it more during the spring and summer, you need this shade!

My most recent blush addition that I have completely fallen for is the newly released Clinique Cheek Pop Blushes and I own the shade Peach Pop. The majority of my blushes are various shades of pinks and this is my only coral so when I wear it I notice a huge difference in my makeup. It's such a hybrid of formulas - looks like a powder, feels so smooth and soft, and stays on the cheeks like a stain.

I've become a huge blush lover lately - what are your favourites that I have to add to my ever growing collection?

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Spring Blushes