making faces :: naked days with urban decay

i usually try not to get sucked into hype, but i'd heard so many people go on about the magical urban decay naked palette and how it was basically the holy grail of versatile, neutral shades of eye shadow that i couldn't help being curious. compounding this, there's the fact that, although it's permanently available from urban decay and from sephora, it's been out of stock at the sephora web site for about the last hundred years... so it has the allure of something that doesn't want you to possess it.

add to that the fact that most urban decay shadows are made of large quantities of win [except for the shades with glitter, which are decidedly formulated with fail, but there's none in this palette] and one of the colours included in the naked palette is "sin", which is one of my favourite shadows ever by anyone and which is disappearing at an uncomfortably fast rate from its pan and i basically got myself into a frenzy of consumer madness.

thankfully, a very nice lady in the united states took pity on me and ordered me one. so for the last several days i have been trying out variations on the neutral eye with all the different colours included.

when you can get your paws on one, it's a pretty sweet deal. there are twelve different colours- all neutral, but ranging from light to dark with both shimmer and matte textures- plus a full size brush, plus a miniature bottle of urban decay's "primer potion", which helps eye makeup go on better and stay on better. all this will cost you $48, which works out to $4 a shadow, even assuming the brush and primer are free. of course, the shadows in the palette aren't nearly as big as a regular urban decay shadow, but those will run you $17 a pop for only 0.2g more worth of product [according to the u.d. web site, the fill weight per shadow on the naked palette is 1.3g, on a regular shadow, 1.5g]. so for this not to be a good investment, there would have to be something seriously wrong with the product.

l to r :: gunmetal, hustle, toasted, sin

fortunately, that isn't the case. i compared "sin" to the remains of my individual pot and they seem exactly the same in terms of colour, texture and durability. so occasionally when things look too good to be true, they're still true. doesn't that just make you feel awesome about everything for a moment?

moving on.

the idea behind this palette- which really does seem to have turned into a license to print money for the california company- is to give a range of basic shades that can be used in combination to go with virtually any sort of look. they are mostly shimmery [although there is a matte beige and a matte medium brown], mostly warm [particularly the mid-tone shades] and, yes, they are extremely versatile. a number of the shades are ones that you might have seen before, but the point here is that they're all assembled into one perfect little package.

l to r :: virgin, naked, sidecar, buck

i agree that these shades will suit pretty much any skin tone, dark or light, warm or cool. and each shade exhibits the typical incredible pigmentation of urban decay shadows, so you really get some bang for your buck. if i had to criticise, and this would be under some duress, i'd say that i wish that they'd included one or two less shimmery shades [there's a lot of frostiness, which can be a challenge for those of us over twenty-five]. i hadn't actually "met" urban decay's matte shades before and now i'm happy i did. i'm pleased that they did not include any "glitter" shades, since those were the ones that made me want to write off the brand when i tried them. in fact, there's not a single shade i don't like and wouldn't use here. [the sparkly black "creep" doesn't do much for me, since it's a dead ringer for a lot of "black with silver sparkle" shades that already exist, but the very popularity of those types of shades makes it obvious why it would be included with this set.]

ultimately, this is the kind of thing that almost every woman who wears cosmetics would benefit from having in her collection. for those who want something simple and basic, it offers a lot of alternatives at an excellent price. for those who like to have a variety, it offers the opportunity to grab a dozen urban decay shadows for barely more than the price of two regular ones. plus, of course, the shades are ridiculously easy to use. and you get a brush and a tester bottle of primer. what could possibly go wrong?

l to r :: half-baked, smog, darkhorse, creep

here are a few looks i put together with shades from the naked palette. i'd like to add that, in all of them, i used the primer potion underneath. my initial experience with primer potion was not great, but i put that down to the fact that it was a sample and it was a gold-coloured shimmery version rather than the regular one. and there may be some logic to that. i liked the primer potion much better in its "regular" form. personally, i prefer a primer with a little more colour, because my lids are fairly dark [i look like a racoon in the mornings] and i didn't find that primer potion made shadows last as long as my usual base- mac's painterly paint pot- but it did prevent creasing and it did make the colours nice and intense, which is what a base is supposed to do.

because all the shadows were coming out of a single palette, each of these looks took ten minutes tops to complete. 





"naked matte"
like i said earlier, i really loved the matte shades [naked and buck] included with this palette and so they were among the first ones used. as a lady who loves her dark lips, this is the sort of understated eye treatment i often do, so that the focus can be a little lower. this is also the first look i did with musky amethyst, one of the new lipsticks from mac's "semi-precious" collection.

face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
urban decay e/s "virgin"
urban decay e/s "naked"
urban decay e/s "buck"
mac superslick liquid liner "on the hunt"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac beauty powder "her own devices"
mac blush "darkly my dear"

lips ::
mac l/s "musky amethyst"






"naked smoky"
one of the suggestions on the packaging for use of this palette is that you can do "smoky bronze" looks. i went for more of a "smoky gold", which was exciting to me, because i've never had enough gold shades before to do this sort of thing. again, i went with a very pigmented lip, because, despite the "smoky" effect, i felt that the eye was fairly subtle and could deal with a deeper lip colour. on the other hand, i can also see doing this with a more restrained lip colour. hurrah for versatility.

face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"
lush colour supplement "jackie oates" [as a highlighter]

eyes ::
urban decay e/s "virgin"
urban decay e/s "half-baked"
urban decay e/s "smog"
urban decay e/s "darkhorse"
mac eye kohl "smolder"
diorshow mascara

cheeks ::
mac mineralize skinfinish "new vegas"
mac blush "bite of an apple"

lips ::
chanel "rivoli




"naturally naked"
so the whole point, supposedly, of having a naked palette is that you can do very natural looks. i actually find that the shimmer in a lot of the colours makes this trickier than you would think, but there are definitely shades [hint- the ones i've used here] that capture that nice, slightly pinky flesh-tone and make it into something quite lovely. [note- if your flesh tone isn't pinky, there are probably shades in here that will be a better match for you.]

face ::
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
urban decay e/s "virgin"
urban decay e/s "sin"
urban decay e/s "hustle"
urban decay e/s "gunmetal"
mac false lashes mascara

cheeks ::
nars blush "deep throat"

lips ::
mac l/s "made to order"

listed!

who says bad things come in threes? i always like things based on threes, down to the fact that during the many years that i was a student, i used to draw little doodles of triangles in the margins of my notebooks. so here are a few random "top threes" that i have in my head at the moment...

awesome animals [other than cats]

1. owls :: that's a huge category of animals, actually, since owls of various sorts are native to every continent except antarctica, but i really don't have a particular favourite. snowy owls, perhaps, but they're all pretty majestic, mysterious and enigmatic. i think that one of the things that really appeals to me about these creatures is that they share so many qualities attributed to cats- the impression of wisdom, the independence, the unnerving skill as a predator and at the same time a sort of droll character that makes them as funny as they are alluring.

2. green tree pythons :: ok, that's a ridiculously specific answer, given the last one and the fact is that i think most boids are beautiful, but there is something about this one type in particular [even more so than its close cousin the emerald tree boa] that i find hypnotic. i've long since decided that owning a snake is out of the question for me, because i personally couldn't bring myself to feed it, but if i could, this would be the one i'd get. i've met and held one a couple of times [babies, since these are not "cuddly" even by snake standards], but that's unfortunately as close as i'll likely get. to me, these gorgeous creatures are what i picture when i hear ancient myths involving serpents.

3. pigs :: they're clean. they're cute. they're smarter than most people you know.

MORE THINGS IN THREES...




favourite summer dishes

1. ceviche :: fish "cooked" in citrus juices. this is one dish that appeals to me as a cook and as someone who sometimes wishes she'd pursued her interest in and aptitude for chemistry rather than doing the predictable "liberal arts" thing. when i first heard of it, i had to stop myself from just sitting there and watching the dish to try to observe what was happening. as fascinating as the process is [well, it's a standard reaction when any meat is exposed to acid, but you don't hear about it a lot], the result is about a hundred times more interesting [provided it's done well; bad ceviche is like chewing on rubber].

ceviche!

2. corn and avocado salad with tomatoes and olives :: i got this one out of the first cookbook i ever owned. [125 best meatless main dishes; my mother got it for me when i moved out of home and it's still probably my very favourite cookbook] what i wrote there basically sums it up, except that it has a tangy citrus and olive oil dressing and it gets really, really messy because the dressing starts to break down the avocados pretty quickly. let's you indulge your inner sloppy four year old and be healthy at one time.

3. lemon sorbet :: ok, not really a "dish", but when it's hot enough, i'll eat it as a meal.

things i'm working on at the moment

1. my notes for "a definable moment in time" :: yes, i'm still writing it, but first i have to get my head in order. i do not need another beatriz coca fluttering around my pages and so i've determined to get back on track keeping a very detailed plan of action as to how everything fits together.

who wants to help me clean it up?

2. finding a suitable venue for a first screening of conversion. the ideal venue would be the empress theatre in n.d.g., since it's smack in the middle of the area where we did most of our outside shoots and it's an incredible genuine egyptian-inspired art deco masterpiece. only problem is that it's been abandoned for twenty years. oh, and there was a wee bit of "trial by fire", so it may not be entirely structurally sound.

3. trying out a lot of different creams/ moisturisers to try to find one that keeps my face hydrated without making it feel gross in the summer heat. luckily not something that requires my undivided attention for long periods of time and luckily, nothing so far has given me an allergic reaction.

last colours i've had on my nails

fyi- i'm fairly proud of the fact that i can do my nails now, because believe me, i was hopeless for a long time. i'm still not going to be opening my own salon any time soon, but it's a step. i'm still getting the hang of toes, which i understand is necessary, since one of the photos i did for "everyday fluevogs" last year got slagged off by fans on face book on the basis of my nekkid toenails. 

1. essie "fair game" :: just put it on tonight. it's like a somewhat lighter, bluer version of chanel's "black pearl", so if you missed or passed on that one, this would be a good alternative. [fyi- it looks somewhat darker in the photo than in real life, but it's fairly close.]

essie "fair game" in action

2. chanel "mimosa" :: lovely buttery yellow shade. because it's chanel's limited edition summer colour, you can expect that every other company on the planet will have a version of it in the near future.

3. opi "stranger tides" :: i kind of hate movie or celebrity tie-ins for anything, because of the implied endorsement buying those products gives the movie or celebrity, but this is a really nice, whisper-soft grey-green that i just fell in love with before i noticed that it was part of a "pirates of the caribbean" themed collection. [realises in horror that she is currently wearing a colour from an opi "shrek" themed collection on her toes...]

friday favourites 03.06.11

my feet hurt. and that's a good thing, because it means that i've had a lot of time to go walking. walking is kind of a year-round favourite with me and it's more than a little frustrating that i live in a climate where walking can be impossible or highly unpleasant for so much of the year. not this week, though! i have taken advantage of this week's sunny days [and the fact that i have a lot of time on my hands and frustrations to work out] to pound the pavement, mostly in ndg and westmount and feel content that i'm keeping myself at least a little bit active.

although i really want to avoid repetitiveness, i feel like i would be remiss if i didn't point out that the segment of last night's episode of "the daily show", where jon stewart responded to eric cantor's position on tornado relief is quite possibly the best thing they've ever done. you can watch the full episode on the show's web site, unless you're in canada, in which case you go through comedy central. the segment goes right to the heat of what i think infuriates most people about cantor's statements- not that they are ludicrous on their own, but that they are so completely hypocritical. jon's definitely on top of my "men i would chase down the street if i weren't already spoken for" list this week. it's not a big list, but it's constantly evolving.

so what about some things i haven't talked about yet?

ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT... AND HEY, THERE'S AN ADORABLE KITTEH AT THE END



a sense of responsibility :: mac cosmetics have long been associated with causes, particularly their phenomenally successful mac aids fund. now they're adding to that by collaborating with the u.s. government and other organisations to help fight gender-based violence. you can check out more from mac, parent company estée lauder and secretary of state hilary rodham clinton.

in addition, rumour has it that lush cosmetics, themselves no strangers to causes, will be launching a campaign in favour of legalising gay marriage. this won't mark the first time the company has taken on a controversial political topic- they campaigned against extracting oil from canada's tar sands, helping to spread awareness of the environmental risks associated with the project before the oil industry had even started hyping it in their ad campaigns. it's nice to see that someone at lush hq evidently has testicles the size of those ubiquitous bath bombs.

the mad monkette :: this is the sartorial equivalent of comfort food.

soft kill :: this is the phoenix risen from the flames of blessure grave. their new album "an open door" isn't exactly going to shake the foundations of music, but it's still a lot of fun [in a mopey kind of way]. perfect summer listening.

more fun with mac & guerlain [& nars & chanel & my new friend stila] :: what's the point in having a great paint set if you don't use your paints? i may have been forced by blogger to abandon my "by the letters" makeup experiment, but here are a few things i've been doing with some of the lovely things i've raved about... you can also check out my wicked tan. seriously. that's a tan.

products used ::
nars sheer glow foundation mont blanc
dior hydrating concealer 001

mac manila paper e/s
mac surf usa e/s
mac grey range e/s
nars night clubbing e/s
mac blacktrack fluidline eye liner
ysl faux cils mascara

mac my paradise blush

mac lollipop loving l/s

lush colour supplement jackie oates
dior hydrating concealer 001

guerlain terre indigo e/s palette [all 4!]
diorshow mascara

guerlain terra inca sublime radiant powder

nars mayflower l/s

lush colour supplement jackie oates
dior hydrating concealer 001

mac sun blonde e/s
mac cobalt e/s
guerlain terre indigo e/s [blue only]
stila sparkle waterproof liquid liner curacao
ysl faux cils mascara

mac my paradise blush

chanel antigone rouge coco shine l/s










but really... there's no doubt as to who is the real beauty queen on these premises...

photo by dominic f. marceau- fsquaredmediapixels.blogspot.com

thanks to everyone who took the time to read & comment. please feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions.

making faces :: lips locked

mac :: mystic [the lipstick, not me]

well, the cycle is complete. if you've been checking in at on my 30 days of lips page, you'll note that yesterday was day 30 and i did indeed complete my objective to go a full month without a repeat- even including a couple of days where i changed makeup to go out at night. [i have to admit, one of those times i did it so that i'd be able to squeeze an extra look into the month.]

i could keep going, but i have a few new things that i'm really eager to try out, whereas i was trying to concentrate on the unsung heroes of my collection rather than the flavour of the week, which would be getting attention anyway. and i think that that's pretty much what i did.

a lot of the colours i selected have been with me a long time. i chose to end the experiment with my very favourite mac lipstick ever, mystic. it's a satin finish colour, meaning it's richly pigmented with just a hint of a sheen. the colour is a deep plum-red, not dark enough to be a really "vampy" shade, but quite intense. one of the things that i find makes it unique is the fact that, despite being a deep plum, it's not warm or brick-toned. rather than brown, it seems to have a little deep grey mixed in so that the colour stays comparatively cool. it does make a very nice nighttime shade, but i also find that it's conservative and classical enough for wear during the day or at the office. unfortunately, i guess i'm the only one who thinks of it that way, because mac has chosen to discontinue it, along with many of the satin finish lipsticks that have been part of their lineup for years. i guess that in comparison with newer, creamier, more lustrous formulas, those dusty old satin finishes just don't measure up. i wish someone had pointed out that most people are more concerned with the colour of lipsticks even more than the finish, and that it might be a good idea to make sure that you weren't removing a bunch of unique shades because the finish wasn't as popular. whoops.



if you're one of the few and proud who are mystic fans, you can feel free to chime in with any dupes you've found. so far, in my esarch, the closest i've come up with is yves st. laurent's rouge pur couture #4- rouge vermilion. it's a smidgen warmer, but it'll do in a pinch. i didn't have it to compare side by side, but i swatched revlon's colorburst lipstick in plum and that also seemed like a reasonably close approximate.

speaking of yves st. laurent, i feel like i owe them a wee apology for excluding them entirely from the lip sweepstakes this month. while i was trying to balance my choices, i did end up giving preference to mac, because they still represent the lion's share of my lip colours. but somehow ysl got ignored entirely and chanel got grossly underrepresented. ah well, no system is perfect. i've heard tell of people who use random number generators to determine choices when it comes to using items from a large collection equitably, but i really don't see that working for me. i'll spend twenty minutes flipping through songs on my iphone before finding one that suits my mood. applying tactics of randomness to clothing, shoes, makeup or anything would be dooming me to a sort of paralysis. some day, though, i am going to put together a database that can make suggestions based on me entering a few key factors- my mood, the weather, what i have to do that day... and i'll still probably reject them.

i know that over the last month, i've ended up using a lot of colours [not just mystic] that have been limited edition or that are discontinued. i didn't want to bog things down by offering alternates for all of them, but if there are any that interested you in particular, i'm happy to give it my best shot. on the other hand, if you notice that there are some i used that are now unavailable, for which you've already found a good duplicate, please feel free to share.

big, multi-coloured kisses to all. i'll have to think of a new challenge for myself.

for the moment, i'm testing out samples of mac's new "big bounce" mousse-cream eye shadows. i have a few colours to try and i'll let you know my detailed findings within the next few days.

making faces :: product review [armani, chanel, estee lauder, nars]

oh yes, everyone is coming out with new things these days. so here's a great, big omnibus review of a bunch of things i've accumulated over the last little while. some are here for a limited time, some will be around for the long haul, so pace yourselves accordingly.

armani "eyes to kill" eye shadow :: it's not often that i find something in the cosmetic world that makes me think "wow, that is really different", but these shimmery shadows are one of them. they come in pots, like cream shadows. they apply super-smoothly wet or dry, like cream shadows, but they aren't messy or prone to smudging. really, they're powders with multiple colours in one.

the colours are all quite breathtaking and, when applied, while they smooth into a single, nuanced shade, you can see elements of all the different colour "components" inside. who doesn't want an excuse to have people look at their eyes? the fact that they are quite shimmery makes them quite dramatic to look at, but there is a good range of colours from light to dark, with a few medium shades thrown in.

READ MORE REVIEWS AND SEE THE PRODUCTS IN ACTION!

lust red

the real magic in these is in their "technical" aspects, though. i got "lust red", a black shade replete with purple and red shimmer, and i had some trepidation because i'd been let down by such colours before. with other shades that have this effect, i find that, unless you really pack on the colour, they tend to just look like slightly muddy shades of black. worse yet, a lot of them are prone to fallout, so you end up with a lot of sparkle on your face, but very little on your eyes. when i first applied "lust red", i noticed a bit of sparkle spreading and was worried, but i brushed it away and persevered. once applied, i was amazed at the fact that the shade showed its base and shimmer perfectly and i was even more amazed when it looked exactly the same hours later. these shadows don't fade, don't smudge and don't move. however, when you clean them away with water or a moist cleanser, they come right off. i was skeptical when armani's publicity claimed this but this is one of those few times where the product deserves the hype.

the photo of the pot is more accurate...

these are permanent, which is good, because the price tag is a little hard to swallow. they're $32usd, which is bad enough, but some genius has determine that this should equate to $42. huh??? our dollar has been above par with the american dollar for weeks. how is it even possible that we should be paying $10 more?? someone needs to look at this, pronto.

the lady at the armani counter [only at holt renfrew in canada, as far as i'm aware] warned me that it's important to keep these babies tightly sealed when they're not in use, including keeping the small plastic inner cover in place. this helps them retain the amount of moisture that lets them do what they do.

yes, they're pricy, particularly if you're canadian, but these are innovative gems and, i'm not kidding, worth the investment.

chanel "rouge coco shine" lipsticks :: it seems that everybody is coming out with lip products that are a hybrid between a lipstick and a gloss and the most recent entrant into the category is chanel. as with all new chanel products, these have been hotly anticipated, especially as they did a limited release of one shade for valentine's day.

antigone

i'm a big fan of chanel's rouge coco lipsticks, but these don't really bear any resemblance save the name. these shades are quite sheer, whereas the rouge coco's are extremely pigmented. the coco shines are super-soft on the lips and don't have the stickiness one normally associates with glosses. the formula is like a very moist lipstick- comparable to mac's lustre finish, but without the tendency to bleed around the lip contour.

i picked up "antigone" [partly because of the name, i'll admit], which is a strawberry reddish-pink. although it really just augments the colour of my own lips, it's one of the more pigmented shades, which leads me to believe that the lighter ones wouldn't show up at all on me. it's the kind of lipstick i can wear for anything and i imagine that it'll be a particularly nice option for summer, where i don't want to feel like i'm wearing anything heavy.

for $39cad [$32usd... growl], though, i don't know that i'd find it necessary to buy a variety of shades. generally, i find them too sheer for the differences in the colours to show up in a lot of cases. the colour doesn't fade overly quickly, but, being a gloss-like formula, any amount of friction [from eating, drinking, etc.] will wipe it away. i'd recommend finding one colour you like and choosing that one.

sea star bronzing blush

estée lauder "sea star bronzing blush" :: this is one of those things that you want to have simply because it looks so cool. it's a bronze-y powder with a pink starfish debossed in it. the starfish is not an overspray, but an intrinsic part of the product. while i've heard it suggested that you could use the colours separately, i think that the pattern would make that very difficult and would require more patience than i can muster.

mixed shade

mixed together, the two shades form a lovely warm rosy peach shade that definitely functions as a blush more than as a bronzer [there are proper bronzers available as part of lauder's summer collection for that purpose]. it can be built up to a fair intensity, although it's never going to be super-dark. i definitely think it's better suited to fair-skinned complexions, since the colour is fairly subtle. i had no problem seeing the colour it added to my cheeks, but i'm definitely on the pale side of the skin spectrum. i like anything that makes me look radiant without making me look brown or orange.

this is limited edition and, i think, will sell pretty fast. it's $40cad/ $34usd [better, but still more than it should be], which is higher than a regular blush, but it is a fairly large compact.

nars "copacabana illuminator" :: finally, this is a product i tried from a fairly generous sample. it's part of a line of skin illuminators that nars has launched. these products are designed to give skin an all-over glow with just a hint of colour and can be applied either on their own or mixed with foundation. there are four shades- orgasm, which is a natural peach, super orgasm, which is a similar shade with a slightly golden tone, laguna, which is more bronze and copacabana, which is a white-gold highlighter.

the texture is like a fairly light lotion and i found it easy to blend it in quickly with foundation. the effect is extremely subtle. my skin looked a bit brighter, but i don't know that i would pay the asking price [$29usd/ not sure on the canadian price, but undoubtedly higher] for the effect it gives. i found that if i added more than a little of the illuminator, it had the effect of making my face a little too white in comparison with the rest of me.

used on its own, over bare skin, it was more visible and definitely added a pale sheen to the skin. it reminded me a lot of benefit's high beam or moon beam highlighters, in that the effect was pretty enough, but i found that it had a tendency to make my pores more obvious. i think that whether or not you like the effect is very much a subjective thing. i liked it mixed with foundation, but i don't know that i'd pay upwards of $30 for it. the illuminators are a permanent part of the nars line up and there will likely be more shades to come.

and, to give you an idea of what these things are like in the field, here are a few things i've tried with them in the last couple of weeks.

"eyes to kill"
i decided i wanted to try something dramatic to test drive the armani shadow and i only wish that i'd remembered to snap photos when i got home, so that you could see that my makeup basically looked exactly the same as when i went out. of course, i'm not sure the face underneath fared so well, but i'll have to wait a while for armani to come up with a fix for that. the since it was night time, i had to use a flash for the photos, which i don't normally like to do.

face ::

nars sheer glow foundation mont blanc
mac prolongwear concealer nw20
mac prep & prime finishing powder

eyes ::
armani eyes to kill shadow lust red
mac pigment new fixation
mac pigment pink opal
mac fluidline eye liner blacktrack
ysl faux ciles mascara

cheeks ::
estée lauder sea star bronzing blush

lips ::
chanel glossimer myriade




"not quite cute"
last week, i reviewed mac's "quite cute" collection and, having done so, it occurred to me that i had a lot of products already that could easily give me the same look as the new ones i opted to skip [for varying reasons] from the new collection. so this is something i threw together to remind myself that sometimes what's new bares a striking resemblance to what's gone before. i'm wearing the nars illuminator in this one, but i don't know how different it would look if i weren't.

face ::
nars sheerglow foundation mont blanc
mac prolongwear concealer nw20
nars copacabana illuminator
mac prep & prime finishing powder

eyes ::
mac crystal avalanche e/s
mac aquavert e/s
mac smudged violet e/s
mac mating call e/s
mac blacktrack fluidline eye liner
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac azalea blossom blush ombre
mac hang loose mineralize blush

lips ::
inglot l/s 151

"antigone"
as you can probably tell, i've gone on a bit of a kick with red eye shadow lately. inglot has a program whereby you can build your own shadow, blush or combination palette for well less than you can get a palette anywhere else, so i made myself a custom job with a matte, neutral highlighter, a matte coral and an amazing tomato red shade with a stunning gold shimmer. sadly, the shimmer doesn't really show up when the shadow was applied, although the colour is quite intense [and it's damn difficult to find a good red shadow]. all inglot shadows tend to be a bit powdery, which makes them difficult to work with- you can see from the shots that i couldn't get the colour perfectly even. my advice would be to work patiently [which is a problem for me], mind the excess and pat rather than swipe. the colour payoff is intense, which is a relief at least.


face ::
nars sheer glow foundation mont blanc
mac prolongwear concealer nw20

eyes ::
inglot 351 e/s [matte buttercream]
inglot 495 e/s [warm red with pink/ gold shimmer]
inglot 368 e/s [matte peach-coral]

cheeks ::
mac marine life highlight powder

lips ::
chanel rouge coco shine antigone

making faces :: choose your lips

i think we've established that i'm a lipstick hound. it's not bragging, it's kind of like standing up and admitting i'm an addict. sure, at one point, i was solely interested in dark colours and ones that looked plain weird (i still am), but then my tastes expanded. once that happened... ooh baby...

there are no colours that i automatically write off [although browns are generally very difficult for me], which means that i end up with a lot of colours in every range. i will say that one of my natural "advantages" (if you consider being able to spend money on lipsticks an advantage) is that my complexion runs a bit cool, but is pretty close to completely neutral. so there aren't a lot of colours that look "wrong" with my skin tone. one of the results of this is that i've been able to spend quality time figuring out who does what best. so here's a post with my opinions on where you can turn for whatever colour wants you have. and, of course, if there's anything i don't cover, you can feel free to ask. i have deliberately skipped the area of bronze/ brown/ earth tones, because i just haven't sampled enough of them to make a choice. mac probably has the broadest range in that category, but nars seems to have some really rich shades.

WHO DOES WHICH SHADES BEST?


a quick word about the photos :: i took these in a real hurry and you can even see in some of them that i scratched my upper lip while doing so. because i was working quickly, there are some annoying shadows, for which i apologise. i wanted to get this post on line more than i wanted to wait until i had perfect daylight in which to shoot the lip photos.

so here's where to turn if you want...

dior :: chic pink

pinks :: [note :: i have a separate category for hot pinks, since they're a different animal.]
best choice :: dior. i don't know what it is about dior in particular, but pink is their bitch. whether it's their full coverage "rouge dior" line or their newly launched semi-sheer "dior addict" line, no one does pinks like them. in fact, virtually all of their colour line is pink of varying shades. choose your pink poison. whatever shade you need to bring out nature's beauty, they have it for you.
runner up :: chanel. while their range might be narrower, it's hard to beat the subtle elegance of chanel.

reds :: 

chanel :: rouge allure lacque dragon

best choice :: chanel. think of it as the classic of classics. no one does profound, statement reds like chanel. they have brilliant scarlet hues to stop traffic [cambon], deep and elegant plum-reds [rivoli], autumnal and rusty shades [vendome], lightweight and fun reds [flamboyante]... basically, anything you want and more than you dreamed. plus, they have the shade "dragon", in my opinion the most perfect red lipstick ever devised.
runner up :: yves st. laurent. the intensity of their reds is remarkable and they have a nice range of warm and cool shades- they have really paid attention to the different hues you can get within the red spectrum.
honourable mention :: mac. i personally find their range of permanent reds a bit lacking, but when one takes into consideration some of the excellent limited edition reds they've included, they're an absolute winner.

purples ::

mac :: violetta

best choice :: mac. this isn't even a contest. despite my frustration that mac's purples so often run pink on my lips, there is no company that comes close to mac's offering. not only do they have a strong collection of regular purple shades, but they are consistently coming out with new and limited ones.
runner up :: none. this is the only category where i did this, but mac's dominance in the field is so complete, it's like comparing pet ponies to secretariat. makeup forever would probably be my second choice, but their offering is limited in range and in finish. inglot have more purples than anyone except mac, but their shades seem somehow bland. everyone else is limited to an occasional "special" colour.

vampy shades  ::

mac :: hang up

best choice :: mac. unlike most companies, who have one or maybe two deep, dark alluring shades, mac has options in virtually every range. pinks? check. purples? check. browns? check. reds? you better believe that's a check. oranges? well, we'll get there soon, but they come closer than anyone else, that's for damn sure ["so chaud" is a fairly deep russet-orange colour]. even better, you can get intense mattes, as per usual, but you can also get richer, creamier formulas and even sheer colours like "desire" that can be built up. quite simply put: if you're looking for a dark, sexy lipstick and it's not a week before halloween [or you want one that isn't made from melted-down crayons], mac is where you should be heading. my one quibble: they don't have a black shade in their permanent line-up.
runner up :: bobbi brown. what??? the queen of quiet conservatism? no foolin. mixed in among the subtle nudes, rosy browns and lady-like pinks are some incredible, unsung deep reds and browns. check for shades that start with the word "black"- black raspberry, black cherry, black mahogany, black maple... these are gorgeous, rich shades that would seem at home on the lips of those classical heroines of gothic fiction that are so admired.
honourable mention :: makeup forever. aside from the usual bloody reds and purples, they have a permanent satin black in their range.

neutrals ::

mac :: blankety

best choice :: mac. don't kid yourself. a good neutral is hard to do. a bad one can look like concealer or poop, neither of which is a look anyone should aim for. mac came to prominence in part by offering gorgeous neutral tones for everyone and their permanent range still reflects that. i'm always saddened that they've culled their edgier colours, but i understand that the sales numbers on a wide range of their neutral shades- light, dark and everything in between- speak volumes.
runner up :: cle de peau. i would have selected them as the winner, but for two things: 1. their range is limited;  and 2. their lipsticks are $65cad each. wtf??? still, their neutrals are really, really hard to beat. the quality is there [at that price, it had better be] and their shades are wonderfully nuanced. find one that's perfect for you, spoil yourself that single time and then try to forget that you ever heard about them.

oranges, peaches & corals ::

ysl :: blood orange

best choice :: yves st. laurent. if orange and coral are this year's "it" shades, then ysl is the only company that has a leg up. i frankly think that there's tons of space to explore new shades within the range of america's most detested colour and i salute ysl for having established a beachhead on the orange shore. i choose them because their offerings can be bright, soft and much in between. everyone else has some serious catch-up to do.
runner up :: dior. it makes a sort of sense that the rulers of popular pinks would also have an offering of easy-to-wear shades in this range. they lack the intense shades of ysl, but chances are there's still a little something for almost everybody.
hornourable mention :: mac. while the "peaches" and "corals" offering in their permanent collection might be a little lacking, there is no denying that mac was one of the first companies to offer a real variety of orange tones to the discerning consumer.
[addendum :: it has been pointed out to me that, in fact, this post ignores the fact that givenchy's "candide tangerine" is the most beautiful orange shade ever created. it's true. i haven't seen givenchy's other orange offerings, but this is one case where one shade makes an entire company worth watching.]


hot pinks, fuchsias & magentas ::

mac :: fusion pink

best choice :: mac. this is another category where mac is well ahead of the competition. they have eye-searing hot pinks, luscious, deep fuchsias and daring magentas in various intensity- fully opaque to sheer and summery. plus, they keep launch new and limited ones that become cult favourites. this is possibly the only company where i think you can buy a whole selection of colours in this range and not risk repeating.
runner up :: makeup forever. i honestly think they may best mac in terms of the permanent offering of shades, but they don't compete in terms of the variety of formulas.
honourable mention :: yves st. laurent. it's surprising to see some daring bright pinks and fuchsias popping up with increasing frequency in their range. even more surprising is that their colours may be the most daring shades of all.

ideally, i wanted to include an "oddball" category in this piece, a category defined by shades like blue and green, or by strong metallic shades, or just takes on usual colours that defy description. unfortunately, there just isn't enough competition. shu uemura has both a pure white [the most difficult shade to find!] and an intense blue as part of their regular line, but nothing more. mac, in this case, almost deserves a "hall of shame" mention, for having discontinued the shades that added an exclamation point to their entry into the competitive cosmetics market, as does urban decay. makeup forever has shown some inclination towards eccentricity, but has thus far held back. illamasqua, the cult favourite british company, shows some promise, but since i can't get their products without paying usurious british prices, i can't comment. the fact is that there are a lot of women who want to push the boundaries of colour,  and who have the innate confidence to carry it off [which is really all it takes] but who can't simply because there aren't options available. *wags finger* bad cosmetic industry! bad!

that said, this is my perspective on which company is the best option for which shades. i would, as an addendum, like to note that these aren't necessarily my choices for highest quality. i think that you'd be hard pressed to beat guerlain's rouge g line for that, but their colour offering [perhaps because they've priced themselves out of reach for many consumers] is frustratingly tame. also stellar in terms of quality is armani and they seem capable of almost unbelievably rich and intricate shades of deep red and purple, but the bulk of their range seems stuck in the usual hues of pink and plum we all grew tired of in the eighties and nineties.

feel free to disagree. in fact, feel free to leave comments telling me how strongly you disagree. that's your prerogative and the nice thing about colours is that they truly do rest in the eye of the beholder.

friday favourites 18.03.11

it''s friday friday! time for favourites favourites! why am i saying everything like jacob two-two two-two? well let's just get down to business shall we?

here are a few things that made my smile a little brighter...

the death of the music industry :: sure, people have been predicting it for years, but now we have ark records here to pound that stake through the heart of the last music mogul and nail the coffin shut just for good measure. excuse me, i've not written their name properly: they are actually called ark music factory and a more appropriate company name has never been entered in the ledgers of business registrations. i couldn't make that up, because i know that no one would believe me. they actually call themselves a music factory.

prepare to be rocked

the premise of this business is not to find and promote hot new artists, but to cash in on the eagerness of wealthy families to keep their teenage princesses happy in any way possible. so ark takes their money, flies their little snowflakes out to los angeles (assuming they're not there already) and has a team of songwriters compose something for them to record, fire up the auto-tune and let the music fill their ears (assuming they haven't just stopped them up with cotton or glue or anything else they found lying around). and it doesn't stop there. they then make a video with them dancing with their friends, tossing their hair and generally acting in a way that would thrill any pedophile and should scare the hell out of their parents. remember when britney spears was cute? your kids can't. they don't know how far they can slide.

SEE MORE FAVOURITES PLUS THIS WEEK'S CAT PIC!



the thing is, the music from ark music factory is, as their name would suggest, mass-market generic pop cranked out by a couple of people who can quite literally look at their bank accounts to determine the net worth of their souls and the chances that any of these divas-in-their-dreams are astoundingly slim. until now.

with rachel black, the company has suddenly been rocketed to the foreground as the people behind what many are calling the worst song ever made. personally, i think that's a bit harsh. yes, the auto-tune is ridiculous, emphasising every nasal nuance to this poor girls voice, but the real downfall is in the lyrics, which are the sort of thing those kids from high school who used to wear acid washed jeans and hang out by the back of the gym smoking pot would write for their remedial poetry assignments as a joke. and her video is getting millions and millions of hits a day.

a quick perusal of the ark web site reveals that black's "friday" is in a league of its own, but the rest of the songs are a pretty ridiculously bleak picture of a star factory gone wild. truthfully, any of the others could very well be the next britney or... whoever else those girls with auto-tuned voices are, because there is such a phenomenal stream of traffic to the ark records music factory web site that it's inevitable that some of the other videos will get watched. and i'm contributing to it because i think it's friggin' hilarious.

ark records music factory is simply making obvious what many music fans have known for years: anyone can take a pretty young thing, drop her in front of a camera and write a simple, get-stuck-in-your-head-so-you-want-to-kill-yourself song, fix it up on the computer and throw it out for audience consumption. wash. rinse. repeat.

i think these guys were also responsible for the new boris album.

9 degrees celsius :: sure, in june that would be an insult, but on st. patrick's day in montreal, that's a message of hope. a sweet chocolate of hope floating in a pool of guinness.

free with purchase? please?

freebies :: one of the fun parts of shopping for beauty products (as you may have deduced i enjoy doing) is that, in addition to whatever you buy, these companies are absolutely desperate to stuff your bag with extra goodies in the hopes of hooking you as a loyal customer. i've received about eight vials of perfume to try, a mask, moisturiser and an absolutely divine lavender-scented hand cream from sisley, samples of mac pigments (which require so little to use that even the half-teaspoon samples can last a couple of months), a miniature starter kit of bare minerals foundation (unfortunately in medium tone), a surprisingly gentle eye cream from cle de peau, a rich cream and cleanser from lush, an entire chanel skincare regimen and an ingenious little card from estee lauder that opens up to reveal four sealed blister-packs of their new lipstick formula and a tiny lip brush to use them. it reminds me of what i used to refer to as the "costco brunch". go to any costco on a saturday morningand wander from table to table, sampling the free food. there's generally enough of a crowd that you can go by the best ones a couple of times without being recognised. what's better than free stuff? lots of free stuff. now i just have to persuade john fluevog to start handing out samples...

(i'm also exceptionally happy that i managed to fulfill my quest- not for free, unfortunately, for a nice, opaque white lipstick that isn't part of some marked down halloween kit. seek and ye shall find, apparently.)




the naive beauty of community television :: heck, i used to work in community television. i'm familiar with the relatively loose quality requirements, but sometimes, even those slip by the wayside. still, i have to salute the guts of people who are willing to do this kind of thing. it points to a level of un-self-consciousness that's almost a zen state. here are two favourites.

if you've made it this far, you deserve a really great cat photo, so here's a double-shot of cutness. dom took this wonderful photo of simon and hecubus this week, so all the credit goes to him.

happy friday everyone and i hope this music-dominated version of friday favourites hasn't scarred you too deeply. remember, you have to see the humour in life or else you end up sniffing glue.