making faces :: coral crazy

this would look awesome on your face

if you follow [as opposed to simply "wear"] cosmetics, you'll undoubtedly have heard the word coral more times than you thought you would in your lifetime. it seems like for the last year, everything has been coral- lips, cheeks, eyes, hair... ok, i'm kidding about the hair, but everything else has definitely had a coral tinge. so what's the big deal?

well, part of it is that people who make colour cosmetics want to keep feeding that desire to grab what's new, what's happening right now as opposed to three months ago, which is undoubtedly no longer cool. but the powers that be said that about black lips a couple of years back too and while people flocked to try it out, most stopped at the trying stage and the fad went away [except in my case, since i've always liked that sort of hard futuristic edge that comes from black lips, as opposed to dark red or purple]. but you say "coral" in front of makeup fans and immediately they're like zombies, pelting the contents of their wallets at you and saying "more".

MORE!



first things first. what colour is coral, exactly? i'm glad you asked [not that you did, but i'd have been glad if you had asked, just so you know]. defining coral actually helps in understanding its popularity. although corals in nature can be any of a wide variety of colours, they are most often known for being a shade that mixes orange, red and pink in more or less equal measure. the proper colour "coral" is a medium-light orange with a touch of pink, a touch that makes it a little cooler [as in colour temperature, not as in hip], but there are variations on that shade which run the gamut from light to dark, some leaning more orange, some more red and some, you guessed it, more pink. it's an odd situation where a colour at once references something fairly specific and yet has a range within it. saying that something is coral is more specific, for instance, than saying it's "green", but there's still room for interpretation.

within that range, though, you are essentially dealing with tones that are very flattering on skin. the pink element keeps shades from being too warm. the orange keeps them from being too cool. so as a result, there aren't too many skin types that can't wear coral. those same elements also mean that it's less stark than a true, primary red, even when it's a fairly bright shade. and it's more original than pink, which has been around forever and can't really be expected to carry the burden of being an "it" colour. once again, for a shade that seems offbeat or hard to pin down, it's actually a pretty easy thing to carry off. easier than the black lips, at least.

here are a few things i've done incorporating corals [which have snuck into my cosmetic wardrobe despite the fact that i try not to buy trendy things... it's just so damn easy to wear].

"toxic tale"
last fall, mac introduced "toxic tale" lipstick as part of their disney villains collection. it sold out roughly three days before most people knew it existed, which is kind of a frustrating thing about mac's limited editions. the good news is that they do bring popular colours back, so i have every confidence that if you missed this one the first time, you'll have another opportunity. and since it's coral, i wouldn't be surprised if that opportunity came pretty quickly. the coral colour i used on my eyes was also a limited shade from earlier this year, but mac does have a permanent shade called "electric coral" [available at pro stores, or you can order it over the phone] which is fairly similar and lives up to its name.


face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"
mac mineralize skinfinish natural "light"

eyes ::
mac e/s "dazzlelight"
mac pigment "pink opal"
mac pigment "follow your fancy"
mac eye kohl "fascinating"
mac fluidline eye liner "blacktrack"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac blush "bite of an apple"

lips ::
mac l/s "toxic tale"



"ever hip"
this shade would be an example of something that mac has already brought back. it debuted last spring and sold out, so they brought it back again this year as part of their "fashion flower" spring collection. in fact, the blush- another coral shade- was also a repeat performer this year, having popped up a couple of years back in a limited edition. both of these are super-soft, understated corals, easy to wear and very safe for people who don't want anything too vibrant. or, alternately, they make a nice counterpoint for when you want to do something really intense with your eyes. greens and corals seem made for each other, as a rule. not that there are rules, but, if there were, that one would make sense.

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

eyes ::
nars soft touch shadow pencil "celebrate" [as a base on the inner part of the eye]
mac fluidline eye liner "ivy" [as a base on the outer part of the eye]
mac e/s "sharp"
ysl e/s "slate green"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac beauty powder "alpha girl"

lips ::
mac l/s "ever hip"



"hibiscus"
this lipstick is an example of the red end of coral. [is it me, or does that sound nasty?] the shade has very little pink to it at all, but it's a little softer and more restrained than a full-on red. this is a great shade for summer, which is, i suppose, why mac came out with it as part of their summer collection this year. if you blinked and missed it [again, it sold out practically before it went on sale], the good faeries have told me that there will be a shade that looks awfully similar coming out at mac in the first week in august. when a colour is hot, cosmetic companies tend to want to take advantage of it as much as they can.

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

eyes ::
inglot e/s "351"
mac e/s "skintone 2"
mac e/s "jealousy wakes"
nars e/s "night porter"
diorshow mascara

cheeks ::
mac blush "mighty aphrodite"

lips ::
mac l/s "hibiscus"

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"

making faces :: hot stuff

it's hot in here. it's not you.

ah yes, it's that time of year when the sun is strong, the humidity is high and most people are a little leery of putting a layer of paint on their faces, even a light one. after all, the inclination in the summer is to remove layers rather than add them and hot, humid weather has a way of taking your nicely done makeup and turning it into something from the climax of "raiders of the lost ark" in a hurry.

if you live your life moving from one air-conditioned spot to another [home, car, office], that's very comfortable for you. but chances are that you're going to have to sit on a terrace to have a drink or visit a friend who find that air conditioning aggravates their asthma [me] or get on a bus because your brakes are being repaired. and there are a lot of people [me included] who just have to do battle with the elements every day.

no one is likely to force you to wear makeup [put on the mascara or we'll kill grandma!], so a lot of people just don't bother with it in the warmer seasons. but there are places- often workplaces- that do sort of tacitly expect that you make some attempt to hide the embarrassment of morning face and, if you're the kind of person who likes to put on makeup anyway, you're probably not interested in just stowing your collection until the mercury drops.

so, here are a few things that i find work for me... feel free to agree, disagree or add your own.

1. hot weather tends to make you perspire. i don't think anyone is going to disagree with that, but a lot of people use cosmetic products- creams, colour cosmetics, anything- that are actually intended to be quite moisturising. unless your skin runs quite dry [in which case, for once, you can laugh at the rest of us] you're at least going to want to move away from putting a lot of products on your face that are too rich or sebaceous. anything that has the keyword "glow" in it is suspect, because products that make your skin "glow" do so by imparting it with rich, nutritious oily goodness. doesn't mean you can't wear them [i've stuck it out with my nars' sheer glow foundation], but keep in mind that you'll be compounding what nature is doing to you anyway.

one thing that you can do is get yourself a nice mattifying primer. yes, it's another layer, but the whole point of these is that they help absorb. there are a lot of them around and i don't claim to have tried all of them, but nars has a very nice one that's light without being drying and neostrata in canada has one that leaves the skin feeling quite velvety. for a cheaper variant, apparently using milk of magnesia accomplishes the same goal, although i'd really recommend this only for oilier skins.

2. it's bright. again, probably not a lot of people are going to disagree with this one. the fact that you can't really do anything about the fact that you're under bright light all the time, though, means that there are a few things to keep in mind. very elaborate, detailed makeup under bright lights tends to look a bit overdone. keeping things simple- fewer shades, less blending, etc., tends to work better for me.

of course, that doesn't mean that you have to be overly subtle. under bright conditions, bold colours can really work. simple can mean one big punch in the nose of colour. 

3. heat makes things messy. makeup is certainly no exception. to get around this, i usually try not to get around it at all. bring on the mess and make it your friend. i like to do things that start out looking a little smudged and imprecise, because that way, when the heat inevitably takes its toll, it at least won't be quite so obvious. mac's sadly discontinued greasepaint sticks are amazing for this sort of work and give you the awesome sensation of literally colouring your face with big crayons. benefit's creaseless cream shadows and armani's eyes to kill powder-that-you'll-think-is-cream shadows are also very effective. essentially, a creamier product can go on looking a little blurry and inexact, but still look good. if you want to put shadow or liner over top of that base, it'll also help them last longer.

4. moisture feels good. i'm not being really controversial here, am i? but one of the things that i avoided for a long time, but now keep as a staple for everyday use is mac's fix+ spray. it purports to make your cosmetics last longer and is perfect for applying powder products [especially loose pigments] or priming your skin. i don't know that my makeup lasts longer with it, but what i will say is that it definitely keeps it looking fresher for the time it does last. it really seems to stop the fading that occurs, especially in warmer times. i also find that it softens the appearance of makeup slightly, making it look a little more natural and relaxed.

and you can spritz it on your face when you start applying and when you finish, to give an incredibly refreshing feeling. i swear i'm going to start carrying bottles of this stuff in my purse for those moments when i need something to relax me. it's probably better than vodka. well, the two go hand in hand, really.

here are a few things that i've done to my face that illustrate these points...

this is a sort of hot-weather variant on a smoky eye, where i just smudged a cream shadow over my lids, set it with a bit of a darker pigment and was basically ready to go.

face ::

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

eyes ::
benefit creaseless cream shadow "skinny jeans"
mac pigment "the family crest"
mac eye kohl "smolder"
inglot e/s "352"
diorshow mascara

cheeks ::
mac blush "my highland honey"

lips ::
mac l/s "out-minxed"



here's one using one of mac's greasepaint sticks. i basically just used it all over my lid- more towards the outer corners, since that's where i like to concentrate colour- and the quickly blended a shadow over it. this actually held up remarkably well during a particularly hot day and i credit that to the fact that it looked all mussed-up to begin with. i only put eye kohl [also known as "liner", but i like to talk fancy] on my upper lash line, since, when it's really hot, it lasts less time on my water line than it takes me to apply it.

face ::

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

eyes ::
mac greasepaint stick "french quarter"
mac e/s "patina"
mac e/s "dazzlelight" [as a highlight along the brow bone]

cheeks ::
mac mineralize skinfinish "by candlelight"

lips ::
urban decay l/s "voodoo"


this is the sort of thing i was talking about in terms of using bold colours very simply. i'm kind of proud of the fact that this looks complicated, but actually took all of five minutes to do. because the colours are separated into blocks, there was really nothing to do other than just apply. they more or less blended themselves, clever buggers. i think that this shows off the lovely, intense pigmentation of the shadows that came out with mac's "surf baby" collection. there's a reason i got almost all of them.

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

eyes ::
mac e/s "saffron"
mac e/s "sun blonde"
mac e/s "manila paper"
mac greasepaint stick "dirty"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac cheek powder [aka blush] "my paradise"

lips ::
ysl rouge pur shine l/s "blood orange"


and, finally, another more colourful look. normally, i don't do this sort of pronounced liner in the summer, because it ends up looking a hot mess in short order, but one of the nice things i've noticed about the armani "eyes to kill" shadows is that they actually hold other products in place fairly well. it's like they're having a little colour competition on my face. these photos were taken not long after application, but i was floored six or eight hours later to notice that i looked more or less exactly the same. no summer-smudging, no fading, no creasing. i also decided to take another of the dangers of summer in hand when i did this by anticipating that i was going to get flushed in the heat. i started out with a fairly bright pop of blush on the cheeks and presto- i meant to look like that.

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

eyes ::
armani eyes to kill e/s "pulp fiction"
nars e/s "dogon" [dark side only]
mac mega metal e/s "prance"
mac e/s "all races"
mac fluidline "blacktrack"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
guerlain blush g

lips
nars l/g "strawberry fields"

making faces :: semi-precious faces

i did promise a couple of days ago that i'd post a couple of looks i did with the products i picked up from "semi-precious" once i had the chance to play with them more, so here's a quick peek at what i got up to thus far. everything is about what i expected [there aren't too many times when i'm shocked by a lipstick or eye shadow, but it's been known to happen], which means that from this point, i'll be happy to hibernate until fall collections start appearing [usually at about the hottest point in the summer]. if you're looking for a review of the collection as a whole and swatches, you'll want to go here. this is just me showing how i chose to work these into my daily routine...














"unsurpassable"

i applied the shadow a little damp to get some impact, because i did want a colour that stood out. it's definitely as unique as it appeared and, i'm glad to say that, applied over a base [mac's "painterly" paint pot], it does a great job of staying true to colour. after several hours, i didn't notice any serious fading. what i did notice was that there was some "migration"; little sparkly bits that started out on my eyes found their way onto my cheeks by day's end. that doesn't bother me overly- not like sparkly bits getting squished into the lines around my eyes; that drives me bonkers- but some people are put off by it and if you're one of those people, i strongly suggest you stay away from the mineral shadows in this collection other than the black-based ones, which have a more satiny texture. them's the breaks. and might i just add that i was sick as a proverbial dog the day that this

face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"

diroskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
mac mineralize e/s "unsurpassable"
mac e/s "gorgeous gold"
mac e/s "white rabbit"
mac fluidline eye liner "blacktrack"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac beauty powder "oh so fair"

lips ::
mac l/s "big bow"

"smoked ruby/ gem of roses"
as soon as i got this, i was eager to try it with the colours from mac's "spiced chocolate" eye shadow quad from their 2009 "cult of cherry" collection [their best ever, in my opinion] and i wasn't let down. the red tones in "smoked ruby" mesh really well with those in the predominantly brown palette and, although it required some blending to keep the colours from looking a bit too much, this was surprisingly quick to put together. at the end of the day, i did find that "smoked ruby" faded quite noticeably- to a medium dark brown. "gem of roses" is exactly what i suspected- a sort of pink shade that would look great on almost anyone, because it seems to bring a sweet rosiness to the skin. for those who are in search in the montreal area, the bay downtown still had it in stock this afternoon.


face ::
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
diorskin hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
mac e/s "nanogold"
mac e/s "rose" [note- this one isn't part of the aforementioned "spiced chocolate" palette]
mac e/s "sweet chestnut"
mac e/s "spiced chocolate"
mac mineralize e/s "smoked ruby"
mac eye kohl "smolder"
mac false lashes mascara

cheeks ::
mac mineralize blush "dainty"

lips ::
mac l/s "gem of roses"

making faces :: mineralize this

a selection of mac "mineralize" products

every year around this time, mac cosmetics introduces a brand new "mineralize" collection. these are colour cosmetics made with "mineral formulas" that have a devoted following [and a smaller group who truly doesn't get what all the fuss is about]. in honour of that, i thought i'd take a moment to reflect on what "mineral makeup" actually is and how its meaning has changed since its introduction.

mineral makeup is a very broad term these days, but it started with the bare escentuals company, who introduced a loose mineral foundation in the 1970s.  at the time, they were capitalising on a popular captivation with things natural, basic and healthy. the idea was that mineral makeup included a number of ingredients that made it adhere better, give a natural glow and absorb excess sebum. perhaps more importantly- since a lot of the ingredients in mineral makeup are found in regular makeup as well- mineral products were made without parabens, pertroleum products and ingredients that tended to cause allergic reactions. they were also generally formulated without synthetic dyes, giving them that nice, natural aura and making people feel generally whoelsome about wearing them.

READ MORE ABOUT MINERALS AND SEE THEM IN USE

satin and frost finishes on a mineral blush

of course, as you might have deduced, a lot of this was marketing hype. as mentioned, the magical ingredients that make mineral products so appealing are used to make virtually all cosmetics. and as mineral makeup has progressed from loose powder foundation to full ranges of colour cosmetics, a lot of the ingredients that were originally excluded- like dyes- have been put back in. and while products are still generally non-comedogenic [meaning they don't clog pores], there are a small number of people [anecdotal evidence on the internet would indicate to me that it's a more significant number, but statistically, it's apparently quite small] who have reactions to bismuth, which is one of the minerals most often used to create mineral makeup [along with mica, it helps give the products their light-reflective quality].

so what's the big deal? what's the secret that's kept bare escentuals in business for decades and that makes one of the world's most successful companies do a new collection of mineral products [as well as offering a permanent assortment] every summer?

those who love their minerals now don't necessarily buy into the whole "more natural" story. as far as foundations go, people seem to like the fact that mineral foundations feel light, which is great, especially in the summer. products for the face [which would include not only foundations but blushes and highlighters, like mac's "mineralize skinfinish" products] give a healthy sheen [courtesy of the mica included], rather than a matte finish, which reflects the sunlight so plentiful at this time of year. products are reputed to be long-lasting [individual results may vary]. most mineral foundations also include titanium dioxide, which is a natural sun block, so they can add some sun protection. [note :: this does not mean you can or should skip sunscreen.]

mineral eye shadow

colour mineral products are popular because they have depth- the mica is there to give a sheen, but it's easy to thread multiple colours into a single final shade. in fact, one of the easiest ways to recognise a mineral product is because they're often sold in little domed pans and look like a view of a planet from space. the individual colours may not be immediately obvious in the application, but the colours tend to exhibit a dimensional quality not seen in regular products.

additionally, mineral products are usable dry or wet- with wet giving added intensity to the colour. the advantage here is that it can allow for a product to give two very different looks and that one can achieve a very dramatic result without having to apply several layers of colour.

whether one loves them or not is a highly subjective thing. my subjective opinion is that,  i usually love the "glow" i get from mineral highlighters or blushes and i wear them more often than not, but i find that the foundations are at best ok [i don't get the long-lasting effect at all] and that the eye shadows are never quite as pretty in use as they are in the pans. doesn't mean i don't own them, but they never quite live up to their promise.

i'll undoubtedly be dipping into the mac "semi-precious" collection in the near future, but for the moment, here are a few examples of mac mineralize products past put to use.

"quarry"
this eye shadow [pictured above] was my first mineral product ever. i love how it looks in the pan, with its combination of antique gold, pale blue and peachy copper, but on the lid, i find it just shows the gold. there's some depth, to be sure, but it's nothing as exciting as the product itself. i've used it a little wet to get some added oomph.

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

eyes ::
mac mineralize e/s "quarry"
nars eurydice e/s [dark side only]
mac eye kohl "smolder"
diorshow mascara

cheeks ::
mac mineralize skinfinish "golden lariat"

lips ::
mac l/s "funbathing

"family silver"
this look uses an eye shadow that was a combination of two shades- one a white/ silver and the other a warmer, darker pewter shade, both shot through with copper veining. both shades are very shimmery, which can look overdone if you're not careful. in this case, to make the lids a little more dramatic, i used the lighter shade wet, but used it dry as a highlight, so that it wouldn't be too much. i will say that i think this look was much better in person than in the photos. something in the photos just washes it out a bit, particularly the eyes.

face ::

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

eyes ::
mac mineralize e/s duo "family silver"
mac e/s "restless"
mac fluidline eye liner "blacktrack"
mac eye kohl "fascinating"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac mineralize blush "miss behave" [used as a highlighter]
mac blush ombre "ripe peach"

lips ::
too faced l/s "drop dead red"

"perfect topping"
this one is really more about the non-mineral products, although i do find it gives an idea of the soft glow one can get from mineral highlighters and foundation.

face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
mac mineralize skinfinish natural "light"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
mac fluidline eye liner "dark diversion" [used as a base, all over the lid and along the lower lash line]
mac pigment "deep purple" [applied over the base]
inglot e/s "351"
diorshow mascara
makeup forever concealer pencil [along the water line]

cheeks ::
mac mineralize skinfinish "perfect topping"
mac powder blush "mocha"

lips ::
mac l/s "riveting"

"stereo rose"
ah, pinkish-amber stereo rose... this was the smash hit from mac's mineral collection last year [actually a reissue from several years earlier] and sold out in record time. although it's listed as a "skinfinish", which would normally mean a highlighter or overall product, on me it's purely a blush- and a remarkably bright one at that. it's a very summery colour, for sure and very reflective. i find that you can see the distinctive mineral "sheen" on this one more easily than on some others.

face ::
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
lush "charlotte island" [a body tint that i've been mixing with jackie oates to get a perfect, light summer colour for me]
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
inglot e/s "351"
mac e/s "nanogold"
mac e/s "swell baby"
mac e/s "parisian skies"
mac greasepaint stick "charred mauve"
mac eye kohl "smolder"
diorshow mascara

cheeks ::
mac mineralize skinfinish "stereo rose"

lips ::
mac l/g "viva glam cyndi"