Ready for Your Close-Up

Beware of mineral makeup when getting your picture taken. Your face may look perfect in person, but minerals do not photograph well. Unless they are specifically formulated to be matte, most minerals have light reflecting properties. They give a beautiful glow in natural light. But they don’t hold up to the scrutiny of a camera. This is especially true of today’s high-definition cameras.

For a camera-ready look of flawless skin, e.l.f. cosmetics has come to the rescue.

High Definition Powder by e.l.f.

This loose powder gives a whisper soft, flawless look to your skin. The powder is very fine and very lightweight. You won’t feel it on your skin but you’ll notice the effects. Use it as a finishing powder over your other makeup. I apply it after I’ve done my foundation, blush, the whole face. It provides a matte finish without looking dull and it hides the pores on my nose. I use the puff that is included but you could also use a fluffy brush like a kabuki brush. Don’t be alarmed that the powder is pure white. It will not make your face look white when applied.

And the best part: It’s only $6.00.

Chanel Eye Palette

Les Regards De Chanel

One palette for all of your eye needs. This kit from Chanel comes with an eyeliner, two brow definers and three eye shadows all in subtle shades of brown. Applicators included.

I can’t wait to try it.

$70 from Chanel

Holiday Party Makeup Tutorial

Here is a beautiful sparkly look from one of my favorite youtube channels, pixiwoo.

Grace Magazine’s Guide to Beautiful Stocking Stuffers

Looking for that little extra something to add to your gifts or stuff into a stocking? Here are some small and inexpensive finds from Sephora.

Harajuku Lovers Love Solid Perfume

This romantic fragrance comes in the most adorable packaging. And now, it is in solid form so you can toss it in your purse without fear of spillage.
$18

Korres Jasmine Butter Duo to Go

I love all things Korres. This set includes jasmine shea body butter and lip balm in a sheer neutral pink. All natural and made out of good stuff.

$15

Too Faced Glamour to Go III

‘Tis the season to shimmer. This Too Faced pocket-sized makeup palette contains 8 eyeshadows in lovely shimmering colors, a peachy pink blush, and 4 lip glosses. The packaging is divine.
$19.50

L’Occitane Hands Celebration Set

L’Occitane are my choice for the finest hand creams in the world. This set includes three 1-oz tubes of lavender, shea butter and shea vanilla hand creams. Get a set for yourself. too.
$25

Clinique Full Potential Lips Plump and Shine Set

This set includes five dual-ended mini lip glosses by Clinique. That’s 10 colors of high-quality gloss ranging from peach tones to pinks and plums. What a bargain.
$25

Sephora Color Play Palette II

I could play with this for hours at a time. Sephora’s palette contains 36 eye colors, 12 lippies, 3 powder blushes, and a bronzer.
It’s only 6″ x 7″ so it won’t take up too much precious dressing table space.
$24

Product Review: e.l.f. Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter

Another great value from e.l.f. cosmetics. For $3.00 you get a double-ended concealer and highlighter.

On the concealer end is a creamy formula that help cover blemishes and under eye circles. The highlighter side has a shimmery cream that can be used to add glow to the top of cheek bones, the corners of the eye, anywhere you want a little added drama. I blend a dot onto my cupid’s bow. You can also use it as a shadow primer.

The formula blends easily and is not at all sticky.

I have it in glow/fair and it also comes in glow/light and glow/medium.

$3.00. Get one now.

Product Review: e.l.f. Eyeliner & Shadow Stick

After watching several professional makeup artists use this product in their youtube tutorials, I decided to try e.l.f. Eyeliner & Shadow Stick.

For $3.00 from e.l.f.’s studio line, you can try it, too. This combination eyeliner and eye shadow stick comes in four colors. I have black/smoke but I might have to order pearl/glow to add to my collection. The liner would be perfect for the water line and to brighten the eye area. You can also get brown/basic and green/moss.

The liner is a soft gel and the twist-up stick doesn’t require any sharpening. The shadow stick on the other side is smooth and smudgable.

How can you go wrong for $3.00? That price is almost absurd.

Product Review: Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

This is the mascara with the crazy wand. It’s curvaceous. And it makes your lashes curvy, too.

According to Rimmel:

Exclusive brush design curves IN to maximize lash loading, curves OUT to curl and de-clump each lash for a complete curved look. Lashes look lusciously curled, plumped and defined.

Sexy Curves only comes in two colors: black and extreme black.

This is not a subtle mascara. It creates dramatic lashes. The formula is creamy and loaded with pigment. You should see how dark it is when you wash it off.

So, if you need to wake up your look, try Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara. I got mine at Walgreen’s on sale for $7.00.

Sephora Ultimate Blockbuster

I’m a sucker for makeup palettes.

This Sephora collector’s palette will make a perfect holiday gift for a beauty lover. It contains 84 powder eye shadows in warm and cool shades, 3 blushes, 60 lip glosses, 2 lip liners, 3 eye liners, 6 cream eye liners, 6 matte eye shadows, 6 sparkling eye shadows, and a few applicators.

I have last year’s palatte and I use something from it every day. Just having all of those eye and lip colors is so comforting. No one will use the applicators. But the rest of the kit has good pigment and texture.

Shop for the beauty addict in your life, or for more fun, shop for yourself.

Available at Sephora for $48

I Love Makeup

I’ve been watching makeup artist tutorials on youtube. My favorite youtube channels are pixiwoo and michelle phan. Pixiwoo is two sisters from the UK, Sam and Nic. Michelle Phan, I believe, is in Florida.

They all do a nice combination of wearable looks and crazier looks. Pixiwoo are great for recreating the looks seen on the runway. Michelle is great for skin care (she has her own line of products) and youthful fun looks. Both do great product reviews as well.

Because of my youtube addiction, I’ve been on a makeup splurge. I purchased a lot of new brushes from e.l.f. (eyes, lips, face). They were very inexpensive so I bought loads.

My best new purchase is Chanel foundation. I used Chanel a long time ago, then went through a phase when I only wore sunscreen and powder. Then I discovered bare minerals. But watching these videos made me long for more makeup.

I bought Chanel Vitalumiere foundation. It’s supposed to give me a youthful glow. I like the way it looks and feels. Not crazy about the scent. But it has SPF 15 UV protection, which is always a plus.

My color is 0.8 Gentle Ivory. I couldn’t find my shade on Chanel.com. They are out of most colors. I found mine on Saks.com. Shipping was tout de suite.

What foundation do you use?

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pixiwoo
Michelle Phan

Gothic Vampire Makeup

If you want to be a sexy vampire for Halloween, follow this youtube tutorial by Michelle Phan.

She creates an elegant gothic vampire that is easy to follow.

Watch here and don’t forget to subscribe: