Currently Obsessed : Golden Peach with MAC

Reorganising my daily drawer for what seems like the millionth time and I stumbled upon an eye combo that I hadn’t tried before, and thought I’d put it to the test.  I’ve been relying on my neutral shadow palettes to create easy-to-wear eye looks lately and this is a lot peachier than I’m used to, but I’ve found it to really brighten up things and I actually wore this shadow combo every day last week!

 

MAC Rubenesque

I bought the MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque at a CCO (does that stand for cosmetic company outlet?) in Las Vegas and flashbacks of watching Miss Glamorazzi beauty video’s back in the day resurfaced and made me drop it into my cart. It’s a warm peachy shade with lots of fine golden shimmer that doesn’t apply as smooth as my Painterly Paint Pot, but it’s of a smoother quality than the other shimmery Paint Pots I own so I will give it a star for that. It can turn a bit of an unpleasant orange on me if I layer it up too much thanks to my pale skin, so for this look I’ve left it light and then went back in with my MAC powder shadow in Retrospeck.

MAC Retrospeck

I acquired Retrospeck in the Royal Assets : Warm Eyes palette from a blog sale and it’s something that I have loved from day one. It’s a bit too ‘blonde’ and golden for me at times but I still wear it often (that’s love, right?) and when it hits Rubenesque magic happens and it creates a gorgeous eye look that I can’t get enough of.

What is your favourite eye combination? What MAC Paint Pot do you swear by?

-Emma

Dior Amber Diamond // Swatch, Photo, Review

The famous Dior Amber Diamond highlighter is spoken of quite often in the beauty world, but it was only when I heard that it was being discontinuted that I decided to bring it into my collection. A golden peachy sort of champagne highlighter, I find this to be a well used weapon in my makeup arsenal.

 Packaging, whether it should or not, makes a difference when it comes to my love for a cosmetic product. If a highlighter comes in flimsy packaging and isn't appealing to the eye, I admit that I would find it harder to love. Luckily, Amber Diamond is packaged beautifully in a sturdy navy blue compact, marked with Dior logos, and comes tucked nicely in a velvet sleeve.

 Though I am at the very fair end of the complexion scale, the tan section in this highlighter isn't too dark for me, though I do tend to wear this when I have a bit of bronzer on as I find it goes well with it. Like the Bobbi Brown shimmer strips you can lean towards certain colours as they are separated within the compact. From what I understand, however, the Dior offering is less frosty on the skin than BB's.

 My favourite way to apply this is with a Real Techniques Contour Brush (which comes in the core collection) and I use it along my cheekbones, down the centre of my nose and sometimes on my cupids bow if I'm really taking my time doing my makeup. It leaves a soft and diffused sort of finish on the skin, and when I know I'll be photographed I use it because I know it makes me look glowy and healthy.

 

 As I mentioned earlier, from what I understand the Dior Amber Diamond highlighter has been discontinued in some countries, so if it is something you're interested in I would hop down to your local counter, or try any online Dior sources you know of.

 

I am really happy to have this in my collection, I've seen this in the HG status of many prolific bloggers and though I have a plethora of highlighters, this is one of my favourites.

 

Have you tried Amber Diamond?

How important is packaging to you?

 

*I purchased this item with my own money. Honesty, always.



Smog // An Urban Decay Face of the Day

It was when I saw this post from Lil Lady Life that I turned my attention to a shadow that had been sitting neglected in my Urban Decay Naked palette. I use the general palette quite often, have almost used up Virgin and wear Sin with Darkhorse far too frequently, but Smog lay unloved amongst the neutrals.

 Apart from the fact that my laugh are out of control in this picture (I must've been very cheerful that day!) I love the way Smog makes my eyes jump out without being glittery, though it is quite a metallic, shimmery look.

I swept Smog over the lid with a flat shader brush, and blended the edges with a clean fluffy brush. I ran some Smog along my lower lashline, which created a sort of foiled effect which I really like. I like to run Sin from the Naked palette along the inner third of my lower lashline and into my inner corner, the shade is perfect for brightening up a look without clashing with any of the colours used. I finished off with Virgin to highlight my browbone.

The mascara I used for this look is the Revlon Grow Luscious mascara in Black Shimmer. I'm not sure of my feelings for this mascara, even though I've been using it for a while now. I'm not sure where the 'shimmer' comes into it, I see no difference in colour between this and my regular black mascaras.

I've been wearing this look quite a bit this past month, and I think the obsession will continue right through October as it is a look that suits all seasons. Running some deep brown liner and adding a more volumising mascara would take this look into a nighttime look, so I'm looking forward to giving that a go as well.

 

Are you a fan of Smog?

What are your most used UD shades?

a golden guest

A make up artist by no means, I still love to slap some of my collection onto other peoples faces for fun. My girl Candice and I were getting ready to go to a hen's night (we had to look good, I was maid of honour!!) and she let me do her up.

Candice's dress had golden tones in it, so we went with a full on eye (compared to what she normally wears, anyway)

I laid out the Urban Decay Naked palette before her and let her have free reign. Half-Baked it was, and I snuck Virgin as her highlight and chose Mercury from TopShop for her crease (amazing colour, post up ASAP!)

I made Candice line her own eyes as I wasn't confident of my capability to liquid line someone elses eye, and she used Maybelline Line Define (which has been discontinued, to her horror) and a Maybelline mascara, too.

I think her eye shape and skin tone works really well with this look, and the smudge of Half-Baked under her eye makes such a dramatic difference to her normal eye look. I'm not sure what made me pair Mercury with the golden tones, but I really like the contrast and it made her eyes really pop. She wore a nude lip gloss with this look, and the face looked just as good on the way home in the early hours of the morning as it did when we left for the hen's night!

You can't really see how nice her eyes look when they're all scrunched up, but you can most definitely see how much of a cutie she is! And don't mind my pose, it comes naturally after a champagne or two! I am super washed out in this photo but I love it anyway, it was taken on the party bus on the way to the second or third club.

What night look do you lean toward?

Are you a bright lip-lover or smoky eye wearer?

NVEY ECO #168

Despite being a beauty blogger (and therefore owning the infamous Urban Decay Naked Palette 1&2!) I feel as though I'm lacking in the neutral shadow department. I have quite a few bright shades floating around in my collection, but I only have two or three that I feel I can whip onto my eyes and run out the door in. I've been dabbling in indie cosmetics, but I've really been yearning for something in a solid compact that I can throw in my bag to take anywhere. And look who came along...

NVEY ECO shade 168 looks quite unassuming in the pan, but comes to life on the lid with champagne glints throughout the light brown base.

These shadows have a quite a soft and somewhat crumbly texture, so a light hand is all you need to get enough product. It's quite pigmented but not as much as Inglot, so would be great for the cosmetic obsessed or those just beginning their collection.

I have been using my NVEY ECO shadows for a while now, and was excited to find out that they were at the recent Golden Globes and jazzed up some gorgeous celebrities!

Though I don't watch Jennifer Love Hewitt's television show, I've seen a few things she has done and find her incredibly beautiful. If NVEY ECO is good enough for her pretty mug, it's definitely good enough for mine!

Stunning!

NVEY ECO shadows are available here for $29.95 AUD.

Have you tried anything from NVEY ECO?
What are your favourite neutral shadows?

*This product was provided for consideration for review which in no way affects my review or opinion of the product. For more, see my disclosure policy here.