The Beauty Scenario Tag

Although not technically tagged for this beauty scenario tag, I’ve been reading quite a few of the responses from other bloggers lately and Larie’s post in particular spurred me to jot down what I’d do if these crazy situations ever happened…

1. You have to get rid of all of your foundations and only keep one high-end and one drugstore; which do you keep?

I was shocked when I realised that I don’t really dabble in high-end foundations or bases…what kind of beauty blogger am I?! I think Illamasqua Skin Base is as high-end as I’ve ever fallen for (I like YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat but it’s a bit too glowy for my skin) My drugstore option would either be Revlon Colorstay Whipped Crème Foundation or Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3in1 Foundation. Actually now that I’ve thought about it, I’d rather just keep those two drugstore options instead!

 

2. You go for an interview, and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?

I think I’d gauge the situation and the individual before making this decision – I’m often the one running after people who’ve left the bathroom with their skirt tucked up to let them know, but other times I feel too intimidated to mention little things like lipstick on teeth. I always let my friends know though, so there’s a plus for me ;)

3. You're not feeling yourself and need a pick-me-up lipstick. Which do you go for?

I think right now I’d probably go for my Maybelline Color Drama Velvet Lip Pencil ‘Fab Orange’ as it’s my current obsession, but more often than not I’ll play around with my eyeshadow to perk myself up before I reach for a lipstick.

4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years; how would you do your hair or makeup differently?

I never wore makeup throughout high school, apart from the occasional foray into a smudge of black liner on my upper lash line. I had great skin until I went to uni (ironic, dontcha think?) so I never really felt the need to wear anything – I do wish I’d worn mascara more often, and taken advantage of clear skin with long lashes for a prettier look. Hair wise, I’ve never really been into it and not much has changed!

5. You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott haircut but they hear wrong and give you a pixie cut - what would you do?

 A) Smile, say thank you, call your mum and cry hysterically

B) Cry in the chair and things get awkward

C) Complain to the manager and demand a refund

Real talk – I would have lost my bananas!! I did have an unfortunate too-short haircut around year 8, but I brought a picture into the salon and all so I am totally to blame for that mess. Round faces with chubby cheeks like mine often don’t suit short hair – mine definitely doesn’t!

6. Your friend surprises you with a 4-day city break and you have one hour to pack. Which 'Do it all' palette do you pack in your makeup bag?

What an awesome friend – bit late notice though missy! I’d probably forgo a whole face palette and just stick a thin shadow palette and a Chanel blush into my bag rather than going for something like the LauraMercier Lingerie Palette…though it might be nice to push myself out of my comfort zone and get more use from that!

 

7. Your house has been robbed. Don't worry, everyone is safe, but your beauty stash has been raided. What's the product you really hope is safe?

My Chanel Joues Contraste blush stash better be unharmed or so help me…that collection is a true labour of love!

 

8. Your friend borrows makeup and returns it in awful condition. Do you:

 A) Pretend you haven't noticed

B) Ask them to re-purchase it

C) Secretly do it back to their makeup

I give away makeup more regularly than I lend it out, though I do let people use stuff at my house if they’d like to (or I’ll do their makeup for them more often than not!) I would

I don’t think I have any friends who’d do something like that, especially the ones that know me and my beauty obsession well, but it does irk me when people swatch my makeup before I’ve taken pictures of it! #beautybloggerproblems

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I love the way that random tags force you to think about things in a different way, crazy as the questions may be. I have a newfound protective spirit over my Chanel JC’s and an appreciation for great drugstore makeup bases now!

-Emma

A Golden Makeup Look with Laura Mercier + Sunday Riley

 

 

Golden tones can sometimes be hard to make work on my pale skin tone, so I am often dubious when trying a new shade on my eyelids. When this beautiful Gilded Moonlight* pan landed on my desk from Laura Mercier, I was equal parts impressed with the embossed powder and hesitant about how it would look atop my lids. I decided to go for broke and dipped my Royal & Langnickel dense shadow brush into the pan!

Gilded Moonlight is quite a yellow based gold, and I decided to pair the shadow with my Max Factor Colour Elixir Giant Pen Stick in Hot Chocolate as the golden shimmer in the dark nude shade tied in nicely with the overall look. Gilded Moonlight is pigmented but not as buttery as something like Urban Decay, and I can see myself wearing this at Christmas time for that stereotypical festive look! Considering the size of my eyeshadow collection I surprisingly lack gold shadows, with my Urban Decay Naked palette being the only thing that springs to mind for that category, so I am very happy to have Gilded Moonlight nestled in my drawer. 

 

I used a light base as I only had a few errands to run, and my favourite light base is the Dove Tinted Moisturiser topped with a dusting of Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. It gives enough coverage to even out my skin tone and make me feel comfortable, but feels like I’m not wearing much at all which is perfect for a catch up with my local barista ;)

 

I finished off the look with a sweep of my new Sunday Riley Powder Blush in Blushing, which is a very easy shade to throw on and has made me pop a few more Sunday Riley shades onto my wish list (Honeymoon Night, come to Mama!) I think the next time I use this shadow I will anchor down the yellow tone with a slash of black liner and a chocolate brown in the crease, but I'd love to hear what YOU think I should pair this with next?

 

How often do you wear golden shades on your face?

What do you think of beautifully embossed pans like this one?

*Marked items were provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Palette Power

A mix of a few shades of eyeshadow can do wonders, and the ease of palettes is a definite drawcard for me. This is perhaps why my drawers are overflowing with sets of shadows from all different colour families, and why I tend to use shadows in palette form more than free standing shades. I grabbed a few of my favourite palettes to perve on, and thought I would share them with you and see what your favourite palette was!

 

Naturally I had to sneak the Urban Decay Naked palette into a post like this, the wearable shades and top notch quality are much lauded and it remains my #1 palette above the rest. Particular shade favourites are Sin, Darkhorse, Toasted + Virgin to create an amazing neutral eye look.  The Laura Mercier Signature Colour Essentials palette combine 4 of their top shades with a blush, and I love that in theory you could bring this with a base and mascara and be able to create a whole look in one shot.

 

 

Clarins remains one of my favourite makeup brands, as I am constantly impressed with both their packaging and product design in general. The Odyssey palette is my favourite from the two pictured here, though I do have a deep love for the purple within the Enchanted* palette. The Odyssey palette is quite sheer in nature (bar the gold leaf shade) and I find it easy to throw on and not have to think too much about. The Enchanted palette is really only reached for because of the purple shade, which I wear on my lower lash line all the time and absolutely adore.

 

My custom Inglot palette is filled with a mixture of matte and shimmery shades, and though that second to last pan seems quite orange it actually applies as a deep champagne shade on the lids and when swatched. I will admit that I don’t reach for this as often as I would if it were packaged in the old style, when the lid flipped out with a mirror and the pans were round. Though I like the look of the frosted glass top of these, my heart is just loyal to the old school ways!
 
I think I need to watch some Michelle Phan videos to work out how best to use the Lancome Midnight Rose palette*, as I haven’t used it too much and would love to work out how to make the most of all of the unique shades. The same goes for the Illamasqua Complement palette which I bought upon its release, but haven’t been able to create anything other than the look that the Illamasqua make-up artist talked me through. I love the purple shades from this palette and use them as stand-alone shades quite a bit, but getting all 4 to work harmoniously is a new way is next on my to-do list!

Which of these palettes would you snap up first? I’d love to know whether or not you are a fellow palette lover like myself! If you would like to see any of these in a makeup look be sure to let me know in the comments and I will happily oblige!

 

 

 

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Laura Mercier // Signature Colour Essentials

My love affair with Laura Mercier is not winding down, if anything I’m falling more and more in love with their products. The latest gift set I picked up is a beauty, and I thought I’d showcase it now while it is still readily available. I find buying palettes and sets from LM easier (and cheaper!) than choosing single shadows, I like the way it forces me to try shades I wouldn’t have picked up!

 

 

 

The Signature Colour Essentials set comes with a quite a few products, and I thought it a really nice touch that they were all individually wrapped in tissue paper (can you tell I love Christmas and unwrapping things?) As well as getting the palette for cheeks and eyes, you get a travel sized Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara, a 30ml Foundation Primer, Twilight Caviar Stick, lip glace in Sweetheart and a chunky little All Over Eye Colour brush. I love getting the chance to try a few things from the Laura Mercier line at once, rather than having to stick with the eyeshadows and wonder about the rest. This lets me dip my toe into the rest of the range with ease.

 

The true drawcard for me was the cheek and eye palette in this box, containing a Second Skin Cheek Colour in Vintage Pink, and two eye colour duets. The first contains Morning Dew, a creamy matte white, and Primrose, a shimmery pale rose beige kind of shade. The second duet contains Topaz, a taupe, and Kir Royal, a deep violet shade which applies beautifully. I find all four of these colours really wearable, and it could be feasible as a holiday palette if you don’t mind using the same four shadows in different ways. The cheek colour is stunningly classic, and a welcome addition to my Laura Mercier blush family. I love the LM signature atop this slimline package, but I do have quite a bit of trouble opening the clasp and it has been the culprit of a few chipped nails lately. Not a deal breaker for me, but definitely something to consider.

Sweetheart, Twilight, Vintage Pink, Morning Dew, Primrose, Topaz, Kir Royal

 

When I swatched all of the beautiful colours in this signature set, the Twilight Caviar Stick reminded me of a shadow I’d recently purchased, namely MAC’s Moth Brown from the By Request collection. I swatched the two side by side for you. While Twilight is darker and deeper, and Moth Brown more brown in tone, I think they are quite close in colour.

 

What do you think of purchasing sets like this over individual items? Do you see it as a chance to play with new products, or a waste of things you don’t want/need?

The Laura Mercier Signature Colour Essentials retails for AUD $85 and is available at Myer.

 

 

*All mentioned items were purchased by me. Honesty, always.

Tawny Lover at Dusk // A Makeup Look

The beauty of having a larger than average cosmetic collection is that I have the ability to try new products and new combinations regularly. I have been using my Laura Mercier Lingerie palette non-stop since I bought it, as I’m sure you’re sick of me mentioning. One of the shades, however, wasn’t as loved as the others and a while ago I made an effort to try it out, and see if I could make it work.

Tawny Apricot is a rosey apricot sort of shade (swatch here), and I was worried that it wouldn’t flatter my pale complexion, but I popped some Rich Cocoa into the crease and outer third which tied it together well. A bit of my essence gel liner in Midnight in Paris also helped things along, I think that even the brightest shadows can be made wearable with the help of some liner.

I brought (quite a bit of) colour to my cheeks with Illamasqua’s Lover and one of my most recent gloss purchases, MAC’s Dynasty at Dusk. If I were to try this combination out again I would probably throw Rich Cocoa along the lower lashline as well, and ease up on Lover just a tad as well. That being said, I had a lot of fun playing with these products and would wear this again.

How often do you play with unloved items in your makeup collection? Do you tend to go for the same looks all the time, or wear a new look every day?

 

 

*All items were bought by me, except the palette which was a gift from Chris. Honesty, always.

October Favourites

With the majority of my cosmetic collection tucked away, I was finding it hard to use and enjoy a lot of the stash. Now that the lovely Chris has put together my desk and storage, I’m relishing in old makeup finds and digging into some lovely products. Quite a large lot of favourites this month!

As always, Laura Mercier has held strong in my heart and I’ve been loving the Lingerie Cheek & Eye Palette. All of the shades have been getting love from me, and when I haven’t been wearing those I’ve reached for some pieces from my MAC stash. Jaunty is a stunner, and paired with the recently purchased Coquette my perfectly lazy day eye look is created (see the look here!) When I have a little extra time to put my face on, I grab for my essence gel liner in Midnight in Paris-gorgeous name, wonderful gel liner that really stays put. In October I cracked open a fresh tube of mascara, trying the new Impact Curl from Face of Australia. Love, love, love.

My beloved Illamasqua blush duo was well loved in October, especially the Lover pan when I wanted peachy perfection on my chipmunk-esque cheeks. If I craved a little pink action, my essence marbled blush in Swirlpool hit the spot, and my oh my does it make me glow in the best way. I’ve gone back to using a good base for my foundation, and it has made a big difference to the way my skin looks with makeup on. Face Base from Face of Australia is a lovely one, and feels like moisturiser but lets the foundation glide on and stops it from attacking any flaky patches. The Dermalogica MediBac Clearing Oil Free Matte sunscreen* also acts as a terrific primer, and though I have issues with the firm bottle, the formula is worth working for it.

Lips have been loving one of my favourite ‘my lips but better’ shades, the Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey. If I hadn’t won this shade from Clinique online I don’t think it is a shade I would have gravitated towards, so am grateful to have had them choose something that suits me perfectly. I’ve also been liking pale pink lipglosses like Nars Turkish Delight and my Sportsgirl Liquid Lipstick in Luscious.

 What were some of your favourites for October?

Have you tried any of my favourites?

 

*Marked items were provided for review, and I won the Clinique Chubby Stick on my personal facebook page, so it has no blog affiliation. Honesty, always.

Graduation // FOTD, NOTD, celebration!

The day finally came for me to don the university gowns and get up on stage to receive my degee. I plan to return next year for a diploma, but am still relieved and excited to have entered this new chapter of my life as a graduate!

Rather than getting the stiff official photographs from the university, my best friend grabbed my Nikon and snapped away and it worked out perfectly for me! My parents were still on the plane coming home from overseas so didn't make it, but I had other family there to cheer me on, and Chris took the morning off work and beamed up at me from the audience.

Candice and I, with the beautiful orange flowers she bought me.

Graduation FOTD

Candice is holding my hair back from the windy weather!

Products Used
Face:
Face of Australia Face Base Primer
Illamasqua Skin Base in 3.5
Illamasqua Lover blush
Maybelline Dream Matte Powder in Light 4-5

Eyes:
MAC Painterly Paint Pot
Laura Mercier African Violet and Black Plum with Pale Pink to highlight
essence gel liner in Midnight in Paris
Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara in Black Shimmer

Lips:
YSL Rouge Pur Couture in 6 Rose Bergamasque

I went with my 'dependable' look for such an important occasion, rather than trying anything new or exciting. I wanted to define my eyes for photos, and I knew that Lover looked great on camera so went with that. I was really happy with how it all came together, especially seeing as my skin is terrible right now and you can't tell in most of the photos.

I wanted something darker than my usual nail looks for my graduation so that you could see that they were painted in photos, so I chose to use my new Mode Cosmetics metallic shade in Blue Steel. I couldn't resist glittering it up with my BYS glitter polish in N347 (one coat wonder, with a base colour!) I was really happy with how they looked, I'll pop a photo with flash below so you can see how dark they actually were.

All the late nights, coffees, sleep ins and long lectures were made worth it when I finished this course. Even though I'll undoubtedly be studying something my whole life, my graduation ceremony made me proud of myself and I really feel as though I've accomplished something.

What is your proudest moment? Graduation? Becoming a mum? Buying your first home?
I'd love for you to share your stories with me!

I personally purchased everything used in this NOTD and FOTD. Honesty, always.

Current Favourites

Time to share my current beauty loves with you all!

Illamasqua Blush in Sophie*

 This coral shade has golden shimmer in it which just adds a glow to the skin, without making my cheeks look like chubby glitter pillows! I love the shimmer blushes from Illamasqua, so far they've only made a few shades in the shimmer formula but wow they like to do it right.

 

Dior Amber Diamond

I think everyone in the beauty world knows of this beauty! I love the way this blends so easily into the cheekbones, and makes me look awake in a natural way. I love to pair this with Sophie and the Clinique bronzer to create a pretty, sunny look, even on my fair bear face.

 

Victoria's Secret Amber Romance Body Lotion

I bought this in the airport on the way back from IMATS and BBU, and I am addicted to the scent. I don't think I've tried anything with amber before, and I suspect I may be a fan. The bottle is shimmery and pretty, and I can't wait to keep this on my desk when I set up my new makeup area.

Clinique Superbalanced Bronzer*

Usually not one for bronzer, I've been dusting this on almost every day for the past couple of weeks! I like that it suits my pale complexion, but is also buildable so would work for medium complexions as well. I get a real thrill when I shave off some of this sunshine in a pot, it actually makes me look forward to doing my makeup a little bit more.

 

Urban Decay Naked Palette

I've had this for an age, and go through stages where I use it non-stop and lately, that has been the trend. My favourites shadows from it are (obviously) Virgin, which I use to highlight, and Sin, which I either use all over or in my inner corner. Smog, Darkhorse and Toasted are other favourites that I've been using a heap lately.

 

Laura Mercier Eye & Cheek Palette

Have been obsessed with the African Violet eyeshadow from this palette, but every shade has graced my lids of late. Black Plum is a most beautiful colour for a wee smoky eye of an evening.

 

 

 

What are your current favourites?

Do you wear makeup every day, or just on special occasions?

 

*Marked products were provided, but are honest favourites of mine right now.