Monday 30 September 2013

Affordable Makeup

Hey beauties!

Being the youtube addict that I am, I've seen people talk about those 88, 120 etc eyeshadow palettes zillions of times, but I never really got hooked on it. However, recently I've been wanting (desperately) colourful eyeshadows (for no particular reason, my shopaholic side be damned). I've been eyeing some MAC and MUFE, but, even though I'm all up for spending a little bit of money on a customised palette, of my most used eyeshadows, I couldn't justify spending that money on blues and yellows (maybe when I'm a makeup artist *twinkling eyes*).

So I went on BH Cosmetics website and saw the Take Me To Brazil palette. It looked so beautiful, I almost got blinded by so many bright colors. I ordered it, and I also ordered the 88 neutral palette. Again, my shopaholic side... deep down in my heart I know I don't need more neutrals in my life, but it was a bargain. I think i paid around 20€ for both, shipping included.


Top - 88 Neutral Palette; Bottom - Take me to Brazil Palette


 I got them today and they are exactly what I was expecting. They don't have the quality of a high end brand (obviously), and they are kind of a hit and miss. Some colors have nice pigmentation, while others I'm sure I'll need to dip my brush twice, and I also foresee some fallout with a few of them. On another positive note, both palettes have a nice balance between matte, satin, and shimmery finishes, and I'm actually excited to try them on my eyes.


Top - Swatches 88 Netral Palette; Bottom - Swatches Take me to Brazil Palette

I think they are great for someone who is starting to experiment with makeup, or for teenagers, who sometimes don't have that much budget for makeup. So, if you decide to try some, keep your expectations realistic and you won't be disappointed. I mean, they are not MAC eyeshadows, but you can get 88 for the price of 1 at MAC.

Stay gorgeous!        

Saturday 28 September 2013

Omorovicza Deep Cleansing Mask Review


Hey!

Today I come to talk about a product that, even though it had the help of other amazing products, helped to improve my skin dramatically. The Omorovicza Deep Cleansing Mask.

Now, before we continue, I have to say I never had major skin problems, but still it was far from perfect and once in a while the hormones didn't help (if you know what I mean). So one day I was doing some online shopping for facial masks (more like looking at all the things I wanted but couldn't have), and came across Omorovicza. My first reaction was 'Too freaking expensive', but after reading some reviews (very important ladies) I got very interested, so I took a deep breath, petted my credit card so it wouldn't feel as bad, and ordered it. Thank the looord!

As the name says, it's a cleansing mask, it is supposed to remove impurities and clear congested pores, and it is suitable for all skin types. It is full of good ingredients and applies the same way as most facial masks. You cleanse your face, apply a layer of it, and then leave it on for 20 minutes. I just add one extra step, after cleansing I do 10 minutes of steaming (fancy word for 'you boil some water and then stick your face in the steam, with a towel over your head *sexy image*), this will open your pores, easing the removal of the dirty stuff.

I've been using it for the last 3 months and I'm almost out of it. The improvement is obvious. I used to have those little bumps on my chin, the ones that are not pimples or anything, and now they are gone. My skin texture is super soft, I feel like touching it all day (which you shouldn't do by the way, not only because it may cause breakouts, but also because it's weird). The skin is luminous (and not in a disco ball way) and even my hormonal acne is pretty much gone.

I can't recommend it enough, and I think it would be especially suited for young skin. I know it's expensive (at least for me it is) but if you are in the mood for a splurge...

You can buy it on Omorovicza website, but it's slightly cheaper on Cult Beauty, and as it's over 50£ the shipping is free.
 If I wasn't a total product wh*re I would repurchase, but I already have something else waiting, the Glam Glow mud mask. The standard is very high now, so lets see how it goes.



Stay gorgeous and have a wonderful lazy Sunday (^.^)    

Friday 27 September 2013

Men and makeup

Hey there (again!)

Yesterday I was talking with a friend and mid conversation he starts talking about a girl that he thought was cute, but after he saw her in a night out, full makeup on, he couldn't look at her in the same way. She was wearing a red lip and dark eye. This got me thinking. Guys drool over photos of famous women that are wearing bold make up, but when it comes to real world girls it scares them.

Why this double standard?

Anyway, they say they like natural beautiful women, but their "natural" is foundation, concealer, contour, blush, mascara and so on... There are tons of 'Date Makeup Tutorials' and they all go for the same soft, generally accepted as pretty, look. But what if you like to wear pin up makeup all the time? Should you compromise and let him warm up to you, before you pull out your winged eyeliner, dark lip and fishnet stockings? Or should he accept you the way you are right away?

Date accepted makeup (and apparently they don't like buns also):


Date non-accepted makeup xD (excuse the hair and my amazing attempt at pseudo-model photo, I was home, it was pouring rain and I was bored) 


Stay gorgeous!

Thursday 26 September 2013

MUFE makeup course

Hey (^.^)

Hope you had a very wonderful and glam day.
So, a few weeks ago I got into a professional makeup course by Makeup Forever, today was my first class and I thought about doing a little series of posts about how it goes, for people who might be interested.

It's an intensive course of 85 hours, it has a cost of almost 700 € and they give a kit of 150 €, that mainly consist of brushes, a puff and a sponge. Their brushes have an interesting feature, they have a flat end so it can be used as a spatula to scoop products like lipsticks, instead of dipping the brush in the product. (How well this works I still don't know, what I know is that the brushes are super soft)

The super kit ^.^

The first class was more focused in learning about the brand and the products available, their aim, feeling textures and seeing colors and pigmentation. They have the whole MUFE range available in the room for us to use (I heard angels singing when I saw that table). The makeup artist, who by the way was really nice, also talked about the industry, her background, how she got in, gave a lot of tips... Overall the talk was really  interesting, hearing someone that has been in the bizzness for years.

It was also nice to get to know other people with the same passion as me, since I don't have a lot of friends that are that much into makeup (forever alone alert! -.-').
It was a good day and I'm excited about the next class, we will already be doing makeup =D

Stay gorgeous, and here a picture of a little friend that flew through the kitchen window



      

Wednesday 25 September 2013

No. 1 Post and a little Skincare






 Hey there!

So, for my first blog post (oh, my first blog post… the emotions…) I thought about a lot of things I could talk about, but in the end I decided to go back to basics and talk about something I think it’s even more important than knowing how to apply makeup. We are talking about skincare!

(Pause for reader eye roll)

Yes, skincare, because, if you have a great canvas, pretty much any foundation will look good. You might not even need it! Hell, with great skin you will feel amazing in a neon orange tracksuit and pink crocs! (...Ok maybe that's overdoing it, but still...)

I got to start with the very cliché, mind what you put in your body! It will reflect on your skin. As people would say, you will glow from inside, pretty much like a pregnant lady, minus the baby (although I’ve heard that some days they don’t feel that glowyish).

Drink lots and lots of water, get your vitamins going on, look for A, C and E… (I could write about three posts about diet so I will leave it here. Maybe another time.) Also, lifestyle affects your skin. Things like exercise, stress levels etc… And beauty sleep is not only an expression, so try to get between 6 and 8 hours of sleep.

So, in these past years I’ve learned a lot about skincare, and one of the most important things is to know your skin type. Is it dry, dehydrated (yes, they are different, dry is a skin type, and dehydrated is a condition that can cause dry skin, it is also much easier to treat), combination or oily? You need to buy products that will target your concerns. Just because your best friend bought a moisturizer that completely changed her skin, doesn’t mean it will do the same for you. So look at your clean, unmoisturized skin in the mirror for a moment. There are in general 4 skin types:

  • Normal – Smooth, small pores, cheeks are the driest area (but not excessively), may experience some shine on the T-zone

  • Dry/Very dry – Tight, may look dry or flaky, rough and uneven, small pores

  • Oily – Oily skin, may have large pores, frequent breakouts

  • Combination – Oily T-zone, dry cheeks or spot dehydration, larger pores on the T-zone

And, then, on top of your skin type, you can have sensitive skin, which means it gets easily irritated. But fear not, there are a huge range of products suitable for sensitive skin. Go for nonperfumed and alcohol free. And don’t fall for the dermatological tested, that just means that it was tested and your skin shouldn’t fall from your face if you use it, not that is for sensitive skin.

Ok, so you’ve identified your skin type, now you want to buy the right products. But there are zillions of choices, and you don’t want to spend your hard working money in something that will make you break out like crazy. My advice, go home and do your research, look for reviews in the internet, preferably reviews of people with the same skin type as yours. I like to use Makeup Alley and Sephora Reviews. Also, go to the counters and ask for samples! 

And don’t limit yourself to what you can buy in your country, internet is a wonderful place, full of online  beauty supplies, some web sites even offer free worldwide shipping (can you hear my bank account weeping?).
Here are a few good ones:
 


 And I think I’ll wrap it here, next time I’ll go into the skincare routine in itself by showing my own (maybe on a video in youtube (*.*) maybe...). In the picture you can see a few of my loves.

If there’s someone who made it this far here’s a video of a hamster eating corn.

Stay gorgeous!