I'm Moving!

Decided to move my blog over to a new spot. Please check out my New Location!!

Subtlety

Here's a simple and subtle pink/brown look I wore a couple weeks ago. I needed more blush and concealer under my eyes even though I thought I used plenty of both. I think its probably because the photo is in natural lighting but the makeup wasn't applied in natural lighting. Good lighting really does help when you’re applying makeup.

Benefit’s concealers are great stuff in general but I have pretty bad dark circles that are hard to cover. (Especially when I’m sleep deprived like I was in this photo. Yikes.)

Products Used (not in any order):
- Eye Shadow: Drew Barrymore Flower Beauty quad in Foxy Browns
- Eye Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion
- Eye Liner (Upper Lash Line): Stila Smudge Stick Eye Liner in Tetra
- Eye Liner (Waterline): NYX Retractable Eye Liner in White
- Lip: Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Pillow Talk
- Mascara: ULTA Voluptuous Volume Mascara
- Tinted Moisturizer: Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer
- Pressed Powder: Clinique Almost Powder SPF 15
- Concealer: Benefit Boi-ing
-Brow Powder: Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Medium Ash

  My lashes look long when my eyes are shut, but when I open them you can barely see lashes at all except for on the outer corner of the eye. This is why you should always curl your lashes, it really makes a big difference. I was in a hurry that morning and forgot about it, oops.

Don’t you love the pink flower? So cute!

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows

This is my favorite drugstore eye shadow line right now. They have an interesting texture that can best be described to be like wet sand, but they feel buttery smooth, not gritty, and dry to a powder finish.

They are very opaque and most of the line has a metallic shimmer, though there are a few that SEEM to be more matte (could be wrong about that because I haven't tried them yet). They are easy to blend and the staying power seems to be great. I haven't had any trouble with smudging or any excess creasing, although others HAVE reported that they have had trouble with creasing. I tend to apply my shadows over powder and/or foundation and sometimes primer so it may depend on what you're layering them on top of (bare skin vs foundation, etc). I will have to experiment.

I had some trouble getting the camera to pick up these shadows to my satisfaction. Each of these have a real depth of color that is just gorgeous. Eternal Sunshine (the gold one) unfortunately doesn't show up very well against my ghostly skin, especially in this photo, but it does look nice, albeit subtle, in person. I attribute that mainly to my paleness. Liquid Diamond (silver) has this intriguing lavender undertone that I adore. They can be blended out to be lighter but I have swatched them at the fullest opacity possible in the photos below, which again, they really don't do justice to. I did not use primer on these swatches because, frankly, they did not need it!

These finger-swatches are my personal favorites, I love vibrant colors. It may look like I dug my finger in the pot to get a lot of product to show up but I honestly just rubbed my finger very lightly in the pot. That's why I like them so much! The purple didn't show up anywhere nearly as lovely as it is. It's more shimmery and less dark than it appears here. It's kind of leaning towards black/brown in the photo but it really is a lot more purple looking in person.

I definitely plan on getting more shades. In fact, while I was taking a break from putting this post together I went out with the husband and bought another while we were out. I wanted to get Perpetual Purple because I'm a sucker for purple but my limited budget convinced me to choose a more versatile shade.

I picked Iced Latte, it's a beautiful shimmery creamy/taupe/gold type color, it's hard to describe! It's a lovely and like I said, very versatile and can be used in many looks. I'll update the blog with a swatch of it too eventually but I wanted to go ahead and get this up before fooling around with more photos and swatches. Hopefully I'll get around to posting a look done with these as well.

It does have a higher price point for it being a single shade of shadow from a drugstore. They sell for around $8 a pot but there is a generous amount of product and a little goes a LONG way. To make them a bit more affordable try searching for a coupon and getting them when they're on sale at drugstores. I have seen them go on sale for B1G1 or B1G1-50%off.

If you're on the fence about these I would definitely suggest giving them a shot, I love them.

About Chelle

Hello, Everyone!

I have loved cosmetics as long as I can remember. I recall watching in awe as my mother expertly applied her lipstick before work and the thrill I had in receiving my very own first cosmetics set. It was one of those inexpensive kits developed for little girls. My memory is fuzzy but I seem to recall using it during those highly glamorous events featuring me dressing up with mom's clothes and heels. My little beauty set contained a sheer lip color, a blush, and even a perfume! I can still remember that smell, it was something soft and powdery and it made me feel happy.

More years than I'd like to admit have passed since then and now that I'm forever-29 I can honestly say that my love for cosmetics has passed the test of time and my ever-growing collection stands as proof.

To tell a little about myself...  As you can guess, my name is Chelle, Michelle actually, but I like Chelle for short. I've been married to my wonderful husband for over 8 years and we have 3 mini-schnauzers whom I absolutely adore. I've worked as a Reports Specialist in the government sector for over 5 years as well as worked on my [incredibly slow moving and spaced out] Vocal Music Education degree off and on. I hope to teach in the music field one day, hopefully at the college level, and maybe even do some more vocal performance.

Speaking of performance, I've always known that good makeup is a very important part of presenting yourself in the best way possible, particularly when up on a stage. I'm no expert in the cosmetics field, I have no formal training, and there are plenty of beauty brands and items out there that I haven't (yet) sampled. I'm sure there are plenty that I've never even heard of! But I do know that a great application of makeup can truly change your image and give you that extra *something special* to really look polished and put together. That's a big part of why I love cosmetics so much.

So despite my lack of training and the gaps that may be in my knowledge of beauty products, I have decided to start this beauty blog as an outlet for my creative interest. I honestly believe that people from all levels of expertise (or even a lack thereof) can help one another expand their knowledge, grow their skills, and widen a capacity for creativity. It is my hope that some of my posts not just be an entertainment outlet for myself but that they will be able to offer some valuable information for beauty addicts, newbies, and everyone in between.

I really hope you enjoy reading!

-Chelle

I love purple

I absolutely love purple so I decided to tackle a purple smokey eye. The results are below! My shadow colors all came from Stila's "In The Moment" palette, really pretty colors. The lip is Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Charm. My lips are actually a good bit pinker than this naturally so I am on the fence about me with this lip color. I love the way the shadow turned out though.

Sorry if it looks like I have a funny face at the end there, the husband was freaking out about getting somewhere on time. How does he expect me to care about what time it is when I have purple eyeshadow? Geez! (I'm totally kidding! Maybe.)