Fables in Fashion

Another cosplay chapter! Some of my favourite chapters, introducing the lovely Shia from Pita-ten <3 The demon who can't seem to be bad :( You can view the entire costume and gallery on Extreme Motion

Makeup wise, this look is pretty simple, the circle lenses really do pull the look together And yes, I totally wanted to kick myself every time I pulled a “I’m cute, love me” pose! But I had a blast, it is cosplay after all~ And I’m doing my best to try and get more “into character” with each chapter too! Can’t imagine what voice I’ll have to use when I do a horror related look? hehe.

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Face of Australia – Expert Finish Mousse Foundation – Ivory *
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural – Light
MAC Studio finish Concealer SPF 30+ – NC20
NYX Blush – Natural
Canmake Highlighter – 01
e.l.f Eyelid Primer – Sheer
Face of Australia Opulent Eyes – Rich & Famous *
Maybelline Define-a-Brow Gel – Clear
Prestige Eyeliner – White
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick – Carnation
Laura Mercier Lip Glace – After Hours

Products marked with a * were sent for consideration

MAC 130
Sigma Angled Top Kabuki – F84
MAC 209
Sigma SS252
Sigma SS266
Lancome 17
Revlon Lip Brush

A little while ago my HT aka Haul Twin aka Jess from Miss J Shopaholic did a video on doing her makeup using only 5 products. Inspired, I decided to take the idea and make it my own. I wanted to do two looks, something light and wearable and something far more dramatic to illustrate how far you can stretch a few products.

You’ll notice 6 products listed below (instead of 5) because during the second taping I decided to try a red lipstick instead of the creme blush, even tho I accidentally said I used the exact same products for both looks! My mistake Still, each look only used a total of 5 products!

Admittedly this particular chapter gave me a bit of a headache, I felt painfully limited by only using 5 products and I actually taped the tutorial twice, did a number of shoots etc. And honestly I’m still not happy with this look nor the video, but I decided that there was only so much time I could spend dwelling over the video and photos and just decided to post what I had and move on. Not my best work, but it’ll do Hope you enjoy either way

And why Limitless? Because the only limits in life are the ones we set for ourselves

Face of Australia Expert Finish Mousse Foundation – Ivory *
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick – True Red (used for winged look)
MAC Blushcreme – Posey (used for KISS look)
Canmake Highlighter – 01
Lancome Hypnose Drama Noirs Perles Mascara – Black *
Laura Mercier Tightline Cake Eye Liner – Black Ebony

_{Product marked with * were sent for consideration}

MAC 130
MAC 109
e.l.f Contour Brush
Sigma SS252
Sigma SS266
Lancome 17
Lancome Lip Brush
Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

Pros:

• Eye shadows last all day
• Comes in a range of shades
• Little goes a long way
• Glides on smoothly

Cons:

• Very thick
• Wand applicator

Price: $24US / $42AU

Rating:

Where: Kiss and Makeup, Adore Beauty, Myer or David Jones

I seem to be on a bit of an eye primer kick at the moment, but then who doesn’t love a good eye primer? I’m a massive fan of the Laura Mericer range, I’m just a bit sad at how neglected and unloved the counters at Myer and David Jones are every time I pay them a visit. On the other hand it does give me lots of uninterrupted play time

Their eye primer comes in a range of shades, which is something I really love because not everyone has fair skin. But what struck me as cool is that it comes in a pale blue shade that is designed to brighten and highlight your eyes~ That is something I want to try once I’ve finished the primers I’m working through at the moment.

As you can see in the photo above, the product is very creamy and thick, which caught me by surprise at first and I accidently applied way too much. So if you were to try this, just remember that fact, a little goes a very long way for this particular primer.

The primer managed to keep my eye makeup intact for the entire working day (10 hrs+), it glided on to my eye lids without any drag

A tube version might be nice for hygiene reasons, but if you don’t share it with anyone then it probably isn’t an issue.

Overall, love this primer, would certainly buy again~ Laura Mercier is one of my favourite brands for my work / everyday looks, but also Laura Mercier herself is an artist, a title I loosely identify myself with

Pros:

• Deep pigmentation when wet
• Doubles as an eye shadow
• Applies softer when dry
• Comes with a mirror

Cons:

• Powdery when dry
• Fades a bit during the day

Price: $22US

Rating:

Where: Kiss and Makeup

I love eyeliner! And I love trying all types of eyeliner, from liquid, to pencil, to gel to powder, just everything! My staple is most likely gel and liquid, I prefer pencil for my waterline and now I’ve been playing around with powder eyeliner.

You apply this liner similarly to how you apply a gel liner, if you want intense colour you will need to wet your brush first. You can see the difference between when applied wet or dry. Unfortunately it does become a tad powdery when applied dry so be sure to tap off any excess before applying.

The lasting power unfortunately does not compare to gel and liquid, I find that liquid maintains it’s integrity the best out of all liners, with gel coming in with a close second. I’d say this powder is still better than using any old dark eye shadow as your liner though. After 8 hrs, your liner will still be visible, but it will have blended up into your eye shadow and faded a bit, so something to be aware of.

Overall I’m quite enjoying this eyeliner, though it won’t be my “go to” replacement eyeliner. I feel this would be best in my purse makeup bag, because it does double as an eye shadow, so as long as I keep a mini eyeliner brush with me, by the end of a day at work, if I’m planning on going out I can re-touch my eyeliner and deepen my makeup with black.

I’m attempting to squeeze in as much holiday gift set love as I can before Christmas is over, but knowing me I’ll probably end up spilling past Christmas cause I’m slow and that’s how I row

Here is Laura Mercier’s Mini Lip Glacé Set, one of the many items they released as part of their Holiday 2010 collection. I absolutely love mini lip glosses since I don’t personally use much lip gloss day to day, but need a large range for different characters / shoots and so these sorts of sets are perfect for me

I hope that all my gift set swatches have helped some of you with your holiday shopping (or provided you with some eye candy)

The feature of this look were my half lashes, I’ve only recently really gotten into trying out various lashes and I have to admit I’m loving it! Especially with my recent trips into Asia, I’ve been able to snap up some really interesting lashes, these half lashes were not only cheap but I think if I trimmed them back a bit they’d look pretty natural too.

The other feature was contouring, I did a lot more contouring than I usually do (to be honestly I don’t usually do any), to give myself a harder look. Unfortunately I don’t think it quite worked out :/ Going to have to do a little more testing and might see if I can release a look that is very heavy on the contouring soon

Products used:

Face
MAC Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage
MAC Mineralize Satinfinish SPF15 Foundation NC20
MAC Select Sheer / Loose – NC15
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Beige
Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder Pale Yellow

Cheeks
NYX Blush – Peach
NARS Highlighter Albatross
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder – Light

Eyes
MAC Paint Bare Canvas
Laura Mercier Eye Book
MAC Eyeshadow – Carbon
MAC Fluidline Blacktrack
MAC Technakohl Liner Eye-Liner Kajal – Graphblack
Covergirl Lash Blast – Very Black

Lips
NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil – Narcisse
NYX Lipstick – Eucalyptus

Pros:

• Applies smoothly
• Blends like a dream
• Has SPF 20
• Skin appears naturally smoother and clearer

Cons:

• Can start to feel a little oily after a while
• Doesn’t mix well with face powder

Where: Any Laura Mercier counter (Myer or David Jones), or StrawberryNET or Kiss and Makeup

Price: $76AU at Laura Mercier counters, but substantially less on-line.

My favourite tinted moisturiser! Took me a while to find it too. Mainly because the frightening price point, but in this case you do get what you pay for. It’s great for a natural look, it softens all mild to medium imperfections (in my case the light freckles I have on my cheeks become almost invisible). The Oil-free version may be a bit drying for those with dry skin (I personally have oily skin), so use your common sense when choosing between Oil or Oil-free. Great for mildly lightening your dark circles too, and the best part is that it contains SPF 20

I applied this with my fingers, as it says so on the packaging. Just pump out a bit on the back of your hand to warm it up for easier application. You can use a brush if you want, but I find too much of the product gets caught in my bristles, and given how expensive this is I want it to last me a very long time. If I do use it, I only apply it under my eyes, cheeks and nose, not my whole face. Obviously if you want stronger coverage, I’d go for a foundation instead.

I would however avoid putting powder over your face after application, even if you do find it to be too shiny (use blotting paper instead), I find the powder can become a little cakey, nothing overly noticeable, except when I make an angry face and you see the powder crack at my wrinkles >_O I like my makeup to appear flawless when looking into a magnified mirror!

For those who are curious, my perfect shade is a mixture of Nude and Porcelain.