Basic Face

Though my makeup "look" has remained unbelievably similar these past few years, I've changed a few things. First, I've ditched the waterline-lining idea. I've found that on me, lining my waterline with a dark colour makes my eyes look smaller, and it never really adds anything to my makeup look. Second, I've started concentrating foundation in areas where I really need it. Instead of coating my whole face with foundation, I put some on my nose (which sounds weird, but it's darker than the rest of my face!) along with some concealer under my eyes. I've started going for the less-is-more concept, with little flashes of colour for interest as opposed to bright, bold, eyeshadow looks. Up until my drugstore trip (as described in the blog post below), I essentially wore these three items, in addition to a limited amount of foundation and concealer.


The left-most item is Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb. I've been rocking this as a basic summer colour for a while, even though it totally doesn't go with my skintone. A lot of my friends have been complaining about the Burt's Bees Lip Shimmers, because they bought the much lighter pink tones. My policy with tinted lip balms is: always for a darker colour than you think you need. It turns out that the cute pale pink Lip Shimmers make you look sort of sickly, while the much darker ones give a hint of tint. What I love about these Lip Shimmers is that they still retain the same tingly, cooling feeling of Burt's Bees Lip Balm, while also showing a bit of colour. However, I think I might try out the Jane lip balm that I posted about earlier for a while, as the colour is much more warm. The eyeliner in the middle is Wet 'n' Wild IdolEyes Retractable Eyeliner in Midnight Black. I know it's not the best eyeliner I could get, but it was super-cheap and I got it a little while back. It's actually got a fair amount of staying power, as long as I layer it with my L'Oreal Wear Infinite Eyeshadow in Lush Raven. It's definitely not the blackest of black eyeshadows, but I kind of like that since I'm layering it with a pretty black eyeliner and I'm using it to soften up the look and make sure my liner stays in place. I've found that applying black shadow over the liner using an eyeliner brush is a nice alternative to smudging the liner, because it stays longer and it looks more natural.

I'll update later as to how my new lip purchases fit into my slimmed-down daily routine...hopefully they stack up to my Lip Shimmer!

Drugstore Goodies

Here are some reviews and swatches of a couple of drugstore deals I found:

One thing that was on my list when I stopped by my local drugstore was a nice red nail polish. As far as my tips go, I'm more of a neutral person, and the loudest colour I'll put on is some sort of bronzy-beige shimmer. However, it's usually clear. My toes, however, have been the subject of many trials and tribuations. For summer, I wanted a cute red go-with-everything polish, which I found in the form of an NYC colour, Royal Red. I got it for around $1.00, and the colour payoff is really good! You probably don't want to see a picture of my foot, but since I never paint my fingernails, here's a shot...sorry if they're unkempt!


I was also looking for some sheer, shimmery colours for summer when I came upon the Revlon Illuminance Creme Quad Eyeshadow. While doing my usual bout of internet shopping, I had seen many of these. Of course, I was curious to try them but was worried about their staying power and colour payoff. I picked up the quad in "Precious Metals," and was...well, I don't know how to describe it. These definitely aren't the best creme shadows out there, and their colour payoff is pretty low. However, the quad itself was around $4.00, which means it's $1.00 per shade. So, for the price...not bad at all. When I first looked at the quad, I figured that I would like the grey shade the best, because I've been looking for a shimmery grey shade to use with smoky eyes. It turns out that that's my least favourite colour. The shade I was expecting to dislike, the brown shade on the right, was the one that I liked the most! It's perfect for a sheer wash of colour on a lazy day, or as a base for other neutral-coloured shadows. The middle two shades go wonderfully in the browbone or in the inside corner of your eye. The staying power of these shadows is pretty good...they might have some trouble if it begins to rain, but besides that I would recommend this quad to anyone looking for some simple shimmers for summer.



Finally, I grabbed four simple pink lipcolours for varying occasions. The swatches are, from right to left: "Princess", from the Cover Girl LipSlicks line, "Toasted Rose" from the Jane Lipkick Lipstick line, "Rose Petal" from the N.Y.C. Ultra Last Lip Wear line, and "Pink Quartz" from the Jane Be Pure Mineral Lip Balms. The two lipsticks are swatched twice; the bottom swatch is just putting the lipstick on normally, and the top swatch is the shade that is achieved when you dab the lipstick on lightly (I love doing this on my own lips to get a more natural look).


The first one I picked up, Princess from Cover Girl Lipslicks, was a classic favourite. As I've mentioned before, I really don't like sticky, tacky lipglosses and my favourite lip products are tinted lip balms and dabbed-on lipsticks. This doesn't give a ton of colour payoff, but it's nice for daytime, or with smoky eyes to balance things out. Plus, it looks so much like a gloss it's pretty hard to believe that it's so light on your lips. I might go for a darker colour next time, but I'll definitely be keeping this one around for a while.



The second item I picked up, Toasted Rose from the Jane Lipkick Lipstick line, was a great basic lipstick. It's kind of like the opaque lipstick version of a dark coral lipstick, which is great for a "no frills" look. There's no glitter, shimmer, or even shine, but it's nice for a more business-y setting. I like to think of this colour as a very "Bobbi Brown" colour, because it's not that unique, but it's still very universally flattering. I love the colour that I get when I dab this on my lips, because it's a nice, basic colour that almost makes it seem like I'm not wearing anything on my lips. At the same time, it's so basic that it's a great canvas for a funky lipgloss, in pretty much any shade imaginable.


The third item I picked up, Rose Petal from the N.Y.C. Ultra Last Lip Wear line, has kind of a misleading colour. In the tube, it appears to be a really dark, typical, teenager-y lipstick. It's sort of fuschia looking, with some artificial shimmer. As you can see from the swatch, it's a little more adult-looking that it seems at first glance, and is a fun twist on a typical red lip. In addition, the colour that I got when I dabbed it onto my lips was great! It's a more shimmery version of the Toasted Rose dabbed colour, which you can't really see in the swatch.


Finally, I decided to end with the surprise product of the day, Pink Quartz from the Jane BE PURE Mineral Lip Balm line. Tinted lip balms are great for summer, and this one is no exception. The pretty peachy-coral-pink colour is universally flattering. It would go wonderfully on someone who is very pale, and yet also works great on my own lips, even though I'm pretty tan. The staying power is nice, and there's this great sweet vanilla smell that isn't overly cloying but still lasts a little bit. I love this product! I was able to get this and the Jane lipstick in a BOGOF deal at Walgreens, so that made those two products even sweeter. One warning about the Jane products; they're completely sealed, so you can't actually see the colour of the product inside. I'll try to swatch more if I can, but for now try to use these swatches as a guideline -- and remember, when going for a balm always try something a little darker than you would think!