Valentine's Day Sales and Deals

Hey everyone! As you probably know, Valentine's Day is just around the corner! And you know what that means - makeup sales! I taken the liberty of compiling a few links to sales that I've managed to find so far; I will continue to update this post as I discover new sales so be sure to check back!

NYX

Rock n' Roll Glam

Drugstore Concealer Reviews

 e.l.f. Tone Correcting Concealer: This formula is a little too liquidy and sheer for me and doesn't provide enough coverage. It might be okay for those who only need minimal concealing, but for me this was a bust. The good things about it are that it is very inexpensive, doesn't feel dry or cakey, and is easy to apply because of the wand applicator.

FOTD: NYX Eyeshadow in Ocean Frost

Like the creative title? I swear, my creativity is seriously lacking these days...

Here is my FOTD I wore today. I have no idea why I wore such dramatic makeup because all I did was take my son for a walk in the local redwood park. People kept looking at me weirdly too, like "why is she wearing so much makeup to take her son for a walk?" But I don't care, I needed the practice in blending.

Highlighters Are My Friends

Hi, my name is Liana and I am a highlighter-holic(?). Okay, that didn't flow very well....but what I'm trying to say is that I love highlighters! I use one every day to give my skin a glowy finish, and to highlight under my browbones and the inner corners of my eyes. Here are some of the highlighters that I currently own:

FOTD & OOTD: Purple & Pearls

Just a quick FOTD & OOTD to show you what I wore to school today. Nothing fancy, just a simple top, jeans, and some sandals. Our weather has been extremely PMSing lately, one minute it's warm and muggy, then it's sunny with a cool breeze, then all day yesterday it was storming. I was actually looking forward to waking up and throwing on a sweatshirt and jeans and not bothering too much with anything else, but as luck would have it, the weather turned out to be quite nice, except for a breeze that was slightly cold.  I guess I didn't have to bother with my outfit or makeup, but I figured since it was nice out I might as well put some effort into my look.

On my eyes I have my Hello Kitty purple shadow that I mentioned in a previous post, plus some purple and brown shadows from my NYX Jazz Night Palette

I love this top except it accentuates my boobs a little too much...plus it makes me look kinda pregnant from the side :P But it's really cute and comfortable

I am wearing Rimmel Moisture Extreme lipstick in Spotlight Beige, which is actually lighter in real life.

On my cheeks is NYX Cream Blush in Glow and MAC Mineralize Blush Duo in Rhapsody in Two. The 'bracelet' around my wrist is actually a really long necklace that I just wrapped around several times

My sister bought me these sandals awhile ago. I love them, except the backs of them kinda hurt my ankles. Sigh, the pain we go through for fashion! :P And yes, I do have a deformed foot, as you can see in the picture. I have been so sensitive of it all my life because I used to get made fun of because of it when I was younger, but now that I'm older, I really don't care what people think and if they are going to be so juvenile as to make fun of it, then they can kiss my #@$! Besides, I like the rest of my feet :P

My friend made these earrings, and the small necklace above (not the one on my wrist though). She is really talented when it comes to jewelry making. I keep trying to convince her to start her own blog but she hasn't succumbed to my pressure yet. But I haven't given up yet, I know one day she'll cave in :P

Well that is all I have time for today, only 1 more week of school and finals-whoo hoo! Then I will be back to blogging so much that you'll get tired of me! :P

Until then,

Tutorial: Sultry Eye Look (very pic heavy!)

Here is the much requested tutorial for the look I did for Pop Champagne's Rockstar Contest

These are most of the products I used:

Step 1: After priming your eyes with eyeshadow primer (I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Eden), pat on black eyeshadow with a flat eyeshadow brush. I used my $1 e.l.f. eyshadow brush

Bring the color up to just under your browbones, don't go too far over the crease because you will blending it later. Don't worry if the lines aren't perfect, because like I said, you will be blending it quite a bit

Step 2: Apply a dark silver shade directly on top of the black shadow. This will give you the edgy effect of the black shadow without it looking to gothic.

Step 3: Line your lower lashline with the same steps, first the black, then the silver shadow. Bring the shadow all the way into the inner corners of your eyes

Step 4: Highlight your browbones with a sheer white shadow. I used the yellow shade from my NYX Jazz Night palette. It looks yellow but it's actually a soft white color when applied

Step 5: Here's the fun part-blending! Blend the eyeshadow up and onto the lower part of your browbones, alternating short circular and windshield wiper motions. Use a semi stiff blending brush, like my Sonia Kashuk brush

Don't forget the lower lashline as well

This is what it should look like so far:

Step 6: Line your upper and lower lashlines with black gel liner. I used Maybelline's Lasting Drama gel liner. Also line your lower waterline as well. Be sure to use a liner that you are comfortable applying so that you don't mess up and have to start all over again :P

Step 7: Highlight the inner corners of your eyes with a white shimmery pencil or powder (you can use the same one you used on your browbones). I used NYX's Jumbo Eye pencil in Cottage Cheese

Step 8: Apply your concealer and foundation. Since your eyes are so dramatic, stick to a matte finish. Contour your cheekbones by sucking your cheeks in and applying bronzer into the hollows. Apply a light baby pink blush onto your cheekbones above the bronzer

Step 9: Apply a light nude lipstick, I used MAC Myth although in the pictures it shows up as pink

And here's the finished product!

Good luck! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it wasn't too confusing! Let me know if any of you try this look!

A few tips to remember:

Hold a tissue against your cheek while applying your eyeshadow to prevent fallout onto the rest of your face

This look is very dramatic, so it tends to be better for nighttime, but you can achieve a similar look for daytime by using neutral colors, like browns

Make sure your brows are nice and groomed because there is so much focus on your eyes and your eyebrows are what frame your face

P.S. Omg, I totally just realized that I forgot to apply mascara! Be sure to apply mascara and fill in your brows, but keep them semi-light, you don't want them looking too harsh with your dark eyes.

FOTD: NYX Jazz Night Browns

Lame title I know, but I couldn't think of what to call it. Today was rainy and overcast, then it was sunny, then it was pouring rain again. Weird. But when I woke up to go to school it was overcast and gloomy, so I just threw on my sweatshirt and comfy boots and called it a lazy day. Well, until I started to do my makeup. The original plan was to go the au natural route with just some light powder, blush, and eyeliner....but somehow I went the exact opposite.

Lol, I don't feel like listing everything, so I'll just list the main things....

NYX Runway eyeshadow palette in Jazz Night (both brown shades)

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner

e.l.f. blush in Berry Merry

Loreal Color Riche lipstick in Fairest Nude

Hard Candy Plumping Lip Serum in Girl Next Door

Haha, after all that I might as well have listed everything!

Oh, don't forget, my Cover Girl Lashblast Fusion giveaway ends tomorrow! Click the link at the top of the page to enter!

NYX Haul Swatches & Reviews!

Okay so here is the long awaited reviews and swatches that I keep promising.

First let's start with the single eyeshadow swatches, the one on the right is Exotic Green, the other is Ocean Frost

So I haven't worn these yet, but I did try on the green one on one eye and it is very pigmented and blends in smoothly. However, it isn't really green at all, it's like a light black with subtle green shimmer, not quite as exotic as it looks in the package. A little disappointed about this, but it's still a good shadow. The Ocean Frost is very light and took a couple times to get it to show up, but it's got a nice simple shimmer, nothing too dramatic

Ok next is the Runway Eyeshadow Palette in Jazz Night. I love these colors, they are very pigmented, however, I kind of had a little trouble getting them to blend...maybe it was just me? But I do love all the colors in this palette, I use the yellow one to highlight the browbone, it's actually more of a pearly white than yellow, even though it looks yellow

Top Row

Bottom Row

These are the lipsticks and gloss I got

Left to right: Brush on Gloss in Killer Lips (i think that's the name?), Peach Love, Clio, & Apollo

I reaallly love the formulas of these lipsticks, and the gloss. They are super creamy and glide on so smoothly, with no effort whatsoever! Very pigmented as well! And the gloss is smooth, not super sticky or anything, which I love. It's a very nude color, I only put on a little bit than blend it in to even it out. The thing I am disappointed in however are the actual shades, they aren't really what I was expecting. They're all very frosty/satiny shades, which I couldn't tell from the website. They are all pretty, I just don't know how well they look on me. And Clio is a very silvery shade, I actually use this as a highlighter! Overall very impressed with the formulas but not the colors I got.

Here is the Concealer in a Jar, I got it in Medium

Unfortunately, this shade is actually too dark for me, and it looks kind of salmony(?) colored. Man, I was disappointed because I really was looking forward to this. It goes on very creamy and blends smoothly, however I did notice that it kind of enhanced any dryness or fine lines I had but not dramatically so. Overall I like this concealer, would have liked it more if I had gotten the right shade, but it's got a great consistency and is pigmented enough to cover problem areas. Be sure to moisturize well before using this if you have dry skin.

I got this just because it looked interesting, it's a face highlighter

I like that it has a pump, very convenient, however, you need to really shake it up before pumping, because the first time I tried pumping it, a big runny mess came out! But once I shook it up it got a little thicker. It's very light and a little goes a looong way

(ew, sorry for my dry skin)

It's very pigmented, so you only need a tiny bit. It's a little sticky however and it doesn't blend too wel, in my opinion.

It's an okay product but I probably won't buy it again

I bought their angled brush and the blush brush, they were a lot smaller than I thought! Here's a comparison shot. I like the angled brush because it allows you to draw really small fine lines, but it's really tiny, I like my brushes bigger. And the blush brush is okay, but it's not as soft as I'd like and it's also too small.

So out of everything I got, I'd have to say my favorites are the concealer and the eyeshadow palette. I will probably get more lipsticks in the future, but only if I am really sure of the colors.