Birchbox is a company that you can subscribe to for $10 a month or $120 a year. The service they provided is this: they ship you your "Birchbox" once a month, and in it is a sweet haul of five little products, samples, or deluxe samples. These are usually high end brands. I couldn't resist subscribing. $10 a month for a monthly surprise box of awesome makeup/nail polish/skincare/perfume treats? I was a goner the second I heard about Birchbox. There's a british version of Birchbox called Glossybox which really pulled me in because one of the monthly products was a huge deluxe sample of a NARS product, and their packaging was divine. Girly, pretty, and romantic. However, Birchbox is what we have in the U.S. so no Glossybox for me!
I received my package on June 8th. In it contained one of my new holy grail products :) Here are pictures of the package, and the contents inside!
The back of the card lists all the products for each month's birchbox. They include a description of the product, and the full price and size if you were to buy the product in store (or on their website).
1. Archipelago| Pomegranate Soap (Part of Gift Set) $35
Unlike body wash, this triple-milled soap won't spill in your toiletry kit, plus it has antioxidants to keep skin soft and smooth.
This flirty scent feels carefree and joyful- just the thing to wear on your adventures at home and abroad.
3. Laura Geller| Baked Blush N' Brighten 0.32 OZ|$29.50
Made in Italy, this swirl of warm and cool tones is infinitely versatile- dust your cheeks for a flattering glush or use the lighter shades as a highlighter.
4. Sircuit Cosmeceuticals| Molecular Mist 2 OZ|$36 This high-tech spray uses heavy water to keep your skin hydrated all day. Use it pre-moisturizer, as an in-flight refresh, or to set makeup.
5. Deborah Lippmann| Stripper To Go Nail Lacquer Removers 10 Mitts $12 Fix your mani on the fly! Each handy packet contains a remover soaked mitt that erases polish without drying out nails.
I really liked my Birchbox this month, but had the Laura Geller Baked Blush N' Brighten product not been in there, I don't know if I would be saying that. That was DEFINITELY the stand out product. 1, it was great, and 2, it's huge! It was the FULL SIZE PRODUCT. That itself is $29 and I got it included in a $10 box. That's amazing.
What I would repurchase:
Laura Geller Baked Blush N' Brighten (but if they have just a highlighter product instead of the blush included I would buy that, because I liked the highlighter more then the blush)
That's it I think. At first I liked the Deborah Lippmann mitts but it says one packet is enough for 10 nails and that just wasn't true. It was enough for one hand before it dried out or maybe I just didn't work quickly enough, but I found myself swabbing my fingers inside the packet to try and get more remover (which I did, the packet was dripping wet with it, it spilled all over the notebook I had on the table). Also, it lists acetone as an ingredient, which most certainly does dry out your nails. So I don't know about all the claims it was making. I haven't tried the soap yet, but the molecular mist was interesting (Felt refreshing but smelled really strong) and the Kate Spade perfume is nice, like all perfumes, but I'm not particularly in love/ or attracted to it.
Blush N' Brighten swatched: Blush +Highlighter, Blush alone, Highlighter alone
Hope you all liked this review/first impressions, and I can't wait for next month's Birchbox!
This post is dedicated to going through the basics of a finished face. It discusses the must-haves and must-do's of makeup. It is a comprehensive guide, meant to inform in an in-depth manner, because the people who most need these tips describe themselves as clueless when it comes to makeup. It is an introductory guide, so don't be scared by the length!
1) Cover-up
Cover-up is the most well known of the beauty products, and for a reason. Everyone has a different word for cover-up, whether it be base, foundation, or corrector. Cover-up refers to makeup that covers the redness, acne scars, marks, spots, and unevenness that Mother Nature gave each of us. Using cover-up is crucial in getting an even and flawless face. In this picture, taken from Benefit Makeup's site, a model is pictured with her natural face and then with her face done, presumably using Benefit's Hello Flawless foundation.
Don't be fooled though, her face is definitely given some "wow" factor in the after picture by having completely done brows, eye shadow, mascara, blush, possibly/probably concealer, and lipstick/gloss. Don't panic! Some of those elements aren't totally necessary (although the result is pleasing, no?), and we'll be covering these topics next.
2) Concealer- Concealer generally falls within the realm of cover-up, but it is not absolutely crucial. Foundation is the big whammy of cover-up. It is the essential product that gives skin an even glow. It is for your entire face. Concealer is for stubborn problem areas, and adding a little extra coverage to trouble spots, or dark circles. Generally this is added after foundation, but some people choose to put it on before foundation. Their reasoning is that they like to concentrate on their problem areas first and then even out their face, while others like to get a generally even face and then tackle their problem areas. It's all personal preference. In this picture, also taken from Benefit, a model is seen in her natural state and then with Erase Paste concealer added to even her skin. Once again, don't be fooled. If you look at the circle picture, when she has added her concealer, the majority of her skin already looks clear. This is because she used foundation beforehand. This picture is somewhat misleading because it makes it seem as though Erase Paste is responsible for completely evening out her skin, which is most likely not the case. Also, she has on many other products for eyes, lips, cheeks, and brows in the finished result.
At this point, your face is done. The last step is to use a product to set your makeup. For most people, this is generally powder. Powder sets your liquid/cream makeup and helps it last. If using a powder foundation already, then putting powder over more powder doesn't make sense, so you don't need this last step. You can either choose a powder that matches your skin tone and foundation shade, or a translucent powder without any/much color to set your makeup. A well-received setting powder is MAC's Mineralize SkinFinish Natural. This, and all powder setting makeup should be applied with either a big fluffy face brush, or a kabuki brush (this is if you powder adds coverage and you want to buff it into your skin to get more of that coverage. Also used for powder foundations)
A well-received translucent powder is Makeup Forever's HD MicroFinish Powder.
3) Mascara- Mascara enhances the look of your lashes, the flirtiest part of your face! Long, thick, fluttery lashes make a girl look extra feminine and alluring, not to mention sexy. Mascaras come in different colors and formulas. Generally the old stand-by is a black mascara, and I would recommended getting one that has several benefits listed on it's packaging, such as volume AND length. According to advertisements, Maybelline's Great Lash is the most popular mascara in America (as in sold the most out of all drugstore mascaras I believe). This is a nice mascara for having natural but definitely more noticeable lashes.
My personal favorite is Maybelline's Colossal Volume Express Mascara. This one promises 9 times the volume.
* A Note about mascaras: Mascara is generally regarded as the one product you don't need to go to a high-end beauty department store to find. It is a product that drugstore brands do extremely well, and there is no reason to spend a lot of money on high-end mascaras when drugstore mascaras do a comparable job. Also, mascaras come in water-proof formulas. Grudgingly, I have switched to mostly wearing water-proof formulas, because I'll rub my eyes sometimes and with regular mascara this might smear or when your eyes get watery your mascara goes everywhere. With a water-proof formula, this isn't a problem. Also recommended for the beach/rainy days. However, I say I have grudgingly switched because water-proof formulas generally do not work as well as their non water-proof counterparts. For example, the water-proof version of the Colossal Volume Express Mascara only volumizes up to 7x whereas the original volumizes up to 9x.
4) Eyeliner- Eyeliner is not necessary, but I would say it is used more then eyeshadow when in a pinch and full lashes just aren't enough to make you look as refined as you want. Eyeliners come in cream, gel, pencil, and liquid formulas. They are generally quick to apply, unless you are going for a specific look, such as a winged eyeliner, which takes some time and practice.
Generally though, if you want to add eyeliner in a hurry just smudge some on your upper lashline to make your lashes look thicker. Alternately, you can swipe some on your lower waterline to give a darker more smoldering effect. When I go without my glasses, I can't not wear some on my bottom lashline. I just don't look awake without it. You also don't have to choose between eyeshadow or eyeliner. For a typical smokey look, you'd wear both. Even for everyday, it sometimes makes sense to wear both. They compliment each other. I say that eyeshadow isn't mandatory because I didn't get into it until literally 2 years ago, but it really is the only way to create a voluptuous smokey eye. However, for minimalists, eyeshadow isn't a must-do or a must-have. In a pinch, swipe a nice taupe brown color on your lid.
5) Brows- Some girls don't need to do this, and most girls don't have to. I fill in my brows because I have way over-tweezed brows and I need something to not make me look crazy and half-brow-less. For this you can use either a brow powder, a matte eyeshadow that matches the color of your brows, or an eyebrow pencil. You basically just want to lightly fill in areas where the hairs are sparse to create a more consistent look. I also like to extend my brow pencil past where my natural brow ends to look more refined. There are plenty of expensive brow products, and among the most well-acclaimed is Anastasia's Brow Products, sold at Sephora. I however, just use Wet N Wild Eyeliner/Eye Brow Pencil in Dark Brown. Costs about a dollar at Target.
6) Lips!- You can use a lip pencil, a lip stain, a lipstick, a lipgloss, or even balm if you want. The most muss-free product is probably a nice chapstick type product that has a hint of color. A great product is A Kiss Of Shimmer Pearly Shimmer from Nivea.
Some girls prefer lip gloss to lipstick but I don't. Lipgloss can be sticky, tacky, goopy, and messy. Your hair WILL get caught in it on a windy day and it WILL be a hot mess. I like neutral lipsticks for everyday wear. I LOVE any and all MAC pink/neutral colored lipsticks, especially Modesty from their Cremesheen formula.
I haven't mentioned blush or bronzer, because those products aren't essential, just for adding some color to the face. When done right blush and/or bronzer gives the face a nice glow and extra radiance. Highlighter is also being left out. Highlighter is for getting a dewy sheen, a glow on the cheekbones, browbone areas, cupid's bow of the mouth, and down the bridge of the nose. It just gives a pearly luminescence that makes it seem like there's a spotlight on all the right areas of your face. If you want suggestions about these, just leave a comment! :)
Two amazing Makeup Gurus doing quick, effective five-minute makeup:
Feather Earrings are slowly taking over as the latest new trend in Hollywood. Stars are rocking these all over for a fresh, edgy look in music videos, on red carpets, and in everyday life. The trend gives off a rock chic bohemian vibe, and adds a disheveled feel to any and every outfit. It adds a native princess-y, carefree element and works as a great piece for accentuating hair. When done right, feather earrings look almost woven into a hairstyle. At it's best it is not discernible where the feather begins and where it ends. Case in point: Ke$ha.
Ke$ha is pretty much the postergirl for this look and she does it right. Other celebrities who do this trend justice rock it in a few different ways.
One way is bohemian chic a la Miley Cyrus:
Another way is classy chic a la ALL these celebrities:
Another option is the casual cool look- adding it to a laidback outfit to give it flair, a la Vanessa Hudgens:
This post wouldn't be complete without noting Kandee Johnson, beauty guru, mommy, celebrity makeup artist and blogger extraordinaire. I credit Kandee for really helping this trend takeoff. When she started wearing feather earrings in her videos, many YouTubers took note and instantly fell in love with the look. SHE made it trendy.
She's gorgeous. POINT IS feather earrings are an amazingly eclectic and funky addition to any wardrobe if done right! Just don't wear ones like these. This is a little too much.
Matchy matchy is a no-no, as is huge and gaudy.
In short, Feather Earrings are my latest obsession.
To find some gorgeous creations try googling Ke$ha feather earrings, as well as Etsy.
$9.99 for any one of the OPI Katy Perry Nail Lacquers at Ricky's
The Grade: B/B+
The Blah Blah Blah: Ever since I saw the Katy Perry OPI advertisement in Glamour magazine two months ago I have been dying to get my hands on Black Shatter. It's been very difficult trying to find a place that sells Black Shatter, but I finally read online that Ricky's carries the polish, so I set out to my nearest Ricky's. The polish was right in front of the register, and I was completely overjoyed. I bit the bullet and spent about $25 for a Katy Perry nail lacquer and the Black Shatter topcoat. Upon trying it out I was in awe- it is really cool to see your preliminary lacquer "shatter" with the topcoat. I gave Black Shatter a B/B+ and not an A because you have to be sure to apply the top coat very carefully in order to get the desired effect you're after. It has to be a very opaque coat of Shatter, and once you apply a swipe you can't go over it with a second coat- it will just make the polish look very clumpy and dull and generally cracked out. Also the brush is quite large and somewhat flimsy, making it difficult to get it into the corners and crevices of your nails. Black Shatter creates a really cool design and is eye-opening to watch! Although $14 is expensive for a nail polish, it is such a unique innovation that it is worth your money. Also Teenage Dream is beautiful to wear with Shatter and all on its own.
All in all I liked both polishes and the results I got.
Katy Perry Teenage Dream
Not the clearest picture but I really wanted to show the rainbow chunky glitter particles that make Teenage Dream so cool, so I put this in.
I fell in love with this picture (Katy Perry and the Biebs!) the second I saw it because of:
1)the adorableness of the facial expressions/ awkwardly inappropriate proximity of closeness to one another
2) Katy Perry's amazing makeup
The look Katy's wearing here was seen at the 2010 American Music Awards afterparty, hosted by Rolling Stone. It is an amazing bronze smokey eye with full false lashes, a contoured cheek with peach blush and nude pinky lips, and flawless skin(but that's sort of a given).
Katy Perry is an incredibly beautiful entertainer and she pulls out all the stops with her makeup. Therefore I knew I had to challenge myself and attempt to recreate her look. We have very different facial features and bone structure, so even if I knew exactly what products were used on her, the look would come out differently. I think a lot of people can wear this look though. It's sexy, fun, and versatile.
My Take On It:
Like I said, different features. But it was an admirable try.
What I would change about it next time: For the most part, I am pretty happy with the way this look came out. The eye makeup is pretty accurate. There are a few differences makeup wise between the two pictures though. Katy has a much thicker set of lashes on then I do. MUCH thicker. She also isn't wearing black liner on her bottom lashes. She seems to have on a gold/warm brown color smudged under her lash line and into her waterline. I don't have an excuse for why my makeup doesn't have that element, because I have two liners from my Urban Decay 24/7 set that would be perfect for it. Kind of kicking myself in the butt for not pulling those bad boys out! Final difference is that her blush is way stronger then mine, although in my defense I was wearing blush but the flash washed me out. She has strong contouring, and her lips are more of a dark rosy neutral pink whereas mine are pretty pure pink.
Products used:
Face:
Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Foundation
MAC Earth To Earth Mineralize Blush
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
Eyes:
MAC Goldstone Pigment
2 MAC Pigments I mixed together to make a pigment that resembles MAC Coco Beach (Good luck trying to find the real thing, they don't make it any more)
MAC Bronze Eyeshadow
Urban Decay Naked Palette- Creep
Urban Decay Eyeliner in Perversion
Urban Decay Eyeliners in Baked and Bourbon as eyeshadow bases
I'm going to try and be as honest as possible in this review. I loved the concept of this eyeliner set. 15 eyeliners in every color under the sun, valued at $280, being sold for only $92 (only? I know, I know, 100 dollars is expensive but considering each eyeliner sells for $17 individually it is quite a bargain. Plus, you won't have to buy an eyeliner for another year or two haha). In practice though, it hasn't been as amazing using these liners as I had expected. The liners are very creamy, which is a plus, but they can be so heavy that they don't smudge well, and I like to have that smoldering effect when I apply liner. I usually like to have a strong line in the waterline and then smudge the outer rims of my eyes. However when I run the pencil along the rim it doesn't matter how little pressure I apply, it still comes out just as dark and concentrated as it was when I applied it to my waterline, so it just looks like a thick strip of color circling my eye. Also I have to add that I like to apply my liner really closely to my upper lashline and when I do that with these pencils, the color just goes everywhere, all over my lashes. When I use the gold liner my lashes are coated in gold and I look crazy, and it's difficult to go over the tops of your lashes with a black mascara without getting it all over your liner/shadow too. So it can get messy.
A few of the formulas are hit and miss. Most are really pure and rich in color like Perversion, the blackest black liner which is extremely pigmented. Others though, such as Ransom (the one I'm wearing down below) take several motions running back and forth over my lid before the color comes out as I want/expect. In general, I'm glad I received this set as a gift, but I am a little disappointed. The thing I have gotten the most use out of is the incredibly beautiful eye pencil sharpener they include in the set! It retails for $10 and you can buy it at Sephora. It is so beautiful, and it has two holes in it. The little one fits the normal eyeliner pencil, and the second hole fits the new Urban Decay eye shadow pencil (a product I have been yearning to get my hands on!). It's really come in handy, especially for sharpening this especially fat glittery eyeliner pencil I've had forever but had to stop using because it wore down to a flat surface and none of my sharpeners would fit it.
A lot of people love the Urban Decay Eyeliner Pencils, but I'm still a little on the weary side. Swatching them on my hand was amazing though. The liners ran over my hand so smoothly and evenly, and I never noticed that a lot of the colors have little flecks of glitter in them. In reality you probably would never notice this on a person's actual eye, or even be close enough to their face to notice it, but it does look pretty. Actually all the eyeliners have glitter except Zero and Perversion (the two black colors). Ransom has the least amount of glitter. My favorite colors: Electric, Bourbon, Baked, Stash, Binge, and Perversion.
First Row: Bourbon, Stash, Rockstar, Stray Dog, Electric, Corrupt, Baked, Uzi, Midnight Cowboy, Zero
Second Row: Perversion, Binge, Mildew, Ransom, Asphyxia
Grade: B
An Urban Decay Fall '09 advert for Urban Decay's new (at the time) cream liners. I tried to recreate the same effect using one of Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners.
My biggest challenge when I began to try out makeup was learning to work with my eye shape. I had watched countless YouTube videos, figured out all the main brushes I would need, seen tons of different application methods, techniques, and styles, and I was ready to start. I wanted to achieve a smokey eye! I was determined. I was excited to start recreating everything I had seen. I had watched tutorials on just about every look under the sun. I had seen bridal makeup, prom makeup, everyday makeup, arabic-inspired smokey eyes, glittery smokey eyes, cut-crease eye tutorials, and everything in between.
Unfortunately once I began trying, I realized that something had gone wrong. Even though I would follow the gurus step for step, I would just end up with a mess on my hands- or my face rather. I had no idea it would be so difficult.
Many YouTube makeup gurus have a standard eye shape, and are blessed with a lot of lid space with which to work. Lid space is important because from lid to brow bone is where you're applying all the shadow, liner, etc., and the more you have the easier of a time you'll have. With more lid space you can do bigger sweeping motions. With me, everything is detail work. Since figuring out what works for me, it has been a walk in the park. I'm going to share my own personal tips and methods for achieving a smokey eye. I think this is important because there aren't many YouTube gurus who have an eye like mine. I have a hooded eye shape, and it is extremely hooded. When I do a line of eyeliner and look up, pretty much all you see is liner. That thin line will take up my entire section of lid. My crease is not clearly visible, so I do what a lot of asians do, and shade in the socket bone area. This is where your crease would normally be, and it is the deepest part of your eyelid, so that's the part you really want to add dimension to.
Smokey eyes are not all alike, and there are tons of methods in achieving stunning looks that can be dramatic, subtle, neutral, colorful, shimmery, or matte. There are different ways to apply, and different ways to achieve dimension and depth. Typically on a day-to-day basis, I go for extremely simple. I'll throw on a main lid color, and smudge a darker color into the crease and outer V and boom, Smokey eye is complete with some mascara and liner. However, for this post's purposes I used a lid color, a crease color, an Outer V color, and a highlight. The effect is a nice neutral smokey eye, not too loud, not too crazy.
With that said, this is how I do a neutral, office and school- appropriate smokey eye:
1) I prep the lid with a primer to make the eyeshadow last and keep its vibrancy all throughout the day. Urban Decay Primer Potion is notoriously the best, and Too Faced Shadow Insurance is also a great option. Many Gurus use a base instead of, or sometimes with a primer, to enhance the color of their shadows. NYX jumbo eye pencils are popular, as well as MAC paint pots. In this look, I used Urban Decay Primer Potion.
2) I then go ahead and put on a main lid color.
The starred shadow is my lid color (Toasted, Urban Decay Naked Palette)
This is the primary color in my look, which I smoke out with other colors. I usually apply this on my lid and into my crease. After generally applying all over the lid I sort of push the brush into my socket area and move from the middle of my lid to the outer part. The key during all these steps is to make sure you're not being heavy handed, or else you'll get a blotchy result.
3) After this, I add depth with a crease color. The circle on the shadow in the above picture (Hustle) is what I used. I smudge this starting from the outer portion of my eye into my socket area. I use a very light hand because it can quickly look too dark or not well blended.
3) Finally, I added a little black (triangle above) to the outer V and shaded slightly inward
4) I added Naked (the shadow with the square over it) as my highlight color, underneath the brow bone
5) I threw on some mascara and smudged a little of Hustle and Creep underneath my lower lashline, and just a bit of eyeliner on the outer third of my bottom waterline. Look complete!
