Quick Look Using Valerie Beauty's New Shadows

Here's a quick, no-fuss look featuring Val's new shadows. I'd wanted to play more with the colors but I was running late for work. The greatest discovery I had when I wore Val's shadows was that I was able to find a beautiful non-shimmery mineral highlighter from her new collection. If you remember this post, I was asking for recommendations for a nice, non-shimmery mineral highlighter that I could use for my eye looks. Well I tried Val's Delicate Sweetness and I was so in love with the result. It looked understated, clean, and it effectively highlighted my browbone without garish shimmer all over. If you want non-shimmery, beautiful mineral highlighters, check out Val's Delicate shadows. All in all, I really like the new colors because they can be bright but can still be toned down for work, are very versatile, easy to apply and the shades are really pretty.

I am wearing the last of my Buff'd mineral foundation samples (Ginger), and in person the yellow undertones were just too heavy and dark on my face. I asked Jen of Buff'd what the next shade lighter than Almond in the same color family would be, and she recommended Chamois. I ordered full sizes of Almond and Chamois and I am excited to get these. I really like the coverage and finish so hopefully Chamois is a match; if not I can always mix it with Almond to get my desired shade.









Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick on lid and lower lashline as base
MAC Soft Ochre paint pot on lid
Valerie Beauty mineral shadow in Mimosa foiled on lid
Valerie Beauty mineral shadow in Hypnotic on outer lid
Valerie Beauty mineral shadow in Radioactive applied sparingly on crease
Valerie Beauty mineral shadow in Delicate Sweetness to highlight
Indelible gel liner in Black Cherry on upper lashline

Face:
Camellia Rose skin smoothing primer
Buff'd mineral foundation in Ginger
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Silk Naturals Date Bait finishing powder
Valerie Beauty Starlet Glow illuminizing powder on cheeks

Lips:
MAC Creamola cremestick lipliner
MAC lipsticks in Captive and Galvanize
MAC 3D glass in Energy

Valerie Beauty's Brand-New Eyeshadow Collection

I have always loved Valerie Beauty's minerals and I've been writing about them on my blog just because of the sheer joy of sharing snippets of information about small, not-yet-popular, mostly women-owned mineral makeup companies that have high-quality products and topnotch, personalized customer service. I do it by my own accord without any incentive, as I know most beauty bloggers do, just because we love cosmetics. Period. So imagine my elation and surprise when I received a package from Valerie herself containing some of the most amazing eyeshadow colors she has ever come up with. She e-mailed me saying that she named one of her new eyeshadows after the name of my Vox blog, Periwinkle Sky (it's a blog where I cross-post my Shades Of U entries for Vox beauty bloggers). When I got her package, I was just in silent awe of the generous gift she gave me, a package filled with amazing, beautiful colors - including, of course, the wondrous eyeshadow she named after me (well, sort of!), Periwinkle Sky:


Val's sweet note


Ahh, Periwinkle Sky!




Valerie's new crop of gorgeous mineral shadows

Val tells me that most of these are the usual richly-pigmented minerals, but there is a sprinkling of semi-matte, soft, pastel colors called "Delicates". They are for people who want an alternative way of wearing minerals, who would like to veer from the intense, heavier look of uber-pigmented minerals. These pigments are very delicate-looking (hence the name), creamy and so very feminine. They can be used as base-colors as well. I divided the shadows into three and I am featuring their swatches right below the product photos.




EDIT: Delicate Cornflower should read Delicate Julip









The swatches were applied dry with only MAC Soft Ochre paint pot as base. Can you see how richly-pigmented these shadows are without any need of foiling? Can you see how the hues just jump out of your computer screen? That is precisely the reason why I just love Val's minerals, and I keep saying this: they are not just mini-mica bombs that emit sparkle but hardly any pigment; these babies are pigmented with a capital P.

What was uncanny was that as I was swatching the minerals, they eeriely reminded me of several hues I've seen before - and I realized that my MAC pigments and eyeshadows reminded me of the rich, pigmented minerals of Val. I excitedly pulled out my MAC pigments and eyeshadows and did a swatching spree. Here are some of the swatches side by side. I swatched the pigments foiled so the camera can easily capture their similarities.


Here I compared Periwinkle Sky with my MAC Cornflower and Violet pigments. The shades, finish and vibrant color pay-off are so uncannily similar.


EDIT: Val's pigment should read Hypnotic, not Radioactive.

Hypnotic looks like a long-lost sister of MAC Sunpepper and Blue-Brown pigments with the same plummy brown with strong blue undertones.


I couldn't help but take pictures of these two. The minute I saw Radioactive, I immediately thought of Cloudburst; they have the same intense black with tiny, subtle green sparkle.


The gorgeous cousins

Okay, so the next question would be: when will Valerie Beauty open? Her store is currently closed as she is finishing her inventory, but will be opening in a week or two to feature the new eyeshadows I just showcased. Now here's the catch: her site will only be open for about a week after that, and then she'll have to close while she reopens her skin care studio. For those of you who don't know, Val is a licensed aesthetician. She has been focusing on her mineral makeup business for so long that she now has a long list of clients that she needs to attend to. She'll have to close her site to focus on her skin care center, because, let's face it, even a superwoman like Val only has two hands. :) So I think my point is that if you love these swatches, you only have a limited time to order before she closes temporarily. Don't worry, I will let you guys know when she finally opens for this one last hurrah.

Martyr Girl Holds Wilted Roses and on to An Empty Promise

Strange title eh? Those are names of She Space shadows I used for this look. Wilted Roses is supposed to be a shimmery pink, but I kind of blended everything to achieve an almost monochromatic look. I love pinks and purples, and I like the fact that these pigments from The She Space actually look neutral enough for work.

I also tried my samples of Buff'd mineral foundation for the first time. I was totally blown away by how great the finish of this foundation was. It wasn't so matte nor did it make me look like an oil slick by mid-day unlike some foundations tend to do. I didn't even re-touch during the day, my only touch-up procedure was to dab a sheet of oil-blotting paper on my face (which incidentally didn't yield too much grease). The foundation also stayed put the whole day; staying power was simply fantastic. I just LOVE it! Oh my, with so many amazing mineral makeup brands available, I would be really having a hard time choosing my foundation in the morning (but I bet it's gonna be fun!). As you can see in the pics, the finish is really creamy and velvety, but it covers adequately and a little goes a LONG way. This is similar to Cory in coverage and finish (Cory by far offers the heaviest coverage out of all the mineral makeup I've tried), but I like the fact that Buff'd is a little less dense than Cory so it goes creamy but not cakey. Also, I broke out when I used Cory's foundation (although the blushes didn't irritate my skin), so I guess the said foundation is not really for me, coupled with the fact that I haven't really found my exact shade in Cory. Buff'd, however, has a lot of yellow-toned shades so I am bound to find my perfect match (*crosses fingers*).

I used Moccasin shade in the photos, but if you notice, my face is darker than my neck, and in person it really looked quite dark. I'm going to try Almond and Ginger next because these are lighter than Moccasin. I got these samples for free (yes, free shipping too). Jen from Buff'd is amazing and really nice to offer to ship samples for free (I also read in makeup forums that she really sends out up to 3 free samples to potential clients). Once I find my pefect shade, I intend to get a full size pot as the full sizes are currently on sale. I just hope I don't get charged too much for shipping because this is my first international mineral makeup order (Buff'd is Canada-based, although orders $50 and above get free shipping). Their blushes and shadows look pretty as well, and like Cory, a crumb or two of the minerals are all you need for a pigmented application.












My free Buff'd samples

Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick on lid and lower lashline as base
MAC Soft Ochre paint pot on lid
The She Space pigment in Wilted Roses foiled on inner to mid lid and inner lower lashline
The She Space pigment in Empty Promise foiled on mid to outer lid and outer lower lashline
The She Space pigment in Martyr Girl foiled on outer V and crease
MAC Nylon eyeshadow to highlight
Indelible gel liner in Black Cherry on upper lashline
Shu Uemura mascara base and mascara, Benefit Bad Gal mascara

Face:
Camellia Rose skin smoothing primer
Buff'd mineral foundation in Moccasin
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Monave Angel finishing powder
MAC mineralize skinfinish in Warmed as blush (love this!)
MAC Sculpt powder to contour

Lips:
MAC Sublime Culture cremestick lipliner
Monave lipgloss in Maple

An All Minerals FOTD

Well, almost. I still cannot give up my favorite MAC highlighter, Ricepaper. If any of you lovely ladies and gents can recommend a nice, yellow-based non-shimmery mineral highlighter, I'd incorporate that into my future all-mineral looks.

Don't worry MAC, I still love you! It's just that I have a gazillion mineral eyeshadow and blush samples that need to be used (and appreciated), so here they are actually worn. I kinda like the result. I NEED another Bonbon lipstick from Val (I just don't know if she would be making this again, her shop is closed indefinitely). The She Space pigments rock, but I can only wear them foiled. They have lovely colors and they now rival Fyrinnae in terms of variety of pigments. Wow! I just bought eight shades of her new limited Velvet collection in 3g jars, and now that her permanent line is now available in 3g jars as well, it is SO much more fun to shop!

















Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick on lid and lower lashline as base
MAC Soft Ochre paint pot on lid
The She Space pigment in Shot The Messenger foiled on inner to mid lid and inner lower lashline
The She Space pigment in Kiss The Frogs foiled on mid to outer lid and outer lower lashline
The She Space pigment in Chasing Mystery foiled on outer V and crease
The She Space pigment in Eye of The Storm foiled on crease
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow to highlight
Indelible gel liner in Black Out on upper lashline
Red Cherry falsies #503

Face:
Camellia Rose skin smoothing primer
Joppa Minerals Full Coverage foundation in Light #3
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Silk Naturals Date Bait finishing powder
Valerie Beauty Starlet Glow illuminizing powder on cheeks

Lips:
MAC Creamola cremestick lipliner
Silk Naturals lipstick in Bliss
Valerie Beauty lipstick in BonBon
Valerie Beauty multi-purpose mineral in Miranda on center of lips

My MAC Eyeshadows: A Collection Post

I finally had the time to depot most of my remaining potted MAC eyeshadows and I love looking at them in their palettes. I am faster when I use the candle method, so I love depotting over fire; it sort of calms me and is even kinda therapeutic! I made a depotting tutorial HERE, but I don't write the name of the eyeshadow on the magnet anymore, I just let the heat melt the glue under the label at the bottom of the pot, peel off the label and slap it on the bottom of the depotted pan.

I have been receiving requests to feature my entire makeup collection, but I've been a bit wary of comments that might crop up, like starving children in Africa versus having all this makeup. First of all, I don't think you have come all the way here reading this sentence if you are disgusted by makeup or any amount of such, considering that this is a makeup blog. Secondly, I'm just here to have fun and, just as my blog title says, I'm here to share shades of hues. Thirdly, my collection is nothing compared to those of the really hard-core MAC addicts, whose insane amount of MAC products I have drooled over on makeup boards. So, here is my MAC eyeshadow collection that I think started in early 2006. Just for the record, no, I don't think I'll ever use this all up, but it sure is good to have a lot of options in the morning (or evening)! :) I will try to feature the eyeshadows by palettes, and will be labeling them if I receive such request. In the meantime, if you want to ask what particular eyeshadow is in the picture/s, just go ahead and leave me a comment.


My newly-depotted shadows


My MAC shadow palettes


Mineralize eyeshadows and un-depotted single shadows


MAC eyeshadows and pressed pigments in custom palettes - used E.L.F. quads (upper left shadow is my most used MAC eyeshadow - Ricepaper)


MAC palettes

I did not feature my MAC full-size pigments but if anybody wants to check them out, let me know.

Vibrant and Subdued Purples, Joppa Minerals, Valerie Beauty Shadows and MAC 239 Brushes

What a hodgepodge title! I crammed two days' worth of blogging in one post to make up for my silence the last couple of days. Here are two looks featuring vibrant and dull purples. In both instances I used my Joppa Minerals, albeit in different formulas. Since I already featured the full-coverage variant in the previous entry, I will only feature the soft-coverage one here. I love the finish of both, but I think Medium Light #3 is a tad too dark on me, especially in person. I will still keep it though because I am bound to tan during the brutal summer months here, and just in case I need to tweak my Light #3. I love the finish because it's matte but doesn't look cakey at all and it doesn't feel heavy on the face. I love the kaolin clay factor because my face tends to get oily especially on the t-zone, and kaolin clay is known for its oil-absorbing qualities.







Eyes:
MAC paint pot in Soft Ochre as base
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base lower lashline
MAC Quietly pigment foiled on inner to mid-lid using MAC mixing medium and on inner lower lashline (I am disappointed by the lack of vibrancy in the pics- but it was quite bright in real life)
MAC Violet pigment foiled on mid and outer lid using MAC mixing medium
MAC Entremauve pigment on outer V and crease and on outer lower lashline
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow to highlight
Shu Uemura and Rimmel mascaras

Before I feature my next look, here are some wonderful multi-purpose minerals (but I use them basically as shadows) from Valerie Beauty. I LOVE Val's pigments; they are truly beautiful and color pay-off and staying power are excellent. I was a bit frustrated (no, make it VERY) when most of her multi-purpose minerals were out of stock the last several times I browsed her site. She was (and still is) having an inventory sale and getting rid of her old stock before she creates new batches. Well people gobbled up her stuff and most of them are gone. I then found out that a lady from a makeup board was selling her sealed, brand-new Valerie stuff for the exact price that she paid Val during the sale, without charging me extra for shipping. I quickly snagged her goodies and I got them yesterday. So gorgeous! Here are pics and swatches:





Aren't they pretty? I love everything, and Pashmina really beckoned me. It's similar to Miranda (another staple of mine) that can be a great wash or a lid color. I tried it today with some of my MAC shadows and I really love the color, and how it goes well with almost everything. I used Joppa Soft-Coverage foundation in this look.











And just to show you guys how great of a primer MAC paint pot in Soft Ochre was, here's my eye look 10 hours after I applied my eyeshadow, and after a very stressful day at work where I shed a tear or two out of frustration (without anybody knowing, of course - what are closed offices for?):


Eat your heart out, UDPP!

Eyes:
MAC Soft Ochre paint pot on lid as base
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base on lid and lower lashline
Valerie Beauty mineral shadow in Pashmina foiled on lid using MAC mixing medium and on inner lower lashline
MAC Neutral Pink eyeshadow on mid lid
MAC Remotely Grey eyeshadow on outer lid
MAC Poison Pen matte2 eyeshadow on crease and outer V and outer lower lashline
MAC Charred eyeshadow on crease
MAC Ricepaper to highlight
Indelible gel liner in Tanzanite on upper lashline
Shu Uemura and Rimmel mascaras

Face:
Camellia Rose skin smoothing primer
Joppa Minerals Soft Coverage foundation in Medium-Light #3
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Silk Naturals sheer finishing powder
Lumiere silk mineral blush in Moonberry
MAC Sculpt powder to contour

Lips:
MAC Creamola cremestick lipliner
MAC lipstick in Barely Lit
MAC lipglass in Corsette

Finally, to end this hodgepodge post, I bought my first full-size MAC 239 brush today and it is pure LOVE. I can't wait to use it and it feels so luxurious. Here are all my 239 babies (I have three SEs) side by side. I'm glad that the head of the full-size 239 is almost identical to the 239SEs. I know how bad some SE brushes were crafted, and I'm glad the 239SEs are pretty decent. The hairs have the same feel as my full size 239, and all their heads are of the same size. I just love 'em babies!