Goldish Neutrals Using Adorned With Grace and MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow

Here's a look using MAC mineralize eyeshadow in Inter-view. I also used Golden Beige shadow from Adorned With Grace. It was a tester product and the name is no longer being used by the company. The color is very pretty though and can be used for a myriad of different looks. I also used the new Playful eyeshadow from Adorned With Grace as well, to lend green tones to the look.



I also used one of my Cory mineral blush samples in Shameless.

Here's a step-by-step illustration. All products MAC unless otherwise noted.


Apply Butternutty shadestick all over lid and browbone and lower lashline. Blend with finger. Using Loew Cornell Maxine's Mop 3/8" brush (or 239 brush), apply Adorned with Grace eyeshadow in Golden Beige foiled using Charged Water on inner two-thirds of the lid.


Using a fluffy shader brush, apply Playful dry on crease and outer V.




Using the Sonia Kashuk blender brush, apply dark brown side of Inter-View mineralize shadow. Blend with the 224.


Apply Vanilla pigment on the browbone using Stila Brush No. 5.


Apply Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero on waterline and to tightline. Apply mascara.







Face:
Monistat gel as primer
MAC Prep + Prime Refined Skin Zone on t-zone
Joppa mineral foundation in Medium-Light 2.5
Urban Decay 24/7 concealer on undereye area
Dayna's Rested mineral concealer on undereye area
DreamWorld Whipped Creme (finishing powder) in Peaches
Cory mineral blush in Shameless

Lips:
Softlips lip balm
Silk Naturals tinted lip gloss in Birthday Suit
MAC lipglass in Virgin Kiss

Silk Naturals Organic Lip Glosses and Lip Swatches

Many of you would probably know that I love MAC lipsticks, but I am also a fan of organic lip glosses. Silk Naturals has these Kisser Slickers that I've been using for over a year now, and I still love them. These act like my tinted lip balms that I wear alone or under my MAC lipsticks or lipglasses. These are staples in my makeup kit because I use these for touch-ups after a meal (it's also great that I don't need a mirror to apply these babies, especially the lighter ones). I love these so much, especially Birthday Suit - as you can see I bought four Birthday Suits in this order! I have just finished my fourth Birthday Suit lip gloss/lip balm. They are also very gentle on the lips because they contain organic ingredients - organic oils and sweet beeswax. I have sensitive lips, and if I apply something on my lips that they don't agree with, I develop nasty sores on the top and bottom edges of the lips - eww. These Kisser Slickers never do that to my lips - in fact these make the lips moisturized and supple the whole day.

I got two freebie eyeshadows with my order: a full size of Bright eyeshadow (my choice) and a throw-in of Elle shadow sample. I can't wait to try these.

Below are some of the products on the lips. They might look similar in the pics, but their nuances are apparent in real life. This is not the only texture and finish of Silk Naturals lippies. They have shimmers, mattes, wand lip glosses that have the finish of liquid lipsticks, and so on. I just prefer the texture and finish of the Kisser Slicker organic lipglosses because they are very creamy and pigmented - just the way I like my tinted lip balms to be.










Nectar is Silk Naturals' version of Clinique's Black Honey lipstick.


Bliss is not a lip gloss but a lipstick, and thus has a more pigmented, matte texture, but it has pretty good staying power.

You might also want to check out my Silk Natural lipstick swatches on the lips I made a year or so ago.

If you want to check out my Silk Naturals haul which included the Monarch lipstick with real 23K gold, as well as wand glosses, CLICK HERE.

Pinks and Reds Using MAC and Aromaleigh

I used this makeup look for a Cardinals Super Bowl party (too bad they lost - boo hoo! - but they played a valiant game and looking forward to more Super Bowl championship games with them). Of course, I donned the Cardinals color and also had to wear shadows that show off their trademark hues. I used Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita mineral shadows and MAC's Danger Zone mineralize eyeshadow trio. Here are some of the products I used:





Here's a step-by-step illustration. All products MAC unless otherwise noted.


Apply Urban Decay primer potion on lid and browbone. Smooth with finger. Using a fluffy shader brush, apply Fresco Rose paint pot on lid.


Apply Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita shadow in Little Craving wet using mixing medium on lid using Loew Cornell Maxine's Mop 3/8" shader brush (or the 239).


Using another Maxine's Mop brush, apply Aromaleigh Gothic Lolita shadow in Strawberry Despair dry on crease. Blend using the 224 brush.


Using Sonia Kashuk blender brush, apply black side of Danger Zone on crease. Blend into Strawberry Despair using the 224 brush.


Using the 227, highlight browbone using Almond Icing shadow.


Using the 224, apply red side of Danger Zone over the black, blending carefully.


Apply Little Craving on inner to mid lower lashline foiled and on tearducts. Apply black side of Danger Zone on mid to outer lashline using Sonia Kashuk pointed mini-crease brush. Line using Blacktrack fluidline. Tightline and waterline using UD 24/7 liner in Zero. Apply Ardell falsies #109. Apply mascara.









I used Cory mineral foundation in Beyond Cream, Silk Naturals silk finishing powder in Date Bait, Earthen Glow mineral blush in Medium Naples topped with MAC beauty powder in Alpha Girl (Heatherette collection). I used MAC Back To Del Rio and Noveau Frou lipsticks topped with NARS lipglass in Turkish Delight.

Neutral Look Using Adorned With Grace, Coastal Scents and Lumiere

I am on a neutral streak nowadays, probably because of the weather and season. I decided to use the colors that I have not been using recently, and boy, do I love shopping my stash. I will be featuring more colors that have been languishing in the drawers of my makeup dresser, and I vow to give them more love this year.







For my all-over lid color, I used Beautiful Girl's Twilight mineral shadow foiled, then added a sheer wash of light milky color on top using Coastal Scents' 28 Neutral Palette. For the crease and outer V, I found this eyeshadow sample baggie in my stash from Adorned With Grace that is labeled "Golden Brown". It's a beautiful slightly metallic goldish brown, and I believe it was re-named Marvelous. It is only upon searching my blog that I realized that I do have a full-size jar of this.

Here's how it looks like when packed on the skin:



I used Marvelous on the crease blended with medium and dark browns from the 28 Neutral Palette. I lined my eyes using Indelible gel liner in Black Cherry. I lined waterline and tightline using UD 24/7 in Zero. I highlighted browbone using MAC Rose Blanc eyeshadow.




I used Earthen Glow Minerals' mineral foundation in Yuan Yuan, topped with Silk Naturals' Date Bait finishing powder. For the cheeks, I used Earthen Glow Minerals' Medium Naples mineral blush. For the lips, I lined using Jordana lipliner in Nutmeg, lightly filling in the entire lip area, then I added Lumiere's Lumi Lips lipgloss in Ooh-La-La. I have several of these glosses and I really love Holy Grail and Full Of Grace, but I didn't realize how lovely Ooh-La-La is until I used it in this look. I love the finish and I like that it is also made of minerals.

Loving Cory Mineral Foundation and A Mostly Mineral Makeup Look

I think most of you know that I am a mineral makeup junkie. I discovered mineral foundation in 2005, and I've never looked back. I mean, I might have been swayed by strong marketing and raves about the Makeup Forever HD foundation, and it was the only non-mineral foundation I'd bought since switching to mineral makeup, but I eventually went back to mineral makeup. The liquid foundation was indeed flawless, but I didn't like the feeling on my skin the longer it sat on my face, and as I had feared, it broke me out that very day. My skin instantly knew it wasn't wearing mineral makeup, and I felt that I wanted to claw my face off because the feeling was very heavy and mask-like, even though I used my MAC 187 stippling brush to apply it in very light layers. Sadly, my MUFE HD foundation sits unloved and unused on my countertop after only being used twice. My skin loves only mineral makeup, until maybe some company creates this miracle liquid foundation that would agree with my skin.

Anyway, back to mineral makeup. My face can take all sorts of cosmetic ingredients (that's why I still love traditional makeup like MAC), but the first makeup to touch my skin has to be the most unadulterated mineral makeup possible, to sort of act as a "barrier" for other cosmetic components I slap on my face. Although some are sensitive to it, I am not bothered by bismuth oxychloride, the ingredient found in most drugstore and department store mineral makeup, but I would like my foundation to contain as few ingredients as possible, ingredients I know to be very gentle on my skin. That's why I mainly get my foundation from small, mostly women-owned online companies that offer the purest mineral makeup available, that mostly contain only the following ingredients that are gentle on my skin: titanium dioxide, iron oxides, ultra marines, mica, zinc oxide. Ingredients you can count with one hand; the fewer, the better. These ingredients rarely break me out, are very gentle on my skin, and even help combat the flare-ups.

I also mentioned in my Comprehensive Review Of Mineral Foundations I've Tried that I don't use just one brand of foundation everyday 365 days a year. Different seasons, different skin situations and different moods make me switch foundations according to my needs. I have a summer foundation, a winter foundation, an "I need coverage" foundation, a "light-as-a-feather" foundation, and all cater to my different needs everyday, throughout the whole year. That said, Cory is my favorite winter foundation. I get a lot of flakies because of the dryness of the weather, and also because of my retinoid regimen, and yet it gives me the best coverage, the creamiest finish - almost like liquid foundation but without the pore-clogging gunk. It is also mica-free, which is perfect for mica-sensitive skin. Without mica, the ingredients for this foundation are now down to four at the most, and maybe even just three. And as I said, for me, the fewer ingredients, the better.

Here is a look featuring eyeshadows from MAC (Warming Trend) and Coastal Scents 28 Neutral Palette, but the rest of the face are mostly mineral makeup. I used O My! mineral blush from Valerie Beauty, a beautiful coral shimmer, and from the name, it can be gleaned that they wanted it to look like NARS Orgasm. O My! even looked better on my skin than Orgasm!

I used Cory mineral foundation in Beyond Cream, and the flash made it look a shade lighter than it really is on my skin, although only in these pictures, because I looked fine in this shade in other photos. Nonetheless, I am getting Caramel Cream, a shade darker, to mix with Beyond Cream for spring. I used Indelible gel liner in Tidal Wave on upper lashline, and used UD Zero to tightline and on waterline.

On the lips, I used Silk Naturals' lippie in Jaybird, topped with MAC lipglass in Trifle.

Corals and Browns Using Mineral Shadows

Here is a look featuring coral, bronze and brown mineral shadows. This is the first time after a long while that I used my Bare Escentuals shadows, and I was really pleasantly surprised that they really apply well even without foiling. I have had Bare Escentual shadows for two years now, but I got sidetracked by mineral shadows from smaller mineral companies. Now I can't wait to play with my Bare Minerals shadows. Also, today I went to the mall with the family and I went inside the Bare Escentuals boutique that had just opened a few months ago in our area. I had a lot of fun playing with the beautiful eyeshadow glimmers and glimpses. We have Sephora and ULTA where one can also play with BE colors, but the BE boutique has a hundred times more colors and selections so it was definitely mineral makeup heaven right there.

Anyways, here is my look featuring Bare Minerals shadow in Radiant Rebecca.


Apply UDPP on lid and smoothed on brows. Apply MAC Perky Paint pot on lid. Using Loew Cornell 3/8 Maxine's Mop 270 brush (MAC 239 dupe), apply Radiant Rebecca dry on the lid using patting motions.


Using Stila #9 blending brush, apply MAC mineralize shadow in Inter-View on outer lid and crease (used dark brown side).


Using a fluffy brush (I used Studio Tools medium shadow brush), apply Silk Naturals mineral shadow in Superstar to blend with Inter-view and Radiant Rebecca.


Apply more Radiant Rebecca as needed. Blend the darker color into the lid color using Stila #9 blending brush. Apply MAC Sweetjoy eyeshadow to highlight. Apply Almay liquid liner in Brown. Fill in brows, apply mascara. Apply Radiant Rebecca on inner lower lashline using Sonia Kashuk pointed pencil brush, and Inter-View brown shadow on outer lower lashline. Use UD 24/7 glide-on eyeliner in Zero to tightline and on waterline.





Face:
Monistat gel as primer
Adorned With Grace mineral foundation in Hope 3.5 and Hope 3.8 mix
UD 24/7 pencil concealer on undereye area
Bare Escentuals Well Rested over UD 24/7
DreamWorld creme topping (finishing powder) in Butterscotch (silk formula)
MAC mineralize blush in Nuance

Lips:
Jordanna lipliner in Nutmeg
MAC lipstick in Mellow Flame
MAC lipglass in Splendid!

Custom-Made Shade from Pure Anada

First of all, it's Election Day! I still have (*looks at the clock*) eight hours more or less to vote. My dad called me overseas just to order me to vote for a particular candidate, which is funny because he thinks I'm still a 9-year-old that he can order around! LOL. Love my dad to bits, though. I will be watching the results tonight (bring in some popcorn), along with the rest of the world. In a few hours (if everything goes smoothly and there are no Florida-esque blunders), we would know the results.

Anyways, a month or so ago, I asked Candace of Pure Anada if she could custom make a shade for me because I wanted to find my summer shade in Pure Anada. It's one of my top favorites in mineral foundation, and I didn't want to give it up just because I couldn't find my exact shade. So I sent Candace a sample of my perfect shade in another company, and she said that although the finish of the sample was very different from that of Pure Anada, she would still try and duplicate it for me. Well, she did!! I received the new shade from her in the mail the other day and I just loved how it captures my summer shade. It may not be my shade anymore in a month or two as winter kicks in, but at least I know I have a perfect shade for those long summer months here. Thanks so much Candace! I hope this becomes a permanent shade in Pure Anada. =D







I was wearing my MAC So Ceylon mineralize skinfinish on the cheeks, and Silk Naturals lippie in Birthday Suit with MAC Sugarrimmed dazzleglass on the lips.