Brushes + Blushes

So recently I ordered a few things on Colourpop to try out and I did a haul over on my YouTube channel which you should check out right here. So you should totally see what I got first so make sure to click that link! Okay let's get started. I'll do a quick overview of what I got though...

Game Face Super Shock Shadow
Weenie Super Shock Shadow
Blaze Super Shock Shadow
Timber Creme Gel Liner Pencil
New Renaissance Contour Stick
Lumiere Lippie Pencil
Flawless Lippie Pencil
Lumiere Lippie Stick
Frick 'N' Frack Ultra Satin Lip

This was my first order so I signed up for the email subscription and I got $5 off of my first order so my totally came to $41 because there is no tax and you get free shipping if you spend $30 or more.

I first heard about Colourpop in a grav3yardgirl tutorial where she was using their Super Shock Shadow in Taco about a year ago. I didn't really think about Colourpop again until I heard that KathleenLights came out with her Lumiere Lippie Stick. Ever since then, Colourpop has been grossing on YouTube and finally I caved in and bought some of their stuff.

I wanted to get a good amount of different things. The only things I didn't get from Colourpop were their blushes/bronzers/highlighters or their brow products but, those are up on my list for whenever I order again! I'll start with a swatch of all three Super Shock Shadows I bought.

As you can see, each shadow is SUPER pigmented. They do have a strange formulation though. It's like a creamy wet powdered potted shadow. It's so hard to describe. Honestly it kind of feels like cookie dough. That's a weird analogy but it really does feel like cookie dough! (I don't recommend eating it though, even if you bought Taco) Each of the shadows are different finishes, Game Face is Ultra-Metallic, Weenie is Pearlized, and Blaze is Metallic.

My favorite shadow that I got is Game Face because it's just SOOOO gorgeous! I'd rate the shadows on a 5 🎭 scale a: 🎭 🎭🎭 🎭🎭 . I'll move onto the eyeliner I bought in Timber.

This liner is very smooth and creamy. I love the color too! It's a nice dark grey so if I want to tightline my upper lid but if I don't want it to be super dark. I also like using this in my waterline because it lasts for about 6 hours and I have very watery eyes so eyeliners usually don't last over 2 hours in the waterline. If you don't have super watery eyes then you won't have to worry about this lasting all day because it will, trust me! I'd rate it 🎭 🎭🎭 🎭 just because of my watery eyes.

This is the contour stick. Whenever I first got it I thought it was really dark for my light skin... then I tried it... I LOVE IT. It can be sheered out to the color I want for my skin tone. I feel like this can be deepened, sheered, or just used like it is! To blend it out I use an angled kabuki brush and it gets right under my cheekbones. My only complaint is that as soon as you put it on you have to blend it out really quick otherwise it'll set. So rating: 🎭 🎭🎭 🎭

These are the Lippie Pencils I purchased. These are ULTRA PIGMENTED and I love them! Sometimes I'll wear them alone and these last for about 3+ hours. I really would like to order some more. If you're going to order one thing then you should get a Lippie Pencil because they work amazing alone and are great under other lip products. These do need to be sharpened but not very often which is really nice. My one complaint is that the pencil does get a little messy. Overall: 🎭 🎭🎭 🎭🎭

Lumiere is a Lippe Stick and Frick 'N' Frack is an Ultra Satin Lip. A Lippie Stick is just a normal lipstick really. This one that I got is extremely comfortable on my lips and isn't drying! I really do like it. The Lippie Stick rating is a 🎭 🎭🎭 🎭🎭

Frick 'N' Frack is an Ultra Satin Lip. It's actually a really cool formula! It's a liquid lipstick that dries matte but doesn't even feel matte on your lips! It feels like you're wearing nothing, it's probably my favorite thing I got! It's a gorgeous 90's nude lippie but, it looks different in a swatch. I LOVE the Ultra Satin Lip and will definitely be purchasing more soon. Rating: 🎭 🎭🎭 🎭🎭🎭

Overall, I LOVE Colourpop and will be ordering from them again soon! Try it out if you want some cheap makeup that's incredible! xo

(I do apologize for not posting for a week, musical rehearsals are crazy!)

I had no idea what to title this post but colors seems really appealing so I decided to do that! Basically what I'm going to be talking about is colors that compliment your skin tone/eye color/hair color and everything in between. I'll mention how to find your skin color and your foundation match along with what eye shadow you should get for your _____ eyes. Of course you don't have to follow this to a T but I'm here to help so let's get started!

Skin Tone

Okay. So you may have noticed if you have pale skin or deep skin or somewhere in the middle but, there's a bit more to it than that. Your skin has undertones. There are three tones: yellow, neutral, pink. Yellow = Warm Complexion, Neutral = Neutral Complexion, Pink = Cool Complexion. You'd be surprised how many people wear the wrong color foundation, I wore foundation way to dark for me once.

I know that most of the time you can't tell exactly if you have warm or cool undertones right off the bat. I had no idea so I usually went with neutral undertones. In my opinion, the two best ways to tell what undertone you have is: a. Look at your veins, if they are more green then you have warm undertones and if they are more blue then you have cool undertones. If it's a blue-green then you have neutral undertones. b. You tend to look better in gold jewelry; warm. Better in silver; cool. You look flawless in both; neutral.

Of course I made a chart of this... I mean duh.

I understand that my chart isn't the cleanest thing and not the most natural looking skin tones... but it is a chart, better than words, right? I mean a picture is worth a thousand words sooooo.

So maybe you know what undertone you are now. Do you fit under fair, light, medium, tan, or dark skin? The examples of colors I have in those circles are good examples of fair, light, medium, tan, and dark skin.

Let's find a foundation that matches! (All of these foundations are buildable in coverage) First off, L'Oreal True Match is perfect for finding ANY kind of shade. There are 11 shades under every undertone (haha, under undertones 😋) and they have all three undertones which means, 33 different shades of foundation. So you will definitely find your shade!

If you have warm undertones - L'Oreal True Match is best for you from the drugstore! An amazing warm toned foundation that's expensive is the Urban Decay Naked Skin.

If you have neutral undertones - Of course, L'Oreal True Match... but another nice one is Revlon Colorstay! It comes in two different finishes with someone for dry/normal skin or combo/oily skin. Expensive: Too Faced Born This Way.

If you have cool undertones - (L'Oreal True Match) I love Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse! (I use it in the winter when I have cooler undertones) It feels really luxurious on my skin when I wear it and it feels very light on my skin. If you want a more expensive Urban Decay recently released new cool shades of their Naked Skin foundation.

Eyes

I'm pretty sure you know about eye colors so no chart for eye color. I'll explain what eye shadow colors look amazing with certain eye colors, of course wear whatever eye shadow you want to wear! This is just to help out beginners! This section will be really quick though, I promise. I'll give you a couple eye shadow recommendations (MAC and/or Makeup Geek) So, most of the time opposites of the color wheel really bring out a person's eyes...

If you have blue eyes - Like I said, opposites of the color wheel looks great with your eyes! So in a blue eyed girl's case an orangey-ish red will great! Also chocolatey browns with or browns with a cool tone look GORGEOUS! Here's a couple recommendations: Makeup Geek Barcelona Beach, MAC Omega and MAC Brown Down. (If you're super adventurous try MAC Red Brick!)

If you have green eyes - I actually have green eyes so, I know a lot about what looks great on green eyes. Basically any eye shadow with a red tone looks great. So warm toned browns, pinks, purples, and reds are right up your ally! Here's some recommendations: Makeup Geek Frappe, Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear, MACHaux and MAC All That Glitters. (If you're super adventurous try MAC Indian Ink!)

If you have brown eyes - Let's go with some lighter eye looks! If you wanted to wear some crazy colors then you definitely have the eyes to pull it off! You basically look good in everything except cool toned browns. Hit up those warm tones and gorgeous olives! Recommendations: Makeup Geek Brown Sugar, Makeup Geek Frappe, MAC Sumptuous Olive, MAC Tempting and MAC Gorgeous Gold. (If you're super adventurous try MAC Kelly!)

If you have hazel eyes - Congratulations! You have the golden ticket! Every. Single. Color. Looks. Incredible. On. You. I'm not joking. So use ANY of the eye shadow recommendations I put up there ▲ !

I hope this post was helpful! xo

Alright. Let's get started with da face, shall we? Your base of da face. This post is probably going to be very rambly because I LOVE FACE MAKEUP. Okay. Let's get started!

I'm going to go over everything. As in all the things you put on your face, what I recommend for beginners/intermediate/advanced and coverage wise light/medium/full. Don't worry, I won't go into skin too much but there will be a little bit on skin because your skin is your canvas, you want it to be really nice and clear. I'll first be talking about all of the face makeup. Yes, I said all of it.

Primer - Everyone - I consider primer as a transition between your skin care routine and makeup routine. If you have dry skin, use a hydrating primer. If you have oily skin, use an oil-free primer. I think you get the drill right now. Primers are kind of expensive but if you don't want to spend $30 on a primer, go with an e.l.f. Primer! All of them are really great! I really love their green primer.

BB/CC Cream - Anyone - BB stands for 'beauty balm' and CC stands for 'color correcting'. BB/CC Creams have a light coverage and a light consistency which usually has sunscreen in them. If you want just a little bit of coverage to make you look a bit more polished, pick up a BB Cream, I LOVE both of the Maybelline ones. If you want to actually cover something, hit up a CC Cream, my favorite is the one from Almay.

Foundation (!!) - Intermediate/Advanced - Can you tell I loooooveeee foundation? I think I would marry my Urban Decay Naked Skin if I could. Foundation is really nice for making your face look flawless. You can choose from a lot of different foundations with different claims and different formulas. There's also different two main types of foundation: Liquid Foundation (Ex. UD Naked Skin) and Powder Foundation (Ex. bare minerals Original Foundation) Each of them have their perks, use a liquid foundation for dry/normal/combo skin and a powder foundation for oily/combo/normal skin.

Powder - Anyone - This is different then powder foundation, you use powder to set your foundation or for a little bit of coverage. You can use a pressed powder with a skin colored tone to set your makeup and give a teeny bit more coverage. Or you could use it on its own for a little bit of coverage.

Concealer - Anyone - You can use concealer for under-eyes or for pimples. You can get liquid/cream/powder/pot concealer. Liquid is used for covering under-eyes and discoloration. A cream or pot concealer is used for color-correcting. Powder is used for oily under-eyes. I love all of the Maybelline and NYX concealers.

Bronzer/Contour - Intermediate/Advanced - A bronzer is used to warm up your face by placing it on the high points of your face where a contour is used to carve out shadows in your face. Bronzer is easy to use because you could lightly dust it around your face and on your nose and look very warm and lit from within. Contouring is a little hard because you have to use different contouring "shapes" for different face shapes. I can't really describe how to contour...

Blush - Anyone - Blush is used to give you that natural pinched cheeks. I think a cream blush is easiest to apply because you can make it look as light or harsh as you want and apply it with your fingers. A blush should be applied on your apples of your cheeks and then blend it up lightly to the side of your face.

Highlight - Intermediate/Advanced - Highlight often gives people a "feel pretty" moment, like me, you put it on your cheekbones. Like exactly on your cheekbones. It makes them look bigger and gorgeous! You can use a cream highlight to make it easier by just applying and blending with your fingers. I love the Benefit Watt's Up highlighter. Or a cheaper powder option is the Wet'n'Wild ColorIcon "Bronzer" in Reserve your Cabana.

Setting Spray - Anyone - This is totally not necessary. I don't use one normally. This sets your makeup and keeps it on a lot longer. This isn't totally necessary unless you have combo/oily skin where your makeup starts to fade during the day because of your oils.

Applying Face Makeup

So I briefly talked about application in those quick sum-ups. Mainly I want to talk about applying foundation because not a lot of people know how exactly to apply foundation for their specific skin type. Here's a chart because I love making charts. (The chart is acting up weird on the blog, click on it for it to not be blurry)

There really isn't a specific "rule" for applying foundation. I do recommend the if you have a lick of dry skin on your face that you should use a sponge though. For a sponge I recommend the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge (TOTAL dupe for the $20 beautyblender), for a buffing brush I recommend the e.l.f. Ultimate Blending Brush, it lasts FOREVER and is super easy to clean.

I hope this post was helpful! xo

Heads up: this is gonna be a long post, so grab a cup of jo and start reading up!

Starting off in makeup is always scary. You might want to just dive right in or have your mom buy some of the things you want for you. I remember the first real "makeup" products I had besides those lip gloss sets you get for Christmas. My mom bought me the Maybelline BB Cream and a Wet N Wild Mascara I can't even remember the name of that was in a purple tube.

Although having your mom buy stuff for you is a good idea, I recommend you going to the store and picking out what all you want. That's what I'm here for, to help you out! I'm going to give you some combos where the whole combo/purchase costs x amount of money. First, let's talk about what skin type you have and what you want to target. With each skin type is what I recommend you doing first skincare wise before you move onto makeup. (if you know what skin type you are, skip the next paragraph)

Dry Skin - Your skin always feels really chapped and all you want to do is slap lotion all over your face all the time. I recommend an extremely moisturizing moisturizer, look for a night moisturizer. Those work the best for dry skin. Also, (if your skin isn't too sensitive) then try out an exfoliant! This will get all of those icky dead cells off of your face. If you don't want to buy an exfoliant, use these two simple ingredients mixed together: Coconut oil + sugar; works like a charm!
Oily Skin - Your skin always feels slick and your pores are usually clogged; if you have acne you most likely have oily skin. Keep in mind it's not a given, it just usually means you have oily skin. Don't use overdrying products! Don't keep drying your face out with powders and such, this makes you product more oil. Try out oil-free products but continue moisturizing.
Normal Skin - Your skin feels happy and hydrated but not super hydrated where you're overproducing oil. Use what you think your skin needs. Use an oil-free moisturizer in the morning and a nice moisturizer specifically for at night. Or switch it up and try what you think would be best.
Combination Skin - A common form of combination skin is when you have dry skin but an oily T-Zone (your T-Zone is your forehead and down your nose, it looks like a T hence the name) This also works vice versa where you have oily skin and a dry T-Zone but this isn't as common. Do the same thing I said for normal skin.
Sensitive Skin - This is where your skin reacts to really anything and everything but here are a few common examples: food you eat (most of the time dairy can make your skin react), skincare/makeup products, and/or laundry detergents. Be careful with what you use on your face! Follow what you should do for your skin type (dry, oily, normal, or combination) just look for products with 'sensitive' in the name. Also keep all the ingredients simple, make sure you can read all the ingredients on the product. Less is more in this case. The Aveeno Ultra-Calming Line, Cetaphil brand, and Simple brand is amazing for sensitive skin.

It's extremely important to know your skin type before you start using anything on your face. I do mean anything and everything. You don't want to use something that's bad for your skin. This leads me to my next topic of this post; ingredients in skincare/makeup products.

There's a LOT of bad ingredients in makeup products. I want to say first to trust your gut, if something seems fishy then don't get it. Always read the ingredients on a product before buying it. This will save you from a lot of break outs. Of course there are some ingredients people are allergic to, but as a whole stay away from the following ingredients: talc (usually found in face makeup), parabens (found in just about every skincare/makeup product), sulfates (usually found in hair products but can be in some skincare/makeup), fragrance (found in anything), and petroleum (found in anything). All of these are linked to many breakouts and trust me, I found out the hard way.

Alright now that we have that out of the way, we can move onto those makeup combos! The exciting part, ahhhh yes! I'll keep these makeup combos roughly around or under $20, I'll be doing more makeup combos with higher price ranges later on. Before hopping into these, ask yourself the following questions:

Why do I want to wear makeup? Is it to make me feel confident? Or to make other people like me better? Wear makeup for the right reason. If you answered 'yes' to the second question, I recommend you holding off of makeup for a while because you're beautiful. Makeup should make you more confident.
Am I trying to cover anything? (Ex. acne, redness, under-eye circles)
What am I trying to accentuate or enhance? (Ex. lashes, lips, cheeks)
Do I wear glasses? (This is important, trust me)

Alright, keep your answers in mind. I've made a table of makeup combos for you! (I feel so professional) Sensitive skin is not listed because all of these products are okay for sensitive skin. Feel free to improvise mascaras/lip products from other columns. Makeup is all about you!

(Yes, I realize under Enhancements>Combo, I made a typo so, *Maybelline and *Cream) Remember that everything is TOTALLY swappable. Don't think you have to get all these things. These are just my suggestions for you. I've used a lot of these things when my skin was kinda going through a bipolar phase and all of these work AMAZING! I hope you find something you love!

I hope that this post was helpful. If you have any questions feel free to ask me in a comment. Thanks for reading xo

I've gotta say this is weird... thinking that I... have a blog again? What? Well, I'm starting fresh... starting with a whole new topic. Something I love, that hopefully you love.

Makeup

I'm a bit obsessed with makeup to be completely honest. I love making art... on my face. Red lipstick is a classic and highlighting is my 'feel pretty' moment. I hope you enjoy this blog. There'll definitely be plenty more things to come. Goodbye, for now. xo

Colourpop Review

Makeup 101: Colors

Makeup 101: Face

Starting Off in Makeup

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Meena