Face of the Day – Valentines Day

Valentines Day is tomorrow, and I always find it to be one of those days that truly divides the public. A lot of people are very anti-valentines day for a lot of different reasons, and others see it as an opportunity to celebrate their relationships, be it romantic, platonic, or family. I kind of fall somewhere in the middle. I think it’s nice to dedicate a day to your loved ones, but for me, I think it’s important to acknowledge the people in your life more than once a year. Regardless, I still thought it would be fun to put together a look I would wear on Valentines day. My boyfriend and I usually keep it low key and order a pizza and watch a movie… so let’s just pretend I’ll be wearing this make up and not be in my sweatpants.

FACE

My skin has been pretty good, so I don’t necessarily feel the need to go for a full on foundation, so I just evened out my skin tone with the Jouer Matter Moisture Tint in the shade Porcelain with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush. I set only the center of my forehead and nose with the Tarte Smooth Operator Finishing Powder. I wanted to keep my skin really dewy, and I used the Real Techniques Multitask Brush. I bronzed up my face just a little with The Body Shop Honey Bronzer and a Real Techniques Cheek Brush. I added a step I usually don’t do, which is highlighted my cheekbones with The Balm’s Mary Loumanizer and the Real Techniques Contour Brush to really add that glow.

EYES

To start out I filled in my brows with the Flower Raise Some Brows eye pencil in the shade Dark Brown. I then applied the Jouer Creme Shadow Stick in the shade Baroque all over my lids, blending mostly with my finger. I applied just a little bit of the cream shadow to my Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush and fanned the cream shadow through my crease. I then blended out all the edges with a clean Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush. I tightlined my upper lash line with the NYX Retractable Eyeliner in Brown, and lined my waterline with the NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Santa Monica Blvd. I finished up with a coat of the Flower Beauty Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara. This mascara has grown on me, somewhat, after it had dried out immensely. I still find it a little tough to work with at times.

LIPS & CHEEKS

I wanted my cheeks to be really bright but still natural, so I opted for the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour Cheek Gelee in the shade Poppy Paradise, I used my Real Techniques Stippling Brush to get a natural flush. I finished everything off with the Mineral Fusion Sheer Moisture Lip Tint in the shade Smolder. This is a sheer red lip crayon that I thought would be great for valentines day. It gives you that red lip without being high maintenance or intimidating. I think a lot of guys get scared by red lips, so this is a nice compromise.

It’s a very soft, romantic look, but doesn’t look overdone, which I think is important if you’re on a date.

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentines day.

Talk soon,

Xx Brianna

The Winter Edit

The days are short and grey, and you suddenly cannot remember the last time you shaved your legs: welcome to Winter. I always feel kind of down in the Winter months, Fall is my favorite season, and summer feels like it’s an eternity away. And as the seasons change, so do our tastes. I thought today I’d share my picks for products to incorporate for the chilly season.

For Winter, I like to keep things pretty neutral. I always feel like Winter is the time to pull everything back and go for classic looks and an easy going, undone face. It must have something to do with the constant rain where I live that totally sucks away my will to put any effort into my appearance. Vancouver Winters are pretty typical, it will snow no more than 3 times, to the total of about 5 centimeters of snow, the rest of the time it will rain, be very windy, and it gets dark by 4pm. So here’s my go to products for the remainder of the drab season.

 For starters I basically live in toques. I hate washing my hair + my head is freezing = toque. I also love to add a scarf to my outfit. Plaid scarves are pretty in right now, and this one is from Forever 21 and will only set you back 10 bucks. It’s pretty light, which works well if you’re in a mild climate, and is a great way to inject some colour if you’re like me and your entire wardrobe is monochrome. What is colour?

If there’s two things you need during Winter, it’s bronzer and highlighter. I know I’m truly in need of bronzer when I can’t remember the last time I saw the sun. Vancouver isn’t nicknamed ‘Raincouver’ for no reason: we don’t see the sun a lot, so you’ve got to fake that healthy glow. I love to bring out this bronzer from the Body Shop because it’s quite subtle and blends really well into the skin. When all moisture from your face has been zapped, you also have to fake that moisturized sheen with some highlighter. The Balm’s Mary Lou-Manizer is a fantastic option because boy is it pigmented and boy does it make your cheekbones glow. Speaking of dehydrated skin, my skin really needs an oil to keep it from flaking up. I’ve really been enjoying Tarte’s Maracuja Oil, I’ve got a post all about it coming up next week.

Lips and nails, for the most part, I like to keep pretty neutral. For nails I’m all about light neutrals like Nails Inc Porchester Square and The Body Shop’s Frosting Fancy. Both wear nicely and give your hands a nice and simple, yet polished, look. I’ve been obsessed with Flower’s Shine On Lipgloss in Lovely Lotus is such a nice wash of pink on the lips, and is surprisingly very moisturizing for a gloss. For when I am feeling a little pop of red on the lips, I love Mineral Fusion’s Sheer Moisture Lip Tint in the shade Smolder. As the name would have you believe, it’s just a nice sheer wash of a cherry red that just ties together any look.

Lastly for the eyes, as previously mentioned I am incredibly lazy in the Winter months, so something like Jouer’s Cream Eyeshadow Crayon in the shade Baroque is a great one and done shade. You just need to apply a little to the lids, blend it out with your finger, and you’re good to go. I also really like to pair a simple small winged liner with the ELF Cream Liner  and pair it with the Mineral Fusion Lip Tint. Winged liner and red lips go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Talk soon,

Xx Brianna

All About Those Mattes

I never really saw my obsession with matte eyeshadows coming, but I must admit that I am totally loving how matte neutral shadows look. I really enjoy an undone, effortless make up look, and matte shadows are seriously the best way to go about creating those types of looks. I rummaged through my collection, and I’m going to share my favorite matte eyeshadows, starting from my least favorite formulation, all the way to the cream of the crop.

My very first introduction to matte eyeshadows was with The Balm’s Meet Matt(e) palette. I actually believe that The Balm no longer makes this specific palette, however they have since come out with the Meet Matt(e) Nude palette, and I have to say I prefer the shades in the newer palette. The Balm palette was a great introduction to matte shadows, and had some fun pops of colour, however I was always left a bit disappointed in the pigmentation. The formula is a little chalky, however it certainly gets the job done with a little elbow grease.

I then moved on to the NARS eyeshadow duo in Portobello. This is a great one-two eye that is pretty much fool proof. I do like the consistency of these shadows, however I’d warn you not to use them wet, as you’ll end up ruining the shadow. These are nicely pigmented and blend well. As I write this I’m making a mental note to crack out this duo more often.

Another middle of the road formula is the Jouer single eyeshadows. I have the shades Chestnut and Almond here. There are great mattes that blend well, don’t feel chalky, but do have a little bit of fall out. There are a variety of shades in Jouer’s range, and there are some glitters and shimmers available. These are nice because you can pick and choose the shades you need, and connect them into a little customized palette.

The runner up is the Sonia Kashuk Eye on Neutral palette. I picked mine up from Target a good 3 or 4 months ago, and I have to say it’s a fantastic palette. The shades are really fantastic, and for a drugstore product you cannot argue with getting 12 shadows for 20 bucks. The formula is really great, super pigmented, really smooth, blends well, and has just a little fall out when you stick your brush in the pan. I find these shadows to last all day, and I really love using the matte black as a smokey winged liner. I’d highly recommend this palette if you’re just getting into make up, or have very few mattes in your collection, as this will supply any matte neutral shade your little heart desires.

Onto the best of the best: the Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics palette. I never really understood what the phrase “buttery smooth” meant before I met this palette. My goodness this palette is a dream. Talk about pigmented, the slightest touch of your brush in these shadows gives you all the pigment you could ever need. The shadows all blend together seamlessly and with very little effort. The colour range, for me, is really nice, I like the use the darkest shade in my brows, the three next to it for eyeshadow, and the matte neutral as a highlight. If I’m going away, this palette is all I’ll ever need.

What are your favorite matte shadows?

Talk soon,

Xx Brianna