Face of the Day (FOTD)

What I Wore This Week: 2 Looks with Juvia’s Place Warrior III

September 26th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

Juvia's place warrior 3 swatches — Palette of the week: Juvia’s Place Warrior 3 ($20)

The radical rainbow in the Warrior 3 Palette by Juvia’s Place is so not in my lane, but sometimes you just gotta go for it…and hope you do enough blending to avoid looking totally bonkers! 😜

These looks were totally inspired by Lizzo’s makeup artist, Alexx Mayo. If you’re ever craving something colorful and need bold eyeshadow inspo, Alexx’s Instagram is a good place to start.

I riffed off these two Lizzo looks…

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Love looks better in C O L O R 👨🏾‍🎨 Atlanta music midtown festival @lizzobeeating Hair by @theshelbyswain Makeup @iwantalexx

A post shared by ALEXX MAYO (@iwantalexx) on Sep 14, 2019 at 4:12pm PDT

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At the end of the night sometimes it’s hard for @lizzobeeating to let go… RIP to this purple eye we did in Charlotte. 😭😭😭 Hair @theshelbyswain Makeup @iwantalexx

A post shared by ALEXX MAYO (@iwantalexx) on Sep 16, 2019 at 12:25pm PDT

With both of these looks, since there was so much color happening on my lids, I decided to offset the color by doing minimal coverage on my face.

(Also…I think it’s cool when you go ham with your eyes and contrast it with barely-there foundation!)

Look 1: “Rainbow brights”

Eyeshadow base: Kat Von D White Out Cake Pencil

Eyeshadow: Warrior 3 Palette eyeshadows in Fanti (crease), Jarawa (brow bone), Kahina and Jarawa (outer crease), Nzinga (lid)

Eyeliner: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (upper lash line), UD Freak (inner lower lash line), UD Electric (outer lower lash line)

Brows: Urban Decay Brow Blade and MAC Brow Set in Clear

Foundation: MAC Studio Fix Soft Matte Foundation Stick in NC42, MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC42

Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Blush: MAC Sur

Lips: MAC Love Me Lipstick in Bated Breath and Soar Liner

Mascara: MAC Extended Play Perm Me Up

Look 2: “Neon brights”

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Urban Adventures

July 5th, 2019 by Karen 14 Comments

urban decay soul love glitter 3 — B-A-N-A-N-A-S

In the interest of full disclosure, the only place I went wearing this glittery makeup (Urban Decay, obvs!) was downstairs…and then upstairs…and then downstairs at home because I felt absolutely bonkers wearing it, so perhaps the title of this post should be “Suburban Adventures”?

But you know how it is… Sometimes, you gotta just play with glitter, even if it takes you to crazytown.

There are some big-@ss flecks of glitter in this look, and yes, they’re HUGE. I used two UD glitter gels, including Distortion, which has iridescent hexagonal glitter pieces (they look white in pics taken with a flash, but more purple and pink in real life); and Soul Love, the dark, dainty teal. Both are safe to use on eyes.

By the way, I stumbled upon a tip while I was working out this look! If you’re layering tons of glitter on your lids (because you never know when the occasion will arise), wait for each layer to completely dry before applying the next one, because if you pat more glitter on your lids while they’re still wet, you might disrupt the previous layer.

Which is just…not good.

I also stumbled upon a lovely, easy way to do a natural-looking base: full-coverage liquid matte concealer (dotted wherever you want coverage) sheered out with a face brush and dampened with a makeup setting spray.

Ideally, use a face brush with synthetic fibers because synthetic bristles won’t absorb as much liquid product as natural bristles will, which leaves more on your face.

urban decay summer solstice — All about that (sheer) base

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Fireworks!!!!!

July 4th, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

Your Fourth of July fun fact! — aerial fireworks go by several different names, many of which are botanically themed…like peony, dahlia and chrysanthemum.

Coincidentally, I was thinking about vibrant, dynamic peonies when I did this eye look.

As each boom radiates outward, the circumference of each colorful circle has a defined shape, but as it expands, each individual point of light trails off ever so slightly until it disappears.

For the eye, I tried to convey the radiating roundness with the half-moon shape, and then spread the bronze and ruby red glitters outward.

For the lips, I experimented with two different styles — one, an opaque, editorial (a.k.a. “artsy-fartsy”) matte red; and the other a sheer raspberry, which I think is slightly more wearable.

Um…is red glitter ever wearable, though? DISCUSS. 😁
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Easy Everyday Makeup Look: Summer Breeze

June 25th, 2019 by Karen 17 Comments

Today I wore this summery look to run a couple errands and drop off Coywolf at her first day of summer fun/school. I used lots of Chanel, with a mix of new and old faves, because I love the way they handle color. They use juuuust enough, so you don’t go from zero to rodeo clown in a hummingbird heartbeat.

Swatches and details on the key products down below.

Key items

Base: All I’m wearing is a 50/50 mix of It Cosmetics CC+ Illumination and Oil-Free Matte Tinted Moisturizers (the shade I wear is Tan), which I applied with my fingers on top of Aveeno Baby Sunscreen. No setting powder, no concealer.

I like the way this base looks and feels, especially when it’s hot out, because I get medium coverage with minimal product. My pores feel like they can still breathe, and the makeup stays put no matter how much I sweat. Of course, you could go for either Illumination (which works wonders as an under-eye concealer, by the way) or Matte, but I like to mix the two because HI, MY NAME IS KAREN, AND I LIKE TO COMPLICATE THINGS.

If mixing doesn’t sound appealing to you, then I recommend going for the Matte, but still adding one or two drops of your favorite liquid highlighter (MAC’s Strobe cream is the best for mixing into foundations, IMHO).

Eyeshadow: The Chanel Les Beiges Natural Eyes palette is SO GOOD. The eyeshadows have the smooth glide of gel-powder hybrids, and you can blend any combo of the colors with just few windshield wiper swipes. If you love the Chantecaille cream shadows in pots (which are fantastic but very $$$), these Chanel shadows have a similarly creamy consistency and light-as-air appearance. You won’t find any of them, even the shimmers, settling into fine lines.

Brows: Speedy brows! This was my first time trying It Cosmetics Brow Power Micro Universal Defining Eyebrow Pencil in Universal Taupe, and I’m LOVING it. There’s a super skinny twist-up pencil on one end to draw precise lines, and a stiff brow spoolie on the other. I did these brows in a minute, and it was completely non-stressful because the pencil deposits a good amount of color, but yet it’s mellow enough to not look harsh or blocky.

Cheeks and Lips: I love how Chanel’s cream blushes blend right into your foundation without lifting it up or moving it around. I also like how they never look obvious. The blush I’m wearing here is an older one that looks like it isn’t around anymore (No. 25), but there are many other creams available on the Chanel site.

The lip combo is Rouge Allure Ink (Chanel’s lightweight liquid lipstick) in Amoreux, topped with Rouge Coco Gloss in 172 (semi-sticky but long-lasting).

More pics!

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A Summer Solstice Look: Hot Summer Nights

June 21st, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

Welcome to summer! (It officially starts today for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, in case you didn’t notice.) Although I’m not a fan of sweltering hot days (especially since we don’t have an air conditioner in our place at the moment), one thing I’ve always loved about summer is when the sun sets and everything cools down juuuuuuust enough so you can walk around comfortably in the evening wearing shorts and a tank top or a dress.

This look was inspired by hot summer nights, and by one of my favorite crimson lipstick colors to wear when the weather heats up: matte coral red. This particular shade is MAC Relentlessly Red, which is available in the permanent line.

I usually apply matte coral reds like this one straight from the tube, but this time I decided to try something a little different by lining my lip line with a slightly darker red lip pencil and leaving the edges mostly unblended.

I’ve been into the unblended lip liner Kelly Clarkson usually wears on The Voice, so I wanted to dip a toe into the look! I haven’t worn unblended liner since 1998, so it was fun to try it again, even if the red-on-red combo is subtler than the stark dark plum liner-frosty pale beige lipstick combo I used to wear in college.

Oh, and did ya notice the cooler-toned olive taupe smudged on my lower lash line? I went for a foil to the warm shades on my eyes, cheeks and lips… I like those unexpected contrasts in makeup looks, don’t you?

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