Let there be light

After being ill and not sleeping well for a while, I've been steering clear of any darker eyeshadows or anything with a blue or purple undertone as they just enhance the existing darkness around my tired and squinty eyes.

Whilst rooting through my shadow collection the other day to find something that would give me a quick wash of colour, I pulled out one of my MAC palettes and remembered an old favourite - Jest.

I bought several peachy, shimmery neutrals from MAC a while ago and I remember reading loads in the blogosphere about All that Glitters and Naked Lunch but I'd never read any raves about Jest. It's a frost finish, which I don't normally like very much, but the description of soft peach with an icy shimmer piqued my interest. I ordered it thinking it sounded like a nice neutral and was amazed when I swatched it for the first time.

For me, this shadow applies like butter and is the perfect wash of colour. It lightens and brightens in a subtle and pretty way and the peachiness brings out the blue of my eyes. It looks great on its own with mascara but equally fab with darker shadows blended into the crease such as Woodwinked. On my post illness eyelids it worked wonders - it's particulaly effective on the inner corners for a soft highlight if you're a bit tired.

As you can see, you get a soft, sheeny reflection of light at one angle, and the deeper peachiness comes out at another angle. Like an idiot I forgot to take a photo of it actually on my eyelid, but rest assured it was the perfect choice to help me in my quest to look human again. I think this shadow would suit a lot of different skintones and I'd love to know if anyone else rates it highly too.

FOTD - Fyrinnae, MAC, RMK, Daniel Sandler

So, I've spent some time doing crazy experiments in my bathroom with the Pixie Epoxy and all my Fyrinnae samples and can officially confirm I love all of them. The shadows are amazing, the mixture of colours is great, the shimmer and sparkle are fantastic and the Pixie Epoxy is a wonder product. When using this product, you must work against type with the loose shadow. There is no delicate patting on of colour with a dense shader brush. You can swipe a flufffy brush coated with loose powder across your lid and it will stick and give an amazingly intense wash of colour. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, moving on to today's look:

Let's take a closer look at those eyelids and the gorgeous Fyrinnae shadows:

*sigh* I just love them.

Anyway, the technical deets. After priming my eye with UDPP in sin I applied a tiny amount of Pixie Epoxy from lashline to brow on both eyes. I also took a tinier amount and ran it along my lower lashline (avoid the waterline). After leaving it to dry a little and go tacky - about 20 seconds - I used a fluffy shader and stroked Fyrinnae Atomic Afterglow across my lid and below the lower lashline. It goes on incredibly smoothly and the epoxy really grabs hold of it and gives a smooth, almost foiled look. Atomic Afterglow is described as silvery taupe with silver and gold highlights, but I definitely get a soft green undertone.

I then used the same fluffy brush to apply Arcane Magic in Archmage in the crease and then blended both inwards and upwards. Again, it was a dream to work with. The Arcane Magics change colour dependent upon which light they are seen in. Archmage is a deep green with a lighter shimmer that changes from pale green to silver to pink in various lights. Someone at work commented on how lovely my eyeshadow was today and how it 'kept changing colour'. The Arcanes are really something. I took another photo with flash to try to show a shift in colour:

I highlighted the inner corner up to the middle of the socket line with MAC Vanilla pigment, then used MAC Vanilla shadow to highlight under the brow. The face was RMK Liquid Foundation, Daniel Sandler Watercolour in Truth on the cheeks and on the lips is MAC Naked Honey Skin Salve topped with Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Flavor of the Day. I will do a separate post on the Lip Lustres at some point.

This look lasted well all day and the shadows did not flake or crease. I am looking forward to more adventures with my sample shadows, Arcanes and Pixie Epoxy. I am also planning another order with Fyrinnae for some full size shadows as I am so impressed with these. Delivery took a lot less than the 16-20 working days initially outlined on the website and even if I'd had to wait a month, it would have been worth it. I also got two free sample shadows included in the order, which I thought was a nice touch.

I leave you with an 'eyes open' pic, in order that the Lip Lustre can have a bit of attention while the amazing shadows are hiding:

Anyone else a Fyrinnae fan? Any recommendations?

Blue flash

I don't wear much make-up at the weekends. Despite my love for it, I prefer my weekend routine to be quite different to that of the week. This means no alarms, no hair dryer, a decent breakfast and no faffing with foundation and blending.

Yesterday's crisp air and blue sky inspired me to wear my new H&M Breton stripe top and try the bright blue pearl paint in my Yaby palette. I defined my brows, washed a silvery grey across my lid and into the crease and then used an angled brush to draw a rough line of the bright blue shade along my lashline. Precision was jettisoned in favour of speed, but I was happy with the final look.


I dotted MAC Select Moisture Cover concealer where needed, dusted E.L.F Complexion Perfection powder over my face and finished with a hint of Bobbi Brown blusher in sandwash pink and a slick of Lipstick Queen 15 minutes of fame gloss (a random colour from 'The Nudes' Christmas gift set).

It took all of ten minutes to do, lasted well and withstood a visit to the supermarket, a trip round TK Maxx and a few afternoon drinks with my bezzie. Poi-fict!

Fr-eye-day

A hilarious play on words there, I think you'll agree...

It seemed even more difficult than usual to drag my bones from my bed this morning. Then despite a lovely shower using Villainess products (more about them coming up in another post), I still felt sluggish and could muster no enthusiasm for getting ready for work. I wasn't sure what to do regarding make-up and then I decided to use my new Yaby palette for inspiration.

Club inspiration - FOTD

Like a lot of people interested in make-up, I am a huge fan of Pixiwoo's make-up tutorials and get a real thrill each time one shows up in my subscriptions. These talented make-up artist sisters have shown me quick looks for every day, glitzy looks for a night out, recreated screen siren and celebrity looks and pushed the envelope with some edgier or more flamboyant faces. I can't recommend them enough.

After watching a video the other day on using MAC's Club eyeshadow, I decided to try it this morning as a quick way to get made up before work.

Optimus Primer and FOTD

After Thursday's woefully shiny face of the (end of the) day, I decided on Friday to A) remember to photograph it in the morning and B) remember to use a primer to see if it made any difference.

While I was at uni, I had a job at home during the holidays at a Harvester-style pub down the road. I did waitressing and bar work but my favourite was in the kitchen. To my mind chef's whites are one of the few ways you can practically wear pajamas to your place of work. It was a hot and steamy atmosphere, but unfortunately not because the rest of the kitchen staff looked like George Clooney. It was more to do with the massive steak griddle, the humungous pots of veg on the stoves and the halogen heat lamps at the pass. I really enjoyed it, but I spent most of the time looking like a sweaty tomato.

At least I had a good excuse. Nowadays when I come home from my catering-free work environment, I still seem to look like I've been slinging Surf 'n' Turfs all day and my make-up has slid off. The eyes are usually okay, thanks to Urban Decay's Primer Potion, but the cheeks, chin and forehead tell a different story.

Shine on - FOTD

Ooops, I fully intended to take a photo of my make-up this morning, but time somehow got away from me. Unfortunately, this means a photo at the end of a long day, after nearly 12 hours of wear. Not the best first impression on my clean new blog, but I have to start somewhere.

Today, I went for a neutral look:

I've cropped the photo to remove some of the glare from my unpowdered forehead, but I'm afraid it's still in its full glory on my nose.