News: I am on youtube now!!!

Hi guys,

I finally did it! Yesterday, I recorded my very first youtube video 🙂 For the longest time I had no clue what I could possibly do on the youtubez, but in the past few months an idea started taking shape and form. For now, I don’t intend to shoot tutorials, but will instead do a series talking about my favourite indie makeup brands. The reason being that 1) Indie is where my heart lies at the moment; 2) Although there are reviews of them on youtube, they are fairly sparse and for some brands, practically non-existent; 3) So, I aim at giving them a tiny bit more exposure, they deserve it!; 4) I was just curious to try the whole youtube experience 🙂

I’d be incredibly happy if you drop by my channel, say hi and subscribe (in case you are interested in up-coming videos, of course). Be kind! This is my first attempt at this, and I am sure there is plenty of room for improvement. I myself hated like 10,000 things about this video…but hey, one has to start somewhere 😉

The first episode of my “Indie Brand Diaries” series is dedicated to Concrete Minerals. I hope you enjoy it:

See you next time!

Random makeup looks

Hi guys!

Ever since I made an Instagram account (which you can find here), I sort of stopped doing makeup look posts on the blog. And since some of you probably don’t follow my Instagram/Facebook pages, I decided to show you some of my personal favourites from the last weeks 🙂

Let’s see, where shall we start…

Today’s makeup seems like a good start.

I am hopelessly in love with Ermahgerd! from Darling Girl Cosmetics. It’s pastel orange with a green-silvery shift going on. Just to die for! I did tell you that out of fear that DG may discontinue this shade, I got a back up of it. I mean, you never know with small indie brands. One day your favourite shade is there, the next one…BAM, gone! I didn’t want to risk it 🙂

In the outer corner I used an eyeshadow I haven’t showed you officially yet, it’s called Dressed-to-kill, by Fyrinnae. It’s a gorgeous oliver green loaded with gold sparkles, very pretty!

The next look is blue-purple with a new shade I got from a sale by Concrete Minerals recently. The shade is called Angel Dust and it’s really lovely, actually exceeded my expectations. It’s a duochrome, supposedly shifting between lilac and aquamarine. I find it to be pink rather than purple, but beautiful nonetheless. It looks very flattering and the duochrome is definitely visible!

I also used Unity by CM on the outer half of the lid. To make the transition between Angel Dust and Unity a bit smoother, I sprinkled some Sugaprill Lumi in the middle of the lid. On the lower lash line used Sugaprill Hellatronic.

The next look is really colourfull, but I did love wearing it quite a bit!

Purple and  mint green is one of my all time favourite combos. The purple is actually a sample gift  I received with a Fyrinnae order some time ago. It is hands down one of the most intense, bright and gorgeous purples I have ever had. It’s called Debonair, in case you want to go to the Fyrinnae website asap and order kilos of it! hehe. The mint green shade is also Fyrinnae => Jade Ghost.

And for the next two looks, I go back to the stunning duochromes of Dargling Girl Cosmetics.

Dirty Limerick is such a gorgeous complex shade. It is lime, it is turquoise, it is reddish-brown…simply magical. To intensify the lime green even more, I applied Concrete Minerals Toxic pro matte shade in the inner corner. I would use any excuse to dive into Hellatronic, and since using it as a lid colour is not an everyday option, I like using it as an accent in my looks…mostly the lower lash line.

Basket Case is the last duochrome I would like to show you today. It’s purple with a very strong turquoise shift. I am really loving this shade!

I think you can even see the duochrome effect on the photos. Ah, just ah! L-O-V-E!!!

Well, those were my latest makeup looks and I hope you found something in there to inspire you tomorrow when you do your makeup ;)..Or sparkle your interest in indie makeup brands.

I have been thinking of doing a get-ready-with-me post soon, using loose eyeshadows from indie brands…what do you think? Let me know if there is a brand or an eyeshadow you are particularly interested in! 🙂 Also, general questions in that respect are more than welcome!

Till soon!

 

Concrete Minerals beauty bloggers set: my picks and more…

Hi guys!

Wow, I am really catching up on my blogging these days…hadn’t planned it that way, but it just keeps flowing. Must be all the stories that kind of piled up in the last 2-3 months and needed to be told 🙂

I am back to my beloved Concrete Minerals. Yes, I know! Your ears, well eyes in this case, probably hurt of listening/reading to me blab about this company. I love them! Whatyagotta do :P?! Plus, I guarantee, it’s worth staying with me till the end of the post 😉

So, a few months ago, I ordered their beauty bloggers set…”what is this?”, you may inquire. Well, for those of us who blog, Concrete Minerals has a special offer. You can choose 4 of their shades (mineral or pro mattes line) at a reduced price to review on your blog. I believe the price for the bloggers set is still 15$ (fyi, each of their shades individually retails at 7-8$) and you can find more information on how to purchase it by clicking here. 

As some you may know, I already own some of their products, both from the mineral and pro matte lines. The 4 shades I chose for the bloggers set are all from their mineral loose eyeshadows line.

Let me show you:

Somehow, I always gravitate towards greens, blues and purples. It is no surprise therefore that you see both purple (Wanderlust) and blue (Saint) here. I had already been contemplating getting a nice white shadow (Frost), but the pink goodness (Sweet Catrina) came out of nowhere. I think CM had a very cute description of Sweet Catrina and I was hooked by it 🙂 I am that easy!

Swatches (done over Art Deco e/s base):

Frost is a sparkly white…very frosty indeed. It makes a wonderful, universal highlighter. Not much more to say here.

Sweet Catrina is oh so sweet. It’s like a light brick red-pink with silver sparkles. To me, it looks like a very neutral, but still adorable pink..ish colour, which would be flattering for everyday looks on pretty much everyone.

I have a makeup look coming in the end of the post featuring both Frost and Sweet Catrina.

Wanderulst is simply gorgeous. It is a dark, rich, vibrant purple with GREEN sparkles..Is that not just the most awesome combo EVER!?!?! I am in love with this shade…smokey eye, darkening of the outer V, on top of you liner…anything is possible in Wanderlust-land. I will show you a makeup look, plus a small tip, with this shadow in a bit.

Saint is a beautiful navy blue with a very strong purple sheen to it. It is a Sin not to own it! 😛

All of these are, as usual with CM, of great quality: apply easily, blend well and last for ever over a primer.

I wanted to show you how they really look when used in makeup looks, so I played around with them today.

The first look is definitely daytime in-appropriate…dark and smokey with loads of glitter. But I wanted to share a small tip with you, and thought a look like this one is a great example.

The thing with Wanderlust (and pretty much all loose eyeshadows with pretty sparkles in them) is that once you apply the eyeshadow the gorgeous green glitter flies away quite quickly, and you are left with the matte base. Don’t get me wrong…that is still gorgeous, but I want my green bling-bling, please! So…some months ago I found a way around that…

There are all sort of glitter glues and what-nots out there that you could use…but I happened to have the Essence colour arts eye base, which is readily available all over Europe and costs almost nothing.

(photo taken from Internet…my tube is covered with glitter, so deemed not presentable to the public eye ;))

It has tacky texture, white colour, but dries transparent. I bought it with the idea to use it as base for my loose eyeshadows and pigments. I used it with that purpose only once…The problem is that once it dries, it really, really,really dries…there is no way you can blend a shadow applied over this base. So, I stashed it in my drawer and forgot about it…

Until I got into glitters…I didn’t feel like spending money on a special glitter glue, so I figured maybe I could cheat…by using the Essence colour arts eye base as a glitter glue. Well, for that purpose, this baby is amazing!

But wait! There is more…Feeling sad that I loose all the pretty sparkles of my loose e/s, one day it hit me that I could try the Essence base to solve that problem too. And I sure did!

What I do is, apply everything, as I’d normally do, blend everything well,  and in the very end, I put a bit of the Essence base…very tiny bit, on top of the original colour (in this case Wanderlust) with my finger. I wait until it’s slightly tacky and has turned transparent, and then pat the original colour again on top of it. That seals the sprakles, no way they will move from there. Don’t worry if the wetness of the base spoils a bit the colour on the lid…you will cover it with more anyway.

I hope that made sense…

For this look I used:

• Art Deco e/s base
• NYX JEP Cottage Cheese (thin layer)
• Concrete Minerals loose e/s Wanderlust
• Concrete Minerals loose e/s Frost
• Concrete Minerals loose e/s Detox
• Nivea e/s
• MUG e/s Beaches and Cream
• Inglot get liner #77 (black)
• Inglot gel liner #76 (white)
• LA Splash Pineapple Coral glitter
• LA Splash Royalty Glitter
• Eye Candy false lashes

The next look is just my regular style daytime-suitable makeup featuring Frost and Sweet Catrina:

What I used:

• Art Deco e/s base
• NYX JEP Milk
• Concrete Minerals loose e/s Frost
• Concrete Minerals loose e/s Sweet Catrina
• Concrete Minerals loose e/s Jezbel
• Nivea e/s
• MUG e/s Beaches and Cream
• Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on pencil Rockstar
• Inglot gel liner #77
• Sugarpill Stella
• Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara

And here is where I will conclude this very long post 🙂 Which eyeshadow is your favourite? Which ones would you pick for your bloggers set (to see all the shades CM offers, click here?

See you soon!

XOXO