Daily Make-Up Brushes...

I got the whole $3 make up brush set from ELF 

and a travel set from MAC 

and 3 Toki Doki brushes 

and 3 Rock & Republic Cosmetics brushes 

and one Body Shop make up brush 

(I threw away the other two because they were too old and I couldn't clean them up), 

two Smashbox, 

one Tarte make up brush, 

and 2 Sephora brushes, 

and one Physcian's Formula brush 

and one eyeliner brush that came with L'oreal gel eyeliner, 

and two Sam Chapman Real Techniques brushes, 

one Sonia Kashuk blending sponge 

and two Laura Mercier sponges that came with the set, 

but I don't need all of them daily. 

So, I have 18 brushes that I use daily, 

the rest are in the make up brush bag of ELF.

The brushes I use are most ELF. I am using 6 of them actually.  

I am using ELF Complexion Brush, 

2 Blush Brush 

(I use one of them with my ELF Golden Bronzer for contouring my face), 

Concealer Brush, 

Small Smudge Brush 

(to smudge the eyeliner under my eyes), 

and Small Angled Brush for gel eyeliner.

Toki Doki Angled Blush Brush and Fluffy Brush from Pittura Brush Set Collection

Smashbox Travel Smudger Brush

MAC 212 Travel Brush

L'oreal gel eyeliner's brush

The Body Shop Flat Eye Brush

Sephora Short Smudge Brush

Revlon Lip Brush 

I carry it in my handbag

Eco Tools Kabuki Brush that I carry it in my handbag

From left to right

Real Techniques Kabuki Brush, 

ELF Kabuki Brush 

and

Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge

September Favorites...

I guess my monthly favorites do not change because once I love something I keep using it for months and months, but this way I can swear by the products that are in my monthly favorites list.


I love my Smashbox Oil-Free Photo Finish Foundation Primer.
I always loved that velvety smooth texture.


I still love my Hard Candy Tinted Moisturizer, but it's just too sheer to have any coverage.


I used Hard Candy Just Faced It Feather Light Formula. I have mixed feelings about it.
The texture is just too heavy and almost difficult to blend, but has a nice coverage and nice finish. 
It feels so soft on my skin.


I still love my ELF Golden Bronzer to contour my face. I will run out of it soon.


Has anyone outside the US ordered ELF? I wonder how good their international shipping is.


I still love my Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette-07 


I started using the blush of ELF Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder.
The bronzer is just way too dark for my skin but the blush complements my skin perfectly.


I started using Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner. Probably it's not the best liquid eyeliner in the world,
but it's the only one I have and it works for me.


I still love my L'oreal Voluminous Original Formula mascara. For me, nothing can beat it!


I love Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark-Circle Roller. I use it all over my eye and it hides my discoloration perfectly and it's perfect if you slightly have puffy eyes in the morning or when you get tired.


I love my Avon Extreme Gloss Glazewear. Unfortunately I don't know what color I have but it's the perfect nude lip gloss for me. By the way it's really old so it might have discontinued I don't know.


I stopped using a moisturizer because my doctor said so, 
but I use Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster. It moisturizes my skin, feels tighter and helps with my cystic acne and lighten ups acne scars.


I still believe Boots No.7 Hot Cloth Cleanser is perfect to remove make up and deep clean your skin at home. My skin feels extremely soft and moistured after I use it.


and I love my EOS lip balms.


As for Youtube,
I love watching Gemma's videos.

Just Started Doing Make up and Want to Look Gorgeous?

First of all if you are planning to do a full make up...


--Clean your face and moisturize. 
Don't forget to use an eye cream.


Start with a primer. 


Then tinted moisturizer,foundation or powder/loose powder whatever you prefer


You have acne scars, scars, blemishes, freckles?


Use a pigmented concealer that will match your skin tone and has greens or salmon or purple color in it so it can cover whatever you want to hide.


Then...


Always contour your face with a matte bronzer.


Make a fish face and find your cheek bones and contour under that area.


Then color on top of your cheek bones lightly.


It's up to you what color you want. 


You can use mauve, pink, or coral


Finish with a finishing/setting powder to keep your make up in place during the day in case you sweat or your face gets oily


For you eyes....


Use clear or flesh color primer if you want to hide discoloration and to make your eye shadow stand out.


I never go out with out using eyeliner. 


If you have really dark and full eyelashes you may not need an eyeliner.


If you like color...


Use pigmented eye shadows in a small area.


Do not paint all your eye with one color up to your brow bone as if somebody gave you a blue eye.


Use white, golden or shimmery flesh color under your eyebrows and at the inner corner of your eyes. Your eyes will stand out.


Blend a brown or grey eye shadow in your socket to make your eye area bigger.


End with mascara. 
It's up to you what you want to achieve when choosing your mascara.


Do you want to look natural and have thick lashes or dramatic or just long lashes or curled lashes? 


You will decide...


Then brush your eye brows. 


What I hate the most is people brushing their eye brows down to make it look shaped nice.


It just makes me want to lick my thumb and brush their eye brows myself. 


Plug your eyebrows where it is needed and brush the way hair grows not down!


You may want to use a clear mascara to keep them in place.


If you have light color eyebrows or you have empty parts in your eyebrows use an eyebrow powder or a pencil.


When you are choosing a color for your eyebrows always go for a natural look!


Unless your eye brows are too light, do not choose dark colors!


It will only make you look angry and like some beast from Mars.


and....Viola! Your make up is done and you look perfect!




My personal favorites for full make up is....


Primer: Smashbox primer or L'oreal (As a cheap alternative)


Tinted Moisturizer: Hard Candy  tinted moisturizer 
-OR-
Foundation: Laura Mercier or Amway smart shade foundation (as a cheap alternative)


Concealer: Sonia Kashuk concealer agenda palette


Bronzer: ELF Golden Bronzer


Setting Powder: Tarte Smooth Operator 


Blush: Benefit Coralista Blush or ELF Candid Coral (As a cheap alternative)


Eyeliner: Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner or Physicians Formula (As a cheap alternative)


Eye Base: Mac Paint Pot Painterly or Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Roller (As a cheap alternative)


Eye Shadow: Hard Candy or MAC or Maybeline or Lorac or R&R


Mascara: Dior Show Mascara or L'oreal Voluminous (As a cheap alternative)


Eyebrows: any clear mascara and NYC 923 Charcoal Brow/Eyeliner Pencil


If you get an eye infection (don't say ewww that would never happen to me, because it can happen even the best of us lol) don't do make up or after your infection is gone clean your eye brushes and throw away your mascara or you will bring back your eye infection!


Don't forget it is important to remove your make up and clean your face everyday in the morning and at night. So you won't get black heads, and it is important to get a facial once a month. If you can't you can do the same thing at home almost for free! :) 


XOXO
Lola

MIA No More!

I know I know. I'm MIA for a while, but I didn't realize it until recently. 

Time really flies by! I know I said it before, probably I say it way too many times, but that's the truth.

Any ways I have new goodies to talk about!

I was planning to return a MAC eyeshadow and get something else instead. 

I am such an unsatisfied customer, I keep buying and returning stuff. 

Tara would be ROTFL right now if she was here. 

She knows what kind of a customer I am. 

She takes all the time in the world when she's buying something and in contrast to her most of the time I just buy and leave the store and... come back the next week to exchange it with something else LOL

So, I was wandering around the MAC counter and found the cutest pinkiest lipstick ever! 

i believe it's from their Quite Cute Collection or at least it was on the display with Quite Cute products. 

I wanted to buy it before I tried it because I tried so many blushes, eyebrow colors, eye shadows as eye brow colors that I felt guilty and felt like I gotta buy the next product I try. Lol Luckily the next product I tried was a lipstick and I fell in love with the color! 

It doesn't last on my lips, but I just loved the color and keep it on my desk so when I am working, so I can actually apply it on for the zillionth time. 

The name of the color is lustering. 

You gotta see and try out that color if you are into almost vivid pinks.

My second favorite of this month is my purple eye shadows. 

Lately I am having my purple phase again and these two purple eye shadows just compliment each other perfectly and I got so many compliments from my friends and my neighbor. 

I use Flash from Urban Decay. 

It says, it is a bright iridescent purple sheen color and 

I blend it with MAC Beautiful Iris and apply some Flash on my lower lashes and perfecto!

I received a card from Sephora saying that they will have a 15% discount for one week or so.I thought this is for everyone, but I think it was just for VIBs (Very Important Beauty Insider). 

I was wanting to be a VIB and now I am one! and I had no idea LOL, 

but I am not sure if I can benefit from it, because I don't know where I will be in a month or so. I might go back to Europe. We'll see.

I guess I told you I am taking better care of my skin lately and I am absorbing all the make up and beauty information like a sponge. 

I didn't realize how much little I knew until I improved my knowledge on the subject. 

Now, my skin looks better than ever, and my make up looks more natural than ever and last all day!

So, with my 15% of card I got Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in the color Medium Ivory. 

I was eyeing this product for a while, but oh boy it's expensive! $42+tax. and 

I also got a 10% off coupon for my next purchase. 

Gotta love being a VIB! ;)

When I bought it on Sunday I had the same Christmas effect on me again. 

Unfortunately, on Monday I had only time to apply a tinted moisturizing primer and my eye liner. 

So, I tried the foundation today for the first time! 

At first I thought it was too yellow and I was unhappy, 

but I think it balances with your skin tone after few minutes, 

because it was looking better and more like my skin but without my acne scars. 

Then on top of it I used my Neutrogena Skin Clearing Blemish Concealer pen. 

(I think this is my 10th pen. I love this product and I hope I can still buy this product when I go back home.) 

The foundation has full coverage which is what I wanted. 

I used the Blending Sponge from Sonia Kashuk  so I didn't need to apply too much product and because of the full coverage and wet sponge application I didn't need to use too much concealer.

The result: Happy Customer, Lola! :)


(Posted on April 20, 2011)