Tutorial: Starry Night

 

 This look uses my new Kat Von D palette in Metal Orchestra as the main focus.

 

 1. For a glowing face, use Urban Decay Tinted Moisturizer (I use the shade Halo). Top with translucent powder for a flawless look. Dust E.L.F. blush in Peachy Keen along the top of your cheekbones, then dust any matte bronzer in the hollows of your cheeks to contour. (I used Fyrinnae matte bronzer in Light)
2. Prime eye. Taking the Kat Von D palette, pat First Class (slightly shimmery white) under the eyebrow. Blend. Now apply Techno (bright true blue) above the crease. Blend even more! Now put Lucifer (blackened navy with bright blue shimmer) on your lid up to the crease. Side Note: This particular color is beautiful. It might be hard to find a replacement, but I'll let you know if I find one! Blend everything together and add more color to the places that need it.
3. Line your eyes with a bright blue eyeliner. Almost every brand has one, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. I used Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Deviant. Use mascara if you wish. A blue mascara is fun if you're going out!
4. Get some gloss on your lips and go!

no flash.

Today's outfit: It's still HOT here! And it's October. :[

Kat Von D Lightning Sheer Gloss Review

I recently purchased the Kat Von D for Sephora Lightning Sheer Lip Gloss. It was on clearance, and I am so glad I did! I picked up the color Party Animal, which is a bright glittery orange in the tube. Now before you get all freaked out, let me just say that it isn't so crazy on your lips. After all, the title does have "sheer" in it.  The gloss isn't as sticky and tacky as a MAC lipglass, but it's not greasy thin either. Over all, it has a good feel to it. The wear time was great. I wore it out and it lasted almost the whole night... but once I started eating, it was all over. :P
This particular color is bright orange with gold microglitter in the tube. However, when on your lips, it mellows out into a mango/coral type color. I'm not one for coral on my lips... ever. But I really liked this, surprisingly. (The first picture below is in normal light. Second is with flash to show glitter.)

 

Overall, this is a great gloss for the sale price. Would I pay the normal price of $18 for it? Heck no. I wouldn't pay the full $18 for any product. haha! On with the swatches.

bare lips.

daylight.

inside lighting.

Urban Decay Cream Shadows Review

Let me start of by saying this - I hate cream eyeshadow. Literally. It makes my face look like a grease pit. So I ordered these by Urban Decay with not-so-high hopes. I hadn't tried them, but had heard good things. To be completely honest with you... pretty much all the good things are true with these! Pigmentation is pretty much wonderful. Some of the lighter ones (like Midnight Rodeo) might have to be layered a bit. These stay very, very well. So well that it was a hassle to wash them off my arm (see picture below). I'm sure it wouldn't stain as bad if I had used a primer... Oh well! There's always next time. Check 'em out if you need a good base or straight shadow.

Moonshine, Delinquent, Radium, Grass, Midnight Rodeo, Sphynx

with flash.

with natural light.

my skin hours later after scrubbing to get the swatches off!

Tutorial: Kim Kardashian

Guys, this has to be THE easiest look you can do. I'm starting off Halloween looks this year kinda early, and this is a simple one you can do if you happen to be dressing up as the diva herself! To be honest, it's just a normal brown smoky eye... There goes some of the sexpot mystery Kim K. has, right?

Tutorial: Acid Sunset

 Today I wanted to play around with my Urban Decay shadow in Freakshow. It's the prettiest dark purple, even if it is starting to crumble a little. :( I also used Urban Decay Peace, Fishnets, and Electric. I have a thing for that company if you can't tell... I recently placed an order with their website and got $245 worth of makeup for $60. I know, I'm a winner. :]

New MAC Pigments vs. Urban Decay

Just a quick note:
I posted a review on the Urban Decay Black palette here earlier in the year. The palette features exactly what it sounds like, a series of blackened jewel tones. Now MAC has released Fall Colour Pigments in Emerald Dusk, Starless Night, and Blue Storm. I wasn't too dazzled by the pigments, but you can see swatches here. Feel free to comapre and contrast between the two sets. I personally think that if you already have the Urban Decay palette, you don't need to buy the new MAC pigments. They're not exact dupes, but they could be easily interchangeable.

Newspaper Nails

CamiG recently did a tutorial on how to do your own newspaper nail manicure. I tried it out and loved it! I know it's not my usual post, but I had fun with it. Here are the results:

 

 

 

Nails: Last Friday Night Dupe

In the city I live in, it is almost impossible to catch hot releases when they first come out, due to vulture-like shoppers. When I was at Rite-Aid not too long ago, I saw Hottie by Sinful Colors for $2. I snapped it up, thinking that it resembled OPI's Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry collection. I was sooo right. It's an almost perfect dupe. ^_^

Today's nails used OPI Let's See The Ring for a pearly background, then I layered Hottie on top. (Both colors needed two coats to even resemble opacity.) The Sinful Colors polish is a blue jelly-like base with gorgeous rainbow sparkles encased within. I'd be lying if I said it won me over completely, but you can't beat it for $2.

a close up of the complete process

Top: one coat of OPI, Bottom: one coat of Sinful Colors

what Hottie looks like

Interview with Hi-Fi Cosmetics

 Hi-Fi Cosmetics is the Indie brand under the spotlight this time! I have a personal love for this brand, so I have to admit that I'm a bit partial.

 The products are absolutely beautiful, and you all know how I feel about bright eyeshadows... Here are a few of my absolute favorites from Hi-Fi:

On with the interview!

Interview with Noella Beauty Works

In an effort to discover more and better makeup, I have been delving into the world of Indie cosmetics. My findings confirm exactly what I thought... there is some amazing makeup out there that doesn't make you pay top dollar. Starting today, I will be doing a series of interviews with some amazing, up-and-coming cosmetic brands. :D

Today's Indie cosmetic brand is....

 Noella Beauty Works

My first impressions of the web page (click on name above to visit!) is that it is so clean and mellow. I love the modern hippie vibes I get from the models and makeup colors. With more digging, I found out that all of Noella's products are completely natural. These are eco-conscious, gentle on the skin, carefully made in small batches, and 100% cruelty free! It really doesn't get any better than this. Click through to read an interview with Jackie, the owner!

No. 7 Mineral Lipstick Review

 Boots is a brand that I'm sure most of you have heard of. (For the USA-dwellers who may not know what I'm talking about, check out their website here.) They make No. 7, which is the most successful cosmetics brand in the UK. Anyway, Target sells their products stateside, and I thought I would give them a try. My first product by the company is a peachy nude sheer lipstick in Innocent. This is what the website says about the "No. 7 Mineral Perfecting Lipstick":

 "Long lasting moisture. Contains 100% mineral color pigments and natural pearl, leaving lips soft and smooth. Made with plant-based ingredients, natural oils and waxes. Paraben-free."

Tutorial: Candy Chic

Today called for color! If there's one thing that I love about makeup, it's making a statement. This look used mostly high-end products, but I will list replacements that are applicable. The star product? MAC pigment in Magenta Madness.

Face of the Day

 Today one of my followers asked me to do a look with burgundy and yellow. I never back down from a challenge!

NARS Wicked Quasi-Dupe

 While rummaging through the hoard that is my makeup case I found an old Covergirl trio of eyeshadows that looked kind of messy and dated. I sat them on my dresser to get rid of... and promptly forgot about them.
Well, later last night I pulled out my NARS eyeshadow duo in Wicked. Looking up, I saw the Covergirl trio... and it was magic. The swatches come out very close. I'm not a big fan of Covergirl shadows, because I feel like the quality could be better. However, the understated greens of these two were so similar!

3rd and 4th Blog Awards!

I received this award from two different bloggers, so I am going to combine it into one post! Jowee and Essie both tagged me; thank you so much you two! I'm so honored to see that my musings might inspire someone else.

Now I am required to give 7 random facts about myself, and tag 15 people. I will be visiting blogs and plopping 'em down like the Tooth Fairy of awards... so be ready!

* I'm a certified makeup artist, and I enjoy building my portfolio.
* My musical taste range from chill to insane, hence the videos I post about once a week. :)
* I love food. Anyone who says that they don't like to eat is a liar.
* I'm from the deep South of the USA. However, I can hide my accent at will.
* I recently got a new camera, so look forward to better quality pictures!
* Meeting new people is awesome. Please feel free to chat at anytime. I'll always be a listening ear.
* I am cheap. I hit up sales and clearance for literally everything... except makeup. It's my one weakness.

My Second Blog Award!

I recently received my second blog award! (My first was the Kreative Blog Award, which can be seen here.) This one is from darling Jenna! Thank you so much girl. :D I appreciate your thoughts in my direction.
The Liebster Award is an award meant to honor blogs of quality that have under 200-300 followers.

Now I have to send it out to five others, and they are...

-Jowee at onlytheobsessed.com - I love her blog! The photography is absolutely stunning, and she is beautiful.
-I don't know if I can do this, but Essie and Jenna both deserve this award. Since they both sent me awards, just go check them out!
-Beauty on a College Student Budget - As a student myself, I definitely appreciate the content she puts out!
-And the last person is... YOU! Consider yourself tagged everyone! If you have a small blog, feel free to post this and link back to me so I can read it. Thanks again for reading. :)

Face of the Day

Comment and let me know if you'd like to know what products I used!

Tutorial: Dry Ice

Today's tutorial is actually based on "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine. (I'll put the video after the jump!) The video is so artistic, and this is what it inspired me to come up with: dark and deep, with glimmers of intense color occasionally, How did I get that from a music video? I don't know, I guess I'm just good like that.