I did a LOTD today. Fun for the whole family, since my poor hubby is probably sick of seeing me au natural. He refrains from reminding me that it's "barefoot and pregnant" not "bare-faced and pregnant"!
So I got a bit prettified today, and thought I'd use my new products from theBalm and a new lipstick from Shiseido. VOILA! A nice, "bronze" and glowy look and a few product reviews all rolled into one post. To top it off, I'll give a run-down of how I created the look. I'm a multi-tasking wonder, I'll tell ya!
Here's the look:
Products Used and their grades:
Keep reading for more...
OK, so I'm no bronzed goddess, but I've gotta go with what I've got. I'm a MAC NW15 or lighter, for reference. If that means nothing to you, then I'll break it down this way: I'm the shade of paper. Ghostlike. "Bronze" looks on me are not the same as you melanin-infused folks, but hey... I can still work it.
One way to do that is to focus on warm cheek colors that suit my skintone and level of fairness. It's a hard line to walk, because a lot of bronzes are too straight-up warm for my cool skin. Other products are just too damn dark.
The look:
Skin:
Lips are only one product: Shiseido Perfect Rouge in Pink Mesa (PK303) applied from the bullet (no brush). Too bad my lips are chapped! Maybe next time I'll try a liner, but this color is perfection...
One way to do that is to focus on warm cheek colors that suit my skintone and level of fairness. It's a hard line to walk, because a lot of bronzes are too straight-up warm for my cool skin. Other products are just too damn dark.
The look:
Skin:
- Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation. Today, applied with fingers, no primer, no concealer. How easy is that!?
- Cheeks were contoured with theBalm's Big Mama set bronzer, Bahama Mama. I used my MAC #168 Large Angled Contour Brush to sweep upwards under cheekbone to temple, and a bit swept up ton temple and down under jawline. Color was built until I was satisfied - not too dark, but you have to be able to see it a bit, right? Dust off the brush when application is done, then go back and blend away any edges. Contours should never be seen!
- Cheeks were given some color with theBalm's Big Mama set color product,Hot Mama. I used my MAC #129 Powder/Blush Brush and swirled the color onto the apple of the cheeks, then up a bit towards temples. The shimmer in the product doubles as a highlighter, so I skipped that additional step.
Lips:
Eyes:
- Prepped with Painterly Paint Pot from MAC. Again, straightforward application - I used my ring finger to pat it on, lash to brow.
- theBalm Overshadow in Kiss MS Goodbye was applied, wet, to the lid and crease. I used my MAC #239 Eye Shader Brush to pat the color on the lid itself, then, without "redipping" the brush I used a windshield wiper motion to sweep it up through the crease and a bit higher. This gave a lighter application than on the lid, making it seem as if two different colors had been used. Nifty!
- I used theBalm PIck-up Liners in romeo (a midtone grey) to line the top lid, close to the lashline. I also traced under the bottom lashline a bit more thickly, then smudged with my ring finger. I also used the liner on the top and bottom waterlines, though I think I liked the look better before I did that.
- MAC Carbon eyeshadow in the outer corner of lid and crease. I used my MAC #217 Blending Brush brush to swirl the color on and blend it into the lid and crease color.
- I grabbed my theBalm's Big Mama set color product, Hot Mama, and used my #217 to dust a bit of it on the inner-to-middle crease to give some additonal dimension.
- I filled in the arch and sparse spots of the brows, lightly with MAC Lingering eyebrow pencil (though it looks choppy in pics, it's very realistic in person - I swear!).
- For mascara, I used the skinny brush in theBalm Two-Timer Mascara first,to catch all of the tiny lashes, top and bottom. Then I used the wider, curvy brush to do the rest of the lashes on the top. I didn't comb through before pics, though, so you could see that there's a bit of clumping. I don't mind it in person, but in pictures it looks very obvious.
The Reviews:
Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation A+ |
I can't believe I haven't given this a proper review, so let's rectify this. I love this foundation! It's gorgeous, it's glowy, it's got the perfect amount of coverage without looking cakey or overdone. This blends nicely, it builds when necessary for more coverage. It's amazing. It's my go-to, Holy Grail foundation and even beats out Armani's Luminous Silk Foundation (LSF), which is equally stunning and signifcantly more expensive (Stila's = $38; Armani's = $58). For the record, I use 10 Watts in the Stila, and shade 0 in the Armani.
PROS:creates a luminous, flawless complexion
CONS:None
- theBalm Overshadow in Kiss MS Goodbye A-| This a great bronzey-orange mineral eye makeup. As the name implies, it's meant to go on top of your shadow. In my look here, I used it over a cream shadow, but it really shines as a highlight over another powder shadow. I'll try to do another look of the day soon with it, so you can see the spectacular shimmer! The color: orangey bronze - not a straight-up bronze, but a golden, lion-like color that reminds me a bit of MAC's Melon Pigment (though not quite so melon-y, a bit more bronze). An A- rating is quite deserved, though it fell-short of A because it's a bit powdery and falls on my cheek way too easily unless I use it wet.
PROS: Shimmery highlight, great color
CONS: A bit on the messy side - theBalm Two-Timer Mascara B |
This mascara is one of those two-ended jobs, with a curvy, full brush on one side, and a thin, skinny brush on the other. It's billed as long-lasting, smudgeproof and volumizing. I'm looking for a new mascara, and this is going to do nicely until I find "The Mascara". It's a great product, on the whole, and you may rate it higher.
PROS: adds volume, doesn't smudge indeed, only a few flakes on a day that I had allergies; the skinny brush is great for those tiny little hard-to-get lashes
CONS: I did have some issues with clumping, but not too terrible - theBalm Big Mama A+ |
Three powders, one sleek, flat compact. Included inside: Sexy Mama, Bahama Mama and Hot Mama. If you're not familiar with the line, here's a quickie on the individual items in the set:- Sexy Mama | An anti-shine, translucent powder with magical oil-absorbing spheres to mattify the skin. It looked dark, I was scared. It ended up being PERFECT.
Pros: mattifying, even, non-drying, and suits even my skintone despite it's scary darkish (to me) color in the pan!
Cons: None - Bahama Mama | A mica and silica based, sheer matte bronzer in a medium tone. Again, I was convinced this was going to be too dark, but it's not at all. It contours the cheekbones well, and gives a great bronziness, even on my fair skin (though if you're fair- use a big fluffy brush so as not to go too oddly dark).
Pros: it's matte (!), it's sheer (!), it bronzes without orangeiness (!) and contours nicely, too (!)
Cons: None
- Hot Mama | A gorgeous, shimmery multi-tasker that suits eyes and cheeks equally well. The shade: peachy-pink shimmer. I had high hopes for this cheek color, and love the way it goes on the eyes, too. It's a can't-miss winner!
Pros: Great neutral but bright shade, not too dark, not too light, fab sparkle without being a glitter bomb
Cons: None
- Sexy Mama | An anti-shine, translucent powder with magical oil-absorbing spheres to mattify the skin. It looked dark, I was scared. It ended up being PERFECT.
- theBalm PIck-up Liners in romeo B |
These mini-liners are so compact and portable I was afraid to hope they were good! They're water-resistant and smudge nicely when you're applying them but not later. The colors in the set (a black, a brown, and a grey) are a nice basic set, and there's a pencil sharpener in the side of the box which is so clever and so perfect! I like the way they glide on, I like their sharpness and blendability, and I also wish they would work well in the waterline but you can't be pefect. An A+ for packaging, but a B for the colors and texture - not that they're bad, but they're dupable. But you can't dupe the case!
Pros: great case, portable size, sharpener included, nice consistency, no after-application smudging
Cons: from a color-only standpoint, these are dupeable - Shiseido Perfect Rouge in Pink Mesa (PK303) A+ |
Pink Mesa is a great pinky-neutral in a soft tone. It's got Translucent Red Pigment and Dual-Optimizing Powder to make sure the color stays true no matter the lighting, and has really fine pigments so it's just amazingly silky and lush. Super Hydro-Wrap Vitalizing DE keeps skin on the lips soft and actually improves them over time.This is now my Holy Grail "my lips but better" shade!
Pros: the color matches my lips perfectly - a great pinky-beige; soft and hydrating but not too slick, long-lasting, and... perfect!
Cons: None, but a hefty price tag: $25.
Used any of these products? Want to try 'em? Like the look? Do something similar yourself, or is this too subtle for you? Have any "tweaks" for me? Share with the class!