Me vs. Under Eye Circles and Eye Shadow Creases

I have spent literally years trying to find the perfect eye makeup routine - one that will cover my dark circles, neutralize the colour of my eyelilds, prevent makeup from creasing and sliding off my eyes and somehow manage to make my eyes look bright and natural rather than caked with makeup.

The good news is, I finally found it! I use four (yes, F-O-U-R!) products on my eyes, yet it only takes less than a minute to prep each eye and make it ready for a bright, lasting eyeshadow application.

The first thing I use is benefit's "lemon aid". I use it to prime and neutralize the colour of my eyelids, to ensure that my eyeshadow colour is not distorted by the colour of my eyelids. Over top of this, I apply Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Champagne (it's also available colourless). This provides a slightly irridescent base for my eyeshadow, but the best thing about this product is that it will eliminate creasing and sliding and ensure your makeup stays put all day long. It truly is a miracle product!

Under my eyes, I use boi-ing industrial strength concealer from benefit. This concealer covers everything! It eliminates the dark circles under my eyes, and doesn't leave a cakey layer on your skin. It has a smooth consistency almost like a cream, and it bleands it effortlessly. The last thing I use under my eyes is Photo Op Under Eye Brightener from smashbox. It helps me look well-rested and chipper, and apparently provides nutrients in the form of vitamin C, peptides, and marine collagen.

Four products in under a minute per eye. It took ages (dare I say decades?!) enduring false promises made by a countless number of products, but all that work was definitely worth the payoff. I have gotten compliments on how amazing my makeup looks after a hot yoga class, and to me that is testament that I have in fact discovered the utopian eye makeup priming routine.

Magic Eyeshadow

Whoa, it's been a while since my last post. It's amazing how fast the summer flies by! Anyway, now that fall is here (well, not really...but the weather sure feels like it!), it's time that I let you know about all of the interesting discoveries I have been making, as well as rave about some of my favourite products. Here we go!

MY NEW DISCOVERY

I am going to call this my "chameleon combo". These products are all from Makeup Forever. After priming your eyelids (What?! You don't prime your lids? Hmmm...I'll cover that next time!), line your eyes both and top and bottom with Aqua Eyes #16L ($19) waterproof eyeliner. Next, using a concealer brush, like this one, apply Flash Color in #9 ($20) to your entire eyelid. It will look very froggy green! Don't be afraid!

Now, for the transformation part! The white-ish powder is Star Powder in #944 ($20). Load this up on your blender brush and apply it to your eyelid, and VOILA! The previously froggy green is now a gorgeous turquoise shimmer! I love this look. Finish it off with black eyeliner and lots of mascara.

You can achieve this look with ANY Flash Color and iridescent Star Powder. Also, try adding some navy blue shadow to your crease for a vampier smoky effect. All of these items are available at The Bay and Sephora.

*Shoppers Drug Mart carries Makeup Forever in some of their beauty boutiques, but I have never seen the iridescent star powder there, only the pigmented ones.

The best, most delicious smelling body scrub!

After admiring this for quite some time at Sephora, I finally caved and got this body scrub from Cake. It is AMAZING! I don't know where to start gushing about it!

I have citrus squeeze, which smells like burnt brown sugar infused with lemons and oranges. The scent is divine - I could really use some smell-o-vision right about now (just like Rachael Ray always says!). The texture is grainy without being harsh, and a little goes a long way. After getting out of the shower, I noticed the water was beading on my skin - very cool! The water dried off easily with a towel, and my skin felt like buttah. Seriously smooth and sooo soft. No lotion needed!

I would personally market this as an all-in-one body treatment. It cleanses, exfoliates, and really does moisturize with lasting results. Nonetheless, since this product is so great, I'm eager to try the body butter - I bet it will be a great combination to combat dry winter skin!

You can get this online or at Sephora, for $34 CAD.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 - this is a SUPERSTAR product! Well worth the investment.

Amazing Nail Polish Alert!

I wanted to write about my new favourite nail polish - "Schiap" by NARS. This colour is amazing! I tried to take my own picture of it, but it looks far better in real life. It's the hottest hot pink I have ever seen, and would look great on any skin tone.

This was my first time trying NARS nail polish. The consistency is perfect and enables a smooth and even application. It dries very quickly and seems to be resisting chipping (I used a base coat and a top coat to prolong the result of my efforts). It even survived rigourous conditions while making homemade makizushi! I tried removing it as well as part of my nail polish testing standard, and it came off easily. I almost forgot to mention - you only need ONE COAT! I hope you like this picture, I paid this hand model a lot to pose for me!

It is available for $21 CAD at The Bay and online at Sephora.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (the hefty - OK, maybe insane, price took it down a notch)

Welcome To MiMi Makeup!

Last week, I was invited to a Mascara Party. A what? What's that all about? Mascara, of course! I am a big fan of themed parties (big dork, I know!), but I never thought I would attend one dedicated to my least favourite step in my makeup routine. It's my least favourite because I have about 8 eyelashes on each eye. Putting mascara on seems like a futile attempt to make my eyelashes look how the average person's do without makeup on!

The product featured at the party was Maybelline's Pulse Perfection mascara, boasting a vibrating wand. I am very loyal to my usual mascara (another time, I will tell you why!), but I like trying new things and have been recently trying to find a cheaper alternative to my usual brand. After a martini (or two!) and some snacks, we were invited to open our little black organza bags, each containing our very own, brand new mascara. Exciting!!!

Time to pop open the blister packs and get applying! Of course the first thing we tried out was the vibrating wand. It wasn't my first exposure to these, but I must say that this subtle vibration was much less, erm, distracting than the other one and seemed to provide a better result. My eyelashes weren't quite as lush as Carrie Underwood's, but they were getting there! The vibrations ensured clump-freedom, and the neat little bristles on the brush ensured a smooth application. They even seemed to curl up a little bit! I dared put some on my lower lashes (not a typical practice of mine), and they looked pretty good.

I have been using this the past week to give it a fair shot. It needs to be taken off with eye makeup remover, but otherwise it's great! It retails for $18.99 CAD - half the price of the prestige versions, and is also available in waterproof. Be sure to let me know what you think of this mascara if you happen to try it! Needless to say, I'm certainly looking forward to the next makeup party :)