February 2015 Face of the Month // Red Roses

My eye look for this month kept alternating between a really blown out / smokey look and a more cat eye / winged out shape. For the look in today's post, I decided to go for the cat eye shape mostly because all of my pictures were blurry for the blown out look. Regardless of the shape, I still used the same palette - the Lorac Unzipped Palette. It has gorgeous rosey and burgandy shades that still lean on the nude side. I'm definitely so glad I got this for myself for my birthday. 

I forgot to take a true before picture, but the one on the left is just me with foundation on.

For foundations, I didn't really stick to just one. The one I'm wearing in these pictures is the NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation in Barcelona. I got a sample of it while I was in San Diego last weekend and it's pretty great. I won't be getting the full size any time soon because I want to use up more of my current foundations, but it's very high on my "to-purchase" list. 

To set the foundation, I used the pressed version of the Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder. I thought the pressed version wouldn't be as good as the loose, but it's definitely evenly matched when it's on my face. It gives my face a really smoothed out satin look so that I don't look too flat.

The Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Rose Gold is also another birthday purchase for myself and it's a finely milled, but very pigmented, rose gold highlighter. It leans more on the coppery / warm side of rose gold though. I only dusted on the tiniest bit for these pictures because I was going somewhere later in the day. Highlighters are also hard for me to photograph unless I really pile it on so I'll save that for the full review.

For bronzer, I've been reaching for NARS Laguna. The slight sheen it has gives my face more life and it also warms up my complexion without making me look orange.You can see how much I love it because I've hit pan on it.

You can really see the shape of my eyeshadow in this picture. My hooded lids make everything I do on my lids look like I'm going for a natural look. When I look down, it does look more dramatic though. 

The beautiful Lorac Unzipped Palette! I also used the included primer on my lids and set it with a dusting of the Tarte Powder. It's just an extra step I do for most powder eyeshadow looks to help them blend out  more.

I put -

Unconditional in the crease

Unbridled to in the outer crease to wing it out and deepen the color

Untamed on the outer portion of the lids to give my eyes my depth

Uncensored in the inner corner

Unbelievable on the center of my lids

Undercover to blend out the edges and highlight my brow bone

You don't need to use this many shades for just one eye look, but I wanted to show as many colors as possible. I really wish my camera could capture how beautiful the shadows looked though because they look a bit washed in my pictures. If it helps, the colors are really true to pan.

For brows, I used my trusty Anastasia Brow Wiz in Soft Brown all over and Medium Brown on the tail. I then set it using the Maybelline Brow Drama in Deep Brown. I went crazy when I worked in Ulta and bought 3 different Brow Wiz Shades, but I usually can get away with using Soft Brown, Medium Brown, or Taupe.

For mascara, I used the L'oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black. Depending on the day and what I needed to do, I would also use Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer and layer using another mascara that I had on hand. For these pictures, I just used Benefit They're Real.

For lips, I used Ulta Matte Lip Cream in Stirring so much this month. They're different than other matte liquid lipsticks initially because they do look more like a satin finish. After 5-10 minutes, it really sets down to a matte finish. The final finish reminds me of the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams. It's definitely not transfer proof, but the color does last a long time and feels comfortable. 

& That's it! What have you been wearing during February?