Manicure Monday: Ciaté Paint Pot in Members Only

I recently realized that Sephora has a 3 for $18 deal for Ciaté's Mini Paint Pots and one of the shades I got was Members Only. Sephora describes it as a nude, but I would say that it's a sheer light pink with gold shimmer. The shimmer and base color kind of mix together and make a nude peach color depending on how you look at your nails. 

I had to use three coats and the there was still some sheerness to it. Normally I would hate that, but since it's a light and neutral color, I actually quite love it. I can imagine myself wearing this for weddings, work, and just every day. I've been searching for a light pinky color for awhile and this is exactly what I want. 

I started seeing chipping around the 5th day, which is standard for me. Like always, I use CND Stickey Base Coat and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat.

What are you wearing on your nails this week?

Review & Swatches: Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna Palette

Anastasia Beverly Hills released their third collaboration palette and it's called the Tamanna Palette! It has 10 shades and they all contain 0.025 ounces each. The shades lean more on the warm side and was inspired by East Asian bridal makeup. The palette retails for $29 and it is limited edition. There are 4 matte shades and the other 6 are all shimmer shades. 

Review & Swatches: Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse in #240 Natural Beige

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse in #240 Natural Beige is targeted towards those who has normal to dry skin and claims to give 14 hours of hydration while giving the skin a "baby-smooth" look. It is a cream-whipped foundation and contains 0.46 ounces / 14 grams of product. The price retails depending on where you get it, but I got mine for $8.99. Most foundations include about 1 ounce of product and so you're getting a little less than half of what is standard. 

Makeup Look: Hyuna's Red / A Talk Album Promotional Pictures Inspired Look

I really loved the look Hyuna (or Hyun Ah) had for her promotional pictures for "A Talk" / "Red." The look I recreated is from the pictures below. The eye look is something different from my normal looks, but still something I would wear. The edges are unblended with crisp edges. 

The color red is obviously involved, but there is a pinky nude lip in some of the photos too. In the music video for "Red," her lipstick was a very shiny bright red, but the promo pictures look deeper. I chose to do a brighter red, but the lighting made it look more orange toned than it actually is. 

I tried to do my hair similarly too, but my hair wasn't holding any curls for some reason. It's been too hot and humid that my hair just felt gross. I did have some nice waves going on though in which I used a 1 1/2 inch curling iron from Revlon to create.

Face

• Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch 
• Etude House Precious Mineral Magic Any Cushion SPF 34/ PA++ in Magic Mint (review here) only in a triangle shape under my eyes
• Makeup Forever HD Foundation in #127 (review here)
• theBalm Bahama Mama to slightly contour under the jaw line

Eyes

• MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood used to create the shape and as a base. I applied more on the outer half of the lids to create a deeper color
• NYX Nude on Nude Palette (review here) - Copper-y gold shade (third from the left shade on the bottom row) in the inner half of the lids
• theBalm Eyeshadow in Sleek from the Nude 'Tude palette on the outer half of the lower lash line and to create the smokey wing 
• L'oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black
• Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #44 in the inner half of the lower lash line

Lips

• Pinky lips - Givenchy Le Rouge Lipstick in Brun Créateur mixed in with a tiny bit of MAC Lipstick in Crosswires
• Red lips - Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #21 (review here)

Here are some other pictures in which I am also posing awkwardly in. 

You can see the shade better in this picture. All the closeup eye shots I have are way too blurry and so I couldn't use those. 

How do you think I did?
PS - For those who has listened to the song or watched the music video - what did you think? I don't really like the song or the music video, but the rest of the mini - album is pretty good. 

Review & Swatches: Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #21

Etude House Play 101 Pencils have a gel base, but have a variety of textures ranging from matte to shimmery. Depending on the pencil and formula, they mostly can be used on the eyes, cheeks, and lips. #21 is a glossy neutral bright red and can be used on the lips, cheeks, and eyes. The price depends on where you can buy it, but I bought it for $7-8 from this ebay seller. I also used this blog post to help me decide what colors to buy since I couldn't find color descriptions or even a lot of swatches online. 

Travel Makeup // 4 Days at Home!

I've done some travel makeup posts, but this one is for my 4 day vacation back home. I finished summer classes and wanted to go home for a bit. I'm an overpacker for everything, but I managed to just bring a handful of products and only one brush! I'm so impressed with myself. I did bring more than I needed, but I like having options. The only brush I brought was ELF's Complexion Brush and it has a paddle shape. It's dense enough to pick up color and fluffy enough to blend it in beautifully. 

Let's get started! I'll bold the ones used in the face picture above.

Left to Right -

Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #44 is a glittery copper brown color. It's great for a wash of color all over the lids, or even just lining the eyes. 

Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #42 is a glittery rose gold (but more pink) color. I like using this more to brighten up the lower lash line, but it's also great on the lids. 

Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer (review here) is a matte pigmented black pencil. I only use this to tightline my upper lash line. 

Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon in Brown(Out) (review here) is a warm brown with gold glitter. I use this like the Etude House Play 101 Pencils.

theBalm Bahama Mama Bronzer is a neutral to slightly yellow bronzer with a natural sheen. It can be used as a contour or an all over color. 

Benefit Cosmetics Box O' Powder in Rockateur is a rose gold blush that also has a natural sheen. It's not shimmer though. This is one of the new products I was trying out and I love it so far. It's everything I wanted Tarte's Amazonia Clay Blush in Exposed to be. 

Maybelline Fit Me! Shine-Free Foundation Stick in #220 Natural Beige (review here) is a medium coverage stick foundation. It's so easy to use. I just swipe and blend and I'm good to go. 

L'oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions Waterproof Mascara in Blackest Black - This is a great mascara for definition and length, but adds a standard amount of volume. I thought I wrote a review for this but I can't seem to find it. If you want a review, tell me in the comments! But long story short is that it's probably my favorite mascara so far. CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Waterproof Mascara used to be my favorite, but it clumped easier and used to go all over my lids. 

I also brought Lancome Cils Booster XL Super Enhancing Mascara Base (review here) to help with volume. Since it was a travel / deluxe sample size, it didn't take up that much space in my makeup bag. 

I usually don't wear colored lip products while on vacation because I'm more relaxed on what I wear, and so I only brought a lip balm - Nivea Lip Butter in Vanilla & Macadamia Kiss. It's slightly thick and very moisturizing. I didn't like it when I first started using it, but it really grew on me and it's so reasonably priced. I just don't like using my fingers to apply it. 

The other new product that I'm testing out is Urban Decay's All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray. I haven't liked how powder looked on me lately and so I'm trying out setting sprays to make my makeup last. 

Not pictured - Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown. I used a spoolie to apply this. I basically just used this to make my browns look thicker, but I didn't want to make them look too defined. 

What products are your "must haves" for traveling?

Review & Swatches: Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Big Bang Theory

Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Big Bang Theory is described as "a dark vampy red with slight brown undertones." Lip Theories can be used on the lips and cheeks. They're highly pigmented liquid lipsticks and set to a satin finish. They also have the ability to stain the lips. Lip Theories contain 10 grams and retail for $8.00 each, but Life's Entropy does offer sample sizes like all their other products. 

Review & Swatches: Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in #4 Juicy Cherry

Tony Moly's Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in #4 Juicy Cherry is a bright pinky red gloss and comes in a form of a stick. It is like a tinted lip balm, but more shiny. It contains 2 grams and the price varies depending on what seller you get it from. I bought one from ebay from this seller for about $5.50, but I've also seen it in Urban Outfitters for $8.

Review & Swatches: Etude House Precious Minerals Magic Any Cushion SPF 35 / PA++ in Magic Mint

Etude House Precious Minerals Magic Any Cushion SPF 34 / PA++ in Magic Mint is a color correcting base for redness and it has a "cushion" packaging. The claims include whitening / brightening, toning and moisturizing while helping with pore control and some anti-wrinkle properties. It contains 15 grams / 0.52 ounces of product. The retail price depends on where you buy it, but I got mine for about $19 from this ebay seller.

FOTD - Sept. 8, 2014 // Happy Days

For a small explanation of the subtitle of this post, I've been really happy with my skin. I still have acne marks / hyper-pigmentation, but they're slowly reducing in size and color. I also had problems with my lips (cold sores and a weird lip allergic reaction) and so I haven't been able to wear that many lip products besides lip medication and lip balm. I celebrated by testing out a beautiful red liquid lipstick by Life's Entropy. 

The look is pretty standard and even boring, but I used some older products and I fell in love all over again.

Now the list of products!

Face -

• Makeup Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in #127 (review here)
• theBalm Bahama Mama Bronzer as a contour
• Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting Spray

Eyes - 

• MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood 
• Inglot Freedom System AMC Eye Shadow in #52 (review here)
• Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Half-Baked
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Brown(Out) (review here)
• On the outer half of the lower lashline
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Blacquer (review here)
• Tightline on the upper waterline
• CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Waterproof Mascara in Very Black 
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown

Lips -

• Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Big Bang Theory 

What products have you rediscovered?

Review & Swatches: Life's Entropy Eyeshadow / Pigment in Elephantry, My Dear Watson

Life's Entropy Eyeshadow / Pigment in Elephantry, My Dear Watson is described as a "medium khaki brown with slight silver shift" and has a semi-matte finish. I believe that the description does fit what you see in reality. It can be used on the eyes, lips, and face. 

Review & Swatches: Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Eye Gel Crayon in Blacquer

Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Eye Gel Crayon in Blacquer is supposed to a shiny black, but it's a matte black for me. The Highliners from Marc Jacobs Beauty claim to be waterproof and long-wearing with a color-intense payoff. 

Review & Swatches: Maybelline Fit Me! Shine-Free Stick Foundation in #220 Natural Beige

Maybelline Fit Me! Shine-Free Stick Foundation in #220 Natural Beige is one of Maybelline's most recent additions to the Fit Me! range. It is a gel stick foundation with an anti-shine core. According to Maybelline, lightweight powders are in the core to dissolve excess oil. It contains 0.32 ounces / 9 grams of product and the price varies depending on where you buy it, but I got mine for $5.99. For skin tone reference, I'm about a MAC NC 35 / MUFE HD Foundation #127 / Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream in #27.

Review & Swatches: Lioele Auto Eyebrow Pencil in #2 Dark Brown

Lioele Auto Eyebrow Pencil in #2 Dark Brown is a retractable brow pencil with an attached spoolie. The color is a very very slightly warm dark brown. It contains 0.25 grams of product and the price varies depending on where you buy it. I bought mine from this ebay seller for $5.99.