Anastasia Shadow Couture Word Traveller Look

This post ties in to the video tutorial I made below.  The Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveller palette (why such a long name?!?) has been a sure favourite the last month and I wanted to show it off in an eye look tutorial.  This look features neutrals with a pop of metallic pink, somewhat dramatic.  I like this look any time, any day, but maybe it would be an evening look for most people.  I've paired it with nude lips so that it's not over-powering.

I hope you find the tutorial helpful!  Read on for a list of all products used and more photos of the look.

A Palette A Day - Week 4

A Palette A Day Week 4

Week 4 of my Palette A Day challenge for January ended up being another neutral-based week, no particular reason.  As I've already said, the aim of the challenge was to use palettes I had forgotten about and possibly even didn't like very much.  Sometime I would come across a palette that has no highlight shade or no transition shade but I would still only use that palette.

Without further ado, here are the looks from week 4 and which shades I used in each palette.

Shaving part of my eyebrows

This post won't be for everyone, or at least the look isn't.  Maybe you're just curious as to why I've done this.  I've been wanting to shave off the tail of my brows for maybe a year so that I can change the shape.  I didn't do it earlier as I was starting work early in the morning and I thought if I was in a rush it might be problematic.  I've left the early mornings behind me so I thought, yes, it is time!

I wanted to shave my eyebrows off completely when I was 14-17 but like with all things, I was too scared. I was worried I would permanently damage my hair in some way and I think I was already concious that there might be photos to haunt me all my life.  Same with black hair, I longed for it but never risked it.  While the desire for black hair is gone, sometimes I'm still tempted to shave all of my brows off so I have complete freedom but I don't think I'll ever do it, partially because I'm too lazy.

Anyway, read on for before and after photos and how I shave the ends of my brows.

Battle of the liquid lipsticks

Battle of the liquid lipsticks

The matte lip trend has been going strong for the last few years and isn't going anywhere!  Matte lips are easiest achieved with liquid lipsticks, which come packaged like a gloss with their own wand, but dry down in minutes.  More and more brands are bringing out their own liquid lipsticks and to be honest, I don't mind as most of them are a bit different in some way.  Plus the more colour options, the merrier!

I thought it would be good to have a bit of a showdown between my matte liquid lipsticks, to see just how well they dry.  For each one I show a lip swatch (one layer) and then what my hand looked like when I kissed it 5 minutes later.  There's quite a difference in how they all perform.  I've got 12 brands to show you here so grab yourself a mug of tea!

What difference does contouring make?

I'd like to start off by saying that contouring is not for everyone, and it's not necessary at all.  Between the influence of drag queens and a certain celebrity, there's been a lot of fuss over contour and highlight in recent years, although it's been around in theatrical circles for a very long time.  I thought I'd just explain what it is and show the difference it makes. 

Contouring is the act of creating light and shadow on the face.  This can mask a double chin, shorten a face, chisel out your cheekbones or narrow your nose.  You use a darker shade where there should be shadow (in hollows), and a lighter shade where the more light would hit the face (raised areas).   

It's fairly time-consuming and not something I do everyday.  Also, as I'm at the very end of the skin colour spectrum, highlighting isn't so affective on me.  I pretty much have to use white for it to show up and so quite often do not bother.

Read on for the before and afters.

What difference do eyebrow products make?

In short, rather a lot of difference!  I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times before but eyebrows really do frame the face.  When they're filled in, eyebrows make everything else look a little bit neater (but not the mascara smudges, oops) and just finish off a look.

Here I used a light application of Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Medium Brown.  It is a gel product which lets you fill in brows lightly or fully, you can even mimic individual hairs with it if your brows are sparse.

This is a very speedy application as it was a work day and I was in a rush as per usual.  It took less than a minute to do each brow but made a lot of difference, to my eye look and as you'll see below, my whole face.

Debu(t)ary: 5 Looks with the Nars Dual Intensity Palette

NARS Dual Intensity Palette

To go with my review of the Nars Dual Intenisty palette here, I thought I would show you some of the looks I've created using it.  All of these are what I would call work-friendly, but maybe most wouldn't.  Anyway, nothing too dramatic.

Debu(t)ary: Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel in Strike

Until last week Illamasqua only had one shade of their Precision Brow Gel, Strike, a medium brown which would suit most people.  I've been using this for about a month now and it's the perfect colour for my brows (I would also match their Brow Cake in Thunder or Anastasia's Dipbrow Pomade in Medium Brown).  As of the 12th there is also a colour for blondes, Awe, red-heads, Glimpse, and dark grey, Stare.

Mermaid Eyes

This is a look I did a few weeks ago inspired by Cora of Vintage or Tacky. I'm really into pastels, duo-chrome and shimmeriness at the moment so this mermaid-y look totally fits into all of that.
Read on for product details and a quick how-to.

High Impact Makeup in a Hurry

Sometimes life gets a bit hectic and I have less time than usual to do my makeup.  That doesn't mean that I want to do the usual 5 or 10 minute face though.  If I'm not in work then I definitely want to do something colourful and fun.  In these instances I tend to turn to either eye liner or eyebrows to make the impact.  I don't have time for lots of shading or getting the perfect outline with a bold lip colour.  This was particularly true of last week when I was away sleeping in a field and didn't have a whole lot of brushes with me.

The following looks don't use many products and are all quick, especially if you're a dab hand at liquid eye liner.

UD Darkside, Deep End and Stage Dive