Fall & Winter lipstick revamping

Fall and Winter bring on the trend of everyday smokey eyes and dark lip colors. If you're like me you don't exactly have all the money in the world to shout out for brand new lipsticks every time a new trend comes around. I personally love to buy my basics. I love a few plums, a few pinks, and most of all reds. For me a red lip is always a classic, not to mention how the blue undertones can help make your teeth look whiter.
The easiest way to rectify the situation of following a trend but not exactly spending $15 for a new MAC lipstick every time you need a darker version of whatever shades you already love is mixing colors. By mixing colors you can revamp an old favorite, make custom shades, or even just keep up with the trend in your own comfort zone.
(shade to left is Lasting Finish Kate Moss collection from Rimmel London in shade 09)

The red color looks very plumy in the picture but in person it gives you the perfect deeper, richer red that I was looking for that had no brown-brick tint to it. I wanted a dark red lipstick and couldn't find one in drugstores so I created my own.

(The shade I used on the left was Covergirl LipPerfection lipstick in Eternal)

And by adding a purple lipstick to it I got a more plum red, more like the shade in the other picture. It's honestly so easy to try out and figure out if you like it or what colors work well with you before you go out and commit to a shade you might never wear.

(The shade I used on the left was Covergirl LipPerfection lipstick in Eternal)

Adding a more purple tone lip color that I didn't really like too much on it's own to pink lipsticks that I didn't really like on their own created a very nice pink hued purple and a bright lavender. Adding the shade to pinks brought pinks to a different level and made it easy for me try out the lavender/purple lip trend on a budget with pinks that I already had in my collection.

 Moral of  the story: You don't have to spend a whole bunch of cash to try out trends that are going on around you. Use what you have, do your research and most of all be creative! Have fun with your lip colors and express yourself.
(Also did you know coral and purple make mauve? They totally do haha)

Hope this was helpful ^-^
XOXO

The beauty noobz guide to make up (part one brushes)

Recently I was online and talking to a friend of mine who was asking me about make up. She started off by asking me if I subscribe to birchbox or ipsy. For those of you who don't already know both of these are companies where you subscribe to a monthly fee and they send you beauty products every month. Birchbox from what I know has a lot of hits and misses, everything is sample sized but it does have a shop to buy the full sized products. Ipsy also does the same thing but they ask you what kinds of things you like to use and dislike using and depending on that send you an array of items to try every month.

After we talked about them (I do currently subscribe to Ipsy) she started picking my brain about make up, different types, and what works best, but she also confessed to me that she did have brushes but didn't know what to with all of them. So I got the idea to break it down right here. I'm going to be using the make up brushes I got while I went to make up school. They are 15 brushes and all have a unique use, however, go with what you feel. If you want to use a fluffy brush for a light contour down the sides of your nose go right ahead. This is just to give you a general idea and get you started.

1. Foundation Brush

The foundation brush is usually used for even application of moist products this includes your primes, moisturizers, and liquid foundations. Now most people enjoy using make up sponges, or face brushes for this task. The key to the even application is that if you start to develop a patch of skin that looks as though it has too much product, take your fluffy face brush and buff it out. By buffing it out in a circular motion you spread the product and no longer have a big blotch.

2. Powder Brush or Face Brush

This brush is usually used for powders. Anything that you want all over your face or applied in a concentrated amount. For example, powder foundations, setting powders, translucent powders, or something like a skin finish that is more sun kissed and bronze. However, if you want a more concentrated application of blush I found that these brushes work well for that. 

3. Angle Brush

The angled brush is usually used for powders, you can use them for blush, contouring the cheeks, forehead and chin. I've also found that they can work well with more liquid products like when you contour the face with a darker foundation or a liquid bronzer. They can also be used to apply highlight.

4. Concealer Brush

The concealer brush is usually used for patting on your concealer. However this is sometimes flawed since it may be harder to blend out with the brush as opposed to your finger, but most likely more sanitary. This brush can also be used to lay down primer, and to this day if my brushes aren't clean and all I have is this brush I'll pat down eye shadow with it. (That's a bad habit)

5. Firm Shadow

Brushes like this one are really kind of tough. You wanna get in pat down your product and really move along because that thing will start to hurt if you start to windshield wiper motion with it. It can be used for a really concentrated amount of color, or to apply glitter. Also works really well for applying a cream base to eyes.

6, 7 & 8. Eye Shadow Brushes

These pick up lots of color, and they also pat on like a dream. If you want an allover color these brushes are the way to go and they range in size usually for whatever comfort level you have. I have big eyes that are too small to comfortably use the large eye shadow brush on myself. However, the smaller one does the same thing and fits comfortably to my eyelid. You use 'em for eye shadow, any shimmer or sparkle you'd want to add on top of anything really.

9 & 10. Fluffy Brushes.

Fluffy brushes also come in all shapes and sizes. Some people prefer them bigger, rounded, coming to a point or thinner, they make them in all different shapes and sizes for you guys. The point of a fluffy brush is to blend. Usually you use the blending color in your crease to help make your eye shadow not look like it have very harsh lines. You don't want people to be able to clearly tell where your eye shadow ends and your under brow highlight begins. You want it all to blend. You can also use these without a product. By swiping a clean brush upon an area you can soften the amount of product applied. 

11. Pencil Brush

These brushes are usually used to apply color under the eye. Lets say you want to smoke out some black eye liner under your eye, you pick up shadow on this brush and sweep it back and forth. (Be careful though, if the brush is too big for your eye it can get into your eye.) it can also be used to smoke out pencil (or still wet gel lines) on your upper lash line. You don't want a harsh black line on your upper lash line, pick up a matte brown shadow and smoke out the top line.

12, 13 & 14. Liner Brushes

Now with these they also come in all shapes and sizes. These brushes can be used to apply powder to the eyebrows, apply eye shadow as an eyeliner or apply gel liners. Some people prefer the angled liner, especially when you are trying to wing out your eyeliner. The flat liner also works extremely well for winging out liner. (I'll teach you how to do that with the different liner brushes soon) Or some, myself included prefer the old long liner brush, which is usually harder to use for people new to make up.

Last but not least...

15.  Lip Brush

These little guys are used for lip products. Lipsticks, lip glosses, lip stains, you name it and you can use a lip brush with it. Now you don't need to use a lip brush (unless you are doing make up on other people) but the lip brush helps with the colors that are harder to keep in the lines. There are lipsticks shaped differently, or just too dark that stain so it's sometimes best to just fill in your lips with the brush.

Well for now that's all. Hope you liked it. Feel free to comment or ask any questions you still have.

Also don't let price fool you. You don't need high end Sigma or MAC or Crown Brushes to make something beautiful happen. There are plenty of brands that are great and way more affordable. Try EcoTools, ELF brushes, (Crown Brush usually has a sale once every two months on Hautelook.com) BH cosmetics has great brushes, Real Techniques works well also. So look around and find what works for you.

Jordana Lip Reviews

So since I'm addicted to buying all types of beauty products (and I say beauty because I'm on a very strange nail polish kick lately) and I'm really trying to start this blog, and get to doing stuff with it I decided to work my way around some new products that I bought recently and have been playing with for a while now. All the lip products are Jordana which you can buy at Walgreens and are fairly inexpensive.

Now if you follow my personal account on Instagram (beatlesxchic) then you know that I promised on Saturday to review them and to be honest I've been itching to try them ever since, but because I haven't actually taken them out for a spin I won't be able to give you an educated review on how long they last on your lashes. Also, like I've stated before all the pictures are cropped because I have a really awful 5 mega pixel camera and really awful lighting in my very pink room. None-The-Less when I try to use the sunlight in my room as lighting everything in my pictures get a pink tint. So with that, lets start this bad boy.

Okay lets start off with the simple stuff. The lip products.
First I decided to buy the Jordana Lip Out Loud Super Shiny Gloss in 104-BFF

Regularly $2.29 but Walgreens is having a BoGo 50% off sale right now so it was $1.14

Now as you can see in the swatch the gloss isn't very pigmented. It is a sheer gloss that has a hint of fuchsia in it, which in some cases is exactly what you want and/or need on some occasions. If you're lips are really pigmented naturally don't expect this product to do much more than look like a clear gloss. However, on the up side this gloss smells like candy. The sweet smell is powerful enough that you will smell it on your lips for a while after application. 

The gloss gives a very nice sheen, doesn't feel sticky or tacky in any way. It also doesn't give your lips that awful shine that makes them look greasy either. Over all I really do like the gloss but if you want something more pigmented for about the same price try the NYC Liquid Lipshine in Fashion Avenue Fuchsia which has more pigment to it and the color is basically what you would have expected from BFF, only be very aware that the NYC gloss is a little bit sticky and a thicker consistency. 

Now I also bought the Jordana Twist and Shine in 04 Candid Coral.

This lip balm stain is $3.29 at Walgreens.

Now maybe it's just the shade that I chose but as you can tell it isn't very pigmented. It does follow the big balm stain trend but it doesn't feel like the Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain, it feels more moisturizing, and more light weight. However, with two swipes of the Revlon stain I get a fairly pigmented red lip, while with this one I kept trying to build up the color to no avail. But with lighter colors it's usually very normal to be less pigmented if, like I said before, your lips are more pigmented. 

You can see that on my lips it looks less coral and more like a soft pink. It does reflect light nicely and feels really comfortable on lips. In fact, dare I say I actually liked the feeling on this on my lips more than the Revlon lip stains. This doesn't wear as awfully on my lips and dry them out the way the Revlon balm stains did. However, my lips are super sensitive to dryness so you may not feel the same about the Revlon balm stains as I do. I am curious to try more of the Jordana stains in the different colors they offer though.

Lastly I have heard beauty bloggers rave about the Jordana lip liners and let me just say... wow.

I bought the Jordana Easy Liner For Lips in Sedona Red for $2.29

Sedona Red is a bit darker than I thought it would be. But my gosh is it gorgeous! It is the PERFECT lip liner for a shade like MAC's Russian Red which is a smidge darker than their more vibrant reds due to the more blue tint to it. I digress, my next post will have something to do with MAC reds though so keep an eye out for that.

I'm very pleased with this liner to be honest. First of all it's retractable which means that I don't have to carry around a sharpener with me, and if you are a make up artist you understand that if you can cut anything out of your kit, you do it because kits get incredibly large. Also when you're out and you need to reapply your lip stuff the worst thing that can happen to you is that you find out your pencil isn't sharpened and all you have to work with is basically wood. Now I usually use the MAC lip liner in Cherry for my red lip needs and while Cherry is the perfect shade for all the reds I have in my collection, and let me say I have a... ... few. BUT the Jordana liner is just... perfect. It glides on like a dream! There isn't any tugging at all it's just like buttah! It's just something that I want in multiple colors to add to my kit and personal collection because not having to sharpen something, plus the inexpensive price tag, plus the texture is awesome. I just wish they had more of a color selection than their 13 colors that they have on the website now. I would like to try their other retractable liners though.

Anyway, I'm done for the moment toodle-loo ^-^

Tid-Bits-

• I was listening to Lorde radio on Pandora and my gosh is it just a great mixture of female Electro/Indie Pop. 
• I have a big obsession with winged liner and red lips. 
• Don't know if I should do a red lips blog or just a red MAC lips blog.