Sephora Glitz & Glam Look 2

I got a chance to play around with my Glitz & Glam set a little more over the weekend and came up with a nice evening look which I wore out on a double date with myself, hubby, girlfriend and her husband.

I started with a bare eye, no primer necessary this time:

Next, I applied some Buxom Stay-There cream eyeshadow in Pug to my upper eyelid:

Then, I lined my upper and lower lash lines with black pencil eyeliner:

Using my finger, I smudged my upper and lower lash line liner:

For added drama, I layered Sephora Eyeshadow in Starry Sky over the smudged liner:

Such impact!  Starry Sky is a shimmery shade of black, packed with tons of silvery micro-glitter particles.  It was much more pigmented than I expected.  LOVE!

To complete the look, I used Ultraflesh Gold Standard mascara on my lashes and applied a pair of my favorite glittery Daiso lashes:

The Glitz & Glam products that I used for the rest of my face are as follows:

Bare Escentuals All-Over Color in Glee for my cheeks.

Josie Maran Argan Oil Illuminator to highlight my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose, and my cupid's bow.

And Stila Lip Glaze in Vanilla glossed over Smashbox lip pencil in Smashing Muse.

Overall look:

It's important to use shimmer creams, such as Benefit High Beam or Josie Maran Argan Oil Illuminator, subtly as too much can make you look greasy as opposed to luminous.  My trick is to apply them to my highlight areas after I apply tinted moisturizer, but before I apply pressed powder.  That way, I get a radiant glow as opposed to a too-shiny effect.  Placement along my cheekbones, bridge of my nose, and cupid's bow gives the illusion of more sculpted cheeks, a taller, slimmer nose, and fuller lips!

Hope some of you found this tutorial helpful!  Thanks for reading and have a great Sunday night! :D

Hugs,
Cat

Back To School Look

So remember the Sephora Glitz & Glam set I got in the other day?  Well, I know I mentioned that I was excited to use it for a date or a night out with the girls, but I just couldn't wait and decided to try out some products for yesterday's makeup before going to class.  Blargh, it's the first week of winter quarter at my university.  I know there's nothing glitzy or glamorous about class at 8am, but as it turns out, this set is versatile enough to achieve a natural, daytime look for school, work, etc.

I really don't have a whole lot of time to get ready on school mornings, which are 4 days out of the week. This look requires about 10-15 minutes, which works well with my schedule.

For my eyes, I used Buxom Stay-There Eyeshadow in Pug and Ultraflesh Gold Standard Mascara from the set:

I don't use cream eyeshadows, but I'm sooooooooo in LOVE with this one right now.  Pug is a shimmery, "smoky pewter" shade that glides on as smooth as silk, is nicely pigmented and very build-able.  It's also whisper-light.  I couldn't feel it on my lids at all, unlike some other heavy, greasy-feeling cream shadows.  I was able to quickly and efficiently create a very nice gradient from my lash line to my brow bone.  Talk about easy smoky eye!  I can't imagine it being simpler.  I didn't need a primer and what's really amazing is that, 12 hours later, there was little to no creasing whatsoever.  I want to get Buxom Stay-There Eyeshadow in EVERY color now!  Somebody stop me!

Oh, and I really like the Ultraflesh Gold Standard mascara also.  The formula is light, non-clumping, and really holds a curl.  My sister commented that my eyelashes looked really long, so I guess it works!  The only problem is that I didn't see a full-sized tube available for sale on the Sephora site.  Maybe that's a good thing, I'd go broke otherwise.

As for the rest of my face, I used Benefit High Beam to highlight my cheekbones, Bare Escentuals All Over Color in Glee as a blush, and Stila Lip Glaze in Vanilla.

I've used High Beam before, it's a decent, all-purpose cosmetic highlighter.  You can use it to highlight your brow arch, the bridge of your nose, your cheekbones, etc.  Glee gives your cheeks a warm, earthy-rose flush and I imagine it's flattering on most skin tones.  Vanilla is a very shimmery, sheer champagne color that, when worn alone, gives your lips a glossy, luminous glow.

So that's my first look from the set.  I can't wait to experiment some more with it to create additional looks, including something on the dramatic end of the spectrum.  Stay tuned! :)

Hugs,

Cat