Sleek Ultra Mattes V2 Palette

Wheeeeeeeee!  I purchased my first Sleek eyeshadow palette recently!  Sleek is a UK cosmetics brand that makes AMAZING makeup.  I know this because all the beautiful bloggers on the other side of the pond have been posting about their products and I've been absolutely DYING to get my hands on some!  I went to the Sleek Makeup website and was super excited about their wares...especially the eyeshadow palettes...especially the matte eyeshadow palettes.  Sadly, it seems that there's an ingredient that they use in their matte shadows that hasn't been FDA approved over here so they cannot be sold to American customers!  Boo hoo!  So I decided to be naughty and go on eBay to get my little paws on their Ultra Mattes V2 Darks palette.  Where there's a will, there's a way!  And the internet makes it so easy...mwahahahaha!

Such an AMAZING palette!  I'm a real sucker for mattes...they're so creamy and photo-friendly.  Here we have a good mix of both practical and pop-py colors.  They're also super-pigmented.  Just the lightest touch of my shadow brush brings a sweep of dense, opaque color.  Here's my first look using Thunder (grey), Ink (navy), and Pillow Talk (white):

The last picture was taken in natural window lighting...looks kinda purple, but you get the gist of the look, right? Lol.  I think my camera's white balance is off too.  Oh well.  Can't wait to play with my palette some more!  Hope you're all enjoying a great Friday so far!

Hugs,
Cat

Make it Pink, Make it Blue

Hi!  As you can see, it's rather late for me over here... a little past midnight AND I have work early tomorrow.  But I couldn't sleep without at least putting up a little post.  Here's another Disney-inspired look:

Remember Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty?  She had that dress that her fairy godmothers kept switching between pink and blue:

I actually didn't intend for my look to be inspired by Princess Aurora's color-changing dress, but once I was finished, that's immediately what I thought of, check it out:

Lol, because my crease and socket is so shallow, you can only really see the pink when I shut my eyes.  There you go, like magic, pink to blue to pink to blue...

To get this look, I used Junkshow, Deep End, and a little bit of Blackout from my UD 15th Anniversary palette:

Overall look:

Ugh!  My hair is getting sooooooooooo long and my ends are so dead.  You can't see it in the picture, but it's waist-length now.  I'm starting to look like The Grudge:

Maybe I should have asked for a haircut for Christmas.  It's something I'm definitely doing sometime after the new year.  New year, new look.  I'll keep you all posted on what kind of hairstyle I choose. Okie dokie, just keeping it short and sweet.  Time for bed!  Thanks for reading and have a great night! :D

Hugs,
Cat

Pink Pop Tutorial

Hey all!  It's been FOREVER since I did a video tutorial, so I thought I'd start again by doing a fun, easy, and colorful look inspired by and using some of my favorite Urban Decay products.  Today I'm going to show you guys how to achieve a sexy, sparkly, poppin' pink look for your eyes:

These are the colors I used from my 15th Anniversary palette:

And I've been dying to use my Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Catfight (how appropriately named!) so now I get the chance to!

So, without further ado, here is my step-by-step video tutorial on how I got the look:

Overall look:

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!  Off to run some errands now. :D  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Hugs,

Cat

Teal and Purple Haze

It's been a long time since my last tutorial so I thought I'd quickly post one up tonight.  Some of you might be thinking, what kind of nerd stays in to blog on a Friday night?  Well, this nerd has work tomorrow at 9am, so it's blog and then bed.  So today, I'll show you guys how I did this look:

I've never worn teal and purple together before.  Weird, right?  Because they make such a lovely combo.  Again, I used my Urban Decay 15th Anniversary palette for this look.  Man, I'm getting massive mileage out of this thing.  You guys are probably sick of it by now...but the colors are so pretty!  I'm going to have to move on soon, though, because there are a bunch of new products that I received from my Black Friday/Cyber Monday spree that I'm looking forward to sharing.

Anywho, back on topic, these are the colors I used:

I start by priming my eye with UD Primer Potion in Eden:

Next, I'm going to apply Evidence to just above my natural crease (which is very shallow, btw):

Then, I'm going to apply Half Truth up to my brow bone and along my lower lash line, being sure to smudge and fade along the edges for a soft, gradient look:

Using a black eyeliner pencil, I'm going draw a wing along my upper lash line and line my bottom lash line:

Then I'm going to apply Blackout over my pencil liner to set the liner and soften the look:

To finish, I'm going to curl my lashes and apply mascara, which give me a chance to try my new glitter mascara from LA Splash:

It's really hard to capture on camera, but the formula is chock-full of fine, multi-colored glitter particles.

You really can't see them at all on the wand, in pictures or in person.  This made me a little disappointed. :(

I swatched it on the back of my hand to see if it would show better.  The glitter is there, but you can barely see it in person, much less in the photo.

So, there it is.  The glitter does not show at all on the lashes.  It's an okay formula, I like the brush, and it does lengthen and thicken, however I did lose some of my curl.  Something that wouldn't happen with my trusty Maybelline Full N Soft Waterproof mascara.  But what's the point of buying glitter mascara if you can't see the glitter?  Boo!  At least I got it on sale.  On the other hand, I do love my eyeshadow! :D

Overall look:

:: Face ::

CG Smoothers Aqua Tinted Moisturizer in Light to Medium

ELF Mineral Booster in Tinted

:: Brows ::

ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Dark

:: Eyes ::

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette

UD Primer Potion in Eden

HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner Pencil in Black Shock

LA Splash Glitter Eyeliner in Black Gem

:: Cheeks ::

ELF Studio Blush in Fuchsia Fusion

:: Lips ::

ELF Studio Matte Lip Color in Natural

ELF Essential Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink

Hope you all found this post useful!  Have a great Friday night! (hopefully you're having more fun than I am, lol)

Hugs,

Cat

Evidence in the Deep End

So, today I'm going to show you all how I did this:

I used my UD 15th Anniversary palette (surprise, surprise) to get this look.  Ya know, the palette cost me $55 (minus 20% because of the friends and family sale) but I'm TOTALLY getting the biggest bang for my buck.  I've been using it every day and am getting such high-quality, versatile looks out of it.  Soooooooooo worth it...so worth it.

Anyways, moving on to technique.  These are the colors that I used:

I begin with a primed eye:

Then I apply Deep End to my lid, blending and fading towards my brow bone to form a gradient:

Next, I apply Evidence to my outer corners and bottom lash line:

After that, I darken the outer corners of my top and bottom lash lines with Blackout:

I use a little more Evidence to blend along my bottom lash line to soften the look:

Using black cream eyeliner, I draw a thin line along my top lash line and the outer corner of my bottom lash line:

For added glitz, I'm going to apply sapphire-blue glitter liner along my top and bottom lash lines as well:

And, to complete the look, I'm going to add some fancy, glittery false lashes:

Whoo whoo, all set!

Fun Fact: my high school colors were blue and orange.  How's about that for school spirit! :D

:: Eyes ::

UD Primer Potion in Eden

UD 15th Anniversary Palette

WnW Cream Eyeliner in Black

Sephora Glitter Eyeliner in Blue

Maybelline Full N Soft Waterproof Mascara in Black

Daiso Long Cross Glitter Eyelashes Style F

:: Cheeks :: 

ELF Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink

:: Lips ::

Lime Crime Lipstick in My Beautiful Rocket

*Bargain Beauty Tip*

Don't feel like spending $55 on UD's 15th Anniversary palette to get this look?  You can get similar results using WnW's Blue Had Me At Hello for $5:

Bronze with Teal Pop

Here's the second look I tried out with my Urban Decay 15th Anniversary palette:

I used mostly neutral, bronze-ish tones and added a pop of teal to the inner corners of my eyes.  These are the colors that I used to achieve the look:

I applied Chase as the base color, Deep End on my inner corners, M.I.A. on my outer corners, and Vanilla as a brow arch highlight.  I lined my eye with pencil liner and set and softened it with Blackout.  You know, I LOVE my cheap-o eyeshadow palettes, but seriously, when it comes to pigmentation and quality, very few brands compare to Urban Decay.  I barely have to touch my brush to the shadows to pick up enough color to complete my look.  The powders are incredibly fine, velvety to the point that they're nearly creamy with little to no fallout upon application.  Oh if I were rich...

I also tried out my Lip Junkie Lipgloss sample in Wallflower:

I lined my lips with Smashbox lipliner in Smashing Muse and smoothed Wallflower over it.  It's a really gorgeous, creamy, peachy-pink nude shade with plenty of shine without glitter or shimmer.  It has a minty fragrance and a pleasant, temporary, tingly sensation upon application.  It's supposed to make your lips appear fuller, although it was hard for me to tell because my lips are already naturally full.  It's pretty long-lasting, going strong for about 6-7 hours.  The formula is excellent: silky, moisturizing, not overly sticky.  Best of all, it didn't leave a nasty, white residue at the corners of my mouth. (I don't know if that happens to anyone else, but 80% of lip colors tend to do that to me after about 3+ hours of wear)  It may seriously be worth the $19 that it's listed for on Urban Decay's website.  Amazing!  I can't believe I'm considering buying a gloss for that much!

:: Eyes ::

UD Primer Potion in Eden

UD 15th Anniversary Palette

HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner Pencil in Black Shock

Maybelline Full N Soft Mascara in Black

:: Cheeks ::

ELF Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink

:: Lips ::

Smashbox Lip Pencil in Smashing Muse

UD Lip Junkie Gloss in Wallflower

Hope you all found this post helpful.  Let me know if you'd like a tutorial. :)  Happy Friday and goodnight!

Hugs,
Cat

Casual Shimmer with UD Cream Eyeshadows

Hi!  Just thought I'd share my first look using the Urban Decay Cream Eyeshadows in combination with my 15-Year Anniversary Palette.  I only had minutes to do my eye makeup this morning because I was rushing to class, so this is what I came up with.  Took me all of 5 minutes:

I pretty much used everything from the Urban Decay mini haul I got in a few days ago.  I applied Midnight Rodeo Cream Eyeshadow as a base and layered Midnight Rodeo powder eyeshadow (from my 15-Year Anniversary Palette) over it.  Then I used Asphalt Cream Eyeshadow as eyeliner and then set it with a random, glittery black powder eyeshadow.  It's a sparkly, shimmery look that's pretty, but still neutral enough for daytime.  (otherwise I wouldn't have gone to school in it)  The process is fairly straightforward, but let me know if you'd like a video tutorial for it.

:: Eyes ::

UD Cream Eyeshadow in Midnight Rodeo

UD Eyeshadow in Midnight Rodeo

UD Cream Eyeshadow in Asphalt

Wet N Wild Spoiled Brat Trio (black glitter shadow)

Maybelline Full N Soft Waterproof Mascara

:: Cheeks ::

ELF Studio Bronzer in Golden

:: Lips ::

Smashbox Lip Liner in Smashing Muse

ELF Essential Hypershine Gloss in Honey

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more looks!  Happy Thursday everyone! :D

Hugs,

Cat

Urban Decay Haul

Yay!  Remember the Friends and Family sale Urban Decay was having the other day?  Well, I got my package in yesterday and have been looking forward to posting pics.  Here they are!  I can't wait to start trying out some awesome looks! :D

Generous sample of Lip Junkie Gloss in Wallflower.

The colors are so much more vibrant in person, but this will do. :)

Midnight Rodeo is very shimmery, so it was hard for the camera to capture the color accurately.  It's a very pretty pale pinky-beige shade.  Asphalt and Radium are captured pretty accurately, however.  I wonder if they would make good creme eyeliners?  I guess we'll find out soon!

Stay tuned for some looks I plan on experimenting with using my new goodies!  Happy Tuesday and goodnight. :)

Hugs,
Cat