Purple Ombre Fishtail Eyeshadow With Gilded Outline

Well, that was a mouthful, but I didn't know what else to call this look.

I created this look using YSL's Pure Chromatics quad in #13 and used the colors wet. Then I outlined the shape using Urban Decay's liquid eyeliner in Eldorado. Finished by adding Ardell Color Impact demi Wispies in Plum. I don't know if I'd wear this out on a normal day, but it was fun to do. I really enjoy fantasy makeup.

Hope everyone is having a good Thursday and thanks for reading!

Hugs,
Cat

Enchanted Garden Eyes with Sleek Garden of Eden

Hello there! Springy, green tutorial with my new Garden of Eden palette by Sleek.

Instructions:

• blend Paradise into crease
• apply Evergreen to inner half of eyelid
• apply Python to outer half of lid
• apply Evergreen to inner half of lower lash line
• line outer corners of upper and lower lash line with black pencil eyeliner
• darken outer corners with matte black shadow
• apply Tree of Life to outer corner of lower lash line

Finish by curling lashes, a coat of mascara, and applying Ardell Wispies.

Hope you all are enjoying the warmer weather! Thanks for reading!

Hugs,

Cat

LA Splash Limited Edition Lipsticks

A couple weeks ago, LA Splash announced a pre-sale for their limited edition lipstick collection, featuring bold, eccentric colors, undoubtedly inspired by Melt Cosmetics, an indie brand who was the first to introduce a daring collection of muted, yet noteworthy shades in addition to a few megawatt brights. The demand for Melt lipsticks were high…but so was the price tag. In response to this, LA Splash was quick to release their own collection of Melt dupes. I was able to pick up a bundle of five for the pre-sale price tag of $35, as opposed to the $19 apiece price of Melt lipsticks. I chose Envy, Vanity, Romance, Wrath, and Greed. Here are my lip swatches, straight out of the tube:

My assessment of each individual shade is as follows:

• Envy: meant to be a dupe for Melt's Blow. It's a really beautiful shade of deep teal with just a hint of metallic shimmer. Though advertised as "ultra-matte", I wouldn't consider it to be a matte lipstick. It's densely pigmented and applies evenly in a single pass. I think I could almost consider wearing it out.
• Vanity: Doesn't really resemble any shade that Melt carries, so I would consider it the most original of the bundle that I ordered in terms of color. It's a matte, radioactive purple that's very vibrant, matte, and opaque. Definitely an eye-catcher.
• Wrath: meant to be a dupe for Melt's Space Cake. A medium shade of blue-gray, it's pigmented, opaque, and truly matte. Probably the closest to resembling a Melt dupe from the bunch that I received. The color itself is gorgeously understated, but makes a huge statement when worn.
• Romance: possibly an attempt at Melt's 6six6, it looked pretty promising in the tube, but didn't really meet my expectation when worn. It's more of a fuchsia-orchid shade with a hint of purple, was only semi-opaque and was more of a satin finish, definitely not matte. It had more slip than the other four shades and took a few passes to obtain an even coat of color.
• Greed: definitely meant to be a dupe for Melt's famous DGAF. This one was the most disappointing of the bunch. It was pigmented, but didn't apply evenly or opaquely and definitely wasn't matte. I tried my best, but you can see how splotchy the color is in the image, despite my efforts. This shade of blue is extremely difficult to do, I'm sure. I have yet to own one that works successfully. My guess is that, if you want to wear this shade of blue and wear it well, you're probably best off investing in the real deal.

In a nutshell, I highly recommend Envy, Vanity, and Wrath. They are unique, densely pigmented and apply very opaque and evenly. The quality definitely exceeds the price, I feel.

To be honest, I would skip Romance and Greed. The colors are beautiful, but the formula definitely needs tweaking. I'm sure there's a perfectly good dupe for Romance somewhere out there, it's not an uncommon color. If you're considering purchasing Greed as an inexpensive dupe for Melt's DGAF, I would recommend saving your money towards actually buying DGAF.

Those are my thoughts! Hope some of you found this review helpful and thanks for reading

Hugs,

Cat

Beach-Blue Gradient Wings and Haute Pink Lips

Beach weather is upon us and I couldn't help but let my mind wander to Caribbean blues and bright, happy pinks. With that in mind, I did a cool-hued ombre winged eyeshadow paired with a neon-pink pucker.

That's Haute Pink Twist from Covergirl's Jumbo Gloss Balm collection and I created the blue ombre wing using a shimmery aqua shade from Coastal Scents' Original 88 palette as well as Deep End and Evidence by Urban Decay.

Keepin' it short and sweet tonight. Thanks for reading! <3

Hugs,

Cat

X-Men Mystique-inspired Lipstick

Lol. I decided to do Mystique, indigo-complexioned and all. Having fun again! ;)

I used my Flash Palette by Make Up For Ever to create a lovely, blue shade of skin as close to my reference image for Mystique as possible. Then I used my OCC Lip Tar Primary Pack to create a blackened, red ombre lip.

I think I'm going to experiment more with eccentric foundation shades for artistic looks vs. practical makeup. It just happens to float my boat at the moment. XD

Hope everyone's having a good start of the week!

Hugs,
Cat

Purple Ombre Lipstick Tutorial

I've been feeling uninspired again, so I've been slacking a bit on creativity and posting. :P I really have the worst artist's ADD ever! I can't really stay focused on one thing for too long because I get terribly bored and then I'm off looking for something else to pour my imagination into. I haven't really found it at the moment. *sigh* Oh, well. To pass the time, I made a little pictorial tutorial on how to create the ombre lip looks where my attention has tragically begin to wane, lol. Don't get me wrong, I love the way they look, but now that I feel like I've gotten a handle on the art, it's time to move on to something new!

Products/Instructions

1. I like to prime my lips by applying a bit of balm to the center and buffing liquid foundation or concealer around the edges with a light dusting of pressed powder on top.
2. Next, I shape my lips with pencil liner. Here, I'm using black pencil eyeliner by L'Oreal.
3. I apply the darkest shade of lipstick around the edge of my lips. Here, I'm using Styletto by Lime Crime.
4. Then I apply the medium shade of lip color inside the darkest shade. I let them overlap a little so that It forms a softer gradient. For this step, I used Airborne Unicorn by Lime Crime.
5. I apply the lightest shade last, to the center of my lips. For this step, I used Feathered lip tar by OCC.

I like to carefully, and gently press my lips together maybe once or twice to soften and feather out the gradient.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed today's tutorial! Hope everyone is having a fun weekend! :D

Hugs,

Cat

Orchid Ombre Lips

Rumor has it, the color of the season is…orchid? Whether or not this is true, it certainly is a lovely hue and I decided to do an ombre lip look in this shade to celebrate the recent warm weather. :D

Lip recipe:

1. outline lips with an orchid-colored lip pencil. I don't have one, so I used nude. lol
2. color outer portion of lip with MAC Girl About Town
3. color inner portion of lip with Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent
4. apply a tiny bit of OCC Feathered Lip Tar to the very center of lips
5. outline lips with the barest amount of Lime Crime Styletto to darken border
6. gently and carefully press lips together to soften the gradient

Takes a little bit of practice, I admit that ombre lip art isn't easy. However, once you get the hang of it, the results are worth it. In the case above, when using wearable colors, ombre gives the illusion of full, pouty lips that have and additional dimension than a single, flat color.

Hope you guys are enjoying my lip looks and thanks for reading! <3

Hugs,

Cat

More Lip Art With OCC Lip Tars

Hey guys! Sorry I've been slacking on updates. I've been pretty sick, to be honest. I got over the bug from a couple weeks ago, but have this terrible, nagging cough that has been leaving me absolutely exhausted. Plus, the new school term has begun, so I find I have a shortness of time in addition to health. :/

Anyhoo, just wanted to share some neat lip looks I've come up with using my new OCC Lip Tar Primary Pack. :D I think I've definitely moved out of the realm of wearable into the purely artistic category. Fun to do and photograph, and a little sad to wipe away once I'm about to step out of the house.

This one is based on brilliantly hued tulips:

And this one is based off one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite films:

Thanks for reading, y'all. Until next time! :D

Hugs,
Cat

Purple Feather: Lilac Ombre Lips with OCC Lip Tars

TGIF!!! I'm taking a short break from the Divergent series. Because: 1.) I'm feeling a little uninspired with eye makeup, so I'm giving it a bit of a rest hoping to get over this artist's block. and 2.) I got some new "art" supplies that have funneled my creativity elsewhere.

Here is a lilac rose-inspired ombre lip look I made using my brand new OCC Lip Tar Primary Pack.

Playing around with primary-colored lip paints brought me back to my time in oil-painting classes where we discussed color theory and made color wheels. :)

This must be the best lip product purchase I've ever made. The possibilities are endless…I don't think I'll ever have to purchase another lipstick again! (although I wouldn't bet on that happening)

Stay tuned for more lip art. My brain is brimming with ideas!  I'll leave you all with that. Thanks for reading and enjoy the weekend! I'm looking forward to fun in the California sun! <3

Hugs,
Cat

Video Tutorial: Metallic Bronze Gradient Cat Eye

Oh, been meaning to post this. I filmed this vid about a week ago or so, but never got around to editing it until now. Whoops. Well, anyhoo, here you go! Hope you guys like it! ^_^ Please subscribe, if you can, I'd really appreciate it! <3

Excuse the weird voice. My cold was at its worst when I did the voiceover. Lol.

Thanks for watching! :)

Hugs,

Cat

Divergent Makeup Series: Abnegation

Third installation of my Divergent Makeup Series: Abnegation. (are you guys sick of these yet? lol) For those of you who are familiar with the series, Abnegation faction members would be fervently against makeup. So this look, in itself, doesn't really make any sense. But I'm basing this solely on the faction color, therefore, in that regard, it makes a bit of sense. :)

Products/Instructions:

1. blend Urban Decay Gunmetal eyeshadow into the crease
2. apply Sugarpill Tako to the inner corner
3. apply Sleek Ultra Mattes V2 grey to the outer corners
4. line upper and lower lash lines with Ulta Eye Crayon in Black Tie
5. set lower liner with Sleek Ultra Matte V2 grey
6. darken outer corner with Sleek Ultra Matte V2 black

Finish by applying Ardell #120 lashes.

Keeping it brief today because there's much to be done, but hope you all enjoyed this post anyway. Stay tuned for the rest of the series! :D

Hugs,

Cat

Divergent Makeup Series: Dauntless

Hello, everyone! Bringing you the second, Divergent-inspired makeup look: Dauntless. This was probably my favorite faction. (gawd, I'm such a bandwagoneer, lol) They were cool, and tough, and brave. It was always my dream as a kid to be a badass. Of course, that never really happened since I grew up to be very petite and ultra-feminine. But hey, I might surprise you with some of my Muay Thai moves, so watch out! lol

For the Dauntless look, I thought I'd do sharp, more avante-garde eyeliner in order to represent the fearless philosophy of the faction. In retrospect, I realize that 1.) I'm in dire need of a brow wax 2.) I should have made my brows more austere by making them as black and defined as the eyeliner. Oh well. No one is paying me to do this and it wouldn't be fun anymore if I had to do-over since I spent so much time on it. Maybe one day. XD

Products/Instructions:

1. apply Urban Decay's Naked eyeshadow to the entire lid as a nude base
2. sketch out the shape of your graphic liner with a black eyeliner pencil (I used UD's Zero)
3. fill in the eyeliner shape using black get eyeliner (mine is by MBA Cosmetics)
4. do a general cleanup of the lines using black liquid eyeliner (I used ELF)
5. using my Kate Super Sharp pen eyeliner, I further refined the wing tips
6. again, using my eyeliner pen, I added graphic dots to create a more avante-garde look

Finish by curling lashes, applying mascara, and applying Ardell Edgy strip lashes in #403

Hope everyone is enjoying my Divergent Makeup Series! I know I am! Happy Tuesday, everyone and thanks for reading! <3

Hugs,

Cat