EOTD: Glitzy Purple featuring Urban Decay

Oh hello. Long time no see! This has got to be the most insane quarter I've experienced at school! No free time, no weekends. Boo hoo! I've been really sad and I've totally missed blogging. For those who have stuck around during this dry spell, thank you thank you!

Anyways, it's currently finals week for me, but I thought I'd take a break from my current project for a few moments to give you guys SOMETHING, ANYTHING! Since I've been so pressed for time these days, I've recently discovered ways of doing rapid, dramatic, long-lasting eyes. I wanted to share one of my favorite looks of the moment with you all:

This is a really easy look that takes just mere minutes and adds a nice color pop and sparkle to the eye!  Here are the products I used:

Clockwise from bottom left: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeshadow Pencils in Delinquent, Sin, Rehab. Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Catfight.

From left to right: Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Eyeliner and Maybelline Full N Soft Waterproof Mascara, both in Black.

What I like is that this look requires no primer and (nearly) no brushes. The eyeshadow pencils are a smooth, lightweight formula that glide on easily and lasts all day with no creasing.  Here's how I got the look:

1. apply Rehab on entire eyelid and blend with finger

2. apply Sin to brow arch and blend with finger

3. apply Delinquent in a thick, winged shape along upper lash line

4. trace a thinner, winged line along upper lash line with black gel eyeliner, overlapping Delinquent

5. apply black gel liner to bottom lash line and outline with Rehab (this softens the line and also makes the black eyeliner more smear-resistant)

5. apply Catfight right on the boundary between the black eyeliner and the purple winged shadow

6. curl lashes, apply mascara, and you're done!

I've been sporting this look with different colors for a week or so now, the simplicity has me spoiled and it's hard to imagine going back to meticulous shading with pressed shadows once more. But, then again, my moods are fickle and a week or two from now, I'll probably be obsessed with something new. Hope you guys enjoyed this post! I promise I'll be back again once this week is over!

Hugs,

Cat

Clash and Woodstock

Hello!  Here's a colorful look I did using UD's 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Clash, 24/7 liquid eyeliner in Woodstock, and Heavy Metal glitter eyeliner in Catfight:

Clash is one of all-time favorite shadow colors...brilliant turquoise blue with tons of silver sparkle.  The color lasts all day without creasing and, unlike the pressed shadows, there's no glitter fallout.  Easy, efficient, mess-free...that's how I like to roll!  Paired with Woodstock and topped with Catfight, this look definitely packs a punch!

Keepin' it short and sweet today!  Happy Wednesday all!

Hugs,
Cat

Leonine Liner: Glitter Pink

Lately, I've been experimenting with a more literally "cat-eye" look, you know, the feline-esque Cleopatra eyeliner.  For the fun of it, I broke out some Urban Decay makeup that has been, sadly, collecting dust in my train case(es).  Seriously, I have too much makeup...but I'm sure all of us have that problem. (or else y'all wouldn't be reading me)  I love my Urban Decay...it's just that I have so much of it, it's hard to give all my palettes and products equal quality time!  This is what I did with my sudden burst of (colorful) creative inspiration:

Products used: Primer Potion in Eden, 24/7 Eyeliner Pencil in Zero, 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Woodstock, Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Catfight, Rollergirl Palette.

This look was simple to do with outstanding effects:

- After applying primer, I brushed Suspect to my entire top and bottom lid and highlighted my brow arch with Verve. 

- Then I used black eyeliner to line my eyes in a leonine, Cleopatra-style shape.

- Next, I traced my top lash line eyeliner with Woodstock liquid eyeliner.

- My final step was to accent Woodstock with Heavy Metal glitter eyeliner in Catfight.

Despite the pop of hot pink, this look is very wearable.  Here, Woodstock is more of an accent than a full-on color barrage.  If you're curious to experiment with sparkle and bright hues, this is a good way to do so without looking overly conspicuous.  I imagine this eye style would look smashing in gold or turquoise as well, or whatever your favorite color is!

On lips: UD Lip Junkie Gloss in Crush

Hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday so far!

Hugs,

Cat

Easy Glam Purple Smoke

So I realized I never did the "Part 2" segment to the April MyGlam review!  Whoops!  Therefore I'm going to make up for it by giving you guys another tutorial on how to do a simple smokey purple look using the UD 24/7 eyeliner pencil that I received via MyGlam as well as including the false lashes that came in my goodie bag this month.

Usually, when the word smoke comes to mind, one envisions a sultry, dark diva-esque look.  In this instance, however, I wanted to create a light, wearable smoke that's transitional from summer-y daytime to dramatic evening.  This is me before heading out to work yesterday:

Cheeks: ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion  Lips: ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink

Want the look?  It's easy. :)  As usual, we start with primed eyelids:

Next, using my MyGlam fluffy eyeshadow brush, I'm going to choose a light, lavender shade of shadow to apply all over my top eyelid.  For convenience sake, I chose to go with my Coastal Scents Original 88 palette for all my shadow colors in this tutorial.

Then, using the UD 24/7 pencil eyeliner in Ransom, which I received in my April MyGlam bag, I'm going to trace the outer corners of my upper and lower lash lines:

Now, using a deep purple shade, I'm going to smudge and blend the pencil eyeliner to smoke out the outer corners of my eyes.  I found that the petite shadow brush included in this month's MyGlam bag was perfect for the job!

In order to soften my lower lash line, I'm going to apply some more of that pale lavender shade along the bottom edge of my lower eyelid:

Then I'm going to add a little matte ivory right under my brow arch as a highlight:

With black gel eyeliner, I'm going to draw a modest wing along my upper lash line:

To finish, I'm going to curl my lashes and apply mascara:

So here, I'm pretty much finished with my soft, smokey daytime look:

If you're going out for the evening, the quickest way to amp up this look is to add a pair of false eyelashes.  Here is the pair I received from MyGlam, appropriately themed for a "Girl's Night Out":

Bam!  Instant glam!  Talk about doll-eyes...  These lashes are pretty cool in that the band is very soft, flexible, and comfortable, unlike some others that can be hard and rigid.  They're easy to trim to the correct size and are very lightweight to wear.  They're definitely a lot of fun and aren't for the faint-of-heart.  Don't like double-takes?  Then these aren't the lashes for you!  Lol!

Alrighty then, friends!  Hope you're all having a lovely Saturday evening and that you enjoyed this little lesson and review.  Until next time!

Hugs,
Cat

April MyGlam Review Part 1

Hey all!  I got a chance to try most of the items from this month's MyGlam bag, so I thought I'd just share my findings with you. :D

Being a total color addict, of course the first item I'd try would be Urban Decay's 24/7 pencil eyeliner in Ransom!

Such a gorgeous, vibrant shade of indigo-violet!  It glided on smooth, creamy, and pigmented like a dream!

Since I always set my pencil eyeliner with matching shadow, I took this opportunity to try out my new MyGlam shadow brush, which I found to be soft, precise, and perfect for the job!

I wanted to Ransom to really stand out, so I kept everything else around the eye fairly neutral to finish:

I'm generally not a huge fan of purple hues because I've always thought they look a little off with my skin tone, but I really love this shade.  I can totally see myself doing a sexy, purple smoke with this that would perfect with the faux lashes, which I'll be reviewing next time! :)

Next up is the DermStore Lip Quench:

It's supposed to a hydrating balm which gives your lips a fuller appearance.  The product itself is a pale, peachy-pink hue with a pearlescent sheen.  It goes on sheer to colorless and, while I expected it to have a tingly sensation associated with plumping lip products, it applied sensation-free.  I think the "plumping" element, is more of the illusion of full lips due to subtle shimmer and shine.  The formula itself is slightly tacky, which I prefer because I find that a little bit of stickiness constitutes longer wear.  It has a very light tropical fragrance that isn't unpleasant.  Here's a before and after image of my lips with Lip Quench:

I received fairly long-wearing hydration...about 6 hours before I reapplied.  My only gripe is that I wish it offered sun protection, otherwise, I'm fairly happy with it.

That's what I've got for today!  Stay updated for Part 2 with an alternate Ransom look as well as faux lashes and a review of the MyGlam slanted liner/brow brush.  Hope everyone's having a happy Tuesday so far!

Hugs,
Cat

Gilded Clash

My posts, about 80% of the time, are pre-planned to some extent or another.  But sometimes, I just do something on the fly and turn it into a review or tutorial.  This is one of those days.  I went into today's tutorial not really knowing what I was going to come up with in the end.  This was the result:

If you'd like to follow along, I'll show you how I did this.  Using my UD Rollergirl Palette, I began by applying Verve to the inner half of my upper primed eyelid:

Next, I applied Darkhorse to the lower outer corner of my upper eyelid:

Then I blended out the outer corner edges with Suspect:

From my UD 24/7 Shadow Pencil Stash, I'm going to grab Clash (an amazing electric-blue with a touch of shimmer) and line my lower lash line:

Then, using my Rehab shadow pencil, I'm going to accent the outer corner of my lower lash line, just outside of Clash:

Next, with black gel/cream eyeliner, I draw a winged line along my upper lash line:

Now I'm going to clean the black gel/cream off my eyeliner brush and I'm actually going to pick up a little Clash right off the pencil, and extend my lower lash liner against my winged line for added drama:

To increase the depth of the look, I'm going to apply some matte black shadow to the outer corners of my eye:

I'm going to finish the look by accenting my winged line with Sephora gold glitter eyeliner:

Curl lashes, apply mascara, and I'm all set!

Overall look:

I actually wear this look often (minus the glitter).  I enjoy the juxtaposition between neutrals and a pop of color, jazzed up with some sparkle.  Hope you all had fun following my little off-the-cuff experiment!

Happy Tuesday and good night!

Hugs,

Cat

Urban Decay Mini Haul!

Thanks to a tip from one of you girls, I recently shopped Urban Decay's sale section (even though I shouldn't be) and purchased a few noteworthy goodies.  Y'all know I can't resist a good sale.  It's my kryptonite.  My shipment came in yesterday.  Check it out!

1. Urban Lash Kit
2. 24/7 Shadow Pencil Stash
3. Ink For Eyes in Binge and Empire
4. Matte Shadow in Chronic

Delinquent, Rehab, Juju, Sin, and Clash.

These swatches and lighting really don't do these shadow pencils justice!  The color glides on effortlessly and is so vibrant that they nearly jump out at you.  I thought my Color Tattoo cream shadows were awesome until I fell in love with these guys.  You get the convenience of cream color with the precision of a pencil.  These are THE BEST!  Now on sale at Urban Decay from $34 to only $12!

Binge and Empire

These cream eyeliners aren't bad.  I love the deep, indigo blue of Binge and the elegant, aubergine hue of Empire.  They can stand to be slightly more opaque (I had to build a few layers for optimal opacity) and can be a little bit softer.  The angled brushes that they came with were high-quality, however were too soft, in my opinion.  I would recommend using a stiffer eyeliner brush, such as the Sonia Kashuk bent eyeliner brush.  I'm glad I paid $7 for these instead of $22!

Chronic

This little guy was on sale for $3.  How could I resist?  Chronic is a soft, earthy shade of green tea that I think is perfect for the transition from winter to spring.  It's applies smooth as silk with pigmentation that packs a punch, a consistent quality of all UD shadows.

I couldn't wait to play with my new makeup!  This is the look I created today using Clash, Rehab, and Binge:

I've been wearing this shadow for 8 hours now with no creasing or fading.  Yay!

I look forward to creating some cool looks and tutorials with these guys. :D  Oh, and of course UD decides to have a sale AFTER I make all my purchases.  I'm out of juice so I won't be shopping anytime soon, but you all can definitely take advantage.  Just enter code: FFSPRING12 for 20% off your next order.  Orders over $50 ship free!  Happy shopping!

Hugs,

Cat

Woodstock Wings: Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Woodstock

As you all know, I'm a big fan of bright colors and have been on the search for a pink eyeliner for quite some time.  There are purples, greens, and blues galore, but I've yet to find anyone that makes a bright pink.  Well, my search is over and you can imagine how ecstatic I was to find that Urban Decay's collection of 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliners included a shade of shimmery, hot pink called Woodstock.  I rushed to the nearest Sephora and made them sell me a pen before they even put them out on the floor.

Most people must think, hot pink eyeliner?!  It must take a madwoman to wear it during the day!  Well, maybe I'm on the slightly eccentric side, but I found a great way to wear it without looking over-the-top insane, in my opinion.  I just did a double-decker winged eyeliner look with black winged liner as a base and the hot pink liner as a highlight.

 In order to achieve this look, I started with a primed eye:

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden

Next, I used black eyeliner to draw a medium-thick black line with a thin, exaggerated extension on the outer corner on my top lid:

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Black

Then, using Woodstock, I drew a hot pink arc from the inner corner of my upper lid to the tip of the outer corner black wing and filled it in.

For added drama, I lined my bottom lid with black pencil liner and layered black eyeshadow over it for a slight, smokey effect.

HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Black Shock.  MAC Eyeshadow in Carbon.

To finish, I cleaned up the black top liner a little and added mascara to my lashes.

Maybelline Full N Soft Waterproof Mascara in Black

Overall look:

Reversible Status Heart Necklace by Lovelina

See?  Not *too* crazy, right?  On top of looking pretty cool, this eyeliner has incredible staying power, won't come off until you force it off with waterproof eye makeup remover. (which still required some effort to remove)  The pigmentation is super-intense and the formula glides on smoothly.  I really liked the thin brush and long handle for very precise application.  I also got tons of compliments from strangers when I went out.  W00t w00t!  In a nutshell, I'd say that Woodstock is a keeper in my permanent color collection. :D