Fun With Glitter

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been absent. If you're on Instagram, however, you'll notice that I've been busy. Just wanted to share some looks I've done in the past week, get ready for some glittery spam!

I've been experimenting with colored eyebrows to complement eye makeup.

I've also been playing around with adding jewels (nail art rhinestones) as well as "curly" cat-eye shapes.

Here, I'm playing around with color blocking. I'd eventually like to do glitter gradients once I have enough shades to create a smooth color transition.

My interpretation of the Eye of Ra. I'm especially proud of this one because the line art was quite challenging!

I've been using glitters from Eye Kandy Cosmetics as well as MBA Cosmetics. Both shops offer a vast variety of glitter and mineral pigments. Eye Kandy makes this incredible glitter-binding medium which allows you to paint even, opaque sheets of cosmetic glitter onto your skin, creating dazzling makeup effects! It's called Liquid Sugar and I don't know what I'd do without it!

The gold liquid liner that you see is Eldorado, by Urban Decay. For pigmented, colorful brows, I used Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette, set with matching eye shadow colors. For fine black lining detail, I used Kanebo Kate Super Sharp eyeliner pen.

The beautiful lashes that you see are "Noir Fairy" and "Tigress" by House Of Lashes.

Looking forward to bringing you guys more intricate, artistic makeup looks...especially once I graduate! Woo hoo! I'll also be working on some glitter tutorial videos, so stay posted! :)

Hugs,
Cat

Michelle Phan's Egyptian Queen

Long time no see! Though, if you're subscribed to my Instagram, I've been pretty busy there. :) Just thought I'd share my attempt at remaking Michelle Phan's Egyptian Queen eye makeup look. Check it out!

I used Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette for the brows, setting them with matching shadow. For the eyes, I used the gold pigment from the MUFE Flash Palette, set with Half Baked from Urban Decay. For the blue parts, I used Urban Decay's eyeshadow pencil in Clash. I used Kate Super Sharp liquid eyeliner pen for the black details and Ardell #120 false lashes.

Alrighty, off to do weekend things! ^_^ TGIF, everyone, and thanks for reading!

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

Monarch Butterfly Inspired Makeup

Some really nice ladies from Instagram asked me to join them in a butterfly-themed makeup collaboration. Today was the due date and I'm still sick as heck, but I managed to come up with something reasonably cool.

I simplified the butterfly a bit, obviously. Had I felt well enough, I may have considered tackling a more accurate representation, but, ya know? All eyeshadows were from the Burning Heart palette by Sugarpill and ombre lips were fashioned from Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette. I also used a combination of pencil, gel, liquid, and pen eyeliners for the details.

Anyhoo, hope everyone is having a good weekend. It's raining here. :P

Hugs,
Cat

Lipstick and Lashes

 So another product that I'm excited about is a lovely little lippy by Make Up For Ever.  You probably noticed that, among my Xmas gifts, I was given a tube of Rouge Artist Intense #34, described as a "satin light raspberry".

In my opinion, #34 is the perfect "pop-of-color" shade for the cooler season.  Why?  Because it's vibrant without being neon.  Really, there's no wrong way to wear makeup.  I firmly stand by the notion that there are no hard, fast rules to how a girl wants to apply her cosmetics.  Personally, however, I find my preference for loud lipsticks is a little more prominent during Spring/Summer.

#34 glides on smoothly and evenly without feeling at all dry or chalky.  I thought that it was a fairly flattering shade with my complexion and it wore pretty well for a few hours, which included eating and drinking.  I didn't reapply, rather, just smoothed some gloss over it when I felt it was beginning to fade, which revived the color.

Color upon initial application straight from the tube, no lip liner.

Since I was going for a slightly more dramatic look today, I thought I'd pair some lashes with my winter-bright lips.  Though I do love my cheap-o dollar lashes from Daiso, lately, I've been craving higher-quality lashes that are meticulously made of human hair as opposed to glittery plastic ones.  I like the more "natural" look, but I mostly enjoy the fact that they're so comfortable and virtually weightless!  I swung by my local drugstore and picked up a pair of these:

 

Initially, I was searching for a pair of Ardell Wispies.  But apparently they were out of stock at CVS, so I settled on 122's instead.  This is the first time I've ever encountered them.  They're actually very natural-looking, in that the band is invisible, they're a little more sparse, and the lashes have been shaped and knotted in a way that's a bit more ragged and haphazard...more like lashes that we're born with as opposed to the perfectly symmetrical and evenly gradated eyelashes that I commonly find at the store.

I think that the 122's are also shorter than the Wispies, which makes more sense for my personal eye shape.  Let's face it, I'm not one of those rare Asian women that was born with large, doll-eyes and long, lush, curly lashes.  While these are still a little far-fetched, they're a bit more believable on me than the typical false lash.  Here, you can see how they make my small, short-lashed eyes look a little more glam without being over-the-top:

Eyeshadow = Urban Decay Naked Palette

 I love how flexible they are as well as being so light that I couldn't feel them at all!

Overall look:

Loving my new lips and lashes!  Hope you enjoyed today's post.  Thanks for reading and have a good night! :)

Hugs,

Cat

Holiday Haul: Part 1

Hiyeeee!  Hope everyone had a lovely holiday!  I know I did.  Lots of eating, drinking, being merry, and being gifted with beautiful things by loved ones who know me all too well:

- Bobbi Brown Atomic Pink Palette
- MAC blush in Mocha
- Urban Decay Naked foundation in 5.0
- Urban Decay original Naked palette
- Make Up For Ever lipstick in #34
- mini Philosophy Grace fragrance trio

Technically, the Grace To Go by Philosophy was a gift from Sephora. :)  I was really excited to try out UD's Naked palette.  Sure, it's been around for awhile so it's nothing new.  I'm late in the game getting on this bandwagon, but, to be honest, I probably wouldn't have purchased it anyway due to lack of funds, so I'm sooooooooooo thankful to have received it as a very thoughtful gift! ^_^

 For me, neutrals are anything but boring.  They're just so versatile, whether you're going to class, or  getting ready for a hot night on the town.  As always, Urban Decay doesn't disappoint.  Each silky shade is richly pigmented and they all compliment one another so there are endless ways to layer and combine them.  Here's my first look!  These are the colors I used and how I used them:

- Buck: allover upper eyelid as a base
- Creep: to darken outer corners of upper and lower lash lines
- Smog: to blend and soften Creep into Buck, as well as outer corner of lower lash line
- Virgin: to highlight brow arch

The only shadow color that did not come from the palette was my UD Eyeshadow Pencil in Sin, which I used to line the inner corner of my lower lash line.

I also decided to use a new product to enhance my lip...a glittery gloss sample I received from Bobbi Brown called Bellini:

Bellini is a warm, peachy-pink that is sheer with subtle glitter particles.  The color reminds me of ballerinas...so pretty!  The texture is on the tackier side, but I prefer it because it means the gloss will last longer.  I thought it complimented my eyes very well.  Here is the overall look:

 Hope you all enjoyed the little reveal of my holiday haul!  Stay tuned for additional looks including other products that I received! :)

Hugs,
Cat

Blue Glitter Kitty

I'm really loving this stacked, glitter, cat-eyeliner look!  I did it again with blue this time:

 I used UD's eyeshadow pencils instead of powder shadow.  I applied Rehab to my top and bottom lids and then highlighted my brow arch with Sin.  I used black gel eyeliner to create the cat-eye shape and then stacked with Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner in Diamond Turquoise Blue.  I accented the look with Sephora glitter eyeliner in Teal.

I LOVE Urban Decay's shadow pencils because they glide on smoothly, are long-lasting and crease-free, mess-free, and are convenient and easy to use!

Oh, and you've got to check out my shirt!  Isn't this too cute?

It's got an applique pink bow and ruffled sleeves!  Yeah yeah yeah...the consensus is that Asians have an obsession with Hello Kitty...but she's so adorable!  I just couldn't resist.  I saw this in the children's section at Old Navy and purchased one for myself in a size L.  Shameless!  LOL!  My sisters are so jealous.

Happy Saturday all!

Hugs,
(Kitty) Cat

Turquoise and Pink

Today's look is simple, yet colorful.

Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner in Diamond Turquoise Blue #5.  Gorgeous, waterproof color that lasts and lasts.  Worth the $23 price tag?  I don't know, but it sure is pretty!  Comparable alternatives: Sephora  Doe Eyed Eyeliner in Blue ($12) or ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner in Teal Tease. ($3)

ELF Essential Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink layered over ELF Mineral Lipstick in Runway Pink.

This look is pretty simple and straightforward so I figured you didn't need a tutorial for applying eyeliner and lipstick. :)  Just enjoying my lazy Sunday afternoon, hope you're all having a good one!

Hugs,
Cat

p.s. My blush is ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion.

Pink Fire: Make Up For Ever Powder Blush in 75

Since I happen to be on a hot pink craze, why stop at eyeliner?  While at Sephora on the day I purchased Urban Decay's Woodstock eyeliner, I also picked up Make Up Forever Powder Blush in 75, which is a neon pink so bright that you'd have to wear sunglasses to stare at it for any longer than 5 seconds.  As if that isn't wicked enough, I decided to go full on pink by wearing it as eyeshadow in addition to wearing it as a blush.  Talk about over-the-top, but I had so much fun with the look.  Pretty poppin', don't you think?

You can imagine the big smile on my face when I saw the sample on display at Sephora:

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

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden

Then, using a large shadow brush, I applied an even color wash of 79 to my entire lid just to the brow bone.

 Using black pencil liner, I traced my upper and lower lid lines:

HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Black Shock

Then I layered black shadow over the liner to smoke and set:

MAC Eyeshadow in Carbon

 Using gel liner, I extended a wing on the outer corner of my upper lid line:

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting DramaGel Eyeliner in Blackest Black

I curled my lashes and applied mascara to finish:

 I also used it on my cheeks as blush, but be warned, this blush is extremely pigmented to the point of being over pigmented.  You really only need a few particles to blush your cheeks and because the color is sooooooo intense, it's a little difficult to apply evenly.  Practice and experimentation is key.  Personally, I prefer it as an eyeshadow.

Overall look: