EYELINER

Snap! Judgement: Maybelline New York Master Graphic Eyeliner

/ brightandbeautyfull / 3 Comments

The most basic criteria as regards choosing a Snap! Judgement object is that it has to make me express myself verbally almost on contact. So I knew this was a goer when I drew a wee line on my hand and went ‘OH YEAH!’
SNAP! MASTER GRAPHIC
Maybelline New York presents Master Graphic Eyeliner. Graphic designer-y types will recognise its similarity — rightly, given the ‘graphic’ in the title — to a Sharpie, surely the best marker pen ever invented. Going back even further into The Wayback Machine, there was a brand of chisel-tipped markers that smelled completely and deliciously toxic and had black and white branding… ach, can’t remember the name*, but the rich opacity of that black was spectac.

This black looks pretty spectac, too, and yet it feels light as a feather. Will this give me the perfect eye line?

Once again, I scupper the whole point of this category of post.
MASTER GRAPHIC in the wild
I was a tiny bit wimpy, and only did a thin line close to the lash, but this went on without me making all the usual mistakes. It flowed just like a magic marker, and lasted for about seven hours in high winds and rain (srlsy.) I may play around with it, to get more of a Cleopatra vibe — I have confidence that I can manage it, and that it will last and last!

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€8.29

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*HEY INTERNET YOU HAVE NO PICTURES OF THIS THING? #FAIL

What I Did Yesterday *or* All the Stuff I Put On Myself

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I’ve been going round barefaced most of the week, and yesterday it felt like I was wearing all the make-up in the world.

I blame the mascara.

Well, it is not the mascara’s fault. In fact, the mascara is pretty spectac: Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara in Intense Black. They’ve changed the wand into one of those spiky applicators, and it seems to be twice as long as most spiky applicators. I forgot to put this on my list yesterday because I forgot I had it.

I was never a fan of the Clinique mascara, but this one has changed my mind, even though I went abso crazy and layered on a million tonnes of it. Look how fake the lashes look, though, without having to mess with glue and tweezers!

Also on view is Clarins 3-Dot Liner, with which I did an okay job. The applicator brush is kind of like it is cut into three points, and you just dot it on. The theory is that this is easier than trying to draw a perfect line. In practice? Yeah, easier, and a good result. I recommend using a hand mirror, because I didn’t, and I seem to remember the inimitable Claude Defresne, Clarins’ make up artist, saying to use one. It’s easier to bring the mirror closer to your eye, rather than the eye closer to the mirror.

Lips: NYC Smooch Proof 16H Lip Stain in Berry Long Time. Eh. There’s a difference between matte and flatte, and this was very flatte, and drying. This experience of NYC lip colour was saved by a layer of NYC Kiss Gloss in Sugar Hill Shimmer, as shown. It is very shiny — and fruity! That was fun.

Hang on, what else — OMG. The Glitter. I was like a walking glitter machine yesterday. I apologise to all the people I met, whose hands I shook, and wow, people I hugged? Sorry! The kisses on the cheeks? Mea culpa!

Because I was covvvvvvered in shiny little bits and I am sure that I spread them around like a luminescent plague.

The Eau Sublime Or from Roger & Gallet was not that bad, actually, so the hand-shakers probably got off easy. It is full of sparkle, and completely perfect for highlighting decolletage and bare shoulders. Super sexy, if not super scented. Didn’t get much of an impression off of the body cream, but that was because I mistakenly put on the Glow Getter: Face & Body Sun Powder Spray from Soap & Glory, which is going to get a post all its own, because hoo boy, what a imperfectly perfect product.

So, body aglow, and hey! here’s some stuff for my face. I dispensed a tiny bit of Uplight: Face Luminizer Gel from Make Up Forever and applied it — and almost started screaming, because holy wow, the amount of glitter that is in that stuff is like … it was like a frollick of fairies had farted on my face.

Now, seriously: a day without shimmer is a day wasted, but this was ridic. I had put on some Lancôme Flash Bronzer Face Gel and didn’t want to wash it off and start over, I was pressed for time — and feck it, I said I would wear this stuff, so wear it I would. I scraped off as much as I could and proceeded to try to dull it down with some bronzer.

I don’t think it was noticeable, but again, I do apologise to anyone that got glittered.

Here’s the line up:

It’s that last one on the right you’ve got watch out for…

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Glow Getter not pictured because I am still processing its effects.

What I’m Going To Do Today

/ brightandbeautyfull / 1 Comment

Because it is soooo interesting.

No really, I have a lot of stuff to slap on the bod and the gob, and since I am going in to town, I have an reason to get all gussied up.

Also: Going In To Town has become kind of a big deal, because I don’t really need to Go in order to forage for anything anymore, not food, not shoes, not books, so it feels a bit like a staycation.

So:

Just this very morning, the postman brought be Eau Sublime Or and Crème Sublime Or, from Roger & Gallet. Both are shimmery!

I’ve got this stuff called Glow Getter: Face & Body Sun Powder Spray from Soap & Glory that makes me nervous, A} because I hate spraying stuff in the bath and B} powder spray? Like the stuff you spray on your smelly feet? That stuff is a mess.

What else? I got a bunch of NYC Smooch Proof 16H Lip Stain in, so I think I’ll give the Berry Long Time a lash.

I’ve got this Make Up Forever Uplight: Face Luminizer Gel that’s been sitting on my desk… I don’t know, I tried a bit on that back of my hand, as you do, and I don’t think I did it right. I may have to find a tutorial. I think if one messes this up, one looks like an eejit with crazy, shiny pink stuff all over one’s face.

Also! Very, very excited to try Clarin’s 3-Dot Liner, which the brand’s make up artist, Claude Defresne called ‘eyeliner for dummies’ in his lovely French accent. *Sigh*

I better get crackin’. You will probs be seeing me from my usually spot in the back of the 46A…

How Did It Do? Passionate from Lush Emotional Brilliance

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This photo was taken about two hours after application.

Well, it’s true. You’re just going to have to take my word for it.

That is pretty incredible pigment, isn’t it?

I will say, that as with most matte finish lip colour, the gob felt dry. I hadn’t even blotted the initial application, so I did that — two hours later — and then added a touch of lip balm.

It lasted about another hour, until which time I had had a sandwich. This couldn’t withstand a sandwich. But! I bet if you had a salad and ate it reallllly carefully, this would not budge.

I am very keen to collect a few of these colours…

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Passionate Liquid Lipstick from Lush: Emotional Brilliance, €17.95

Lush Emotional Brilliance: Change Your Face, Change Your Attitude

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Last night, I was applying some of Lush’s gorgeous Celestial: Heavenly Moisturiser for Sensitive Skin — not that my skin is all that sensitive, but this cream is so soothing and gorgeous, it feels really dreamy, which is perfect for entering the dreamtime… anyway, I was doing that, and thinking to myself, I haven’t blogged about Lush in a while…

This morning, I got a Lush delivery in the post!

I must be psychic or something.

Well known for their skin care and bath ballistics, Lush are venturing into the realm of cosmetics with a typically holistic approach. Emotional Brilliance uses colour therapy and behavioural therapy to allow users to enhance not only their faces, but their moods and attitudes.

So: you look at the wheel and respond to the first three colours that jump out at you. There are words that correspond with the colours — like Passionate, Sophisticated, Fantasy — and these words will be significant for you at the time of choosing. Then! In using the colours, you fulfill a need or amplify a specific talent or quality that you have, but may have been neglecting.

I think it is dead cool, and I totally believe it. For example: I’ve started wearing less black-coloured clothes in favour or more colourful ones, and I can really see a difference in the way that people respond to me. It’s a chakra thing, into which I will go into further depth when I start talkin’ ’bout my Reiki practice {soon!}

Lush’s new line features lip colours, eyeliners and eyeshadows. The variety of shades on offer point to timelessness: this is less trend-driven, and more about the sorts of tones and hues that will never do you wrong.

Here is a picture of  Passionate lip colour:

The packaging is a departure for Lush, who usually try to not have any packaging at all. Everything about the containers is recyclable, and even reusable. I’m not sure if you can go back and get refills, that sounds unlikely and unwieldy.

Here it is, applied:

It felt a bit grainy to start, but then I reckoned it was more likely that my lips needed a good exfoliating. I’ve been sporting it for the last 40 minutes or so, and it feels super light.

There’s something alchemical about the whole shebang: the bottles, the colour theory. It’s fun!

I received several samples, including one of Fantasy Eyeliner and Sophisticated Cream Eyeshadow. All of these retail for €17.95 each. There’s a supplementary line of powder, skin tints, and Eyes Right Mascara, which is shown at left. Hmmm. That makes me nervous for no good reason… Mascara in a bottle? The applicator is a traditional brush, which gave me comfort. I think I was expecting a brush, like something olde-timey? I dunno, whatever, we’ll see.

The line launches on 21 July, and there are thirteen lip colours, two no-smudge eyeliners, eleven smudgeable ones, and six eye creams.

I can never get a good photo of colour swatches, but I’ve just stroked some of the eyeliner and some of the cream eyeshadow on my hand, and the pigment is exxxxtreme. Cannot wait to play with this stuff!

Brows and Lashes: I Can Haz Cut ‘n’ Paste?

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Yeesh, sorry if my followers are getting update notices — saw some typos I needed to fix, or else I wouldn’t be able to sleep this night!

It may just be that I am addicted to Photo Booth, but I wanted to update with the latest installment of HD Brows: simply put, the treatment/technique is fab, and I got mine refurbed last Thursday. That one is the bottom image, and I wish I was adept enough at P-shop to put those brows over those eyes {top} because the top brows are definitely furry, and blurry around the edges.

At one stage last week, I finally tried L’Oréal’s Superliner Gel Intenza(€14.99), of which I went on record as being to afraid to try — but I did it, and it is pretty fab. I found that if you didn’t get it right the first time round, it meant serious do-over, down to having to use eye make up removal product to clean the slate. as ever, my right eye was a doddle, and my my left eye, a debacle. It is kind of tacky on the finish, and it dries quickly, so I don’t know, maybe practice on the back of your hand?

The main problem I have with liner on the top edge of the lid is that I have almost no eyelid to speak of, so it just looks like I fecked a dark bit of whatever on my entire eyelid; so rather than getting something all eye-opening and dramatic, my lid merely looks dark. And then you skip right to the part between my lid line and the brow, which is called… What is that called? The upper lid? I can’t even think — does it have a name?

I think I am having a senior moment.

Also in use was a sample from MAC’s newest eye shadow, Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Warm Thunder (€20.50). It received compliments, and lasted like nobody’s business. I found it as sticky to put on as the liner, but both lasted as long as I needed it to — that is, until I got home — so my advice would be to go lightly with this stuff, but go with authority and confidence.

What I Put on My Face Yesterday

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Just make up-wise; skin care is a whole ‘nother post.

>POREfessional by Benefit. It is the biz. I think it is made of feathers and velvet, it’s so soft.

>That Perfection Lumiere foundation from Chanel {more on that later}

>Umm… I knew I should have done this as I was doing it, if you know what I mean, because I forget what — oh, of course! My last year’s LE of MAC Beauty Powder, in Passionflower.

>More MAC: a few swipes of Penultimate on the brows because the dye is dying, oh nooooo. The pen is dying as well! Ach!

>The Blush Horizon de Chanel, and more on that anon as well.

>That Karaja black eyeliner that I adore. It is harder to use now it’s getting shorter, just because my eye thinks I am trying to poke it out.

>I’ve been very pleased with the new technology that has made liquid eyeliner easier to apply. Ir maybe practice does make perfect. Anyway, I love L’Oréal’s Super Liner Luminizer for Blue Eyes. It lasted through my very long yesterday, and that applicator is top class.

>Benefit High Brow Glow, which I always look at and go, ‘Eh?’ and then I just stroke some in the arch of my brow and go ‘Oh!’ the pearlescent sparkle really does make a difference.

>Yesterday it was… yet another Benefit product! Mascara: They’re Real! The result is amazeballs, but one must get as much on in the first coat, because it dries hard, and it’s difficult to get another coat on. You know what I mean? It kind of sets in stone? Which is grand — if you get the first coat correct.

>The Clarins Gloss Prodige in Papaya. I think this has magic in it? because it feels light like a gloss but looks like a shiny, shiny lipstick. Me likey.

That took me longer to write than it did to actually do. Ten minutes, tops? Maybe fifteen? That’s just regular-day-face, as shown. I’m going to be playing with false eyelashes over the long bank holiday/Paddy’s day weekend… something tells me that’s going to screw up the curve…