Hourglass Eyeshadow and KVD Shade & Light

New Hourglass Eyeshadow Palette in Infinity and Kat Von D Shade and Light contour/highlight palette! So excited to start playing with these goodies :D

Sephora & Ulta Haul!

After three months of using up tons of products, I finally accumulated enough reward money to do some shopping! In case you are curious, in order to curb my shopping and encourage myself to use up things in my collection, I use a reward system where I get $4 for every full size item I finish, $2 for every deluxe/travel size item, and $0.50 for foil packet samples. The rule is I can't buy anything if I haven't accumulated the money to purchase it. On a limited budget, I made use of some of my ULTA rewards as well as their BOGO sale on NYX items to keep myself in check.

The goodies!

As you can see, I went a little bit crazy with lip products but I am super pleased with all of them! The palette is from Mally and it's a blush/bronzer/highlight palette which I thought would be great for travel purposes.

First up, the Mally Shimmer, Shape and Glow palette ($40, 11.4g). I chose the "Deeper" option, but the "Lighter" option is very similar with a more champagne highlighter, a slightly lighter bronzer, and a pink blush. The highlighter is a really nice gold, sort of similar to NARS Albatross. The bronzer is a cool brown with a matte/satin finish, which is similar to Benefit Hoola. The blush is a gorgeous peachy coral with some subtle gold sheen. It's the perfect combo for the summertime!

  

I've been seeing reviews for the Too Faced Melted lipsticks ($21, 0.4 oz) all over the internet, and for once, the nude shade is one that doesn't wash me out! This is a really rare thing, so I knew I needed to snatch this up. This is a browny pink nude and the formula is divine. It's smooth and non-drying with a fuzzy felt tip applicator which makes application a snap.

Believe it or not, these are my very first NYX Butter Glosses ($4, 0.27 oz). The original line didn't have any colors that appealed to me, but NYX recently doubled their color selection and I went straight for two of the nude options, Praline and Ginger Snap. Praline is a pinky brown, while Ginger Snap is pretty much just a brown. I love the texture and scent on these, though they aren't very long wearing. These are perfect to wear on their own, or to pair with light nudes or brights that you want to tone down.

This was a new display in Sephora, and it's called the Luster Matte Long Wear Lip Color ($16, 0.14 oz). It was basically love at first swatch with this product. They are super slick and although they dry somewhat matte, they still have a really nice natural slickness to them and don't look dry. The formula is smooth and moisturizing, and doesn't emphasize fine lines. This color is a fall one, but it was the one I was most drawn to. Who cares about makeup rules, I'm gonna rock this vampy color whenever I feel like it! I hope to pick up some other colors once I use up more products.

I also picked up a Nano lip liner in Chic Choco ($5) from Sephora, but I couldn't get it to stop rolling long enough to take a close up picture. It is however swatched in the picture below :)

Everything in the haul is super wearable, and I have already started incorporating these products into my daily routine!

How To: Contour and Highlight

One of the trickier aspects of face makeup, at least for me when I was first learning, was how to contour and highlight. I struggled with correct placement as well as under-blending and over-blending. So, I’m going to share my tips, tricks and tools to demonstrate how I like to contour and highlight. I don’t do this everyday, but it’s great to know how to do for pictures or special events. I’ll be using my BFF Ajay as a model example. No worries women, contouring and highlighting placement are exactly the same on both men and women, it’s all about enhancing your natural face shape! :)

Let’s begin with the items you will need/I like to use:

• Foundation in your shade, foundation or concealer a shade or two lighter than your skin, foundation a shade or two darker than your skin or a bronzer of your choice (Here I’ve used Graftobian foundations from my neutral undertone palette)
• Iridescent highlight that suits your skin tone (On Ajay I’ve used Benefit Sunbeam, but if you are cool toned try Benefit Highbeam instead)
• Makeup setting spray (I’ve used Mac Fix +)
• Dense synthetic foundation brush (I really like the Sigma Round Kabuki F82, Urban Decay Optical Blurring brush is another good option)

Start out bare naked faced, like so:



Next, apply your foundation shade all over your face, blending down into your neck and up into your hairline. Then, locate your cheekbones. Use your fingers to feel from your under eye moving down, until you reach a bone that is sticking out, that will be it. Now, locate the hollows of your cheeks by creating a fishy face and lining up your brush from your pouty lips up to your ear.

Now the important part, where to place the lighter and darker shades. Start by taking your highlight shade and place unblended lines (start with less product then repeat if necessary) across the center of your forehead, down the bridge of the nose, across the cheekbones, the center of your chin, and in the space between the hollow of your cheeks and your jawline. Blend each portion starting in the center and fade out slowly. Use a light hand and move the brush in small circles, it will do all the work for you. Focus on blending the highlight seamlessly into your original foundation shade at the edges. The reason I like to put down a shade matching my skin is that it’s easier to blend 2 shades down, rather than 4 shades down (which is the difference between your highlight and contour).

Next, create a stripe with your contour color in the hollow of your cheek, focusing the product in the center of the hollow. Follow the side of your face up along the hairline. You’ll basically make a C-shape with your contour stripes. Make another set of stripes, with less product than in the hollows along the jawline. Just like before, focus on blending out the edges using light circular motions. Bring the top of the cheek hollow contour up at a diagonal to connect with the hairline, making a slight triangle. Blend the base of the cheek hollow contour until you get a nice gradation to your skin tone  For your nose, just take some bronzer on your finger and lightly pat it on the edges of the bridge. Alternatively, a fluffy brush is also good for a subtle application.

For those of you who are more visual, I’ve created a diagram on Ajay here:



If you have trouble blending, try different kinds of products. I personally find that creams are easier to blend than liquids because they don’t set as quickly. If you use a liquid foundation, consider spritzing your brush with some water to prolong the time you have to blend the colors together. A dense brush will help you buff the products into your skin and allow for seamless blending. If you apply too much product at any point, just go back with your original foundation color and pat in a little bit over top to lessen the effect. Alternatively, if your big brush makes your bronzer fade away, go back with a small fluffy brush and add more product in the center of your contour.

Once you’ve got that done, just apply the iridescent highlight along your cheekbones and down the center of your nose and spritz your face with the setting spray as a final touch.

Wha-la! Transformed facial structure and glowing radiant skin.



Isn’t he handsome?