Looks: Natural Beauty

Hello everyone,

today I want to show you all one of my rare neutral looks. And also the main reasons why I don’t wear them more often: they wash me out. I think the makeup itself is nice, natural and very appropriate for school or work, but on my pale skin, it just makes me look ill.

I think it would have looked better if I had used a brown shade with pink undertones on the lid instead than such a pale, creamy color, but oh well, I can always try that next time. As for now, here’s the pix. I hope you like them and if you have any suggestion on how I could have improved the look, please share. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Products used:
– Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer
– Get in line palette (pale beige)
– Sleek Curious palette (white)
– NYC Metro Quartet in Union Square (medium and dark browns)
– Pupa black pencil liner
– Wet n Wild Kajal & Eyeliner in white
– Maybelline Volum Express Cat Eyes Mascara

Directions:
– Apply an eyeshadow primer (I used Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer) all over the lid as a base for the shadow to adhere better.
– Pat a pale beige shade (I used the one in the Get in Line palette) on the lid. Using a pencil brush, swipe some on the lower lashline too.
– Apply a white shade (I used the one in the Sleek Curious palette) on the browbone to highlight it.
– Apply a medium brown shade (I used the crease one in the NYC Metro Quartet in Union Square palette) on the crease.
– Darken the outer V with a dark brown shade (I used the contour one in the NYC Metro Quartet in Union Square palette).
– Line your upper lid with a black pencil liner and your waterline with a white pencil liner.
– Finish off with mascara.

Looks: Fuchsia Sunlight

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely and relaxing weekend. As for me, I spent it battling an ear inflammation. I went to see my doctor on Friday because I released that I couldn’t hear anything out of my left ear anymore! That was a terrifying moment, I tell you! Luckily my doctor said it’s nothing serious and prescribed ear drops to apply 3 times a days. And it seems that, slowly, my hearing is coming back. What a relief!

In another news, I wanted to show you a look I did using one of my fave color combos: pink and yellow. Some people are skeptical when I say I like to pair these two colors together but I think they go very well with each other. I also added a bit of purple cos that always looks great with pink and the result was a beautiful and bright look that uplifted my mood for the entire day. Here it is:

Products used:
– Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer
– Makeup Masala mineral eyeshadow in Agni
– Sleek Safari palette (yellow and white)
– Sleek Original palette (purple)
– Prestige Eyeliner pencil in Kiwi
– Maybelline Volum Express Cat Eyes Mascara

Directions:
– Apply an eyeshadow primer (I used Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer) all over lid to create a sticky base for the eyeshadows to adhere to.
– Swipe a fuchsia shade (I used Makeup Masala eyeshadow in Agni) on the lid.
– Apply a slightly dark yellow shade (I used the one in the Sleek Safari palette) on the crease and blend well.
– Swipe a white shade (I used the one in the Sleek Safari palette) on the browbone to highlight.
– Using MAC 219 pencil brush, apply a bright purple shade (I used the one in Sleek Original palette) on the lower lashline.
– Line your waterline with a green pencil liner (I used Prestige Eyeliner pencil in Kiwi)
– Finish off with mascara.

Looks: Winter Sky

Hello everyone,

today’s look was inspired by the dark and gloomy winter sky covered by grey clouds bringing either rain or snow. That’s what I see every time I look out the window. I really hate this weather and am so tired of being cold ALL the time!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it will get better anytime soon, so while waiting for spring to finally arrive, I decided to play with the colors of the winter sky and this is what came out. Hope you’ll like it

Products Used:
– Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer
– Sleek Curious eyeshadow palette (white)
– Physician’s Formula Shimmer Strips palette in Smokey Green Eyes (grey and black)
– Pupa black pencil liner
– Wet n Wild Kajal & Eyeliner in white
– Maybelline Volum Express Cat Eyes Mascara

Directions:
– Apply an eyeshadow primer (I used Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer) all over lid as a base to make the makeup adhere better and last longer.
– Apply a white shade (I used the one in the Sleek Curious palette) on the inner lid and inner crease. Swipe some of it on the browbone to highlight and, with MAC 219 pencil brush, apply it on the inner lower lashline too.
– Swipe a medium gray shade (I used the one in the Physician’s Formula Shimmer Strips palette in Smokey Green Eyes) on the rest of the lid and on the crease and blend to soften any harsh lines. With MAC 219 pencil brush, apply some on the outer lower lashline too and blend where it meets with the white shade.
– Apply a black shade (I used the one in the Physician’s Formula Shimmer Strips palette in Smokey Green Eyes) on the outer V and blend.
– Line your lid with a black pencil liner and your waterline with a white eyeliner.
– Finish off with mascara.

Maybelline Launches Vibrating Mascara, Kate Moss a new fragrance

Maybelline Launches Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara

The latest buzz in the beauty world is vibrating mascara. After Lancome, Estee Lauder and Prescriptives, now Maybelline is the first drugstore brand to come out with a vibrating mascara.

Called Pulse Perfection, the battery-powder mascara delivers 7,000 vibrations per minute in a horizontal motion to reach and define from root to tip every single lash. There are three shades available: 2 washable (Very Black and Blackest Black) and 1 waterproof (Very Black). The mascara will hit the stores in July and would cost $15.00.

Are you gonna buy it or skip it? I think I’m gonna give this a try. I haven’t tried a vibrating mascara yet (mainly cos I can’t bring myself to spend more than $30.00 on one) and I’m really curious to see what the hype is about.

Kate Moss Launches Summer Time Fragrance

After Kate Moss and Velvet Hour, Kate Moss has launched her third fragrance called Summer Time. The limited edition fresh floral perfume features notes of neroli, bitter orange, blackberry, galbanum, rose, peony, wisteria, bellflower, mahogany, tonka bean and musk. The fragrance is available in 15 and 30 ml Eau de Toilette.

I’m not a fan of floral fragrance so I’ll probably pass on this, although I’m tempted to get it just for the packaging. The bottle is so pretty!

Product Review: Maybelline Pure Mineral Powder Foundation

Name: Pure Mineral Foundation
Brand: Maybelline
Size: 8g
Price: €12.00

From Maybelline’s website:
- Natural-looking luminosity.
- Feather-light feel of a powder yet complete flawless coverage.
- Long-wearing.
- Helps care for your skin.
- No talc, no oils.
- With SPF15 it helps protect skin from UV rays.

What I liked:
- light to medium coverage
- radiant natural finish
- doesn’t settle in fine lines
- no breakouts
- long-lasting
- the price

What I didn’t like:
- not many shades available
- not pure mineral makeup
- doesn’t control oil very well
- oxidizes
- messy to apply

I tend to stay away from drugstore foundations cos they are usually too dark for my ghostly white skin and make me look orange! But Maybelline Pure Mineral Foundation caught my eye because shade #2 Ivory, which is the lightest shade available here (there are only 5 in total), seemed to be light enough for me. I tried a tester and the color is in fact, almost an exact match for my skin tone. It is slightly darker and a bit on the yellow side but you can barely notice it. So, I bought it straight away even though I honestly didn’t expect much from it.

The foundation comes in two versions: one with a little kabuki brush and one without. Since those brushes included with products aren’t usually any good and I really love my kabuki brush from The Body Shop, I got only the foundation. The circular box has a sift and a twist lid. Like all mineral foundations, this is a bit messy to apply: powder flies everywhere!

It is easy to blend and the coverage is light buildable to medium. It evens out the skin tone and covers redness fairly well, but not major imperfections. So, I would recommend this to people who already have pretty good skin. The finish is radiant but natural looking. It didn’t give me any breakouts, didn’t settle in wrinkles and fine lines and didn’t look cakey. However, the foundation oxidizes a bit, so be careful when you choose your shade or you may turn orange!

It lasts all day, but it doesn’t control oily very well: I developed some shine after a few hours. For this reason, I think people with oily skin should either use a mattifier prior to this or just avoid the product.

Maybelline’s mineral makeup line is called Pure in Europe (I think in Asia too but I’m not sure) but this stuff isn’t pure at all! It contains minerals but also lots of  chemicals like Boron Nitride, a synthetic and inorganic powder used in cosmetics for its absorbent properties, silicones (Dimethicone, Cetyl Dimethicone and Trumethylsioxsilicate) to impart a silky feeling to the skin and PTFE, a chemical used to help fill in wrinkles and lines, but the effect is only temporary. In addition, the product MAY contain Bismuth Oxychloride, which could case allergies and irritations to some people.

The first ingredient on the list is Zinc Oxide, a mineral which, among other things, provides broad spectrum protection from UV rays. However, powder sunscreen isn’t very safe. In fact, powder can be brushed off the skin easily. Moreover, you would need to apply a lot of product for the sunscreen to be actually effective. So, you shouldn’t relay solely on this foundation to protect your skin from the sun but you need to apply a broad spectrum sunscreen prior to this.

Personally, I don’t mind if the foundation contains chemicals. I prefer pure mineral makeup because it is better for the skin, but it doesn’t happen everyday (actually never!) that a drugstore foundation matches my skintone. Usually I have to spend lots of money for high-ends foundations that are still slightly darker than my skintone so I’m glad I found a cheaper option that works ok for me. But if you want to use pure mineral makeup, this is not for you.

Summary:
Maybelline Pure Mineral Powder Foundation isn’t the best mineral foundation available on the market, but it does the job ok. It provides light to medium coverage, a radiant but natural finish, doesn’t settle in fine lines and is longlasting. However, there aren’t many shades available, it oxidizes, doesn’t control oil very well and it isn’t pure mineral makeup but still contains lots of chemicals.

Rating: 3.5/5

Disclaimer: the item was purchased by me for both personal and review purposes. The review is based on my own personal and honest experience with the product. For more information, please see my disclaimer.