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A more dramatic kind of a look — I couldn’t take any other good pics of it, sadly :(

On the face I used MUFE F&B in 32, with my Clinique Line Smoothing concealer under the eyes and on any spots. Cheeks were highlighted with Dior Amber Diamond and NARs Oasis, my new favourite blusher.

I wanted a neutral but edgy kind of smokey look — to achieve this, I used UD Sin Primer all over the eyes and MAC Retrospeck (most beautiful light antique gold) packed over the top. I contoured strongly with UD Naked and finished off the outer-V with the dark brown out of Dior’s Beige Massai (which has been discontinued! I’m heartbroken). Eyes were lined with MAC Feline Eye Kohl and a thin bit of UD Retrogade along the top, since I felt like they were lacking a bit of definition, and for a pop of colour and glitter.

Lips were kept natural! Gasp — I forgot to pack lots of beautiful lip colours home :(

a recreation of the makeupforever winter look, 2011 — when I saw it, I knew I had to try it. I’ve never paired greens and golds together before, and its unexpectedly lovely.

The face was very glowy; I used MAC Strobe Cream, Neutrogena Healthy Skin (60, Natural Beige), and highlighted with the best highlighter ever, Dior Amber Diamond. Cheeks were peachy and natural; I used ELF’s Peachykeen. It didn’t really show up in pictures, unfortunately :(

The eyes had a really pretty peachy gold blended into a blackened olive green, with a medium brown in the crease. I used: All over the lid: Michael Todd’s Long Wear Creme Shadow in Vacation Bronze, MUFE #306 in Beige Diamond (this was taken up to the brow). Outer-V: Shiro Cosmetic’s Sudowoodo, mixed in with MUFE 307 to darken, especially at the lashline. Crease: Urban Decay’s Buck.

I intentionally skipped the intense liner on the bottom lashline only because my eyeshape really doesn’t suit it — there’s no real depth in my eye socket, and so it would kind of highlight that and give me a bug eye effect. Instead, I lined my lower lashline with Stila Smudgestick in Moray, and patted on a white shadow (MUFE 07) into the inner corner, mostly along the bottom lashline.

Surprisingly, for all my love for peach lips, I had nothing in my collection that resembled the lip in the diagram, so I had to improvise. The lipstick was a combination of Revlon Soft Nude and MAC Mocha (more the latter than the first), lined gently with Rimmel’s Addiction. On top I finished with Revlon Colorburst Sunset Peach Lipgloss.

Overall, I’m quite happy with this look :) I hope the lighting worked out well too, and I hope you will be inspired to try it out as well.

oscar wilde;

A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.

This quote leaves me somewhat conflicted — on the superficial level, how much can we call a woman fake for wearing makeup? I think of makeup as a form of personal expression. Is it covering one’s insecurities?

I don’t think so. Sure, if I’m aiming for a ‘natural’ look, I cover those acne marks and enhance my eye shape and make my eyelashes look luscious — but I trade very little more than time and effort for a confidence enhancing boost. Makeup is like that eraser you’ve had since you were 5 and you use on ever test, that piece of lucky underwear you wear on a date with that really hot guy in Chemistry class.

And when someone is dressed incredibly dramatically, it’s an even more interesting form of artistry, an even more beautiful realness. That flamboyant blue winged outwards into red with a splash of multidimensional glitter on top — only true confidence could rock such a show of power and personal style.