30 June 2015

Shiro Cosmetics Review and Swatches


Shiro Cosmetics: "Cheekbones" Contouring Powders and highlighter

'Do Your Research', 'An East Wind Coming' and 'Curaga'

All across the internet I see people suggesting Nyx Taupe blush as a contour product for lighter skin tones, but personally I think that Shiro's Contouring Powder in 'Do Your Research' is amazing and I very rarely see it being suggested.

I'm not usually someone who is interested in indie makeup brands, the themed collections and loose powders don't really appeal to me, but when I heard about these Contour Powders I decided why not give it a go. After all, for $8 you get a huge 20g of product or if you're unsure you can order samples for just $1.50, so it's not exactly breaking the bank.

And honestly, I'm so glad I did try them because for the first time in my life I look like I have cheekbones. I've tried a ton of other contour products but, despite the fact that I'm pretty warm toned so theoretically warmer colours could possibly work, everything looked weird and unnatural. Do Your Research blends really easily and because it's a very grey toned taupey brown it looks incredibly natural.


The contouring powder is from the 'Cheekbones' collection, which is based around Benedict Cumberbatch which is why he's on the lid. It comes in a sifter jar, and I stupidly pulled the tape out when I first got it so half the powder ended up in the lid and I spent about a week carefully dipping my brush in so I didn't pick up too much. Then I realised that a better long term solution was to pull it apart so I could pour the powder back in and stick a fresh piece of tape over the holes so I could control the amount that I tapped out.

You only need the tiniest amount and I usually only uncover a couple of the holes to tap some into the lid then swirl my Real Techniques Sculpting Brush in it and rub it on the back of my hand to get off any excess. You could use a heavier hand for more a more dramatic contour. 

Included in my order were 2 free samples, one was another of the Cheekbones Contouring Powders, in the colour 'An East Wind Coming' and the other was an eyeshadow. The samples came in little baggies but there's still a fair amount of product in them. The website says that samples contain about a 1/4 teaspoon, but with the amount you need to use, even that much would last you a long time.

Originally I was torn between Do Your Research and An East Wind Coming but since I went with Do Your Research, I'm glad I was sent a sample of An East Wind Coming to compare the two. After seeing them swatched next to each other I found that An East Wind Coming was a very blue grey, and doesn't suit me as a contour but it's nice to have the reassurance that I chose the best colour for me.





I also bought a full size jar of the highlighter colour Curaga which is really beautiful and shimmery and very pigmented. I don't actually use it often though because it's a loose powder and I find them messy and prefer pressed powders. I can overlook the loose powder part for Do Your Research since it's such a perfect contour colour but for highlighters, I have pressed ones which I like better. The website describes it was a gold toned cream and even though it looks a bit pink in the jar it doesnt when its on my skin. Its very light so it would look best on pale skin tones. 


I used Urban Decay Primer Potion under the swatches to show the colour of them better since when applied normally, the colour is more subtle and blends into the skin really easily. When you see them separately, Do Your Research and An East Wind Coming both just look grey but when next to each other you can definitely see that An East Wind Coming is a lot more blue while Do Your Research is more Taupe.


Top- Bottom: Curaga, An East Wind Coming, Do Your Research
I was pretty happy with my indie makeup experience, depsite the shipping taking a few weeks, but since it was advertised as taking that long, I didn't mind. My order even came with a packet of skittles! My only real complaint is that I wish that Shiro Cosmetics had reviews for products on their website, or if they do they need to be easier to find because I like to research products before I buy them.


July Wishlist

Since it's almost the 1st of the month I decided to make a quick makeup Wishlist!



1. Nars NARSissit Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette

2. Becca x Jaclyn Hill SSP Champagne Pop 
I can't wait for this to be released, the swatches look amazing!! 

3. Kat Von D Monarch Palette 

4. Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Patina 
Will this colour ever restock???

5. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Granite

6. Nars Blush in Taos
I'm seriously addicted to Nars blushes right now, plus I have a £5 voucher for SpaceNk so it's almost like the universe wants me to have it!

I would love to see other peoples wishlists too if anyone wants to share? 

29 June 2015

FOTD

Orange FOTD

 I've been really loving oranges recently and yesterday I bought Nars blush in Taj Mahal which is bright orange and I was really excited to do a look with it. Excuse the slobber on my T-shirt, I'd been holding my dribbly teething daughter before I took this and I didn't notice it, oops!


Close up of my eye, it's simple and quite natural but still orangey. I only used eyeshadows from the Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette (total heart-eyes, but that'll have to be another post because I could talk for hours about how much I love it).



 

 Product List: 
  • Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer
  • Urban Decay Primer Potion
  • Maybelline Baby Lips- Cherry Velvet
  • Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette (Coconut Creme, Mousse, Truffled, Bon Bon, Butter Pecan)
  •  Mac Pro Longwear Foundation - NC15
  • Nars Radient Creamy Concealer - Chantilly
  • Mac Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder (Pressed)
  • Shiro Cosmetics Cheekbones Contouring Powder - Do Your Reseach (This is amazing, I'll have a review up soon!)
  • Nars Blush - Taj Mahal
  • Makeup Academy Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter - Iridescent Gold
  • Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder - Diffused Light
  • e.l.f Eyebrow Kit -Dark
  • Mac Fluidline - Blacktrack
  • Benefit Roller Lash
  • Maybelline The Colossal Volume Express Mascara - 100% Black
  • Mac Cremesheen Lipstick - Sweet and Sour
  • Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray

28 June 2015

DIY False Eyelash Storage

I have quite a few pairs of false eyelashes which I used to just keep in a clump in one of my vanity drawers, but one day I decided I was sick of peeling apart tangled lashes and searching for matching pairs. So I decided to make myself a cheap but still cute storage solution to keep my eyelashes in their pairs. 

1. 

I bought a large pill box for about 50p at a corner shop near my house but I've seen the same thing in loads of different places like poundland. I also used nail varnish remover, I'm not sure if it needs to have acetone in but the one I used did and the ones without it might not work as well.
 

2.



I used the nail varnish remover to clean off the writing on the lids of the boxes. It took a little while to start seeing results but then it very quickly comes off after that, leaving plain boxes.


3. 





I used flat back plastic pearl things that you can buy on ebay for literally pennies to decorate it wwith stripes and spots and flowers to make it look a bit cuter. The pearls are only a few pence for 500 usually.

4.


Finished! I filled it with eyelashes so now they're kept sorted into pairs. Before I use them, I bend them around my finger gently to makes them the right shape for my eyes so I'm not worried about them keeping their shape while I'm storing them.

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipsticks Review and Swatches



Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick Review and Swatches




When Jeffree Star came out with his new cosmetics line, starting with liquid to matte lipsticks I was super excited to try them but because restocks of different colours usually didn’t line up, I didn’t end up ordering until recently. I made my first order when the shade I’m Nude was released and I loved the formula so I ordered more at the next restock. 

I love the packaging of these lipsticks. Unlike most other liquid lipsticks, they’re short and chunky, which makes them nice to hold and easy to throw into your pocket or handbag. The lid, in typical Jeffree Star style, is bright pink and the tube is clear moulded plastic so you can see the colour of the lipstick inside.

The applicator is a pretty large doe foot with a hole in the middle so it picks up more product. I could live without the hole because I like to use really thin layers so I usually wipe most of the lipstick off but. I feel like sometimes the applicator works really well and I can make nice sharp lines with it but other times it ends up looking a bit fuzzy round the edges but that might depend on how much product you pick up

These lipsticks have a pretty thick and creamy formula in the tube but once on your lips it’s really light and not sticky. They take about 60 seconds to dry completely which means there’s plenty time to move the product around to fix any mistakes but once they’re dry, they’re hard to budge. The box described them as kiss proof but not make out proof although I haven’t tested that. I have found that greasy food and alcohol both make it wear away in the middle of your lips so drink with a straw! 

They’re easy to fix after a meal if you find it has worn away though because they don’t clump when you add an extra layer like some other formulas. The only complaint I have is that they can be pretty drying for your lips but not as much so as some other matte lipsticks so it’s not a huge problem.

The wear time is about 8-9 hours as long as you’re careful when eating and they’re pretty much transfer proof but they’re also easy to remove with makeup remover or oil at the end of the day and I haven’t found that they stained my lips at all.

‘I’m Nude’

Described as a ‘light tan based nude’, I’m Nude was one of the first lipsticks I bought and is a perfect nude shade for me. I was worried that Celebrity Skin would be too dark for a nude colour for me (and I was right) so I was so excited when I saw this new colour was going to be released. It’s very light when wet which scared me a bit the first time I tried it but it dries down slightly darker but is really pigmented with just one coat. I find it looks slightly more “done up” than a creamy nude lipstick since its matte but still passes as a more natural lipstick.


 

‘Celebrity Skin’ 

 

Even though Celebrity Skin is described on the website as ‘soft brown nude’, I knew this shade wouldn’t be a nude on me since it’s too dark which is why I held off on buying it for so long. But then I realised that I LOVE brown lipsticks so snapped it up when it restocked. It’s pigmented with one swipe and looks amazing on, in a 90’s kind of way, which I love. I think it’s one of those shades which looks different on everybody depending on skin tone, and for some people this could be a beautiful nude.

‘714’

714 is a peachy orange colour that somehow manages to be both pastel and neon at the same time which makes it a pretty hard shade to pull off. I loved how it looked in photos and in the tube but I found that on my lips it pulled very pink and was pretty patchy and less pigmented than other shades and needed 2 coats. I really thought I would love this colour but it   and I think it’s probably my least favourite of the Jeffree star lipsticks that I own.

‘Unicorn Blood’
I had been searching for a colour exactly like Unicorn Blood for a while but it seemed like every dark red lipstick I tried leaned purple or pink so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this. Since it’s such a dark colour, it shows up any little mistakes so I used a Mac lip liner in Beet with this lipstick to help me get sharper edges. 


‘Weirdo’

Jeffree Star calls it ‘the blackest black matte’ and he’s not wrong. Weirdo is an intensely pigmented true black which makes a real statement on your lips. Like Unicorn Blood, I used a lip liner to get a crisper edge. Since I didn’t have a black lip liner I used Mac’s Nightmoth which was the darkest liner I owned and because Weirdo is so opaque it easily hid the colour so it didn’t matter that it didn’t exactly match. Obviously black lipstick isn’t something you can wear in every situation but I think Weirdo is my favourite Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick and I love when I get opportunities to wear it.

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipsticks are available online for $18 each and shipping in US is $5.95 and $10.95 internationally.