I HAVE A FEW THINGS I WANT TO GET IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS…

1. Flesh toned eye liner – it’s a less retro, more natural option verse white liner – when put on your inside lower rim it makes your eyes appear bigger – also helps if you smudge a little on the inner corner to open up the eyes more.I’m going to try the MAC Kohl eyeliner for that. I love their eyeliners.

2. Cream blush – much more natural look than powder blush. I’m going to try Bobbi Browns and NARS – maybe another brand I haven’t tried yet & see which I like more

3. I need to find a new red lipstick – my NARS “Scarlet Empress” lipstick is my favorite red – it’s so rich and deep, but the color has been reformulated & it no longer is the shade I love – so the hunt for my perfect red lip continues…

4. A few false lashes – I am going to wear false lashes when I go out more – it’s such a quick & easy way to play up your eyes. So pretty when they’re natural looking. Shu Uemura & MAC have great lashes!

That’s it for now I think… ohhh!!

5. A new makeup case – my makeup case is falling apart – and is WAY too small.

I know for my birthday, which is June 2nd, but I’m celebrating June 4th, I want to do a really soft pretty look so I’m on the search for a eyeshadow palette I can use to create a nice bronze eye. Here are two in the running!

YSL Ombres 5 Lumieres – I love this eyeshadow palette! The colors are gorgeous – 4 different shades of peaches, brown, bronze, & orange. And of course the palette comes with a highlighter! (Even better, because I need to replace my Rice Paper highlighter from MAC) – $56.00













NARS Duo Shadow – Two colors that are super shimmery & pigmented. I love these colors, it’s just missing a highlighter. I’m leaning towards the YSL palette. – $32.00

I had a woman named Tracy G.M. James ask me suggestions about bright lip color – She sounds like she knows her stuff about makeup & I gave her some suggestions about lip color. I also decided I’d make a post about some amazingly brightly colored lipstick.

Bright lip color with a bare face is a huge trend for the spring, make sure you skin is super smooth & glowy, put on one of these bright lip colors & you’re all set.

1. NARS Semi-Matte Lipstick in “Funny Face” – This lipstick is described as fuschia color, it’s extremely creamy & has a blue undertone to it. Get it here for $24.00

2. Color swatch of Funny Face… Visit Sephora or a NARS counter at a department store to try this color on.

3. NARS Semi-Matte Lipstick in “Schiap” – This lipstick is SUPER fluorescent, I’ve only seem a couple people pull it off, but it’s gorgeous. My friend Zewidi has it on in the picture below. Get it here for $24.00

4. NARS Semi-Matte Lipstick in “Heat Wave” - This lipstick is semi-matte, creamy & a really bold color. It’s described as Orange Red & that’s exactly what it is. I wore this in a recent photo shoot. You can see the photo below. Get it at the NARS website for $24.00

5.  A color swatch of NARS’ Heat Wave

6. MAC Morange – This lipstick is bright orange – not for the weary, the color is really intense, but very pretty. The finish is an amplified cream. You can buy a matching lip liner from MAC or opt for a reddish orange lip liner to play down the orange of the lipstick a little bit. Make sure you blend the two well. $14.00

7. MAC Russian Red - This color is described as an intense bluish-red and the finish is matte. I love this color & there is a picture below of me with it on a couple years ago – gorgeous color.$14.00

Try some colors at MAKE UP FOR EVER – I see the colors all the time, but have yet to try one of their lipsticks. Based on their intensely colored eyeshadows I bet they’re lipsticks are really pretty on as well.

If you ladies want a subtle & natural glow before you can get enough time in the sun to get one naturally (or better yet, you’re protecting your skin from the skin), try to “fake it before you make it” by investing in some highlighter & bronzer.

You can use the 2 to contour your face – place the highlighter where the sun naturally hits your face (bridge of your nose, cheekbones, and the bow in your lip). If you are using a bronzer to help contour find one a shade darker than your skin & make sure it is MATTE so you do not look over done – sweep it in the hollows of your cheeks, the sides of your nose & your hairline.

For highligther

If you are fair – try a light irredescent pink with blue undertones

If you are olive – try something wh with a peach shimmer

If you are medium to dark – try a bronze or golden highlighter

Check out some of the choices below that I love

Benefit High Beam – A pink liquid highlighter for a dewy complexion. I love this highlighter because it looks so natural – just don’t over do it. This is one of Benefits top sellers – you can buy it here for $24.00 or go into Sephora stores to try it on yourself before you buy it!

Check out the Yves Saint Laurent bronzer at their website or find it at most department stores or Sephora (I love Sephora because it’s a nice relaxed atmosphere where you can try things out for hours!) – This powder produces a natural radiance while helping to disguise flaws – plus the case is extra pretty! Maybe that’s why it’s $48.00

NARS Multiple Bronzer – if you all know anything about me it’s that the NARS Multiple Bronzer is my best friend – you can get the lighter colors as a highlighter and get a matte bronze one to help contour – I just love these & they last FOREVER! Definitely worth the $38.00. Again check out Sephora to try it on yourself, go to the NARS website or most department stores.

Covergirl – This is an options if you don’t mind buying cosmetics before you try them on and want something a little more affordable. I think these run between $9 and $11 … and microminerals have become so popular for their seamless finish!

The other weekend Lauren Cowart, my favorite photographer, & I worked together!! Her stuff is SO amazing! I wanted to do something super colorful on Margaret, who agreed to be the model for the shoot. I choose a vibrant blue eyeshadow from MAKE UP FOR EVER called Turquoise Matte 72 & an amazing lipstick from NARs called “Funny Face” I layered MAC Dazzleglass lipgloss over the lipstick – Dazzleglass is a limited edition high shine gloss from MAC & I love them! Next time: I’m going to leave the lips nude, take some photos then go back in with a bright lipstick.

After shooting Margaret, I really wanted to do another look ,but it would have been too much to take all the makeup off of Margaret so Margaret and Lauren suggested I do a quick look on myself while they finished taking the last photos downstairs. I took about ten minutes to do a quick face on myself using another NARS lipstick I picked up called “Heat Wave” I did a winged eyeliner with my Loreal Lineur and used my Covergirl Lashblast Mascara that I love.

Check out a sample of the photos below – we took tons and played around.I love the colors!! Thanks so much Margaret and Lauren.

Check out Lauren’s blog here!!!

So this winter break I tried out some new stuff - mostly lipstick and while in DC partying with my favorite people… @_thefire_ & @zewiditujewel n co. I realized that bright lipstick just may not be for me. I feel so… I dunno… so not finished.. so… just not right.

Here is the new color I purchased from NARS the other day called Schiap… & it’s just not working out between us. I’m deifnitely not saying don’t try this color.. It’s AMAZING & I may try to make it work betweene us again :: sigh ::

So I went home to Maine (yes, I’m from Maine & yes there are black people there – & yes I’m probably the first person from Maine you’ve “met” haha) … anyway… I did a couple of my friends makeup to play around. I have this one picture of my friend Sarah Rowe & I like the way her makeup came out. She rarely wears a lot of makeup so even something light felt like a lot of makeup to her, but it was fun to play around.

I’ll be honest & say I don’t remember exactly what I used. I had a good canvas, which always make the makeup application more fun

MAKE UP FOR EVER Foundation … MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Powder.. Some MAC under eye concealer .. Some bronzer… a purple type eyeshadow & I used MAC eyeshadow with an angled wet brush to make brown liner for her ( a little less harsh than black eyeliner all around). I think the color really set her eyes off! I used a NARS lipstick as well. I wish I had written it all down, but it’d be easy to remember with all of my makeup in front of me. If you have any questions ask away & I’ll do my best to remember.

Dear Santa,

These are just a few things I want. Please and thank you in advance, because you always come through.

v

Love,

Anna

P.S. Mom I hope you see this post!!

1. NARS Sheer Matte Foundation in Tahoe $42

2. NARS Bronzing Power in Laguna $30

3. NARS Matte Lip Pencil in Bahama & Belle De Jour $24

4. Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder in Basic Brown $34

5. MAC Tined Lipglass in C-thru $14.00

I have to have this set & will soon – NARS - The Multiple Coffret – $40

You guys already know my obsession with the NARS Multiple Stick as I have many posts on it… this is perfect. It’s 3 shades of the iconic NARS The Multiple – a multi-purpose formula for the eyes, cheeks, and lips – in sleek mini components.

I already know what I’m going to do – use the lighter one as a highlighter, the bronzy one for my checks mixed with a little pink. I also use the bronze in the hollows of my cheeks and on my nose & forehead right below my hair line… it really contours the face.

So the other night I planned a last minute photo shoot and these are the results….

I’m MORE than satisfied.I used a picture of Kim Kardashian who had her makeup done by Mario Dedivanovic who I did a post on before. I toned down the intensity of the makeup a little bit – Amber could even wear this out to a club. I worked with Lauren Cowart, she is simply AMAZING! Check out her website HERE!Amber Grissom was the model for the shoot – she favors Kim Kardashian so I thought it was appropriate for the look I was going for.

Check out a few more photos of the shoot below. It was super relaxed & I enjoyed myself.

How I got the look:

1. Used NARS Makeup Primer $33 all over the skin with MACs 190 Foundation Brush $32

2. Mixed 2 shades of MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation $40 together & applied with the same foundation brush.

3.  Under the eyes I used MAC Studio Finish Concealer $16.50 with MAC’s 195 Concealer Brush $22.

4. I set the foundation & concealer with Bobbi Brown Sheer Finish Loose Powder $34 with a MAC 182 Buffer Brush $45

5. I filled in Amber’s brows slightly with a MAC Eye Brow Pencil in Stud $15

6. I prepped Amber’s eye, lashline to brow, with MAC Paint in Bamboom $16.50 to give the eyeshadow something to stick to. I used a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush $24.50 to put on the Paint.

7. I then used the same brush & loaded it with MAKE UP FOR EVER Eyeshadow in Purple 92 $19 – I used it in her crease and outer eyelid as well as below her lower lashes. I blended up upwards towards her brow.

8. I used MAC Pigments in Melon $19.50 on the inner corner of the eye using the same brush.

9. To highlight the brow I used MAC Eyeshadow Rice Paper in $14.50 with the same brush blending all of the colors together.

10. I then used a MAC 222 Tapered Blending Brush $28 to blend the eyes together and continue to build the color intensity.

11. I used Dior DiorShow Mascara $24 on her lashes. I cleaned up under her eyes with a q-tip and touched up the under eye concealer.

12. I then used MAC Powder Blush in Peachtwist $18.50 over the apples of her cheeks & blended it out to her ears using a MAC 129SH Powder Blush Brush $34.

13. Over all of this I used MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Microfinish Powder $30 with the MAC 182 Buffer Brush.

14. On the lips I used a MAC Cremestick Liner in Sublime Culture $14.50 in to outline and fill in lips.

15. Over it I used a MAC Lustre Lipstick in High Tea $14.

WHEW!!!!

16. I touched up whatever needed to be fixed and viola!! Amber’s lashes are super long so I didn’t even waste time with fake lashes.

I’m on the pursuit of the perfect lipgloss today….

MAC?

Dior?

Yves Saint Laurent?

Smashbox?

MAKE UP FOR EVER?

Sephora?

Bobbi Brown?

NARS?

Clinique?

Chanel?

Urban Decay?

Forget about happiness, lipgloss is where it’s at! haha. But really, I’m on my way to the mall right now & will probably spend a good hour searching & I’ll be sure to post pictures of the lipglosses I tried & let you know if I found my perfect no lipgloss (other than C-THRU) … wish me luck!!

Remember about a week ago I made a post complaining about the new NARS lipstick in Scarlet Empress? Well, I wrote NARS (a straight forward) letter and got this back… Take a look.

Dear Client,

Thank you for contacting NARS Cosmetics.

We have reformulated a majority of our lipsticks which includes the NARS
Scarlett Empress shade. Unfortunately, the testers provided at Sephora were
provided to the stores before the formulation was updated.

The new formulation offers advanced emollients for moisturizing and
anit-aging benefits. Clients will also find the color lasts longer than the
previous formula. Unfortunately, the manufacturer could not obtain the same
pigment ingredient used in the previous formulation for Scarlett Empress.
Therefore, you will find the shade to be altered in pigment.

We apologize if you feel inconvenienced by this modification, but invite you
to try our newly formulated lipsticks in the future.

If we can assist you further please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Alex
Customer Desires Representative
NARS Cosmetics

Well, that answers my question, but I’m not happy with it – I LOVE the color the tester was, now they won’t be making it anymore!

Time for a short story: I was very disappointed when I went into Sephora the other day& was searching for THE perfect red lipstick. I had been to MAC tried Diva, Media, Russian Red, Ruby Woo, looked at countless other lipsticks from other lines…blah blah blah.

Anyways. I found this in the NARS section:

NARS Lipstick in Scarlet Empress. OMGSH I HAD TO HAVE IT! I’m not kidding – you guys might be like, “what’s her issue, it’s just lipstick” but I fell in love. I tested it out on my hand it was the creamiest thickest deep red perfection ever – more so than the swatch above – I almost cried…so I’m excited. I’ve found MY red lipstick, right? WRONG!

Here comes the BEAUTY TIP part :

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS take the product you are going to buy (NOT the tester) and open it before you buy it.

I was with Erika and Kelcie and was insisting that the color was different. They didn’t believe me – because it did look very similar. Even the makeup artist didn’t believe me. So I buy it, knowing I’m going to have to return it but put it on my hand next to the “same colored” tester –> COMPLETELY DIFFERENT consistency& definitely not my perfect red! Now I can’t claim NARS does this on purpose – but they sent two testers to Sephora (I demanded to see the other one) and they both are this amazing red & I looked at all other 3 lipsticks on sale…all the dull semi-red kinda pink lipstick … if they do this on purpose they are WRONG.

I got my lipstick tho! I am very good with words.

This is my favorite product hands down. This is The Multiple from NARS $37. You have to get one I promise it’s worth the money.

It’s a cream to powder stick & you can use it on your eyelids, cheeks & lips. I use mine as an AMAZING bronzer, usually only on my cheeks & on my forehead right at my hairline.

I first purchased the color PALM BEACH & it works on a lot of skin tones…I can’t tell you how much I love it. I recently replaced my PALM BEACH with a new matte version called RAPA NUI & I love it even more. Ladies, go get one!

MAC Products I used...

This fall the runway is full of neon colors, from Michael Kors to Versace and Marc Jacobs show. If you want to invest in any of that clothing, that’s great! But there’s a way to capture the neon trend without spending as much money. Try splashing your lips with the beloved neon rainbow.

The picture above is what I used to get the fuchsia lips in my picture below.









1. Put a light layer of foundation on lips & finish with powder to start with a blank canvas
2. Line lips with liner – I used a MAC Lip Pencil in Magenta $13
3. Fill in lips with the same pencil – will make lipstick last longer
4. I used MAC Lipstick in Girl About Town $14 straight from the tube – but you can use a lip brush
5. I outlined my lips again with the lip liner & made sure I cleaned up the edges
6. Topped with my MAC Lipgelee in Cellopink $14 – this just adds shine & more color. This color was a limited edition

Check out some pics & a NARS Lipstick $24 that Troy Jensen used on Kim Kardashian.