Red Lips, didn't think I would but I like it

Hi! 

This is just a Look of the Day post, I hope you'll like it!
Ce post est juste un Look du Jour, j'èspère que vous allez aimer!

On my lips I just applied some Aloe Vera transparent Lip balm and then applied the red colour pencil from this post over it.

Sur mes lèvres, jai juste mis du baume à lèvres transparent à l'Aloe vera (de chez Réserve Naturelle) puis j'ai mis le crayon rouge par dessus.

  Here's the pencil on it's own swatched on the left and smudged on the right.
Voici un swatch du crayon tout seul à gauche et estompé à droite.

 Natural light (daylight through the window).
A la lumière du jour (qui entre par la fenêtre).

 With flash, it looks a bit washed out and pink.
Avec le flash ça l'air un peu rose/rose foncé.

A closeup of my eye makeup using the half lashes technique I spoke about in my last blogpost.

I will update this post with the products used asap so keep an eye out for that. Until then, take care.
Voici une photo plus rapprochée de mes yeux, j'ai utilisé la technique des faux cils coupés en deux dont je vous explique tous les détails dans mon post précédent. Prenez soin de vous et à bientôt.

See you! Bye!

Sonam

Fascinated by lashes!

source: soshallo

Weirdly enough, my lashes grow straight down, which means that when I apply mascara, if I don't curl them, they just look "meh" or sometimes (depending on the mascara I use) they even look like I don't have any lashes at all. That's where false lashes come in. Actually not really because by curling my lashes I'm quite satisfied with the result, but since I've tried false lashes and seen how much more they add to any look, I can't really go back. I do my makeup without applying false lashes quite often but when I do, I usually pack on the mascara, I don't make them clumpy but I try to still make them stand out. Like so:

It took me a very long time before I learned how to actually apply them properly and also to keep them on, because I used to put them on and then pull them off just before leaving the house thinking "it'll look too fake, and everyone will see they're not mine" or they'll fall off while I'm talking to someone.

But by practicing a lot I managed to get a few techniques to apply them easily, quite fast and make them look realistic too.

Here I'm gonna show you my favorite lashes and less favorite ones and the different techniques I use for different kinds of strip lashes (I don't like the individual ones or the ones that come in little "bunches" of 3 or 4 that you can glue on just because I'm not that good at using them and for me comfort is key so...).

So I'm gonna start by the less favorite ones and try to explain why that is.

Usually when I wear lashes, I like them to blend in with my own lashes, these, for some reason, don't.

I also usually curl the lashes before applying them and these, despite being a bit curled already (not enough IMO) won't budge no matter how long you try, I didn't try heating the lash curler before doing it because I was quite sure they were gonna melt.

This is how they look once applied:

Oh and I also forgot to mention that very visible black band that you can see on my lashline right there.

I don't like that either.

These are my Favorite:

The first reason is the clear band, I really like it as it's not noticeable at all even with neutral looks, you don't need to cover it up with black liner.

They are also very easy to curl which is a big plus for me.

Here's how they look applied.

 I feel like they're even less noticeable without eyeliner actually or with a very thin line of liner.

 Here they're applied cut in half, this is the way I usually use them when I'm in a hurry and also when I'm going for a simple neutral look. 

  

Here I cut it in half and glued it to the outside part of my lashline.

I also only applied mascara on the roots so that it wouldn't stand out beside my own lashes and voila!

These are my second favorite but they're only second because of the colour of the band otherwise they would be my absolute favorite because I don't know if you can tell, but the band is made of thread actually and that makes it super flexible, which means no more wiggling and twisting the lash band to give it the shape that you want, I just take these out of the box apply the glue and put them on. They also curl as easily as the previous ones, what's not to like?

Here's how they look once applied.

And here's how flexible they are.

You can see the thread band, click for a bigger picture. (works on all the pictures btw)

These are the ones that I like less of those that I do like because the band is quite stiff so it's a bit more work to apply them and also because the band s a bit thick. I guess, being  a newbie at lashes I'm not comfortable with these yet.

I don't have any picture of me wearing them but I guess you can do a similar look to this with them.

The liner will need to be somewhat thick and dark though. I think that they could be great for a photoshoot.

I'd love to get some feather lashes to do some interesting artistic looks like this one. They really inspire me.

I only have one kind of lash glue and it's the Duo Dark Tone one, it's my absolute favourite because the lashes stay put until I decide to remove them, and also because it's a dark colour glue so I don't need to touch it up with liner if I don't feel like it.

 source: Starcosmetics NZ

So this is it, I will also update this post with a video or pictorial of me actually applying my lashes, full strip and half strip so that you can see the entire process. 

Stay tuned and take care until next time!

See you! Bye!

Sonam

Play it'll make you happy!

Hi, this is an unusual post but I'm still posting it, because I want my blog to be about what inspires me too, not only perfect lines and pretty pictures, it's about being spontaneous too.

 I decided to play with my eyeliner, it was around 2am just before I went to bed but I was struck by sudden inspiration!!!

And half of my face ended up like this =)

The lines are all weird because I used a very sh***y eyeliner and also because without contacts that's as accurate as I can get >_<'

I still liked the little fake lashes effect under my eyes, I'll definitely be incorporating that into one of my future looks.

This post is nothing special but I just wanted to post it still and say that It's only makeup after all, you wash it off and you're still the same person after so have fun! =) I sure do.

Look out for my next post, exciting business in it!

Until then, take care.

See you! Bye!

Sonam

On my nails now!

Hello there!

So as promised here is my rendition of the Blue Gradient Mani as seen on the Beauty Department, 

So here's the finished look from the Beauty Department:

and I'm gonna try to do something that is quite similar I would say. So, I followed the Beauty Department's instructions: (except for the one that says not to use a quick drying clear coat as it's the only kind I own):

YOU WILL NEED:  A clear nail polish (don’t use a quick drying clear coat), a white nail polish, a dark rich nail polish color of your choice (WE USED THIS ONE in “INKY”), a metal tray or a piece of cardboard to mix on, acetone or polish remover, a paper towel, paintbrush– the width of the paintbrush must be as wide as or wider than your nail.

1. Make sure your nails are completely clean and begin by painting your base with a solid white coat. A bright white color is important because it will make your gradient colors stand out! We used THIS ONE.
2. Next, put five to seven drops of your clear polish on a mixing tray and add 1 drop of polish. Again, it will all depend on the color you’ve picked for your gradient layers… the darker the color, the more drops of clear polish you will need to dilute your original polish color.
3. Stir this quickly until blended. You’ll want to work fast when mixing because the more air that hits the polish, the quicker it dries.
4. Decide how many layers you want to create. If it’s 5 (like we did above) imagine your nail divided into those 5 sections. Start with the highest and lightest layer– the lightest should be just below the white as you see in photo number 4. Paint all nails with this color, 4/5 of the way up to the cuticle.
5. It’s really important to clean your brush completely in between each layer, otherwise you get chunks in the polish.
6. Now, we make the next shade. Add 5-7 drops of clear polish to 2 drops of the darker polish. Be sure to clean off your tray before each round so that you have a new area to mix.
7. Next, make your next layer– paint each nail starting 3/5 way up as you see in photo number 7.
8. Once again, clean off your brush and tray so you can start creating your next color. Mix 5-7 drops of clear polish with 3 drops of your darker color.
9. Paint this layer on the bottom 2/5 of the nail, closest to the nail tip.
10. For the last color, I just used the dark polish alone with zero drops of clear. Remember to use your paintbrush to apply so that you get the same line.
11. By now, you are a layering expert! For your final color, paint each nail starting 1/5 of the way up.
12. Last but not least, clean around the cuticle using another paintbrush and some nail polish remover.

So these are the products I used:
Sèche Vite Base Coat, Sèche Vite Top Coat, Sinful Colours nail polish in Love Nails 801, a little transparent container to pour the polishes on and to mix them.

I also used this little guy here, it's a nail drying fan and works very well =) I got it from Ebay and love it because I hate waiting around for my polish to dry.

And I decided to use this brush to apply the polish rather than the one on the first picture because it looked too small.

I decided to use my Sèche Base as a first coat because it's quite similar to white polish but looks better on my skintone. Then I poured some of the Sinful Colour Polish out and poured some clear polish too.

 Then I applied my first coat of coloured polish, I didn't mix the clear and coloured polish because the clear one being Sèche Vite,I knew it would dry out on me before I finished one hand. I just tapped the brush on both polishes picking up more of the clear than the coloured one.

(click for a bigger picture)

After that, I kept doing the same thing but picking up less clear and more coloured polish gradually until I had enough layers, then I applied a last coat of clear polish on top of the entire nails.

I hope you like my version of the gradient mani and that I inspired you to try it too. If you do post the pictures to my facebook page, I would love to see them. =)

See you! Bye!

Sonam

Chubby sticks, swatches and review

Hi!

Let's get right into it,

the first three are from Kiko Milano cosmetics that you know I really love already and from Clinique which is a bit more high end.

The two from Kiko are 01 Peach coral and 06 Nude Rose and the Clinique one is 14 Curvy Candy.

The Clinique Chubby stick is a moisturizing lip colour balm. It comes in 16 colours that include 8 new colours.

Claims from Clinique Website: Super-nourishing balm is loaded with mango and shea butters. Just what dry, delicate lips need to feel comfortably soft and smooth. Sixteen natural-looking lip tints in all, each with a subtle sheen.

How to use:Apply directly to lips. For subtle definition outline lips first, then fill in with natural-looking colour. Never needs sharpening: simply swivel up to reveal more lip colour balm.

The Kiko Milano cosmetics one is a Lavish Lips Creamy Lipgloss and comes in 6 different colours.

Claims from Kiko Cosmetics Milano Website:Wet look lip gloss pencil of the  "Lavish Oriental" limited edition collection.Pure concentrated shine in a soft, smooth lead to make up your lips in a few gestures, with an ultra-glossy result as simple as it is effective.Its soft gel consistency glides on your lips like a crayon giving a sensation of moisturizing smoothness and never-ending comfort.

How to use:Thanks to its innovative packaging, Lavish Lips Creamy Lipgloss is always ready to use: just rotate the pencil base to bring up the lead, no sharpening required.

Available in 6 trendy shades.

Hypoallergenic product = formulated to ensure minimum instance of allergic reactions.

I obviously used this one much more than the two others, it actually stays in whatever purse I'm carrying, the packaging is really handy for quick touch ups wherever you are.

Here are the swatches of all three on my wrist:

From left to right: 06 Nude Rose, 01 Peach Coral and 14 Curvy Candy. I swiped them in a sort of oval shape. They were applied on my bare skin without any primer or anything.

Here is a closeup of all three colours in the same order as above.

What I like about all three of them:

I think that the finish that it gives on the lips is the same as when you apply lipstick with some clear gloss on top, minus the effort of course, what's not to like? =)

They are very portable and easy to use even without a mirror there's little to no chance of messing up. They are very moisturizing and not sticky at all. All three have the exact same consistency and last as long (on me, about 3 to 4 hours if I don't eat). To intensify the colour and also to make it last even longer I use a lip pencil in the same colour or a shade darker all over my lips and then apply this.

What I don't like:

if applied heavily they will make your lips look greasy and sticky, and the only other drawback would be pricewise for the Clinique one. The Clinique Chubby Stick retails at 19€ at Sephora and the Kiko Lipgloss is at 6.90€ in stores and on the Kiko website. I could get two of the Kiko one for less than what I paid for the Clinique one.I guess sometimes you do pay for the brand...

Would I be repurchasing or not and why:

I really love these chubby sticks and will deffinitely be repurchasing some from the Kiko brand as I find them identical to the Clinique one. There's more colour choice for the Clinique one but I'm not much of a lip product user anyway so I guess I'd rather splurge on an eyeshadow palette or something like that.

Do any of you own any of these? Or any chubby sticks from other brands? I can't wait to try the one from Revlon too.

I hope this review was helpful and that it answered any questions that you may have had about these products.Thanks for reading.

See you all soon for another product review and what I'm wearing on my nails. Until then, take care!

See you! Bye!

Sonam