Editorial: Copper+Blue

The title of this post could have been a lot of things. I briefly entertained:

How To Make Your Lips Look Three Times Larger Than Usual
I Didn't Know They Make Foundations Like This Now
The Tale of Two Clavicles
Erghfghgfgh Make Up!

But I suppose Copper+Blue will suffice. I have to thank Larie for assigning me homework yesterday and breaking me out of my makeup rut. I've been doing the simple brows/lashes/blush routine for the past two weeks and almost forgot what a good amount of color could do to my face.

Sung Hee in Elle Vietnam, September 2012 (source)

For the record, the above picture was the inspiration. Below is what I cobbled up.

I took one hour to recreate what seemed like a really simple look. There was a lot of prep and tweaking involved on my part. I wanted the lips to look like hers and I underestimated the amount of gloss needed. I also needed my skin to be absolutely smooth sans Photoshop. Those things take time, yo.

Anyway, first I applied a thin layer of Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Luminous Liquid Foundation in 78 Beige all over my face, blending it into the neck (my lines are deep and permanent, can't mask that). I've only used this foundation twice and so far I'm still in shock. I didn't know foundation could do this to skin! When I first had it on I wasn't used to it because I looked airbrushed. Best of all, the texture is so liquid-y and lightweight that I can't even feel it on my skin. It covered redness and evened out my skintone. I only had to add a dab of RMS "Un" Cover-Up #22 around my under eye area for, dare I say, flawless skin.

To sculpt the cheeks, I swept on Chanel Brume d'Or in a sideways triangle.

After prepping the skin, I sketched in thick eyebrows with a pronounced arch with my Shu Uemura Eyebrow Pencil. I used Le Métier de Beauté Champagne Dualistic Eye Pencil as an eye base, then layered True Color Eyeshadow in Jojo, Spicy, and Tuscan Sunset respectively over it. To emulate the gleam on Sung Hee's lids, I applied Sugar to the center of my eyelid. I highlighted under my brows with Revive Eye Brightening and Setting Powder.

I didn't have that beautiful green in my arsenal (of course, now I have to find one just like it) so I substituted it with the blue in the Oscar de la Renta Kaleidoscope Eye Kit. I applied Noir Precision Liquid Liner closely on the lash line and waterline, and finished with a big swipe of Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara.

For lips, I swiped on Guerlain Rouge G Guerlinade and topped it with Le Métier de Beauté Vanilla Rose then a thick layer of Creme de la Creme applied with a lip brush. It doesn't look much in the close-ups (in fact, shudder at those lip lines!), but my lips looked three times plumper from afar.

I really should do this when I go out sometime. It's sort of a pity (and a waste of perfectly good makeup) that I wear almost nothing when I step out of my house.

At any rate, happy weekend to all!

Products Used:
Face -
Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Luminous Liquid Foundation in 78 Beige
RMS "Un" Cover-Up #22
Chanel Brume d'Or

Eyes -
Shu Uemura Mechanical Brow Pencil in Seal Brown
Le Métier de Beauté Champagne Dualistic Eye Pencil
Le Métier de Beauté True Color Eyeshadow in Jojo, Spicy, Tuscan Sunset, and Sugar
Le Métier de Beauté Oscar de la Renta Kaleidoscope Eye Kit
Le Métier de Beauté Revive Eye Brightening and Setting Powder
Le Métier de Beauté Precision Liner in Noir
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara

Lips -
Guerlain Rouge G Guerlinade
Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crème in Vanilla Rose and Creme de la Creme

Le Métier de Beauté Barrett Beauty Lip Crème, A John Barrett Salon Exclusive

A few days ago I visited Dustin, who's currently holding fort at the John Barrett Salon. Along with the Marchesa illuminator (which I have been lemming since I found and swatched an old tester in March), he introduced me to a couple of salon exclusives. I didn't swatch the kaleidoscope kit, which consists of two light neutral eyeshadows, Echo blush, and a nude pink crème, because frankly, it's really staid and not what I believe any of us would pay $95 for. I did, however, snap a picture of the Barrett Beauty Lip Crème.

At first glance I believed it similar to Ginger Snap and in many ways it is. Barrett Beauty features a sheer peachy-pink base with multidimensional shimmer (the picture above is a heavy swatch), and the only difference I could discern is that Ginger Snap leans warmer and its shimmer less various. This one didn't blow my mind, but nonetheless it looks very pretty on, and sometimes that's all you need from a lip gloss.

If you would like to order one, you can contact Dustin at 212.872.2714.

A Holiday Eye Tutorial: Silver Eyes And Red Lips

I unearthed my Guerlain Les Gris Eyeshadow Quad from a recent rummage through forgotten drawers and decided to put it to good use. I reimagined one of my all-time favorite pictures on Messy Wands, resulting in the makeup from the recent Dolce & Gabbana lipstick post. Below is the low-down on how to achieve the look.

I primed my eyelids using Le Métier de Beauté x Marchesa Sheer Illumination Brightener (at time of writing, still available at John Barrett Salon!), also applying some to the tops of my cheekbones. I applied the lightest shade from Guerlain Les Gris all over the lid, then patted on the shimmery light gray over three-fourths of the lid. I smoked out the corners with the dark blue-gray shade and added slight definition to the outer-v with the matte gray. I lined my eyes as close as possible to the upper lash line with a black liner and applied a smidgen of the shimmery gray on the lower lash line. Some mascara, and voila.

For cheeks, I contoured under the cheekbones with Chanel Notorious and lightly applied blush to the apples with Benefit Dandelion.

The lips, as mentioned, is Dolce & Gabbana Ultra, lined with Le Métier de Beauté Rose Dualistic Lip Pencil.

I do not actually think Chanel Dragon Vernis is the best polish to go with this lip color, but I just wanted to illustrate how blue D&G Ultra is as a red lipstick that it makes the very blue Dragon look warm.

It's funny how the shorter my hair is, the more makeup I can wear without looking like a total clown. In case the amount of color on your face bothers you though, you could always throw on a pair of glasses. (Feeble hurrah) as this is the only time we of the bespectacled bunch has the upper hand.

Products Used:
Face -
Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation in Camomile
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Chanel Notorious Sculpting Veil for Eyes and Cheeks
Benefit Dandelion

Eyes -
Le Métier de Beauté x Marchesa Sheer Illumination Brightener ($48, contact Dustin at 212.872.2714)
Guerlain 'Ecrin 4 Couleurs' Les Gris Eyeshadow Palette
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner Pencil in Eye on 08
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown

Lips -
Le Métier de Beauté Dualistic Lip Pencil in Rose
Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Ultra #190

Happy Thanksgiving!

In lieu of makeup, I looked through my photo albums for pictures of appetizing food (surprisingly scarce) and came across this one taken two Thanksgivings ago. My family took a vacation to Japan and we stayed at an onsen ryokan (roughly translated: hot spring inn) for a couple of days. At night, they served us magnificent kaiseki dinners and if I recall, this was one of the appetizers.

All that is just to say, I'm so ready to eat like a pig tonight. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

MAC Grey Friday Lipstick And Nail Lacquer Duo

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I am currently an intern at Lifestyle Mirror. I produce beauty content for them (such as this Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals post!), so one of the perks of my job is getting to play with new stuff companies send over to the beauty editor. As soon as I walked in yesterday he brandished MAC's Black Friday exclusive Grey Friday Lipstick and Nail Lacquer Duo at me. As one would expect, I tried it on then and there.

MAC Grey Friday Lipstick is a black-silver, almost metallic color. It can be applied sheer or layered to an intense sooty shade. I was wondering why MAC chose to release this as their sole online Black Friday exclusive. I can't imagine too many people wanting to buy a grey lipstick. But I suppose we could say the same about Chanel Notorious and look how that turned out.

Anyway, I tried it on and understood that this lipstick can be less scary than it looks. It barely shows up on the first layer as it only tints the lips to a grayish plum, which I suppose is a perfectly "societally acceptable" shade and thus commercially viable.

But knowing me, if a lipstick bullet is gray, it better look the same on my lips. I was pleased to find that Grey Friday could be layered on till it resembled what I saw in the tube. It took three or more swipes, but it didn't feel heavy on the lips, and would last till speech, food, or water wore it off. This lipstick had a lot of slip (or maybe it was my lip balm base) but didn't bleed throughout the day.

The Grey Friday Nail Lacquer is also a black-silver. I think this color is nice, but nothing special. Plenty of other brands have certainly offered similar, if not exact hues. That said, it is a nice complement to the lipstick.

MAC Grey Friday Lipstick and Nail Lacquer Duo will be available exclusively on maccosmetics.com on Black Friday, November 23 only.

Products Used:
Face -
Dolce & Gabbana Luminous Liquid Foundation in Bisque #75
Guerlain Meteorites Illuminating & Mattifying Pressed Powder in Teint Beige 02
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Benefit Dandelion Blush

Eyes -
Suqqu Kakitsubata 01 Eyeshadow Quad
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Shu Uemura Retractable Eye Brow Pencil in Seal Brown
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner Pencil in Eye On 08

Lips -
MAC Grey Friday Lipstick

Nails -
MAC Grey Friday Nail Lacquer

Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Ultra #190

Fingerprints. This is why I hate gold packaging

It seems like it's been awhile since our last red-red feature, so I pulled out all the stops for today. I've been saving Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Ultra #190 for when I really need drama, because it's just so unabashedly loud. Why do I think so? Is it the blueness? Or that tinge of berry? For some reason, this lipstick screams "I'm red! I'm red!" at you (I don't know if I make sense here. Undoubtedly all red lipsticks are striking, but some are more so than others, you know?). The only equivalent I could think of is Guerlain Rouge G Garconne, which leans warm when compared to Ultra.

L-R: D&G Ultra, Le Métier de Beauté Dualistic Lip Pencil in Rose

By the way, I had my first post-chop trim today. I showed my hair stylist a photo of Faye Wong circa Chungking Express and I promise you, he was beside himself with glee. Even with what little hair left on my head the floor around me looked like a fuzzy carpet. My hair – it is so so so short now, but I love it. Do you see how much makeup I can put on and still look underdone?

Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Ultra #190 retails for $30 and is exclusively available at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Lipstick Bandits: Vamp

I swear we've been planning for this topic since July. Larie and I have certainly been through every. vamp. lipstick we could get our hands on to find the perfect one. I thought I've already found mine in Chanel Rouge Allure Rouge Noir, but who ever said I could only have one?

The other lipstick in question is Le Métier de Beauté Kona Lipstick, a deep burgandy plum.

Smiley picture! (Well, I was actually laughing at the camera here)

I have been known to cheat in my Bandit assignments, but this time it's out of necessity! Whether it's the cold weather or I'm not rigorous enough with my lip balm application, my lips have been peeling so badly I look like I have lip dandruff.

Suffice to say, dark lipstick on patchy lips isn't the best scene, but I found Le Métier de Beauté La Belle Sheer Brilliance Lip Gloss to be a great topper for vamps. The sheer sparkly brown (don't be fooled by the swatch below, it's really sheer when on the lips) deepens the base shade just a little, and in some cases, make it look just right.

L-R: Kona, La Belle, MUFE #13C

Le Métier de Beauté Kona and La Belle can be found at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and of course, Bergdorf Goodman.

On to the best part of Lipstick Bandit days! Make sure you check out what my fellow masked cohorts are sporting:

• Beauty Reflections
• Call It Beauty
• Eye Heart It
• Getting Cheeky
• Glitter Geek
• Makeup Morsels
• Musing on Beauty
• My Funny Valentine
• My Women Stuff
• Rocaille Writes
• theNotice: a beauty blog‎

Full disclosure: This entry contains sample products sent by PR or the manufacturer for editorial consideration.

Watering the Skin with Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist

The Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist is the second piece in their water collection (for my review of the mask, see here). Before using this, I held the opinion that all mists are created equal. Sure, some have scents, but they seem to perform the same on the skin – fun at first squirt but tingling dryness later. I've tried cult classics like Evian and Shu Uemura and (relative) beginners like Amorepacific and have never went beyond the first couple of spritzes. They just don't do anything for me. In fact - and I hate to admit this because it seems like such a waste - sometimes I use my Evian spray to wet my hands.

The Dewy Skin Mist smells strongly of ginseng (to me, that's a draw) and my favorite use for it is as an extra nourishing base before I put on my face makeup. Sometimes I also do a couple of spritzes before I apply the Moisture Rich Silk Cream. I've used it on a couple of my friends and both asked to examine it immediately after. I know there's alcohol listed in the ingredients, but it doesn't dry out my skin when used, as opposed to other mists I've tried. That said, mists are not a substitute for moisturizers, especially in the winter months.

Now, for disclosure's sake I need to tell you that Tatcha sent me a bottle for review, but if you read my first feature on them, I mentioned near the end that I purchased one before I had any contact with them. I'm secretly glad I now have another because I have less than half of my current bottle left. On a side note, I'm so proud that I'm making progress in finishing my products!

Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist retails for $48 and is available online at Tatcha.com.

Full disclosure: This entry contains a sample product sent by PR or the manufacturer for editorial consideration.

Le Métier de Beauté Hot n' Saucy Nail Lacquer

I almost forgot that Le Métier de Beauté doled out four nail polishes for their fall collection. I was sent Hot n' Saucy and have been so smitten with this blend of brown and red that I've worn it three times in two weeks. You can't see it clearly below (I didn't apply top coat) but on your nails it looks exactly like what you see in the bottle above – a deep cocoa base with red undertone infused with fine red shimmer.

Click here to find out how to get the makeup look

Le Métier de Beauté Hot n' Saucy retails for $18 and is available for pre-order at Neiman Marcus. If you would like to get yours immediately, I believe I saw it displayed at the Bergdorf Goodman counter. You can reach them at 212.872.8612.

Full disclosure: This entry contains a sample product(s) sent by PR or the manufacturer for editorial consideration.

So You Want to Look Like Keira Knightley

source: tomandlorenzo.com

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back in business. Sort of. I still don't wear a lot of makeup when I go out, which is not fun because now that it's so near winter it's exactly the time to slap on a ton and still look "normal."

The good thing is now that Anna Karenina is about to (finally) hit theaters, editorial images of Keira Knightley are popping up all over the Internet. In case you didn't figure out by the sharpness of her cheekbones and jawline, I have a major crush on her. The editorial above was featured in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar UK and as soon as I saw it I told myself I had to recreate it.

I didn't realize how geometric the eyeshadow shape really was until I reviewed the pictures (or perhaps it wasn't on her and that's just how it translates on my Asian eyes. Adaptability = win!). I patted Addiction Fudge onto my eyelid and then blended it out on the crease and slightly toward the inner corner. Afterwards, I shaded the bottom lash line (covering the entire "bag" section) and made sure the shadow connected to a smoked out wing. Make sure to leave the inner corner clean.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Keira's upper lash line and waterline were white, so I went over mine with NARS Larger Than Life Santa Monica Boulevard (it wouldn't show up on my waterline since it's immune to makeup, apparently). But that's not all – her makeup artist sneakily tight-lined her upper waterline so the white wouldn't look odd.

... I realize I may be making all this up and it could have just been white eyeshadow. But that's how I achieved my look!

If you click on the source link, you'll see the writer and a large number of commenters harping on Keira for having a constantly open mouth in photo shoots. I don't personally have a problem with this, but I'll say in her defense - didn't they know cheekbones appear sharper when one's mouth is open?

Enjoy!

Products Used:
Face -
Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation in Camomile
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Le Métier de Beauté Classic Flawless Finish Powder #1
Chanel Rose Ecrin Blush

Eyes -
Addiction Fudge Eyeshadow
NARS Larger Than Life Santa Monica Boulevard
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner in Eye On 08
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown

Lips -
Le Métier de Beauté In The Know Bordeaux Lip Creme
Make Up For Ever Lip Pencil #13C