A Year Of Faces

I thought of compiling my favorite looks throughout the year in one handy little post, but it just ended up being a lot of my face, so I realize this post may be a little narcissistic, but let's trudge on. It's kind of fun to see how my face changed throughout the year (or thankfully, didn't. Yes that clock has started ticking). I'll say my eyebrows looked fabulous in the beginning of the year, though. I wonder what I was doing then?

As much as possible, I tried to find photos previously unpublished. There may be some repeats, but I hope you enjoy!

February

Emulating Laura Mercier Spring

Paul & Joe Color Powder CS in Siamese, Please 

March

Guerlain Rouge G Garconne

Le Métier de Beauté Northern Lights

June

Le Métier de Beauté Pallid Incandescents

July

NARS Vent Glace and More

August

I don't think I ever posted this, but I like this particular blush placement and the nude lips. Now if only I knew what I used /cries

Lipstick Bandits: Sheer

How To Fake A Higher Nose

September

Le Métier de Beauté Nouvelle Vague

Didn't publish this Peter Som NYFW Fall 2012 runway recreation because I laughed at myself after.

I combed through the archives and couldn't find this, so here! I think this was taken the week I started having the urge to chop off my hair and I remember I wanted to have a photo of myself in waves before it was all gone. I was wearing literally only one product on my face/eyes/lips - Mistura 6-in-1 Beauty Solution. It worked, but it did make me look a little warmer than usual.

Clean Lines And Cat Eyes

Rouge Bunny Rouge Raw Silence

I did this look after I procured Chanel Notorious but for some reason never published it. I think it was a recreation of Vera Wang NYFW Fall 2012, but I cannot be sure anymore. Burberry Porcelain on lids, Notorious to contour!

Suqqu Kakitsubata and Paul & Joe Color Powder CS in Inseperables

October

Recreating Armani's Fall Campaign Look

Chanel Rouge Allure Rouge Noir #109

Burberry Lip Velvet in Military Red No. 310

Addiction Arabian Nights Makeup

November

3 Looks, 1 Palette: Ecrin 6 Couleurs 2 Place, Vendome

Tarte Liners Work As Shadows Too

Keira Knightley Harper's Bazaar Editorial Recreation

Dolce & Gabbana Ultra

MAC Grey Friday

Editorial: Copper + Blue

December

Suqqu EX-08 Hanamari and Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro #200 Terra

I hope you've enjoyed reading and found inspiration from Messy Wands throughout the year!

New Year Sparkle: Ushering In 2013 With Style

Today's post will be a little unorthodox. It was supposed to be a post featuring the de facto New Year's Eve look (metallic lids and vamp lips) in collaboration with a few of my blogger friends. I did the look, but instead of taking my usual slew of deer in headlights close-ups, I invited my housemate for a fun photo shoot instead. We've been living together for three months and have since became best friends, but we didn't even have a blurry iPhone of each other. It was time.

An embarrassing amount of pictures were just of us howling in laughter, but for the sake of relevance I picked the few that most clearly showed my makeup.

She insisted a family picture includes our large soft toys

And we needed props for uh, festive points

For the look, I used Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Intense #19 on my eyelid and smoked out the crease with Addiction Midnight Oasis. I tightlined with a black eye pencil and layered on the mascara. Lips are Chanel Rouge Allure Rouge Noir #109 layered with Dior Addict Ultra Gloss in Black-Tie Plum #982 (as seen in this post) and Burberry Lip Velvet in No. 310 Military Red layered with Guerlain Rouge G Garconne. There was no particular reason for using two red lipsticks. I just wanted a sheen instead of a matte but didn't want to go through the hassle of removing the Burberry, which I was already wearing.

Do remember to see how my other friends are ushering in the new year:
A Little Bit Of Everything
Beaute Fabuleuse
BellaChique
Bronzer Bunny
ChloeAsh‎
Eye Heart It
Joey’space
Messy Wands
Mostly Sunny
Musing On Beauty

3 Looks, 1 Palette: Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs 502 Coup de Foudre

I knew I wanted the Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs 502 Coup de Foudre ($59) ever since I saw promo pictures, if only because they threw that curveball of a coral in there. It didn't matter that it wasn't the most practical of colors to include in what is essentially a green palette, it's interesting.

The palette consists of shimmers - a coral, a seafoam green, an olive, and a steel gray. Out of all four, only the gray gave me problems. I had to pack on the pigment to get that swatch. I'm assuming it's because it's meant to be a liner and liner shades usually have that issue. That's disappointing for such an expensive quad, but at least it's workable.

Look 1

This look was an attempt to use all four colors at once. I asked the SA how she would use the quad and she said she would apply the seafoam green on the first half of the lid, apply the olive on the second half, then pat on the coral in the center. Use the gray as a liner shade (do note that I tightlined in all the pictures).

Look 2

I guess that's fine, but using the coral that way feels a bit like we're at a playground and we just want to make all the colors feel included. I also think if you weren't careful, it would make the eyelids look muddy. For my second look, I patted the olive shade on the center of my lids, then placed the seafoam green in the inner and outer corners, blending the edges together. I lightly lined both my top and bottom lash line with the steel gray shade.

On a whim, I used the coral shade on my cheeks. Look how pretty that turned out! If you're planning to do this, a light hand is crucial since eyeshadows are usually more pigmented.

Look 3

This was my favorite look. I was so excited to find that the coral was so easy to wear on the eyes! As for the look breakdown, I placed a swath of the coral on my lids, dotted the light green in the inner corners as highlight, and heavily applied the steel gray shade on my bottom lash line.

All in all, a fantastic eyeshadow quad to play with. I always thought I couldn't pull off green and Coup de Foudre convinced me otherwise.

Products Used:
Rouge Bunny Rouge Time Defying Foundation in Wheat Cream
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder in Revive
Guerlain Parure de Nuit Pressed Powder & Blush
Shu Uemura Mechanical Brown Pencil in Seal Brown
Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs 502 Coup de Foudre
THREE Flash Performance Pencil Eyeliner in 08 Eye On
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Burberry Lip Mist No.212 Nude Peach
(For Look 1 product breakdown, click here)

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

Chanel Joues Contraste 76 Frivole

There were two items that intrigued me from Chanel Spring 2013: the pink liner and the blush. I skipped on the liner because I didn't like their eye pencil formulas and I procured the blush because of the bright, happy color.

Sometimes I wish I gave a little more forethought to my purchases (though this is why I am particular about a store's return policies) because I realized after that Chanel Joues Contraste 76 Frivole ($42) bore striking resemblance to NARS Liberté, which I already own.

L-R: Chanel Frivole, NARS Liberté, Paul & Joe Color Powder CS in Inseparables

I swatched both blushes heavily to make sure I had a true representation of the shades. Frivole and Liberté are similar though not exact dupes. Frivole is a peachier orange while Liberté leans more red.

When applied to the cheeks, the difference is barely noticeable. If I was to be a stickler about it, I'd say Frivole pulls just a tad more orange and is comparatively less wearable on me (but remember, I'm neutral cool). I think it's because Liberté draws out the pink in my skintone. That said, unless you were looking at both cheeks with a macro lens (like below) you wouldn't notice.

Chanel Frivole

NARS Liberté

Chanel Frivole

NARS Liberté

Thus, I'd say those who already own Liberté can skip Frivole, unless you have a particular preference for Chanel blush formulas.

Funny anecdote about the beanie: I had lunch with a reader a few days ago (hi Joanne!). When I told her I didn't drink coffee, she reacted in surprise. She pegged me as this cool coffee-drinking hipster-dressing type based on my blog, which... couldn't be further away from the truth. Except I bought this beanie and it totally fitted into that mould. This beanie - the color, the style - does not fit my regular "style." In fact, it clashes with just about everything in my wardrobe. I was originally going to post this up and ask if I should return it, but for some reason now I love it way too much, so I removed the price tag and all you guys get are pictures of me wearing it. There.

Products Used:
Shu Uemura Mechanical Brow Pencil in Seal Brown
Guerlain 'Meteorites' Illuminating and Mattifying Face Powder 02 Teint Beige
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Le Métier de Beauté Eye Brightening and Setting Powder
NARS 'Pro Prime' Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base
Guerlain Écrin 4 Couleurs 502 Coup de Foudre
THREE Flash Performance Pencil Eyeliner in 08 Eye On
Eyeko Black Magic Mascara Drama & Curl
NARS Liberté Blush
Chanel Joues Contraste 76 Frivole
Burberry Lip Mist No.212 Nude Peach