Hi everyone,

I thought I'd come back with an amazing (and easy) summer look for you ladies. I hope this makes my absence of the last few months a little better ;) .

Face:
I've been soooo busy, that the first day I was free, I had I did a complete face for you. I'm starting to get more and more freckles because of the sun, which I love and hate at the same time. I love how it makes me look younger for some reason, but also it makes my skin look less flawless, which I don't love.

I started by cleaning my face using Shiseido - Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam followed by Shiseido - Daily Moisture Protection. I then used my favourite eyecream ever, it's by Elizabeth Arden and is called Prevage - Eye Anti-aging Moisturizing Treatment. I used Smashbox - Illuminating Serum to give my complexion more of a glow. This serum can't be bought seperately, they do however still sell it it the Smashbox - Master's Class Vol. 4 Rescue Beauty on the Sephora website. To make my eyes look more awake I used Smashbox - Photo Op Under Eye Brightner.

I used the Smashbox - Primer Light as a primer because it's the middle of summer here and it's sooo warm outside that every bit of makeup disappears if I don't use the Light primer.

To contour my face I used Baked Fusion Soft Lights by Smasbox, which is a Twice baked bronzer that looks amazing on my skin, on the apples I used a very light pink blush also by Smashbox called Soft Lights.

Eyes:

To prime my eyes I used Urban Decay - Eye Shadow Primer Potion. Urban Decay is bringing out a lot of primers right now

• Complexion Primer Potion - Pore Perfecting which should minimize pores and fine lines
• Complexion Primer Potion - Brightening which should brighten and diminish fine lines and pores according to their website
• Eyelash Primer Potion which should make lashes appear thicker, longer and stronger
• Lip Primer Potion which should make lipstick truer, apply smoother, last longer, and will not fade or feather, also it has an SPF of 15.

On my eyes I used a palette also by Urban Decay called Get Baked. This palette contains four eyeshadows (Twice Baked, Half Baked, Flipside and Baked) there is a mini 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in the colour Bourbon and a mini Sin primer

I already primed my eyes with the normal Primer Potion by Urban Decay because I didn't want my eyes to be overly shimmery. On the inside corner of my eyelid I used Baked which is the lighter golden colour. I used this because this adds a sparkle to the inner eyecorner, this eyeshadow was applied with the Urban Decay - Wonder Brush. On the middle of the eyelid I placed Half Baked with the Urban Decay - Shadow Brush. I pressed the colour in to get this colour depth, I then blended the colours using a little smudging movement. On the outer corner I placed Twice Baked in a < shape with the Urban Decay - Wonder Brush and blended it with the Urban Decay - Crease Brush. To ensure the top was blended perfectly I used Smashbox - Vanilla matte eyeshadow with the Smashbox - Shadow Brush which is a very fluffy brush that eases the blending.

On the lower lashline I used the Twice Baked shadow with a Wonder Brush that I moistened with Make Up For Ever - Mix and Fix Spray because this means the eyeshadow won't budge the entire day. I applied the Twice Baked only on the outer corner. I then cleaned the brush and dried most of the water off on a paper towel and wetted it again with the Fixer Spray and made a paste with the Flipside shadow and applied this to the inner half of the lower lashline. I then let it dry and blended it with the Twice Baked and a little more Flipside.

On my waterlines I used the Bourbon and I also used this on the outer third of my top lashline. As a mascara I used Dior - Diorshow Iconic.

Lips:
On my lips I'm wearing Urban Decay - Rush. This colour is almost my real lipcolour and is therefor the perfect colour for my lips.

Nails:
The nailpolish I'm wearing is Custom Kicks by China Glaze. This colour is a bright blue but it also has a little warmth that you don't see on the pictures, but it real life it has a minimal gold shimmer in it that's amazing. The only downside of this polish is that it chips very very quickly (I've never had this problem with China Glaze polishes, so maybe it's a fluke), and also for some reason I also had trouble with the brush (it was not filled with polish or overfilled with polish) and the polish bubbled. So the colour is jawdroppingly beautiful but the application is IELGH.

Hey ladies,

How is everyone doing??

Finally my skin is looking normal again, but I did this look on my best friend who was sweet enough to let me work on her, so thanks Nic!!!

I do have a few quick questions though, sometimes I do the big HUGE picture tutorials, do you girls still want those?? I started with the links to the products I used instead of the pictures, do you like this or prefer the old way? Do you have any other things you would like me to add or skip in my next posts?

Final eye:

When I did Nic's makeup I was amazed at how incredibly blue her eyes seemed afterwards, she had amazingly blue eyes, but after the gold and blue combo her eyes really popped even more.

Prep
I want Nic to look radiant and glowing, so after cleansing I used Clinique - All about eyes on her eyes and Benefit - Firmology as a moisturizer. This moisturizer is oil-free so no oily shine but it does have a luminous light-reflecting pigment that adds a healthy glow. Under her eyes I used Sephora - "Tricks of the Trade" Immediate Wrinkle Filler because I wanted a smooth base for the rest of the makeup. Also I'm adding colour under her eyes and I don't want it to creep into her fine lines making it seem like she has wrinkles.

Face
As a primer I used my favourite Smashbox - Hybrid 2 in 1 Primer, which illuminates and gives the rest of the makeup something to adhere to. Some people hate this product because it has two openings and just squeezing the tube gives you not the best mixture of product. I personally don't mind putting my finger over the first hole to get some illuminizer and then over the second hole to get the primer. I prefer this to two tubes/pumps/bottles, if you don't like this you can always get the normal Photofinish primer and Artificial light Luminizing lotion and mix them on your hand to get the same result. Back to the Hybrid, this (just as the Photofinish) makes the skin feel very soft, which made her touch her face the entire evening, just as I did when I first got into the primer.

When I checked her face for foundation shades I found out that my summer foundation colour works amazingly well on her in the winter. So I used Smashbox - High Definition Healthy FX Foundation in Light L3 placing it with a foundation brush, I heard Samantha Chapman give the advice to place your moisturizer with your foundation brush first to prevent the brush from streaking and "eating" your foundation. I thought I'd pass this tip on to you.

Now that this base is done I wanted to make her skin seem flawless to with a concealer brush and Smashbox - Camera Ready Full Coverage Concealer in 2.0 I took away the minimal darkness she had under her eyes (damn her, she has a pretty perfect skin argh ;) ). Over this I placed a product I hadn't used in a while but re-fell in love with the Smashbox - Under eye brightener. I also used this on the nose and as a highlighter under her brows and on the top of her cheeks.

I almost never use a blusher on myself, so I only have what I got in kits, but I always go to one blusher and it worked amazingly on Nic's face Smashbox - O-glow. I know you're not supposed to do blusher before contouring etc etc, but because the skin is still not powdered, the O-glow (which is a gel) looks better applied now then after powder. At this point I powdered her face with Make Up For Ever - HD Powder because the contouring products are all powder and I never go from cream/gel to powder and back. I always do the "wet" products first, then powder and then I contour. If I use a powdered blush I do apply this last, but if you know what you're doing you can switch up the application steps.

She's never contoured herself before, and I was teaching her what this could do to a face. So fun to teach someone something new which is normal for yourself but is a world of unknown possibilities for another. Because I wanted to keep her skin radiant, I bronzed her with a Givenchy - Prismissime Mat & Glow. To contour I used another product that's been discontinued, I used the bronzer from the Yves Saint Laurent - Sensation Soleil MakeUp Palette no. 1, for my skin tone it's too dark as a bronzer and for Nicole it's the same, so I contoured with it. This Palette has a twin out there, so if you do try and find it on E-bay or anywhere else, make sure you buy the one with the green and shiny nude eyeshadow shades. I contoured the sides of her face to make it seen smaller and gave her more pronounced cheekbones.

Eyes
On her eyes I used the Urban Decay - Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base. As a base colour on her eyelids I used the gold colour from the discontinued Sephora - Paradise Island palette. I think a good replacement would be a colour like Nars' - Cream Eyeshadow in El Dorado (shimmering golden bronze). I used a cream eyeshadow as an extra base to make the gold on top pop even more and it gives the colour more dimension. I place this colour with a Sephora Brand Professionnel Large Synthetic Eyeshadow Brush no. 25, I use a synthetic brush because it's a cream eyeshadow and natural bristles would give an uneven coating of cream.

Next I do something that will look very odd when you do it, but I'll explain why, so bare with me. I now use the ocean colour from the same Sephora palette (a replacement would be a colour like Nars' - Carioca (gossamer turquoise)) under the eyes (from the outer to the inner corner) with a Sephora Brand Professionnel Small Synthetic Eyeshadow Brush no. 26. Over this blue under the eyes I place a very bright and vibrant colour named Peace - Urban Decay. This colour can be bought on it's own or in the Urban Decay DeLuxe Shadow Box. For precise placing I used the brush side of the Smashbox - Double Ended smudger brush. I do this blue under the eyes now, because I want to know how much blue I need on top, if you do it the other way around, you might need a lot more or less blue under your eyes and then you lose the balance which is very important with this look. Now I add the gold colour on top of the eyelid (up to the crease).

Because I needed a pop of gold (to bring out the blue in her eyes even more) I chose a very pigmented colour. The colour I used was Urban Decay - Honey, this is also a colour that can be bought as a single or found in the Urban Decay DeLuxe Shadow Box.

For the blue in the crease I used the Slanted brush by The body shop. To place the crease colour, look straight ahead into a mirror and place the brush with the eyeshadow just above the crease you see. I used a little bit of Urban Decay - Ransom for this another colour that can be bought alone or in the Urban Decay DeLuxe Shadow Box. I used very little because I wanted to know where I wanted to place the darkest colour of the crease. Because Nic's eyes are a little further apart, I took the Ransom up to the inner corner of the crease. On the outsides I took it up a little to give her a coloured "wing" to lift the outer eye corners.

I used Urban Decay - Adore on the outer corners of her top and bottom lash line. This colour can only be bought as a single, but you can use Ransom (purple blue) for this as well, I just happen to have all the DeLuxe shadows and wanted another more blue blue. Under the blue Ransom in the deepest part of the crease I deepened the colour using an eye pencil by Make Up For Ever - Aqua Eyes in Iridescent navy blue, at this point I added more Ransom to the crease, blending it up and out.

All that was needed to finish the eyes was mascara. She has amazingly long and curled lashes naturally so no curling was needed on her. If you do need this, do this prior to colouring the lashes. For her eyelashes we used a mascara I gave her from a Sephora Lash Stash. The mascara she's wearing in the pictures is Sephora - Atomic Volume Mascara.

Final look:

Lips
On her lips I mixed two Smashbox colours Wicked lovely line lip gloss in Sultry (now on sale on the Smashbox website and a Lip Enhancing clear gloss. The Sultry looks really scary in the tube and I remember Nic thinking I was insane putting it on her, but it's like the black lip glosses, you can mix them with other colours to create a colour you love.

I know Poison Ivy in the old Batman & Robin movie (played by Uma Thurman) didn't have green makeup and only green "eyebrows" at times, but I thought this name would fit this look and this look would have fit her. I've been growing a garlic plant and today I repotted some houseplants so going green on my eyes wasn't such a leap, also I haven't done green eyes in forever.



I didn't use many things on my eyes today, so all the magic is in the blending.
1) I used Urban Decay, Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a primer.
2) As the golden colour on my eyelid (up and into the crease) I chose my latest makeup addiction Bourjois, Shimmering Shine Liquid Eyeshadow in Molecule d'Or 31 which is a golden colour that's very shiney.
3) In my crease and in my inner and outer corner I used Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Mildew which is a deep mossy green. I placed this with a slanted brush and blended with a dome brush (for more precision in the blending).
4) On the lower 2/3 or my eyelid and upper 1/4 lashline (on the outside of the eye) I placed a very thin line of Urban Decay, 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in Stash which is a dark green/gold. I also went over my waterline with this pencil.
5) As a highlight under my eyebrow I used Smashbox, Matte Eyeshadow in Vanilla. Placement was with a large shadow brush. If you pull the colour down you can lower the green if you've gone up too much. Also I used this colour under my eyes a bit (over my concealer) because I'm ill and I wanted a little extra colour to hide some of this. This is an amazing trick, find a matte eyeshadow that's the extact colour (or a little lighter) then your natural skincolour (don't judge in the container, judge on your skin) and if you've got a colour that's perfect, you can use this over your concealer to hide things that a concealer and powder don't completely hide.
6) The mascara I used was the Korres Provitamin B5 & Rice Bran Mascara which is a light and soft mascara for my now very sensitive eyes.

A very long time ago, I promised SayNo a look for today, and I never really had the time to do it because this isn't a look you can wear during the normal work/school-day. I used darker colours then I normally would on my skin because she's got a darker skin tone then I have.

But I did do it yesterday and here is the look I came up with:


Here's a quick how-to. It's not as detailed as usual, but it should be enough to recreate it.

- I started with a clean and scrubbed face that had been moisturized.
- Next you prime your face (I used Smashbox, Photo Finish UVA/UVB SPF 15 with dermaxyl complex) and your eyelids (Urban Decay, Eye Shadow Primer potion).
- Make your face look flawless with a great foundation (Smashbox, High Definition Healthy FX Foundation with UVA/UVB SPF 15 Oil-Free - Light L3), concealer (Smashbox, Camera Ready Concealer - 3.0) with a concealer brush (Smashbox, no. 4), , brightener (Smashbox, Photo Op - Under Eye Brightener), and powder when happy with your canvas (Make Up For Ever, High Definition Powder) with a brush (Sephora, Mineral Powder Brush - no. 45).
- Prepare your eyes for day wear with a shimmering gold. I've been addicted to Bourjois Shimmering Shine Liquid Eyeshadow because it's very shiny and I already have 4 colours so far. The colour I used here was 31 molecule d'or. For the day this is very pretty and this doesn't crease (let it dry before opening your eyes the first time after applying).

Just add some mascara and you have a very easy day look.
- I did a quick eye line in a gold colour (I used Urban Decay, 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Honey to make the colour pop even more and also used this on my lower lash line for a golden "halo".

If you want a daytime look that's a little more spunky for today, add the mascara now and draw a prettier line then I did, I did it roughly because I'm taking the look directly to the final eye.
- Over the gold eyeliner and under my brows I built on the gold with gold eyeshadow. (Urban Decay, DeLuxe Eyeshadow - Honey) with a Shadow Brush (Smashbox, no. 26).

- At this point make your eyebrows look amazing, if possible make them a little darker because the black will blend up pretty high and you don't want the eyebrow to not stand out.
- Now the more difficult part of this eye starts. I took cream eyeliner (Smashbox, Caviar) with a dome brush (Smashbox, no. 15 definer brush) in my crease, I used more at the base and blended it up with the same brush and less pressure the higher I got. This looks very wrong when you start the line, but trust me, it's all in the blending take your time.
In the deepest part of the crease, darken it even more with some black matte eyeshadow (Rimmel London, Colour Rush in 214).

Because of the Bourjois under and the eyeshadow over the cream eyeliner it won't budge.
- Now, I lined my waterlines with a waterproof eye liner (Smashbox, JetSet in Midnight Black & Smashbox, no. 20 Smudge Brush). I also made a line on my lash line at the top only because this will make the false lashes look more real (Smashbox, no. 21 arched liner brush), even though they're amazingly fake because they're feather lashes.
- I curled my lashes (Shu Uemura) and gave them one coat of mascara (Dior, Diorshow - Waterproof 090 Black) because I want to use these lashes again one day and if you put on the lashes and then use mascara you can't. Also the lashes I'm using now are feather lashes so blending the lashes with the falsies is not possible.

You can leave it like it is now, orrr you can add false lashes....
- Now I used the glue that came with the lashes to put these great feather lashes on my eyes. I used Essence Lash Mania lashes in 03 Show off! Make Up For Ever has similar lashes.


Have a great New Years everyone!!
I wish you all a happy and healthy 2009!

Big :hug:
CCee