Cee Me

The Green Scene

CCee — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:06:26 -0700

Hi everyone,

I got a package today.... and in it... Martini put some Giorgio Armani testers :D . Sooo naturally I had to try it right away... Here is a quick how to on the look and products I used in this look.

Face:
I started on a fresh face (after my bath I used my Dior Capture RX daycreme and eyecreme) with the Giorgio Armani - Fluid Master Primer which looks like a gel, but feels like a thicker form of Smashbox - Photofinish Foundation Primer. It glides over the skin like silk and my face felt soooo incredibly soft, I was amazed that something felt softer then the Photofinish. Also it's very light and doesn't feel heavy at all after a few minutes, no masklike sensation or anything. As a foundation I used the Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV Foundation in 5, which is a little too light for my skintone, but perfect for this look, making me look polished and gives me an alabaster skin. Also this is light enough to not look like your wearing a load of foundation, but also coloured enough to make you need very little concealer. So no concealer was needed, just a little highlighting with Yves Saint Laurent - Touche Eclat in no. 2.

Eyes:
As the base colour I'm using the shimmery white from the Benefit - Valley of the Stars (mini iridescence kit) as a colour all over my eyes using the Urban Decay - Shadow brush. I packed on the colour and when I was done I wanted to add a Geisha hint to the look, so I used the green pencil from the Urban Decay - VIP Travel Size Set of Five 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils in Covet on my waterline and under my eyes. I ended the line just on the end of my eyes, I then used the Urban Decay - Wonder Brush to make the line go on towards the end of my brow. This maked the line fade out, you can help the fade quicker by blending with your fingers, but I didn't do that here. Make sure both eyes look equal!!!

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry, the sun is still not shining which means bad lighting and using a flash means I have to be further away from the camera which kills the details.

Lips:
On my lips I used Bare Escentuals - Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish in Dolly

Poison Ivy (my Batman twist)

CCee — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:38:20 -0800

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.

Request for gray green eyes with speckles of hazel

CCee — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:14:35 -0700

Harrisons asked me to do an eye for her. She gave me a list of Urban Decay colours she has and this is the eye I cooked up:

But as usual before you can make a beautiful eye/face, you need a properly prepared eye/face.

Products in this picture:

Neutrogena, PureGlow - Cleansing Cushions
Sephora, Face Toner
Dior, Hydra Action - Eye Cream
No. 7, Restore & Renew - Serum
Clinique, Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturizer
Talika, Lipocils - Eyelash Gel

Preparation
I start with a scrub with my Cleansing Cushions. I then take the foam off with a little water (waking up the eyes in the process). To close my pores I use a gentle Face Toner.
To moisten and protect my skin I used a Hydra Action eye cream which has SPF in it on my eyes and I started with a Serum on my face before I applied Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturizer. I also bought a tube of Talika, Lipocils Eyelash Gel yesterday, because I want to see if my eyelashes actually look better if I use it. I hope I don't forget to use it twice a day the first month, but you guys will see if there is a difference during the next month.

Products in this picture:

Sephora, Concealer palette
The Body Shop, Concealer Brush
Benefit, Justine Case kit (using Some Kind-a Gorgeous)
Urban Decay, Eye Shadow Primer Potion

Face
To create a "flawless" base I used Some Kind-a Gorgeous, this is pretty sheer and feels very light for a cream foundation. Next up was a little mixture of the lightest and the pink colour from the Concealer palette under my eyes with the Concealer Brush. To be honest after placing the concealer I really found out I'd gotten used to the Smashbox concealer which is less cakey and more natural, this hides more, but also creases very easily. To finish this section I gave my eyes a proper base with Primer Potion.

Products in this picture:

Urban Decay, Shadow Box Ammo
Urban Decay, Urban Survival Kit
Urban Decay, Face Case - Side Show
Urban Decay, Skull Shadow Box
Urban Decay, Matte Eyeshadow - Naked
Talika, Eyebrow Extender Black
Sephora Brand Professionnel, Rounded Crease Brush - no. 13
Sephora Brand Professionnel, (no longer sold, the next best thing is their Small Synthetic Eyeshadow Brush no. 26)
Sephora Brand Professionnel, All Over Shadow Brush - Large no. 21
Unknown Brand, Mascara wand used for eyebrows
Sephora Brand Professionnel Platinum, Natural Dome Smudge Brush - no. 13
Max Factor, Masterpiece mascara
Sephora, Eyelashcurler

Eyes

I started off by creating a matte even base using the Naked eyeshadow and the no. 21 All over shadow brush.

I placed Maui Wowie (from the Ammo box) on my inner corner working to halfway across my eye with a Large Shadow Brush no. 8. This brush gives you perfect placement with minimum fallout.

The next colour I took up was Last Call from the Ammo box. Using the same no. 8 brush only now cleaned and damp to get a deeper colour. I placed this on the other half of my eyelid and I didn't blend. I let it dry before taking the next colour.

I took up Midnight Cowboy Rides Again from the Urban Survival Kit . Using the dome brush I placed it in the inner corner of my eye, giving it a highlight creating more open eyes and the gold in this will work well with the hazel flecks in Harrisons eye. If you place the brush on your closed corner, you will get perfect placement without brushing the colour and thereby minimizing fallout.

By now the Last Call is certainly dry and I took up the Crease brush with Last call on the tip of the brush only to blend the Last Call into Maui Wowie. I also used this brush and colour to darken the crease.

For deepening the colour at the outer corner I used Crash from the Side Show Face Case . These face cases are no longer sold, but you can get most of the colours loose from the Urban Decay website (and Sephora too).
I used the dome brush (cleaned on a towel) for placement on my outer quarter of my upper eyelid and on my lower lash line fading the colour out after going in 1/3.

The next colour I used was Vert from the Skull Shadow Box . This is a very pigmented matte green perfect for the rest of the under eyelash line (starting a little inward, blending it only at the edge with the Midnight Cowboy Rides again and with the Crash.
This is not like mixing Fishnet with Graffiti, no blue will appear magically, the colours will just blend into each other creating a nice gradient at the middle of your lower lash line.

At this point I was almost done, I used another Talika product I bought yesterday, it's the Eyebrow Extender Black. This has small fibers in it creating a darker and more full brow. Next spring the fuller brow is very much in fashion and I was thinking of thickening them like this without actually plucking any less hairs. Also I've been reading about 3 week extensions you can get placed on your eyebrow hairs and eyebrow transplantations lately, I'm not doing any of that, don't worry, I love my brows, but seeing how much attention is going to people's brows coming spring, makes me try out some things this winter.

I used my Sephora Eyelashcurler and a Max Factor black Masterpiece mascara to finish the eye.

I hope you're happy with the look Harrisons!!
And I hope everybody else is still enjoying the blogs and my rambling through the tutorials.

Here is another picture to show you how far fall has come here. I loved the colours in the trees so much and this is actually the view outside of my window.

Challenge 9 - Jennifer Lopez @ Daredevil Premiere (October 12, 2008)

CCee — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:44:39 -0700

PeachyKeen19 came up with this great Jennifer Lopez look. I wanted to recreate this with small bundles of lashes. But these are actually pretty wide when taken out of the packet so the effect of 5 loose bundles of lashes disappears, so I'm a bit disappointed about that, but still like the look.

Challenge:

My version:

Don't pay attention to the changing lights and me squinting, the sun kept coming out and then going away again.

Preparation
I started by cleaning my face with a mixture of dermalogica Skin Prep scrub and Shiseido The Skincare Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam.

Products used
I completely forgot to take a picture, so here is a list of what I used for this look:

Smashbox, Green Room Hybrid 2 in 1 - Luminizing Primer
Lancaster, Infinite Bronze - Face Bronzer 15 SPF
Smashbox, Lip & Lid Primer
Smashbox, Natural Glow Fusion - Soft Lights Cheek Palette
Smashbox, Half Moon Brush
Smashbox, Photo Op - Under Eye brightener
YSL, Palette Sensation Soleil - Make Up Palette no. 1
Smashbox, Camera Ready Concealer - 3.0
Smashbox, Concealer brush - no. 4
Smashbox, Shadow brush - no. 26
Mark, Eyeshadow - Nomade
Smashbox, Definer brush - no. 15
Mark, Eyeshadow - Dragonfly
Clinique, Brush On Cream Liner - True Black
Sephora Brand Professionnel, Pointed Liner/Eyeliner Brush - no. 17
Sephora, Eyelashcurler
Dior, Diorshow
U.M.A., Your lashes boost - Individual lashes

Face

On my face I used a mixture of 50% Hybrid 2 in 1 and Infinite Bronze to create a more bronzed look. I didn't use a foundation even though Jennifer did use a foundation and a lot of bronzer because it's starting to get winter and looking really bronzed looks fake on my skin. Using the Half Moon Brush I used some Natural Glow to bronze up a little but keep it real. I used the same Half Moon brush again to place some of the bronzer from the Palette Sensation Soleil bronzer as a contour colour. This colour is more sheer then the normal contouring powders.

I used some Photo Op to lighten up my eyes:

I used some concealer with a concealer brush and with my fingers I patted in some lid primer:

I used my no. 26 Shadow brush to place Mark Cosmetics Nomade all over my eye.

With the definer brush I placed Dragonfly just above the lashes and blended the colour out.

With a pointed eyeliner brush I placed a thin line of Brush On Cream Liner in black against my top lashes only.

Using the eyelash curler I curled my lashes a little and used my Diorshow as a mascara.
Jennifer used a normal set of lashed which had these spikes. I wanted to do the same using individual bundles of lashes. I used 5 pieces per eye. But I found out they where a lot wider then I thought when I got then out of the packet because they went out a lot more. So the spikey effect is gone, but I still like the look. If you want to recreate it, use either individual lashes that don't fan out or use a normal set of lashes that are set spikey or cut them spikey.

Final eye:

Challenge 5 - Beyonce Knowles (@ Today's Show April 2007 (September 21, 2008)

CCee — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:20:03 -0700

Here is the Beyonce look I did. I do have to say that I have a VERY DIFFERENT skin tone. But I created this eye:

I remember this look and went in search for more pictures. I found that it was a look she had on the Today's Show on April 2007th. I also noticed that in some screens she had more pink on top of the green then on others, so I kept it noticeable, but not screaming PINK!!! I thought I'd show you all the eyes I found of this look:

It's Sunday, so that means I take extra good care of my skin.

Products in this picture:

Neutrogena, PureGlow - Microdermabrasion System
Clinique, Continuous Resque Antioxidant Moisturiser
Shiseido, The Skincare - Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam
Bliss, Thinny Thin Chin
Dermalogica, Skin Hydrating Masque

Preparation
Before using the Microdermabrasion System I cleansed first using the Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam.

Now that the skin is clean and without dead skin cells I moisturised with Continuous Rescue Antioxidant Moisturiser on my face and Thinny Thin Chin on my chin and neck area. I had very dry skin around my eyes, I think it's because I was rubbing my eyes a lot yesterday (there was something under my lens and even though I took it out, cleansed it and put it back in, my eye kept feeling raw). To care for my eye area a little more I used the Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Mask there. Now you're not supposed to leave it on the skin, but I do because my skin eats this stuff. I did decide not to use a primer over this on my eyes though.

I don't know if it's noticeable in the picture, but my skin is already less tight and more plump.

Products in this picture:

Smashbox, Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15 & Dermaxyl™
Smashbox, High Definition Healthy FX Foundation in Light L3
Smashbox, Travel Foundation Brush
Smashbox, Camera Ready Concealer in 3.0
Smashbox, Concealer Brush no. 4
Smashbox, Photo Op Under Eye Brightener
Make Up For Ever, Super Matte Loose Powder in no. 12
Sephora Professionnel, Minderal Powder Brush no. 45
Smashbox, Bronzer/Blush Duo in Contour/Pop

Face
After being so nice to my skin, I had to stay nice with pea size amount of Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15 & Dermaxyl™ all over my face (except on eyes). You may have noticed I don't use this very often, I have a little tube and I try to only use it on special occasions or when my skin feels like it needs a little extra even after foundation. This primer also has anti-aging ingredients and vitamins, peptides and UVA/UVB SPF 15 (to quote the big sales pitch), but I do feel like when I use this my skin is extra protected and I like knowing I'm caring for my skin with makeup. Maybe that's why I love the High Definition Healthy FX Foundation (applied with the Travel Foundation brush), the name makes me feel like I'm caring for my skin. It could have something to do with only the name, but I do remember after using my first expensive foundation (when I was 16 or something my mum gave me a Helena Rubenstein foundation), when I took of the foundation, my skin still felt soft and hydrated, that had never happened before. Anyway, here is my eye (foundation used everywhere but on the eyelid and crease), after primer and foundation:

As a concealer I think the Camera Ready Concealer in 3.0 fits my skin tone perfectly, I use it more then the Concealer palette (Sephora) I used before. It's easier as well, without the mixing and everything, but when my circles are dark I do go back to the palette. I applied the Concealer with the no. 4 concealer brush and blended this well with the surrounding skin.

I tend to use the Photo Op Under Eye Brightener over the concealer to not have the brightening effect hidden by the concealer, also I think this makes the skin shine though the concealer a little and that makes it more real. I pat this into the skin using my ring finger.

I used Super Matte Loose Powder to set the base of my face. Because the eye is to intense and the lips are very strong I needed my skin to look real but not shiney, so I used minimal powder just to kill any shine to do this I used a Mineral Powder Brush to buff a little into the skin. I used the same brush very lightly to add the Bronzer Contour on my jawline and under my cheekbones. I also used a little from my temple to the corner of the eye.

I kept the contouring very light, and it's almost unnoticeable on the picture, but you can see my face looks warmer in the second picture:

I thought a lot about creating the same shimmery green black and I know that MAC has a shadestick called sharkskin that (if it looks the way I think it does) should work very well as a colour base. I don't have the shadestick so I used a couple of other things that I think most women have.

Products in this picture:

Bliss, LipPlump
Smashbox, Cream Eyeliner Palette (using Caviar only)
Urban Decay, Lip Envy in Greedy (deep berry Item # 26530)
Smashbox, JetSet in Mignight Black
Smashbox, Arced Liner Brush no. 21
Smashbox, Shadow Brush no. 26
The Body Shop, Slanted Brush
The Body Shop, retractable lip brush
Urban Decay, Eyeshadow, Mildew (deep green Item # 31300)
Urban Decay, Rockstar Palette (not sold anymore) using the colour Hotpants (medium pink Item # 36300)
Christian Dior, Diorshow in black
L'Oreal Lipstick (no longer sold) in 625
Sephora, Lesson 1 - Smokey eyes (using the matte black only)
Sephora, Eyelash Curler

Eyes
Beyonce doesn't have highlighted brows, so I left them like this and didn't use highbrow. The first colour on my eyelid was the Caviar Cream Eyeliner placing it with my fingers to create a sticky darker base that's blended well at the edges (up to the crease). You can use any black cream shadow for this, but I only had a cream liner.

Because the pink on Beyonce's eyes could be lighting I didn't want to overdo the colour, but I did think it would look fun so I added Hotpants to the top of my crease at this point. By placing it now when blending the green up later the colour will be less noticeable but still there.
Hotpants is this colour:

Placement (with no. 26 Smashbox Shadow Brush):

I have a matte black eyeshadow in the Sephora, Lesson 1 - Smokey eyes palette and used this, again you can use any matte black eyeshadow. The reason I'm using matte is because it's usually darker and I want only the green shimmer. I used the Shadow Brush no. 26 for this because it's fluffy and doesn't add a bulk of colour where you place the brush but also doesn't create fallout. Also you can use this brush for blending as well if you only add the colour to one side of the brush.
Here is the shape of the brush close up:

And the eye after blending the black into the pink a little:

Using the Arced Liner Brush I lined both my waterlines using JetSet in Midnight Black, I went a little over the waterline at the outer corner making the eye look a little more almond shaped.

Next I packed the No. 26 bush (cleaned on a dry towel) with Mildew. I then patted the colour into the skin on my eyelid and I then used a quick horizontal brushing motion to make the shadow look more metallic. I then turned the brush (that the clean side is on the side of the eyebrow, and pushed the brush into the crease while looking normal), now I used a windscreen wiper motion and went slowly upward blending the colour out but keeping it from going to much into the pink. If this way scares you, use a normal crease brush for blending in the crease, but be careful not to make the pink vanish. I chose this way because now you have more control over the blending.

At this point I used the Slanted Brush to push the matte black I used before into the lash line, make sure you don't go to low with this, this is a smokey eye, but she's not going down as much. I then used the same brush to add the Mildew to the bottom lash line too. If you do go to low, take a Q-tip and erase the hard line and place some concealer on the tip/top of your finger and using a (downward) windscreen wiper motion blend the concealer up, making the bottom colours less low.

When I look down you see how short the blending is:

Now it was time for curling the lashes and adding two coats of normal Diorshow:

Lips
On my lips I used LipPlump as a base, to keep the colours looking bright longer. I then used Lip Envy in Greedy, which is a lip stain that actually stains your lips for a longer period of time. I love this colour, but because it's matte I had to add a little 625 on top using a retractable lip brush.

Soooo what do you ladies think?
Do you like the watermark?