One of my favourite birthstone series was done by one of my favourite YouTube gurus EmsyJay. Browse through her videos to have a look at her work.

Birthstone Series: Sapphire

Face

• Revlon ColorStay Makeup / 370 Toast
• MAC Studio Finish Concealer / NC42
• NYX Lip Liner Pencil / 1000 Years
• MAC Brow Set / Clear
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish / By Candlelight (highlight), Brunette (blush)
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural / Medium Dark
• MAC Blot Powder / Dark

Eyes

• ELF / Eye Primer
• MAC Eye Shadow / Moon’s Reflection (inner half), Submarine (outer half), Contrast (outer v & crease)
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural / Medium Dark (transition)
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish / By Candlelight (brow highlight)
• Bobbi Brown Gel Liner / Denim Ink (upper lash line)
• N.Y.C. FlatLiner Eye Pencil / 866B Metropolitan (lower lash line)
• L’Oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara / Carbon Black

Lips

• NYX Lip Liner Pencil / 1000 Years
• Maybelline Mineral Power Lipcolour / 200 Nude Shell

Birthstone Series: Sapphire 2

Birthstone Series: Sapphire 3

Birthstone Series: Sapphire Close Up

Intense Smokey vs Subtle Smokey

I used the same products again, with the exception of using the plum liner as a coloured base to bump up the intense look.

• Urban Decay Primer Potion / Original
• Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner / Plum
• Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow / Purple Icon 30)
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural / Medium Deep (transition colour)
• Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner / Blackest Black
• Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara / Very Black

Purple Icon Review:
If you’re into purples, this quad will definitely grab your attention.  The first shade is an iridescent white gold, with a pink/lilac shimmer to it. The second shade is a stunning example of a light purple with a pink duochrome effect. While there is a visual difference in the pan and in swatches, the third plum shade didn’t really do much for me. The deepest shade, a smokey purple is absolutely gorgeous.

There is no denying the colours are gorgeous in this quad, but I found that the shimmer finish was really overwhelming here. I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the subtle shift in the third colour because once applied, the reflection takes away from the depth of the shade. All but the second shade are quite shimmery with noticeable glitter, which in my opinion is just too much for most people. On a more positive note, the formulation is consistent with the other quads, and is very soft and easy to blend.

Which of the two looks do you prefer, or do you like both?

Classic vs Smokey: Sunset Seduction

Just like the first time around, I used the same products for simplicity’s sake.  The one exception was the liner.  In the classic look, I used the charcoal gel liner, whereas in the smokey look I used the brown liner for the waterlines.

• Urban Decay Primer Potion / Original
• MAC Paint Pot / Coral Crepe
• Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow / Sunset Seduction (100)
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural / Medium Dark (transition colour)
• Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner / Charcoal
• MAC Eye Pencil / Coffee
• Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions Mascara / Very Black

Sunset Seduction Review:
Visually, I found this quad to be rather unassuming.  It appears to be a typical neutral combination, but in truth there is nothing typical about it.  The first colour is a very pretty iridescent pink, which blends perfect with the peach shade.  The third shade is a slightly plum tinted brown, which adds a nice cool element to the warmth of the other colours.  The fourth colour is a rich, deep brown which is dark enough to contour and line softly with.

Again, the formulation is easy to blend and leaves a very smooth finish.  Like the last quad, there was one colour that wasn’t quite as smooth; the dark brown.  In comparison to the aqua of the last quad, the brown had a lot less fall out but I feel like they shared the same infusion of gold.  I found myself left wanting for a matte shadow, but again I just used a face powder to blend out as necessary.

I quite like this quad and I feel like it’s a great way to get into the peach & coral craze for the summer months.

Which of the two looks do you prefer, or do you like both?

As the first post in the series, I wanted to feature Irresistibly Ivy because this is my favourite quad of the bunch.  I actually bought it myself before I received the kit, because it really caught my attention.  Two looks were created to showcase the versatility of the quad.  I know that some people can be thrown off by bright colours, but this deep aqua shade is very wearable – whether in a more bold look or in something a bit softer.

Dramatic vs. Soft: Irresistibly Ivy

I decided to used the same products for both looks to keep things straightforward and simple. Again, it just shows that with the same products you can come up with a variety of looks depending on your preferences.

• Urban Decay Primer Potion / Original
• Styli-Style Line & Seal 24 Twist for Eyes / 172 Emerald
• Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow / Irresistibly Ivy (90)
• MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural / Medium Deep (transition colour)
• Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner / Blackest Black
• Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara / Very Black

Irresistibly Ivy Review:
What really grabbed my attention with this quad was the colour combination, the three neutrals make for a great look on their own but the added aqua really bumps it up.  Personally, I feel like this is the quintessential summer quad because aqua is such a great look for the season.  When you use it all over the lid or just along the upper or lower lash line, the pop of colour switches up the usual gold/bronze looks you see at this time of year.

The formulation of the shadows is quite nice and they blended easily, although I did find that the aqua colour was not as smooth as the others.  This might be due to the infusion of gold through it, which is pretty – but I did need to clean up some fallout after using this colour.  My only major problem with this quad (and with the entire line) is that all of the colours are frost or shimmer.  This is a personal preference, so I just used a face powder in place of a matte shadow to blend things out to my taste.

All in all, I think this quad is pretty good and definitely worth checking out.

Which of the two looks do you prefer, or do you like both?

Colour Wheel

In the excitement of IMATS, I forgot about something I did a week or two ago.

I wanted to play with colour and instead of just picking some colours, I dug out my colour wheel. It’s just a small one that I picked up at Michaels, and it is a few layers deep with cutouts showing colour combinations based on colour theory.

A color wheel (also referred to as a color circle) is a visual representation of colors arranged according to their chromatic relationship. Begin a color wheel by positioning primary hues equidistant from one another, then create a bridge between primaries using secondary and tertiary colors.

- worqx.com

I decided to attempt a triad. I’m not really sure how I feel about the end result, but I definitely had fun trying to figure out how I might make it work. The core colours used were three eye shadows from MAC; Red Brick, Violet Trance and Lime. Red Brick and Lime are both Pro items, and Violet Trance is limited edition (recently released with the Makeup Art Cosmetics collection).

Triad: Teracotta-Indigo-Lime

In terms of self evaluation:

• the inner highlight could have been blended more thoroughly
• sharper definition in the crease
• BROWWWWWWWWWWWS!   they have since been cleaned up, lol