Ever since I picked up the insanely bright lip tar in Anime, I’ve wanted to wear it. After experimenting with a few lip combinations on Thursday night, I decided I would wear it to work on Friday. This is a toned down version of it, since I didn’t think it would be appropriate to go into work with neon lips. Even with that said, I received some compliments at work, which is always nice. Initially I was going to do a neutral eye, but decided that I’d incorporate more pink into the look as a sort of subtle smokey look.

Think Pink

Face

• Make Up Forever HD Elixir
• Make Up Forever HD Concealer / 345
• Make Up Forever HD Foundation / 153
• MAC Eye Shadow / Mineral
• MAC Brow Set / Clear
• MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush / Dollymix
• MAC Matte Blush / House Wine (contour)
• MAC Studio Fix Powder / NC42

Eyes

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance
• GOSH Tropical Eye Pencil / Pure Pink
• MAC Eye Shadow / Et Tu Bouquet, Vex, Silver Ring, Pen ‘N’ Pink, Copperplate, Omega, Print (upper)
• Et Tu Bouqet, Vex, Silver Ring (lower)
• Bobbi Brown Gel Liner / Black Ink

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Even though the weather hasn’t been particularly seasonal around here, my skin would tell a different story.  Every year as the air gets colder and drier my skin reflects that, and up until a few years ago it was a major problem.

I would go through bottles and bottles of body lotion to no avail.  The heavy creams ended up breaking me out or aggravating eczema without resolving the dry skin, and so it became a frustrating battle of trying to mend the dry skin without setting off the sensitivities.

Then I was introduced to a product by Oil of Olay; the In-Shower Body Lotion.  It is packaged in a yellow bottle, but don’t confuse it with the shea butter body wash.  While I still occasionally use the product, it was more the technique that came along with it.  The In-Shower Body Lotion suggests that you apply the product after you’ve used your usual soap or body wash, rinse and pat dry.  I suppose you could liken it to a conditioner for the body, putting it on after your ’shampoo’ and then rising.

By altering that step, I can now use my usual body butter/lotion/cream and get the moisture I’m looking for.  Once I get out of the shower, I put my lotion on before I dry off.

Yep.

It may sound a bit bizarre, but I find that the moisturizer seals in the water that’s already on my skin.  Instead of expecting the product to do all the work, it works with the water to hydrate my skin all day.  The other benefit is that I use a lot less product, since it smooths over damp skin a lot easier than it does dry skin.  This paired with regular exfoliation keeps my dry skin in check, until the warmer months roll back around.

Edited to add (thanks to @AwwLawdItsEb):
This technique can also be used on the face.  Before I put on my moisturizer and sunscreen I just mist my face with distilled water.  I keep the water in a small travel size spray bottle that I picked up from the drug store.  You don’t need to soak your face, just enough to see a light sheen.  I found I also used a lot less product this way too, which is important for those expensive face creams and serums!

This past weekend I was at the Sephora in Yorkdale and saw that they had the By Lauren Luke kits in stock!  To say I was excited would have been an understatement, and the fact that they were packaged with an extra gloss just sealed the deal for me.  It was difficult to pick just one (for now), but I decided on My Vintage Glams because I felt the colour combination was fun and fresh.  This is my first time really playing with it, but I’m pretty happy with the results.  Especially the lips, they came out quite a bit brighter than I imagined.

By Lauren Luke: My Vintage Glams

Face

• Make Up Forever HD Elixir
• Make Up For Ever HD Foundation / 153
• Make Up For Ever HD Concealer / 345
• MAC Brow / Stud
• MAC Brow Set / Clear
• By Lauren Luke Blush / Berry Cream
• By Lauren Luke Eye Shadow / Petticoat Pink (highlight)
• Make Up For Ever HD Powder

Eyes

• Too Face Shadow Insurance
• By Lauren Luke Cream Eye Liner / Raven Black (base)
• By Lauren Luke Eye Shadow / Silver Slippers, Red Wine & Petticoat Pink
• By Lauren Luke Cream Eye Liner / Raven Black

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Miss Shayla from Reflections of a Rêve Noir tagged Beauty Thesis as one of her 15 most frequently read blogs! This is my first tag ever, so I’m excited.. yay!

The rules:

• To accept this award: Post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
• Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
• Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award

Frequent Reads: Blogs & Tags

The first three ladies; Saadeh, Beda & Shayla I met at the Temptalia forums. We’ve been sharing looks and swapping tips & tricks for quite a while. Last month I actually got a chance to meet up with Saadeh at IMATS – good times! :]

• Beauty Spot: shadowylady.blogspot.com
• Beda’s Beauty Blog: bedasbeautyblog.blogspot.com
• Reflections of a Rêve Noir: reve-noir.blogspot.com

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In honour of World AIDS Day I rocked a very red lip yesterday, featuring a MAC lipstick called MAC Red.  Since I don’t own the red Viva Glam lipstick (yet), I thought this was a good alternative.

Established in 1994 by M·A·C Cosmetics, the M·A·C AIDS Fund supports men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. Introducing its first VIVA GLAM lipstick that same year, M·A·C decided that every cent of the selling price of the VIVA GLAM lipsticks would go to the M·A·C AIDS Fund. With a total of six shades of Viva Glam lipstick and two shades of Viva Glam lipglass now sold worldwide, and through the annual Kids Helping Kids Card Program, M·A·C Cosmetics has provided over $135 million (US) to date for the M·A·C AIDS Fund. The M·A·C AIDS Fund is the heart and soul of the company – with its employees giving their time, energy and talent to help those affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide. (from macaidsfund.org)

Red For A Cause

Face

• Make Up Forever HD Elixir
• Make Up For Ever HD Foundation / 153
• MAC Eye Shadow / Mineral
• MAC Brow Set / Clear
• MAC Mineralize Blush / Nuance
• MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush / Otherworldly
• MAC Gel Blush / Just A Pinch
• Ben Nye Banana Visage Poudre

Eyes

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance
• MUFE Eye Shadow / 156
• MAC Eye Shadow / Tete-A-Tint, Saddle, A Little Folie
• MAC Eye Pencil / Coffee
• MAC Eye Shadow / Mineral
• L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara / Carbon Black

Lips

• Pür Minerals Pür Balm
• MAC Lip Pencil / Cherry
• MAC Satin Lipstick / MAC Red

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Five Favourites / November 2009

Pür Minerals Pür Balm
This is a product that was rediscovered.  I picked it up at the drugstore quite some time ago, and never got into using it.  A multi-purpose product is always appreciated and now that the weather is getting colder and drier, this is a staple in my makeup bag.  It’s loaded with tons of oils (olive, sweet almond, mandarin orange to name a few) as well as various extracts.  I love that it’s small enough to be very portable and works just as well on lips as it does on nails.
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I just wanted to say that last week had me caught up with some important things that kept me from updating. No worries though, everything is well and this week will have a slew of updates.

What’s coming up this week:

• Annabelle Review
• E.L.F. Review
• FotD [completed]
• MAC Permanent Lipstick Stash
• Sephora Haul [completed]

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

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