Express Daylight Savings Makeover

Posted in Face Painting by maggerific

Remember that whole time change thing? If you’re like me you went to bed too late on Saturday night (1:59 suddenly turned into 3:00 am) and then overslept on Sunday. I happened to glance at my watch at 2:30 pm on Sunday (still feeling every bit 1pm at the time) while lazily watching the classic 10 Things I Hate About You. I panicked, realizing I had to be at my hostessing gig at 3 pm. It took me a whopping ten minutes to find an outfit to wear. Note to self: organize closet better. I had five minutes to straighten my ends, dry shampoo, and tease my roots to hide my hat hair. That left less than ten minutes to make my face presentable.

BEFORE: looking every bit as washed out as you’d expect of an east-coaster at the end of winter

THE TOOLS:

Nars tinted moisturizer

Nars blush in Orgasm

Nars eye trio in Arabian Nights + Paula Dorf angel liner brush

I started out with my Nars tinted moisturizer. It evened out my skintone incredibly well and gave me a little bit of color. To think this is usually a hare to light on me and offers so much coverage in the winter makes me a bit depressed. I always try to make sure it’s good and dry before I put on any blush or I will get highly pigmented cheeks. My go-to blush is Nars Orgasm. It always adds the right flushed color with a nice little shimmer to perk things up a bit. Next I added water to an angled liner brush and used the shimmery black shade in my Arabian Nights eye trio by Nars (do you see a theme of my favorite makeup brand?) and lined the top and bottom of my lashline. Since I didn’t have time to do anything fancy I connected the two lines at the outside corner of my eye for added dramatic impact and OOMPH. With just a few simple products I already felt like I could’ve run out the door. With two minutes left I had enough time to add some shadow.

This look is from only three products!

Using Urban Decay’s Naked palette I swiped the light pink Sin across my lids. I then brushed Sidecar onto my crease. Eyes done. For my lips I used Laqa & Co’s Lil’ Lip crayon in Ring of Fire and Laura Mercier’s lip glace in Rose. I purchased the lip glace last year as part of the shop for a cause line, which benefits the Laura Mercier Ovarian Cancer Fund. Please check out this year’s products as it goes to a charity near and dear to my heart.

a slice of the Urban Decay Naked palette

Laqa & Co Lil’ Lip in Ring of Fire + Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Rose

Lip gloss applied, it was time to race (while driving carefully, of course) to the restaurant! Luckily for me I live less than five minutes away. The lights were in my favor and I arrived on time. Then, to my horror, I realized I forgot mascara!! Luckily, I still had a tube of Eyeko Black Magic hiding in my pocketbook. Did you know you can use the reflection off a black screensaver in a pinch? I think it came out pretty nicely!

made it to work!

While I normally love to spend lots of time playing with my different makeup looks this one was nice and easy and it worked within my time constraints. What’s your makeup-to-go routine? Do you stick with your comfort brands when you’re in a rush?

Until next time!

26Jan2015

Review: When Travelmate Sheet Mask

Posted in Face Painting by maggerific

I had recently reviewed the Dr. Jart+ pore minimalist mask reaching a disappointed conclusion. Imagine my nerves/excitement/dread when the When Travelmate Sheet Mask showed up in my January Birchbox. I had to try it the first night.

from birchbox.com

This mask was MUCH messier to open and apply than the last mask. It also had the funny flip open nose. Unlike the open and go Dr. Jart+ mask this one had two sheets to take off. Next time I plan on using my bathroom counter rather than my initial mistake of opening the thing standing in the middle of my bedroom. I maybe shouldn’t have picked such a bitter cold night to do the mask, because at first the serum was FREEZING! And it was thick. Once I warmed up it felt nice. It didn’t tingle, but it felt really clean, like my favorite Nars night cream (the recently discontinued aqua gel hydrator). If I looked like I had on a wooden mask with the Dr. Jart+ one, this was even more disconcerting.

my alien looking face definitely startled me!

Voldemort

ODO

Hatchettfish

I could see my face but it was covered in goo. All my features were distorted and I looked like an alien. At one point I passed myself in the mirror and jumped. OOPS! This mask stayed on for thirty minutes, and honestly I could have kept it on longer quite comfortably. It didn’t irritate my eyes and it clung to my face almost perfectly (still a few tricky spots along my jaw line, maybe I’m oddly shaped). My only real complaint is that it didn’t get the sides of my nose, a big problem area for me. Another plus is that the sheet mask does not need to be washed off when finished. My face felt incredibly fresh once I took the mask off. It reminded me of that post-facial glow.

I loved this mask so much that (the next day!) I already logged onto Birchbox and bought an entire box of these masks. At $28 for four masks the price is a little steep. I won’t lie, I used some Birchbox points to bring the price down. Regardless, I think the masks are fantastic and will make a nice weekly treat for myself. I may even buy the sampler pack down the road to try out some of When’s other products.

5Jan2015

Review: Dr. Jart+ Pore Minimalist Mask

Posted in Face Painting, Uncategorized by maggerific

Dr. Jart+ pore minimalist mask

I received the Dr. Jart+ Pore Minimalist in my November Birchbox. I hadn’t done any research into this product, so this is more or less a blind review. After a whirlwind month of late nights at work, social events, and just plain winter fatigue I hadn’t gotten a chance to treat myself to a mask. My face needed this. Badly. Winter dries me out big time and due to a recent hormone flux I had a small teenage style breakout across my forehead. I was not taking proper care of my skin. Did you know that when your skin is dried out it can become even oilier? True fact.

One of my New Years resolutions was to take better care of my skin. I’ve rushed out of the house without moisturizer a few times. Fallen asleep without taking off my makeup. All the beauty sins I tell all my friends to avoid. Last night I got home and kind of stamped my foot (quietly, I have neighbors downstairs!) and said it’s time to give your face some loving.

Let’s start with the packaging. It appears there is no front or back. The foil pouch has lots of serum in it that the mask must soak in. It was folded up into a little square and was a little messy coming out. Even the nose piece is folded up, and folds out over your nose. It didn’t cover the tip of my nose, though, which I thought kind of needed some extra love as well. I kind of expected the mask to suck onto my face and stick there. While it (mostly) stayed in place, it didn’t cling on. The sides and the chin didn’t stay on at all. I kept pushing it down or holding it in place.

I look like I’m wearing a carved wooden mask.

The mask didn’t have a particularly fragrant smell, but it still kind of irritated my eyes. Not to the point of allergy, but it wasn’t pleasant either. Maybe I should’ve put little cucumbers on and pretended to be in a spa. I was actually too busy watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I took turns laughing at the show and laughing at my reflection in the mirror. I actually looked funnier than when I put on any of my cream face masks. It reminded me of a Jacques Nestlé painting I sit across from at work.

inverse colors of my mask

After 15-20 minutes I removed the mask. I like that you do not have to rinse off your face once finished. Silly as that sounds, it can be a deterrent for doing a nighttime mask. That would mean washing my face again. Meanwhile, I had plenty of time to make silly faces in the mirror before removing the mask. I expected more of a glowing face when the mask was removed. Overall, I was pretty disappointed. I would be open to trying this again if I received another sample, but I would not actively seek this out as a purchase. In the meantime, I can happily say I remembered to moisturize before I left the house this morning!

maggerific

come for the polka dots stay for the magnificence

Tag Archives: makeup

Express Daylight Savings Makeover

Review: When Travelmate Sheet Mask

Review: Dr. Jart+ Pore Minimalist Mask