Inspired by a Brilliant Brunette

I was checking out Jacqueline's blog that can be found here and was inspired to work with bright blue and bronze. I swatched these colors that I used from the 88 Low Shimmer Palette but I was low on time and the picture did not come out well so I had to leave it out. Let me know if you would like the swatch and I can put something up later on tonight.

Makeup Forever meets the 88

Time is not on my side lately. I was not able to get the shadow names onto the swatch pic because the clock was ticking and my job was calling. The first four colors shown are Makeup Forever and the last two are from the 88. Despite my inability to get the names in, I think that having the swatches provided will enable you to dupe the colors with products that are existing in your own collection.

More with Calypso Minerals

After receiving a cornucopia of colors via usps, I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed at the gorgeous and unique colors put out by Calypso Minerals. I know there has been some drama as of late and honestly, I can't speak much to that because my experience was positive. Throughout the entire order process, Jen [the mastermind behind the brand] was open communicative and friendly but most importantly, the product speaks for itself. I heard a rumor that the colors are just purchased and repackaged and let's face it, there is nothing short of a glut of small mineral retailers that seem to come out with similar colors. I am not stupid, I like to think I am pretty savvy and I do know the deal with a lot of these companies but I do not believe this to be the case with Calypso. Just look at her new fall mattes. Maybe I am not looking hard enough but I don't see colors like that anywhere from other mineral companies.

In the end, I can only speculate about these things because I am not with Jen as the colors are being formulated. All I can be sure about is what I see or don't see or am not seeing and what I am not seeing is any other companies with the color range of Calypso Minerals.

I trust three companies to provide me with amazing and unique pigments; Calypso Mineral Beauty, Heavenly Natural Beauty [and this reminds me, I need to replenish my Lemmy Lime!]and Fyrinnae Cosmetics.

So, enough with the diatribe and onto some makeup. I used Calypso for this face of the day and I am really loving this color Red Red Whine. It is interesting; the red microfine sparkle is very intense but you can buff out the edges to create a smoldering effect. Just take care not to buff along the surface of the eye or you will subdue all that gorgeous reddish copper color.


Bandana is actually much brighter than it looks on me. I toned it down with a sheer wash of bronze over it because the initial look was a little too in your face with the brightness.

Drag It On

I took a trip into NYC for some makeup and supplies. I also needed to find a wig and some other components to pull my Halloween costume together and also for the costume of my five year old nephew who is going to be Edward Scissorhands.

Whenever I visit the makeup mecca that is NYC, I am inspired to create. Well, it may also have something to do with the desire to jump into whatever I hauled during my trip. Makeup-wise, the past week has been bountiful. I received a large order from Calypso Minerals whose linked I posted in my previous post. I also got some needed supplies from Makeup Forever and Alcone. Alcone is located in the Time Square area and has everything a pro makeup artist would need. It is heaven despite the sales associates being bored and less than helpful.

At Makeup Forever, I left with the new catalog. On one of the pages is a small section that showcases some of Dany Sanz's sketches for makeup ideas. Dany Sanz is the creator of Makeup Forever and is also an accomplished painter and sculptor. Needless to say, her face charts are special and delightful to look at.

This look was inspired by one of the sketches but I dragged it out.

When I get home, I will swatch the components but I used a little bit of everything here; Makeup Forever, Calypso Minerals, the 88 palette and a touch of NYX.

The first photo was my first attempt that was done in the middle of the night when I jumped out of bed because I was compelled to get this look down on something tangible.

Purples for Browns

I love purple. I lover purple on the eye, cheeks and lips and the bolder the better. This is definitely not one of my more sedate looks but everyone needs a little drama now and then.

I have been working with Calypso Minerals for the past week since receiving some of the nicest mattes I have ever seen. You can check out the site here for a very unique and innovative array of colors.

Calypso Mineral Beauty

You Stay Classy

I spent a lot of time with a lot of makeup on my face yesterday so this morning, I woke up in a sort of cosmetics hangover. I still wanted to look polished and there is nothing unpolished about a classic winged eye, falsies and a strong lip.

Incidentally, I am addicted to false lashes. I finally got the hang of them this weekend and I will be wearing them everyday, I think. However, I do not love the ones that I am wearing now. They are all length and no substance. I like length but I want volume too and there is nothing wrong with wanting it all.

On my lips is Show Orchid by Revlon. I am really digging this bold, frosted pink.

Break It Down for Jackie Beat

I don't think a tutorial is going to happen for this look. For one, it took a long time to do this and also, I never replaced my camera. I think that I have been slow in replacing the cam because YT has had this growing vibe of weird negativity. I am so, incredibly thankful for my awesome viewers who show their kindness and support and take the time to express that they liked the videos that I made. I always tried to address the comments and letters and just do my best in putting out something worthwhile. However, I have VERY thin skin and the number of racially charged comments and others such as comments that ridicule my weight, teeth, beauty marks and what have you get to me. I don't mean do devalue any of the wonderful things that my subs have written to me but open up some comments where someone calls me a spick or a wetback and it ruins my day.

My friend Josh is amazing. He just shrugs it off and I have tried but always seem to come up short. If someone is mean to me, says something hateful to me or even just shuns me, it bothers me to no end. I internalize everything to the point where it becomes disruptive so I just needed to step away for a bit.

So yeah, sorry for the emo soliloquy but I wanted to let you know where I am at in my head and give some kind of explanation as to my YT absence. I thank you though for being concerned about me and for missing my videos. That is so awesome. Thank you.

Now that Dashboard Confessional moment is over, I wrote out the breakdown for the Jackie Beat look.

Halloween 2009

I am going as Jackie Beat this year and have been practicing all weekend to get it just right because I can be a perfectionist when it comes to makeup application. I am really excited for Halloween 2009. I am spending it with my good friend, Josh in NYC. Good times.










It is getting late and I am tired so tomorrow, I will swatch the colors but I mainly worked with Makeup Forever and Bed Head Shadows with Inglot on the lips. I also used Basic Black Pigment and Glissade MSF by MAC.

Inglot: Again and Again

I have to figure out a way to ease the Inglot shadows out of the palette so I could get to the ID Numbers. I was also out the door so I didn't have time to swatch but this is a pretty straightforward look. I wet lined with a bright blue pigment from Inglot and swept a sheer gold with bright green tones on the lid and used a grass green satin color in the outer portion of the lid. Easy Peasy.

Inglot; My Latest Nut

I made a pretty substantial purchase at the Inglot store. It is so difficult to limit myself when a sea of gorgeous and unique eyeshadows and lip products are spread before me. I don't have the numbers of the shadows for this look because the shadows were places in palettes in the store and they are difficult to release. I did swatch them to give you a better idea of what I was working with.

The main shadow is stunning and the camera does not capture it's true beauty. It is very similar to Club by MAC Cosmetics but with a greener hue. I love it and the finish is like soft down.

Face of the Day with Inglot

I will put up a post later on today about my Inglot shopping experience which was wonderful but the bad news is, the eye shadow base that I purchased is not to my liking. It dulls the colors instead of popping them so this did not turn out as well as I had hoped for. I am going to try this same look tomorrow with my tried and true Too Faced Shadow Insurance and expect better results.

If only the picture could capture the gorgeous shimmer of the lid color. It is like Trax but with more of a gold sheen to it. The lip color is also from Inglot. Picture Rose Pigment as a highly pigmented and rich lip gloss and you will understand what a gorgeous shade of pink this color is.

More Inglot to come so stay tuned!

Green Smoke; Matte and Shimmer

This look, as simple as it is was a huge pain in the ass to execute. I have one suggestion to anyone interested in Yaby Pearl Paint Shadows. The fallout is impossible to remove without destroying your makeup. Shadow first, foundation second is must when working with them. I found this out the hard way.

Simple, monochromatic look today. I didn't have the time to take a better range of pics because I was running late for work. I added a shot with glasses because I am often asked what kind of eye makeup is good to wear for the glasses wearer.




Because I was running late, I was unable to add the product rundown and swatching lately has been impossible. From memory, here is what I used:

Unitled Paint as a base
Golden Olive [MAC] on the lid
Vanilla Pigment [MAC] along the browbone
Velvet Moss [MAC] patted along the upper lashline and blended upwards.
Shimmery Black Yaby color to add depth along the upper lashline.
A mix of dark and minty matte Yaby greens along the lower lashline

Geranium cheek cream from Mehron [love this stuff!]

Sci-fi-delity from MAC's Neo Sci-Fi Collection

Change of Perspective

I have been in the makeup scene for a long time. My first MAC purchase was around 2000 and I remember when Parrot burst onto the scene with Salsabelle and left behind some very devoted fans who were willing to track it down at any cost. When I started, Specktra was a baby and I was around for their 1000th subscriber announcement. Anyone remember when Specktra was hacked and members were redirected to that BDSM site? Ahh.. fun times. After Specktra, I became a regular visitor of M_C Livejournal. It had a very different vibe than today. Once, it was a place where FOTDs outnumbered sales posts and that was a pretty awesome thing.

So here I am and I still love makeup but I don't think that I love it in the same way. I am not sure what direction this blog will follow but for myself, as much as I appreciate and am excited by daring and bold makeup looks, I am not excited to see them on me. As my tastes change and you will clearly see it on my face, I hope that my readers still enjoy what I have to offer.

I am feeling some ambivalence towards it all. I am rediscovering my love for makeup after my yearly hibernation but it is more subtle and monochromatic. I think that from time to time, I will surprise you with something daring because I do love to practice still but for now, I am taking things a little slower and softer.