Makeover: Everyday Makeup (Updated Contouring)

So there I am wearing no make-up with my bestfriend, my Canon 60D.

For this tutorial, I won't be putting any eye shadow at all. I opted to skip this for an easy and quick (ish) everyday look. 

The products

Most of these products are from ELF cosmetics. I recently purchased so much stuff because their US site was on sale!

Steps:

1. Prime  your face
I used ELF's mineral-infused primer. Using primer is really important because it can hide your pores, make the foundation glide smoothly on your skin and make your make-up last longer. You can apply it using your hands.

2. Put on foundation

I used Graftobian's cream foundation. You can actually skip the contouring in your foundation & just do step #5 if you lack the time.

I started my contour & highlight in my foundation using three shades: (pictured L-R) 1) a lighter shade (compared to the color of my face) on the lower part of my forehead, under my eyes, on the bridge of my nose, on the cupid's bow and on the laugh line 2) a darker shade on the outlines of my face, under the cheekbones, on the sides of my nose and under my lower lip (to make the lips look bigger) 3) the right shade (that matches my skin color) to blend the contour & highlight.

I used Real Techniques brushes

After applying the foundation, blend onto skin and make sure there aren't any visible harsh lines.

3. Set your foundation

I used ELF's translucent HD powder. I used a translucent one so that the shading & the highlighting from my foundation would still show. I just started using this powder. Back then, just recently, I was still using colored powder to set my foundation just because it was the only one I had and also because I would also use it to correct the color of my face if I used a much lighter/darker foundation. So now that I have acquired this translucent foundation, I think I'll be sticking to it (but I will also keep my colored pressed powder inside my bag for retouches).

4. Fill in your eyebrows

If you have perfectly groomed eyebrows, there is no need for you to add this to your quick, everyday make-up routine but if your eyebrows need a little help, go ahead. I used ELF's eyebrow kit: shape with the gel first and then set it with the eyebrow powder. Make sure not to go too dark in filling in the start of your eyebrows (near the tear ducts of the eyes) as that may look very harsh & unnatural.

An optional step, you can put eyebrow tint to match the brown eyebrow powder you used to fill in your brows.

5. Contour/Bronze up
Pick a bronzer or matte brown powder (with ashy tones: grayish not orangey) and apply it to parts of your face you want to push back. I used this to outline my face. I also put it under my cheekbones and on the sides of my nose.

Not all faces are of the same shape so my contour will not suit all faces. All you need to know is that you should apply contour on parts of your face you want to push back. If you have a wide forehead, you can apply contour on the temples and/or on the upper part of the forehead. If you have a wide face, you would want to apply contour on the sides of your face. If you have a very long & sharp chin, apply it on your chin. If you don't have pronounced cheekbones, apply it under your cheekbones So basically everything you want to hide and push back, apply contour.

6. Apply blush
I think anyone can never go wrong with a pink blush. Remember to build up. Do not put too much all at once because it is harder to blend. Put blush on your cheekbones just above your contour: from your hairline up to the end of your eyes. Be careful if you add blush way past the end of your eyes because your face might look too droopy.

I used a blush from The Balm.

7. Lips

If you have naturally moist pink lips, well then I am envious of you but if you don't, do not fret because lipsticks exist. For an everyday look, use pink or nude lipsticks. You can also use lip tints for a more natural look. If you are just a naturally adventurous girl, go for a bold statement lip.

I used ELF's matte lip color in Red. It actually turned into pink because I used a white lip primer underneath. It didn't end up red but I loved the pink color it transformed into.

8. Eye lashes

You wouldn't know the difference curling and putting mascara on your eyelashes make until you do so. You might want to skip this part if you do not have time but doing this makes such a huge difference (not too much but you get my point). You won't be doing your eye shadow anyway so another thing to do to make your eyes pop is to define your lashes.

So that's it! Do you think I need to start making videos or is it better to have picture tutorials? 

Depotting Lipsticks: Z Palette

Recently I bought a Z Palette abroad and had it shipped here in the Philippines because it is more expensive in the Philippines  (and we also bought some other items abroad so they'd just be in one package). I also bought tiny magnetic pans for it. Z Palettes are magnetic cases with a clear cover. They are used to store make-up products. I chose to use Z palette for depotting my lipsticks instead of the Japonesque empty lipstick palette (which can store a bigger volume of the lipstick) because I didn't want to empty out the lipstick. In my Z palette, I can choose how much of the lipsticks I will depot. The magnetic pans, used to store makeup or in this case lipstick, have many sizes you can choose from.

You can search facebook or instagram shops that sell Z Palettes. Pure Beauty stores carry them too (they have branches in serendra, trinoma, alabang).

What you will need:

magnetic pans

spatula

tissue

lipsticks

pen & paper (or stickers)

 Steps:

1. First step is to take note of the name of the lipstick. List down the brand and the color in paper or better yet, write it on a sticker label and place it on the back of the pan.

2. Scoop out a small amount of the lipstick using your spatula. If you do not own one, you can use a butter knife or anything of similar use.

3. Push the product onto the pan and spread. 

 4. Clean your spatula. And repeat all the steps.

End Product

The List

2nd row of lipsticks not included in the picture above

Alternative:

You can also melt your lipsticks onto the pan but I didn't see the sense of making it pretty because it will look messy if you use it anyway. You can also opt to buy a similar-looking palette from Props Tools and Cosmetics. I think I saw one in their stall during a bazaar. Happy depotting!

Review & Makeover: H&M Cosmetics

When we went to Hong Kong, I had a make-up haul from H&M. A few years ago, I bought an eye shadow palette from their store and it became my go-to eye shadow because of its handy size and great range of colors. Then, about a year ago I stumbled upon their lipsticks and I bought a few. I fell in love with some of the dark colors. After which, I decided to have this massive haul because I seldom encounter stocks of their make-up line. 

This tutorial makes use of the available make-up products of H&M Hong Kong. I was not able to find foundations & blushes from them so I made use of other brands.

non-H&M products used

                             

1. Prep your skin with primer.

I used Benefit's That Gal brightening face primer. I applied it all over my face using my hands.

2. Contour & Set

I used Graftobian cream foundation in 3 shades. You can opt to just use one foundation that matches your skin tone.

                                      

Applied it using the foundation brush of the double-ended make-up brush by H&M. The foundation end of this brush is okay for personal use but do not drown it in product because the bristles clump together (which will then produce streaks on your face). 

First applied the foundation that matches my color all over the face. Next, I applied the lighter color under my eyes, on the lower part of my forehead, on the bridge of my nose and on my chin. I then applied the darker foundation to the outer parts of my face, under the cheekbone and on the sides of my nose.

(Optional Step)

I intensified my under eye highlight using the Mac Prep & Prime highlighter. After blending it onto my skin, I set it with my Revlon ColorStay pressed powder. Remember when using cream products, you have to set it with powder so that the product will stay put on your face.

                              

3. Bronze & Blush

Using the blush of the double-ended H&M brush. The blush end is average. I think the brush is too big for my cheeks so I sometimes push the bristles together a little bit so that I won't have blush all over my face. I applied H&M's Bronzer in Dark Tan as contour As you can see with the lack of label in the H&M bronzer, I have been using this product a lot. I also applied blush from The Balm.

                       

                       

To blend out any harsh lines, I used H&M's kabuki brush. To be honest, I hate this brush. The bristles fall out very easily so don't buy it.

4. Fill in your brows

I used the brown eye shadow in this palette. 

I used the angled brush in this double-ended brush because it's the brush you need for eyebrows. Do not use the brush included in the palette.

As you can see, I have thick eyebrows so what I do is just fill it in with eye shadow to make it appear more solid.

5. Eye shadow & Liner
I only used 1 eye shadow brush for this. Tee hee. The eye shadows were fine. They were a bit chalky and not very good pigmentation but good enough for personal use.

                                     

Using the first 3 colors in the palette, apply the pink eye shadow all over your upper eyelid. Layer the purple shadow onto the crease.

Apply the white-ish shadow on the lower part of your lid and put purple eye shadow on your lower lash line. Finish it off by outlining your upper eyelid with H&M's gold liner.

I didn't actually like the consistency of the gold liquid eyeliner because it doesn't apply smoothly but it was cheap enough for a product that you wouldn't be using often.

6. Curl & Mascara

I don't actually mind mascaras too much. I think they all do the same thing. What really matters is how much coats you put on. Or maybe I just haven't found a really great mascara that will stand out. I used H&M's Volume Mascara.

                                      

7. Lipstick

H&M have awesome lipsticks. They are very pigmented and they have dark colors...so YAY. One thing I don't like about these lipsticks..when you have dry and chapped lips, they don't look nice. Some lipsticks on the other hand moisturize my chapped lips so that's one thing but don't worry. Scrub your lips first and then put on lip balm, wait for a while and then put on these lippies.

Also available in H&M is this set of lip glosses. I don't think you can actually go wrong with lip glosses because just like mascaras, if it does its job it's okay with me. These make nice presents if you ever have the need to buy one for a friend's birthday for example.

I applied Pink Fool and the pink lip gloss for that extra shine.

That's it...