Make Me Brighter

Neutral and Simple

cleegiants — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:30:00 -0700

I apologize in advance for not having any information on this look. I can tell you when it was taken, but that's really not going to do you any good. I think it was an interview look, but I can't really be sure. Overall, I am pleased with the look, as it's neutral, professional and would be easy to duplicate. I'm going to guess that I used my Chanel quad of eyeshadows, but that would be purely speculation. It appears I also took the time to curl my eyelashes and apply mascara, but I really don't know what I used. Normally, I keep a record of the products I used, especially if I'm taking a picture, but my head wasn't in the game on March 12th. Yep, this look is from exactly 1 month ago.

The foundation is the biggest mystery; I really have no idea. I think that's a lesson for me; I can't tell if it's a drugstore brand or a department store find. Applied well, foundation really will help even out your skin, I can probably figure out the lipstick at some point, but for now, here's the mystery look.

As Blue as your eyes

cleegiants — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

I've been playing with more color with my looks, today it's blue.

Eyes: UDPP, MAC Eyeshadows: Parrot, Climate Blue, L'oreal HIP eyeliner: Midnight Blue
Face: Smashbox Photo Finish Primer SPF 15 & Dermaxyl; Giorgio Armani Lumnious Silk Foundation, MAC Loose Powder, Smashbox Soft Lights: Shimmer
Lips: Bobbi Brown: Berry Mauve, MAC Soft&Slow

P.S. What do you think of my new hair cut and color? Thanks M!

Purple Eyes

cleegiants — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:30:00 -0800

I attended an event last Friday for The Sold Project - check out their website and preserve young girls' innocence - and this is the look I wore. My favorite color is not purple, but I grabbed a purple shirt without thinking and thus played up the purple factor. I tried to take pictures along the way to show the process, but they didn't turn out as well as I hoped, so I just have a few shots.

As I've mentioned the difficulty in keeping my eyelashes curled, you will notice that I have mascara on in all these shots. I spent about 10 minutes curling, separating, and applying mascara before starting on the eyeshadow application. This mascara is Cover Girl Lash Blast.

Here's the complete list of products used:
Eyes: MAC Grain, Warming Trend, Smoke+Diamonds, Illegal Cargo; Smashbox Hot Date Trio (liner), Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara
Face: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, MAC studio Finish Face Fowder; L'Oreal Glam Bronze Duo: Sunkissed Copper
Lips: Bobbi Brown Berry Mauve Lipstick

The look starts with a base of MAC shadows in Grain and Warming Trend

MAC Smoke+Diamonds and Illegal Cargo provide the color. Smoke+Diamonds was used just in the crease. I did more blending after I snapped the photo.

Even though this is not the best angle, you can see the purple. You'll also note that in less than 10 minutes, I'm losing curl in the eyelashes.

I applied more eyeliner than normal. It didn't dawn on me that I had purple liner, but discovered this Smashbox trio in my collection. The purple liner (top) completed my purple eyes.

After another application of mascara, I'm done.

Yeah...those are my eyes opened about as wide as I can get them.

Lady in Waiting Look

cleegiants — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Remember my post about waiting in line for the job fair last week? As I promised, here is the makeup I used. Since I'm in a more 'creative' field, I thought I would do something slightly more dramatic than neutral; hence the light smokiness. The lip is a neutral color, without gloss, as I'd prefer to have the focus on the but on the quality of my resume than on the sheen of my lips!

I Used:
Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Lumnious Shadow: Laguna Peach; MAC Eyeshadows: Grain, Scene, Smoke+Diamonds, Lancome Defining+Brightening Eye Pencil Duo: Miami Midnight (black end)
Face: Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse: Pure Beige, Laura Mercier Translucent Face Powder, Nars Blush/Bronzer: Orgasm/Laguna
Lips: Prescriptives Colorscope Lipstick: Champagne

For the eye makeup, Laguna Peach adds a bit of shimmer that doesn't show up in the picture. You would be fine using just Grain or any other neutral shadow.

See the full look after the break

Randomness

cleegiants — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:15:00 -0800

I found some random pictures of looks I did, but unfortunately I don't recall what I used.

I don't think the red eyeshadow is the BEST look here. Perhaps if I blended more. Seriously, who let me out of the house like this? I"m almost embarrassed to show this, the more I look at it.

How Tempting

cleegiants — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Makeup time! Here's a step by step look I did a few days ago. You'll need:

Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion, MAC Soft Ocre Paint Pot, MAC Shadestick in Lucky Jade, MAC Tempting Quad (LE), Bobbi Brown Shimmer Eyeshadow in Forest Lancome Eyeshadows in Designer and Daylight, MAC Eyeliner in Mystery, Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara
Face: Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus, MAC Blush in Xrocks (LE)

After applying UDPP and Soft Ocre, I used Lucky Jade to intensify Sharp from the Tempting Quad.
The Tempting Quad was released with the Cult of Cherry collection. Sharp is a cool color, even if it's a bit shocking. It's much sheerer than it appears in the pan, so if you have it, don't be afraid to use it. Moving along.

Bobbi Brown Forest

Blend, blend, blend. Sharp becomes much more of an accent color.

Blending a little more and adding Tempting to the mix.

Mystery Eyeliner and mascara complete the look.

See the complete look after the break

Keeping it Pro

cleegiants — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:15:00 -0800

One of the things I enjoy about not having a job is that I can wear just about any makeup look during the day and it's not going to matter. Not that my looks are normally wild or anything, but it does give me some flexibility in wearing brighter colors. So when I had a meeting with a recruiter earlier this week, my makeup needed to look more professional. I wanted some color, but the focus needed to be on my qualifications, not my makeup. Red is not a typical color associated with office-appropriate wear, but I with a light hand, I think I pulled it off.

See the full face look after the break

A Sassy look

cleegiants — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0800

A little math for you.
No money + no job + drawers of makeup + lots of time = MAKEUP REDISCOVERY

If you're anything like me, even though you have a lot of makeup, do you reach for the same products day after day? Honestly, I don't know why we women do that. It's the same thing with clothes and why, I can stare at my closet full of clothes and say "I have nothing to wear". So anyways, given my current predicament, it's time to rediscover my makeup collection.

This look is based around this eyeshadow duo from the L'Oreal HIP line. I remember I got 2 duos for about 5 bucks - not bad at all! This duo, Sassy, contains a brown and a teal. The colors are highly wearable and the pigmentation is good. It's not too intense, although with a heavier hand, it could be stronger. I meant for the teal to be more evident, but oh wells.

I also applied more eyeliner than usual, using MAC's Feline. Since I have small eyes, lining the lower lash liine is always tricky for me, so I usually stick to the upper. I didn't realize it until I saw the photograph, that I needed to get closer to my lash line. More practice! Overall, the whole look turned out better than I anticipated. What makeup treasures do you have hidden?

I"m not sure what's up with the suspicious look.

Foundation: Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals, Mineral Veil
Blush: MAC's Enough Said
Eyes: Bobbi Brown in Bone, L'oreal HIP in Sassy, MAC Feline Eyeliner
Lipstick: Lancome Juicy Tubes in Ginger Palace.

Makeup in real life

cleegiants — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:30:51 -0800

Have you had enough of the collections? No? Well that's good because I do have more for you...later. This is actually a post featuring yours truly. I typically wear makeup and have accumulated a few pictures that I'm going to start sharing with you readers. I must say, I'm almost embarrased to show these pictures sometimes though. My eyelashes need help. More on that later. But for now, here's a a look I did last week.

Eyes: MAC Grain, Go, Pandemonium.
Blush: MAC Beauty Powder in Enough Said

No Ordinary Beige

cleegiants — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:31:00 -0800

I'm lazy. Here's a look using Chanel's Beige Palette. It's an easy look and with a little eyeliner and more of the dark brown shadow, it would transform easily to evening.

On my face: Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse, MAC Powder, Nars Orgasm and Laguna

Lips: Lancome PS Kiss (fuller review to come)

Ignore the terrible eyebrows. I'm growing them out in anticipation of a new experience. More on that later.