FLATTERSHADES: Smokin' Hot Green Hues!

It was raining all day , got nothing to do, wasn't able to come to the office because of the typhoon . Spent the whole morning with my daughter just lying around sound tripping but then the electricity went off...Cait - my little princess had her afternoon nap, I started getting bored---but not that long :) Knowing myself, I never entertain boredom. I started cleaning my closet and I suddenly remember that I recently got this Lacoste shopping tote. I haven't inspected the bag yet, hmmmm let me rephrase that-- I haven't got the chance to "savor" the bag yet :) yes! that's more like it hahah! I instantly fell in love with the color combination of the fabric the moment I saw this. I'm sure you will too , Check it out :)

Lacoste's R. George Foldable Shopping Bag

Its big enough to carry all your stash!
It's lightweight yet its obviously durable enough to be called a "shopping tote"
Its definitely a shopaholic's must have!

Now enough of the bag, what really made me post this entry was the bag's military color. I just simply love it, I was inspired to do a FOTD :-) Whew! Its been a while since I last posted an FOTD entry, to makeup junkies out there, I hope you find this interesting. But before anything else, let me apologize for the poor pictures that I'm going to post here. I just used a cell phone camera that's why I can't capture the colors vividly.

First, before applying any makeup products to your skin. Don't forget to cleanse, tone and moisturize which may aslo serve as a primer so that your skin will hold your makeup really well, and that your makeup will last for a longer period.

As you can see on the picture above, 1st pic is obviously my "before look" or also known as my "terrible- haggard- 3 hours -sleep- look" :)) , now you know I'm the girl with the guts to post my before picture :). Next, after your primer, you can now put on your foundation, here I used MAC studio fix in NC 35. Obviously I have dark circles , I used MAC Studio finish concealer in NC 30. You can now see a much clearer and even toned skin. Now its my turn to say ... THANK GOD FOR CONCEALERS. Next picture , I already did my eyebrows wherein I used MAC's lingering eye pencil.

Now for the eyes, I just played with coastal scents palette in green hues. First I applied a brighter shade of green, then mixed it with a darker shade of green, just don't forget to blend it well, make sure that there are no harsh edges everything should be well blended. For this particular eye makeup , I used 3 different shades of green besides the browbone hi liter.
For hi-lite, I used Makeup For Ever's star powder in yellow. After the eyeshadow, I used green eyeliner to line the eyes, just the inner rim and the water line. For the outer rim, I used black eyeliner. Just smudge along the lines to give a smokey effect. For the lashes, I used 2 coats of Maybelline Volum Express. For me, there's only one mascara brand that works - its Maybelline.

For the cheeks I used MAC's PInk Swoon, and Makeup For Ever contour palette for contouring.

For the lips, I used MAC's Select Cover-up to neutralize the color of my lips. Select Cover-up is actually a liquid concealer but I also use it for the lips specially if you need to cover it up to better achieve a certain lip color. After applying the cover-up, I topped it with Maybelline's Iced Caramel and finished it off with Nars Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight.


There you go, a military color inspired makeup look! :-), who says you can't wear green? Now if only I can find my fatigue during my CAT days...... LOL

Just incase your loving that bandana, its from Evita Peroni :)

Stay dry & Be safe!




Vida Belle of Makeup By AnneVida also conducts Personal Beauty Makeup Workshop for Makeup Avenue. Aside From day makeup,corporate makeup and evening makeup, the module also includes a step by step demo on different looks such as The Smokey Eye and The Bronzey-Summer makeup. For inquiries on rates & schedule, you may send us a message through: annevidaglam@gmail.com or at +639175776136

Urban Decay's Ammo Palette

This year, Urban Decay released their 15year Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette and while I'm still waiting for my order of that palette along with their Book Of Shadow VOl IV (with hands shaking now.. hahah) Let me take you back to their 10th Year Anniversay palette - Ammo, the smokin mirrored compact which became one of the must haves of Urban Decay Eyeshadow fan!

I must confess that I'm a fan of Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners and Ink for the Eyes! But when it comes to eye shadows...I'm quite hesitant about it. True , I love the brilliance of its shades, packaging is perfectly cute!! What I hate about it is the amount of glitters I have all over my face once I apply it. I hate glittery shadows!! Not only that its camera unfriendly, I hate the feeling of having glitters sticked on to my face! All shades in their Ammo pallette are glittery, the colors are awesome though , its highly pigmented and just like Nars, what you see is what you get when you actually apply it on your lids. But please, I don't mind a bit of shimmer but I just hate those flecks! Or it could be for the following reasons (Still trying to be fair to my favorite brand hahah)

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#7: Benefit's Big Beautiful Eyes Kit

Just another Sunday, we're on our way to my parent's house - the usual granma and granpa day for Cait...for today, I decided to use my Benefit eye kit..haven't been using this for quite some time :) If there's one thing that every kikay should have in their kit..this is the one!

I've been a Benefit fan eversince I came across Benefit's benetint. I must admit, this is one of my guilty pleasures...whenever a friend of mine travels to HK I can't help but send him my wish list of Benefit products I just can't have enough of theseeee ...its quite pricey though..some are even more expensive than MAC!! I even keep Benefit's yearly catalog ... so sad that I can't have everything in it ...just stare at them and drool LOL! :))

Ok, back to BBE (Big Beautiful Eyes kit) Let me tell you why you should grab one:

This kit is all you need to define, contour & enhance your eyes to make them BIG & BEAUTIFUL.

An illustrated step-by-step makeup lesson gives even amateurs the chance to "go pro" with the perfect shades & tools. KIT INCLUDES:
-boi-ing our favorite under eye concealer

- alabaster pink base shadow

- cocoa shimmer contour shadow

- rich chocolate eye shadow

- brushes for easy application

-illustrated step by step professional makeup lesson

PLUS the packaging looks fab...you know how benefit is when it comes to their packaging. It's very convenient because you got everything in just one kit! perfect for girls on the go. You can go from natural to brown smokey eyes with this palette!

Here are some pics that I took this morning using BBE kit, this is basically my everyday look.

EYES:

MAC Charcoal Brown (for the eyebrows)

Benefit BBE Kit

B&C Liquid Liner

FACE:
Shu Uemura Deep Sea mist
Laura Mercier Oil Free tinted moisturizer in Sand
NARS Laguna for the cheeks

LIPS:
Perfumeria Gal, Vaselina Fragranced Balm
NARS Senorita

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#6: MAC Sushi Flower

Last week I went shopping for my daughter's costume for her school's Halloween party....few weeks ago she wanted to be princess Aurora ("aka" sleeping beauty) few days after she changed her mind and decided to go for Tinkerbelle instead (fyi..Cait’s school won’t allow the kids to wear scary costumes..tsk! tsk! Bummer..heheh)

I know a lot of the girls will be running around with their wands and wings this year.. I wanted something more unique, should still be a fairy costume since that’s what my baby wants..but with a little twist maybe…
And then I found this super cute number: bright pink petals for head dress, baby pink and bright green for the dress, hot pink wig!! Pink wings with fur!! ….Caitee is set to be the FLOWER FAIRY!!

When I woke up the next day, I still had the flower fairy hangover.:)) I was fixing my makeup stacks that morning to make room for my other stash, when I saw my MAC Sushi Flower, which instantly reminded me of Cait’s head dress :) and this my friends is my version of the flower fairy...I had fun :) you just have to try it! Cait has this book of fairies and each fairy has a color motif, the book instantly inspired me to play with my palette :)

EYES:
MAC Sushi Flower
MAC Surreal
MAC Frost
B&C liquid liner in deep black

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#5: Nars Isolde

I know I've been tattling about NARS eyeshadow duos ( I know, I know..), forgive me but I can't stop rambling over these fantabulous color mishmash. One of my personal fave as of the moment is from their fall collection, the Nars duo eye shadow in Isolde. With its shade described as Frosted ginger & shimmering copper, I can't help but think of a glam look on a hot sizzling summer night! Weird..this is suppose to be from their fall collection!? I still think these shades look hot for the summer! (anything orangey..yellowish...)

Check out my first attempt!

EYES:

MAC charcoal for the eyebrows

Nars Isolde duo eyeshadow

B&C Liquid Eyeliner in Deep Blaxk

FACE:

Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer

MAC liquid concealer for my undereyes

MAC Sheer Loose powder

NARS Portifino

LIPS:

Bobbi Brown Rouge

MAC Hug Me

Keep on playing with colors and have fun!

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#4: Nars' Sex, Sea & Sun

If you've been reading my blog..you'd probably know by now that I'm a certified MAC lover, I really didn't have the heart to try on other brands LOL! specially when it comes to eye shadows..I only want the best in my makeup kit and for me that means MAC...besides, it has all the shades I want...not until my last trip-- when I got frustrated in getting a NARS discount card at Faces HK (only to find out in the end that I can't even use it here har har!) I must admit though that I was into Nars bronzers and blush (who doesn't know how fabNars orgasm is...) but since I had those already I checked out their eye duo shadows...

The colors were indeed too tempting not to try !! the vibrancy of each shade is really eye catching..and when I tried it on, I can't believe how consistent the shade is..The color that you actually see from their palette is exactly the color that you're getting! (You've probably experienced seeing a fabulous shade of eyeshadow only to find out that it doesn't give you the exact color that you expect once you put it in you lids...or worst, no matter how much amount you apply , it looked chalky, or just plain talc that doesn't deliver at all...) With Nars, even if you put a little amount, it already gives you the actual shade..and if you want a more vibrant effect, just simply apply a bit more than the usual. I hate to admit this..but I'm loving it more than my MAC babies.... :))

Next time you hit the counter, try checking this shade: NARS' Sex, Sea & Sun

EYES:
NARS Sex, Sea & Sun
MAC Concrete
MAC Bitter
MAC Shroom (used at the brow bones))
Benefit Ms Popularity (to high lite the inner corner of the eyes)
B & C Liquid Eyeliner in Deep Black
Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes in Black
Lo real Volume Mascara

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#3: MAC Aquadisiac

Get away from your usual boring hues and try an exciting shade that will surely boost your mood!

GET THIS LOOK!

Foundation:

Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer

MAC Select Sheer loose powder

Eyes:

LIDS: Mac Aquadisiac

Outer Lid to Outer Crease: Mac Scene

Liquid Deep Black liner

- Wash the entire lid with MAC Aquadisiac be sure to apply this gradually, The amount of color will depend on what you want to achieve. This color can give a brilliant hi glam effect when applied intensely.

- Blend away harsh edges all the way through the above crease.

- Apply MAC scene at the outer lid part of the eyes and blend all the way through the outer crease up to the middle of the eylid. Careful not to blend intensely because you may lose the color effect that you wish to achieve.

- As for the pics shown here I didn't use any color to hilight the brow bone. SHould you wish to highlight the browbones and inner corner of your eyes, try using Nylon, Shroom or Ricepaper by MAC.

Cheeks:

Nars Cream Blush in Portofino

Stila Sun face luminizer

When using a cream blush , it's more suitable if you use a liquid or cream foundation. Right after applying my tinted moisturizer ,I used my fingers to apply NARS Portofino cream blush BEFORE finishing off with my loose powder. This will give me a more natural effect. After applying my loose powder, I just dabbed a little amount of Stila face luminizer right at the top of the apples of my cheeks. Not only will it give my face a natural glow, but this techinique will aslo help my blush last longer.

(PROTIP: when using a cream blush, use it BEFORE applying any powder based products, because when you top a cream based product over powder, blending it together will be difficult and won't give you a good result, this may give you a cakey effect as well.)

LIPS:

Bbby Brown Rouge topped with
NARS Senorita

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#2 : Beautiful Iris

EOTD: Try these fab violet/lilac shades from MAC

Lids: MAC's Beautiful Iris

Outerlid - outer crease : MAC's Sketch , then to add depth to the color of the outer lid, top it with MAC's Print. (Just apply a very little amount, we don't want to overpower the SKETCH shadow.)

Inner lid : MAC's Swish

Middle of the lid: Swipe some of MAC's sushi flower and gently blend it towards the Sketch shadow.

Browbone : Hi Lite the browbone with MAC's Rice paper

For the eyeliner, It's best to use black liquid liner at the upper lashline and a a kohl plum eyeliner for the lower lash line then smudge it with a sponge tip, top it with a sketch eyeshadow to keep your liner in place. For my pics here , I used a really cheap eyeliner I can't even remember the brand :))thats why as you can see its color looks like grayish instead of jet black.


Note: Photos of the eyeshadows will be posted as soon as I'm able to take pics of it :)

FLATTERSHADES Must Try#1: MAC hues

EOTD: Try these fab lustre shades from MAC, A mix of sea green, choco, bronze shades!
Lids: MAC's Amber lights (encircled in yellow)

Outerlid - outer crease : MAC's Tempting (encircled in Red)

Outerlid blended through the middle lid : MAC's Swimming (I topped this over Mac Tempting)

Inner lid : MAC's Bitter

Middle of the lid: Hi lite the middle of the lid with a dot of Amber lights

Browbone : Hi Lite the browbone with Shroom or Nylon (pic not included)

I found this super helpful diagram from temptalia.com, I'll use this as a basis for all EOTDs!Always note that each shade should be well blended as it meets with a difft shade, lightly blend any harsh lines without putting off the color..

Mac Bitter and MAC Swimming

From my MAC palette - Tempting & Amber Lights

There goes my daughter with her crazy hairband!

Others:
Blush: Nars Laguna, topped with a bit of MAC MOccha Matte, and highlited with Nars Albatros.
Lips: MAC spice lip liner, MAC Hug Me, topped with Bobbi Brown's Rouge
Eyeliner: MAkeup4ever's Aqua Eyes in Black, for undereyes, i smudged it a bit and topped it with MAC's bitter at the inner under eye area.