Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
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Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils clockwise from lower left: Barracuda, Rehab, Delinquent, Wasteland, Clash, Clinic, Mercury, Midnight Cowboy, Lit, Sin, Narc and Morphine
The new Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils, $20 each, available spring 2011.
Swatches from left, first row: Barracuda, Rehab, Delinquent, Wasteland, Lit and Sin; Second row: Clash, Clinic, Mercury, Midnight Cowboy, Morphine and Narc
More swatches, details and reviews coming soon!
Written by AudreyFreelance makeup artist Audrey of Makeup by Audrey pulls back the curtain on a magical world of makeup in today’s guest post.
Have you ever been curious about what goes on behind the scenes at a fashion shoot? Well you’re about to find out! I recently had the honor to be the makeup artist for the winter issue of Scene Magazine, a women’s style magazine based in northern California, and I’m going to take you behind the closed doors to get a peek on all the fun that was had!
The day started at 9AM where the hair and makeup team immediately got started on beautifying our two lovely models, Brooke and Gina, from Ford Models. Meanwhile, our talented photographer got to work on setting up the lights in the studio while the stylists were in a separate room getting all the looks together.
Before I went to work, I made sure to discuss the desired makeup look, a bold smoky eye, with the editor-in-chief, Katharine Fong, and the contributing fashion and beauty editor, Donna Kato. I also ran over to the styling room to see what ensembles the models would be wearing so I could have a complete vision of the entire look. Once I had that, I was ready to go! I did Gina’s makeup while the two hairstylists, Karie and Shayne from Aveda at Santana Row, styled Brooke’s hair and then we switched models. It probably took about an hour and a half to get them ready.
Then the models headed over to the styling room to get dressed in their first looks. I loved hanging out in this room! Donna and her team did an amazing job of pulling the wardrobe for this shoot. There were racks and racks of gorgeous, luxurious clothes and tables of drool-worthy shoes, handbags, jewelry, and other accessories.
Because this shoot would support two fashion spreads (Timeless Chic and The LBD Primer), we had a lot of looks (over ten!) to shoot so everyone had to be on their toes to keep everything moving in order to be done by 5PM.
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Yes, I made it out of the Land of Aloha with more than handmade, cold process soap! For starters, I brought home this bag of red coconut ball candy:
It looks kinda scary, but trust me — this stuff is great (if you like coconut). One could easily devour a bag in a single sitting. Um, not that I’d know…
Besides crazy technicolor sweets, I also brought home a tube of Pineapple Lip Balm ($3) from a local company called Hawaiian Bath & Body.
Tangerine essential oil has a calming effect? For reals? Just when I thought I had enough Hawaiian handmade soap to keep me squeaky clean until summer, I ran into this bar of Love Child, made by The Indigenous Soap Company ($8.50 for 5-oz.).
A line on the packaging about tangerine oil, which supposedly helps children chill the eff out, sealed the deal.
Even though my childhood was — holy crap! — decades ago, I need all the calming help I can get on high stress days. If tangerine oil takes my mental sh*zz down a notch or two, then I’m all for it.
Love Child’s one of seven soaps from the small local line, which is based on Oahu. I snagged a bar when I was at the Blue Hawaii Cafe at Ala Moana getting an acai bowl the other day (ever have one of those? so good!), but you can buy ’em at stores all over Hawaii and online at indigenousoap.com.
This particular soap’s supposed to be gentle enough for kids, and I’d believe it from the short and sweet ingredient list. It’s made with lots of natural good-for-your-skin stuff (like shea butter and aloe vera gel) and without synthetic preservatives, color or fragrance.
Small touches like the “born on” date, drawings, feel-good text and the hidden “soap of fortune” lend a really personal touch.
So that’s all I needed to free my doubts, *smacks forehead*!
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De ja vu — the feeling you are doing something you’ve done before.
De ja vu — the feeling you are doing something you’ve done before.
De ja vu — the feeling you are doing something you’ve done before.
De ja vu…
I started feeling kinda funny when I was swatching the new Essie Winter Collection, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because of jet lag (I’m back in the Bay, by the way… haha, I just made a rhyme).
About halfway through I figured out why the de ja vu had set in; the limited edition collection ($8 per bottle or $48 for a boxed set of six) kinda looks a little like their last one.
Essie Winter Collection 2010 (left) and Essie Fall Collection 2010 (right)
Anyone else get the feeling Essie was going for a remixed version of fall? The colors aren’t exactly the same, but both collections share some strong similarities, like a single pop of green, a red shade and two purplish polishes.
Essie aimed for mysterious, decadent and elegant colors with the new release, and I think she nailed it (heh) with the darker Luxedo (a blackend purple), Masquerade Belle (a blackened blood red reminiscent of Chanel Vamp), Hot Coco (a creamy brownish taupe) and Smokin’ Hot (a graphite grayish purple).
The two lighter shades, Going Incognito (a jade green) and Silken Cord (a bright red), feel a little out of place with the others because they’re so… sprightly. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas colors are cool, especially if you’re in the mood for a festive holiday mani/pedi, but when I see these two together I can’t help but think of Santa’s elves running around the workshop in pointy shoes and green tights. Not exactly mysterious, decadent and elegant, ya know?
All the shades in this release have a creamy finish and lots of shine. With the exception of Going Incognito (streaky!), they went on smoothly, taking just two thin coats for full opacity.
Take a peek at the swatches below and let me know watcha think.
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The very, very limited edition MAC Pink 4 Friday Lipstick by Nicki Minaj ($14.50), available online December 3, 10 and 17 while supplies last.
A wee bit o’ backstory: Nicki Minaj is a rapper. She’s worked with a lot of famous hip hop/RNB artists over the last two years and just recently released her debut album, Pink Friday. Her makeup style’s kinda out there, which I think makes her a good fit for MAC.
You’re officially the bomb.com if you can name the background sample used in this song.
Anywho, what do you think of this lipstick? Too pink? Not pink enough? DO TELL, Barbies!
The six-piece, limited edition Essie Winter Collection, clockwise from bottom right: Going Incognito, Luxedo, Masquerade Belle, Smokin’ Hot, Hot Coco and Silken Cord ($8 each or $8 for a six-piece set).
That red and green on the end are kinda Christmasy, right?
I got home at midnight last night and am still a little jet-lagged, but I’ve got enough coordination in me to have swatches of these up later on today for ya. 😉
Happy Thursday!
Eight years ago, Wings Hawaii, an all-woman run clothing and jewelry company, started as an art project at the University of Hawaii.
Now the Maui-based line sells their handmade, beach-inspired designs at stores all over Hawaii (Oahu, Kauai and Maui), the mainland (New York, California, Georgia and Washington) and online at wingshawaii.com.
I couldn’t resist this ring ($40) and pair of earrings ($50) I spotted at a Local Motion T-shirt store.
All of their jewelry is made from sterling silver, 14-karat gold fill, semi-precious stones and shells from local beaches. Prices range from $20 for a sterling silver ring to $1,800 for a sapphire necklace.
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