I know that a lot of us who watch Youtube makeup videos and read beauty blogs are fans of really extreme makeup but are hesitant to wear it out in public. I personally love bright colors but I usually default to my neutrals for work days.

Still, I think it's quite beneficial to conjure up a nice Pantone-bright look every now and then. If you can make bright shadows flattering for your eye shape, you can pretty much do any less-bright look and pull it off easily. It's all about the right shape and blending, blending, blending! ;)



Products mentioned:

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet+ in 40
Urban Decay Primer Potion
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
Sugarpill Cosmetics eyeshadow in Buttercupcake
Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette (Deep End, Evidence)
Sugarpill Cosmetics eyeshadow in Midori
NYX Slide On Eyeliner Pencil in Esmeralda
Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Siren
Eyeko Graffiti Eyeliner Pen in Black
NYX Slide On Eyeliner Pencil in Sunrise Blue
Shu Uemura Lash curler
FAIRYDROPS Scandal Queen Waterproof Mascara
Lioele false eyelashes in #12
Kiss lash adhesive
Lioele Artist Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Grey Black
Panasonic Heated Eyelash Curler (similar here and here)
Rock & Republic Blush in Spank (similar to Mac Well Dressed or perhaps NYX Angel)
MAC Blot Powder in Medium Dark
Urban Decay Lipstick in Naked

For this look I was inspired by the amazing packaging from the MAC Turquatic perfume collection. Check out these promotional images. Gorrrrrrgeous, right?



So for my particular almond-shaped eyes, since they aren't super huge and I don't have a defined crease or eye socket, I didn't want to bring the color super high up on my lid. When I do that I tend to look a bit like I got punched in the eye. I just bring it gently above my lash line which makes the look a lot more wearable.

















For those who are wanting to recreate this look, my biggest tips are these:

1 - Eyeshadow primer is key! It helps colors to stick to your eyes and not crease
2 - The white base really makes shadows pop, especially yellow
3 - Start with a little and add bit by bit
4 - Check the overall shadow shape with your eyes open as you go

Like I said before, if you can get your own "perfect" shape with bright colors, it's much easier to tone the same shape back to neutrals and have it look very flattering. Feel free to try out this look with other colors as well!

I hope you enjoyed watching and let me know if you enjoyed seeing a bright, colorful look. Should I do more of these dramatic eyes? I know they are less wearable but it's really fun to do. Let me know in the comments! ^_~

Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links. Thank you to NYX, Urban Decay, and Pretty & Cute for generously gifting some of the items in this post! This post and video are not sponsored.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm especially excited about this tutorial. Remember that whole Facebook doppleganger thing where you'd choose the celebrity who is your lookalike as your profile photo for a week? I chose 2NE1's Sandara Park since she is the celebrity I'm most often told I look like. In fact, a sweet girl even private messaged me to tell me that someone else was stealing my photo to use as their facebook photo (but it was actually that I was using Dara's photo! hehe...)

2NE1 is one of my favorite Korean pop groups and I've always had a soft spot for Dara so I'm totally flattered to have people think we look alike! Most times when people tell me I look like someone I don't see it but for Dara I can somewhat see the resemblance as with Narsha from Brown Eyed Girls.

Check out their Try To Follow Me video here:


And my tutorial here:

Ahhhh, thank goodness it's the weekend! :D I love that my obligations today are to take pics while there is natural light, stop by Sephora to exchange a couple things, and to hang out with friends later tonight. Such a different change of pace from my usual of driving to work an hour, working 9 hours, then driving back home in the dark. XD

Well, this video is the result of trying to create video-worthy lighting at 10pm. Not the greatest of situations (my living room looks crazy now, with a floor lamp dragged across the room and my still-messy vanity tilted to the side) but it is in one piece! The battery even died out one or five times, so I hope the choppiness isn't too noticeable. You can tell at the lash application part. Magically, my lashes are totally on in the next shot. ;)

So anyway, here is my winter tutorial using mostly products from The Body Shop.



The music is by my ever talented friend, Greg Puglese, and the song is called Lost In Hiding. Speaking of music, does anyone make music or know someone who does who would let me use some original songs for my Youtube tutorials? Send me an e-mail at frmheadtotoe@gmail.com if you do!

Here are my tools for this look:

Face
* Lancome Photogenic Concealer in Camee
* Graftobian Hi-Def Concealer Palette for lightening undereyes
* Everyday Minerals Foundation (mix of fairly light neutral and golden medium)
* Everyday Minerals Finishing Powder
* The Body Shop Iced Body Powder

Eyes/Cheeks
* EOS Adult Grey lenses (from prettyandcute.com)
* The Body Shop Eye & Cheek Palettes
* Sugar Cosmetics Color Stick in Blue Pop
* NYX Single Eyeshadow in Purple
* Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Yeyo and Zero
* Korean lavender eyeliner (Anyone heard of Rose Valley brand?)
* MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
* Andrea Mod lashes in style #45 (upper lashes)
* Echo lashes in style SN (worn on lower lashes)
* Filled brows with Anastasia Brows in Bloom Palette

Lips
* NYX Round Lipstick in Circe
* The Body Shop Shimmer Lipgloss in Iced Sparkle

Here are some photos of this look. I should've pulled out my wedding tiara for these pics! I didn't think about that until just now. Guess I'm not a very good ice princess. ;) Oh, and I love how after wearing wonder tape all day, my eyes are confused and don't know whether to be mono or double lidded. Not wearing any tape or glue for this tutorial, but I told you guys my lids basically do whatever they want to that day! So I suppose this look works for all lid types. LOL!

Resulting eye is a silvery purple


Wanted to show you the mega shimmer in the shimmer powder. Looked very cool in real life but didn't show up well in the video!


Overall look. Earrings are by HQCD and necklace is by DSK. LOVE them. <3

These wispy lashes are kinda cool, if you have the right look. Not very natural, but very ethereal.


Yay for warm, fuzzy hoodies!



And WA-WA, what is this? could it be cosplay cat ears and paws? Part of my upcoming Puss in Boots Halloween costume. This is the snowy ice-cat edition. ^^



Hope you enjoyed this video! I had fun being a little more creative with the look this time.

Oh by the way, I wanted to mention that I have the best blog readers ever. I think I cried more than a couple times reading the sincere, sweet comments from my last post. It just lifted my heart every time I read them. I can't express how much that meant to me since I was nervous to write so openly in the beginning. I never expected to get such a huge, warm response from all of you! Now I know that some of you really can relate to me and this makes all of the time spent worth it. <3

In appreciation, I'll be doing a giveaway in my next post. I hope you'll come back to check it out. ;)

Love you guys!

Hey everyone! I just posted up the Youtube video tutorial for applying a smokey eye look for monolids. I know I've said this a few times before, but "single eyelids" are hooded lids that don't have an upper eyelid crease. Because of this feature, eye makeup is applied in a slightly different way. My technique is to use a smooth gradient in sort of an oval shape on the eyelid.

You want to create depth without "faking" any lines, if that makes sense. Monolids tend to be pretty flat in terms of actual depth but I actually find this to be more fun to work with sometimes, like a blank canvas! I especially love it when I work on single-lidded clients because they often find going to traditional makeup artists to be frustrating!



Tools I used:

Face:
Everyday Minerals foundation mix of Fairly Light Neutral and Golden Medium
Lancome Photogenic Conceal in Camee
MAC Hello Kitty beauty powder blush in Fun & Games

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NYX Jumbo Shadow Stick in Black Bean
NYX single eyeshadow in Sweet Lagoon
NYX single eyeshadow in Midnight
NYX single eyeshadow in Opal
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Shiseido Eyelash Curler
Shisem falsies in XOG특
Covergirl Lash Exact Mascara

Lips:
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte in #13 Peach Passion
Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in #227 Chiffon Beige

Now, this still follows the basic rules of the smokey eye. When the eyes are the "main attraction" you want to go with a less dominant lip and cheek. I used a milky peach color lipstick with a tan lipgloss on top to help neutralize the bright color. If your lips are less pigmented than mine, you might want to stick to a color that is more milky pink or light tan (NYX round lipstick in strawberry milk or circe). I also matched my blush color to my lips so that they create a monochromatic canvas other than my eyes.

Since monolidders have lashes that are tucked under their lids, a trick to help open up the eyes is to use a good pair of false eyelashes with a nice strong band. I used my favorite lashes of-all-time in this video, Shisem falsies in XOG특. These are nice because they aren't TOO long like most other lashes and I find the criss-cross shape to be quite natural.

The only downfall? Well, in my case falsies sometimes give me a crease inconsistently. Maybe the lashes just create more weight on the lid, pulling the lashline out from being tucked under? I have no idea, but whatever, I roll with it!

the lids, with very subtle "outer v" contouring

One double, one single. LOL.


Me trying really hard to keep both single. :D


Being silly because it TOTALLY stays if I keep my chin tilted up!


And both doubles if I look up or smile.



Oh, and here is a shot of my "workstation" while I was doing the recording. Camera was sitting on this chair with a mirror on top of it. And obviously, I'm sitting on the floor. You can see some of my new camera! I love this little guy (Sony Cybershot DSC-T90), it takes GREAT video, doesn't it? Ridiculously scary HD and pretty pictures! Yay!



Oh, and I just wanted to mention something. I do love all eyelids. I'm not preaching for or against anything, and I never claimed that anything was better than anything else. I simply share my techniques with what I do, and this has no reflection on my racial preferences or lid preferences. I typically use tape because it does keep my eyeliner from smearing and it lifts my lashes, but as you can see here, it does not significantly change my eye shape or size and it doesn't make me look less "Asian." Seriously guys, it's just makeup! It's the magic of being able to play and adapt and change. Don't let anyone berate you just because you want to do your makeup the way you want to (this goes both ways, monolidders don't be ashamed to love your monolids when that's what you prefer)! If it doesn't hurt you or anyone else, why not? Have fun. :)

XOXO

EDIT: Just wanted to add a little note to answer a couple frequently asked questions.
* my nailpolish is Zoya Roxy
* the brushes are Sonia Kashuk Hidden Treasures set from Target
* I bought the lashes locally but you can find similar Korean ones by Darkness at lunabeauty.com

Oh, and don't forget, the Mineral Magic Cosmetics Giveaway is still going on! Please enter. :D

So a few weeks ago, someone had requested a look using the NYX trio TS23 Sweet Lagoon/Aqua/Ocean. Now, I don't have the exact palette, but I do have the individual shades. I can't guarantee the shades are a perfect match because the trios are sometimes less pigmented than the singles (all the trios I've tried have been super pigmented though) but it should be pretty close.

Here are the colors:


And the swatches on my hand. No base was used.



Super pretty, right?

After applying Urban Decay Primer Potion to both eyelids, I first took the lightest color, Sweet Lagoon, and used it as a wash over the eyelid. Aqua was then used to define the crease/outer-V to the middle of the lid. I then took Ocean and defined the outer-V, but only on the outer third of the lid and also along my lower lash line. I used single shadow Opal (blue/purple iridescent white) to highlight my brow bone and on the inner tear ducts, blending in with Ocean on the lower lashline.

I lined the upper lid using MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack and lined my lower waterline. Black or navy blue pencil liner would both look great on the waterline with this look. Finally, I curled my lashes and applied mascara to complete the look. For the face I stuck with simple, natural elements so it wouldn't look overdone with the strong eye. Coral blush and clear gloss is a nice balance.


Here is a close-up of the eye


The colors look really glowy in natural light.



This is in-between light. I still think it looks quite wearable and natural.


And a couple more just before I left. My eyes look weird in the first one but I think it shows the colors nicely. :P




Did I mention I bought this leather motorcycle jacket a few weeks ago? OMG. I think I am living in this thing. I swear it matches EVERYTHING. Definitely a good investment. Will show it in its full glory in the next post. ;)

Oh, and just a reminder, I added the "followers" section on the right so follow me! I was also just thinking, would it be helpful to label FOTD's by color? Let me know in the comments.