Tutorial: Neutral Sculpted Look

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but when I was younger I used to be very self-conscious about my uneven lids. Oh, the tons of pictures I now regret deleting, just because at that time I couldn't bear my "hideous" eyes. I've largely made peace with it. I know I can't change that part of myself, and frankly, not many people notice until I point it out anyway.

But because of that, I don't do what I call "Asian makeup" very often. I prefer looks that give me more drama on the eyes, just because that would allow me to even out my eyes a little. Well, last week I threw on an outfit that felt very Japanese/Taiwanese (I'm abusing stereotypes in this post. Forgive me) and I thought I should have the makeup to go with it. It was a first for me, going for such a clean look, but guess what, it's now stored under my list of favorites waiting to be reused.

For a supposedly simple look, there are a lot of products and steps involved. I have the tendency to complicate simple things, so my apologies. Below is the breakdown for each part:

Hair

I combed my hair pin straight instead of leaving it as the scrunched up messiness you usually see on here. You're looking (perhaps for the first time) at my hair as it naturally is.

Skin

I wanted the skin to look flawless and glowy (let's ignore the dry bits. It's winter). I've been obsessed with dewy skin recently, and have always been curious about how to achieve it without becoming an oil mess within an hour. I think I just might have gotten it.

I started by prepping the skin with Sunday Riley Effortless Breathable Tinted Primer, then applied a pump of Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base all over the skin. Next, I swept a light pink highlighter all over the face (Guerlain Cruel Gardenia), and only then I applied Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge #2 as my foundation. Finally, I used a finishing powder to seal everything in. It is important to avoid mattifying powders because well, that defies the entire purpose. My loose powder of choice is Le Métier de Beauté Classic Flawless Finish Loose Powder #1 (which incidentally, has been discontinued by the company. If it is your HG, stock up while it lasts). Best thing is, all of these products were so lightweight I hardly felt anything on my skin (that's five layers we're talking about). It definitely felt like a rock star after such attention.  

Eyes

Shade in your eyebrows following your natural shape. 

I used a pearly white shade as an all-over lid wash (I used Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Opal 13), then lined my eyes with the tiniest flick of wings with MAC Fluidline in Midnight Blues and Le Métier de Beauté Precision Eye Liner in Noir. If you look closely at the second picture you can see the blue underneath the black. I used the remnants of blue ink on my brush to line my bottom lash line one-third of the way, then used Le Métier de Beauté Sugar to highlight the inner corners as well as the rest of the bottom lash line to give the appearance of wider eyes. 

Lashes were courtesy of Guerlain Noir G Mascara, the best curling, separating, lengthening, potentially volumizing mascara I've used in my life. 

Cheeks

I contoured my cheeks using Burberry Light Glow in Earthy Blush No. 07 and created the faintest of flushes with Le Métier de Beauté Romeo and Juliet Blushing Bronze Duet. 

Lips

I went for a semi-matte pink (think natural looking) shade, courtesy of Paul and Joe Lipstick C in 076 Meow!

And done! I hope you enjoyed my sudden tutorial. If you are inspired to recreate the look, please share it with us via Facebook. I would love to see it!

Fashion Picks: NYFW Fall 2012 (so far)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program with an obligatory Fashion Week post! But since I'm sure you're absolutely bombarded with these everywhere else, there will be no beauty recreations (yet!) or trend watching here. Instead, let's just have a little fun with fashion.

I picked these based on immediate impulse, so the only looks that surprised me were the DVF and Derek Lam ones (all red leather? Really, Xiao?). There is definitely a pattern here: Peter Pan collars (I have such a need for these), long flowy dresses, sharp cuts, and just well-tailored things in general.

All photos from style.com.

Carolina Herrera Look #10 - for my Morticia Adams fix

Carolina Herrera Look #19 - for the days I want to look like I chicly got out of bed

DKNY Look #2

Diane von Furstenberg Look #32

Derek Lam Look #9

Donna Karan Look #33

Donna Karan Look #8

Ohne Titel Look #2 - because my boyfriend said he wanted to retire in Alaska (uh, no thanks)

3.1 Phillip Lim Look #27

Victoria Beckham Look #17

Victoria Beckham Look #22

Let's Talk About Hair

Confession: Sometimes I get more excited about hair than makeup. If I had more skill manipulating hair the direction of this blog might have been entirely different, but alas, another confession: I don't know how to style my hair at all. I can barely even handle a respectable braid. This kills me when I see girls with perfect beachy waves, elaborate updos, simple updos even. I just can't do anything but hope my hair looks pretty when I leave it down.

So, I'm not an expert on hair, but I love it. I love good hair so much that having bad hair ruins my entire day. I mean, if you have bad skin at least you can throw some foundation over it, right? Anyway, a few readers have asked how I style my hair and the simple answer is I don't. I don't own a flat iron and my curling iron is relegated to an unknown back closet somewhere.

The only thing I use for now is the Shu Uemura Muroto Volume Amplifying Shampoo and Conditioner. I have pin straight Asian hair, which wouldn't bother me as much if it weren't also so flat. These two bottles are basically fairy volumizing dust in a bottle. It contains Depsea water, an ingredient widely used in their skincare, which softens and nourishes the hair (my hair has never looked and felt this healthy) while delivering the promised volume. It also doesn't hurt that it smells absolutely amazing (the fragrance listed on the website is Aquarelle).

Shu Uemura Muroto Volume Amplifying Shampoo and Conditioner retails for $48 and $58 respectively. It is a shocking amount to spend on hair, but I don't buy any other product. With these I don't feel the need for hair oils or volumizing gels and mousses. They can be found at certain salons but for convenience I ordered them from shuuemuraartofhair-usa.com. Beware though, as I found out the hard way, once you start using this there is no way to go back.

Paul and Joe Spring 2012: Face and Eye Color CS in 076 Siamese, Please

After hearing from Getting Cheeky that the Paul and Joe Lipstick C in Meow! is already sold out on beautyhabit.com, I went into full panic mode to churn out this post. Originally this was supposed to go up a little later (I'll explain why in a bit) but I decided to move it up just in case. Wouldn't want everything to be sold out before you guys can get your hands on it, right? 

Out of the three palettes available for spring, I chose the no-brainer, Face and Eye Color CS in 076 Siamese, Please. Why do I need another brown palette, you ask? I can defensively cite the number of brown palettes I own (surprisingly not many) but really it's just because the cat in the palette has her eyes closed and I can see her three distinctive lashes. Such attention to detail is what I live for!

The palette consists of a beige-nude, a very warm copper brown, and (what I think of as) a generic dark brown with microshimmer. I wish more palettes swatched like these shadows. I barely had to dip my finger into the color to produce this. The texture was in line with what I'm starting to expect from all Japanese brands, so buttery smooth that it should be spread over toast and happily consumed. How is it that Japanese companies can consistently produce such quality items? And can everyone else please start taking a leaf out of their books?

Of course, I did a cat eye to go with the cat palette. Would you expect anything less from me?  

The reason I wanted to post this up later was because I wanted to separately feature the accompanying lip shades in the photos below before I get to the eye look. I was going to say something about universality or ease of use or "pair it with whatever you like!" but I'm sure you girls already knew that. It is a brown palette, after all. 

Since my plan was thwarted, let's resurrect the guessing game! Want to take a gander at what lipstick/gloss I'm wearing in the pictures below? The hint is: one is a lipstick, one is a gloss, and one is a mixture of both. The products used are relatively new to the US market. 

Here's the ingredient list for those who need it:

Paul and Joe Face and Eye Color CS in 076 Siamese, Please retails for $36. Danielle of Bloomin' Beauty (thanks love!) alerted me to a whole slew of e-tailers that carry Paul and Joe goodies. Other than beautyhabit.com, you can also visit b-glowing.com and asos.com to secure your goodies. While the Asos price is higher compared to regular retail, you can use the code "retailmenot20" to secure 20 percent off your entire cart! If this palette (or anything else in the collection) strikes your fancy, my advice is to get it this very minute. Hot cakes don't even hold a candle to these kittens.

Paul and Joe Beaute Spring 2012: Lipstick C in 076 Meow!

Does it damage my beauty blogging street cred to admit that I don't have a pet? If I was new to this world, I would think it was a requirement (still kinda think it is). But cat or no cat, nothing would have kept me away from the new Paul and Joe Spring Creation collection. Paw print lipsticks, cat palettes, cat wearing a top hat blush sticks? Too cute to be missed.

The blush sticks have not arrived at the counter last I checked, and I am starting to feel quite anxious indeed. In the meantime, allow me to introduce the aptly titled Lipstick C in 076 Meow!

I think a huge part of me chose this because of the packaging. I am absolutely in love with this... this red tube stamped with various women's heads. All the women look different and they have matchsticks in their hair. Seriously.

The nifty thing about Paul & Joe limited edition packaging is after you finish the lipstick/get bored with the hue, you can detach the pretty outer section and replace the inner tube with any of the lipsticks in their permanent line. 

Meow! swatches decidedly different from how it appears on my lips. I did a double take when I saw the photos and had to check and see if I made a mistake. I didn't, but it still feels odd. On my hand it looks like a regular pink shade while on my lips it is much lighter and cooler in tone. 

The lipstick features a semi-matte finish. It is advisable to prep your lips prior to application because while it contains olive oil (among others), it does not claim any moisturizing benefits. My own experience is while it is not drying, it is not moisturizing as well. Considering that this is a semi-matte formula, color me impressed. The lipstick is also lightweight and comfortable to wear. It's another one of those lip products I would forget I had on till I smeared it on an unsuspecting tissue. Lasting power to my best recollection is about 3-4 hours. 

I'm wearing Paul and Joe Face and Eye CS in 076 Siamese, Please on my eyes and Cle de Peau Cheek Color Duo 02 on the cheeks. Review forthcoming for both.

Here are the ingredients for those who like to know what they are putting on their lips. You can click on the picture below for the enlarged version:

In an attempt to be reasonable I only purchased one shade out of the available three. I'm now convinced I must have been out of my mind. I will visit the counter again soon to rectify this situation, and hopefully by then the blush sticks will be in.

Paul and Joe Lipstick C in 076 Meow! retails for $20 and is available at Paul and Joe counters and beautyhabit.com. I purchased mine from Bergdorf Goodman. I apologize for not getting the contact number of the Paul and Joe sales associate who helped me, but if you know what you want, Dustin (212-872-8612) should be able to help you! 

Guest Post on Karla Sugar: Emulating Laura Mercier Spring

I've been making so many mistakes and dropping/losing so many things this past week that it just doesn't feel like me. Seems like every day something happens that just makes me want to hang my head in shame. I'm going for a haircut tomorrow (well, a trim) and hope that kills the clumsy streak.

Part of the clumsiness was giving the wrong information to Karla Sugar when she graciously put me up on her blog for recreating the Laura Mercier Spring look she posted earlier last week, the same look in my recent Suqqu lipstick post (sans lipstick).

For a complete breakdown, please hop on over to Karla's.

NARS Spring 2012: Paramaribo Eyeshadow Duo

Here we are at the end of my NARS Spring collection coverage with NARS Paramaribo Eyeshadow Duo, which consists of a dirty gold and a brown-toned olive. 

Paramaribo was a blind purchase (as is the rest of my acquisitions, really) and had I made my way to a counter beforehand I probably would not have bought it. Not that the shadows are not good. This is one of the better duos from NARS and one of the easiest to swatch (seriously. One light dip of the finger), and though the texture is laudable and color insanely pigmented, it's just not something I'd wear very often. I don't know what possessed me in the first place to acquire it, considering that I am very wary of anything that might accentuate the yellow of my skintone and that left shade looked awfully dangerous.

NARS Gaiety on cheeks, Mexican Rose on lips

I was right, the palette is not something I would wear often. I can't think of a suitable outfit to pair them with. But goodness me do I love those colors.

NARS Paramaribo Eyeshadow Duo retails for $34 and is available at major department stores and Sephora. I purchased mine from narscosmetics.com.