A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

No laughing… this has to be the boldest ‘look’ I’ve ever done.  And no, I didn’t leave the house.

This Shu Uemura Painting Liner in Citrine (Part of the Primtribe Fall Collection) is B.E.A.U.TIFUL, but how the hell do I create a toned down look with something so bright?

Is it destined to sit gathering dust?  I love you, beautiful liner… but there aren’t enough Mardi Gras’ in the world for me to wear this look to.

Suggestions most gratefully received!!

Eyes:
BeautyUK Eyeshadow Palette (2)
Boots 17 Solo Eyeshadow (Punky Purple)
Shu Uemura Painting Liner (Citrine)
Rimmel Volume Flash Mousse Mascara
Sleek Ink Pot Eyeliner Gel (Purple Rain)

Face:
Everyday Minerals Foundation (Cool-Fair/Medium)
Cory Cosmetics Mineral Blush (Lava)

Lips:
MAC Lustre Lipstick (Lustering)

What gorgeous weather we’re currently enjoying!  Over the weekend I was looking for something a little lighter than my standard liquid foundations to wear on my face.  As I was digging around in my collection, I happened across a little pot of tinted moisturiser by a company called Mádara which I’d received as a free sample with an order I’d made a couple of weeks ago.

Now, I would normally consider my skin not clear enough for tinted moisturisers, so I approached this ‘try out’ with slight apprehension (and my eye on my Revlon Colorstay incase it all went horribly wrong).

Mádara are a Latvian organic company who carry the tag line ‘ecocosmetics’ under their brand name.

Here’s a blurb from their website:

Today we shape, create and nurture MÁDARA. MÁDARA is our story about love towards the place we come from, about good design, high quality natural and organic products and good honest business practice.

How good does that sound?

Well, let’s see if it’s too good to be true.

Mádara Decoface Tinting Fluid in Moon Flower (the lightest of 2 shades)

What they say:

Tints, illuminates and lightly moisturises the skin of the face and neck. Evens out skin tone. Gives the skin freshness and radiance. Disguises imperfections and fine lines. A lighter alternative to foundation. Like daisy petals shimmering in the moonlight.

What I say:

The first thing I noticed was the smell, it has a slightly herbal scent to it.  Not musky herbal, more floral – really rather nice, especially as it isn’t at all overpowering.  The formula, although thin, is very pigmented – a little goes a long way!  I used my fingers to apply and found that it spread evenly and easily across my skin.  I was also pleased to discover that it contained sunscreen, although to what extent/rating I can’t find out, not that it matters hugely to me as I always slap on my DHC facial sunscreen anyway.

Application finished, I looked in the mirror and was disappointed to discover no difference in terms of coverage.

However, after uploading these photos, I’m re-evaluating my thoughts on the coverage.  If you look at the before and after, there is definitely more evenness in my skintone in the after shot (the one on the right).  I think it is most noticeable across my nose.  Yes, it is pretty sheer – but I need to remind myself, that’s exactly what I was looking for!  I don’t want to be caked in makeup on days where it’s liable to melt!  I hadn’t applied any concealer, but I will apply a little to key areas  next time I wear this tinting fluid.

Before on the left/After on the right

I have typical combination skin which also suffers from sensitivity and I experienced absolutely no burning/stinging or tightness during or after using this product which is obviously crucially important and something that Mádara prides itself on achieving. 

One negative (and unfortunately one my ultra pale skin won’t let me overlook) is that I did encounter a little oxidisation very quickly after application.  It certainly didn’t tango me, but I did smooth over my neckline with some untinted moisturiser to re-blend the colour and ensure there were no giveaway ‘foundation’ lines.  It didn’t oxidise further.

Mádara Decoface Tinting Fluid comes in 2 shades, so there’s not much room for error for pale gals like me.  The 2 shades are Moon Flower and Sun Flower, could they give them prettier names?!

Once out in the heat and the sun, I was pleased with the longevity of this product.  It lasted pretty well all day.  It did nothing to tame the oilies, but I didn’t expect it to and was simply surprised that it could last despite them!  My skin continued to feel moisturised and supple throughout the day and into the evening.  I had no issues with flakiness (which I sometimes get with my Colorstay).

I would really recommend this product to anyone looking for a lighter alternative for the summer.  It doesn’t offer the greatest coverage in the world, but if you’re looking for that… then I believe you’d be hard pressed to find it in a tinted moisturiser.  As a bonus, you know that what you’re putting on your face is natural and organic.  You can read more about Mádara’s Eco credentials here.

In conclusion, this is on my purchase list, but I definitely want to make friends with a reliable concealer too!

My simple summer FOTD featuring Mádara’s Tinting Fluid (please excuse the stray hair)!

Mádara Tinting Fluids are available at LoveLula.com£21.50 for 50mls.

[starreview tpl=14]

Funnily enough after this morning’s post…

I was browsing Debenhams sale online this lunchtime and some of the Mavala Mini shades are reduced to £1.87 a bottle – mega bargain!

Linkage

Use code SHD1 for free delivery!

I accidently added most of them to my basket *oops*

There’s also some Stila goodies on sale too.

Another Mavala NOTD, and my favourite shade so far… Magnolia

Of course, the connotations of Magnolia are dull, dull, dull but I love how gentle this is, perhaps it’s a little ‘safe’ for most – but I think it’s feminine, soft and sophisticated with it’s satin finish.

As with the other Mavala shades I’ve tried, this applies beautifully.  1 coat and this would make a lovely french manicure application, 2 or more to build up on opacity.  I think this was 3 coats.  A nice smooth fairly thin formula (which I love) and quick drying (but not so quick that I can’t go over with a couple of strokes to tidy up my application).

This is love, what shade shall I go for next?!

As an aside, you may notice that my cuticles are looking a little dry (well, you probably won’t notice – but they are!) Any recommendations for something I don’t have to apply a 100 times a day to keep them moisturised?

I don’t usually wear pinks.. but these shadows from The She Space’s Taurus Astrology Collection were just too cute not to.

Face:
Cory Cosmetics Mica Free foundation in Bare Beige
Earthen Glow Minerals Blush in Berries & Cream
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural & Shimmer in Light/Medium
The Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
The She Space Mineral Eyeshadow in Little Explosions
The She Space Mineral Eyeshadow in Traditional Taurus
Ruby & Millie I-Writer in Black
Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Black Ink

Lips:
GOSH Pearl Shine Lipstick in Starlet (discontinued)

Not loving this one quite as much as Glasgow a few days ago… but it’s definitely worth a spot on here as I consider this to be a slightly unusual colour.  It doesn’t look as though it would be deserving of the description ‘unusual’ but it is.  Ruby by Mavala is a shade that upon first glance, seems to be your standard warm toned dark pink in the bottle.  However, it shows up far more red toned with a warm brown hint on my nails.

It’s particularly worth a mention as I would class this as a ‘work safe’ red, it doesn’t scream for attention and sits quite demurely on the end of my fingers simply looking polished and pretty.  It’s also not a super high gloss finish, the above photo was taken after 2 coats.  Personally, I prefer a more glossy finish but that can be remedied with a couple of swipes of your favourite top coat.

Definitely one for the collection.

Here’s a simple, summery one colour eye FOTD using BarryM Dazzle Dust in Bronze #44.

I love this shade, and normally use a little on the centre of my eyelid to give a neutral eye a little bit of a pop. When I got up this morning, the weather was beautiful so I decided I was gonna go a little brighter on the eye makeup than usual:

I can’t decide if I look ‘glowy’ or just plain shiny.

Eyes:
BarryM Dazzle Dust #44 (Bronze)
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Golden Cadillac
Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
Sleek Ink Pot Gel Liner in Dominatrix (Black)

Face:
Clarins Truly Matte Foundation
Earthen Glow Minerals Blush in Copala Beach (♥)
MAC MSF Natural in Light/Medium

Lips:
Burts Bees Super Shiny Gloss in Sheer Lemon

And just for shits and giggles, we all know that it’s not easy taking these FOTD photos… arms outstretched, trying to find the right buttons to press (even harder on a DSLR), searching out the best light in the house and all the while trying not to gurn.

So here’s an outtake, “My… what a big nose you have.”  And fan-fuckintastic, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to see what my nose blackheads looked like in full macro, technicolour glory.

You lot just need to thank God for small mercies.  I must have picked my nose at some point before taking this picture or it coulda been a hell of a lot uglier.

Mrs ‘Keepin’ it Real’ Lipglossiping xxxx

I’m loving these Mavala Minis (5ml), so great for impatient types like me who never see the bottom of a standard sized bottle before it’s gotten too thick and unuseable.

This is Glasgow #29 a fab silvery lavender metallic shade.  It’s a little streaky (as with most metallics) but not enough to bother me in the slightest.  It applied as easily as a creme with no dragging at all.  This was 3 thin coats.  Drying time was decent aswell.  I’m very, very impressed with this range and will be checking out some other colours!

These Mavala Minis are on offer at £3.19 a bottle at Richard John at the moment (although they do that annoying p&p thing where they think it’s a good idea to charge you higher p&p the more money you spend with them *sigh*)

This is my first experience with the Mavala brand, anyone else tried their products?  What are your thoughts?

Just another boring neutral FOTD…

Eyes:

Body Shop Shimmer Cube in Warm (Thanks Tali!)
Sleek Ink Pot in Black (Dominatrix)
Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara
GOSH Velvet Touch eyeliner (Black)

Face:

Gale Hayman Youth Light Foundation (Porcelain) – A Direct Cosmetics cheapy I’ve surprised myself by liking!
Earthen Glow Minerals Matte Blush (Emotions)
MAC MSF in Perfect Topping

Lips:

GOSH Darling Lipstick

My hooded eyelids make things really tricky for a novice like me… I can hardly ever achieve a decent eyeliner flick, and getting my shadows to appear above the crease without looking plain odd I find really tricky.  Help!

So, I’ve been wearing Max Factor’s old volumising favourite 2000 Calorie mascara for a few days now, and I’m really rather impressed.

Firstly, I hate, HATE the smell of the stuff.  It’s quite pungent and chemically, a horrible whiff as the wand passes my nose on it’s way to my lashes.  It also sports a chunky brush not unlike Benefit’s Bad Gal.

Not sure if it’s just mine but the formula is quite dry aswell which I’m actually really liking.   My initial reaction was irritation that I had picked up one that was drying out… but it really doesn’t seem to be – it just seems to collect the perfect amount on the wand every dip without any big splodges (gotta love my technical expressions)…

Anyway, here’s a before/after:

My left lashes (right on the image) always clump a little more than the right.  It’s a bit tricky to get to the very outer lashes with this chunky wand, but not impossible.  Can’t see too much lengthening or extra curl going on here, but there’s definitely some decent volumising and the pigmentation is a really nice solid black.

For the price, I am really impressed.  It’s very forgiving to apply – often if I go in for more than one coat, my lashes start to clump whilst I simultaneously begin to curse.  I didn’t have a problem at all with this mascara doing that.

Overall… I will absolutely buy this again especially when you can often pick this up for less than a fiver from the online discount cosmetic websites (although not before I’ve tried the new 2000 calorie extreme lash plumper with the apparent MEGA wand!)

As a direct comparison to Benefit’s Bad Gal (click link for my review), I really can’t say that Bad Gal is worth spending the extra money on.  Bad Gal is slightly blacker, thinner in consistency and feels a little more conditioning to your lashes – but I’m not sure those 3 differences justify spending double the amount of money over this drugstore cheapy.  It’s a tough one.

[starreview tpl=14]

So I’m getting a little braver – go me!  Still nowhere near as accomplished or imaginative as some of you lovely ladies, but – baby steps!

As you can see, with this FOTD – the focus is on the eyes.  There’s a slick of sheer lipgloss there but it’s barely pigmented and again, I’m crap at making my blushes show up.  I either go too subtle or all out Bozo the clown stylee – grrr, it’s something I really need to get the hang of!

I can’t bring myself to apply above the crease either… I always end up attacking it with a q-tip.  It just doesn’t suit me – I look in the mirror and shout “Eurgh, garish – gerrit off!” – and yet it looks so lovely on other ladies.  Maybe my eyes are too deep set to carry it off?  Maybe I’m just a big pussy who doesn’t deserve to own any makeup if she can’t wear it proudly and unashamedly – I’m on the fence with that judgement.

Products used (Eyes):

Sleek – I-Divine Palette (Original) – Colours used shown below:

Sleek Ink Pot Gel Liner – Purple Rain
Barry M Glitter Dust – Black Purple (outer V and under eye)
Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara – I love it!

Welcome to my world of boring but wearable neutrals.  I love colour, but I’m not sure it loves me – I’m still experimenting though so hopefully my FOTDs will get a little more adventurous over time!

Face:
Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer
Grimas Concealer – Shade G0
Bourjois Lilas D’or Blush – (I was a bit too light handed)
Lavshuca Blush/Highlighter Duo – PK1
SK-II Airbrush Foundation Shade OP1 – (my first test with it! ‘citing!)

Eyes:
Revlon Brow Fill in Powder
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette – Storm
Stargazer Cake Eyeliner – Brown (Upper) – still loving it!
Some random Boots No7 Brown Kohl (Lower)
Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara

Lips:
Art Deco Waterproof Lip Liner #17 – used as base and liner
Elizabeth Arden High Shine Lip Gloss – #10 Pink Champagne