FOTD 3: Summer Bronze Tutorial

Hey everyone,

Today's Face Of The Day will be a bronze, spring/summer tutorial that will transition your pale, dry skin into glowy, tanned summer loveliness. It's an evening look- something that looks imperfect for that 'slept in my makeup' kind of look for a sultry finish. Here are the products I'm using:

 Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in a shade slightly darker than your skin tone. This is light/medium.

 NYX Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator in the shade Gleam. I'm mixing this into my BB cream for a dewy effect to the skin.

 Before all of this, I'm going to prep my skin with Guerlain's Radiance d'Éclat concentrate. 

 After applying the BB cream base, I'm going to highlight my under eye area with Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind Treatment concealer. 

 I'm going to set my concealer with Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powder in the shade Dim Light. I'm not going to set my whole face because I want to keep a glowy base.

 I'm then going to use a small brush and contour my cheekbones and jawline with Benefit's Hoola Bronzer. This is a matte bronzer, so it's perfect for the job.

 Instead of blush, I'm going to use Tarte's bronzer in Park Ave. Princess on my cheeks and blend up towards my temples. This bronzer isn't as harsh as the Benefit one, so it will naturally add some glow and more subtle colour.

 I'm then taking Dior's Amber Diamond highlighter on the high points of my face. The tops of my cheekbones, bridge of my nose and cupids bow will all be dusted with this shimmery goodness.

 For an eyeshadow base I'm going to use Maybelline's Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. I'm placing this all over my eyelid but not going above the crease. 

I'm going to set that base with Benefit's "Rich Beach" eyeshadow, the perfect colour match for the Colour Tattoo.

I'm then going to dramatically underline my lower lash line with the Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow stick in Bad Girl Bronze. I'm taking this pretty far under my eye... to the line that creases when you smile.

I'm then taking Clinique's eyeliner in "Mink" on my upper lash line, but only applying a very thin line.

I'm taking Cliique's eyeliner in "Cocoa Shimmer" in my inner corner, it's not a highlight, but a lighter liner that will blend nicely with the bronze and mink tones.

Now for the unpleasant part... tightlining. Tightlining is when you close your eyes and stick this pencil inbetween your eyelids to line your upper and lower waterline. It makes your lashes appear thicker and adds a really dramatic, sultry look to any face you create.

I'm using Make Up For Ever's Smokey Extravagant mascara in black to coat my upper and lower lashes. It definitely adds to a smokey eye. I don't curl my eyelashes for this look because I want it to be imperfect and almost messy looking.

I'm using NYX's Mega Shine Lipgloss in Natural all over my lips. It's a perfect nude.

If you'd prefer some sparkle, try NARS' lipgloss in Gold Digger.

 This is the mixture of the BB Cream and NYX's Gleam highlight.

 A crappy picture- but this is after the application. Hopefully you can see it's darker than my natural skin tone and quite glowy.

This is after the application of Maybellines Colour Tattoo.

I've underlined my eye with Rimmel's Eyeshadow Stick.

 Here is the upper lash line defined by Clinique's "Mink"

 Now for the dramatic transition using Rimmel's eyeliner in black.

Quick close-up of my eye totally tightlined.

 With added mascara from Make Up For Ever

An open eye shot

And a closed eye shot

Finished face with contouring and eyebrows added in.

Hopefully you can see a bit of the contouring here

 I also added NYX's lipgloss in Natural

And finally a smiley shot after the whole thing is finished.

I hope you enjoyed this FOTD, it's a more dramatic look and would be lovely with a natural tan on a summers night out. I like how it's imperfect and sultry, I think it can really add some drama to an outfit.
I hope you're having a great day! Thanks for reading!

My Favourite Spring Nail Polishes

Hey everyone!

Today I'm going to write about my favourite colours to sport on my fingers and toes now that we are officially coming into spring. All of them are from my favourite nail polish brand, Essie, but none of them are actually from their new Resort Collection. I am almost certain they are all in Essie's permanent line, and they are all available from their website.

 Firstly I should say I was inspired to post this because we had mini eggs...

 An artsy little shot of the springtime rainbow of nail polish.

And of course, swatches and names!

I hope you get some springtime pastel inspiration for your nails! I think sporting pastels add a nice pop of colour without being too bright or neon (although we'll get that way in the summer). 

Have a great day, and enjoy the beginning of warmer weather!

The Body Shop "Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter" Review

Hey guys!

Today I'm writing a review on a product I've had my eye on for a while. It's the Body Shop's Camomile Cleansing Butter, a balm formula that you use very similar to the Clinique "Take The Day Off" cleansing balm.

It's a hard formula at first, but you scoop out a little bit and melt it between your fingers. I used it for the first time last night, so it's a bit of a first impressions review. I really liked the scent of it, camomile is quite nice before bedtime as well! It worked just as well as my Clinique formula, although it didn't feel quite as hydrating.

 I think the packaging is really cute, it's a thin tin with a screw lid. I think that as long as it doesn't dent too easily, it would be great for travelling. It's certainly less bulky than most cleansing balms.

 Of course, one of my favourite elements of any Body Shop product... the fact it doesn't test on animals and encourages fair trade!

 Here you can see what the texture of the product is like. It's quite a milky cleanser, I can see why they call it a 'butter' versus a 'balm', but they essentially do exactly the same thing.

Overall I really like this cleansing butter. I think it's comparable to higher end brands with higher prices. This retails for $16.00 CDN (although I got it at a one day 50% of skincare sale for $8.00!), which comes in at about half the price of Clinique's balm. You get slightly less product, 90ml compared to 125ml, but I think the Body Shop's butter is easier to find, they always have sales/deals on, and will save your a fair amount of money in general. It's also more natural and contributes to a better way of producing cosmetics, which is something I always look out for. 

Thanks for reading! Have a great day! 

Update on Social Media!

Hey everyone!

So since I'm getting really regular views now (woo!) I thought I'd just update you all with my social media thingysssss.

So, I have twitter! My twitter name is @makeupbymegant and I would love if you followed me! (Side note: Rimmel London followed me?!?! Ahh!!)

I also got Instagram recently, but so far I'm not using it regularly (probably because I have 2 followers) but anyway, my Instagram name is makeupbymegant 

So anyway, although the followers are minimal I still love that I have people who are liking my blog and are interested in keeping up to date with what I post! I really, really appreciate any feedback (both negative and positive) and would love to hear suggestions via any of these social networking sites, or leave a comment on my blog!

I also have Google+ and you can follow me right from my blog if you click on the sidebar! It looks a little something like this:

Anyway, for those regular readers I'd like to thank you, and also to any new readers who like what I'm posting- I hope you stick around! I've got exciting things planned... including a potential YouTube channel at 10,000 views! Keep checking out my posts every other day and have a great week!

Origins Skincare Review

Hey everyone!

Back in Janurary I made an order at Origins online because I needed a new moisturizer. I chose the GinZing moisturizer because I'd heard excellent things from YouTubers and Beauty Bloggers alike. At the time I placed the order there was a deal where you could choose 5 free deluxe samples and receive free shipping for a $30.00 order. Since the moisturizer was just over $30, I thought I'd buy from Origins online rather than Sephora.

Here is a picture of all of the samples I chose with the moisturizer itself. I thought it would show the comparison of sizes. The samples were all great sizes, good for more than one use so you could truly test the product.

I chose:
Drink Up Face Mask: This mask always recieves excellent reviews online but I really didn't like it at all. I thought it smelled like strawberry yoghurt which is alright, but not my favourite scent. It left my skin feeling hydrated, but I always broke out after using it which really sucked. Since lots of other people like it, it's likely that my sensitive skin didn't agree with an ingredient, so I wouldn't avoid this product- but maybe get a sample before purchasing.

Modern Friction Exfoliant: This facial exfoliant is a pretty standard, gritty exfoliant. It uses grains to gently get rid of dead skin cells. I think it's alright- better than the REN version I've tried, but still pretty expensive for something so standard. I will finish my tester and would repurchase, but I'd search for a better drugstore version first. It is gentle for an abrasive exfoliant, and isn't heavily scented, but I think you could make a similar product at home with ingredients just as natural.

GinZing Eye Cream: Firstly- this is an awesome sized sample!! It's definitely better than a deluxe sample, the packaging is even the same but smaller! The product itself took some getting used to, I thought it was strange in comparison to my Bobbi Brown cream formula, but once I figured out how to use it, it replaced Bobbi Brown's completely. It's a very heavy, sticky cream formula that has light reflecting pigments to brighten your under eye area. I find it goes on applied one eye at a time, and applied with fingertips. It definitely brightens and moisturizes. Something I would buy again for sure.

Dr Weil Mega-Bright Moisturizer: This is more of a gel-textured moisturizer. It has a scent to it, but nothing too fancy or overpowering, it's quite an earthy scent. It's a gel moisturizer that absorbs quickly, very similar to my favourite Clinique moisturizer, but it seems to be even more hydrating. For my next moisturizer purchase I will certainly be shopping for this!

Checks and Balances Face Wash: Ugh. The worst product of the lot- by far. I took this on vacation with me because I loved everything else from Origins. I hated it. It's really soapy, in scent, texture and result. It dried out my skin, irritated it, and left it feeling dryer than before I had applied it. Because it left such a heavy film feeling on my skin there were nights I didn't even cleanse my face. I couldn't even tell if my face was clean or not anyway, because the cleanser changed the entire texture of my face. I had small bumps all around my jawline which I initially thought was from flying, but turns out it was the cleanser. It really sucked. Not only would I never repurchase, but I won't finish the sample or recommend to anyone.

I hope you enjoyed this quick review of some samples from Origins. I really enjoyed most of the products, loved the service I received online, the shipping had no issues and everything was beautifully packaged. I would certainly recommend buying from the Origins website because everything worked out so smoothly, and I would place another order if I needed any more products. I will be repurchasing some items I tested and if you have any recommendations for products I should test, let me know!