Makeup

Video: Club Clio & MAC

Makeup

On Friday, one of my best friends told me about this store called Club Clio that is a Korean makeup and cosmetics company that was recommended to her by a friend from college. She was told specifically about an eyebrow marker that acts like a temporary tattoo that can last up to a week! The sales women at the store says that you apply it at night and then comb your brows with the wand in the morning, and you’ll have perfect brows all day.

My eyebrows are naturally full, so I don’t feel the need to fill them in every day. Therefore, I did not purchase that particular product. However, this store is filled with amazing products, and trust me, I did end up spending more than I thought I would.

Before I get into too much detail about Club Clio, I do have to mention that on our way to that store, we saw a MAC and decided to pop in. Of course, the universe loves to pull me into cosmetics stores, and it turns out that my cousin just happened to be in that same store!

She was shopping around for a deep purple lipstick, and was trying on some different bold choices, because its summer of course! I specifically wanted a one of the new scented Prep + Prime sprays that everyone on YouTube has been talking about, either in coconut water or lavender. However, they were all sold out. So, I ended up getting a mini travel sized unscented spray that is the same exact formula, just without the fragrance. When I first walked into MAC, I was pulled towards their new extra dimension eye shadows. They are so multidimensional and complex, but yet very wearable colors. I fell in love with the color “Sweet Heat” that is a shimmery neutral color with a pink undertone. My friend got an awesome purple color along with a bright shimmery eyeliner.

Although I could have spent an eternity in MAC, chit chatting with my cousin, the store we were heading for was closing in a couple of hours. My friend and I left MAC with our purchases and headed towards Club Clio (The cosmetics store I mentioned before, not club Cielo in the meatpacking district).

The very nice and enthusiastic sales women, named Ariel I think, gave my friend and I a tour of the store. The whole time she was holding a small shopping basket for us to put all our products that we were selecting in. She let us sample some of their best selling products and showed us her personal favorites. She applied a couple of exfoliators and moisturizers on us, and I really liked the Goodal whild phyto power phytowash yerba mate buble peel. She said that is a best seller and is really popular, and I can totally understand why. It’s an exfoliating face wash that foams up as you put it on. Then you let it sit on your face while the product foams up completely and dries a little bit. Then you massage the skin to exfoliate. It is extremely gentle, but leaves your skin feeling soft and refreshed. Which

Not only are eyeliners from this store made with an amazing waterproof formula, but they also come in so many different styles and colors. They even have an extremely fine tipped liner (0.1 mm) that the sales women said that a lot of men ask for! She says men like the fine tipped brush to emphasis their eyes without making it look like they’re wearing eyeliner.

I purchased a kill black waterproof pen liner in black. The pen liner looked like it was a little easier to use than the brush liner.

The Club Clio store also has Peripera lip balms that change color when you apply them to your lips. My friend got this green color that turned purple when she put it on her lips. I decided to go with an orange color that turned a light pinkish red when I applied it. These items were part of a 4th of July promotion, where it was buy one get one free.

I also purchased a Peripera oil capture powder compact. When I walked into the store from the hot and muggy streets of downtown Manhattan, I was a little bit sticky and sweaty, and it was showing on my face. I just took a little bit with my finger from the sample powder on the counter, and applied it to my forehead, nose, and chin. It instantly dulled the shine on my face.

As part of the 4th of July promotion, I was able to get a pack of 60 face cleansing wipes for 50% off. The Clio waterproof cleansing tissues are an easy way to remove their waterproof liner, which by the way is advertised to stay on for 6 hours. These wipes have a really refreshing, clean scent to them, and they feel really nice on your skin.

Sephora Lipstick Sample Bag

Makeup


I may have been doing some Instagramming, but I know I haven’t done a blog post in a long time, and I apologize. Anyway, as I was buying gifts for friends and family at Sephora (I will not be listing the gifts I bought for obvious reasons!) I used a coupon code for beauty insiders and spent some beauty reward points to get some sample packs for myself. There were tons of small samples in the Lipstick Sample Bag that I got with a coupon code for free! Two Clinique moisture surge face moisturizers, Fresh’s rose hydrating eye gel cream, Benefit’s the pore-fessional cream, Soap and Glory’s smoothie body buttercream, Ole Hendriksen’s pure truth youth activating oil, Dr. Jart+’s Beauty Balm, Smashbox’s photo finish makeup primer, Yu-Be’s moisturizing skin cream, Versace’s bright crystal perfume, and L’Occitane’s precious cream. That’s a lot of samples!!! Some of these I have used before and have mentioned previously, but I’m exited to try out the new products that I don’t already own. I also used my beauty reward points to get a L’Occitane 500 point reward pack that came with four deluxe samples and a cute pink cosmetic bag. The samples I got in the reward pack were Almond Firming and Softening Supple Skin Oil, Cleansing and Softening Shower Oil with Almond Oil, Immortelle Precious Cream, and Shea Butter Hand Cream. In addition to all those samples, whenever you purchase anything from Sephora.com, you get to choose three samples that come free. No code needed, and you don’t need to be a beauty insider. The three samples I chose where: Juicy Couture’s Viva La Juicy Noir perfume, Hanae Mori’s Butterfly perfume, and I also got a sample of The Art Of Shaving’s Perfect Shave Trio for my boyfriend.

Festival Makeup

Beauty, Makeup, Uncategorized

First off, I have to say that I am extremely apologetic for my long hiatus in blogging. I have been working on this huge project for my job called Photoville, which is a photo festival in Brooklyn that turns shipping containers into photography galleries. But this post is not about Photoville (even though its an awesome even and you should go next year!), this post is about the products I used during Photoville to keep myself looking fresh and feeling clean. These are the products I would recommend for anyone attending an outdoor festival or possibly traveling during the summer.

Photoville is an outdoor event with some pretty warm days, and then include running around like crazy therefore I ended up sweating a little bit. It’s inevitable, just accept it and deal with it and move on. I like to use body wipes during the day to wipe sweat off and keep my clothes from smelling. I prefer to use Ban Cooling Cloths because they have a nice cooling sensation that is relieving during very hot weather and they have a nice scent. However, they don’t come in nice travel-sized individual packets so I sometimes use Crystal Body Deodorant Towelettes, Solos.

I know everyone tries not to wear making up those really hot and sweaty events, like a music festival. But come on girls, we all do a little bit! When it’s hot out, I like to use Murad Skin Clearing Concealer. It helps keep my skin clear if I do end up sweating with makeup on. I also try to use lighter makeup, like Becca Blotting Powder Perfecter. It’s a lite, oil free, blotting powder that has shear coverage that you can reapply throughout the day if needed.

Tutorial: Foundation

Beauty, Makeup

1) Prep and Prime

I will assume that you have taken a shower, but if you haven’t, please at least wash your face before applying makeup. Making sure that you have a clean and oil free surface to work with makes it easier for the makeup to apply to the skin. Afterwards, if you don’t automatically, apply a moisturizer to your face.

Choosing a primer can be difficult because I find some to have too much silicone in them, and it tends to be harder to create an even surface. For example, the Smashbox brand or Sephora brand specifically I find harder to work with. My favorite primer is Laura Mercier’s Foundation Primer.

2) Eyeliner & Eye shadow.

I like to do my eyeliner and eye shadow before anything else because I know that if I mess up, I won’t have to redo my entire face. If you forget, there are two great products I like to use to protect my face from falling eye shadow. My favorite tool to use is a brush from Eyes Lips Face (e.l.f.) Cosmetics called the Studio Mascara & Shadow Shield. Another product I like to use is Shadow Shields from Beauty.com.

3) BB or CC Cream (Optional)

I will sometimes just use a BB Cream and powder foundation for a lighter look during my workday. However, if you want a full face, continue on to the full tutorial.

Some of my favorite BB Cream right now is the Clinique BB Cream just because it happens to be the perfect shade for my skin. However, I’m looking forward to trying Philosophy’s new Hope in a Jar A to Z Cream.

4) Liquid or Cream Foundation

I personally have preferred the convenience of using a cream foundation and a compact sponge. However, using a liquid foundation and a brush or professional sponge has always been the way of professionals, before airbrushing of course. My two favorite foundations right now are NARS’s Radiant Cream Compact and Clinique’s Even Better Compact Makeup.

5) Contouring, Blush and Highlighting

This is when I use a bronzer and blush pallet from NARS to create definition in my face by contouring. I also use Benefit’s Watt’s Up to highlight certain areas. These will be explained in full detail in a later post.

6) Powder Foundation

I realize I’m no expert, but powder foundations seem all the same to me. I realize I haven’t tried them all, but most of the time its just about getting the color just right.

7) Finishing Spray and/or Powder (Optional)

Using a finishing spray and then a powder is my favorite way to finish off my look. I use Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray. This product helps save your look throughout the night. I also like to use Eyes Lips Face (E.L.F.)’s Makeup Lock & Seal. These two products together have made my makeup last throughout the night, many times.

Tutorial: How to look like you have bigger eyes

Makeup

I honestly have pretty huge eyes to begin with, but I like to enhance them whenever I do my makeup.

1) Apply Eyeliner

I like to do my eyeliner and eye shadow before anything else because I know that if I mess up, I don’t have to redo my entire face.

In order to make your eyes look bigger, you want to do your eyeliner half way around your eye. What this means is that you start at your pupil and then go to the outside edge of your eye. The demonstration picture is below. This creates an effect that your eye is bigger than it actually is.

2) Apply Eye Shadow

To make your eyes look larger, you definitely don’t want to over do the eye shadow. If you darken your eye too much your eyes will actually look smaller compared to your shadow. You want to put a gentle dark color just above your eyeliner (from the pupil on just like in the picture).

3) Apply a great mascara or fake lashes

The best way to make your eyes look bigger is to create longer thicker lashes. I suck at fake lashes and I always get glue in my eyes. Therefore, I like using Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara.

4) Apply under eye concealer

The final step is good under eye concealer for those horrible dark circles (I have the worst!). In my previous posts you will see my two favorite products that I like to mix to create the perfect coverage. My base layer is Clinique line smoothing concealer. My final touch to my eye makeup is Benefit Biiong concealer.