Laura Mercier Smooth Finish foundation powder in 04

Laura Mercier has long been a brand known for great base products, from one of the first and best known lines of foundation primers in the world, to the best-selling Secret Camouflage, one of my favorite blemish concealers ever.

Here’s a quick feature summary of Laura Mercier’s new compact foundation powder.

• velvet finish
• medium-high coverage
• no sun-screen (zero flashback in flash photography; I checked!)

The great thing is the finish of this foundation powder is matte and velvety, but your skin will look luminous, not flat. It actually contains oil-based conditioners (shea butter and vitamin E) so it’s very good news for slightly dry or mature skins because it won’t emphasize lines as much as most other powder foundations. But here’s the catch; it’s not stellar at oil-control. If you have oily/combination skin, expect to see the shine breakthrough in about 1-2 hours. I’d say this would be better for normal or slightly-dry people who like a velvety finish.

If you love the finish but have oilier skin, prepare to blot every few hours.

Coverage: variable as with most powder foundations, depending how you apply it. (More on that below.)

Shade range: The shades come in yellow and pink based shades but I find even the “yellow-based” ones to be more neutral than yellow. If you use C and NC in MAC, make sure you try before buying because the range might be warmer (pinker) than you’re used to. Also remember there is minimal oxidation, but it will still darken slightly by the end of the day.

A weekend face of the day using Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Powder Foundation.

3 Alternate Ways to Apply your Two-Way Powder Foundation!

Aside from using it with a dry or damp sponge, you can get more precision and a more seamless “second-skin” finish using 3 different brushes. Just remember that this always goes ON TOP of liquid or cream concealer. Not under.

My 3 alternatives to a sponge, for applying powder foundation!

• A regular big face brush: This is the way to get sheerer coverage. Just dust it on like a loose powder to set liquid foundation or concealer. To get a less powdery look, use a slightly smaller flatter brush like Sephora’s flat blush brush #42.
• Eye buffing brush: One of my favorite tricks. Dab the powder foundation on with an eye buffing brush to add precise coverage, set concealer and mask contours over raised spots.
• Flat foundation brush: Med-high coverage with a slightly less powdery look can be achieved by just pressing dry powder foundation on with the flat of a foundation brush. (Demo below.)

To see the full application demo, click here!

Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette Eye Tutorial: Quicksilver

I wasn't actually intending to do a 4th eye look using the VICE 2 palette, but it just happened!
If you haven't seen Shellshock, you can see all the close-ups of swatches here. It's a super-intense, molten silver that makes everyone go "whoa" when they swatch it for the first time. Silver can look very harsh and dramatic, but this is a rather wearable look - without muting or dulling down the silver - so I'll mention some tips that make it easier to pull off.



Aside from the 3 shades shown above, you will need:

1. a nude or soft silvery cream base for the lids
2. a charcoal grey pencil like NYX Charcoal
3. black mascara

 Tip: Keep silver just under the socket line instead of spreading it up too high. This allows you to pack on the color intensely while keeping things quite wearable.

 Tip: Silver can wipe out your eye contours if you apply it over the entire lid. Make sure you add a darker shade around the outer corners, the lashes, and/or the socket line.

Tip: One other way to soften the harshness of silver is to pair it with a soft color in the opposite tone (warm), like a pearly peach or gold. 

And there's that! The color that people notice is still the silver, but the soft gold and dark charcoal purple at the outer corners just balance it out and add the definition back.


Other Vice 2 Palette Posts:

Swatches - http://www.makeup-box.com/post/62561695514/urban-decay-vice-2-preview-review-and-swatches

Look 1 - http://www.makeup-box.com/post/62674895406/urban-decay-vice-2-palette-tutorial-1-colorful

Look 2 - http://www.makeup-box.com/post/62950176495/urban-decay-vice-2-eye-look-2-blossom-and-blues

Look 3 - http://www.makeup-box.com/post/63129192767/neutral-eyes-and-poppy-lips-urban-decay-vice-2

Dior Vernis 607 Blue Denim with gold star decal on ring finger.

Dior Vernis 607 Blue Denim.

Rich royal blue nail polish with a touch of indigo.

Dior has great varnishes. They have the same type of big one-stroke brush as Lancôme varnishes do, and while they are exorbitantly expensive (as usual), the good news is you can get full coverage in one coat with many of the creme formulas, so you really don't use that much product compared to a lot of polishes. 

But the formula is quite thick and dries out quite quickly as well, so make sure you have a nail polish thinner like Seche Restore (I don't use anything else because this works SO well) on hand to thin it out.

I applied two coats for a thicker lacquered effect, applied gold metal stars to each ring finger. (You can use either nail glue or a tiny bit of craft glue to glue them on!)

Tip: Make sure you press each piece of metal decal to a curved object like a pen, so that it curves. If it's flat, it won't fit on the surface of your nail properly. 

Metal decals are available from online stores like Bornprettystore.com for just a couple of dollars for 80 pieces. (Now there's a deal.) Delivery takes awhile if you opt for free international shipping, but it usually arrives in a couple of weeks or so.

Just make sure you apply a very nice thick layer (or two) of topcoat so the edges aren't sticking out much. The more they curve to fit your nail, the longer they stay on!

Fall Shimmer Tones Tutorial: 88 Metal Mania Palette

88 Metal Mania Eyeshadow Tutorial for Fall

One of the things you can consider investing in (if you haven't already) is the Metal Mania palette from Coastal Scents. This is an all-shimmer collection, and it's filled with rich, high-pigmented Fall-appropriate shades ranging from neutral to violets, to teals, and pinks. 

For this soft, richly-colored look, you will need 4 shades from the palette, along with black mascara and brown pencil:

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Lime Crime Velveteens: Swatches, Review, and Tips!

Lime Crime Velveteens, boxed

I love reds and I love mattes. So I don’t know why it took me so long to try Lime Crime’s Velvetines.

Every fan of the ultra matte-red lip should at least check this out once! These go on a little like NYX Soft Matte Lip Cremes, but are more liquid and they really set and stay on after that.

Lime Crime Velveteens in Suedeberry (left) and Red Velvet

The finish is very smooth and these apply evenly, especially Red Velvet. If your lips are naturally very red or dark, Suedeberry might not be opaque enough to look 100% even. You will get little bits of darker color peaking out from beneath sometimes.

Color-wise, Red Velvet is like an even more dramatic version of MAC Russian Red, and Suedeberry is a bright coral-red which sometimes glows a little pink. (The company is bringing out a pink shade soon; can’t wait!)

Lip swatch of Lime Crime Velvetine in Suedeberry

Lip swatch of Lime Crime Velvetine in Red Velvet

If you’re a fan of the dramatic, “velvety”, zero-shine finish, these - in particular Red Velvet - are top of the range in my humble opinion. Suedeberry is a very cute shade too, but doesn’t go on quite as evenly as the deep red, and I think you can never go wrong with a classic ultra-matte red.

Of course, this also means that if you don’t like the feel of matte lipsticks and your lips are quite chapped or flaky, you should not come within a mile of these. They are VERY unforgiving of flaky, dry skin because the formula sets almost powdery-feeling.

Wrist swatches for Lime Crime Velvetines in Suedeberry and Red Velvet

Click here for 5 Tips to using and getting the most of your Velvetines!

[Requested] Shu Uemura Sweet Red Collection Swatches

There was a request to do lip swatches for the Fall 2013 Sweet Red collection by Shu Uemura, especially for those of you who can’t swatch it in-store. All shades above are done without liner or primer so you can see the textures!

Shu Uemura Sweet Reds limited edition lipsticks

What you need to know is this collection of 6 jelly-like shades departs from typical opaque fiery reds. Though they feel smooth and slick like balm-lipsticks, they go on evenly without that annoying streakiness and patchiness. There’s also a lot more sheen.

Aside from Lacquer Red which is a true red, 3 of these go on coral-toned and 2 a slightly rosy-tone. They can be worn sheer or built up in 2-3 coats, which is how you’ll get the best “jelly” sheen.

Shu Uemura Sweet Red lipstick swatches (from left) Dolly Red Lucid, Sweet Devil Rouge, Baby Flame, Mon Shu Red Pure, Lacquer Red, and Spiky Rose

1. Dolly Red Lucid (creme) - the softest and most translucent shade in the collection, this is a soft pink-toned coral.
2. Sweet Devil Rouge (creme) - a true semi-sheer warm-toned coral.
3. Baby Flame (shimmer) - jelly-like coral with a rosy-pink shimmer. Probably the most unique shade of the bunch.
4. Mon Shu Red Pure (shimmer) - a cooler-toned, rosier version of Baby Flame, with paler shimmer.
5. Lacquer Red (Creme) - the truest red of the bunch, this layers up to a more intense finish than the rest of the shades. If you like red but find opaque ones too scary, try this glossy one.
6. Spiky Rose (Creme) - the “blue”-toned red of the bunch, this is a beautiful rosy shade that can be worn like a stain, or layered to an almost-red.

Tips for wearing these:

• Sweet Red lipsticks are sheer and glossy, so they are great if you have dry or thin lips, and it’s not necessary to wear a balm under them, as that would just make them slide around.
• The glossiness means these won’t last as well as typical lipsticks which have more pigment. To make sure they stay on longer, and don’t bleed into fine lines, coat your lips with nude lip liner first.
• I’d also say they are quite skin-tone flattering because there are a lot of soft undertones in these reds and a conditioning texture so if typical reds tend to look too severe and aging on you or you want a more youthful sheen to the lips, check these out.
• Sweet Reds are out in the US already and should also already be available everywhere Shu is sold by October!

Shu Uemura Sweet Red lipstick in "Lacquer Red", the true red of the bunch.

To see all 6 lip swatches, click here!