Concealer Love Affair featuring MAC Studio Finish Concealer

Makeup for me has always been a love and a passion but when I first started out, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.  I had the pencil thin brows, the silver shadow on the lid and my lipgloss was always poppin!  I really wasn't into foundations and concealers all that much until about six or seven years ago when I started trying to do makeup on other people (scary stuff).  Then I was introduced to one of my all time favorite items, MAC's Studio Finish Concealer.  I originally only used it for brow work but then I started to see that  hyperpigmentation on my face so I used it on that and then it was over!  I was completely in love.  Fast forward to now and I cannot live without it.  I use it underneath, and sometimes on top of, my foundations.  I also use it with a little powder for those easy makeup days.  Concealer is one of those products that is addictive.  Once you see those dark circles go away, that dark spot on your cheek disappear, that lack of sleep vanish, it's over!  This is a staple product in my personal makeup bag and in my kit and I highly recommend it.  Now, it is a cream product and emollient so I do set it with a powder when used under the eyes.

MAC SPF 35 Studio Finish Concealer 
Price:  $18 USD

From the MAC site

"A lightweight, creamy, discreetly opaque concealer. Provides a smooth, long-wearing invisible coverage for all skin blemishes. Water-resistant, fragrance-free and non-acnegenic. This emollient-based, lightweight concealer is so concentrated that a tiny amount can provide opaque coverage of the skin's imperfections and discolourations. It effectively covers dark circles, blemishes, moles, tattoos and birthmarks. Enriched with antioxidants (derivatives of Vitamin A and Vitamin E), it also contains silica to help absorb the skin's oils. Concealer has broad spectrum SPF 35 protection and is available in a wide range of colours. It can be applied with a medium to firm fiber brush (try the 242 Shader Brush), a latex sponge, or the fingertips."

What is your favorite concealer?  

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Look of the Day: Arabic Inspired Cut Crease

I've been a little under the weather the past few days and haven't felt much like playing in makeup, however, today I felt a little better so I decided to play!  I'm always on instagram (glamsabs) and I see the most incredible makeup artist posting pictures and I was inspired by one in particular (dressyourface) and she does the most incredible cut crease work!  I absolutely love it although I'm not a big fan of the cut crease look on myself and this is only my second time doing it on myself so be nice! 

Eyebrows:  Makeup For Ever Eye Brow Corrector #4, MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NW40
Lid:  theBalm Eyeshadow - Selfish
Cut Crease:  MAC Eye Kohl - Smolder, theBalm Eyeshadow - Serious, Kat Von D Eyeshadows - Prague & Galeano, MAC Eyeshadows - Texture &; Soft Brown
Liner:  Clinique Gel Eyeliner - True Black (top lashline), MAC Eye Kohl - Smolder, Bare Escentuals Buxom Liner - Sapphire
Lashes:  Red Cherry #110

Hope you guys like it! 

Thanks for stopping by!

MAC Pressed Pigment - Jet Couture

If you have been following me on twitter, instagram, facebook, youtube or this blog, you know that I am completely obsessed with Pressed Pigments from MAC.  I absolutely love these to add a little something extra to the looks that I do when I want to be a little lazy with the creativity!  I'm not a huge glitter person anymore, but this is glitter/shimmer done right.  I typically use these with a clean finger instead of a brush and press it onto the lid as I get less fallout that way but you can try it however you like it.

MAC PRESSED PIGMENT
Shade Purchased:  Jet Couture
Price:  $21 USD
www.maccosmetics.com

I'm absolutely all about this shade.  Love it! 

I had to rush this morning when I was doing my makeup and I threw this on over a black base.  Love.

MAC Pigments - Melon, Reflects Copper & Blue Brown

Yup another MAC order!  I am a total MAC addict.  I really need to stop...but I won't.  In my last MAC Haul Video, I told you guys about 3 pigments that I ordered (although I thought I ordered Reflects Bronze but it's really Copper) and I promised swatches.  Well the swatches are a bit late, but here they are.  I also tried to record another video but it was an epic fail so we'll just pretend it never happened.

MAC PIGMENTS
Shades Purchased: Melon, Reflects Copper & Blue Brown
Price: $21 USD
Available at MAC

Melon

Reflects Copper

Blue Brown

 

I am absolutely loving these shades.  They look so gorgeous in the pots, maybe it will actually encourage me to use them instead of sticking them somewhere to never be seen again!  I hate the mess that pigments can make but I love the colors.  The dilemma is real.

Thanks for stopping by!

MAC Haul Video

Products Mentioned:
MAC Pro Conceal & Correct Palette
MAC Lipsticks - Strong Woman, Firm Form, Hot Chocolate, Seductive Intent, Fun Finds, Night Blooming
MAC Lipliners - Vino, Beet, Nightmoth
MAC Pigments - Reflects Copper, Melon & Blue Brown
MAC Pressed Pigments - Day Gleam, Deeply Dashing, Jet Couture

What I'm Wearing
Eyes: MAC Eyeshadows - Texture, Brown Down, Day Gleam pp
Lips:  MAC Lipstick - Heroine
Cheeks:  Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer & MAC Blush - Raizin

Good Hair Day Natural Hair Life

 

Finding a good salon/stylist is harder than finding a good man.  Seriously!  I was having a twitter discussion the other day about Black Hair Salons with Krissy from AddictedtoAllthingsPretty and Odara from Gimme that Glow.  We were discussing how horrible the customer experience can be in them and how people still deal with the nonsense anyway. 

Well I'm happy to say that I have a great salon and a great stylist!  My stylist is amazing and every time I get my hair done, I'm totally in love with my hair all over again. 

I go to the Honeycomb Hair Salon in Kaiserslautern Germany and it is fantastic.  I am totally in love with the experience that I get and the fact that I'm always in and out with flawless hair and service!  This has made my transition to healthy natural hair an absolute dream.  My goal this year is to get to bra strap length and maintain my healthy ends.  I really hope that happens! 

MAC Lipstick - Hot Chocolate, Strong Woman & Firm Form

Lately I've been really busy and I forgot I received these lipsticks in the mail.  I have about 3 boxes currently floating around my house because I have to keep them out of kid reach but then I forget them!  So a few days ago I received my package from MAC's Strong Woman and Apres Chic collections.  I only ordered 3 lipsticks total from the collections as I have become a complete lipstick addict.  I purchased a dark nude color from the Apres Chic Collection and a purple/fuchsia and a black/brown color from the Strong Woman Collection.  

MAC LIPSTICK
Shades Purchased: Hot Chocolate, Strong Woman, Firm Form
Price: $15 USD
Available at MAC

 HOT CHOCOLATE

STRONG WOMAN

FIRM FORM

The only color that I am truly excited about is Strong Woman!  I love me a purple lip and honey this one is lovely!  Hot Chocolate is okay.  It's a good everyday color but it's a little to boring for me.  Firm Form's formula doesn't work on my lips and moves around too much for my liking, this can be prevented by using a lip pencil, a lip brush and some layering but I do not have time for that at all!

All three of these shades are currently sold out on MAC's website, but you may be able to track them down at a MAC store.  

Were you able to snag anything from these collections?  

Look of the Day 1.12.2013

Well I've been freelancing a lot lately and I snapped this picture yesterday while I was waiting on a client.   This has been my go to look as of late and I absolutely love how simple and easy it is.  I also brought my moles back with a little eyeliner.

FACE
MAC Studio Finish Fluid - NW44 mixed with MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation - NW43
MAC Studio Finish Concealer  - NW40
Ben Nye Luxury Powder - Beige Suede
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Dark
Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer - Ebony 8

EYES
Make Up For Ever Eyebrow Corrector - #4
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NW40
MAC Eyeshadow - Texture
MAC Eyeshadow - Brown Script
MAC Pressed Pigment - Day Gleam
Clinique Gel Eyeliner - True Black
Red Cherry - 747s

CHEEKS
MAC Blush - Raizin
MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish - Whisper of Gilt
 
LIPS
MAC Mattene Lipstick - Seductive Intent

Makeover - Clementine

A couple of days ago, I did a makeup trial for a client of mine for her upcoming celebration that she is hosting.  Today we did the final look and I'll post that as soon as I get the pictures.

Here are some pictures of the trial.   We did two different eye looks to see which one she would like better.  She chose the one on the left and we went with that today, although I jazzed it up a bit.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Facebook Page!

Hey Everyone!  I just created a FACEBOOK page for my Makeup Artistry!  Please go like it!

Thanks so much for your support!  Love you all!

Makeover - Catherine

The other day I did a mini makeover on my friend Catherine.  She has a beautiful face and gorgeous green eyes so we thought it would be fun to do a little makeover.  Also, I am working on my portfolio so I am getting as much experience as possible working with different photographers and Catherine is an amazing photographer.  She took some awesome photographs, I asked her if I could share them and she said yes!

Oh and check out her BLOG, you will be amazed!

This is the before and after picture that she created.  I used the following products to achieve her look and I think it came out great!  Love purple eyeshadow and green eyes.  AMAZING!

Moisturizer: Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrè

Foundation: Eve Pearl HD Cream Foundation in Fair/Light
Concealer: MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NC15
Setting Powder for Foundation: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Light
Setting Powder for Concealer: Ben Nye Luxury Powder - Buff  
Highlight: theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer
Bronzer: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Medium Dark
Blush: La Femme - Stormy Rose (I think)
Eyes: MAC Eyeshadows - Texture, Soft Brown, Vibrant Grape and Carbon
Liner: Clinique Gel Eyeliner - True Black
Mascara: Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill
Lips: blend of bareMinerals - Strawberry Creme and Buxom Lips - Celeste


I think she looks gorgeous before and after.  Hope you guys like this post. Maybe I'll do more like this in the future, in case you'll get sick of only seeing my face!


Thanks for Stopping By!

MAC Pressed Pigments - Day Gleam & Deeply Dashing

I'm so excited!  I finally decided to go ahead and get the pressed pigments!  At first I was hesitant to get these because the beauty blog community really gave these a bad name.  However, I've seen some great makeup artists do amazing looks with these so I just had to have them!  

MAC Pressed Pigment
Shades Purchased:  Day Gleam & Deeply Dashing
Price: $21 USD
Available at MAC

Aren't they amazing!  Yes, they are glitterbombs but who cares, they look great and they are so smooth when swatched!

Gorgeous!  
Have you tried any of the pressed pigments?  What's your favorite shade?

Thanks for stopping by!

Instagram - January Photo A Day - Day 7

This will be my last post on the Instagram January challenge as not to become to redundant on my blog!  If you want to see more, follow me on Instagram!  Love ya

NEW BUT UNTOUCHED
Well I've touched them but I hadn't used them!  I actually swatched one color threw them into my purse and left them there!  So sad.  I decided to go ahead and blog about them though so I posted some lip swatches and it actually cheered me up a bit!  I love lipstick!

MAC Mattene Lipsticks - Nocturnal Instincts, Night Blooming, Seductive Intent, Fun Finds

Sorry that this post so late but my package seriously took forever to get here and then I was debating for about a week about whether or not I should post swatches.  I decided to go ahead and post them in case MAC re-releases a color or they still have some available at the counter.  Plus I've had a really trying day and I just wanted to play in lipstick!

MAC Mattene Lipstick
Shades Purchased:  Nocturnal Instincts, Night Blooming, Seductive Intent, Fun FindsPrice: $15 USD
Available at MAC

I love mattenes because they are comfortable to wear and in my experience they last for hours!  I do have a thing against the lighter colors though because they show every lip imperfection.  Oh and FYI Fun Finds is NOT WOC friendly.  This color is horrible on my complexion.  I'm not even going to try to "make it work"!  I think I must have ordered this color by accident because it is not something that I would normally gravitate too.  

 Nocturnal Instincts

Night Blooming

Seductive Intent

Fun Finds

Night Blooming and Seductive Intent are definitely my favorites!  Love those two colors.  Fun Finds was not for me!  Obviously.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Instagram - January Photo A Day - Day 6

Fresh!

Today's post was about something Fresh!  I posted a picture of my new shades of MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation that I just purchased and added to my kit.  Super excited to try these out on my upcoming portfolio photo shoot! 

Makeup Artist Kit - Setting Powders

I've gotten a good amount of feedback and questions about my makeup artist background and kit.  Therefore, I thought that I would do a series of posts related to my makeup kit and other MUA information.  

I posted my video about pursuing my passion for makeup artistry and some people have assumed that I just started doing makeup.  This isn't the case, I've been doing makeup for over 7 years (although I have never had professional training and I am self taught).  

I also have never taken makeup artistry seriously as a business.  I didn't have an extensive kit, I didn't have a budget, I didn't have a portfolio or marketing material.  Usually I would only do makeup for referrals or people I knew personally who would ask me to do it for them.  Now, I've decided to actually pursue this as a business and possible career.  I already have a degree in Economics, I just recently received my German business license, I am working on my portfolio and I have my budgeting plan all set.  So see, that is what I mean by taking it seriously! 

Now on to the fun stuff, what's in my kit!

SETTING POWDERS
Ben Nye Luxury Powder
SHADES I CARRY
Banana, Buff, Beige Suede, Cameo, Nutmeg and Dark Cocoa
WHAT I USE IT FOR
I use these mainly to set concealer under the eye and anywhere I put concealer to highlight .  I also use it to go underneath contour to emphasize the contour and sometimes as a setting powder on super oily clients.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
SHADES I CARRY
Light, Light Plus, Medium, Medium Plus, Medium Dark, Medium Plus, Dark and Dark Deep
WHAT I USE IT FOR
This is my go to setting powder over foundation.  I love the way it sits on the skin, I love the glow it gives.  I also like to use it as a foundation, by itself, by using it with a slightly damp brush for a natural look.

bareMinerals Mineral Veil
SHADES I CARRY
Original Mineral Veil, Tinted Mineral Veil, Ready SPF Tinted Touch Up Veil
WHAT I USE IT FOR
I use this to set foundation when I want to set very lightly and want the skin to look like there is no foundation on it.  I also use this on my sensitive skin clients and as an alternative to MAC because some people prefer other brands.

bareMinerals Bisque
SHADES I CARRY
Bisque
WHAT I USE IT FOR
I use this to set undereye concealer on my really fair clients that don't need much concealer and don't need a heavy setting powder.  This can also be used alone as a concealer but I never do that.

bareMinerals Well Rested 
WHAT I USE IT FOR
I use this to set undereye concealer on my really fair clients that need very little concealer but have more yellow undertones.  This can also be used alone as a concealer but I never do that.

Laura Mercier Invisible Loose Setting Powder 
WHAT I USE IT FOR
I use this to set foundation on my really fair clients who don't like a lot of makeup on their skin.

I generally like to carry a variety of products and brands so that I can have options and it also helps when someone may have had an allergic reaction to a certain product because then I have alternatives!  I know I should probably condense my kit but for now, I like having options as I haven't learned every tip and trick yet!

Let me know if you guys have any questions!  Also, I'm an eternal student so let me know if you have any feedback and/or suggestion as I love to hear new ideas on things.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Instagram - January Photo A Day - Day 5

 

Beauty Tip!

Well technically I'm in Germany right now so it's really day six but shhhhh, don't tell anyone!   My beauty tip is to take care of your skin before trying to slap any makeup products on it!  Hydrate the inner body by drinking lots of water.  Remove your makeup completely every night.  For dry skin ladies, like myself, gently exfoliate the skin and make sure you moisturize!

Thanks for stopping by!

L'Oreal Paris Double Extend Eye Illuminator

I usually don't get too excited over drug store products because I usually forget about them because I'm caught up in some hype with a prestige product.  However, this product definitely deserves a mention.  I absolutely love it.  What I love about it is the color payoff, the staying power and the texture of it.  

L'Oreal Paris Eye Illuminator Eyeliner
Shade Purchased:  Black Quartz
Price: $8.99 USD
Available at Ulta

The pencil isn't too soft where it breaks off every 5 seconds but it isn't so hard that it's scratchy.  Now I only use this product on my waterline so I cannot say how it looks anywhere else but it is phenomenal on the waterline.  The cream/white side is the perfect waterline color for that open eye look without being too stark!  I was so shocked when I used it and it not only showed up, it stayed in place and I did not have to set it with a powder.  I wore this for about 4 hours before I washed my face off and it lasted through!  I am definitely picking up more shades for myself and for my kit!  

This is me wearing the cream/white shade on the waterline!

So now that I am officially on the drugstore makeup hype, what new product should I try next?  Suggestions please!

Instagram - January Photo A Day - Day 4

 

Source

Mascara of the Moment.  Well this is the Mascara of a lifetime.  It is my all time favorite mascara and it is totally worth the $30 I paid for it.  It gives me what I need which is length.  I love it!

Follow me on Instagram @glamsabs if you haven't already!

Thanks for stopping by!

Urban Decay Vice Palette

I know everyone is talking about the new Naked Basics palette from Urban Decay but I need some color in my life!  I decided to go ahead and pick up the Vice palette after I saw the lineup of colors that it had in it.  This palette is pretty, pigmented and has an array of colors.  I am definitely glad I picked it up. 

Now here is a little forewarning, I have not used these shadows on my lids so this is not a review, only swatches and my first impression.

Urban Decay Vice Palette
Shades Included:  
Row 1 - Desperation, Muse, Jagged, Blitz, Penny Lane
Row 2 - Junkie, Chaos, Occupy, Unhinged, Black Market
Row 3 - Provocateur, Rapture, Vice, Noise, Armor
Row 4 - Nevermind, Echo Beach, Anonymous, Freebird, Laced
Price: $59 USD
Available at Sephora
 

The color that initially sparked my interest was Chaos but after swatching all of the colors I fell in love with Junkie, Blitz, Penny Lane and Occupy.  I cannot wait to do some looks with these colors!  

Nevermind and Provocateur are glitter chunk bombs but they are really pretty still and I think that they will be workable and beautiful when applied to the eyes (but I'm not looking forward to the fall-out nightmare that may come)
.
I think this is an awesome palette and I really like the sleekness of it as I was getting tire of the huge chunky palettes.  Urban Decay is doing a stellar job at impressing me lately (besides that 1 color bb cream that just launched but we won't get into that).  

Thanks for stopping by!