The Body Shop⎜Eyeshadow Shimmer Cubes

Today I want to talk about The Body Shop eyeshadow cubes. The only other makeup I've tried from The Body Shop was their honey bronzer which I didn't have that many great things to say. But after doing some research, I thought I'd give these eyeshadow shimmer cubes a try. 

The palettes I purchased are: Palette 06 called "Chocolate Box Shimmer Cubes" and Palette 30 "Spring Bronze Shimmer". 

The palettes come with four individually packaged eyeshadows. With the price and the deals that The Body Shop always offers, you get so much product! Because each eyeshadow is individually packed, you can switch them around and make your own palette. 

The eyeshadows are extremely pigmented and so easy to blend. All of them are shimmery and they catch the light in beautiful ways. I found that the Palette 30 was easier to work with my skin tone. I personally love palettes that have a frosty white shade to add some shimmer in the inner corners and a beautiful yellow-toned gold shade for all over the lid. 

Here are the swatches from Palette 30 - Spring Bronze Shimmer

The Palette 06 "Chocolate Box Shimmer" has much warmer shades. You can definitely create a warmer smokier Autumnal or winter look. The shades in this palette are so pretty. The lightest pink shade is my personal fave! 

Here are the swatches:

I want to give these shimmer cubes and double thumbs up! I will try to create a look using these palettes. I'm trying to learn how to take pictures so that the makeup actually shows vividly on camera! So, until I learn bear with me :) If you've ever created a look using these palettes, let me know (leave a link?) so I can check it out!

2 comments chocolate, eyeshadow, shimmer cubes, the body shop

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Beautiful Rose Gold Eyeshadow by Laura Mercier

I've been a lazy day girl. I've been wearing only one eyeshadow. The last time I tried doing the whole multiple eyeshadow shading and blending, I looked way too overdone. It's almost as if I can't believe I used to wear that much eye makeup on a regular basis! Now that I am used to wearing a single eyeshadow, I feel that feels the most comfortable.



The good news is that I've found an eyeshadow I've been wearing nonstop. I realized I've never blogged about it when this product definitely deserves a good mention.

It is the Laura Mercier "Gilded RoseGold" Illuminating Eye Colour. It is simply beautiful. The pigmentation is super creamy and super rich. It reminds me of the Estee Lauder gelée eyeshadows that I absolutely love! It looks like gel on the eyes. (You can read about that palette here.)

The packaging doesn't look like much, but holy moly! One swatch, and you can see how rich the color is.

2 comments estee lauder, eyes, eyeshadow, gold, laura mercier, rose, rose gold

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Warm Brown Eyes⎪Bourgois Chocolate Bronzing Powder

I've been loving the warm brown smokey eye look. This bronzer is a bit too red for my skin tone, but it makes a perfect eyeshadow. Totally inspired by Tanya Burr on Youtube, I decided to give it a try and now it is my go-to eyeshadow. One sweep of this, and instantly your eyes look softened and warm. For a more grundgy look, you can add the shadow to the bottom lash rim and smoke it out. Add eyeliner and you'll really bring out that smoked look. 

Of course, you don't need to get this if you don't have it. Any warm brown shades will do. I don't have any actually, so it was good to have this. 

1 comment bourjois, bronzer, eyeshadow

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HOW TO #1. Contouring Nose with MAC SOBA

MAC Soba is all around becoming my favorite everyday, must-have eyeshadow shade. It is simply beautiful on its own, blended out all over the eye. Pop a mascara, and you are good to go.

The reason why this shade is so perfect is because it "deepens" the eyes with the perfect brown shade. Not too orange, not too red, not too yellow. It just gives a natural "shadow" to the face. It has a bit of pearl(?) in it, but it is nothing too obvious.

And recently, I have been using this eyeshadow to contour the nose and the eye area. I have found that it made such a big difference to my first shape, and MAC Soba is just the perfect contour shade. I used to use bronzers that I used on my cheeks to do it, but I always found it looked so unnatural.

So today, I'm going to give you a tip on how to get that nice contouring of the nose using MAC Soba and MAC 217 brush. You can use any small brush that is fluffy. I recommend using a small fluffy brush as opposed to a big one (the one you would use on your cheeks) or a small and dense one.

Dap a small amount of product on the brush. Bring it down the side of your nose. Depending on the shape of your nose and how thin you want it, shade in the side first lightly, and a bit more where you think you need it. You want to shade it slightly more on the side of your nose near the end, near your nostrils.

Also, you want to also shade where your nose bridge meets your eyebrows. Contour under the eyebrows to give you that depth of your eyes. It's the area that my brush is pointing to in the picture above.

You can see the shadows and depths on this model's face. Although a lot may be natural, contouring emphasizes that natural lights and shadows so that it becomes more visible. I personally love doing it and I think it brings more definition to the face.

Leave a Comment brush, contour, eyeshadow, how to, how to contour nose, MAC, soba

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Charlotte Tilbury Makeup Part #2. Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencil

Before further ado, Charlotte Tilbury makeup is now available to the US. So damn exciting! This product can be found here: http://www.charlottetilbury.com/colour-chameleon-smoky-emerald.html

image from their website!

I bought this Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencil back in December when I was in London. Since then, I thought long and hard about how to wear this and actually look good. It's not a new kind of beauty product. It's one of the eyeshadow chubby pencils that are creamy and glides over the lid. You get an instantly smokey look by smudging it after gliding it on the lids. I'm assuming for those with really deep sockets, this could be the best thing ever. Just rub it carelessly, take a buffing brush (something like MAC 217) and smoke it out. But for the less socketed people (me), you could end looking a bit goth if you spread this out too much.

w/ flash

under intense light

without flash

The color I chose was the shade "Smokey Emerald". It was gorgeous, and I have a thing for green eye makeup. It was the first thing I picked up, and after swatching it, I knew it was something I was going to get.

Totally smooth, creamy, and the color? INTENSITY. A dark emerald green with golden specks, that are super deep. It looks two-dimensional. I absolutely love the shade. And once you smudge it, it won't budge.

So, how do I wear this? I haven't been brave enough to rub it intensely all over my lid. But I have attempted to just dab it right above my eyelash line and smudge it upward from there. You can see the slight green when I open my eyes in the picture below:

It's 19 pounds, so around 30-40 dollars in the US? Not bad, considering how expensive luxe brands are! And Charlotte Tilbury's entire range is uber luxe and I feel so stylish when I use her makeup!

4 comments charlotte tilbury, emerald, eyeshadow, green, london, review, selfridges, smokey, smokey green

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Natural Eyes. BENEFIT It's Complicated EYESHADOW

I have been returning to the simple liquid black eyeliner look. Basically, zero to minimal eyeshadow and all emphasis on the eyeliner and/or just a black mascara. There has been a certain eyeshadow I have been wearing for this zero-minimal eyeshadow eye-look and it's Benefit's Long-Weaer Shadow in the shade It's Complicated. I have been eyeing this shade for such a long time, but because it is so neutral to my skin, I felt I didn't "need" it. But, for months I have been loving that sheen and gleam across the eyelid that is just one shade brighter than your skin tone. It catches the light in such a pretty way, and helps the eyeliner and/or the mascara pop out. It also keeps the eye-makeup fresh!

I never tried Benefit's eyeshadows but they seemed quite nice. Now that I've used it for awhile, I can say that they are very creamy and nicely pigmented. The Longwear Powder Shadow is long-wearing but it will crease if you have oily lids. With an eye-primer, something like the Nars Pro Prime it can definitely last all day. I'm all for wearing eye primer no matter what!

The shade is lovely. It's a bit orange/yellow compared to say the all-famous MAC All that Glitters eyeshadow. I know a lot of pink-toned gals like that for the "all-over-the-lid" shade. Unfortunately for me, that shade is a bit too pink and a bit too bright! This shade "It's Complicated" is the perfect shade for the light/medium yellow skin-toned! It doesn't look like you have any eyeshadow on, but in the sun or in a certain light, it catches just the right amount of sparkle! I love it that it also brightens the eyelids a bit. I also like to apply it in the inner corners and a bit down on the waterline, near the inner-corners so that it gives that slight brightening effect!

Side note: When I first saw this shade it looked so much more orange than when I had swatched it. A Sephora lady kindly explained that the testers are oxidized because they are left open and so the color looks different from say the new ones, but that on the lid, the colors will be what I expect them to be. Surely, it was so just in case you are worried about the shade in the package, don't worry! It will that lovely yellow-tan-gold-peach shade!

Leave a Comment Asian, benefit, benefit eyeshadow, eye primer, eyes, eyeshadow, gold, Nars, natural, natural look

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CHANEL Stylo Eyeshadow, Summer Collection 2013

Moon River + Pink Lagoon

Chanel almost feels like a hype. Sometimes they seem overpriced. But then again, you buy a Chanel beauty product and once it gets into your hands, somehow you feel a bit honored by its presence. I'm sure I'm not the only one when it comes to Chanel products. They just make you feel good, and sometimes everything about them is simply LUX. 

Moon River

My most recent Chanel purchase is this Summer Collection 2013 eyeshadow "stylo". A long stick of eyeshadow that comes in about five colors (or more?). I picked up the shades "Moon River" and "Pink Lagoon". The shade "Moon River" is great because I think it would suit all occasions. I swatched it at the Chanel counter and instantly I was head over heels for it. 

Rolled it all the way to the end. You can see how much product you're given (personally don't think it's that much!)

It glides over the skin. The shine is intense, truly pigmented, and wet. It has sparkles similar to the Tom Ford Enchanted eye palette/shadows and a wet effect similar to Estee Lauder's gelee formulas! I love that it's so handy because it comes in a stick. 

The color Moon River is a silver brown/ gray-gold (somehow I can't point an exact finger on it!) that actually blends with my skin color. I find that because there is so much depth to this shadow, I don't even need to "contour" my eyes with darker or lighter eyeshadows. All I need is just this. All over my eyelid, and it catches the light in such a way that makes my eyes look deeper and well... prettier :)

$34 LIMITED EDITION

Again, it is insanely intense. The five or more shades are all awesome as well. Some are too vibrant for everyday makeup, but looks just as enticing.

Without Flash

The color Pink Lagoon is a beautiful vibrant pink that gives the perfect pop of color to the eyelids. The color is so long-lasting! There are some eyeshadows that fade overtime and sometimes pinks end up looking purple and whatnot. But I found that this pink stays vibrant pink all day!

Again, it is so intense and it will gleam all over your eyes throughout the day! The pink is so pretty and flirty. I think it looks really pretty when girls have that perfect shade of pink and it shows every time they blink. Also, I find that this pink shade doesn't make you look "high-school" or "swollen-eye'd" as some pink tones can make one look.

The only conflict I have with it is that when I swatched it, I felt it easily blended itself out and with water, it washed away pretty quickly. But since my eyes don't crease or fade easily anyway, I'd be okay. But then my sister said that this eyeshadow was really long-lasting because it just stayed on the whole day without budging! Then I tried it again the next day, and it really did not budge this time around. So, I don't have a sure note on that (in terms of whether it is really long-lasting or not). 

What's really cool about this is that when you apply it, it feels like you are putting something wet on your skin! It's really "cooling" and wet and I love it that I can just pop this all over, put on eyeliner, and I'm done! The color is so amazing. Do know that the shine/shimmer is prime and so you're not going to go for the "natural/ no-makeup" look with this at all! :)

Love the name "Moon River" and "Pink Lagoon". The names represents the colors so well! 

Leave a Comment brown, chanel, eyeshadow, gray, moon river, pink, stylo eyeshadow

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No Smudgy Eyes! NARS Pro-Prime

My eyes are kind to me when it comes to smudgy eyes. However, that doesn't mean I am totally free of any creasing throughout the day. Sure enough, by the end of the day, I look at my eyes and sometimes it's just yuck! The color has seeped into the crease lines and it's just a mess. It's winter so it's not so bad, but peeps, summer is coming soon and who wants to worry about having your eye makeup melt on you throughout the day?

So as a solution, I present to you this eye primer. It's the NARS pro-prime smudge-proof eye primer. Now, I know people go on and on about the Urban Decay eye primer potions. But honestly, I'm always like: "huh?" I don't see the effects of it at all. I know, it's probably just me since so many people get the benefits from them. But, coming from someone who doesn't find "primers" to be necessary, you can guess how great this thing is if I'm saying: IT WORKS!

Just add a little bit of this (dap it on) across your eyelid (before or after foundation). Let it set for a few seconds or so and then go and apply your eyeshadow! Simple as that :)

I first tried this out when I received it with my 500-POINT Sephora bonus box containing bits and pieces of Nars products. I was so impressed I soon and bought the full size. With this even by the end of the day, even the thickest and creamiest eyeshadows stayed IN TACT. I know Urban Decay eyeshadows tend to crease a little bit more than other products because they are so intense and thick. This primer kept the colors alive and in place even by the end of the day!

This truly is a keeper! What do you think?

Leave a Comment eye primer, eyeshadow, eyeshadow base, Nars, oily, primer

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