Current Makeup Cravings

What is it that you crave at the moment? Is there anything in beauty or makeup that you absolutely wish you'd have right here and right now? I definitely have a few things like that.

So here goes. All these things are recent launches.

1. Lorac Pro Palette 2. It is a younger sister of the widely known and dearly loved by many Lorac Pro Palette that has successfully been around for many years. They're both available at Ulta for $42. I don't have the original Lorac Pro, so I want both of these beauties. Oh... just look at them, aren't they gorgeous! And together I think they create the perfect tandem of everything a girl could wish for on her eyes.

Lorac Pro Palette (top) and Lorac Pro Palette 2 (bottom)

2. Second one - Charlotte Tilbury's Beach Sticks. Ok. All I can say to this is AAAAAAAA! I want it and I want it now! They are to die for amazing. I'd want to have all the colors. The one horribly horribly unfair thing is that they're not shipped to Ukraine :(, otherwise they'd already be in my claws, despite the sky-scraper price, 30GBP, ouch.

CT Beach Sticks

CT Beach Sticks

3. 2 palettes from Too Faced, one of which has been around for a while, and the other one being the new launch. They are the Boudoir Eyes Soft & Sexy Shadow Collection and the Country Nashville Nudes Eye Shadow Collection correspondingly, both available at Ulta for $36. The Boudoir Eyes Soft And Sexy Shadow Collection is also available at LookFantastic. The new one however isn't available there yet.

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Soft & Sexy Shadow Collection 

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Soft & Sexy Shadow Collection

Too Faced Country Nashville Nudes Eye Shadow Collection

Too Faced Country Nashville Nudes Eye Shadow Collection

All the Too Faced eye-shadow palettes are really lovely indeed and there are a lot more that I like, but these 2 ones particularly appeal to me because of their beautiful colors. Very pretty!

I just dream that those companies would somehow all at the same time become so generous and miraculously find out about my blog that they'd want to send me those items for a review :)... Awww, dreams-dreams-dreams. Oh, well, maybe I'll get something from this list in the coming months :).

Is there anything you would like to try? Anything you're desperate to try? Let me know in the comments.

Recent Looks 2

Hello, beauties! Are you enjoying the summer? I hope you are, because I certainly am. This is one of those seasons when I love to experiment more with my makeup and go either lighter or brighter and just try out all different things and summer palettes. So, here are a few of my recent looks. Hope you'll find them helpful and maybe inspiring.

#1. Summer pastels

Summer pastels

I love this look. It screams "Summer!" to me. It is bright, feminine and interesting yet soft enough to wear even every day, if your dress-code at work is not too strict. It can also be a great look for a summer party or a date night. The pictures don't do enough justice: the color combo here is just so yummy, I loooove it. I used the Balm Voyage! palette for this look.

#2. New smokey eyes

New smokey eyes

I called these the "new" smokey eyes, because this time I've tried a new technique on myself. I've seen it a million times in numerous beauty blogs and videos, but somehow I never tried to apply it to myself. Anyhow, I smoked the eyes out on both sides: both in the inner corner and in the outer corner pairing it with a contrasting light shade in the middle of the lid. I really like the effect, I find it pretty cool looking. It adds dimension to the eye. I used the Naked 3 palette for this look.

#3. Soft cool and warm neutral look

Soft cool and warm neutral look

I really like how a mixture of cool and warm shades on the eyes work together in this look + a slightly warmer tone of the lipstick than I usually wear. So together it still looks very neutral but not boring and quite sophisticated, I think. I used my favorite Laura Mercier Luxe Colour Wardrobe Dual Decker Colour for Eyes and Cheeks (it was already featured in this post).

#4 Summer red

Summer red

This look is all about the lipstick, the eyes are matte and very simple. And this red for me is THE RED for the summer. I feel like it is perfect for the season. In fall and winter we tend to use very opaque full color reds, maybe even deeper and more matte. For the summer, however, I think it is good to update and freshen up your red and make it look not so heavy. For that use something less opaque, and more sheer, shiny and juicy with slightly lighter and pinker undertone, just like this lipstick I've used. Of course, there will be girls who just can't live without their matte lipstick and that's ok, but you can definitely extend your red collection for the summer. After all, it's a good excuse for a new purchase :). For the eyes I used the Naked 3 palette.

#5 Big eyes with a cat eye-liner

Big eyes with a cat eye-liner

Big eyes with a cat eye-liner

Big eyes with a cat eye-liner

I've posted so many pictures, so that you'd be able to see the eye-liner well enough from different angles. I think out of this bunch this has to be my favorite look. I'm so happy with how it turned out, because I rarely wear a winged eye-liner just because it is so time consuming since I'm not as skilled and experienced in wearing it as, say, Alexa Chung. And for my eye size and shape (my eyes are very different one from the other) I have to work hard to find the right balance (size, thickness and shape) of it with my eyes, otherwise it can actually make my eyes look smaller.

Anyway, I recently watched one of Lisa Eldridge's videos actually featuring Alexa herself doing her signature winged eye-liner look.

So I got inspired and thought to myself, "I need to try and do it". If you haven't watched this video yet, you have to, so just click right now and enjoy.

I wasn't trying to re-create it exactly and didn't even think of using the same colors or anything, and my liner is obviously thicker and not even black, and the lipstick is different (oh gosh, looks like everything is different :) ), but I just wanted to mention, where my inspiration came from, because I sort of had it in my mind when doing my look :).

I think it turned out really well. I love all the colors in this look and it's softness. I think it's very feminine, sexy and just grown-up, if I dare say so. Not in the sense that it will look bad on young girls, but in a sense that it just looks very chic, flattering, without anything screaming at you, intelligent and well balanced. Plus, I think the eyes look huge here (at least mine, I know my eyes :) ). This will look good on anybody, any age, skin tone and occasion. It's timeless. Again I used my lovely Laura Mercier Luxe Colour Wardrobe Dual Decker Colour for Eyes and Cheeks (featured in this post).

So, which looks did you like? Would you wear any of them? What have you been wearing recently? Share in the comments below, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for reading and have a lovely day.

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in 88 Evanescente: Review And Swatches

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in No.88 Evanescente

Hi, today I want to finally post a review on the last product from this post. It's the Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in No.88 Evanescente. I think it's the perfect nude (perfect combo of pink and beige undertones for me) that actually looks almost exactly like my own lips with a very natural creamy finish, nothing too shiny or matte, just perfect creamy natural finish. This is the kind of color you don't have to think about if you want to just put something on your lips and look nice and natural regardless of what you have going on your eyes, brows or face, so something I will definitely get a lot of use out of. It's quite richly pigmented and feels nice on the lips. It stays on for quite a while too, but it is hard to notice if it is so close to your natural lip color. I do like the formula: it's a perfect classic creamy lipstick formula. It doesn't have any detectable smell that I can feel, maybe just a tiniest bit but nothing bad at all, so it's perfect for those of you who are allergic to fragrances.

See the swatches and how it looks on my lips below.

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in No.88 Evanescente: swatch

And here is how it looks with a whole face of makeup. By the way, in these looks I'm using all Chanel products, which I mentioned in that initial post here, except that on the left I'm wearing the eye-shadow palette and on the right a cream eye-shadow.

Makeup using Chanel products (Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in No.88 Evanescente on my lips both on the right and on the left)

Overall, I think that it's a really great lipstick: great quality in a great packaging. This color is also very beautiful, very sophisticated, I think, because it will not overpower anything in your looks but just gently enhance what you have. It's expensive - true, but it's Chanel, so no sense to complain about the price: if you can't get it, it's understood, but if you can and want to try a beautiful luxury lipstick, I'd say go for it.

What do you think about this lipstick? Have you tried any of the Chanel lipstick? Tell me in the comments. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading, darlings. I hope you are having a great day. If you're not, make a choice to have one :), because it is YOU who chooses whether to be happy or not. Choose joy today :)!

Disclaimer: all these products were purchased by me and I wasn't paid for a review.

Fast, Easy And Effective Makeup Using Only 5 Products

5 Products to create a full makeup

Today's post is inspired by the selection of products from my latest purchases, which can create a full makeup without the help of any additional items. You'll only need 5 products for it.

There's one note I want to make though. There are a number of videos and posts about how to create a look using just 3 products (usually a concealer or foundation, some color that you can use on the lips, cheeks and lids and mascara), but I'll be honest with you: I think that those looks are suitable for people with really good near to perfect skin and quite prominent, beautiful, naturally defined features. If you're like me and you don't have perfect skin (sigh) and have slightly smaller and not so bright features that just require a bit more help and definition, than those 3-product solutions don't really look like any good makeup, but more like a pathetic attempt to make yourself recognizable. At least, so it looks on me :). However, I can totally see that it works wonders for some people (unfortunately, I'm not one of them though).

So, I thought about how I could make my look as minimalistic as possible in terms of the number of products I'm using, and yet still have it look like a complete, nice and effectively put together makeup. For me 3 products don't work well, but 5 products can work miracles and create a pretty look, where I don't feel like I've sacrificed the quality of the end result simply for the sake of using less products.

So, that being said, for this look you will need just 5 products:

1. Skin base product (it has to be some kind of product that will give you the desired coverage, it can be just a cream concealer in areas where you need, or only foundation if you have really good skin, or something handy like I've used, where you actually have both products in one)
2. Lip and cheek color (it can be a lip and cheek cream, stain or cream blush, or just a lipstick alone that you will also use as a blush)
3. Setting powder (translucent or tinted for added coverage)
4. Eye lid color (powder or cream eye-shadow, eye-shadow stick or just an eye-liner)
5. Mascara

The exact product types may slightly vary, but I'm sure you get the gist: whatever you want to use for those purposes will give you the same result. By the way, you don't even need brushes for this look, unless you want to, so it's perfect for on the go or when travelling, or on vacation, since it'll save you not just the number of products and tools used, but also time and effort.

So here's the look I came up with.

Makeup Using Only 5 Products

Makeup Using Only 5 Products

Actual products used for this look:

Face:

1. Pixi Illuminating Tint & Conceal in No.1 Light Glow

2. Pixi Flawless Finishing Powder in No.0 Translucent

Eyes:

3. Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in 35 On and On Bronze

4. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

Lips and cheeks:

5. The coral lipstick (don't know the shade but it's from Bourjois) from my DYI lipstick palette

I'm pretty happy with the look. I actually think it looks quite cool. I bet nobody would look at you and say, "Oh, I bet she used only 5 products for this makeup". It looks complete and even quite bright. You could definitely go for more muted colors, but I just wanted to show how effective and bright it can look even with 5 products.

Hope you liked the look. Thank you for reading. Please, let me know in the comments what kind of products you would use. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Meanwhile, have a lovely day.

Latest Makeup Purchases

Latest Makeup Purchases

Hi darlings. Just wanted to share with you a few products I recently purchased online. Without further ado here's the list of the things I bought with links to online stores, which I bought them from:

1. The Pro Hygiene Collection Antibacterial Makeup Spray 240ml
2. The Pro Hygiene Collection Makeup Brush Cleaner 240ml
3. Pixi Succulent Lip Twin in No.3 Pink Peony
4. Pixi Lid Last Shadow Pen in Brun Beam
5. Pixi Flawless Finishing Powder in No.0 Translucent
6. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
7. Pixi Illuminating Tint & Conceal in No.1 Light Glow

All of the products from this list are new to me, I ordered them for the first time except for the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara. I've tried it before and I looooove it and I ordered 2 tubes of it :). You can expect reviews on these products of course.

By the way, this purchase gave me an idea for a post. I didn't do it on purpose when ordering, but when I look at the picture of these products I realize that I can do a full look using just those 5 makeup products I bought (except for the sprays of course, we don't need them for makeup).

Anyway, more posts are yet to come using these :). I hope you are having a great weekend.

Chanel Ombres Matelassées De Chanel Eye-shadow Palette in Charming: Review and Swatches

Chanel Ombres Matelassées De Chanel Eye-shadow Palette in Charming

...I have a feeling that this posts will be not so much about this palette but more about my crazy husband :)...

Anyhow, Chanel Ombres Matelassées De Chanel Eye-shadow Palette in Charming is a LE palette from Christmas collection 2013. It was initially featured in one of my previous post here. I'm not sure if this palette is still available in stores. It was sold out almost instantly when I first saw it. However, I think it is still being sold on eBay.

Let's talk about the packaging. It is simply GORGEOUS and chic. It's Chanel, doh... So, you get the luxury element to full extent with this palette. It is just perfection.

The palette itself contains 5 neutral eye-shadows and 2 applicators, one of which is actually quite handy with a small angled brush that can be used either for lining, or smudging, or for filling in your eye-brows.

Below are the swatches of the eye-shadows without any primer underneath.

Chanel Ombres Matelassées De Chanel Eye-shadow Palette in Charming: Swatches

At first glance the colors in this palette don't seem that unique, but once you start using them you understand what makes this palette so awesome:

• the lightest color on the left is a light champagne color with soft satin sheen, it is so-so-so good as a highlighter and all over the lid. It may not look like anything special but if you put it all over the lid, it just makes your eyes look sooooo beautiful, this shade just somehow makes the eyes brighter and shinier and just really beautiful.
• the second neutral light-brown shade is a matte finish color that is perfect for the crease for soft definition or all over the lid
• the middle shade is a golden-bronze shade with a metallic finish, which is great as an accent color or an all over the lid one
• the second from the right shade is a neutral dark-brown with a semi-matte finish, that can be used both for an added definition in any look, or for a smokey eye, or even as a brow color
• and finally the last color is very unique - it's a matte dark-grey with a hint of purple-plumy undertone and is great as a liner and the darkest color for a smokey eye

I feel like these colors are so nicely balanced and so well thought out including the finishes, which will look great on everybody and on any occasion, that anybody would be happy to have this palette. It's eternal classics. I am in love with it. It is one of the most precious pieces in my makeup collection.

As to the quality, I have no bad things to say about it. The shadows are very pigmented, smooth, blendable, have no fallout, great staying power and almost no creasing (just a tiny bit, which is easily fixed by a primer). Really nice eye-shadows.

Here is the look I created using this palette. Now, the fun part - check out the sneaky face on the side. Yep, this is my crazy husband...

A look using Chanel Ombres Matelassées De Chanel Eye-shadow Palette in Charming... and my crazy husband making fun of the whole serious process :)

Oh, just look at this face! He ruined the whole chic atmosphere of this Chanel post :)

Rating by category (out of 10, 10 being the highest score):

• versatility - 10
• product quality - 10
• packaging - 10
• travel-friendliness - 10

Hope this review was helpful. What do you think about this palette? Share in the comments.

Disclaimer: this product was a gift from my mother to me; and I wasn't paid for a review.

Makeup for A TV Interview

My makeup for a TV interview

A few days ago I was asked to give an interview about my dearest friend, Bria Blessing, who was a contestant for a vocal TV show "The Voice" in Ukraine. The guy shooting an episode about Bria wanted to interview a few of her friends, who had known her the longest, so I (being honored to be considered one of them) was asked to share a few words about her.

Without any further details of the interview, I just wanted to share the makeup look I did for this. Since it will be shown on TV, I was extra conscious about what I wanted to put on my face to look good on camera. We all know that TV cameras can be very cruel and have no mercy when it comes to showing all our flaws. So I wanted to just talk you through what I decided to wear and why.

First of all, I'll say this. I'm not going to list the products I used, because the final makeup was actually on top of a different basic makeup look I already had and had worn to work that day. So I can't exactly remember what kind of products I used at first and which ones later on, plus listing them would probably be overwhelming and not give you a valid idea on how to recreate the look.

My makeup for a TV interview

I just want to focus on an idea behind the look. So here are some tips and the things I went for in my makeup:

1. A good face structure, because the camera can wash you out quite a bit, especially with direct lighting right into your face. And since I'm so pale I really needed to re-define my face structure by contouring, which I rarely do on a daily basis. So first tip is to definitely contour, at least your cheekbones, hairline, jaw line and nose. It may look a bit too much for everyday life, but on camera it'll be just perfect :).
2. Perfect coverage with mostly matte or semi-matte finish on the face. In my daily life I do prefer a slightly dewy naturally hydrated looking skin, because I have really dry skin. But on camera any kind of "dewiness" or reflective textures may have flashbacks or simply look oily, so this time I skipped highlighter and cream blush. I focused on contouring and powder face products. Also I wanted my skin to look flawless, so I obviously have more coverage here than usual.
3. Defined brows. I cannot stress this enough. The brows frame the face, especially on camera this extra definition will be much needed. If you skip your brows in everyday life, please, make sure to define them at least a little bit to give them shape. It will instantly make your face look pulled together and groomed.
4. Nicely defined eyes. A smokey eye was my personal preference in this look, but even if you don't do a smokey eye, make sure you do define your eyes in some way more than you usually do. Don't forget to curl your lashes and coat them generously with mascara. Even if you're doing a very simple eye, don't forget these 2 steps.
5. Naturally defined lips. I didn't want to go for anything dramatic since the eyes were already quite strong, but I wanted to have my lips in a natural maybe slightly deeper than natural color. I would suggest to avoid going for super nude lips, especially if you are very pale. This will just make your lips disappear on the camera and make you look a little deadly or sickly pale. So you can either play them up by using a strong bright or deep color (with a simple eye to balance out the look) or use a "your-lips-but-better" type color.

So, overall, the whole look should be about re-enforcing the structure and definition in your face by adding a bit more contrast to your features than usual.

I actually, got a compliment from the guy filming this interview right when he met me. He said, "By the way, you look very nice", which was... nice of him :). I guess it's a good sign :).

Anyway, hope you liked the look and found those 5 tips helpful. Please, share your thoughts on it, or any thoughts really, in the comments. As always, thank you for reading.

FOTD: Summer in the City

Summer makeup look with a pop of blue "Summer in the city"

Happy summer everybody! Yay! Summer is finally officially here! Aren't you excited? I definitely am. Maybe it isn't very original, but summer is my favorite season. I love it.

Today I just wanted to share with you a look I sported yesterday. It's really properly summery look :) (not even sure I wrote it correctly, but you get the point). It's light and fresh with a pink lip and a pop of blue on the eyes. I love a pop of blue on the lower lash line.

Here's a little tip if you want to try out some new color on your eyes or just add a pop of any color to your eye look. The easiest and safest way to do it is to add a colored eye liner either to your lower lash line, or lower waterline (if you want a really subtle effect), or do both (I obviously have both for more intensity), and keep the top lid neutral with a soft neutral eye-shadow and liner.

Why bottom lash line, you may ask? It's something people will always see when your eyes are open regardless of your eye shape, because if you have hooded eyes, the eye-liner on the top lash line may get lost once your eyes are open. It brightens your eyes instantly.

Why an eye-liner (it better be waterproof, especially for the waterline) and not an eye-shadow? Because, it's very low-maintenance. It's cheaper than buying some new eye-shadow, even in a single form, if you want to try a new color, so it saves your buck. It's easy to apply and smudge: you don't even need brushes for it. It's easy to re-apply or touch up if you're on the go.

So, it's a no-mistake way to add color. You can use any color instead of blue really: purple, green, navy blue, silver, gold, turquoise, plum, bronze, burgundy etc. This trick always works if you keep the top lid neutral. I chose aqua blue, because I think it is perfect for summer, to me it just screams, "Summer!" Plus, in other seasons I don't really tend to wear such color a lot, to me it is more from a spring-summer team.

One other note I want to make: you'll see a lot of products listed that I wear on my face, but I promise you it doesn't look like I'm wearing much at all. My skin is just having not it's best times, so it really needs help, plus I'm only using products in really thin layers and not all over the face but in strategic places where I need them and blend them out to nothing. So, that being said, you don't have to use all the products, just skip whatever you don't need. Hope you like the look and will be able to easily recreate it.

Summer in the city

Products used for this makeup:

Face:
1. Maybelline New Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser

2. Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base in 01 Rose

3. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 51 Light vanilla

4. Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Eye Cream Colour Correction in 32

5. Too Faced Absolutely Flawless Flexible Coverage Concealer in Vanilla
6. Bourjois Loose Powder in 02 Rosy

7. Bronzer/Highlighter (Golden Shimmer) from Laura Mercier Luxe Colour Wardrobe Dual Decker Colour for Eyes and Cheeks

8. Blush (Heather Pink) from the Same LM palette

Eyes and brows:
1. Anastasia Beverly Hills brow pencil in medium brown

2. Sable, Crystal Beige, Dusk, Ballerina Pink, Coffee Ground eye-shadows from Laura Mercier Luxe Colour Wardrobe Dual Decker Colour for Eyes and Cheeks

3. Maybelline Master Drama khol liner in blue (doesn't have the color on)
4. Max Factor False Lash Effect waterproof mascara

Lips:

1. Collistar Twist ultra-shiny gloss with hyaluronic acid and pro-collagen in 204 Rosa Baby

Thank you for reading. Let me know in the comments if you like this look and if you would like to re-create it, and also, what are some of your favorite spring-summer looks?