Smokey Eye Prom Makeup Tutorial

Hey guys! I know it's nearing prom fever time for a lot of you or for high schoolers you may know, so I wanted to share a tutorial that will give a photogenic smokey eye that will match any dress. One of my personal favorite go-to smokey eyes tends to be the classic black/charcoal/silver look so I thought it would be suitable for this year's black-and-white trend. This look would also work for going out or any special events where you need your eyes to stand out.

Check out the video and additional photos below!

PRODUCTS MENTIONED:

Hourglass Mineral Primer
Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in Shade 140
Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer in Shade 7
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in Shade Medium
Tarte Smooth Operator Powder
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful
NYX Slide On Eye Liner Pencil in Silver
Milani Liquif'eye Pencil in Black
Sugarpill Loose Eyeshadow in Tiara
Lorac Pro Palette
Wet n Wild Creme Eyeliner in Black
Shiseido Eyelash Curler
Urban Decay Cannonball Mascara
Tonymoly Tear Glitter Eye Powder in White
Lioele Auto Eyebrow
Urban Decay Glide-On Lip Pencil in Illegal
Too Face Le Creme Lipstick in Spice Spice Baby
MAC Dazzleglass Lip Gloss in Love Alert


The weather was super nice outside so we decided to take advantage of the setting sun and take a few outdoor photos! Since a lot of prom photos with dates are taken outside, I feel like this is a better representation of how the full face will look.

Here you can see the blending of the eyeshadow a bit better. The taupe around the edge of the black really helps to soften the transition from the smokey eyeshadow to the browbone, although the overall look still remains very grey-toned. I recommend this "blending" shade to be a matte shadow slightly darker than your skintone for the most seamless effect.

For darker smokey looks, I always go for a bolder brow to help frame the eyes. I also wait until after the shadow is done to fill in the brows because sometimes my brows will be too light if I do them with bare eyes. The key is finding the right balance which changes depending on how heavy the eye makeup is.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! If you'd like to see my previous prom tutorials and tips for prom night, you can find them under theProm label here. Have tons of fun, take lots of pictures, and be safe! :)

Highschool readers, when is your prom? Those who have gone to prom in the past, what makeup did you wear on your prom night? Let me know in the comments!

www.frmheadtotoe.com

ICE CREAM CONE SHAPED NAIL POLISH!

Two weeks ago I discovered the Sweet Recipe collection by Etude House, an Asian cosmetics brand that always does the cutest packaging you can think of. The Sweet Recipe collection is inspired by all sorts of sweet things: chocolate bars, cupcakes, candies, .. I couldn’t resist and bought the ice cream cone shaped nail varnish in Mintchoco Chip. Because how could I not buy this cutie?

I had no other option but to buy these on Ebay, so I wasn’t sure if or when they’d arrive. To my surprise, shipping to just a little longer than a week and the varnish arrived very well packaged with even an extra skin care sample! You can visit the seller here. I paid $6.99 for this one, which is just a little bit more expensive than they should be. But since this one was already kind of hard to get hold of, I gladly paid the extra two dollars. Also, shipping is usually free with these kind of Ebay sellers! Onto the polish now: the first layer was quite streaky, so you’ll surely need a second one. The second layer was wearable, but I had the best effect with three coats (as pictured). I love how these look and they really pop out! My nails are mostly quite brittle, so I can’t comment on how long they wear. And I just got this yesterday, but I really wanted to show it off already! The glitter details in the polish are really stunning and make for such an interesting effect! And I can’t help it.. But I really find these Etude House varnishes to look so much like Illamasqua’s Imperfection collection, but at just a fraction of the price. And with way cuter packaging, right? :)

by:

nailsandcupcakes

Tom Ford 13 Eye Shadow Blend Brush Review and Comparison

memoiselle.com

Hello!

Lately I have been collecting more and more brushes as I feel that brush is a good investment for my make up addiction in the long term. I am adding this Tom Ford Eye Shadow Blend Brush to my collection. I have been reading few positive review on this brush and decided to give this brush a try. So here’s my review 

The handle of Tom Ford eye brush is a sleek black color and plated gold metal nearing to the brush hair. The brush feels heavy and the hair comes in white color. I really love how luxurious this brush looks. However the white colored hair will eventually turned out to be dirty after a while.

Tom Ford’s brushes are made of goat hair and it feels uber soft! Tom Ford’s brushes have one of the best goat hair quality. I owned several goat hair brushes from other brand and none of them feels as soft as Tom Ford’s.

I have few eye blending brushes to compare with Tom Ford Eye Blending Brush pictured here:

L-R: MAC 217 Blending Brush – Tom Ford Eye Blending brush – MAC 226 Tapered Blending – Sigma E25

 L-R: MAC 217 Blending Brush – Tom Ford Eye Blending brush – MAC 226 Tapered Blending - Sigma E25

Firstly, I’d like to compare Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush to the famous MAC 217 blending brush. MAC 217 is my absolute favorite eye brush; it could be used to apply eyeshadow all over my eye lid, blending the colors and even applying concealer. So how does Tom Ford Blending Brush differs from MAC 217?

MAC 217 has a wider brush shape whereas Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush shape is longer and it is more pointing.In terms of hair quality, Tom Ford blending brush is softer than MAC. This is no surprise as Tom Ford brush price is double the price of MAC 217. My eyes are the typical small Asian; and for me MAC 217 does the blending better than Tom Ford blending brush. Tom Ford blending brush hairs are denser compared to MAC 217. Tom Ford blending brush does great job to for crease brush and it can also be used as a bigger pointing brush. Whenever I almost finish my smokey eye make up, I will usually reach for this brush to add on a bit of dark shade to  accentuate the look. In this case, Tom Ford eye blending brush does its job very well.

Secondly, let’s compare Tom Ford blending brush to MAC 226 Tapered Blending. MAC 226 is a limited edition brush which I got more than a year ago. If MAC 217 and 226 are compared to Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush, The shape of MAC 226 is closer to Tom Ford blending brush compared to MAc 217. MAC 226 is slightly shorter than Tom Ford eye blending brush. These two brushes have dense hair (but Tom Ford brush is still denser) and both are great for crease brush.If you see this brush from the top, Tom Ford brush shape is more pointing and smaller in the end compared to MAC 226. These two brushes are comparable; they perform well for blending crease area and applying the outer crease. I couldn’t decide which one I like better because both works very well and each brush has its own excellence. Tom Ford brush is denser so it does better job to blend the crease however MAC 226 has a wider brush end which makes it does better job in blending.

Now onto comparison with Sigma E25. SigmaE25 is said to be the dupe for MAC 217. I have to disagree with this as Sigma E25 is not as dense as MAC 217 and E25brush has a wider end compared to MAC 217. The shape of Sigma E25 and Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush is very different. Sigma E25 is much wider, less dense and Tom Ford 13 Blend brush is longer and denser. I prefer to use Sigma E25 to apply eyeshadow all over my eye, it doesn’t work well with me as a blending brush as it’s not dense enough for my liking.

Final Thought:

I am glad that Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush is different with the rest of my blending brushes in my stash. However If I would have to pick my fave from these four brushes featured in this post, I shall go with MAC 217. MAC 217 is not cheap but it’s more affordable compared to Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush. MAC 217 does the blending better than Tom Ford 13 Blend Brush. I have read several blogs saying that Tom Ford Blend Brush is their HG blending brush – I hope soon enough I’ll get to say that too. I think I would need more time to play with this brush and understand this brush more.

Overall Tom Ford Blend Brush does not disappoints. It’s not the best blending brush I have tried but it does its job pretty well. Other than that, the quality of the hair is worth checking too. It’s very soft and dense 

So what’s  your fave blending brush? Share with me 

Thank you for reading.

By: Meryl

Sweet Votives

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Measure the height and circumference of your jar, and cut strips of fabric to roughly fit (approx. 1cm wide – doesn’t have to be perfect).
2. In your small cup, pour in some glue and dilute it with a bit of water (about 1:2), mix well. It should be the consistency of slightly thicker water.. yes, I know I’m being vague but it shouldn’t make much difference to the end result.

3. Submerge your first strip of fabric in the glue. Once soaked, lightly run your thumb and forefinger down the strip to get rid of any excess glue.
4. Place the strip into your jar (pattern side facing the jar) and position it. Use your paintbrush to push any air bubbles out from between the fabric and the jar.
5. Repeat with the rest of your fabric. Allow to dry overnight before using.

Note:
- It would be best to use battery operated tea lights instead of real candles
- I find that it’s ok to have fabric going above the top of your jar because it can be easily cut off after it’s dried.
- I don’t mind the look of the overlapping lines of fabric once the candle is lit, but if you do try not to overlap the strips in the gluing process.

Have Fun! ^.^

Xoxo,

♥ かわいいの物語 ♥

kawainomonogatari.wordpress.com

July/August outfits recap

July and August for me were all about flowy maxi skirts and colourful legwear. I bought too many pairs of Jeffery Campbell shoes, got obsessed with weaving flower crowns, and fell back in love with charity store thrift shopping. August was also the month that I ticked the Alexander Wang Rocco bag off my wish list (my sights are on Givenchy Nightingale next!). Here are my favourite outfits from July and August!

www.closetvoyage.com

Manicure Monday: Snowman Nail Art

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Today I wanted to share a very special Manicure Monday because it's actually a fun and easy-to-follow nail art. It's been a really long time since I've done character nail art but every once in a while I think it's a creative way to express yourself and give a little happy boost whenever you glance down at your fingers. I've gotten loads of compliments on this look so I wanted to share it with you as well! :)

Check out the step-by-step tutorial below!

PRODUCTS MENTIONED:

CND Sticky Base
China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle
Wet & Wild polish in white
Zoya Sienna (similar)
Nail Art Dotting Tool
ORLY Goth
CND Green Scene
China Glaze Fairy Dust
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Originally I tried out this look on bare nails but I am such a fan of this China Glaze periwinkle blue which really brought out the shape of the snowmen. If you don't have these exact shades, no worries because it also looks great with loads of different background and scarf colors. 

One of my favorite parts of this look is the holographic glitter snow made by China Glaze's Fairy Dust which is has gorgeous rainbow-reflecting microglitter in a clear base. You can't see too much of the rainbow effect in my photo here but in real life, the color really dances across the nail and gives more "life" to the snowmen.

Again, you don't have to use the exact colors I used but here's a lineup of the shades from my own collection that went into this nail art. From left to right: Wet & Wild polish in white, Zoya Sienna, ORLY Goth,  CND Green Scene, China Glaze Fairy Dust, China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle

If you don't have orange for the nose try a yellow, pink, or even red. The scarf and background can literally be any shade too!

I hope you enjoyed this festive winter nail art and it brings a little happy into your life. Some lovely girls already tweeted me their versions (here, here, here) using different colors and I am SO impressed. To see something that gives me joy spreading to others is the best Christmas gift! If you try this out I'd love to see your version so feel free to post it on my Facebook page or send me a message on Twitter @frmheadtotoe and leave me a comment here on the blog as well! 

I love you guys so much and I hope that you are having an amazing holiday! Merry Christmas!

www.frmheadtotoe.com

FACE OF AUSTRALIA Pastels Collection – Photos, Swatches & Nail Art

FACE OF AUSTRALIA, possibly my favourite Australian drugstore brand, have come up with another gorgeous, limited edition nail polish collection of pretty Pastels.  { previous collections include Luxe, Molten Metallics and Barbados } Pastel shades are PERFECT to welcome in the Spring / Summer seasons in the Southern Hemisphere.  I have been dying to swatch them to show you all the 8 stunning shades so here I go.  Get your bibs out and get ready to drool!

Instead of doing individual swatches of each colour, I thought I would make it more interesting by splitting the collection into half and swatching one shade on each finger and then finish it off with some Pastel Nail Art.  You get to see how all the colours mesh well with each other.

In the first half, we have these 4 FOA Pastels Shades (awesome names btw!) :-

1.  Once In A Blue Moon – eggshell blue pastel
2.  After Dinner Mint – mint green pastel
3.  Would You Like Some Orange Sherbet? – soft orange-peach pastel
4.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy – pastel yellow

I told you they were to die for!!!  (P.S.  In the photo, I am holding the bottle of I’ll Take You To The Candy Shop which is coming up next!)

In the second half, we have the other 4 FOA Pastel Shades :-

5.  Castle On A Cloud – lilac-grey pastel
6.  I’ll Take You To The Candy Shop - baby pink pastel
7.  Have Your Cupcake & Eat It Too – lilac-pink pastel
8.  Boys ‘n’ Berries – blue lavender pastel

More OMG-ness, right?

And then I got crafty with my dotting tools (best buy ever from ebay!) and did some Pastel Nail Art.

All colours in my Pastel Nail Art are from the FOA Pastels range except the white which is OPI Alpine Snow.

So…when can you get your hands and nails on the FACE OF AUSTRALIA Pastels Collection?  They will be released from October (check Priceline, Big W & KMart) and I predict they will be flying off the shelves as they are cheap as chips at $4.95 each for such outstanding quality.

Which is your favourite pastel colour?  I think I love them ALL!  *swoon*

www.thebestbeautyblog.com