Eyelid Primers

Art Deco High Performance Eyeshadow Stylo – Easy, Quick, Gorgeous

Art Deco High Performance Stylo reviewI thought about popping this Art Deco eyeshadow crayon in my upcoming September favourites blogpost, but, frankly, it’s so good, I know I won’t be able to keep it short enough for a favourites mention: So it gets it’s own blogpost. Yeah, it’s that good.

Whenever I’m in Farmers I feel a magnetic pull to the Art Deco stand, which, sadly, is usually tucked away somewhere out of the way. I say, sadly, as everything I’ve bought from Art Deco makes both my cheque account and I happy (there’s bargains galore) and yearning for more.

I spied this NZ$22 new release eyeshadow crayon in Wellington’s Cuba Street Farmers and promptly tried out all six colours on my arm. I thought “oooh these are pretty, but I don’t need one” until I asked the sales assistant for a tissue to remove my sparkly art work.  Holy crap: I couldn’t remove said art work and that’s when I had a change of heart. Simply, I realised, I needed one of these. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll be sick of hearing me bang on about my oily eyelids and the necessity for me to wear a decent eyeprimer. Well, these Art Deco High Performance Eyeshadow Stylos (crikey that’s a long name! I’m going to call it ‘the crayon’ from here) are the first eye product I’ve chanced upon that do not budge and, better still, do not require an eyeprimer as a base! This bad boy, applies super pigmented, sticks like concrete and doesn’t crease even after all day wear. What a winner!  I’ve got a feeling this product will come into it’s own in summer, I’m predicting it might stand up to swimming with my head under.

I have one grumble though – not all Farmers’ Art Deco stands are stocked with this goodness.  Rotorua Farmers, for example, doesn’t have them. I’m a bit dark about that.  Rest assured: They are worth trying to hunt down.

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Empties – A round up

I haven’t done one of these ‘beauty empties’ posts before!   I stumbled across one recently on another beauty blog and enjoyed it and figured I’d give writing one a crack. This thought was superb timing as a heap of my beauty products have run out all at the same bloody time (grumble).  Here’s a whistle-stop tour of my thoughts on each product!

empties

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Super Speedy and Foolproof Bronze Eyeshadow Look

Super speedy eyeshadow is my favourite. So is a bronze eyeshadow look.  

I watch a lot of makeup tutorials on You Tube and read a lot of beauty blogs. I’ve been musing lately how detailed and complicated makeup is becoming with a lot of the beauty gurus I follow (not all, but definitely some). So much so, I was inspired to go against the grain and do something a bit more simple. Something you can whack on and be out the door in 5 minutes and it looks like you’ve gone to oodles of effort…

Products used

Super Speedy and Foolproof Bronze Eyeshadow Look
See where the brush is placed? That medium matt brown colour? That’s what I used. It’s Creme Brulee from Makeup Geek and I FREAKING love it.

If you are a bit of a newbie when it comes to makeup, the product above might still look like a lot but I promise, you only need a few things! (more…)

Lou’s 2015 Beauty Favourites

Alrighty, this is a big blog post! Rather than do my usual December favourites round-up of beauty foodie items that are spinning my wheels, I’ve done a serious navel gaze and come up with my Tip Top Beauty Faves for 2015 (and a few books). Upon reflection, I’m surprised, yet really pleased, at how many products fall into the ‘super affordable’ category. It just goes to show – it pays to shop around to get beauty bang for buck. Note, I toyed with including foodie faves in here: But the post is already bigger than Ben Hur. So beauties: Enjoy!

Hair

Remington Hot Pink Curl It ReviewRemington Hot Pink Curl it – I’ve got a blog post coming soon on this ceramic conical hair curling contraption. Frankly, it deserves a full write-up as this impulse purchase has me grinning like a Cheshire cat. It’s got 10 heat settings, ranging from 120C to a high heat setting of 210C. Simply by winding your hair around the tong you get a stunning shiny curl in 7-10 seconds. Since having lots of my hair lopped off I can get a head full of bouncy curls in under 10 minutes. The girls at work were admiring my curly locks recently and asked me to take this into the office to do a demo. They were sold and I understand this affordable hair gadget made a few wish Christmas wish-lists! NZ$53 from Briscoes in one of their mega sales (I point blank refuse to pay full price for anything at Briscoes). (more…)

Australis Bombastic Bronze Eyeliner – You need this in your makeup bag!

Australis 10hr eyeliner Bombastic BronzeIf you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll know I get very excited when I chance upon makeup that’s both seriously inexpensive – and seriously good.

First though a point to clarify: Something in my book that is ‘seriously inexpensive’ is something under NZ$15. If you are in the USA and reading this, yes, I can hear you gasping: I’m aware the NZ$ equivalent of US$15 will get you big bang for beauty buck in the USA. However, bear in mind that, whilst I am cognisant that I’m truly blessed to live, arguably, in one of the world’s most beautiful countries, we are not blessed by our cost of living, nor makeup prices. Both subjects, incidentally, see me getting quickly up on my soap box so I’d better change the subject, stat. Anyhow, there’s my Lou Logic for arriving at NZ$15 and under as my ‘seriously inexpensive’ beauty find price point…

I stumbled across Australis’ 10 hour waterproof eyeliner in Kmart and I was hooked for two reasons: 1) NZ$13.50 is a price point that sings to me and 2) It’s waterproof, so it’s likely to live up to the 10 hour sustainability promise.  As I tried out the testers of the three available colours in the 10 hour wear range I thought to myself that the Bombastic Bronze colour reminded me of MAC’s Teddy eyeliner, one of my favourite dark brown eyeliners. Like Teddy,  Bombastic Bronze has has a shimmer with faint gold flecks running through it, so it’s not just a matt brown, it’s got the X Factor. (more…)

My Holiday Makeup Bag – a Sneaky Peak

My holiday makeup bagI love reading ‘What’s in my makeup bag?’ articles from other bloggers so I thought “why not do one of my own?”

If you follow me on Facebook you’ll know that I just can’t pack light  in the makeup department. I try: But I really struggle….Well, I’ll have you know: I dug really deep packing for my holiday to Rarotonga and challenged myself to be sensible! Here’s what I packed.   Note:  I’m mindful that whilst I may have packed light for me, the makeup I’m taking on holiday is probably still the contents of a lot of people’s entire makeup collection! Oh well, a girl has to have a passion in life.

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Beauty Products I Buy – Time and Time Again

Beauty items i'd buy again In the six months I’ve bought several replacement beauty items for the third if not fourth time and it occurred to me that in both instances these are products I won’t can’t be without. I figured this was a good rationale for a blog post, right?  Here’s the beauty items I buy… Time and time again – and will continue to do so! (more…)

Eye Makeup for Hooded Eyes

Look straight ahead in the mirror, relax your eyebrows. Can you see your eyelid? I can't...
Look straight ahead in the mirror, relax your eyebrows. Can you see your eyelid? I can’t…

I have spent a large number of years being bummed out about my hooded eyelids. I used to despair how painstakingly applied eyeshadow would totally disappear when my eyes were open. My eyelids were a total waste of eye makeup. Fast forward to a few years ago and great news: I’ve learnt some clever eye makeup tips and tricks that make the most of my eye shape and now when I wear eye makeup, you can see it!

Hooded eyelids, it turns out are very common, particularly in folk from Asian or Scandinavian descent. Lots of people reckon hooded eyes are sexy and alluring: “Bedroom eyes” they are often called. We’ll take that, right girls?

Wait a second… Not sure if you have hooded eyes? Here’s how to find out: Look straight ahead in a mirror and relax your eyebrows. Can you see your eyelid without needing to close your eyes slightly, or needing to tilt your head back a little? Nope? Are you playing “where has my eyelid gone?” Welcome to a well-populated club: You have hooded eyes.

So, if, like me, you have hooded eyes and you’d like to learn how to make the most of what you’ve got: Keep reading! Note, you might like to read this blogpost in tandem with this blogpost which explains the different part of the eye from an eye makeup perspective 🙂 (more…)