Baby Now We've Got Bad Blood

 

I have mixed feelings about Ms. Swift. It is a long, complicated, boring story. But what I DO like is the awesome film noir, black and white, gorgeous makeup looks in her new music video for the song 'Bad Blood', so I wanted to create my own 'persona' to join in the fun.

Naturally, my superhero name is PrettyPanda, and I wield concealer and red lipstick. If you like T Swift or even this idea, I challenge you to make up your own. It's nothing but a few basic Photoshop tricks. (I stress the word basic, my skills are so sub-par)

For the eye, I decided to do a very graphic liner that almost covers my whole lid. Any funky black liner would work though, a double or triple line would be cool too! I also did a lower line with an inverted wing.

The key to this look is a strong, dark brow, the graphic liner, and a clean base. I didn't use any blush and instead lightly contoured with bronzer. You can tone down this look and make it less editorial with a lighter brow and a slightly thicker cat-eye than normal (I wear a cat eye everyday. If you don't wear a cat eye, even trying one can be fun and new!)

I also think that a glossy lip works better here than a matte. Since my eye look is very black matte, I thought the glossy texture was a fun addition. Alternatively you could do a vampy matte red lip and a vinyl eyeliner look!

This look isn't so much dependent on specific products, but more how you use them.

1. Prime your eyes. Draw a rough outline of a thick cat eye with black liner (I used Rimmel Scandaleyes in Black). Fill it in, but don't worry, you will refine it later!

2. Fill in your brows! I used the Espresso shade from the Lorac Pro Palette.

3. Prime for your base and use your favorite foundation. I preferred a matte one for this look so used the Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation and set with Rimmel Stay Matte powder.

4. Conceal blemishes and dark circles because the dark eyeliner will bring out shadows! I used IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under eye Concealer.

5. Contour lightly under the cheek. I used Too Faced Sun Bunny bronzer.

6. Head back to your eyes. Define the edge of the cay eye with liquid liner. I used NYX Matte Liquid Liner. 

7. Mascara! I used L'Oreal Miss Manga because it is so messy but when your eyes are covered in black, mascara smudges don't matter! (Blogger logic).

8. Gloss those lips with a red gloss or liquid lipstick. I used L'Oreal Extraordinaire by Colour Riche in Scarlet Concerto.

9. Embrace your inner femme fatale!

I hope you liked my corny look/post! Have a great day! 

Cinderella x MAC Free As A Butterfly Lipstick and Cinderella FOTD

Image Source

I will be the first to admit that Cinderella is not my favorite princess, but I have been beyond excited to see the new Cinderella movie for months now. It may have to do with a combination of things: the impeccable Lily James, Kenneth Branagh directing, Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother...my British-loving heart soars! But the promised beauty of the whole movie---from the costumes to the makeup also made me eager to see it.    I am not a huge fan of MAC right now, especially their limited edition collections. It seems they pump out too many and the quality is never there, but I caved for the Cinderella collection. With a gift card I was able to snag only one lipstick, as most things had sold out by the time I got around to ordering. It is mostly a collectors' item for me, but this post will be a review of the lipstick (probably not useful since I am not sure where you can get it, but maybe fun?) and the FOTD that I wore to go see the movie this afternoon!

The lipstick I got is 'Free As A Butterfly', which honestly, as a name, confused the heck out of me. But if you see the movie, it becomes more apparent. There are butterflies everywhere! It was $17.50, and comes in a gorgeous pale blue/purple shift tube with the gold Cinderella logo. Free As A Butterfly is a nude/champagne glitter.

 

Gorgeous right? But as I feared, it isn't very pigmented. This makes a good topper to another lip look because it settles into my lip lines when worn alone and almost gives me zombie-lips. But the nice, typical vanilla-MAC scent and the comfortable wear make me wanna swipe it on anyway, even if it will settle in ten minutes' time.

It isn't the most horrible lip look, especially not from far away, but it may not be your cup of tea on it's own. However, I will cherish it because my mom's favorite princess is Cinderella and anything Cinderella reminds me of her. Naturally, she was my date to the movie!

To prepare for this momentous occasion, I had to do a FOTD (which the lovely ticketing girl noticed. WIN). I was inspired by the promo images and the image I put at the beginning of this post---that dress!

 

I went with blue eyes, peachy cheeks, and of course, Free As A Butterfly on the lips.

Below are the products I used:

From left to right:

Benefit Roller Lash: Jury is still out on this one. Review coming soon!

NYX Tinted Brow Mascara in Blonde: A lovely, basic tinted mousse.

Bare Minerals Morning Glow loose shadow: I used this as a highlight on my eyes. It is a pearlized pink shimmer and gave just the right amount of sparkle.

NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk: To prime and make the baby blue color pop.

Clinique Clubby Stick in Big Blue: Washed over the lid.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Khol Liner in Light Blue: Used on lower lash line.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics colour pencil in Pool Boy: Also on lower lash line to pop the edge of the black liner.

MAC Free As A Butterfly lipstick: One light wash on lips.

Sleek Makeup blush in Rose Gold: On cheeks

I also used a L'Oreal black felt tip liner and IT Cosmetics foundation and concealer (not pictured).

Have you seen the movie? I highly suggest it! I might try to recreate some of the looks. The stepsisters' looks were crazy awesome!

Rimmel Special Edition Kate Moss Gel Liner in Emerald

Hey friends!

This little pot of liner is something I have seen popping up in random places lately, but it isn't even on Ulta's website (I found it in an Ulta store)!

 

 The Rimmel ScandalEyes gel liners are part of the permanent range, but this Emerald shade is special edition and part of a Kate Moss release, so it has her signature on the top of the pot instead of a crown.

 

At $8 and 2.4g of product, price-wise this is great for a gel liner. It also comes with a small but very nice eyeliner brush. I was intrigued by the color more than anything because emerald is supposed to really make brown eyes pop!

 

In the pot, it almost looks like a matte emerald, but when swatched there is a bit of metallic sheen and some very small and sparse particles of green glitter. However, it translates as almost matte on the eye. 

 

Here you can see more of the difference between the two tones of the liner. The liner lasts 11 hours on my upper lash line and doesn't flake or smear. This is what I love about the product!

But the reason I am not jumping up and down?

 That pretty emerald doesn't translate well onto my lid. It looks like more of a forest green and the sparkles make it hard to apply and make even. As you can see, in trying to build up the color it got patchy in places. It is still workable with patience, but this won't be something I will reach for everyday because of that hassle. I still love the way it looks against my brown eyes, but I wish it had more of a wow factor.

Have you seen this? Will you be picking it up? With a coupon at CVS/Ulta/Walgreens it might be worth it for the staying power if you want to take the time to fiddle with it.

Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer in Out of This World: Swatches and Review

Is it terrible that I am bummed these are called 'Show Off' instead of ApocaLIPS here? I mean, fail renaming, am I right? Beyond that, how did the Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer in Out of This World (about $5.49) work for me?

First off, I really love the packaging. I love the interesting lid (which makes it easy to find in any stash) and the color on the tube. The brush is also kind of ingenious because it has a little well to hold extra color and yet it doesn't drip all over you.

I also love the color 'Out of This World' because it has a bit of pink, a bit of purple, and some shimmer. 

Gorgeous right? These claim to wear for hours on end and not transfer, but I did not find that to be the case during my testing. They wore like any other gloss, for about 3 hours. I even put this to the eating test, hoping it might remain after, but no dice.

The formula is really easy to apply and looks great on lips as well as not being too drying. However, I did find that after 20 minutes of wear it started to irritate my upper lip and that irritation moved down along my cheek giving me an almost numbing feeling. A bit scary and disconcerting but not painful. I'm currently trying to figure out which ingredient may have caused this.

The reaction I had really is a shame because this looks so lovely on! I was also looking forward to getting more colors before I tested but that dream will have to die...oh well!

Do you like Rimmel Show Offs/Apocalips? I really wish this worked for me, although I only find that it functions as your basic gloss and nothing else!

#28daysoflippies Instagram Round-up Finale! Wildcard Week!

Thanks everyone who followed and liked my #28daysoflippies challenge on Instagram. Now that February is over, so is the challenge...and I am here to recap the last week of the challenge, which was Wildcard week, showcasing my funnest and most unexpected lippies!

Wildcard week was so fun because I got to really push myself out of my comfort zone!

Wildcard Lippies:

Butter London Lippy in La Moss $18: A gorgeous semi-opaque deep wine.

Lancome La Laque Fever in Electric Pink $27: Vibrant hot pink and purple sparkles in a hot pink base.

Rimmel Stay Glossy in Black Diva $4.99: Buildable semi-opaque black gloss.

L'Oreal Le Gloss in The Muses' Shine $5.99: 24k glitter and shine.

Beautifully Disney lip gloss in Change Your Fate $14.95: Merida inspired--a bold, creamy orange.

Essence XXXL Shine gloss in Rock On $2.49: Darkened plum with lots of sparkle.

NYX Matte Lipstick in Alabama $5.99: Dark brick and perfectly matte. 

Thanks for joining me for this fun challenge. I hope you found some new favorites!

#28daysoflippies: Week One Instagram Round-up

Thanks to those being really supportive of my first Instagram self-imposed challenged called 28 days of lippies.
A new day, a new lipstick/gloss/pencil for the whole month of February.
It gets me to shop my stash and break out of my comfort zone!
Week One has been the week of my nude lippies, of which I barely have any. This week really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I ended the week (today) with a rose pop of color...next week will be my pinks!

Here's a quick run down of this week's picks, in order, starting from the top left and going across the rows.
1. NYX Butter Lipgloss in Creme Brulee. $4.99. Creamy light pink/nude and decently moisturizing. 2. Maybelline Nude Lust. $7.49. New to my collection. I felt it washed me out but the formula is great! 3. Lancome Rouge in Love 304B Rose Emotion. $28. A pretty, leaning light coral nude pink. Great, featherlight formula. 4. Urban Decay Native. $22. Creamy and pigmented, but thick. 5. Khroma Beauty Joystick in Sea Coral. $8.99. A matte light coral. Love the vanilla smell! 6. M.A.C Stay Sweet. $15. Lightest baby pink. Settles into lines but I still love it. 7. Rimmel Picadilly Pink. $5. My prelude to the pinks, a rosy neutral.
If you haven't checked it out yet, my Instagram link it to the upper right!

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner in Jet Black

Not all black eye liners are created equally. How does Rimmel's basic one stand up to the rest? 

 At a mere $5, Rimmel's Soft Kohl Kajal Eye liner in Jet Black pencil is a steal. It is creamy, pretty black, and applies easily. 

 This is your standard eye liner pencil. No bells or whistles here, but it doesn't tug or pull on the lash line, so that is a plus! 

 You can use this as a base for a very dark eye look, as a thick liner, or to tight line. However you use it, it sticks around, but does smudge a bit. Great if you are doing a smoky eye, not so great if you are looking for a very precise line. Overall, this is your better than average black kohl drugstore liner. Will I buy another? No---there are plenty of other black liner fish in the sea for me to try, but I will pull this out for smoky eye looks! Favorite drugstore black liner? 

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner in Jet Black

Not all black eye liners are created equally. How does Rimmel's basic one stand up to the rest?  

  At a mere $5, Rimmel's Soft Kohl Kajal Eye liner in Jet Black pencil is a steal. It is creamy, pretty black, and applies easily.  

  This is your standard eye liner pencil. No bells or whistles here, but it doesn't tug or pull on the lash line, so that is a plus!  

  You can use this as a base for a very dark eye look, as a thick liner, or to tight line. However you use it, it sticks around, but does smudge a bit. Great if you are doing a smoky eye, not so great if you are looking for a very precise line.   Overall, this is your better than average black kohl drugstore liner. Will I buy another? No---there are plenty of other black liner fish in the sea for me to try, but I will pull this out for smoky eye looks!   Favorite drugstore black liner?  

Rimmel Stay Glossy 3D in Lights, Camera, Action: Swatches and Review

The Rimmel Stay Glossy formula has been around forever, but for summer they kicked it up a notch with Stay Glossy 3D! 

 The 3D formula has holographic glitter in a semi-sheer base to make your lips really stand out and look extra luscious, and for $5, how can you top that? 

 

I am really digging the wand on this thing. It is extra long and it picks up a nice amount of the gloss. There is a light rose scent to the gloss (as with most of Rimmel's lip products) but it doesn't bother me.

 

 

Here is a swatch of Lights, Camera, Action by sunlight so you can see the dense shimmer. It is a pale peach base and is really pretty.

 

 

And here is the same swatch in artificial light. If you are looking for crazy intense pigment, you won't find it here, but if you are looking for shine, this has it in spades.

 

 

Although it doesn't lend much color to my lips, it makes them look fuller and very glossy. I love the texture of this gloss as it sticks around for 4 hours (2 less on me than their claim) but never feels tacky. This is also a great layering gloss to amp up any lipstick.

 

Overall, fun summer cheap thrill! Have you tried the 3D gloss yet?

 

Panda Approved.

 

Rimmel Stay Glossy 3D in Lights, Camera, Action: Swatches and Review

The Rimmel Stay Glossy formula has been around forever, but for summer they kicked it up a notch with Stay Glossy 3D!  

  The 3D formula has holographic glitter in a semi-sheer base to make your lips really stand out and look extra luscious, and for $5, how can you top that?  

 

I am really digging the wand on this thing. It is extra long and it picks up a nice amount of the gloss. There is a light rose scent to the gloss (as with most of Rimmel's lip products) but it doesn't bother me.

 

 

Here is a swatch of Lights, Camera, Action by sunlight so you can see the dense shimmer. It is a pale peach base and is really pretty.

 

 

And here is the same swatch in artificial light. If you are looking for crazy intense pigment, you won't find it here, but if you are looking for shine, this has it in spades.

 

 

Although it doesn't lend much color to my lips, it makes them look fuller and very glossy. I love the texture of this gloss as it sticks around for 4 hours (2 less on me than their claim) but never feels tacky. This is also a great layering gloss to amp up any lipstick.

 

Overall, fun summer cheap thrill! Have you tried the 3D gloss yet?

 

Panda Approved.

 

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss lipstick in Rosetto

I think the Kate Moss Lasting Finish collection of lipsticks are pretty awesome. They work well for a drugstore lipstick (at $4.99) and have the novelty of Kate's signature, which I just fall for every time. 

 Rosetto is a fleshy nude-toned pink that works well with a variety of looks, and it a staple color every one should have in their lipstick wardrobe. 

 The rose color isn't too overpowering and is very flattering. 

 Because this is a matte formula, make sure to prep lips well (unlike I did) or add some gloss to smooth things out. I am enjoying some of these nude pink lipsticks lately!