Naked 3 Tutorial

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My Mac Shadow Collection

For this post I wanted to share my Mac shadow collection. Clearly it isn't very extensive. I have 7 shadows so far. Only 6 are shown in the palette because I bought one from my local Mac counter which does not sell the pan refills. I plan to depot it eventually and make it's new home be with all the others but I haven't done it yet.

It took me so long to finally buy some Mac shadows quite honestly because I find the website overwhelming. Also, some of the shades look totally different in person than they do on the site. I decided to go to my Mac counter, swatch some shadows, then order them online where I could get the pan refills. This is because when you buy one shade, in the compact it is $15, whereas in the pan alone it is only $10 and they can then be housed in a Mac palette, a Z-palette, or even the Elf customizable palettes fit the mac shadows. They are much easier to store in a palette than when you have 10 little compacts lying around. I tend to use shadows in palettes more than single shadows I have lying around.

Here are the shadows in the image above:
Top: Stars 'N' Rockets
Bottom, L to R:
Satin Taupe, Shale, Blackberry, Quarry, and Copperplate

Here is my one lonely compact shadow. It is in the shade Haux.

When buying Mac shades, for some reason the majority of the ones I got have a somewhat purple undertone. The only two that don't are Copperplate and Satin Taupe. I tend to prefer shades with a berry or purple undertone because it helps make my eyes look more green, and I just find them super flattering.

Here are the shades swatched:

L to R: Stars 'N' Rockets, Satin Taupe, Shale, Blackberry, Quarry, Copperplate, and Haux

Stars 'N' Rockets: Mac describes this shade as a "purple with pink pearl." I'd say that is pretty accurate. Mac shadows have different finishes, this one is a veluxe pearl. A veluxe pearl is a shadow that has a metallic-y, frosty, shimmer. If you don't like shimmer, these shades aren't for you! This shade tends to be very bright and I usually use it as an accent color on my lower lash line. (see image at the end).

Satin Taupe: Mac describes this shade as a "taupe with silver shimmer." Satin Taupe is a frost finish. Frost shades have very small shimmer in them, helping them lean almost metallic. I have to admit, YouTube made me buy it. I fell for the hype. Everyone on YouTube that talks about their favorite Mac shadows talks about Satin Taupe. I think it is a gorgeous color for all over the lid, either on its own, blended into the crease, or with a darker brown in the outer corner. Either way, I am glad I fell for the hype.

Shale: Mac describes Shale as a "mauve-plum with subtle shimmer." Shale is a satin shade. Satin shades are slightly shimmery. Shale definitely has less shimmer than Satin Taupe. I have to say this is my least favorite Mac shade. The pigmentation just isn't there for me. When I swatched it in the picture above, I had to go over the swipe multiple times to get it to show up. It is a nice wash of color on the lid, but I like more that a slight wash of color. I still use it, but not as much as the others.

Blackberry: Mac describes Blackberry as a "muted burgundy-plum brown." Blackberry is a matte finish which means it has no shimmer or glitter to it. I love matte shades, I think they are so flattering for day or night, and for any age. They don't accentuate fine lines and wrinkles the way shimmer can tend to do. Blackberry not only is one of my favorite Mac shades, but it is also one of my favorite eyeshadows I own. I absolutely love using this shade in  the crease, outer corner, and lower lash line with Quarry on the lid. It is super flattering for my eye color. Some mattes tend to be patchy and chalky, but not Blackberry, it is so creamy and perfectly pigmented!

Quarry: Mac describes Quarry as a "soft muted plum-brown" Quarry is also a matte shade. Quarry goes perfectly with Blackberry. It's like they were made for each other. Sometimes when people tell me they have one eyeshadow duo they wear everyday, and that's all they own, I think, "how can someone live like that?!" (Dramatic, I know.) But when I use these two shades together, I kind of get it. Kind of. Don't get it twisted, I'm not about to go and throw away all my other shadows and run away with these two, but if someone were to tell me they'd give me a million dollars to pick two shadows to use the rest of my life, I could get by with these two. I wouldn't be happy about it, but I'd make it work.

Copperplate: Mac describes Copperplate as a "muted mid-toned grey." Yup, that pretty much sums it up. Copperplate is a Matte Squared finish. (I can't figure out how to do the little 2 like a squared number has on this keyboard so you'll have to deal with it.) What is the difference between a Matte and a Matte Squared shade? Well, I'm glad you asked! I have no idea. But I did find this blog post here that describes all the Mac finishes. She describes a Matte Squared as a matte with high pigmentation, and hard blend-ability. I only have the one Matte Squared shade, and I don't find it hard to blend, but others may be.

Haux: Mac describes Haux as a "soft, muted rosey-brown." Haux is a satin shade. You can see a slight shimmer to Haux in the pan, but on the lid it appears matte to me. Haux is my other favorite shade. When I pair Quarry and Blackberry, I blend the crease out with Haux. I bought Haux when I was looking for a dupe for my beloved Taupe shade from the Lorac Pro Palette. I have hit serious pan on this bad boy and they don't sell it individually so I went to mac to look for a dupe. The sales associate suggested Haux. I got home and swatched, and they are nothing alike. But that's okay because my love for Lorac's Taupe has been replaced by Haux!

There you have it! My favorite Mac shadows. What are your favorite Mac eyeshadows? I would love some recommendations as to which to try next, and any to avoid!

In this eye look I used Copperplate all over the lid, I blended Haux into the crease, and used Blackberry in my outer corner to add some depth and dimension. I used Stars 'N' Rockets on my lower lash line. I used Stila Stay All Day liquid liner to do a very subtle line on my upper lash line and Rimmel's Scandaleyes in black on my upper and lower waterlines. For mascara I used Tarte's Lights, Camera Lashes. On the brows I used Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium ash.

For the Face: I used MUFE Mat Velvet + in 25, Mac Careblend pressed powder in Light plus. I mixed two Nars blushes in Deep Throat and Goulue on the cheeks. Finally, I used Hourglass' Ambient Lighting powder in Dim Light all over the face and as a highlight.  

Matte Foundations: Drugstore vs. High End

For this post I wanted to do a comparison of my two current favorite foundations; Makeup Forever Mat Velvet +, and Boots No. 7 Beautifully Matte foundation. There are pros and cons to both of these, so let's get started!

First up I'll discuss the drugstore foundation. Boots No. 7 Beautifully Matte foundation. I found my beautifully matte foundation at target for $13.99. I got the color cool beige. Cool ivory was also there which I believe is supposed to be lighter than cool beige. Normally, I would have gone for cool ivory but it looked to have way too much of a yellow undertone for me. My skin is fair with a cool undertone, so there is no way that one would have worked. I settled on cool beige. It was August when I bought this so I was a little more tan (hardly) than I am in the winter. Not that I even tan at all really, but I get a shade or two less pale. Think off white vs true white lol. At the time, this foundation was a tad dark, but if I blended it down my neck it wasn't too bad. This was my first time trying matte foundation. I usually have super dry skin, but as I mentioned in my previous post, during the summer I was blessed with a beautifully gleaming oil slick in place of my t-zone. Because of this, I decided to try a matte foundation. Melissa from melphs on youtube did a review of the boots foundation which lead me to try it.

This foundation is so good at keeping oil at bay! In the summer I still got a tad oily about 6 hours in, but nothing like when I was using Mac's Face and Body foundation. Now that its winter, I don't get the oily t-zone all day. The foundation also didn't break down and looked flawless from when I put it on til when I took it off. When I first applied it with a synthetic kabuki brush it looked super cakey. Then I tried with my dampened real techniques sponge and it looked so natural and flawless I honestly didn't even use a concealer with it, there was no need! It's is full coverage without looking fake.

So if this foundation is so great, why did I move on to MUFE mat velvet + you may be thinking. Well, as I said before, it was a tad dark. And then I got more pale, and one day I looked in the mirror and realized, this. does. not. match. Not even close anymore. So I looked up on the boots site and saw they have a range of 14 shades. So I went back to target to pick calico, which it seems is the lightest shade. When I got to target, I realized target only stocks 6 shades. The lighter one being cool ivory which doesn't look cool toned to me at all! Plus, by this time of year, that one was too dark for me anyways. Which is why I moved onto the Mat Velvet +.

Now, Mat Velvet + is $36, so it is quite a bit more expensive that the boots foundation. Side note: when I was at target and saw the $13.99 price tag I was thinking "Ugh $13.99 for a drugstore foundation! That's expensive!!" But then if I found a foundation at Sephora for $20 I'd think it was a steal! Does anyone else's perception of price change based on what store they're in? Anyways, I first bought this foundation in the color 15, which had to be returned because it was way too light for me, so I ended up with 25 which is a perfect match. This foundation has 16 colors in its range. That may seem like not a big deal, only two more than the boots foundation right? However, it seems that the MUFE offers more shades for darker skin tones, from looking at the online swatches at boots, it only seemed like there was one true dark toned color. Now, in person the other colors might be darker, so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt ;).

This foundation is also best applied with a sponge. I think it looks a tad less natural than the boots foundation however. Also, this foundation needs to be paired with a concealer for me. Which is a draw back because it dries fast. When I try to add concealer onto this foundation, it doesn't mesh well. The concealer doesn't blend well with the foundation. Lately, I have been applying my concealer under my foundation and this has worked perfectly. I don't lose much concealer coverage this way like I thought I would. This foundation seems to last as long as the Boots one, as long as I set it with foundation. So I do like this one too.

Final Verdict: I prefer the Boots foundation over the MUFE. I like both, but the Boots foundation is cheaper, it looks a tad more natural, and even if I did pair a concealer with it, which I didn't always do, it blended with the foundation fine. I love the MUFE also, but it is pricier and just dries too quick to be able to put concealer on top of it. Putting concealer under it works fine, but for $36, I feel like it should work as well as the $13.99 foundation, which it doesn't!

 Here are swatches of the foundations. Left is MUFE Mat Velvet + in the shade 25. Right is Boots No. 7 Beautifully Matte Foundation in the shade cool beige. Clearly I was delusional when I bought the Boots foundation, that shade is so off!

 Here they are blended, again, left is MUFE, and right is Boots.

And finally we have todays Face of the Day.
Face: MUFE Mat Velvet + in 25
          Revlon Color Stay concealer in fair
          Mac Careblend pressed powder in light plus
          Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in dim light
Blush:Nars Goulue blush from the One Night Stand palette
Eyes: On Lid: Cream from Lorac Pro Palette
         In Crease: Mauve from Lorac Pro Palette
         Outer Corner: Mac's Hauxe
         Lower Lash Line: Mac's Hauxe
         Liner: Stila Stay all day liquid liner in black
         Waterline: Rimmel Scandaleyes in black
         Mascara: Benefit's Bad Gal Lash, Tarte Lights Camera Lashes, Maybelline Lash Discovery
         Brows: Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash
Lips: Revlon Kissable Balm Stain Matte in Shameless
         Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Rapture.

What is your favorite foundation at the moment?

Face of the Day

 For my first blog post, I wanted to start out with a Face of the Day. I did a simple look using a lot of my favorite go-to products. I will explain everything I did and share quick thoughts on the products used. I will go into greater detail reviewing the products in future posts.

The first thing I started out using was my Origins Checks and Balances face wash. I absolutely love this face wash. I always thought my previous face washes had gotten my skin as clean as possible until I tried this bad boy! You know the term "squeaky clean?" yeah, that totally applies here. It literally feels like if I were to rub my face, it would squeak after using this stuff. I also like that it doesn't dry out my skin like some cleansers do.

After I wash my face, I use the Origins United State toner. I should warn you now, you will see a lot of Origins products used in my skin care routines. This is because I am currently obsessed with the brand. I had a free gift with purchase situation from Macy's a few months back that had a deluxe sample of about 5 different products, and now I'm hooked. If you find that boring, don't fret, I'm sure I will find a new skin care obsession soon.

Back to the toner! I never really notice toners doing much, to be honest. Okay, I notice them doing a little. I can tell they pick up the remaining makeup that my cleanser may have missed but other than that, I'm not convinced it is a necessary step. But here I am, using a toner everyday anyway. It makes my skin feel nice after, and this one is supposed to balance out combination skin. I have always had super dry skin, but this summer I was blessed (yeah, right) with a super oily t-zone! So I started using this toner because it claimed to keep oil at bay. Well, a few months later, here we are and sure enough my oily t-zone is gone. I can't say for sure it is the toner because it may just be the change in seasons. I guess we'll have to wait for summer to solve that mystery.

Next is my moisturizer. You guessed it, more Origins. I use the Origins Gin Zing moisturizer and eye creams. I love them both. The eye cream is slightly peach toned, which helps to brighten under eye circles, and is very moisturizing without leaving my under eyes greasy. The moisturizer is white toned but is super light and has an almost gel like consistency. I was worried it may not get the job done in the dry winter months, but so far so good!

Finally, I use the Smashbox oil free face primer. I can't say too much about this product because I just bought it a couple days ago. I will say however, that you should buy the mini size, and here's why. I was at Ulta the other day and was going to buy the full size which is $36 for 1oz. Then I noticed the mini is .4oz and is only $10. I did some quick math (quick and math in the same sentence don't work for me, it probably took me five minutes to figure this out.) If you buy 3 mini primers you will be spending $30 on 1.2oz of product. If you buy the full size, you will be spending $36 on one oz. No brainer. Grabbed the mini.

On to makeup. Geez this post is getting long. I bet you didn't know you signed up to read a whole book today, huh?

For foundation I have been recently loving the Makeup Forever Mat Velvet +. I am in the shade 25. This foundation is kind of pricey, but I really love matte foundations so I wanted to try it. I had been loving the Boots no. 7 Beautifully Matte foundation but target only carries a few shades of the range, and the lightest is just too dark for me! Which is sad because it is much cheaper than the MUFE, by like $20, and I even like the Boots more, but if it doesn't match, it doesn't match! 

I find the easiest way to apply a matte foundation is with a sponge. I use the Real Techniques one. It's supposedly a dupe for the beauty blender but I wouldn't know because I can't bring myself to spend $20 on a sponge. Using a sponge keeps a matte foundation from looking dry and cakey, or at least for me it does.

For concealer I have been using Revlon Photoready concealer. It isn't the best I've ever used, but the MUFE foundation is pretty full coverage so I don't need an amazing concealer to hide things. Like I said, it's okay, but I probably won't repurchase. I prefer the NYX HD concealer.

While I wait for my foundation to settle into the skin, I move onto eyes. Today I used my Naked palette and a Mac shadow. I used my naked palette because I don't reach for it as much as my Lorac Pro-Palette but with all the Naked 3 hype, it made me feel like I should bust it out and remind myself why it is so great. I used Sin all over the lid, but was careful not to get it into my crease. I don't mind shimmer on the lid, but lately I don't like anything but matte in my crease. Next, I took Mac's Haux and blended it into my crease. I love this color, its a nice mid-toned brown with a mauve undertone. I also used Hauxe on my lower lash line. I am obsessed with mauve toned shadows lately, I find it makes my hazel eyes lean more green, which I love. Finally, I took the white and cream colors from the Lorac Pro Palette and mixed them to use as my brow bone highlight. 

Then I took my Rimmel Scandaleyes liner in black and lined my upper waterline. I left my lower waterline free of liner today. I used the Stila Stay All Day liquid liner to make a subtle wing. I just got this and I'm really loving it! It is so easy to make a thin line with this liner. I have been searching high and low for my perfect felt tip liner and don't know why it took me so long to try this one. It is perfection!

As for mascara, I layered my two favorites, Benefit Bad Gal Lash, and Tarte Lights Camera Lashes. I am pretty much out of BGL but the brush separates my lashes so nicely that I use that first then layer LCL on top. This pair volumizes and lengthens pretty well. Finally, I use Maybelline Lash Discovery for my lower lashes.

To finish the face, I use Mac's Careblend powder in Light Plus to set my foundation and concealer. This powder offers light coverage and really keeps my foundation set all day. Then I dust the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light all over my face. This powder helps a matte foundation from looking too flat, and gives some dimension to the face. Next I used my Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Exposed. This is the perfect neutral blush for when you are planning a bold lip. This blush also lasts all day. I then took a little of the ambient lighting powder on my ring finger and brushed it along the my cheek bone to add a subtle highlight. I used my finger to get a more concentrated application.

I filled in my brows with the Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash. This is one of the only brow colors I have found that doesn't have an undertone that is too red to match my brows. I also love this product because it is small enough to get a natural, yet precise application. 

Finally, I used a Bite lipstick in the color Bite for Sephora or something, it's the one you get when you become a VIB Rouge. Yeah, I hit VIB Rouge last month. I have a problem...

If you stuck this post out til the end you deserve a prize. This was a very long post! If it is too long to read, let me know and I will do my best to make future posts shorter! 

Thanks for stopping by and let me know in the comments what are some of your go-to holy grail products!