NYE MSC Tutorial: Dramatic Blue-y

Hi All!

I posted a look similar to this in the Madd Style Cosmetics group page on Facebook a while ago and the ladies in the group liked it so much that I knew I had to do a tutorial for it!  I also figured that with NYE coming up that it would be a good occasion to post it since it's a rather dramatic look.  The super fun thing about a look like this is that you can make it any colour you want--I did a pink version a few days ago and it was super fun too!

If you'd like to find out how I achieved this look...

...then please keep on reading.  

And the winners are!

Rafflecopter confused me with the time zones, but I now know the winners of my giveaway (even though it's technically three hours earlier than I thought it would be)!

The two lucky ladies are *drum roll*

a Rafflecopter giveaway Pamela E and Taylor L! I have contacted both ladies (and both have already responded to me even! Fast ladies! ;)). Once Pamela chooses her prize, Taylor will get the remaining prize package! Hooray!! I'm so happy that so many of you entered and I'm excited to get to know all of my new subscribers! Once I get over this killer cold I have I will be hoping to get out a New Year's tutorial. Yep yep! Thank you again to everyone who entered and now I start stocking up no my next giveaway! :)

d's X-mas MSC Giveaway!

Hi Everyone!!

I'm so excited to finally be able to put up my x-mas giveaway!  Hoooray!!  This is also very timely since Mo, just yesterday, officially opened up MSC's very own website!  Woo!  Be sure that you check that beauty out: www.maddstylecosmetics.com!

To enter my giveaway, you just need to follow the nifty rafflecopter instructions...but what are you entering to win?  Well, let me tell you!

The prize will be broken up into 2 prizes!  The Grand Prize winner will get the choice of package 1 or package 2 and the second winner will win the remaining prize.  :)

Package 1:

• Tokidoki Brush set!
• Now discontinued MSC piggies in: Fire & Ice, Frostbite and Winter Rose!
• 5 Piggies of your choice!
• 2 MSC Halloween Themed Buttons & MSC Sticker!
• 1 Pair of Miss Adoro Lashes
• Liar, Liar Glitter!

Package 2:

• Real Techniques brushes!
• MSC Fireworks Grab Bag (includes Pew Pew Pow Pow!, Bang Bang!, Klablammy!, Fireworks Lip Bomb, and Torchwood & Hallucinogenic Lipstick samples)!
• Effin' Perfektion Powder!
• Rebel Lollipop Blush!
• Optimus Primer & Awesome Sauce!
• 2 Pairs of Miss Adoro Lashes!
• Fan Girl Blush & Are You My Mummy Samples!

Weeeeeeeeee!!

The giveaway is open from NOW until December 23rd at 12am Pacific!  In your mandatory blog comment, please leave an email address where I can reach you.  I will contact the Grand Prize winner on December 24th and they will have 24 hours to reply back to me with their choice of package.  If they fail to respond to my email, I will pick another winner!  The second winner will be picked once the first winner chooses their prize.  I will ship anywhere IN THE WORLD!  But you must be at least 18 years of age to enter or have parental consent to enter.  ;)

Now...whatcha waitin' for?  Enter enter enter!  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Madd Style Cosmetics: Shaun of the Dr. Who.

Hello dearest readers!

Today I'm excited to present a tutorial where I used three new-to-me colours!  I recently put in an order for both of Madd Style Costmetics' Halloween collections and this tutorial features two awesome colours from the "Shaun of the Dead" collection (which is still available, by the way!  :D).  I also *finally* picked up some of the Dr. Who Mattes and fell immediately in love with "I Think You Call Me...Sexy".  I knew I had to put this color into a look using a smokey purple and here is the result of the experiment:

If you'd like to find out how I achieved the look, please keep on reading!

To start out, gather all of your awesome supplies:

 (Left to Right: Madd Style Cosmetics "Optimus Primer"; Madd Style Cosmetics "Pop N Lock" base; Gabriel Color Mascara; Madd Style Cosmetics Piggies (top to bottom): I Think You Call Me...Sexy, Record Toss, The Zed Word and Birftday Suit; A fluffy eyeshadow brush (this one is by Royal & Langnickel); A thin angled liner brush; Urban Decay 24/7 liner in "Yeyo"; Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in "Strumpet"; Teeny tiny baby lip brush by OCC; A matte black eyeshadow.)

As always, begin with a squeaky clean eyelid!

  

Grab your primer and your chosen base!  You will want to use both a primer and base because both products serve very important purposes!  The primer helps to even out the surface of your eye and it increases the longevity of your eye makeup.  It also helps to prevent unseemly creasing!  The base, on the the other hand, helps to intensify the eye shadow and will help them to appear brighter (because I am using a white, whereas if I were using a black--it would deepen any colour I were to put on top of it).

 The process with these products is very similar.  First you want to apply as much primer as you need.  You want enough so that you can smooth it out on to the whole eyelid and have enough to blend it up into the crease and down along the lower lash line.  I apply it straight to my lid using the doe-foot applicator and then I use my ring finger to blend it out.

 For the base, I swirl my finger into the product and then smooth it out on to the whole lid.  I concentrate this to the mobile lid (the part of your eyelid that moves) and then blend whatever is left on my finger up into the crease and below the eyebrow.  When you're all finished, you should have something like the photo on the right.

Next for some colour!  Tip your magical fluffy eye shadow brush into "I Think You Call Me...Sexy" (a super pretty light lavender toned pink).  Apply this colour to the tip of the brush.  Then apply this into the crease.  You can see that I have applied it above where my eyelid actually "creases".  I do this because of my semi-hooded lids.  I really do focus my "crease" colours more into the "hollow" between my orbital bone and my actual eyeball!  Sweep this colour into the whole crease.  Then, turn the brush on its side (as you see in the picture on the right) and blend it so you have a nice wash of colour that is more concentrated in the deepest part of the crease and is more blended/faded out as you get closer to the eyebrow.

 

At the end of this step, you should have something like this:

Using the same eye shadow brush, dip it into Record Toss (a super GORGEOUS metallic lilac) and then "pat" this colour on to the whole of your mobile lid (as you see in the center picture).  Then use whatever product is left to "blend" the colour up into the crease slightly.  You can really just "pull" the colour up from the top part of the line that you see dividing the two colours until you get a more blended result. The fluffy brush really do most of the work for you!

Next, take your white eyeliner pencil and line the outer 2/3rds of your lower lash line.  Then, using that same brush, dip to the tip of it back into Record Toss and apply this to the whole of the lower lash line.  I could have used a more precise brush and then could have skipped the "use your finger to clean it up if you have to" step, but I wanted to use the fluffy brush to get a more soft layer of colour rather than a more "harsh"/precise line.

 Again, using the same brush, dip the tip of it into "The Zed Word" (a sparkly neutral tone with pink shimmer in it) and apply this to your tear duct area.

All there is left is to apply a thin layer of liner (I chose to use a matte black eye shadow just to darken up the lash line, but not really to add a pronounced line for a liner) and then some mascara on your top and bottom lashes.

And that's it!  You're done!  

I also decided to add some lipstick (*gasp!* I know, I know!  I never include lipstick!) for the look and I reached for one of my newest OCC Lip Tars: Strumpet.  It's a super pretty dark berry colour (although OCC's website calls it a "deep red-burgundy").   I thought it gave a nice effect to the overall look. 

 Thank you all, as always, for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  If you have anything you want me to try out or you're dying to see specific MSC colours used in action--please let me know down in the comments section!  :)

Oh, and PS: I have an MSC give away I'm just about ready to post!  I'm hoping that it ends up being kind of like an x-mas present for a couple of my lucky readers.  More on that to come!!

Oh!  And PPS: Sorry about some of the photos being a little blurry--I was convinced the natural lighting was enough that I didn't have to use my camera's flash.  I am not so convinced now that that was truly the case!  But I think you will all get the point!

EOTD: Sugarpill Fun

Hi All!

This afternoon I decided I needed to play with my lovely pressed Sugarpill shadows.  I had it in mind to do something with Midori as the feature colour, but I ended up with something a little different than I had intended.  I still quite like the result though!

Products used:

• MTCoffinz "Under the Rainbow" Eye Primer applied all over the lid and blended up to under the brow.
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White" applied over the primer.
• Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Zero" to thickly line the upper lash line before any colour is applied to the lid.
• Sugarpill "Afterparty" applied to the center of the lid and blended up into the crease.
• Sugarpill "Velocity" applied to the outer 1/3rd of the lid and blended up into the crease.
• Sugarpill "Mochi" to blend out Afterparty and Velocity.
• Sugarpill "Midori" applied lightly on the inner portion of the upper lid
• Sugarpill "Lumi" applied to the center of the lid (over Afterparty) and in the tear-duct area.
• Sugarpill "Poison Plum" applied to the lower portion of the outer 1/3rd of the lid and in the "wing" at the outer part of the eye.
• Korres "White" eye pencil applied as a base in the outer "wing".  Lumi is patted over top of that!
• The lower lash line goes from inner to outer: Lumi, Acidberry, Midori, Afterparty, Velocity and Poison Plum.
• Sugarpill "Tako" for a brow highlight.
• Sugarpill "Bulletproof" to darken up the outer portion of the upper lid.
• Urban Decay pencil in "Zero" to tightline and to line the lower waterline.
• Urban Decay Lush Lash Masara applied to top and bottom lashes.

I hope you all like this look.  What's the last Sugarpill colour *you* played with??

:)

Fyrinnae Collage

Hello!!

I just spent entirely too long making this collage, so I figured I'd post it on here.  :)

I recently received the "Samhain" collection (from Fyrinnae) that I bought a bit ago and they're just so darn beautiful.  This afternoon, while I was photographing them, I figured I'd photograph the other Fyrinnae shadows that I have at the same time.  The result is this collage:

(Click to enlarge to full size.)

The colours photographed (in case the font is a bit touch to decipher!) left to right, top row to bottom row: Mermaid Masquerade, Mystical Hedgehog, Ethereal Eire, Mischievous Sidhe, Witchy Woodland Creatures, Velveteen Werewolf, Bonfire Spirits, Sultry Samhain, Atomic Afterglow, Darling Misfit, Mephisto, Sugar Skulls, Cuddlefish and Sequined Master.

Soon I will do a full swatch post of these beauties.  Sooooon!  

Do *you* own any Fyrinnae?  If so, what is your favorite colour??

Madd Style Cosmetics: Fish Eyes!

Hiiiii Readers & Watchers!  :)

Last night I asked the girls over in the Madd Style Cosmetics FB Group Page (click here to request to join, if you haven't already!) if they'd rather see a photo-tutorial or a "talkie" from me today.  They voted heavily on the side of the "talkie" and therefore a talkie they will get!

Every time I wear this combo my spouse calls it my "fish eyes" (hence the title of the post) and I figured it would be a fun look to do as a tutorial using a few colours that are about to become discontinued (don't worry, you still have time to get them if you head on over to the clearance section of the art fire shop!).  If you'd like to find out how I achieved the below look, the please click "play".

In case you missed any of the supplies that I used:

(Left to Right: Madd Style Cosmetics "Optimus Primer"; Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Yeyo"; Madd Style Cosmetics "Pop N Lock"; Madd Style Cosmetics piggies (clockwise from the top): Princess Buttahcup, Birfday Suit, Down the Rabbit Hole, Space Oddity, Bi-Winning and Ecto Cooler; Royal and Langnickel Silk Green Line brushes: Concealer, Eye Fluff, Liner, Smudger and I forgot to photograph the Eye Shadow Brush!  Oops!  Also used in the tutorial, but not photographed, is Gabriel Color blush in "Petal" and the Blush brush from R & L Green Line.)

As always--thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  :)

Sugarpill Lashes: All Things Beautiful (Day 7) Challenge

Hello hello!

It's 10pm...but that doesn't mean it's too late to slap on some false lashes, no it does not!  I also had this Sugarpill shadow combination I wanted to try out so I figured there was no time like the present!  :)  The look also fit in perfectly with Beth (over at All Things Beautiful)'s Day 7 "Lashes" challenge!

Without further ado...here's the look I came up with:

 

Products used:

• The All Natural Face Eyeshadow Primer
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White"
• Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Yeyo" applied to the duct and lower lash line
• Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Zero" to line the upper and lower waterlines
• Sugarpill's Velocity applied to the bulk of the lid and on the outer 1/3rd of the lower lash line
• Sugarpill's Bulletproof applied to the outer corner of the lid and blended into the crease.  Also applied to the outer portion of the lower lash line.  Annnnd applied to the upper lash line as a liner.
• Sugarpill's Mochi applied above Bulletproof in the crease and in the middle of the lower lash line
• Sugarpill's Tako applied under the brow
• Sugarpill's Lumi applied in the duct and inner lower lash line
• Gabriel Color Mascara in "Black"
• Sugarpill "Spark" lashes

I love these Spark lashes so very much.  They're such a pleasure to apply and I think they give such a nice effect.  :)

Thanks for dropping by!!

Autumnal Eyes: All Things Beautiful Challenge.

Hi All!

Beth over at All Things Beautiful has a fun challenge going on where every other day is a different them.  Today's theme is "autumnal" and I'm definitely feeling that vibe here in Vancouver, Canada.  The leaves are all golden--hence the inspiration for this look!  :)

This is a combination of Sugarpill's Goldilux (on the lid and inner lower lash line) with Madd Style Cosmetics colours: 3rd Wish (duct), Americano (crease) and Fresh Pots! (outer lid, outer crease, and outer part of the lower lash line).

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm fall!!!

:)

Colourful Makeup Challenge

Hi All!

Over the past couple of days, the lovely ladies over at Eye Graffiti have been posting looks for All Things Beautiful's makeup challenge.  Today I decided I should play along!  Thanks to Beth over at All Things Beautiful for such a fun monthly challenge--you should all go check it out.  It's organized to be one look every other day and the looks have to go along with a certain theme.  I'm looking forward to seeing what looks get posted.  :)

For today's challenge--the theme was: colourful!

Here is what I came up with:

The first three pictures are in actual natural light!  (Yay for weekends when the sun is shining!)  The last picture is a with a flash to show the super fun sparkly-ness!  

Products used:

• The All Natural Face Eyeshadow Primer
• NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White"
• Korres eye pencil in "White" to line the lower waterline
• Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in "Yeyo" to act as a base in the tear duct area
• Barry M Kohl Pencil in "18" to line the lower lash line
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Lemon Drop" applied to the first quarter of the lid
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Strange Potion" applied to the second quarter of the lid
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Candy Floss" applied to the third quarter of the lid
• Madd Style Cosmetics "She Bop" applied to the fourth quarter of the lid and blended up into the crease just a bit
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Pop Tarte" applied to the entire crease area
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Birfday Suit" for a brow highlight
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Be Fearless and Play" applied to the first 1/3rd of the lower lash line
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Fabby Lala" applied to the rest of the lower lash line
• Madd Style Cosmetics "Down the Rabbit Hole" applied to the tear duct area
• Sugarpill "Bulletproof" applied as a dry winged liner on the top lash line
• Gabriel Color Mascara in "Black" applied to the upper and lower lashes

The end!  I hope you'll all go check out Beth (All Things Beautiful)'s blog.  And thanks to Phlox and Azure for posting their entries to the challenge!  This was fun!!

Madd Style Cosmetics: Pink-Off with Jalackie

Hi all you lovely readers!  

I hope your Summer treated you well and that you're as excited as I am to be getting your scarves and sweaters out for Fall!  Yippeeeeeee!  (What *is* your favorite season?  I would love to know.  :))  Last weekend I was thinking about what I wanted to do for my September tutorial when fellow Madd Model Jalackie suggested we have a pink-off!  Yep, that's right.  A tutorial using nothing but pinks!  I am not one to shy away from a challenge and so without further ado, here is my Madd Style Cosmetics pink themed tutorial!

(Jalackie posted her last weekend.  You should go take a look at it!)

To start, as always, you will want to gather your supplies.  For this look I wanted to show that one can achieve lovely results using only two (yes, two!) brushes.  Normally I like to use all kinds of brushes...because...well...I have a lot of brushes so it's nice to be able to use them!  However, one does not need to use 6 brushes on looks that just don't require it.  

(Left to Right: Urban Decay Lush Lash Mascara; Madd Style Cosmetics "Optimus Primer"; Madd Style Cosmetics "Pop N Lock"; Madd Style Cosmetics piggies (clockwise from the lightest pink): Ice Cream Day Dream, Sugar High, Birfday Suit, Bang, Bang! and Pink Ladies; Korres Kohl Liner in "White"; Dense Flat Shader Brush, Fluffy Domed Crease Brush; Lush "Independent" Eyeliner.)

Begin with a squeaky clean eye!

Next you will want to be sure to prime your lids.  Primer will help to elongate the life of your eyeshadows and it will also help to prevent any creasing.  To use Madd Style Cosmetics "Optimus Primer"--use the doe-foot applicator to apply the needed amount to your lid.  Then, use your ring fingers to blend the product over the whole eyelid and up into the crease/brow-bone area.  

After your primer comes your base.  To apply Madd Style Cosmetics "Pop N Lock" I typically use my finger.  I will hold my ring finger on the product for a few seconds to warm it up and then I swirl my finger in the product (as it is quite stiff) until I get the desired amount on my finger.  Then, like with the primer, I use my ring finger to apply this all over the lid and blend it up into the crease.  Bases will help to "grab" on to the colours and help them to appear brighter/more opaque.  All good things!

Now your eye is primed and based and ready for some colours!

Using your dense and flat shader brush, dip it into "Ice Cream Day Dream" (a lovely light frosty/metallic pink colour).  Press the brush in the inside of the lid to help pack the colour on to the bristles.  This will help to prevent any fallout.  Apply this colour by "patting" it on to the first third of your lid.  

Next, using that same brush, dip it into "Pink Ladies" (a medium glittery pink) and apply this to pretty much the rest of your lid.  Because you're working with a light and medium pink so far--they are very easy to blend together.  Just pat back and forth between the light and medium pink until you've achieved a smooth transition.  

To blend the colours a bit up into the crease, I just turned my brush on it's side and ran it along my crease area.  This insures that the colour will be "high enough" so that when my semi-hooded eyes are open, the colour doesn't get hidden.

Now for the darkest pink.  Using that same super brush, dip it into "Bang, Bang!" (a dark dusty pink) and apply this to the outer portion of your lid.  Turning the brush on its side again--create a slightly "winged" edge with the pink.  You can also leave this more rounded, if you prefer, but as my eyes are down turned, I like to angle my shadows "up" toward the end of my brow to help lift my eye.  Blend this in with "Pink Ladies" in a similar fashion to before--just pat from the dark into the medium and vice versa.  You'll have a seamless transition in no time flat!

Next--switch to your fluffy blending brush.  Dip it into "Birfay Suit" (a light skin tone matte) and apply it under the highest arc of your brow.  Following that, blend it along the rest of the brow and down into the crease.  Think of this step as your chance to soften the edges of the pink.  In the middle picture, you see that I brought it from the inside of the lid/crease and all the way to the outside of the crease.  Continue in this way until you have it as blended as you want.

At this point you will have something like this:

For the inner duct highlight--lay down a white base.  I chose to use my Korres pencil.  I focused it right in the duct but also blended it down slightly to the inner portion of the lower lash line and up a bit into the "Ice Cream Day Dream".  Now--switch back to your original flat shader and dip the very tip of it into "Sugar High" (a super awesome white that is packed with pink sparkle).  Pat this over top of the white pencil that was just applied.

All that's left is lining and mascara!  I did a little winged liner, but that is optional.  I do think it has a nice effect with this type of look though.  :)

And here is your final look!

 

And again...but without a flash!

 I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  I also hope you comment below to let me know what your favorite season is.  :)

As always--if you have any questions or suggestions for future tutorials, please let me know in the comment section.

Thanks for reading!!