Fancy Fridays Week One

Fancy Fridays Week One: Smokey Eye

I had the idea to start an ongoing weekly series of posts where I do an eye tutorial for a more fancy or formal look, so I'm going to try it out and see how it goes! Smokey eyes seem really fancy to me, and they're not all too difficult to accomplish once you get the hang of it, so I decided I would start with that. Since prom season is fast approaching, I'll probably do a couple of prom looks as well. For today's look, I chose to use the Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette.

I put down the shade Combust as my transition so that all of the other colors would blend better. This is probably my all-time favorite transition shade for my skintone.

Next I used the shade Password in my crease to add some depth.

After that I added the shade Whiskey to my crease, this time a bit more concentrated to add even more depth.

To start off the lid shades, I put the shade Thirteen on the inner third of my lid. It's okay if it gets on the middle third of the lid because we'll be covering that up with a darker shade in just a moment.

For the middle third of the lid I used the shade Dagger. Make sure to blend it into Thirteen well.

I used the shade Black Market on the outer third of the lid, making sure to blend it really well and build it up slowly as it's easy to go overboard with black.

I added the shade High to my inner corner and browbone as a highlight because I wanted some sparkle, but this is totally optional and you could also go with a matte shade.

As a finishing touch, I put the shade Smolder on my lower lashline and blended it out a bit for a smokier look.

Many people say not to pair a smokey eye with a bold lip because they distract from each other, but I just absolutely love the look of a smokey eye with a red lip, so I did it anyways. When it comes to makeup, there really are no rules, so do whatever you want! I used MAC Russian Red.

Bright Eye Tutorial

Super Bright Eye Makeup Tutorial

I wanted to do a bright look to change things up a bit, since I've been doing a lot more neutral looks lately. I also really like bright, colorful looks, even for everyday wear. I've worn looks like this out many times and I think it's wearable if you have the confidence to pull it off. I used only shadows from the Urban Decay Electric palette.

Use the shade Urban in the crease. Make sure to blend it well, especially at the top.

Apply the shade Jilted all over the lid and blend it into the crease shade well. This is a really nice pink-purple color.

Put the shade Savage on just the middle of the lid. It adds a nice pop of extra brightness.

Use a sparkly blue liner and make a wing. I like how this looks better than black liner, but you could use either.

Curl your lashes, apply mascara, and you're done! This would look good with false lashes as well, and paired with a peach or coral lipstick.

Haul!

Ulta Haul

I recently bought some makeup from Ulta and I wanted to do a haul for my blog, so here it is! I don't plan on buying new makeup anytime soon, so this will probably be the last haul for a while. I may do a no-buy, so I'll post about it if that happens. I got my order in two shipments, which was funny because I got two items - a lipstick and a single eyeshadow - in a box that was way too big for jus those things. Now, on to the haul!

Here are the samples I got. Since I got my order in two shipments, I got some extra samples. I also got a few perfume samples, but I didn't include them as they're just the kind where you sniff the paper. I'm glad I got the primer samples as I've wanted to try both of those primers, and I'm very excited about the big shampoo sample! I've never gotten a sample this big before, and I certainly didn't expect it. I'm running out of my current shampoo so it will be good to have a new one to try out.

Since I purchased $10.00 USD worth of Essence products, I got a free Essence Lash Princess mascara, usually $4.99 USD. I don't really need any more mascara right now but it's good to have an extra around for when I run out.

I got these foundations buy one get one half off, and they were the main reason I made the order. I'm running out of my current one of these so I wanted a backup, and then I took advantage of the buy one get one half off deal. I'm in the shade 110 Porcelain and they regularly cost $7.99 USD.

The Urban Decay Primer Potion was on sale for $10.00 USD (normally it's twenty) and I've been wanting to try it out for a while, so I decided to get it. I've heard so many good things about it that I've been tempted to get it many times, but I'm glad I waited until it was on sale, because I saved some money.

Next I got this Essence Gel Eyeliner, which costs $3.99 USD. I got it in the shade 01 Midnight In Paris, which as far as I can tell is the only shade. Somehow, I didn't own a black gel eyeliner, so I decided that it was time to finally get one.

After that, I got an Essence 3D Eyeshadow in the color Irresistible First Love. It costs $3.49 USD. I can't wait to try it out, especially the pink shade. I don't have a pigmented light pink in my collection so if this is any good, it'll be a good addition.

I also got two Revlon ColorStay ShadowLinks in the colors Copper and Gold. I don't have a copper or a gold eyeshadow, so I wanted to get some. The cool part is that they link together, so you can make your own custom palette with them! I may buy more in the future if I end up liking them. They cost $2.99 USD each normally, but they were also buy one get one half off.

Next I got the Iconic 3 Redemption palette from Makeup Revolution. It costs $7.00 USD, and it is GORGEOUS. I think it's supposed to be a dupe of the Naked 3 palette, but I don't own that one so I can't compare them. All of the shades look like something I would totally wear and I can't wait to try it out.

I also purchased the Essential Mattes Redemption palette from Makeup Revolutions. It costs $7.00 as well. I bought it because I feel like I need more matte eyeshadows, and all of these shadows are matte.

Lastly, I bought an Essence Longlasting Lipstick in Coral Calling. It costs $2.99 USD. I noticed that despite having far too many lipsticks for one person, I didn't have a single coral lipstick, and this one looked pretty, so I got it. I'm excited about trying it out!

Urban Decay Electric Palette Review

Urban Decay Electric Palette Review

I purchased the Urban Decay Electric Palette a couple of months ago because I love wearing bright colors, and it is FULL of bright colors. I had never tried any Urban Decay product before (I'm more of a drugstore girl), so it was definitely an investment. But it was one I was willing to make, since the reviews were all pretty good. First off...

The Packaging

I'm in love with this packaging. I feel that the bright colors represent the pigments inside. It's made of plastic, but it's a hard, sturdy plastic. It seems to be solid if you tap on it. I have yet to drop it, but I have no doubt that it would survive if I did. The font is pleasant on the eyes as well.

The Inside

It comes with ten colors, all labeled, which I like. First you have Revolt, a very glittery silver. Next you have Gonzo, a satin medium blue. After that you have Slowburn, a slightly shimmery bright red. Next is Savage, a matte hot pink. Then is Fringe, a satin teal color. Next up is my personal favorite, Chaos, a slightly shimmery electric dark blue. Next is Jilted, a satin purple-pink. After that one is Urban, a slightly shimmery dark purple. Next is Freak, a satin light but bright green. Lastly we have Thrash, a matte yellow-green. All of them are very pigmented, even Revolt, although that one has a bit less pigment than the others. I like to use it on my inner corner. Although the back of the package says not to use certain pigments around the eye area, I have used every single one on my eyelids without problem. However, this is because I don't see a bit of staining as a problem, since I don't really mind it. If you don't want your eyelids to be slightly stained, don't use these pigments. The "worst" staining comes from using Chaos, Slowburn, and Savage. Overall, there is occasionally some fallout, but generally very little. Personally I think that this palette is well worth the money, as I get a lot of use out of it. But if you don't use bright colors on a regular basis, you may not want to invest in this palette. I would recommend a cheaper palette if this is the case for you. You can buy the palette here for $49.00 USD. It also comes with a double ended brush!