Tutorial: Winged Eyeliner

Hi everyone! 

So I've been getting some questions lately on how I do my winged liner (because I wear it everyday), so I thought I was do a little tutorial for you guys today. 

So the first line you are going to draw is one following the natural line of your lower lash line. You can take it as high as you want. 

Then the second line you will draw is just straight out of your eye like the picture above, and then connect to line number 1. Then you just fill in the gap! Easy as that. 

So I hope you guys enjoyed this little tutorial, and I hope this sort of simplifies winged liner a little bit too. 

Thanks for reading! 

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Drama Cream Pencil in Taupe Takeover

Hi everyone!

If you haven't already, feel free to pop over to my last post to take my reader survey. It will help me to see what you guys want to see more of (or even less of)!

But anyway, into the review! A couple of posts back, I reviewed the Maybelline Master Drama pencil in Midnight Master, which the plain black of the line. Today I'm reviewing the one in Taupe Takeover. This was released with Maybelline's Summer Collection, which for some reason, is still in drugstores around me.

 

I bought this for the main purpose on smudging it under my waterline on my lower eyelid. I figured it would be a nice pop of shimmer underneath the black. 

This is a twist up liner, so you don't have to sharpen it. One thing I will mention: once you twist it up, you can't twist it back down. 

This liner claims to have creamy glide, bold colour and 24 hour wear. Let's take a look to see if it lives up to that!

1. Creamy Glide: Yes! This is one of the smoothest liners I have tried. It glides on with such creaminess, it's almost a pleasure to put on in the morning. It's not like one of those liners that almost hurts to apply, because it scratches. 

2. Bold Colour: This liner is about as bold as a taupe can be. Obviously it's not one of the deepest darkest colours around, but it's not supposed to be.

3. 24 Hour Wear: Since I only wear this below my waterline, I can't vouch for the staying power of this on the waterline. I imagine that it would be the same as the black one from this line, which didn't stay 24 hours. This one does stay on quite a while on the eye lid, though. 

This is smudgeproof, but not waterproof. It will run if you go swimming (or cry). 

All in all, I like this liner, but not as much as the black one. I don't find myself reaching for this one quite as often, because if I want a pop of shimmer on my lower lid, I'll usually just reach for an eyeshadow. This isn't a necessity for me. 

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Drama Cream Pencil in Midnight Master

So I recently picked up two of the cream pencil liners from Maybelline's Master Drama line. I've been a big fan of the liquid liner from the line for a while now, and after receiving lots of recommendations for this liner, I thought I would pick up a couple of shades. 

The other one I picked up is in 'Taupe Takeover', which I'll be reviewing soon. That shade was part of Maybelline's Summer collection, which is still available in some drugstores.

But the one I'll be reviewing for you here today is the one in Midnight Master, which is the classic black of the line. I wear black pencil liner every day on my water line, so I figured I would give this one a whirl after hearing good things about how creamy it was. 

This is a twist up liner, so you don't have to sharpen it. One thing I will mention: once you twist it up, you can't twist it back down. 

This liner claims to have "creamy glide, bold colour, and 24 hr wear." Let's see if it lives up to these claims!

1. Creamy Glide: Yes! This is one of the smoothest liners I have tried. It glides on with such creaminess, it's almost a pleasure to put on in the morning. It's not like one of those liners that almost hurts to apply, because it scratches. 

2. Bold Colour: This is the number one reason I love this eye liner so much. It's no secret that a lot of black liners do not show up with intensity on your waterline, without really having to work at building up the colour. This liner glides on with rich, dark black in one swipe. I love it!

THAT'S ONE SWIPE. 

3. 24 hour wear: This is where we lose some points. Now I must say, I can only vouch for the staying power of this on the waterline, and I know that liners do not last as long on the waterline as they do on the eyelid. This does not last 24 hours on my waterline. It doesn't even last five. But I do believe it will last much longer on the eyelid. 

It also says this liner is smudge proof, which, once it sets, I have proven to be true. However, it is not waterproof! It will run if you cry or go swimming or something. 

Anyway, all in all, I would highly recommend this if you're looking for a rich black liner. I absolutely love it, and it will definitely become a staple in my collection! It's so much cheaper than my Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Perversion, that's for sure!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Duo Liquid Liner in Black Lacquer

I bought this liner after my Line Stiletto liner (also from Maybelline) dried up. I had heard good things about this liner, so I thought I would give it a shot. However, I had heard that only the black colour was good; that the blue, purple, etc were too watery. But I would only go for black anyway, so that wasn't an issue.

There were only a couple of shades available. There was a black, but it only came in one form (no "black", "very black", or "blackest black"), Black Lacquer. There was also a blue and a violet, and maybe one other colour? I'm not too sure. 

Unfortunately, this wasn't on sale when I bought it, but I was desperate, so I paid the full $13 bucks for it. That's a little outrageous for a drugstore liner, but oh well.

I really like the bottle of this. It's sleek looking. It's in the inkwell format, which a lot of other liners are in too. You screw of the top and the brush is attached to the lid.

The concept for this liner is pretty cool. It's meant to be a double liner (hence the name duo liner). One side of the brush is flat, and using that side, you are able to get a thick line on your eyelid. But when you rotate the wand 90 degrees, you are able to get a thin line. It's super easy to do winged liner with this!

This is the thick side of the brush.

And this is the thin side!

The formula for this is pretty good. It isn't thin or watery and it glides on pretty easily. I don't find myself having to go over a second time to get a rich black line. As with most liquid liners, you do have to shake it before use. 

The only issue I have with this is getting it off at night time. It's really tricky to remove, and it takes quite a bit of effort. 

Here a swatch to show the difference between the thin line and the thick line. 

Final Verdict:

Honestly, I don't like this liner as much as I like my Line Stiletto liquid liner. The Line Stiletto is easier to remove than this one.

This is a good liner, it's just not my favourite. 

I find the brush slightly awkward and it's sort of difficult to get an even line. It was much easier with the Line Stiletto.

This is a cool concept though, but I do recommend it for people with more experience applying liquid liner.

I will say though, that the formula on this one is very good. No complaints there.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Liner

Maybelline Line Stiletto Ultimate Precision Liquid Liner

This is actually the second liquid liner I have used in life. The first was from Revlon, which was in the pen form. I disliked that one so much that it completely turned me off liquid liners. 

I used gel eyeliner and pencil liner almost religiously. But a couple of months back, I was doing winged liner almost everyday. And gel liner was ok for that, but it was hard to get a really precise wing. 

Someone recommended this liner to me, and lucky me, it was on sale for $6.99 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart. So I picked it up, and I am so glad I did!

I only saw this is one colour, Black, which I think is the case for most liquid liners. 

Maybelline describes this as "ultimate precision liner", which is sort of the case. The thing I like the most about this liner is the brush. It's precise, but it's also flexible so you can in from all angles. It doesn't have a super fine tip, but it does a pretty good of getting a good wing. 

I find you have to shake this with every use, or else the colour won't be as rich and as black. I learned this the hard way. About a week after I bought it, I found the colour getting weaker and weaker. It was early in the morning, and I didn't realize you had to shake it. Lol. But I figured it out!

This is a swatch, see how rich and black it is! This is it freshly applied. It dries to a more matte finish than this, but not completely matte, so beware! 

My one complaint with this is how long it takes to dry. Sometimes, I'll be in rush and so I will curl my eyelashes before it is completely dry, and it will rub off. 

Staying power is good, too; it lasts all day.

So all in all, a great product!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Marcelle Luxe Metallic Liquid Liner

You know, sometimes you just have to wear glitter. There, I said it. And when you feel the urge, what else is more fun to amp up than your liner? It's not too pow! in your face, but it just adds a little something.

This liner has a slim brush, which is covered in sparkly green goodness. I usually use this on my upper lash line, and it just adds a pop of colour and sparkle to my eye look. Marcelle isn't a much talked about brand, but they do have some great products. I'm not entirely sure if this is a purely Canadian brand...but if it is, there's lots of green glitter liners out there. This isn't unique.

This needs a couple of coats to become opaque, and I definitely recommend layering this over a black liner to make it really pop. It looks awesome.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Utter PAN-demonium! March 2013

So today's post is something I've never done on my blog before, but I thought it might be fun! This is going to be a post all about products that I've "hit pan on", or you can see the bottom pan on it. The reason I'm sharing this is because if I've hit pan on something, it most likely means I like it a lot! So this post might give you some new items to try! Let's get started!

FACE:

1) L'oreal True Match Powder in Neutral 1

This a powder that I've been using for quite awhile now, and I really enjoy. It's a much loved product around the beauty community anyway, probably because of how natural it looks and how much coverage it gives.


2. Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation in Ivory

I've already posted a review of this foundation, (you can see that here) but I absolutely love it! It works well on my dry skin, and has great coverage. I've been using it solidly for about six months, and I'm only just running out of it now. Luckily I have a backup!

EYES:

1. MAC Eyeshadow in Phloof!

Finally hit pan on this little guy after using it for about two years. Not much to say about it, except that it's a frosty pink toned light shade, and my absolute favourite shade ever to use for highlighting. 

2. ELF Single Eyeshadow in Pebble

This is the eyeshadow I use everyday to fill in my eyebrows, which is probably why I hit pan on it. It's a matte taupe colour, and the reason I like it so much is because it isn't too warm toned, and it doesn't make my eyebrows look red. 

3. Covergirl Eyeshadow in Tapestry Taupe

I've talked a lot about this one on my blog already, but I finally hit pan on it this month! I could have sworn it was a bottomless shadow, seeing as I've only just hit pan on it, and I've used it A LOT. A great basic to have in any collection. 

4. Urban Decay "Naked" Eyeshadow

This is from the first Naked palette, but it can also be bought on it's own. It's a matte light brown, which is wonderful for just running through your crease, which looks natural, but also adds a little something to a neutral shadow look. 

5. Smashbox Liner Palette

I hit pan on one of the cream liners in this palette that I've been using for a long time, on a daily basis. It's just a plain black liner, and I used it everyday on my upper lash line. I finally bought a new liner this month, which is a liquid liner, so I don't need to use this one anymore. But it was a good liner while it lasted!

So that's it for my PAN-demonium this month! This probably won't be a monthly thing, but I'll do another one when I have more things to make a post on.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Worth A Look: Annabelle Kohl Eyeliner in White

Today's post is featuring a product that I use almost on a daily basis. It is the Annabelle Kohl Liner in White. I've already talked quite a bit about Annabelle liners on this blog, but I've never mentioned this one specifically. I'm going to tell you why I think this is "Worth A Look."

I use this everyday to line my lower waterline. Using a white or beige eyeliner there can fake the appearance of making your eyes look wider. Many people say that you should use beige because white can look unnatural. However, despite being pigmented, this eyeliner doesn't look unnatural on me, it just makes me look more awake!

These eyeliners are good quality, and pretty cheap (I think the Kohl ones are about $5 CAD), so I recommend checking them out if you're looking for a way to perk up your tired eyes in the morning!

Also a little side note, in case you were wondering, no this isn't harsh on your waterline, despite being a pencil. It's very smooth, unless you sharpen it to a very sharp point. You will probably also need to touch up throughout the day, as eyeliners usually have a tough job staying put on the waterline.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag!

So emilynoel83 of Youtube tagged me to this tag. So without further ado, here is the "I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag"! It consists of eight questions, all about my favorite brands/products you can get from your local drugstore.

Let's jump right in!!

1) What is your favourite drugstore makeup brand?
This is sort of a hard question. I like lots of brands from the drugstore; as I think they all have their hits and misses. I can't just choose one! Ok, I'll pick one for each category. I like Revlon for their face products, I like Covergirl for their eye products, Maybelline for their mascaras, and Revlon for lip products.

2) What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?
My favourite face product
 would have to be a primer from Rimmel- The Fix and Perfect Pro.

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Primer

This makes my foundation stay on a lot longer!! And it makes my face very smooth and soft. I'm not sure that's viable criteria for a good primer, but whatever.

My favourite cheek product is a highlighter from Revlon- the Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder in Rose.

Revlon Colorstay Mineral Powder in Rose

It gives such a nice glow to the cheeks. I apply it on my cheekbones, above my eyebrows and on my cupid's bow and it really brightens up my face.

Another favourite cheek product is a blush from Rimmel. It's in Pink Sorbet. It's more pigmented than any of my MAC blushes, and it gives a nice sheen to the face without being shimmery or sparkly. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush in Pink Sorbet

My favourite lip product is also from Revlon. It's the Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting, which is a light pink with gold shimmer. It's a good way to do a nude without washing yourself out.

Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting

I also really love all the eos lip balms. They make your lips very soft without being too thin or too thick. And they smell great!

3) Least favourite product?

That would have to be something I bought from Hard Candy (sold at Walmart) a while ago. I was hoping it would be a good highlight, but it turned out to be a chalky white powdery with yellow glitter scattered around. Not a fan.

Hard Candy Moon Glow Powder

4) What is your best makeup bargain?

For me, that would be Covergirl eyeshadow (the singles, duos, trios and quads). They run about $3-$6 CAD, and they have really great pigmentation and colour payoff. One of my favourites is the colour Tapestry Taupe.

Covergirl Eyeshadow in Tapestry Taupe

5) What is your favourite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

Annabelle eyeliners! They are such amazing quality and they are so inexpensive!! They are comparable to Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners.

Annabelle Eyeliners

6) A drugstore product that is overpriced?

I don't have a specific product, but I think a lot of L'Oreal products are overpriced, when they're quality doesn't really surpass some more reasonable brands.

7) Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!

Well, this question brings me back to the Annabelle eyeliners. Particularly a line called the Smoothliners. A lot of the colours in the line are dupes for many of the Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners, which are about three times the price.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion

Annabelle Smoothliner in Brownie

These aren't exact dupes (one is black and the other is brown), but the intensity of their pigmentation is very similar.

8) Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?

I know this isn't technically a drugstore priced item, but these are sold at the drugstore. And they're Essie nail polishes. I know a lot people love them, but I own three, and they just don't live up to the quality of my OPI and China Glaze ones.

Essie Polishes in (L-R) Case Study, Fishnet Stockings, Fiji

 

So that's the entire tag! Thanks for reading!!

Melissa