LadyDayMakeup

Do you ever see something that you absolutely don’t need and you know you don’t need but somehow it permeates through your every thought? That is how I felt about the Dose of Colors Minnie Mouse Palette. It had six colors and one blush and I already had pretty much all of those colors. It was also very expensive. So many reasons not to buy it. And yet my heart sang a song only the Dose of Colors Minnie Mouse Palette could hear. So I did what any rational person would do. I sold about sixty books at Half Price Books, made 50 dollars and bought it. Here are two of my favorite looks I created with it.

Look #1

1: Prime

I used the Mac Painterly Paint Pot all over my lids and creases.

2: Crease

I stamped the dark brown “Style Flash” into my crease through my outer v. Then I blended it out with a blending brush.

3: Lid

I stamped the golden shade called “Shimmer On” onto the inner third of my crease and into the inner corner, the orange shade called “Glam Girl” into the middle of my crease and the red called “Dots are Hot” into the other third of my crease. I then blended the edges. I then put the Dose of Colors glitter liner in my crease.

4: Lower Lash Line

I took a brow brush and drew a line of “Dots are Hot” along my lower lashes and then blended it out with a blending brush.

5: Final Steps

I then put on my Wet n Wild liquid liner and Benefit Bad Gal Bang Mascara and was done!

Look #2

1: Prime

I primed my lids.

2: Crease

I put the orange color “Glam Girl” on my crease and then blended it out.

3: Lid

I put the golden shade “Shimmer On” on the inner half of my lid and in my inner corner and the brown shade “Style Flash” on the outer half of my lid. Then I blended the edges. I then put the Dose of Colors glitter liner along my crease.

4: Lower Lash Line

I put “Glam Girl” on my lower lash line and blended it out.

5: Final Steps

I put on liner and mascara and was done!

1 Prime your eyes. I used Mac Painterly Paint Pot but any primer will do.

2 Grab a dark blue eyeshadow color. I used Cote d’Ivoire from the Juvia’s Place Afrique Palette. Brush the color all over your crease area — from your crease to your brow bone. Make sure to get the color down below your crease so you have some color to cut with concealer. I just used one of those cheap sponges on a stick from the drugstore for this.

3 Put some concealer on the back of your hand, dip a very flat brush into it and brush the concealer in a straight line along your crease. I like to flick the line up at the end a little bit. Then brush concealer all over your eyelid under the line you created.

4 Take a light green color, I used Macarons from the Juvia’s Place Douce Palette, and brush it from the middle of the lid all the way to the outer corner. Put this color along your lower lash line as well.

5 Take a bright yellow color, I used Aya from the Juvia’s Place Afrique Palette, and brush it right up against the green but leave a little room around the inner corner.

6 Take a shimmery gold color, I used the shade Inheritance from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Riviera Palette and brush it from the end of the yellow through your inner corner.

7 Take a liquid glitter, I used the Stila Glitter and Glow in the shade Follow the Sun, rub your brush on the applicator so you get some product on it and draw a line with it across your crease. This hides any mess-ups you may have made when cutting the crease and also adds a nice little bit of glitter.

8 Put on some eyeliner and mascara and you’re done!

1 Palettes that are all the same color.

I swear that sometimes I see a palette with pretty much all brown shades, I’m looking at you Morphe, and wonder if I’m in a parallel universe? Who is going to spend their hard-earned money on a palette that is pretty much just different shades of the same color? I just don’t understand.

2 When every foundation color is red-toned, especially the darker shades.

I can probably count on one hand the amount of people I’ve seen in my life with red-toned skin. Was there some skin undertone census where everyone said they had red-toned skin that I didn’t know about? I just don’t even know anymore.

3 When every eyebrow pencil is warm-toned.

It’s the same deal with eyebrows. Unless your an actual red-head you probably don’t have warm-toned eyebrows. Who are we helping here?

4 Why is there a primer for everything?

The other day I was looking on the Ulta website and I saw an EYEBROW primer. What? Who needs that? My eyebrows are ready. They were born ready. They don’t need a primer. What is even the point of that?

5 Weird-shaped sponges.

I’ve seen some sponges that look like they were designed by Picasso. The normal rounded sponge works great and, as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

6 Weird packaging.

Hey Benefit, what’s good, girl? Why are the containers for Hoola so deep? No one can fit there brush in that abyss. Sorry but someone had to say it.

7 Mascaras that explode.

I realize that not everyone can be Benefit Roller Lash or Bag Gal Bang but some mascaras just spew everywhere when you apply them. It gets on your nose and your fingers. It’s like a mascara tsunami and I’m not into it.

8 Foundations and concealers that don’t have a lot of dark shades.

I’m sorry but is it 2019 or is it 2019? Why have we not solved this issue yet. And I especially hate it when brands make the argument that they don’t have the money other brands do to produce darker shades. Here’s a wild idea. If you’re going to make 20 shades why not made 10 of them dark instead of 2. Us pale people will be just fine.

Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.

I think we can all agree that the Marvel franchise has taken off at an insane trajectory. It is no longer a cult following series. The Marvel fanbase has spread across the world. So, in honor of Avengers Endgame coming out today, this post will be an Avengers-inspired eye makeup tutorial.

1Prime your eyes with a base. I used Mac Painterly Paint Pot.

2Take a very flat brush, I used a short shader brush, and dip the brush into a red color of your choice. I used the shade Kogi from The Juvia’s Place Magic Mini Palette because Juvia’s place is unbeatable and you can quote me on that.

3Take the brush and start at your inner corner and draw an upward sloping line to just under the edge of your eyebrow.

4Draw another line from your outer corner to meet the first line at a point. You should now have a nice thick wing.

5Grab a packing brush, I used the one that comes in the Anastasia palettes, and fill in all the space in the wing.

6Take a blue eyeliner and line the edges of the wing. I used a wet n wild pencil liner. Line your waterline with the same blue liner.

7Grab an electric blue shade, or any blue you have, and smudge it along your lower lash line with a blending brush. I used a shadow from Nomad and a brush from Luxie. Put some of that blue in your inner corners as well.

8Use any glitter you have to top the red shadow and to put along the bottom edge of the wing. I used the Stila glitters.

9Put on some liner (don’t surpass your shadow wing with your liner wing) and some mascara and you’re all ready for the mayhem Thanos will inevitably render on the world!

Most of us average Joes and Janes don’t have endless money to shell out for expensive products. But we also don’t want to waste money on cheaper bad products either. What to do? What should you buy drugstore and what should you buy high end? Prepare for the tea:

Base

Moisturizer: drugstore. Unless you have scales for skin drugstore moisturizer will do the job.

Foundation: drugstore. But I’m thinking in terms of my skin and I have pretty fair skin. If you are a darker-skinned person then the drug store options are horrendous. Maybelline and NYX have nice dark foundations but the high end brands will offer a greater variety.

Concealer: high end. The concealers I’ve tried from the drug store have been pretty watery and don’t come in super light shades. Between Tarte Shape Tape, Nars Creamy Concealer and Joure the drugstore is a treasure trove of fantastic concealers.

Eyes

Eyeshadow Primer: drugstore. No one is even going to see this. There is no need for expensive primers. Wet n Wild makes some nice ones.

Eyeshadows: high end. While the quality of high end shadows is noticeably better than drugstore ones what I prefer about high end shadows is the color selection. I find that the drugstore doesn’t have a lot of unique shades, except for Colourpop, of course. The drugstore might cut it for natural tones but not colorful ones.

Eyeliner: high end. High end eyeliners are just easier to work with and not prone to a lot of the problems cheaper ones have. They don’t bleed or smudge or transfer onto your lower lash line. Invest in a nice eyeliner. You also use so little a day that an eyeliner can last a while. Colourpop is a notable exception to this rule as well.

Mascara: drugstore. The drugstore makes some amazing mascaras, particularly Maybelline.

Eyebrows

Eyebrow Pencil: high end. I’ve yet to find a cool-toned, fine-tipped drugstore eyebrow pencil. But if you have warm-toned eyebrows the drugstore may work for you.

Face

Bronzer: high end. The drugstore bronzers tend to be pretty orange- and red- toned. Although I’ve seen many UK brands come out with cool-toned drugstore bronzers. So if you’re in the UK you got lucky on this one.

Blush: drugstore. And we can all thank Milani for this.

Highlight: drugstore. I objectively think the highlighters at the drugstore are better quality, and I have many pricey highlighters.

Powder: drugstore. Again, no one is even going to see it. No need for a fancy product that is quite literally translucent.

Brushes: drugstore. It is criminal what some high end brands charge for brushes. ELF makes baby soft brushes that are a few dollars.

Foundation

1 Drugstore foundation is just as good as high end foundation. Prove me wrong.

Concealer

2 Buy a concealer that isn’t just one shade lighter but a few shades lighter. It will give your face more dimension.

3 Press your nose to one side of your face when you’re putting concealer around your nose so you can really get in the spaces around it.

Eyeshadow

4 To lay down the shadow before you blend use those cheap, flimsy sponges on sticks. They actually deposit the color quite nicely.

Eyeliner

5 Tightline your upper lash line before you put more eyeliner on. It will look much cleaner.

Eyebrows

6 Take a spoolie and brush your eyebrows upward before penciling them in so you can cover all the bare areas more easily.

Highlight

7 Highlight your nose to make it look smaller/thinner.

Bronzer

8 If you have a bronzing duo and have no clue what to do with the lighter shade put it on your nose. It helps give your face a teeny bit more dimension.

Powder

9 Put a little extra powder on your nose because that’s the first place foundation breaks up for many people (including me).

Purchasing

1 Get ready. This is my million dollar tip. If you like trying a lot of products and you don’t want to spend money buy the mini versions of products. It allows you to try more products because you run out faster, you save money and you likely will use the product up before it expires. You’re welcome.

2 Ask at Ulta if you have rewards. They won’t tell you unless you ask.

3 If something is too expensive at Ulta give it a few months to go on sale. They have frequent sales.

4 Buy products off of the company’s website. Many companies have discounts for first time visitors such as Dose of Colors, Tarte and Colourpop.

5 If you do go to a company’s website look for a discount code on Youtube. Chances are some Youtuber has an affiliate code with that brand.

1 Primer: I actually don’t use a primer or a setting spray . . . I know it sounds crazy but I try to really limit the amount of products I put on my skin if I can and I find that primer and setting spray don’t really do anything to prolong my makeup. In fact, I’ve had bad reactions the few times I’ve used primer and setting spray.

2 Foundation: The Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation. This is the best foundation I’ve ever used and it is both the cheapest and the most accessible. It’s a nice thick texture, full coverage and feels weightless when you bounce it in or brush it on. I haven’t really explored any other foundations since I’ve discovered it. There’s nothing more I could want in a foundation.

3 Eyeshadow Primer: Mac Soft Ochre Paint Pot. Eyeshadow adheres really well to it and shows up really nicely over it. I know some people like it because it has pigment and covers veins on your eyes. I don’t find that it does that for me but I still think it does a great job.

4 Eyeshadow: Juvia’s Place. I adore this company. Every palette they make has a completely unique color selection, incredible pigment and beautiful packaging. The company also has an amazing message and story. It was founded by Chichi Eburu who saw a need in the makeup world for darker-skinned people. She found that eyeshadows often wouldn’t show up on her eyes so set out on a mission to create palettes with colors and pigmentation for darker-skinned people. Many of the shades are named after African countries and each palette has an African-related theme to it.

5 Eyeliner: Tarte Tarteist Double Take Eyeliner. You get two eyeliners in one so you don’t run out for like a thousand years. The felt tip is flexible but not too flexible. The tip is sharp but the base is thick so you can create a sharp or thick line and wing. It is very black and has a little bit of shine to it. I’ve been using the product forever.

6 Mascara: Benefit Roller Lash. The rubber applicator helps the mascara really latch on to your lashes. It creates thin, black lashes and gives volume to the ones you’ve already got. I bought a mini-sized one and have been using it for months. You don’t need to pack it on like other mascaras. You can do your bottom lashes in a few swipes.

7 Contour, Bronzer and Blush: The Too Faced Sweethearts Bronzer and Milani Luminoso. This bronzer is very buildable and not remotely red- or orange- toned which is very hard to find in a bronzer. There is a light shade which I like to use for my nose and a darker shade for contouring my cheeks and bronzing my forehead. The blush is such a stunning peach color with a little bit of a gold shift. Everyone loves it and it deserves all the love it gets. It’s affordable and even nicer than my high end blushes.

8 Highlighter: The Flower Beauty Shimmer and Strobe Highlight Palette. This palette is incredible. It has a silver, gold and pink shade and each of one has a beautiful shine and notable pigment. I find that many highlighters look pigmented in the pan but when you put them on they just look white. These really retain the color when you put them on. I prefer them to my Becca and my Ofra highlighters and they are less than half the price.

9Powder: Makeup Forever Translucent Powder. It melts all your makeup together perfectly. It makes the skin look natural and pore-less. I buy the mini-sized ones and they last me forever.

Ah the ever-so-coveted cut-crease. Every beauty guru does one. Every beauty guru makes it look so easy. You try it once, fail, question your existence. We’ve all been through it. But never fear, my friend. It just takes a little practice. Here are my steps to a cut-crease.

1 Apply an eye base to your lid before you put any shadow on at all. Just do it. It will make the color beautifully opaque and pigmented. I recommend the Mac Painterly Paint Pot.

2 Apply your crease color. This is the most important and underrated step. Make sure your color is dark enough for the concealer to appear over it. And my biggest tip is to take the crease color down below the crease so you can get a nice clean line when you cut it. I never see beauty youtubers talk about this but it’s the most important step. If you don’t get the crease color low enough on your lid you will have nothing to cut with the concealer.

3 Put some concealer on the back of your hand. I use the Tarte Shape Tape but who doesn’t? Get on the train. Hop on the bandwagon. It’s amazing.

4 Take a flat brush. As flat of a brush as you can find. The flatter the brush the sharper the edge you’ll be able to make. A short shader brush is a great size and shape for this. Dip the brush into the concealer and paint a line of concealer right along your crease. Then fill in everything below with concealer.

5 Let the concealer dry for a few seconds and then brush the lid color over it. Start in the middle and then carefully make your way up to the crease.

6 Throw on some liner and mascara and you’ve got yourself a cute little look!

I’m going to give it to you straight. This palette is incredible. Here are five reasons why.

1The formula is the perfect hybrid of powder and cream. It has a powder consistency but blends as evenly as cream.

2All the colors are beautiful, bright and unique. The term “wearable makeup” does not apply to me. I will wear anything out. No color is too crazy for me. The palette is about 80% bright colors and 20% more muted, natural colors which is the perfect ratio to me.

3 The packaging is so freaking classy. I have never spent this much money on a makeup item in my life and the packaging really conveys the quality inside.

4I know that the biggest complaint about the Anastasia shadows is typically the fallout and the kickback in the pan. This palette had none. I repeat none. No fallout. No kickback. Just perfection.

5The color payoff when you lay the shadows on the lid is incredible. I pick up the tiniest quantity on my brush, you can hardly see it, and it spreads all over my lid. These shadows will last forever. I can already tell.

I’m Dana, a college student studying Journalism and Theater who loves makeup. Welcome to my blog!

Follow me on Instagram @ladydaymakeup1