Eye Love Wednesday - new shades from fave Maybelline shadows!

I admit it, I'm a bit of a makeup snob - I'm at the point in my life that I can afford high end brands and that's usually where my love goes - with a few exceptions, Maybelline shadows being one of them - the fun, trendy colours, the pigmentation and the price are just a few things to love about them and nothing makes me squee quite like new shades!

Maybelline Luminous Lights Quads - $8.99 - in Rose Lights and Opal Lights - in two brilliant combinations to help you attain the on-trend anti-smokey eye look - infused with a high density of shimmering pearls for extra luminosity and a radiant finish.

Maybelline Eye Studio Duo Eyeshadows - $9.99 - in Persuasive Plum, Teal Takeover, Downtown Denim and Silver Spark - marbelized baked duos that provide eyes with dimensional colour, refined luminosity and a dynamic pearlescent effect for striking eye looks.

Maybelline Eye Studio Quad Eyeshadows - $11.99 - in Smokey Night, Gutsy Green and Coral Oasis - provide eyes with shockingly rich colour and smooth feel with a silk powder technology that uses a wet process formula that is gently pressed and allowed ample drying time, providing tree suppleness and comfort that is easy to blend yet featherlight with a formula that reflects light for a natural lustrous finish.

So what do you think - do you agree that some things can be just as good in a budget price-range or are you all about the high end brands?

- Lisamarie -

Marbleize your eyes with mark., Rimmel, Maybelline and Physicians Formula!

Slothfulness and skillful makeup are not such a great combination - what it means in my life is that I am generally running out the door to work at the last minute with a minimal amount of makeup on my face!  I usually go with a wash of one light colour for eyeshadow but lately have been trying out various marbleized shadows to see if I can get more eyeshadow bang in the same limited amount of time...

mark. Celestial Eyes Shimmery Cream Shadow - $8 - a metallic finish cream formula shadow that is very buildable - avialble in four shades: Copper Dusk, Mint Sky, Purple Halo and Grey Storm (shown) which is my favourite - it gives just a little bit of silver metallic sheen without being too over the top!  I was actually surprised to discover how much I liked a cream shadow, I've always had this mental block about them thinking they would crease like crazy within seconds but with a primer underneath, this lasted all day, and the really nice thing about cream shadows, they easily go on with your fingers, even better then a brush I find, which is super quick!

They are limited edition so don't wait to order from your Avon rep - 1800-265-AVON or online at www.avon.ca

Rimmel Stir It Up - $11.99 - for some reason when I bought this I thought it was powder so I wasn't expecting it to be a cream shadow but I am really liking the marbleized design as a cream since the colours end up getting all mixed together the way they are meant to!  Available in four shades: 400 out of the blue - blue/purple/green (shown), 500 as if - purple/blue/silver, 700 wassup? - peach/brown/pink and 800 no way! - silver/black/white

If you prefer a powder shadow, here are a couple of good choices:

Maybelline EyeStudio Color Pearls Marbleized Eyeshadow - $10.99 - I like that these shadows give you the best of both worlds, one side is plain, the other marbled which makes it easy to do lots of different looks including using the marbleized side as a wash! Available in ten shades: Carbon Frost, Navy Narcissist, Mocha Mirage, Bronze Blowout, Sinfull Sinnamon, Lawless Lavender, Khaki Craze, Tantalizing Teal, Ivy Icon and Silver Starlet

Physicians Formula Eyebrightener - $17.99 - multi-coloured eyelighter available in two shades: natural eyelight or hint of topaz - I read a few reviews of this one before getting and I have a feeling that many people are confused about what this is and are treating it more as a highlighter then a brightener - which in my mind are two different things.  A highlighter is something I would use on my cheek bones, brow bones or inner corners of my eyes, a brightener is something I would use all over my eyelid in place of an eyeshadow to give me a more awake look.  I can see why people were complaining that it wasn't a good highlighter, I would agree with that, it isn't - but as an eyebrightener, it does an excellent job!  I will agree with the people who said that the brush is useless and it's way over packaged!

Are there any I am missing out on?

- Lisamarie -

New and Notable at Shoppers Drug Mart - L'Oréal, Revlon, Alway & Maybelline

L'Oréal Studio Secrets Professional - Secret No. 1 Magic Perfecting Base - 15ml - $17.49 - smoothes lines, hides pores, banishes imperfections for a unified flawless matte finish.  Suitable for all skin types.  Dermatologist tested and non-comedogenic.  I tried some on the back of my hand and the texture is super silky so I expect this will help makeup just glide on!  Stay tuned for my review coming soon!

Revlon PhotoReady Compact Makeup SPF 20 - $19.99 - in 8 shades - this reminds me of the Almay Nearly Naked compact - I haven't seen it around lately so I'm not sure if they still make it - but it has the same sort of touch screen.  I like that it has a high SPF and I also quite like the texture - of course the only tester they had was way too dark for me so I didn't try it anywhere except my hand - anyone tried this one and want to share your experience?

Almay One Coat Dial Up Mascara - $11.99 - Available in blackest black, balck and black-brown.  Has an adjustable dial that allows you to control the level of lash fullness with 3 settings:  1-full, 2-fuller, 3-fullest with an   Non-clumping, hypoallergenic and good for contact lens wearers. 

Maybelline EyeStudio Color Gleam Cream Eyeshadow - $12.49 - Available in 6 palettes:  Flash of Forest - gold/green/brown, Pedal to the Medal - gold/bronze/silver, Blue Freeze - light blue/electric blue/grey blue, Rose Revolution - taupe/rose/rose-brown, Purple Possibilities - gold-beige/purple/pink or Neutral Liaisons - beige/taupe/brown

It will be interesting to see how much staying power they have.  I always have a terrible time with cream eyeshadows creasing on me!

- Lisamarie -

Maybelline EyeStudio - Legendary Lilac look!

Out of all of the Color Plush eyeshadows that I have tried so far, this one is my favourite!  Not only is it named accurately, the pigmentation is great!  If you are a fan of  purples then you will love this quad!

I used the darkest purple along my upper lash line, added the lighter purple all over, used the pink in the crease and the while in the inner corners and crease.  After much blending, this is the result!





 
Products used:

Color Plush Silk Eyeshadow in Legendary Lilac
XXL Pro Mascara 24HR Bold  in Black
Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Plum

- Lisamarie -

http;//www.beautycrazed.ca

Maybelline EyeStudio - Irresistibly Ivy look!

Color Plush Eye Shadow Palette - Irresistibly Ivy
Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Charcoal
XXL Pro Mascara - Pro Curl

You would think something with "Ivy" in the name would be all greens - but there is only one green which I used on the bottom over the liner so it would be very subtle and not take away from the green in her eyes and concentrated more of the copper on the eyelid to really make her eye colour pop!

Want to win the EyeStudio line for yourself?  Just go to the Maybelline New York - Canada fan page on Facebook and vote for your favourite looks!  You can find the contest page here and you should see my post up there in a couple of days so be sure to vote for my adorable niece Laura!

- Lisamarie -

http://www.beautycrazed.ca

Maybelline EyeStudio - Mad for Mauve look.

Another week, another EyeStudio look on my lovely niece Laura:

Color Plush Eye Shadow Palette - Mad for Mauve
Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Eggplant
XXL Pro Mascara - Pro Curl

I think whoever named these colours is on crack, this palette has a couple of light pinks, a green and a plummy colour.  I used some of the green on the bottom, the plum on the lid and then blended the hell out of it with the pinks to tone it down and make it really pretty.

- Lisamarie -

http://www.beautycrazed.ca

Maybelline EyeStudio - Taupe Temptress look.

So my intent this time had been to try a vibrant eye with the Maybelline EyeStudio Color Plush Eye Shadows so I picked up Taupe Temptress (another badly named palette as there is only one colour in this quad that qualifies as taupe) intending to do a bright berry eye and ended up with more of a sedate smokey deal.    Please excuse the closed eye picture, I can't figure out how to set my camera so that is doesn't blur when my eyes are closed.  Here's what I used:

I covered the whole lid with the taupe colour and then used the dark berry colour as a liner - only when I put it on, it was really dark, more of a blackened berry - so I really thickened up the lines and then went over top the taupe on the eyelids with it.  I then used the pink on top of both of them to soften it a bit and used the white above the brown bone and in the inner corners. I then added a little more berry to the crease. Finally, I added a line of Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in brown to the bottom and a couple of coats of XXL Pro Extensions mascara.

I would definitely recommend trying these out in the store first before you buy, they seem to be full of surprises and you might not quite get the colour you were expecting!  If you are thinking you might like to try a coloured smokey eye that isn't too dramatic, taupe temptress is a good pick. 

Maybelline still has their contest going on - just go to their Facebook page and vote for your favourite looks and you could win the entire EyeStudio line for your very own.  You can go here to check it out.

- Lisamarie -

http://www.beautycrazed.ca

Maybelline EyeStudio - Lovely Laura Looks!

Let me introduce my beautiful niece Laura who was sweet enough to agree to be my EyeStudio model after Maybelline sent over their new EyeStudio line and asked me to play with it.  I tell you this girl doesn't come without her challenges - her right eye kept tearing up so the liner on that side was getting all smudged and this girl has the freakiest eyelashes I have ever seen in my life, they bend off in all different directions - I had to attack her with the eyelash curler several times just to get most of them bent the same way.  Other then that she is perfect of course!

You have likely seen Maybelline's new EyeStudio line in the stores and admired how pretty and vibrant the colours are.  I was curious to know how blendable and wearable colours that bright would be for everyday wear so this is what my mission was when I was doing these makeup looks on Laura - I wanted to gauge if I could use these palettes to create an everyday look that could go to school or the office.

When applying the eyeshadow my biggest challenge was the softness of the shadows.  Soft is nice because it means it goes on smoothly, but it also means lots of shadow fallout, at one point Laura had a green nose and I'm afraid that's why her foundation looks a little cakey in the picture above, I kept having to swipe it with the sponge to get rid of eyeshadow!

Here's what I used in the above pictures:

Color Plush Eye Shadow Palette - Legendary Lilac
Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Brown
XXL Pro Mascara - Pro Curl

Foundation - Pure Makeup - light 1 - porcelain ivory
Powder - Mineral Powder - translucent
Blush - Dream Mousse Blush - 10 - pink frosting
Lipgloss -Shine Sensation - 25 - glamorous guava

Color Plush Eye Shadow Palette - Mad for Mauve
Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Eggplant
XXL Pro Mascara - Pro Curl

I think whoever named these colours is on crack, this palette has a couple of light pinks, a green and a plummy colour.  I used some of the green on the bottom, the plum on the lid and then blended the hell out of it with the pinks to tone it down and make it really pretty.

Color Plush Eye Shadow Palette - Irresistibly Ivy
Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Charcoal
XXL Pro Mascara - Pro Curl

You would think something with "Ivy" in the name would be all greens - but there is only one green which I used on the bottom over the liner so it would be very subtle and not take away from the green in her eyes and concentrated more of the copper on the eyelid to really make the colour pop!

Want to win the EyeStudio line for yourself?  Just go to the Maybelline New York - Canada fan page on Facebook and vote for your favourite looks!  You can find the contest page here and you should see my post up there in a couple of days so be sure to vote for my adorable niece Laura!

So what do you think - subtle enough for everyday wear?  Stay tuned, next we are going to see how dramatic we can take EyeStudio!

- Lisamarie -