The Makeup Monologues

I've been recently trying to keep track of my lipsticks in order to use what I have and avoid buying duplicates. So here's a swatch gallery of my blue lipsticks and glosses, as well as quick breakdowns on the formulas! I have 11 blue lip products. Most are liquid lipsticks because I find that they stay better without smudging or fading, because nothing looks more horrid on me than faded blue lips. I don't want to look like a fresh corpse (but all the power to you if you do, you sexy zombie!) We'll start with the glossy/sheer toppers. From left to right, I have the essence Holo Wow! Dewy Lip Shine in 04 Dragonfly Shimmer, the Sephora x Pantone Universe Modern Watercolours lip gloss in Serenity, and the Wet N Wild Megalast Iridescent Lip Colour in Unicorn Soul. Here they are swatched.  The essence lip gloss is actually very sheer on the lips, and the formula reminds me of the old Maybelline Baby Lips Glosses- very juicy and kind of thin, with the te...

The Pantone Institute has revealed their Colour of the Year for 2019 to be Living Coral! I've followed the Colour of The Year for a few years now, since Radiant Orchid, and I'm excited to once again see a colour that will incorporate well into makeup looks! Pantone Institute When I was younger, we're talking like age nine to twelve, I remember hating coral with a passion. I thought it contrasted with my colouring in a super unflattering way, making me look even more pasty and straw-like than I already did. I also just hated anything pink, but that's a whole dysphoria thing that we can get into later.  However, then I got into makeup, and figured out that coral lipstick lit up my whole face. I started seeking it out and was frustrated that I couldn't find a lot of coral shadow, liner, blush or the like, just the occasional muted coral lipstick. So I kind of forgot about the colour until now, and the Pantone Institute has reunited my love for it! I decid...

So, here's the thing. I love pink lipstick, but we took a break over the fall and winter. I was trying new things- nudes, browns, navies- but now that it's spring, me and my pink lippies are back, and we're going strong. Here are my favourite five pink lip picks for this spring! I've got a mix of glosses, balms, traditional and liquid lipsticks. (L-R: essence Show Off, NYX Life's a Beach, Revlon HD Flirt, LORAC Girl Next Door, H&M Sweet Pea) Here are the swatches! We've got all shades of pink here. Make no mistakes, this 'liquid lipstick' by essence is anything but- it's a highly pigmented, very sticky lipgloss. While I was expecting a more traditional liquid lipstick, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I love this product! I never know how to describe this shade of pink- it's like the outside of a dragonfruit, I guess? LOL. This gloss has great staying power and the stickiness doesn't bother me- if you've ever tried...

On the 6th day of beauty... I talk about my favourite blush of the year! Well... my three favourite blushes. Blush is a very seasonal thing for me, so I picked one favourite blush for each season, excluding winter, which hasn't even landed in my city yet (is this what living in BC feels like?) My favourite blush in the springtime was hands-down, my Joe Fresh colour adjust blush in Coral. It's a beautiful blush, a bit powdery, super pigmented and the colour of a ripe peach. In the spring, it wouldn't change colour on me much- it looked pretty much the same on my cheeks as in the pan. But once I tried to wear this is the summer (to my job at a pizza place, no less) and the heat of my face turned it bright pink. It looked awful! But for the spring, I just couldn't get enough of this blush. Aaand here it is on my face! The blush I couldn't get enough of in the summertime was the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour Cheek Gelee in Pink Escape. It looks incre...

When I think of cozy colours, I tend to think of warm reds, peaches and browns. So I went through my collection and cobbled together some sort of non-complicated FOTD plan. Here are the main players in this simple look! First, the NARS eyeshadow duo in Madrague. The two shadows look similar in the pan- certainly too similar to be an effective duo. However, on the skin they're distinctly different. The left shade is a warm, yellow-toned beige and the right is a red-toned light brown. For blush, essence Autumn Peach, a light but highly pigmented peachy blush with a beautiful golden sheen. And on the lips, Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in Toast of New York. Everyone says that this is a brown, but to me it's a not-fully-opaque, slightly shiny burnt red-orange. Swatches Top to Bottom: Madrague L, Madrague, R, Autumn Peach, Toast of New York. Here's the look! It's very simple and soft.  On my face I'm wearing all the af...

Hey guys! Just a quick pop-in post today- I'm going to share a random neon look with you. I was feeling frisky one day, grabbed some products I hadn't played with, and painted the town neon! Here's a good face shot. I went a little tame on this look, actually, to make the brows stand out. On my brows is essence teal colour flash mascara. On my eyes I used Sephora Collection Eye Contour Pencil in Banana Split and Colour proof waterproof liquid eyeliner in Love Story. On my lips is MAC's So Be topped with a lilac gloss from the Bite Beauty Watercolour Lip Library. Overall I think the look is quite successful! I'm excited to do more neon looks for this month. 

Here's a quickie post since I've been neglecting this blog as of late. Everyone loves a good highlighter, so I'm gonna swatch mine for you! Here they are, in all their gleamy glory. It's a bit much, honestly, even for me.  I divided the swatches into cool-toned and warm-toned highlighters. Here's the cool-toned ones. Top to bottom: -essence Aquatix highlighter shimmering pearls -Anna Sui Rose Cheek Colour in 100 -Stila All Over Shimmer liquid in Pink Shimmer -elf shimmering facial whip in Spotlight And the warm-toned. -theBalm Mary Lou Manizer -Buxom luminizer in Divine Goddess -elf shimmering facial whip in Lilac Petal -Illamasqua Gleam in Aurora Well, that's the post, folks! Short and sweet. Would you like to see any of these reviewed?

I've always shied away from bronzer because of how pale I am. When I saw this essence all-in-one "bronzing highlighter" targeted supposedly for "blondes with lighter skin", I figured I'd give it a lark. This bronzer has a highlighter shade, two blush and three bronzing shades. It's a cute design, but not particularly effective for trying to apply one at a time. Another thing to note: it smells like sweet coconut milk! I'm a total sucker for scented powders, if my affinity for Anna Sui is any hint. The highlighter and blush shades (I layered the blushes on top of each other into one swatch) are very chunky and flaky, hard to pick up with my finger. The bronzing shades are a little smoother. Here they are all smooshed together into one swatch. And here's what the powder looked like once I smooshed my finger across every shade... I'll admit, I was kinda scared to put this on my face, because it's very warm-toned. I a...