Grungy Glam Face of the Day

Hey doll hey!!! How’s your day/night going? Great I hope. Today I’m doing OK. I have more energy than yesterday but I also have a heap of pain (thanks to the rain we have had all week … after all we still have something like 5 more weeks of our wet season…. ugh).

I wanted a classic 90’s grungy look to off set the bright coral lippie I’m testing today. So for today’s look I used the Alter Ego Goddess Palette ($16 on their website).

I tested out 8 newish products that I will review in Final Thoughts on this post ….

Today’s scent is Versace Red Jeans (created in 1994). The scent notes are:

• Top Notes: Peach, Apricot, Freesia and Black Currant.
• Middle Notes: Lily of the Valley, Violet, Water Lily and Rose.
• Base Notes: Sandalwood, Musk and Vanilla.

Let’s do the walk through of today’s Face of the Day shall we?

Base:

I first primed and than let the primer set until )I was finished my eyes using Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer ($14 on their website and on the Beautylish website). I then primed my face using Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Always An Optimist Illuminating Primer ($26 at Sephora). I contoured the face using Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand ($38 at Sephora and on the Beautylish website) in the shade Medium Deep. For foundation today I am using Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation ($29 at Sephora) in the shade 140C (light with cool beige undertones). I bronzed my face using Tarte SEA Breezy Cream Bronzer ($29 at Ulta and Sephora) in the shade Grace Bay. I color corrected using Believe Beauty Brighten Up Color Correcting Concealer ($4 only at Dollar General Stores) in the shade Light/Medium. For concealer I chose Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Liquid Touch Brightening Concealer ($19 at Sephora) in the shade 130N (light with neutral beige undertones). I set my under eyes using Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder ($28 at Ulta and Sephora) and then set the rest of my face using Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder ($39 at Ulta and Sephora) in the shade Translucent. I touched up the bronzer using Pixi by Petra Beauty Bronzer ($18 on their website) in the shade Summertime. For my touch up powder I am using Physician’s Formula Natural Defense Setting the Tone Finishing Powder ($14.99 at Ulta) in the shade Light.

Eyes:

I set my brows using Believe Beauty Eyebrow Styling Gel ($4 only at Dollar General Stores) in the shade Clear and then filled in my bows using Milani Stay Put Brow Color ($8.49) in the shade Dark Brown. I carved out my brows and primed my lids using Makeup Revolution Cut Crease Canvas ($9 on their website) in the shade Halo (pure white). For today’s eye look I used the Alter Ego Goddess Palette ($16 on their website). I first set my brow line using Wet n Wild Color Icon Single Eyeshadow ($.99 at Walgreens) in the shade Sugar (icy white – shimmer). I started with the shade Iris (cool yellow beige – matte) as a transition and then I decided to apply the same shade to my mobile lid. (so from lash line to brow bone). For my crease I used the shade Juno (medium brown – matte). On the outer v of my crease I used the shade Avalon (dark brown – matte). For the inner 2/3 of my mobiles lid I used the shade Artemis (peacock blue – metallic). For the remaining 1/3 of the mobile lids I used the shade Aura (medium brown – metallic). I then took whatever was left on the outer v brush and buffed that over the very outer part of the outer 1/3 of the mobile lids. For the lower lash line I first created a deep drop shadow using more of the shade Iris (cool yellow beige – matte). I then used more of the shade Juno (medium brown – matte) a little closer to the lash line. I rounded out the lower lash line by deepening the lash line with more of the shade Avalon (dark brown – matte). To highlight the inner corners of my eyes I used a combo of the shades Cassandra (golden apricot with green-duo chrome – metallic) and Freya (sheer vanilla gold – shimmer – they call it a sparkled shadow). I tight lined my upper and lower waterlines using Ardency Inn Modster Smooth Ride Super Charged Eyeliner (I believe this product may be discontinued) in the shade Coffee (chocolate brown). I coated my upper and lower lashes with Milk Makeup Kush Mascara ($24 at Sephora) in the shade Black and popped on a pair of Alter Ego False Lashes ($5 on their website) in the style Plush.

Cheeks and Lips:

or my cheeks today I chose Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush ($20 at Sephora) in the shade Happy (cool pink in the dewy finish). I set that lightly… I mean the absolute lightest of touches… using Milani Rose Powder Blush ($9.49 at Ulta) in the shade #08 Tea Rose (dusty blue toned pink). I touched up my highlighter using Essence Pure Nude Highlighter ($4.99 at Ulta) in the shade #10 Be My Highlight (champagne). I lined and filled in my lips using NYX Suede Matte Lip Liner ($4 at Ulta) in the shade Whipped Caviar (muted rosy mauve). I topped my lips off using Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Lip Soufflé Matte Cream Lipstick ($20 at Sephora) in the shade Energize (vibrant bright coral– matte).

Final Thoughts:

Before I start my review of the 8 products I tried for the first time I wanted to just through in there that non of the Rare Beauty products have a detectable scent to them… I just didn’t want to have to type that out redundantly throughout this review.

I grade this mascara a solid B+++ : This mascara is billed as a high-volume mascara formulated with heart-shaped fibers (that lock onto lashes in each direction for long-lasting fullness, filling the hollow fibers for added volume), conditioning plant-derived oil, and pure pigments for an intense black finish.

I found that the brush is just way too big for my lower lashes. I made it work but I have to wonder how well I will be able to put this mascara on, on days where I’m having trembles from my fibromyalgia. I did notice that my lashes looked fuller and more voluminous but no where near high-volume. It’s a nice mascara but the full size is $24 and I just don’t feel that it’s worth that price tag … not when there are better performing mascaras from the drug store.

I’ll use this one up and if ever Sephora offers it as a 100 point perk or a sample with purchase I’d be keen to get it again… I just will never purchase it out of pocket.

I grade this palette a solid A++ : It’s billed as featuring a mix of matte, metallic, and duo-chrome shades with gold, brown, and green tones.

This is a great dupe of the the Natasha Denona Gold Palette! I haven’t tried every shade so I can’t in good faith give it a higher rating yet but if all the shadows play as well as the 6 shades I used today I would more than happily grade it an A+++!!! because the formula of the shades I used was heavenly!

There was little to no kick back in the pans and the only shade that had any really noticeable fallout on the face was Artemis (peacock blue – metallic) which left behind some fine glitter specks even after cleaning up the under eye.

The shades blended out smoothly with no skipping or patchiness and each shade buffed into one another seamlessly without going muddy or skipping.

I’ve got to say I am seriously impressed with the quality of Alter Ego’s shadow formula and I am very  eager to try other palettes in the future.

I grade this primer a solid A+++!!!! : This primer is billed as a weightless, silicone-free, water-based gel primer enriched with ultra-fine pearls for a lit-from-within glow that hydrates and illuminates and has a botanical blend of lotus, gardenia and white waterlily. This primer has a pump.

This is such a beautiful primer! I could see myself wearing it alone on no makeup or low maintenance days.

It has this ethereal glow to it like the BECCA Backlight Priming Filter except it is more lit from within than the BECCA one is. Selena’s team really hit this one out of the ball park!

It’s hydrating and not sticky or greasy and I only used 2 pumps and that still gave me with amazingly health glow to the skin.

It doesn’t do anything to help pores (but to be fair the description doesn’t claim too either)… if fact it emphasized my pores. I normally would use a pore filling primer on those areas anyway … I just didn’t today so that I could test out the full effects of the face products from this line.

I can see myself repurchasing this one in the future.

I grade this foundation a solid A++ : This foundation is billed as a weightless foundation with concentrated pigments packed in a serum-like base that feels barely there while providing buildable medium-to-full coverage with a natural finish with a botanical blend of lotus, gardenia and water lily, featuring a convenient doe foot applicator that comes in 48 shades…18 of which are for deeper skin (the one I chose is  140C – light with cool beige undertones… I wanted 130N  – light with neutral beige undertones however they were sold out both in store and on line.)

I had tentatively graded this foundation an A+++!!! and I really had high hopes that this would be the final grade on it … however … This serum like foundation gave me a bit of trouble.

It’s a very thin consistency which feels amazing on the skin, very weightless… so much so that you don’t feel like you have anything on. With that said… it is very streaky with a brush.. now to be fair I did not use the foundation brush I typically use (that one is dirty at the moment and I had to use my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush… this brush tends to cause streaks with lighter weight foundations) so this could be the reason for the streakiness… however that wasn’t the only hiccup with this product. Once I sprayed my face with setting spray and bounced a beauty sponge over the face it melted into the skin seamlessly… and the finish was PERFECTION! However…..

As seen by the picture above… I lost product around the nose. This happened before I set my face with powder and I bounced the sponge over the area and that fixed the issue but… once I set with powder and finished the rest of my face I had to remove a rouge piece of hair from my nose tip and when I went to look in the mirror… disaster stuck. I was missing a dime sized amount of foundation from the tip on my nose. Now, this could be do to a few issues… perhaps this foundations doesn’t play well with the first primer I used…

As seen by the picture above… I lost product around the nose. This happened before I set my face with powder and I bounced the sponge over the area and that fixed the issue but… once I set with powder and finished the rest of my face I had to remove a rouge piece of hair from my nose tip and when I went to look in the mirror… disaster stuck. I was missing a dime sized amount of foundation from the tip on my nose. Now, this could be do to a few issues… perhaps this foundations doesn’t play well with the first primer I used… for reference I used Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming Moisturizer ($14 on their website and on the Beautylish website), it could be that I didn’t set that part of the nose with powder properly, but it could also be that this foundation needs to have a smoothing primer or a pore primer under it around your problem areas. (I typically use a pore primer on my pores and I also push a bit onto my the tip of my nose because I have allergies and tend to rub my nose a bit).

What I did love about this foundation was that after I did my beauty sponge trick that I’ve mentioned a ton about (a new blog post is coming after this one all about my humidity proof makeup tips which will highlight this trick better) the face (including the pores, which I did NOT prep with a pore primer so that I could test this foundation out better) was flawless.

Again I truly love this foundation and the only reason I did not give it my highest rating is for the reasons I stated… now, I do tend to test this foundation out again using a denser foundation brush and all my priming steps I normally would take… if the foundation works better then, I will more than happily upgrade it to an A+++!!! because it really is a stunning product. It also does not oxidize and sets to a demi satin finish.

I do believe this foundation is a keeper in my collection so I will 100% repurchase it. I will however repurchase it in the shade I originally wanted as the shade I settled for is just a hair too light… I made it work with bronzer but since this foundation is amazing I want to be able to wear it on low maintance days too and I just can’t do that with the shade I have now.

I grade this concealer a solid A+++!!!! : This concealer is billed as being a lightweight, hydrating concealer with cake-free, medium-to-full coverage that lasts while brightening skin with a radiant finish that is long-lasting and sweat-resistant that comes in the same 48 shades as Liquid Touch Foundation…18 of which are for deeper skin (the one I chose is 130N  – light with neutral beige undertones). This concealer has a doe foot applicator.

This concealer is very light weight. This is a solid high medium coverage concealer. It’s a serum like consistency that is just beautiful on the undereye area. I is high pigment so a little goes a long way. I used 1 swipe of the doe foot and that was enough to highlight the center of my forehead, reverse contour my nose, highlight the dark areas around my lips, and cover both my undereyes.

It sets so a demi matte finish that does not oxidize, crease, crake, or cake up. To be 100% candid with you… most concealers tend to showcase my fine lines and look a bit crepey for me… but there are a few hidden gems that just look stunning and this little baby is by far the BEST of the best for mature skin. At 47 I can admit my undereyes are not as plump, smooth, or moisturized as they were in my 20s and I’m OK with that, I know how to work the concealers to get them to look flawless on my undereyes but I didn’t have to do any of my tricks with this concealer at all. It just went on like perfection.

If you are going to get anything from this line my first recommendation to you would be to not pass up the concealer! In face, I placed an order for a back up because I just know I’m not going to be able to put this one down. I dare say I might love this one more than I love the BECCA one that I rave about and possibly even the Fenty one that stole my heart…. that should say something about this product.

I grade this liquid highlighter a solid A+++!!!! : This liquid highlighter is billed as being a silky, second-skin liquid highlighter that creates a lasting, soft, and luminous finish that is packed with light-reflecting pearl particles and a botanical blend of lotus, gardenia, and white waterlily that is a multidimensional formula that lends skin a dewy glow in seconds and can be mixed with foundation or layered across the high points of the face for instant radiance. It comes in 8 shades and I chose the shade Mesmerize – rose bronze (Selena’s go-to shade). This highlighter has a doe foot applicator.

If I could give this liquid highlighter a higher rating I would! DOLLS!!!! This liquid highlighter has fairy magic in it! It’s so ethereal and has such a beautiful other worldly lit from within finish to it!

It sets to a demi matte feel that is just so pretty on the skin. This is one of those liquid highlighters that you can wear on bare skin and no one would be the wiser. It’s perfect for low maintance days as well.

It’s buildable so you can get a pretty intense highlight if you want one and even after setting the face with powder that glow still came through.

I think this one is a tie for first place in my heart along side the BECCA Ignite liquid highlighter.

I love the finish so much so that I already want to order  Enlighten – champagne, Outshine – true gold and Flaunt – bronze gold to add to my collection… I can’t until January… I already messed up my no buy by purchasing the back up for the Rare Beauty concealer so I don’t want to get myself into a tailspin by also purchasing 3 more liquid highlighters too but come January those are the first 3 things I purchase!!!

I grade this liquid blush a solid A+++!!!! : This liquid blush is billed as a weightless, long-lasting liquid blush that blends and builds beautifully for a soft, healthy flush and is infused with long-lasting pigments that last all day. It comes in 8 shades and 2 finishes (matte and dewy) and I chose the shade Happy (cool pink in the dewy finish). I wanted either the shade Joy (muted peach – in the dewy finish) or Bliss (nude pink – in the matte finish) but both were sold out in store and I didn’t want to place an order on line just for 1 product so I chose the cool pink shade instead. This blush has a doe foot applicator.

MAN OH MAN!!!! I so wish I had a higher grading system!!! This blush formula is LIFE!!!

It has the same whipped mouse like texture that the Lip Soufflé lipstick has and it is full on pigment! I used just 1 very small dot for both my cheeks and still had enough to touch the cheeks back up once I had applied and set my undereyes.

The pigment is so saturate that even with setting the cheeks with powder that color shone through true to color. It sets to a demi satin finish.

The finish was dewy and gives that just pinched look to the cheeks. Out of all of my cream blushes this one is my #1 pick for favorite of the year! I’ve only worn it 1 time and I can already tell you this is the best cream blush I have EVER tried.

I love it so much that come January I will be purchasing Joy – dewy muted peach, Grateful – dewy true red, Bliss – matte nude pink, Love – matte terracotta and Grace – matte bright rose mauve to add to my collection.

This is the type of cream blush you can wear on low maintance days as well as if you go in with just a pin sized amount you can get away with wearing it on no makeup days too.

This is a 100% favorite for me and I highly recommend for anyone wanted to try their hand at cream blushes.

I grade this lipstick a solid A++ : This lipstick is billed as a weightless air-whipped lip cream that hugs lips with rich color and nourishing hydration that gives a soft velvety matte finish that glides on for full-on color and a featherweight feel that stays comfortable all day with no drying or caking. Made with a botanical blend of lotus, gardenia, and white waterlily, plus Vitamin E and smooths out lips with a soft blurring effect. It comes in 12 shades (I chose the shade Energize – bright coral).

I had tentatively given this one the highest grade of A+++!!! but sadly after using it I can not give it this grade at this time.

Let me first start with this formula is so comfortable and lasts a decent amount of time and is pretty pigmented however….

As you can see from the above picture, this lipstick does not evenly apply. Now, in Selena’s defense I am a bit dehydrated and so my lips are a bit rough today so this could be a factor in why this lipstick just did not preform as well as I thought it might.

I tried it out the first time and it was a clumpy mess so I took it off and exfoliated my lips and slathered on lip balm and let that sink all the way in before attempt #2 at application. This picture was attempt #2. You can see where there are little areas where I just couldn’t get pigment to stay and where at the corners of my mouth it seems to pill up. Now, again in Selena’s defense this could just be a reaction to the type of lip balm I used. So I am willing to test this lipstick out again after a few days of exfoliating, drinking more water and intense lip treatments to bring my lips back to life and than I am more than happy to regrade this lipstick, should it work better the next try.

With all that said, it’s still a really pretty product. I made it work by throwing a lip gloss over it to hide the areas where it wouldn’t stick and to smooth out the areas where it pilled. The formula is rather lovely and light weight in feel. For it being a matte formula it has got to be the most comfortable matte formula I have every tried.

I’m keen to try a few more shades…. in fact I’m interested in the shades Courage – nude mauve, Brave – muted terracotta, Fearless – deep mauve rose, Thrilling – true brown, Motivate – watermelon pink,  Ascend – deep fuchsia and Transform – deep wine.

If I’m able to get a better application once my lips are back to their plump and non textured selves I am more than happy to fork over $140 for the other colors I want! That’s how comfortable and pigmented these lipsticks are.

It’s also worth noting that, unlike with other matte lipsticks, when this lipstick faded it didn’t leave my lips feeling sticky or dehydrated at all. That’s a happy bonus to this product.

Well dolls … that’s all for now… I hope you enjoy the rest of your day/night and that you are in great spirits and health.

XOXO, Nita