Soft Red Valentine’s Day Look #4 Face of the Day

Hey doll hey!!! How’s your day/night going? Great I hope. I had to take a break again. My RA was acting up something awful, I couldn’t walk, couldn’t sit up and couldn’t even bake… this past week was hell. However, I am feeling better today… moderate pain level and plenty of energy so I got up early and dyed my hair again and figured I would dive into my new BH palettes and create another Valentine’s Day look… this is the 4th look in my Valentine’s series: Look #1 was a soft pink look, Look #2 was a sweet coral look and Look #3 is a smokey berry look.

For today’s look I used 3 of my new BH Cosmetics Palettes: Hangin’ In Hawaii, Trendy in Tokyo and Summer in St. Tropez.

The scent notes are:

• Top Notes: White Pepper, Cascalone (an ingredient which has been created or synthesized in a lab that adds a fresh aquatic feel to fragrance) and Mandarin Leaf.
• Middle Notes: Black Rose, Peony, Jasmine Sambac and Geranium.
• Base Notes: Patchouli and Musk

Last Night’s Super was amazing… I made Garlic, Honey and White Wine glazed salmon and Garlic, Ricotta and Parmesan Cream sauce pasta. It was supper yummy!

The newest palette in the Birthstone collection by BH Cosmetics has been released. It’s called Amethyst (7 pans for $9) and is billed as a multi-faceted, compact mix of royal purples, mauves and rose tones in pressed glitter, matte and shimmer finishes.

It’s cute… If I didn’t already have new palettes from BH I would buy it. I don’t understand that pop of light blue but as a whole the palette is pretty.

Time for the walkthrough of this Valentine’s Day look….

Base:

I primed my face using Fenty by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer ($32 for 1.08 ounces of product at Sephora). I also used Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter ($44 for 1 ounce of product at Sephora) in the shade 3 Light/Medium (neutral peach for light to medium skin). I also primed my pores of my cheeks using ELF Poreless Putty Primer ($8 for .74 ounces of product at Ulta and on the ELF website). I contoured the perimeter of my face as well as my nose using NYX Wonder Stick ($12 for .28 ounces of product at Ulta) in the shade Deep Dark. I also used the lighter side to bronze my face too. I color corrected my under eyes using BECCA Under Eye Brightening Corrector ($32 at Sephora) in the shade Light to Medium (pearlized peachy-pink). My concealer today is ColourPop Pretty Fresh Hyaluronic Creamy Concealer ($9 for .30 ounces of product at Ulta and on the ColourPop website) in the shade Fair 20N (neutral tone). I highlighted the high points of my face using Physicians Formula Organic Wear Dewy Highlighter ($11.99 for .3 ounces of product at Ulta) in the shade Dew Frost. For foundation today I chose ColourPop Pretty Fresh Hyaluronic Hydrating Foundation ($16 for 1 ounce of product at Ulta and on the ColourPop Website) in the shade Fair 30N (neutral). On my cheeks I used ELF Monochromatic Multi Stick ($4 for .155 ounces of product at Ulta and on the ELF website) in the shade Glimmering Guava (coral – shimmer).

Eyes:

I started with my brows and I used the E.L.F. Ultra Precise Brow Pencil ($5 for .002 ounces of product at Ulta) in the shade Dark Brown and then primed my lids using P. Louise Base (£10/$13.70 USD for .5 ounces of product on their website and also on the Morphe website) in the shade Rumour. I set my brow line using L’Oréal 24 Hour Infallible Eyeshadow ($6.49 for .12 ounces of product at Walmart) in the shade 899 Endless Pearl (creamy vanilla – satin). For this soft red eye look I used 3 BH Cosmetics eyeshadow palettes: Hangin’ In Hawaii, Trendy in Tokyo and Summer in St. Tropez. I started with the Hawaii palette. For my first transition shade I used the shade Shaka (light tan – matte). I then used the St. Tropez palette. For my second transition shade I used the shade Crepe (sunflower yellow – matte). I then used the Tokyo palette. For my final transition color I used the shade Trendsetter (coral – matte). To map out my crease shape I used the shade Sushi (hot orange – matte). I then went into the shade Fashion (striking red – matte) for the crease and I then decided to use it on my mobile lids as well. I then switched back to the St. Tropez palette and used the shade Jet Set (bright red – matte) to deepen the outer v of the crease and the outer 1/3 of my mobile lids. I used the shade Marina (rose pink – metallic) on the inner 1/3 of my mobile lids. I then switched back to the Tokyo palette and used the shade Anime (bright pink – metallic) over the middle 1/3 of my mobile lids. I then switched back to St. Tropez and went in with a combo of the shades Cabana (purple grape – matte), Night Life (raspberry – matte) and Jet Set (bright red – matte) to deepen up the outer v of the crease. For the lower lash lines I created drop shadows using more of the shade Shaka (light tan – matte) from the Hawaii palette. I then deepened the lash line using what was left on the brush I used to deepen my outer v of the crease and then I buffed the whole under eye with the shade Coconut (sandy brown – matte) from the Hawaii palette. To highlight the inner corners of my eyes I used the shade Hula (champagne – metallic) from the same palette. I tightlined both my upper and lower waterlines with Sephora Colorful Crayon Contour ($11 for .04 of product at Sephora) in the shade #14 Cocoa (warm brown – shimmer). I used 2 coats of the Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara ($11.49 at Ulta).

Cheeks and Lips:

I set my cheeks using the slightest amount of Makeup Revolution Blusher Reloaded ($7 for .26 ounces of product at Ulta) in the shade Rhubarb & Custard (soft coral). I set my bronzer using Makeup Revolution Bronzer Reloaded ($7 for .53 ounces of product at Ulta) in the shade Take a Vacation. I set my highlighter using Benefit Highlighter ($30 .28 ounces of product at Ulta and Sephora) in the shade Cookie (golden pearl). I set my under eyes using Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder ($28 for .14 ounces of product at Ulta and Sephora) in the shade 1. I set the rest of my face using Too Faced Born This Way Ethereal Setting Powder ($34 for .56 ounces of product at Ulta and Sephora) in the shade Translucent. For touch ups I am still working through my Catrice Prime & Fine Mattifying Powder ($8 for .32 ounces of product at Ulta) in the shade Transparent. I lined my lips using ColourPop Lippie Pencil ($6 on their website but this shade on sale for $3) in the shade Frenchie (bright warm red) and filled in the lips using ColourPop Lippie Stix ($7 on their website) in the shade Jam Sesh (true blue red). To set my face I used  Pixi Skintreats Makeup Fixing Mist ($15 at Ulta for 2.7 ounces of product) in the scent Rose Water and Green Tea.

Final Thoughts:

I give this palette a solid A+++ : This palette is billed as a lush mix of richly pigmented hues and finishes—ranging from high-shine bronzes and golds to buttery-soft mattes in melon and spice shades—offers endless radiant looks for day and night and captures the essence of a tropical paradise. The palette contains 5 metallic and 11 matte shadows.

The shadows were buttery and buffed in well and worked well with the other shades I used. There was little kick back in the pans and no fall out on the face. I did not grade this one higher only because the color story does not do the theme of the palette any justice. The palette’s exterior is a vibrant hot pink with palm fronds decorating it…. none of it’s beauty is mirrored in the color story… This color story would have been better with a few tropical shades in it… perhaps a mango orange, kiwi green, sea foam blue and for goodness sake if you are going to have a shades called Hibiscus and Pineapple… is it to much to ask that those shades actually mimic their name sake? I pretty coral red for Hibiscus and a bright sunny yellow for pineapple. Granted there is a really pretty pink and coral in this palette but those shades do not match the names either. This is the only reason it’s not graded higher… it is a beautiful color story with amazing quality, it’s just the theme and story do not match.

I give this palette a solid A+++!!! : This palette is billed as a rainbow of island-inspired hues in lush matte and glimmering shimmer finishes. Whether you prefer a bright cut crease of pink and azure blue, blended sun-drenched shades or a wash of golden shimmer, infinite eye looks fit for paradise await the vibrant spirit of the tropics. This palette has 6 metallics, 9 mattes and 1 satin.

The metallics in this palette are insanely pigmented and reflective. I chose this palette for today because I really wanted to see how well that bright red would work. Reds can be very difficult to produce especially when it’s a brighter tone… deeper toned reds are easier because they have a black base to them where as a bright red has a white base to it and this is what causes the shadow to be difficult to produce. Not only is Jet Set vibrant is super pigmented. I wanted to see how well it would buff out and this shadow did not disappoint! It remained pigmented did not go patchy and did not muddle into the shades bellow it. The shade Crepe also preformed well too, yellow is another shade that can be difficult, yellows tend to not want to blend into other shades but with this formula this yellow was perfect, blended with the other shades well with no patchiness or muddiness.

I give this palette a solid A+++!!! : This palette is billed as a striking kaleidoscope of buttery smooth mattes and lustrous shimmers in bold, bright hues inspired by the chic neon-lit metropolis, the avant-garde style of Japan’s capital city. This palette has 6 metallics and 10 matte shades.

I honestly thought this would be the palette to give me a hard time. I often have trouble with bright colors and pastels… this bright palette did a beautiful job!! The shades… all buttery, the formula all heaven, the blend perfection! I LOVE THIS PALETTE!!! The orange and the coral above and bellow the red shade Fashion have just enough red in them to blend perfectly with the red in Fashion. I can’t wait to get in there an play around with some of those blue shades.

I give this cream blush a solid A+++!!! : the Monochromatic Multi Stick is billed as a cream-to-powder, wear-everywhere stick that delivers a highly blendable kiss of color for  for eyes, lips, and cheeks and comes in 8 shades.

Holy heavenly cream blush Batman!!! This stick blush is so amazingly perfect! I put the other shades in this range on my to pick up wish list! It’s creamy and not overly pigmented but also not overly sheer.. it’s right in the happy middle. I also tried it on my lips since it’s a “multiple” I wanted to see how well it would do… It’s got the perfect amount of slip to it for the lips. It felt balm like as well. I also was pleased that this product did not lift or shift my base products underneath. I give this one a 10 out of 10 A+++!!!.

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

XOXO, Nita