Too Faced Lemon Drop Review and NOTW!

Happy Sunday my loves!

Today I am going to post my thoughts on Too Faced's new Shadow Insurance in Lemon Drop and show you my nails of the week!

The new Shadow Insurance Lemon Drop Color Correcting Eye Shadow Primer is quickly becoming my favorite shadow primer. I still love, love, love the original Shadow Insurance, however I find myself reaching for this one more.

This primer has a lemon yellow color to it that is supposed to reduce redness and "ruddiness" while making your shadows vibrant and budge proof. I agree.

The yellow really does help the veining and the natural darkness I have on my lids [thanks Italian dad!]. The primer is actually yellow, and dries to a smooth, SLIGHT shimmery finish. Unless someone is examining your eyelid, it's barely detectable. However, golds and highlight colors do seem to look more amazing on top of it.

Fun Fact: While I was playing around with it, I decided to see how it would act as a primer to my under eye concealer since I have the same color issues under there. It worked! I feel like I have found a real gem and this primer is well worth the investment.

Here are the stats and what Too Faced has to say about their product:

Price: $18
Size: .35 ounces
Paraben free

From the Too Faced website:

        

Corrective Formula: Our lemon-yellow, formula creates the perfect neutral canvas for any eye shadow.

Long Wearing: Exclusive blend intensifies pigments and guarantees shadows won’t crease, smudge or fade.

Soothing: Our vitamin enriched formula glides over lids, smoothing sensitive skin while leaving behind a feather-light, cashmere finish.

Don't let the price scare you, a little goes a very long way, and I feel like this will last me forever! If you're in the market for a new primer, give this one a try. If you do try it, let me know how you liked it!

Now, my nails of the week!

Every Sunday I give myself my weekly manicure. This week I used Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails in "No Hard Feelings" and of course Seche Vite as my topcoat, ALWAYS. If you'd like a post on how I do a professional mani at home, just let me know :]

I hope you all had a good weekend, and good luck on your Monday's ;]

Lots of Love,

XOXO Mary

[also, follow me on twitter @xMiSSMARYMACx https://twitter.com/xMiSSMARYMACx]

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I F for F :]

Makeup 101 - Concealer

Do you feel like you look like this?

First off, let me say that what you see as "really bad circles" usually isn't as bad as you think. But with a little concealer we can eliminate this :] So let's get started!


Always remember that when you apply anything to your face, you want clean hands. Not doing this can contaminate your makeup or add whatever is on your hands onto your face ultimately hurts us in the end when trying to clear up a breakout! Dirt and oils on your hands will only aggravate the blemish.

Ok, types of concealers. My favorites are liquids and creams. Liquids are generally best used under the eyes as it is light in texture and won't settle into fine lines and wrinkles, or cake up and look, well, icky. Creams are good for a more full coverage. For example, a blemish, dark spots, redness, etc.


CONCEALING UNDER EYE CIRCLES
Warm up the product in the palm of your hand to "thin out" the texture so the coverage is smooth. You can also apply it right to the area with the applicator in your concealer. Now, make a triangle with dots of concealer. It's not as hard as you think. Start by dotting it under your eyes, a few dots on the side of your nose, and connect the line to the outer under eye dot. That creates a triangle!

You can use a brush to lightly and in circular motions blend the concealer. You can also use your fingers. The ring finger exerts the least amount of pressure since it's our weakest finger. It's important because the skin around the eyes is so thin, we don't want to tug on it and pull it. Premature wrinkles! 
The triangle method brightens up the whole plane of your upper cheek and under eyes. If you want a glowy, highlighted effect, choose a shade or two lighter than your actual skin tone. Avoid going too light though – reverse raccoon eyes are not pretty. Don’t forget the upper lids! It makes the entire eye area more polished and draws attention up. Use stay-put eye makeup when applying dark colors. Flaky mascaras and powder eyeshadow can fall under your eyes and make dark circles reappear and look worse.

CONCEALING BLEMISHES, REDNESS, DARK SPOTS
Use concealer that is 1-2 shades darker than your skin.  If you use a light concealer, it’s only going to highlight the acne or blemish instead of hiding it. The trick is to blend around the edges or apply foundation over the concealer to smooth out the color difference. If you have redness from the acne, use a green concealer as it counteracts redness- you do need to apply foundation on top though so you don’t look like a big old weirdo ;]
To avoid over-application which can cause cakiness, apply a dab of these thicker formulas with your fingers and blending out will give you the best results!

ALSO 
Concealer can be used as a lipstick primer. Just apply it to your lips before you put on color to make the true color of your lipstick more intense (your natural lip color can alter your lipstick). It will also give your lipstick staying power when set with a layer of powder on top.

You can also trace around your eyebrows to make them look sharper and neater. Always remember though, blend, blend, blend! It would be like having a foundation line on your face!

If you still feel that concealer alone is just not enough, you can use a corrector before applying concealer.

The yellow/peachy pigments give you an extra boost of brightness and help cancel out purple tones. The green is used to counter act redness. Experiment :]


The low down? In the battle for complexion perfection, concealer is your secret weapon.

Stay tuned for more makeup 101 posts! If you have any requests, let me know! I hope this helped some of you who are struggling with the massive amount of concealers out there :]

Lots of Love,
Mary XOXO

Makeup 101 - Foundation

Although not everyone is blessed with good genes, a flawless complexion is a desired effect for most women. Since we can't alter our body's genetics, we can still achieve this by doing it the way celebrities and makeup artists do - fake it! This simply means using makeup like foundation, concealer, and powder to hide or correct uneven skin tone, blemishes and unwanted spots.

We all have skin imperfections that we don’t like. Applying too much foundation or concealer can end up cursing you with “cake face”. It's a common problem when it comes to makeup. Maybe you don’t necessarily need a full face of foundation, maybe just a little concealer where you feel you need it and a very thin layer of powder on top if you have more oily skin and like to "set" your concealer.

Anyway, the main purpose of foundation is to even out your natural skin tone. Foundation is not meant to make your skin lighter or darker. That is what contouring and shading with bronzers and highlighters are for.The "perfect" foundation color will "disappear" into your skin.

It's important to know what you want from foundation. Do you want it sheer? Matte? Shimmery? Do you want to tone down specific areas of your skin or just even out your overall skin tone?

When you're shopping for foundation, make sure you're in natural day light or white light. Also, don't wear any makeup on your face! I suggest getting color matched in a store like Sephora or bringing a friend with you to the drugstore. If you go to a drugstore and can’t test the color, just hold up the bottle to your jaw line and have a second set of eyes there to help you find the closest match. When choosing a shade, try different ones and compare them. If you can try it on, always test foundation on your jaw line. If you see a spot or the color once it's dry, it's not right for you. It should be invisible, blending into your skin so your skin looks like skin, not makeup. Testing the foundation on your jaw line will help make sure you get the best shade that blends with your face and neck.  

I found information on the makeup geek site breaking down the types of foundation, I will copy and paste it to the end of this post! [much easier than me sitting here and typing it all out since I've been so long winded already...]

Once you have your perfect foundation, make sure you apply it to moisturized and primed [if you wish] skin. Apply your face products in THIN layers. Don’t put too much on at first or it may cake up on you. It's easier to add more than it is to take it away ;]

I hope this helped some of you, and to those that requested it, good luck! And remember, it's just makeup. Everything is trial and error. Unfortunately that's the way it goes. What works on some people may not work on you and vice versa. That's why you should always get a tester before you drop the dollars on a high end foundation. Or, make sure the store has a killer return policy. Nothing sucks more than spending $50 on a foundation and never using it.

Lots of Love,
Mary xoxo

TIPS FROM MAKEUP GEEK

Use only enough powder to set the foundation- using a powder puff will help.  Too much powder will get cakey looking.

Let your moisturizer set for at least 10 minutes before applying foundation- your skin needs time to soak in the moisture.
 
If you are rushed for time, skip the full foundation and just use concealer on problem areas.  No powder is needed unless you have oily skin.

The best method to make your foundation last all day is to use a primer – this stops oil from breaking through and taking off your foundation.

TYPES OF FOUNDATION [FROM MAKEUP GEEK]

Liquid Foundation: Offers light to medium coverage. Available in moisturizing formulas with a satin finish for dry skin or oil-free versions with a matte finish for oily skins.

Cream Foundation: Offers light to medium coverage, slightly heavier than a liquid. Great for dry skin. Avoid using if you have oily or combination skin.

Stick: Foundation sticks also double as concealers. The new gel or powder finish formulas are not as heavy or greasy as the older "pancake" formulas.

Dual-finish compact formulas (liquid to powder or cream to powder): Medium  coverage Great for combination skin, but should be avoided by those with excessively dry skin or who need heavier coverage. Can tend to dry out your face.

Tinted moisturizer: Can be used under foundation or alone for minimal to no coverage. Almost like a liquid bronzer.

Mineral Powder Foundation: Offers light to full coverage. Comes in every shade and tone imaginable. VERY easy and fast to apply. Longer lasting than most foundations. Controls oil and most are waterproof with a natural SPF!