New Year - Looking forward to 2016

New Years is just around the corner!  As I reflect on 2015, I can't help but feel grateful and blessed.  2015 was a fantastic year, filled with many lessons of growth and insight!!!  In terms of my makeup journey, 2015 brought some interesting and eye-opening discoveries.  I've discovered my 'warm autumn' colour palette, rediscovered my interest in makeup 'style' looks (i.e. chic, everyday look, evening glam etc) and am beginning to connect my passion for makeup with confidence and feminine strength.  I really feel that in 2016, I want to re-establish this blog to its original name 'beauty and elegance' and connect to my feminine power and inspiration.  I am looking forward to connecting to that inner strength and bringing it forward with my makeup looks.  I also want to look towards creating my own personal look based on minimal simplicity.  In order to do that, I recently went through my makeup bag and picked out my favourite tested and true lipstick products.  I noticed a definite pattern with the colours and decided, these are my signatures:
MAC Chili
MAC Retro
Bobbi Brown Burnt Red
NARS Leslie

I wanted to create a minimal, elegant look with MAC Retro lipstick, as it's the most neutral of the four lip shades.  MAC describes this shade as a muted, peachy-pink brown and I agree with that description.  I think that in 2016, I want to stop 'experimenting' and start embracing all that is chic.  I think that for so long, this blog has been about 'me' and my journey.  In that sense, its been more of a blog-journal.  I want this blog to evolve beyond that.  There is more to beauty and elegance than just makeup and discovering makeup looks.  I want to redefine how we explore and understand 'beauty and elegance'.  2016 is going to be a new opportunity to do just that!!!

For this look I started with L'oreal true match concealer and foundation in W4-5.  I then applied MAC Peaches blush (my current holy-grail shade).  For the eyes, I used MAC goldmine eyeshadow and then used an angled brush to apply Arbonne 'chocolate' eyeshadow as a liner.  I completed the look with some black mascara (also Arbonne) and MAC Retro lipstick - a true everyday classic!!!

Here's to 2016 - looking forward to a new year and a new 'look'!!!