Elegant Cool Shades of Plum and Violet

I've been really missing wearing my plum shades.  Today I decided to create a look centred around these shades.  There are a lot of great plum/berry lip shades - some of my favourites are: MAC Craving, Rebel (for a deeper, darker plum-red look), Laura Mercier Plum Wine and NARS Shrinigar, just to name a few.  For this look I've decided to pair Laura Mercier's Plum WIne lipstick with her Violet Orchid blush - I absolutely love this combination - it looks so sophisticated for day!

For this look I started with my basic face - primer, foundation, concealer and powder.  I then used Laura Mercier's Violet Orchid on the cheeks and added a sheer light pink highlight shade.  I used Bobbi Brown's navajo eyeshadow as a base, adding cement to the lid into the crease and Too Faced 'lap dance' shadow into the crease.  I liner my upper lashline with Cliniques brown-black liner and smudged Bobbi Brown's mahogany into the upper lash line.  I used MAC"s smolder on the lower lashline before adding a coat of black mascara.  I finished the look with Laura Mercier's Plum Wine lipstick!

Subtle, Feminine, Pretty

The last few posts that I did centering around my favourite 'look' each have a common thread - subtle smokey eyes, a healthy glow, a natural pop of colour on the cheeks, a your lips but better lip-colour.  I attended a wedding yesterday and although I went totally glam for the evening, I wanted to create that harmonious, subtle yet sensual look for the ceremony.  Here is the look that I came up with:

I will have to decribe some of the colours that I used because many of the shades were part of a kit that I got from the makeup collage that I attended.  I started with my basic face - primer, NARS St. Moritz, Secret Camoflauge #4 as concealer and a translucent powder from my kit.  I then used a deeper dusky rose shade as a contour and applied a pale pink shade as a pop of colour to the cheeks.  I used warm brown shadows on the eyes with a colour similar to woodwinked on the lid.  I then used Cliniques Black-brown eyeliner on the upper lashline and smuded it with a black-brown toned eyeshadow.  I applied MAC's Teddy to the lower lashline and finished with black mascara.  For my lips, I applied MAC's Soar lipliner and topped it with Chanel's Glossimer #158

Rosie Huntington Whiteley

I am always looking for new makeup inspirations and looks - I have been intrigued by Rosie Huntingtin Whiteley's look because she has that inspiring balance between sensuality and natural/girl next door appeal.  She is also very consistent with her look, usually sporting a bronzed glow, naturally smokey eyes and a soft, neutral lip.  Here are some of my favourite makeup looks on her:

RHW looks so amazing in the neutral-warm makeup shades.  I love how her lipstick has that 'your lips but better' effect.  She perfectly balances her neutral shades with very well contoured cheeks and a natural, yet elegant smokey eye - I also love her hair colour in this photo - the warm honey tones in her hair are perfect against her skintone!

I am so inspired by this subtle smokey eye and neutral lip makeup look - This has to be my favourite makeup look of all time because for me it represents all the best elements of a feminine look: defined, bedroom eyes, a natural glow to the face and cheeks and kissable lips!  Love this!!!

Burberry has chosen RHW to represent their makeup line and she looks amazing in their makeup ads.  RHW wears the neutral shades so well - I love how healthy and glowing her skin looks and the touch of rose to the lips is perfect to compliment the neutral/earthy shades of Burberry's clothing.

  This warm rose shade of lipstick is the perfect punch of colour for RHW without being too deep and overwhelming.  She looks stunning and regal in this photo!

I love having a makeup inspiration, especially when the person you choose as your makeup muse is consistent with their look - it helps you to determine and work on a look that you know is timeless and will never fail you.  Rosie Huntington Whiteley always looks elegant, sensual, natural and pretty - she has that fresh, rustic, timeless look that I look - a mix of warm-neutral shades with subtle enhancments to her eyes, lips and cheeks!  The perfect feminine look!!!

Natural Lip Shade - Part 2

I love my facebook friends - thanks to the amazing observation of one of them, she suggested I compare my natural lip-colour to MAC's Syrup lipstick - she saw more pink coming through in my natural lip tone.  I don't currently have Syrup in my makeup stash, but did have an older photograph where I wore syrup with MAC's Soar liner - I decided to do a photo comparison and I was completely stunned to see that my friend was absolutely right - the syrup is a fantastic match

Here is the original photo of me wearing Syrup lipstick.  I also wanted to compare it to a recent event that I went to where I took a photo in which I'm wearing no lipstick at all - It does remind me a lot of Syrup lipstick:

Its so amazing to get feedback from others about colour - sometimes someone elses's eye will see something that you missed!  So far, I've got to say that Bobbi Brown's Brownie Pink and MAC Syrup are clear winners for that natural, your lips but better look!!!

Natural Lip Shade

I have become fascinated with the whole idea of using the colour palette that nature has 'naturally' given you - by this I mean, really looking at all the colours that are naturally present in your skintone, eyes, natural/ 'virgin' haircolour, the natural flush of your cheeks and the natural pigment of your lips.  I decided to create a series of collages that highlight the natural palette that is uniquly 'moi' - you can't get any more personalized or individual than this! 

I wanted to start with my natural lip shade, since lipstick is definitely something that I am obsessed with - I am always on the look out for that perfect 'your lips but better' shade - how amazing would it be to find that shade and stop the search for that 'perfect lipstick' - my natural lipcolour is definitely pigmented and definitely has a brownish tone to it - it actually reminds me a lot of Bobbi Brown's lipstick called 'brownie pink' that I actually always gravitate to:

Here is a photo of me taken a while back wearing brownie pink:

Here is a side by side photo of my natural lip colour and my lips with brownie pink lipstick - I think this may just be my perfect natural lipstick look:

Here are some other natural toned lipcolours that I love:

Ramblin Rose by MAC with Spice liner

Mocha by MAC

I really admire and love that 'le no makeup look' - a look that is sophisticated, yet at the same time natural and pretty.  I really feel if you mimic that natural flush in your lips, you create a look that is sensual, timeless and will go with 'everything' - so let your natural lip 'shade' shine!!!

NARS 'Moscow' Lipstick and 'Liberte' BLush

If you haven't checked out NARS new makeup collection for the season, its time to go - the colours are so rich, saturated and elegant.  I am in love with the Matte lipstick called 'Moscow' - its got enough brightness to be perfect for a spring/summer garden or pool party, without being overpowering!  Its also the perfect red for those looking for a milder-warm orange based red vs a true/bluish toned red.  I am also loving the new blush called 'Liberte' - its described as a tarnished apricot shade - its lovely!  Here I am wearing the Moscow/Liberte combo:

For this look, I started with NARS St. Moritz tinted moisturizer and used a sheer gold shade as a powder.  I then contoured with Pretty Your World's 'Hot and Spicy' blush and applied NARS Liberte blush.  I used very neutral shades on my eyes, starting with a sheer gold base, then adding MAC's Soba from lid to crease and lining my eyes with Cliniques black-brown eyeliner.  I then applied a black-brown mascara.  I finished the look with a swipe of NARS new lipstick in 'Moscow'!

I think this is such a classic look - to me its representative of the elegant red lip look, but more wearable for day!  I feel very sophisticated in this look!!!

'Self' Time

When you have a career that keeps you busy and you're involved with pursuing other passions, hobbies etc, it can sometimes be so easy to forget about your 'self'!  Blogging for me has become an opportunity to express my self.  Part of finding your own sense of beauty is looking within.  Very often when we think of the world of beauty, fashion, makeup, we can get trapped on focusing on the 'material' component of these things - focusing on seeking beauty and its forms 'outside of ourselves' vs 'knowing' our beauty and value within and expressing it.  Beauty, should start from the 'inside' of you - then extending outwords to others vs seeking beauty outside of yourself to fill a void!  Sounds deep and actually, it is!!!  I recently had an incredibly 'beautiful' experience with a life coach Susy Fonesca.  She uses art as part of her coaching, enouraging you to simply paint what comes to mind as you are speaking with her during the session.  I found this incredibly liberating, as I know that I was creating something from deep within and it was materializing on the paper in front of me.  I was taking time to really listen to the 'self'' and learning to appreciate the beauty that is within my life and the beauty of 'me'!  I reflected later on how my perceptions of beauty have been affected by others and I asked myself 'what do I truly think is beautiful about myself?' (not on a material level, but on a 'soul' level).  I felt my answer on a very deep emotional level and I finally had that 'a-ha' moment - what truly makes me beautiful is shining my light from within to the world - letting myself 'shine', letting myself be the best I can be and being confident in that light within.  We all have an inner light that is just begging us to shine - begging us to reveal itself to the world - often it can't because of our judgments, fear of our own light/power, feelings of unworthiness etc.  Then I realized what an amazing world we could live in if everyone was able to shine their own light in the world without fear and judgement, from a place of love, appreciation, wonder/awe and respect for one another - it would be BLISS!  Having this life coaching session has transformed my way of thinking and although I have some inner work to do, I am really looking forward to another session with Susy!  If you're in the Toronto area, I would highly recommend having a session with Susy - you can contact her at: susy@susyfonseca.ca
I decided that I wanted to share the art that I created during my first session - I didn't have any ideas in mind of what I would paint, this is simply an expression of what I was feeling at the time and its amazing to me how I manifested the following image:

I feel this really represents a part of myself that is ready for creation (on various levels) - ready to shine my light, ready to appreciate myself and others, ready to let go of judgments/fear and take responsibility for my life and happiness vs seeking it outside of myself.   I can't express how amazing this experience has been and it all started with recognizing that it was time to finally start listning to my 'self' and respecting that its time to 'shine'!!!