Revisiting Dark/Deep Winter

I'm glad that I recently experiemented with the bright winter shades - its lead me to consider Dark Winter as a very possible choice for me - I know for a fact that I have autumn influence, but also that I'm a 'neutral'.  Lately, I've discovered just how well I look in the deeper, more dramatic shades of burgundy, eggplant, mahogany etc - I can also wear black and grey shades very well.  I don't seem to do very well with the uber-bright pinks, but thats okay, because now I know that its strength of colour and 'depth' that I need - here is a little deep winter experiement that I've done:

And here are a few DW makeup photos that were taken of me in previous years - I think I may have just found my 'ideal' season:

In this photo I am wearing MAC's Fever blush with burgundy lipliner and Media Lipstick.  I think I mixed Coffee eyeliner (a dark brown) with Embark eyeshadow (a deep mahogany shade)

I love deep true red lipstick shades!

Here is Dark Winter makeup taken to the extreme - I recall wearing Media and applying it with a heavy hand - I love that I can handle the depth and contrast!

I am really liking the Dark Winter palette and I think I may have just settled onto a palette that may just be perfect for me!  Dark Winter is both deep, strong, rich - dominant winter, but still with a hint of Autumn - perfect!!!

 

Revisiting Bright Winter

I recently got some interesting and much appreciated advice to give 'Bright Winter' a try as a seasonal palette for myself.  Even before I got this anonymos advice, I'd been wearing colours like: greys, black and white, true red, royal blue and purple to work and getting a lot of compliments.  I also started wearing more burgundy and red toned lipshades and also got a very positive reaction.  Then when I read the suggestion to give bright wiinter a try, I thought, maybe this is a posibility for me.  Although I adore the True Autumn palette and really gave it a 'go' - there was always a little part of me that said 'wait a minute, you've always looked good in both gold AND silver jewlery' - I would sooner consider myself one of the 'neutral' seasons (leaning BOTH cool and warm) vs a 'true' warm - I think that this is why I played around with the 'soft' seasons so much, not so much because of the 'soft' element, but more because of the 'neutral' element.  There were also colours in the true autumn palette that I was 'missing' and that I knew looked good on me, as well as colours in the palette that weren't so great (I'm still not a green-mustard fan - sorry)!  Anyway, here is a little experiment with me playing around with the bright winter colours - would love to hear your feedback and suggestions:

Here is a photo of me wearing the bright winter burgundy lip and the bright winter seasonal palette in the background - here is the makeup I'm wearing in this photo:

I started with my basic face (mineral fusion foundation in olive, MAC NC 30 concealer and refined Golden Bronzer as powder) - I used MAC Raizin blush (my current favourite) and created a rich, earthy-chocolate look on my eyes - started with brule as my base, mixed soba and espresso and applied from the lid into the crease, lined my eyes with coffee liner and smudged embark into the upper lashline before finishing with black mascara (all MAC) - on my lips, I'm wearing MAC's mahogany liner with Diva lipstick!

Here are a few more bright winter makeup pics - not sure of the exact makeup, but I'm wearing black liner and mascara, fever blush by MAC and mahogany mixed with ruby woo on the lips (also MAC):

I am really liking the red lip on me and the royal blue is a colour I'm not used to wearing, but it seems to 'work' - I think I will experiement with Bright Winter a little longer and see what new makeup creations I can come up with!!!

Metamorphasis (Self-Reflection) and MAC DIVA Lipstick

Sometimes a total make-over metamorphasis is necessary!!!  I have been going through 'something' lately - something that has really hit me to the core - I guess I'm in a process of really having to take a hard look at my life and ask myself - Why do I give away my personal power to others?  Why do I care about what people think about me?  Why do I feel insecure and insignificant at times?  Why haven't I found the perfect guy for me?  Why is my life the way it is???  Asking myself these questions and realizing that some of my current relationships are toxic and not for my highest good, I've decided to 'seperate' myself from myself if that makes any sense - I've decided that I need to shed some skin - to finally take the plunge into discovering my 'true' self - my absolute 'authentic' self - since starting this process, I've discovered and felt almost every emotion any human can feel - anger, hurt, jealousy, blame, shame, guilt, but i've also felt that inner spirit within calling me to 'heal' - heal my heart, heal my mind, forgive myself and 'Move On' from the things and people that are not on the same joy path as me - its hard when you recognize that you and someone that you really love and care about are not on the same 'level' so to speak - you're on a different path, not a better or worse path, but on a 'different' path - its in my best interest right now to completely re-invent myself - to figure out who I am, what I want, why I'm here, whats my PURPOSE???  Its time for me to heal!!!  WELL - HERE'S THE BEST PART - part of this healing and transformative process is deciding to 'Make Over' my physical self as well - I decided I needed a new look to match the start of a new journey for me, so I decided to go with a choppy, wild 'Joan Jett' Inspired look, go richer with my hair colour with a hint of mahogany and try a new and rich/deep makeup look - Here is what I came up with.  I am so happy that this new journey has begun for me - I feel like I'm the process of discovering a being a whole new, 'authentic' me and I'm so GRATEFUL to God and the Universe for bringing me here, to this new life adventure:

Deep Rich Hair colour called for a deep and rich makeup look: I started with my basic face (mineral fusion foundation in olive, MAC NC 30 concealer and refined Golden Bronzer as powder) - I used MAC Raizin blush (my current favourite) and created a rich, earthy-chocolate look on my eyes - started with brule as my base, mixed soba and espresso and applied from the lid into the crease, lined my eyes with coffee liner and smudged embark into the upper lashline before finishing with black mascara (all MAC) - on my lips, I'm wearing MAC's mahogany liner with Diva lipstick!

Tribute to Mahogany

I've been so inspired by my recent Mahogany lipliner purchase from MAC.  It got me thinking about what an awesome colour Mahogany is.  I wanted to learn more about the beauty of this colour - its definitely on the brown side of the colour family, but after looking it up, I kept on coming across the definition as: 'a moderate reddish brown'.  Here are a few visuals:

I decided to take the last makeup look I did using Mahogany lipliner and Mocha lipstick and create a collage around the makeup colours I used for the look - I simply love this!  I'm also thinking about adding more of a mahogany/reddish brown base to my hair -

The mahogany lipliner swatch is found on the right hand side of the collage.  I think that Mocha is the perfect neutral shade to blend with Mahogany, but since the colour mahogany is a reddish-brown, you can really play around with various colours, creating a look that has more red or brick toned undertones.  Similarily, you can also add a warm berry or spicy pumpkin shade, as these will compliment Mahogany really well!

MAC Mahogany Lip Liner

How have I lived without this lipliner for so long???  Mahogany is a shade I used to wear 'way-back' in my high-school years and since then gravitated away to softer, more natural looking liners.  I had totally forgotten how rich, warm and sophisticated this colour really is!  Here is a look I created with a natural eye, Mahogany lipliner with a touch of MAC's Mocha lipstick on top - check it out - I'm loving this look:

Here is a breakdown of the makeup I used for this look:

For this makeup look I started with my basic face (foundation, concealer, bronzer as powder - Mineral Fusion Foundation in Warm, MAC NC 30 concealer and Refined Golden Bronzer). I used NARS Madly blush and did a natural eyemakeup look with Brule as a base and Soba lid to crease (by MAC) - I lined my eyes with Teddy and smudged NARS Bengali into the lashline. I then used Loreals voluminous mascara in black. On my lips, I applied Mahogany lipliner and topped with Mocha lipstick (both MAC)

Keira Knightly Inspired Makeup - Part 2

I've come to realize how helpful collages can be to recognize colour patterns, so I decided to create a collage of the makeup colours I used in my previous 'Keira Knightly Inspired Makeup' post - this way if you're interested in the look, you have a better idea of the shades I used - it also gives more of a visual comparison between Keira's makeup look and the one I created on myself - Keira has a very delicate, light complexion, while my complexion is more medium-warm - its important to remember that if you want a particular look to work for you, you may need to tweek it to work with your skintone.  I also added in a pic of diamond stud earings, simply because they are so elegant and go with this look so well:

Makeup show in this collage:

Chanel Boy Lipstick (I used this lipstick with Soar Liner for this look)

Chanel Tweed Rose blush

MAC Soar Lipliner

MAC Coquette and Carbon eyeshadows

Chanel Nude lipliner

Chanel Organdi Rose lipstick (one of current favourite lipsticks for everyday - I pair it with Chanel's Natural Lipliner and the combination is divine!)

Keira Knightly Inspired Makeup

SInce my last two posts have been about how much I adore Keira Knightly's look and makeup, I decided I would try her elegantly smokey eye with a more natural-rose lip.  I've recently gone on a Chanel makeup shopping spree (their products are expensive, but there is nothing like them - the lipsticks feel like a second skin on - creamy, luxurious and the colours are so unique and second to none - actually the makeup artist said that Chanel's colours are ICONIC - with other makeup companies trying to re-create similar colours, but nothing compares to the original).  Before I post my pics, here is a list of the makeup I used:

I started with my 'basic face': foundation, concealer and bronzer as powder. I then used Tweed Rose blush by Chanel as a contour, Borjouis 'rose' highlight and MAC's Dame blush in the centre of cheeks. For the Smokey eye look, I started with the rose highlight all over, used MAC's Coquette on the lid into the crease and Woodwinked on the lid. I then used a black eyeliner from Lancome and smudged MAC's Carbon into the upper and lower lash lines - I really smudged out the bottom lash line (something I don't normally do) - I finished with Loreal's Voluminous mascara. I then used the rose highlight again in the brow-bone and in the inner tear-duct! On my lips, I used MAC's Soar lipliner with Chanel Boy Lipstick (my current favourite lip colour)!