Palette Mystery Solved - Deep Winter!!!

I'm kind of in 'Wowzers' mode right now - In my last post I made the observation that the natural colour harmony of my eyes, skin, lips are neutral in appearance, possibly Soft Summer, but that there is a depth also. WHen I played around with the soft summer palette in the past, the same issue came up - the neutral cool shades were great, but the shades were slightly too muted - I needed some contrast and some depth. I have been playing around with the Deep Winter palette now for a while and really feel comfortable in this palette. I know that many of you still like the autumn shades on me, which is also interesting since deep winter is a winter that verges into autumn, so those rust, tomato red, olive, gold and chocolate brown tones are still in my palette. WHen I looked at the deep winter palette, I started to see some striking similarities to the recent colour harmony collage that I created, check it out:

Here is the same collage but with some deep winter makeup looks - I think that I have yet to find/create a natural deep winter makeup look - so far I've been obsessed with the deep, deep reds, which are uber chic and dramatic!

Stay tuned for more deep winter looks as I explore this season even more!!!

THe 'Palette' Challenge - Guess the Season

I decided to do a little experiement - I took a few close up photos of my natural lip shade, eye colour and skin without any makeup - I then cut and paste sections of these colours into a collage - its interesting to see all the colours that appear and start to become harmonious with one another - Its also a little challenging to pin-point a season because the shades are so diverse - at first it seems like there is a lot of Soft Summer going on, but there is also a 'depth' and deeper shades of black, charcoal, olive shades that are not found in Soft Summer - I'm leaving it in your hands - what season do you see in this collage???

Response to 'Empty' Hate Mail

I am so honoured and grateful to have received some very interesting 'Hate Mail'!!!  Why am I so excited about this you ask???  I adore and love what the person wrote - they said basically that  no amount of makeup and clothes can take away from someone who is 'empty' (i.e. suggesting that I am an empty, horrible, soul-less person - I find this utterly amusing) and to stop posting photos of myself on the net - Here is my response:

Yes, you are 100% correct - I am 'empty' - I am empty of hatred, I am empty of envy and jealousy - I am empty of 'evil', vindictivness, childish behaviour, insecurity, deceit, the need to lie and create stories, all things which you seem to be FULL of!!!  I am also empty of major spelling and grammatical errors.  If you have any issues reading this, I would highly suggest that someone with a little intelligence help you read and understand what I have written - it may be a little difficult for you!

Secondly, I thought it would be a great idea to inform you of things which I am currently FULL of - confidence, self-esteem, strength, passion, creativity, 'friends', an inner sense of security, love - just to name a few things!!!

Finally, thank you for the encouragement to continue writing this blog with pride and posting as many photos of my makeup work as I possibly can - I am fully grateful for everything - I am a changed person because of you and I love it - you have inspired the strength in me!!!

From Renata,
FULL of Love and Gratitude!!! Namaste!!!

Film Noir - Old Hollywood Glam Look!

I am so inspired to create an old Hollywood glam 'Film Noir' look - inspired by the old black and white films of the 30s and 40s - I started this look with a basic makeup face/canvas - concealer, tinted moisturizer, and a natural bronzer shade (Too faced 'Milk Chocolate' is currently my favourite).  For the eyes, I used brule as a base, woodwinked from lid to crease, smut shadow in crease and smudged into smolder eyeliner, black mascara (all MAC).  I then applied Lovejoy blush by NARS.  For the lip shade, I started with mahogany lipliner, then applied Film Noir lipstick and topped this combination with NARS red lizzard!

I am loving the deep red lipstick shades and I adore that MAC makes a shade called 'Film Noir' - I am continuining my journey into the deep winter shades - they really resonate with me and I adore the palette!!!

Deep Winter Collage

I've been working on this deep winter collage - I used the picture from my 'Tribute to Dubonnet' post, as well as a photo from my childhood and a close up photo of my eye - I'm finding that the deep winter is actually quite harmonious with my natural colouring and I'm going to enjoy delving into the palette!  I know that a lot of people are used to seeing me in the true and soft autumn palettes - but I just can't away from the richness and strength of deep winter that I feel that I need - true red, burgundy, sapphire/royal blue, navy, black and white, charcoal grey - these shades have become my new neutrals and I embrace them fully - here is my newest collage in tribute to the Deep Winter palette:

Tribute to Dubonnet

Its been a while since I've posted any new makeup looks - I was itching to get back into playing with the palette that I love the most right now - Deep Winter and Deep Winter Soft.  Lately, I've fallen in love with MAC's Dubonnet lipstick - its such a gorgeous colour - I decided to deepen it and add a little deep rose richness by using Beet lipliner underneath - this is the finished look - Loving this:

For this look I started with a subtle smokey eye - I mixed shades of brown and taupe - starting with arena as a base, Espresso mixed with Coquette from lid to crease, Smolder eyeliner smudged with embark on the upper lid (All MAC) - I then used black mascara by Makeup for Ever.  I applied Raizin blush by MAC - its currently my all time favourite blush - I wear it every day and I have a hard time returing to any other colour - its become my 'holy grail' of blushes.  FInally, I finished off the look by applying Beet lipliner and Dubonnet lipstick!!!

Contrast FUN - Bright Meets Deep!

I am getting really excited with the notion of just playing around with different makeup shades, particularily 'contrasting' shades or contrasting levels of depth/brightness.  Today I decided to try going with a brighter teal/aqua eye and pair it with a deep, dark rocker-chick inspired lipstick.  I just decided to 'go with it' - these days I'm moving away from colour analysis and towards embracing my colour-gypsy self - or as I've said before, embracing my inner colour-nomad!  I learned a lot about myself with colour analysis, but now its time for me to become truely authentic and just have FUN with colour, break the rules a little - become a little bit more of a colour-rebel!!!  Check out the look I created:

For this look I started with Mineral Fusion Foundation and concealer - I skipped the powder, as I find that the mineral makeup tends to set into a smooth, powder-like finish.  I used Raizin blush my MAC (my current #1 favourite blush on the planet).  For the eyes, I started with Arena shadow as a base, then mixed Copperplate and Kight Divine and applied to the lid and crease (all MAC shadows).  I then used MAC's eyeliner called 'Mountain Air' (an amazing teal/aqua shade) and applied a very thick line to the upper lashline, while using Smolder on the lower lashline.  I used black mascara (one of the Benefit ones) and finished the look with a very deep lipstick Film Noir, mixed with Ruby Woo (also MAC).  I love the depth of this lipstick look - its such a Femme Fatale, deep blood 'red' shade!!!