Category Archives: Illamasqua

Gryffindor Inspired Look: Because I am a Geek.

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If you didn’t understand my title, sorry, it was written in geek.  Gryffindor is a house in Hogwarts — the school where Harry Potter and friends do their fun and geeky wizardry. :)  Gryffindor’s colours are gold and scarlet, which makes beautiful colour combo when it comes to makeup.  It is also a very appropriate Fall look, if you don’t care so much about Harry Potter.

I really loved how this look turned out.  The gold and burgundy worked so, so well together. :)  So, let’s get to it!

Swatches (from left): Urban Decay Half Baked Eyeshadow, Golden Plum from YSL Ombre Duolumieres No. 33 Duo, LIFT Cosmetics Moon Dust Eye Shimmer, MAC Arena Eyeshadow, Illamasqua Alchemy Precision Ink Liner

Get the Look

For the eyes, start by placing a golden plum (YSL Ombre Duolumieres No. 33) into the inner and outer crease.  I used a pointed crease brush (MAC 226) to place the colour.  Blend with a fluffy blending brush (MAC 217), place more colour, and blend blend blend some more.  Once you are happy with the crease colour, pat a gold (Urban Decay Half Baked Eyeshadow) into to the middle of the lid.  Take some more plum to the crease and drag lightly into the gold to blend the two colours.  Highlight the inner corners of the eyes with a light gold (LIFT Cosmetics Moon Dust Eye Shimmer).  Highlight the brows with a shimmery light peach (MAC Arena Eyeshadow).

Line the outer third of the lower lash line with the golden plum.  Add a little bit of gold glitter (Illamasqua Alchemy Precision Ink Liner) by lining the lower lash line.    Thinly line the upper lash line and waterlines with a black gel liner (MAC Blacktrack Fluidline).  Finish off with mascara (MAC Studio Fix Lash) to the upper and lower lashes.

For the cheeks, contour the hollows with a matte dark brown (MAKE UP FOR EVER #17 Espresso Eyeshadow). Apply a matte rosy blush (Chanel Rose Temptation Joues Contraste Blush) on the apples of your cheeks. Highlight the cheekbones with a shimmery peachy pink (MAC Shell Pearl Beauty Powder).

For the lips, apply a creamy pale pink lipstick (MAC Patisserie, LE) to complement the dramatic eye.

Read on to see more pictures!

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Makeup From Sephora Powell, San Francisco: Urban Decay Naked Palette and Illamasqua Blushes.

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Now that I have shown you what we were up to in and around San Francisco, it’s time again to talk makeup.  Well, now that I think about it, it’s always time to talk about makeup. :D

Illamasqua Powder Blusher

Canadian Sephora sadly lacks the amazing Illamasqua, so I wanted to check out the brand’s blushes (naturally!).  They have incredibly smooth mattes that I wanted to take home, but I felt too guilty about hauling so much.  I did swatch some of the blushes though, so everything’s not lost.

The blushes really were that pigmented on the back of my hand.  I wanted Hussy and Excite.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

My friend from work and I have been stalking Sephora in the past couple of weeks to see if we can snatch up the coveted Urban Decay Naked Palette. When I saw this in SF, my neutral loving self literally skipped towards the cashier with one in my hand. My fellow Canadians, if you are able to hold out for a trip to the US, I would suggest buying there instead. It is US$44 / CDN$53.  For reference I am MAC NC35 / NC37.

Click here to see more Urban Decay Naked Palette photos and swatches!