a splurgy beauty haul

Recently I had a slight moment of weakness in the the mall and went a lil cray cray in Sephora and MAC... OKAY OKAY and Walgreens on the way home. But since I'm a glass-half-full kind of woman, I decided to turn it into a triumph and share my loot with all you lovely people!

In my defense, these are all products I've been lusting after and dying to try for a while. So I just threw caution(and some dollah dollah bills) to the wind and treated myself. Behold!

LINKS

 by Chaz Dean Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner // DevaCurl DevaTowel // Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub // Dior Rosy Glow Awakening Blush // Beauty Blender // MAC Orb //MAC Cork // MAC Quarry // MAC Sable // MAC Satin Taupe // L'oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara (Black Brown) // Maybelline Tattoo Leather (Deep Forest) // Maybelline Color Tattoo Leather (Creamy Beige)

BTW: The MAC shadows in the palette that I already own are Woodwinked, Patina, Nylon, Club & Sumptuous Olive. 

I have tried all of my new purchases and have not a single bad thing to say about them. They all live up to their hype/ purpose and are quickly becoming my favorites of the moment. 

Let me know if you want me to do any reviews on these products, I'd be happy to oblige!

ttyl :)
madeleine

fall trend friday #1: a glowing fall face

hey now! just because you'll soon be trading in your sun hat for a knit beanie, doesn't mean your face has to look like it's preparing for hibernation too. Luckily the makeup trend gods are in agreement. Personally, I have never understood the overly muted and corpse-y makeup trends that seems to habitually crop up when the weather turns nipply. My pasty face will grow plenty pale and dull on it's own, thank you very much. so im thrilled to hear that we can still be glowing goddesses this coming season and leave the bronzer-shaming for another time!

This fall it's going to be all about dem copper lids, bold yet natural brows, bronze cheeks and toffee lips.  WOOPWOOP for looking alive!

Now for a teensy disclaimer: just because these trends are sitting next to each other in this post, does not mean they should be that way on your lovely visage. I would suggest choosing one to two (at most!) of these looks to rock at once and let the rest of your makeup be the slutty best friend to your leading lady in this hilarious, yet heartwarming RomCom we call your face.

copper lids

Metallic lids have a tendency to look potentially too strong and vegas-like. The trick here is that you want to achieve a softer look. Try making your own little eyeshadow cocktail, to create a slightly more muted and soft eye look. To do this I suggest mixing a deep reddish brown with a light peachy pink, sweeping it across your lid and blending that into the crease. That way you get the reddish brown tones one finds in copper, but the peachy pink mutes it out and makes it more daytime and wearable. smudge a little chocolate brown liner on your lower and upper lash line and you'll be golden. metaphorically.

'sable' from the Lorac Pro Palatte mixed with my Tarte blush in 'captivating' gives the perfect soft copper effect!

bold and natural brows

Statement brows have been in for like everrr and there is no indication of them going anytime soon. My brows are naturally on the fuller side, so color me happy (less tweezing!) What's different this time around is the previously coveted sharp angles are being traded in for a slightly softer, less overly defined look. go for a more natural and rounded brow shape, using a pencil. pencil allows you to make thinner, smaller strokes that look like hairs as opposed to drawing a block of color over your brows.  Personally I like using a tinted brow gel with fibers. It's less maintenance and it gives your brows that full, yet natural look.

I love Benefit's Gimme Brow in 'medium/deep' and the the Brow Wiz in 'brunette' by Anastasia. Together, they give you the most control and the most natural brow look.

bronze cheeks

Typically when I think of fall cheeks, berries and dusty roses appear in fluffy thought bubbles above my head, but not this season; it's going to be glowy cheeks in Fall 2014. soft contouring with a light brown powder paired with a natural, brown toned blush on your cheeks will give you that gorgeous, yet understated glow we've (I've) been wishing for, for fall.

Try the NYX blush in 'terra cotta'. It'll give your cheeks that gorgeous subtle glow.

toffee lips

Neutral lips are in this upcoming season, but that doesn't necessarily mean a brown-toned lip. For darker complexions, brown-toned neutral lips are stunning, but for paler skin tones go for a rosy-beige, soft pink or pale apricot. Or make your own color and add a little concealer to an existing fall lip color to nude it out a bit. For the medium skinned gals, go for a more caramel lip. Just keep it light and fresh looking, add a gloss with no sparkle or glitter to liven them up.

Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in 'honey' with Kiko gloss '110' over top

Kate by Rimmel lipstick in '08' with a few very light dabs of Maybelline's Fit Me concealer in '10 Light' to nude it out

I dont know about you guys, but i'm pretty pumped about sporting these new lively makeup trends in the coming months.
let's let the leaves be dead, not our faces.

What are your thoughts on these upcoming beauty trends, yay or nay?

ttyl :)
madeleine

face of the day #1

Welcome to madeleine says’ FIRST “face of the day” post. I’ll be posting these every week to show you what looks and products I go to for all the different happenings in my life.

Today was a pretty boring day, a ran a few errands, had my dishwasher replaced and mostly sat on the couch job-hunting… and yes you guessed correctly, after being in Florida for a month I’m still unemployed! YAY for jobless adventures? Anyways, I digress. So for my makeup I kept it pretty simple. I used my favorite foundation of the moment, Benefit’s Oxygen Wow (my shade is “im so money, honey”). It has a natural, glowing finish with great coverage. I used my favorite beautyhack, Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream in “medium/dark”, to warm up my face and add a subtle contour (see the beautyhack post for more on this!), and then went in with my Garnier roller ball to conceal and brighten my under eyes and the high points of my face. Didn’t feel like setting with powder today so I just added some color to my cheeks with Benefit’sDandelion blush. For my eyes I used one of my favorite palettes, the Lorac Pro Palette. From it I mixed “white” and “cream” for my all-over lid color and put “light bronze” in the center of the lid. Then I just put “taupe” in the crease, the outer corners and along my lower lash line. I finished the eye look off with one coat of the CovergirlBombshell Volume mascara in “ very black”. For my lips, I just put on some Burt’s Bees Wax Lip Balm.

And there it is! Hope you liked it!

FOTD Breakdown:

Base: Benefit Oxygen Wow Foundation // Garnier Skin RenewAnti-Dark Circle Eye Roller

Color: Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream // Benefit DandelionBoxed Blush

Eyes: Lorac Pro Pallete // Covergirl Bombshell VolumeMascara

Lips: Burt’s Bees Wax Lip Balm

Tools: Real Techniques: Blush Brush // Expert Face Brush // Contour Brush // Base Shadow Brush

:) ttyl,

madeleine

review: maybelline color elixir

So I know these lip glosses have been circulating all over the interwebs, but I made the educated decision to hold off for a little bit and let the initial hysteria die down before I would strike with my own review.

I am not typically a lip gloss person, the stickiness doesn’t appeal to me and I usually prefer a more balm-like texture on my lips that feels hydrating. With this said, I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the new Maybelline’s New York Color Elixir. It goes for $6.94 at Walmart, which is a decent price.

I bought the shade “085 Hibiscus Haven” which is a bright blue-toned fuchsia, also out of my comfort zone. I usually go towards more natural colors but this one called to me for some reason. So I went with it, and I’m glad I did. The color payoff was highly pigmented and opaque  on my lips and really gave me the “BAM” I hoped for, but it was also very wearable, which I love.

The gloss feels very thick on the lip, and definitely hydrating. Although the gloss wears off after a few hours, it does leave a bit of stain that is really nice and I almost like it more when it’s worn off a bit. I personally am not crazy about feeling thick shellac on my lips so usually I will blot it with a napkin. It takes the thick, high-shine gloss off but it still looks lovely and pigmented. the doe-foot applicator is also very nice and makes application easy and precise.

 

^ gloss as it is ^      

^ gloss after one blot ^

The way I prefer to apply it is I use a lip scrub first, like this one from Lush that tastes like mint chocolate, then a put a balm like my favorite Burt’s Bees one to make a nice smooth canvas for the gloss, put the gloss over and then blot once with a napkin.

^ Burt's Bees Lip Balm, Lush Mint Julips Lip Scrub ^

All in all, it’s a really nice product. The smell is nice but not overwhelming, the color is opaque, wearable and stays put on your lips and it definitely was hydrating. My only cons are that I don’t really like how thick it feels and it will cling-to and show any dryness you may have, so you should make sure to exfoliate your lips prior.


What do you guys think of the elixirs? I definitely want to buy more. Tell me your thoughts and suggestions in the comments!

:) ttyl,
madeleine

beautyhack: bb cream contour

Now I love a good contour just as much as the next beauty junkie, and there are a ton of different ways you can achieve a contoured face. You can use matte powder bronzers, cream bronzers, darker foundations and concealers etc. I have tried everything and realized there are pros and cons to all of those options. While they all give you the chiseled cheek bones, powders can tend to look unnatural in texture on your skin, especially in daylight. I’ve noticed a few crème bronzers look a bit orangey or muddy, and that using a dark foundations or concealers can cake up your face. So I’ve gone in a slightly less conventional route in the search for a natural looking contour that will let my skin breathe and that I can wear in the sunlight without feeling insecure.

This is when I noticed a bb cream in my makeup drawer that was too dark for my skin tone and a little light bulb shaped like a well-defined cheekbone went off in my head. Using a bb cream is perfect for a more natural contour because it’s meant to be a subtle tint of color without heavy coverage. It wont cake up your face or leave a powdery and unnatural finish on your skin. It just blends in perfectly, but creates the shadow affect you want from a contour. I use this everyday as either just a bronzer for my cheeks and forehead or use a little more product and concentrate it where I want to create a shadow and chisel out my features. 

The BB cream I’ve been using is the Maybelline Dream Fresh8-in-1 Beauty Balm Skin Perfector ($7.59) in the color Medium/Deep. It gives the perfect tint of color without caking up my face. The brush I used to apply was the Real Techniques Contour Brush. Its the perfect size to concentrate the product in the small contour of your cheek and the tapered synthetic bristles blend the product out to a beautiful and natural finish (the brush comes as a part of their "core collection" set of 4 brushes for $18.00).

Shop the rest of the brushes. They're all perfection! http://realtechniques.com/

:) ttyl,

madeleine

a wee walmart haul

As per usual, while food shopping in Walmart I took a little detour down the beauty isle and picked up a few things. As you can see I got a nice variety of both new and older products. Expect too see reviews on all these soon. Have any of you tried these out? Tell me what you think and we can compare notes!

Covergirl Bombshell Volume Mascara (very black) $8.94
Maybelline Color Elixer Lip Color (085 Hibiscus Haven) $6.94
Freeman Charcoal & Black Sugar Face Polishing Mask $1.97
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush $8.98



:)ttyl,
madeleine