Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

Hey ya'll!!

I'm really excited about today's post because it's all about my new Makeup Geek Eyeshadows. I've heard of Makeup Geek for forever now, just have never tried them myself. That's probably because they're all sold online and not in stores like Sephora or Ulta. I love to online shop, but I'm wary of purchasing new makeup online without being able to see it in person and swatching it first. I've been wanting a new eyeshadow palette lately, not sure why because I have plenty, but my makeup addiction is very real and it's always hungry. I almost got the Lorac Pro 2 but I stopped myself. I'm a self proclaimed Queen of Warm Neutrals and I knew deep down that if I went with the Lorac Pro 2, that it would be sad and lonely because I wouldn't get much use out of it due to it's cool toned vibe. There were no other palettes on the market that really peaked my interest, so I decided to build my own Z Palette with Makeup Geek. And let me tell you, I could not be more happy and pleased with the shadows I chose.

Makeup Geek shadows are very similar to MAC shadows. I have only a few MAC shadows, crazy I know. And from what I've heard, many people prefer Makeup Geek shadows to MAC shadows because the formulas and pigmentation are very similar, and the Makeup Geek pan shadows are half the price of MAC. Makeup Geek pan shadows sell for $5.99 each, and MAC pan shadows sell for $10.00.  Everyone has always been MAC crazy, but I never really jumped on the bandwagon. A lot of the girls I watch on YouTube use Makeup Geek shadows regularly. Jaclyn Hill recently did a video on her favorite Makeup Geek shadows that I will link here. When I was doing my research, watching videos, and looking at swatches, I saw that Makeup Geek has a lot of dupes for MAC shadows and many other high end shadows, and the pigmentation is crazy town! I couldn't believe how buttery and pigmented they all looked. What I really liked about the Makeup Geek website, was that they have pictures of every eyeshadow, every swatch, if there's a dupe it's swatched and pictured, and comparison swatches to their other shadows that are lighter and darker. This made picking my desired shades, and my online shopping experience, so much easier.

I chose the small, black Z Palette and built my "perfect" palette from there. I chose nine shadows because that's how many the Z Palette fits. I went with a mix of matte and shimmery shades that I thought would look the best on me and my skin tone. The shades I chose were 1. Shimma Shimma, 2. Vanilla Bean, 3. Beaches and Cream, 4. Purely Naked, 5. Hipster, 6. Latte, 7. Moonstone, 8. Pretentious, and 9. Mocha.

Shimma Shimma, Vanilla Bean, Beaches and Cream

These are the three lightest shades I chose. Shimma Shimma is a gorgeous, extremely pigmented, shimmery champagne color that is the perfect brow bone and inner corner highlight shade. It reminds me of Kitten by Stila. I chose Vanilla Bean because I like to have a light creme/beige shade as an all over base. It's not completely matte, it has a very light shimmer, and it's not heavily pigmented so I think it will be a great base. Beaches and cream is a matte, peachy nude shade and looks like it will be a great transition shade.

Purely Naked, Hipster, Latte

These are the three medium shades I chose. Purely Naked is an amazingly pretty, warm nude shade. When I think of the perfect tan shade, this is it. It's got a soft shimmer to it, and will work great in the crease and the lid, very versatile. Hipster is a taupey, light brown color with a slight shimmer. I think this is going to be a beautiful lid shade. Latte is a must have, medium brown. It's matte, creamy, and will look perfect in the crease.

Moonstone, Pretentious, Mocha

These are the three darkest shades that I chose. Moonstone is so pigmented! It's a shimmery, gray/taupe shade. It's cool toned, which I normal don't go for. But, I don't have any colors like this in my collection and it was just too gorgeous to pass up. Pretentious is a gorgeous shimmery, bronze brown shade that's perfect for a summer smokey eye. Like Moonstone, this shade is very pigmented. Mocha is another must have shade. It's a deep, matte brown shade that's perfect for the outer corner's to smoke out any eye look. 

I could not be more pleased with this palette. I really tried to build my perfect palette, and I think I may have achieved just that. All the shades are buttery, creamy, soft, and pigmented. The shades with the most pigmentation are Shimma Shimma, Moonstone, and Pretentious. I really do love every single one of these shades and will be able to create so many different looks with this palette. 

I hope you enjoyed today's post. Let me know in the comments below if you have any Makeup Geek Shadows and what your favorite shades are!

xoxo,

Casey

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette: Three Different Looks

Hey ya'll!!

Today I wanted to show you three different looks using the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. I absolutely love this palette because it's so universal, and the amount of looks you can create from it are endless. The shadows are really smooth, the blend nicely, and are very pigmented. Oh yeah, and in case you didn't know, the entire palette smells like a giant candy bar.

I'm just concentrating on the eyeshadow combo's today. To get the best color payoff, and wear time, be sure to apply an eyeshadow primer before applying your eyeshadow. The primer helps to lock your shadow in place and gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to pigmentation. If you want to know specifics about liner, mascara, or brows then please leave a comment below and I will get back to you!

Look #1
The first look I have for you is perfect for summer, and really easy to achieve. I find myself wearing this eyeshadow combination a lot, especially when I'm tan. This golden/bronzed/shimmery look is perfect for daytime, and will look great on everyone. I started by applying White Chocolate as an all over base. For the lid color I used Creme Brulee and applied it first in a patting motion, then blended it using a sweeping motion. I then took Milk Chocolate and applied it all over the crease as my transition shade. After applying Milk Chocolate, I took the color Semi Sweet and applied it in the same area, but concentrated the color just in the crease and not go too far towards the brown bone. The last shade I used was Hazelnut. I applied it to the outer corners of the lid and the crease, then blended it in with Semi Sweet. For the bottom lash line, I combined Milk Chocolate and Semi Sweet and lined the entire line. I then took a small amount of Hazelnut and only applied it on the outer half of the lash line. I did not do a brown bone highlight with this look. I find that when I use shimmery shadows on my lid and crease, I tend to leave the brow bone matte.

Shades Used
All Over Base: White Chocolate
Lid: Creme Brulee
Transition Shade: Milk Chocolate
Crease: Semi Sweet
Outer Lid & Crease: Hazelnut
Lower Lash Line: Milk Chocolate & Semi Sweet Mixed, Hazelnut on the outer corner

Look #2:
I was very pleased with how this turned out. Normally I like to use brown and bronze shades, but I decide to go for something a little different by opting for berry and wine tones to achieve this look. I started by first applying White Chocolate as an all over base. I then took my transition color, Milk Chocolate, and applied it all throughout the crease. For the lid, I used the shade Marzipan. Marzipan is a really pretty champagne color and it's one of my favorite lid shades. After applying that, I took the color Amaretto and placed it right into the crease. Make sure to not take this color too high, you want it to fade into that transition shade. To darken the whole look, I applied the shade Cherry Cordial on the outer corner of the lid and in the outer crease. I then dusted my brush in Milk Chocolate, and blended out Cherry Cordial so that all the colors would blend nicely together. I highlighted my inner corners and my brow bone with the shade Champagne Truffle. I didn't want to do a dark liner on my lower lash line, but I didn't want to leave it bare either. I decided to line with Milk Chocolate to add just a hint of color. This is a nice, satin makeup look that will look great on a night out.

Shades Used
All Over Base: White Chocolate
Lid: Marzipan
Transition Shade: Milk Chocolate
Crease: Amaretto
Outer Lid & Crease: Cherry Cordial
Inner Corner & Brow Bone: Champagne Truffle
Lower Lash Line: Milk Chocolate

Look #3
This is one of my favorite smokey eyes to wear for both day and night. I love deep, dark, warm brown shades. Like the other two looks, I started out with White Chocolate as my all over base. I like applying an all over base color before any other shadows because it really helps me to blend the other colors much easier. For the transition shade, I used Milk Chocolate. Again, this is another color that I use in every look I do. It's the perfect light brown color, and looks good with every eye look. I applied Hazelnut all over the lid, making sure to not get the color into the crease. Next, I applied the color Semi Sweet directly into the crease. I blended this out quite a bit, going slightly above and below the crease. To smoke this look out, I used the darkest shade in the palette, Triple Fudge. Triple Fudge is a really rich, dark matte brown. I started out by lightly dusting my brush into the color, and placed it right on the outer corner of my lid and the outer part of my crease. I did this about three times before it was the color I wanted. Since this shade is so dark, it's best to apply small amounts at a time. If you start with too heavy of a hand, its going to be really hard to blend out. For my lower lash line I first applied Milk Chocolate. On the outer half I lined with Triple Fudge, and on the inner half with Hazelnut. For my inner corner highlight, and my brow bone, I used the color Champagne Truffle.

Shades Used
All Over Base: White Chocolate
Lid: Hazelnut
Transition Shade: Milk Chocolate
Crease: Semi Sweet
Outer Lid & Crease: Triple Fudge
Inner Corner & Brow Bone: Champagne Truffle
Lower Lash Line: Milk Chocolate, Hazelnut, & Triple Fudge

I hope you liked all these three looks I created using the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. Let me know what your favorite shades are in the comments below!


xoxo,
Casey

GRWM: Naked 3 Palette

Hey ya'll!

Today I am going to be doing a full face Get Ready With Me using my Naked 3 palette. I will list all the products I used, what colors I used in the palette, and how I applied everything below.

Every makeup look should start with a good, clean base. I started by washing my face, and moisturizing like normal. I first primed my face using the Make Up For Ever HD Primer, and primed my eyes with the Nars Eyeshadow Primer. I then took a pump and a half of the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation on the back of my hand, and used my finger to dot it all over my face before blending it in using a Sigma F80 Flat-Top Kabuki brush. I like to dot the foundation all over my face first because it helps me not to use too much product. After that's buffed in, I apply the Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer under my eyes, and blend that out using the Real Techniques Buffing Brush.

Next step is to set my concealer and foundation. I used the Laura Mercier Setting Powder with the Real Techniques Powder Brush. Then I used the Benefit BrowZing in Medium to fill in my brows using a flat liner brush to apply it.

Now onto the eyes. I started with the lightest shade in the palette, Strange, and applied it using a large shadow brush all over my lid and up to my brow bone as a base. I then took the Real Techniques Shading Brush and mixed the colors Buzz and Trick together, and applied them all over the lid. Using a fluffy crease brush I took the color Nooner and applied it generously into my crease. Using that same crease brush, I applied Factory over top of Nooner. Going back to the Real Teachniques brush, I took the color Darkside and applied it to the outer corners, and into the crease, to darken it up a bit. Finally, using a clean, fluffy crease brush, I blended out Darkside so that it wouldn't be too harsh. Once the eyeshadow was done I used the Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Pencil in Matte Black to line my upper lash line. I lined the bottom lash line with Nooner and Factory using a small, flat shader brush.

I like to apply my bronzer, blush, and highlighter after my eyes. If I have any fall out, I use my powder brush to dust it away before applying these next products. I used the Sephora Collection Classic Contour brush, along with the Becca Shadow & Light Bronze/Contour Perfector to bronze my face. I applied it in the hollows of my cheeks, my forehead, my chin and jawline, and down my nose. Then, using the Sonia Kashuk Dense Blush/Powder Brush I applied the Nars blush in Sin to the apples of my cheeks, blending it back towards my hairline. I ended up applying it with a heavy hand, so to correct it I blended it out using a big stippling brush. After bronzer and blush, I applied the Becca Highlighter in Opal to the tops of my cheeks and above my brows.

I like to apply my mascara after all my powder products. If I apply my mascara before the powder products, my eyelashes end up getting dusty, and that's just not a good look. Per usual I used the Loreal Voluminous Extra Volume Collagen Mascara, followed by the Covergirl Clump Crusher.

Last but not least are the lippies. My lips are chapped right now so I just went with a balm and a gloss. I used the Tarte LipSurgence in Energy, and topped it off with the Nars Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight.

That's it for today's GRWM: Naked 3 Palette. Let me know what shadow combo is your favorite using the Naked 3 Palette!


xoxo,
Casey