Let's Talk LIP TARS - Are you down with OCC?

You down with OCC? YEAH YOU KNOW ME! OK now that I got that out of my system...seriously let's talk about OCC's Lip Tars. What's a Lip Tar? How do I use them? Do I need them?

I first heard about these lovely lippies from a makeup video I was watching one day. The woman said she was mixing some Lip Tars to create the color she wanted. This of course intrigued me.  A couple of Google clicks later, and next thing I knew I had purchased 2 sets of Lip Tars; Brights and Neutrals from Beauty.com.  Let's begin with the basics:

1. What is a Lip Tar?:  Lip Tars are described as essentially a hybrid between a lipstick and a gloss. They give you the wear and coverage of an opaque lipstick, but apply somewhat like a gloss.
2. How do I use them?: The reason I wrote they apply "somewhat like a gloss" is because while they do come out of a squeeze tube, they are best applied only with a brush, and the amount you use is the size of the head of a pin.  Trust me this tiny amount will cover your full mouth. 
3. Do I need them?:  If you are someone who loves makeup, and really loves trying out new lip products, then yes, I would recommend this product for you. It's truly unique and because you need to use such a small amount of product with each application, one tube will last you forever. Plus, they are fully mixable, so you can have a lot of fun mixing your own custom colors. So as you can see from my collection, I basically have enough to last the rest of my life!

As I mentioned above, I purchased my Lip Tars in sets. While they are also sold individually, Beauty.com sells them in 2 sets; neutrals and brights. Each set comes with 6 colors and a very good quality brush for $49.50.  If you plan to purchase more than one color, you may want to take a look at the sets instead.

There has been a lot of hype around the new shade Nylon, which is a Sephora exclusive. This uber bright pink will liven up even the most boring of makeup looks. I was unsure if I wanted to buy this shade because it looked similar to two other shades I already owned from the Bright set.  I've swatched the 3 similar colors side by side for you to see:

Pictured above, from left to right: Nylon, Anime and Pretty Boy

Should you choose to buy a set, here is a closer look at the brush that comes with it. This is an excellent quality lip brush, and I really like that it's not a retractable, like so many other lip brushes are. Also, like all my brushes, this brush is synthetic and cruelty free.

 To show you how some of these look actually applied to the lip, I've applied a few of my favorite shades for you to see.  Here's a sampling of some of the shades I own:

This first shade (pictured above) is Nylon. It's exclusive to Sephora and a new shade to OCC.

Next, is a shade called NSFW, this came in my Neutrals set. It's a dark wine colored red, that I think will be great for Fall:

Next is Trollop. This shade, I've not only used on my lips, but also took the tiniest bit and blended it onto my cheekbones as I would a cream blush. I frequently use this product instead of a traditional blush because I love the natural flush it gives me.

 Finally, we have Interlace. This is a muted neutral color that would look great if you were doing a really intense smokey eye look or any very dramatic look to help add balance to the look.

I hope you enjoyed this peak at my OCC Lip Tar collection. For more info visit: www.occmakeup.com

OCC is 100% Vegan and cruelty free!

5 Min Smokey Eye Using Stila Smudge Crayon

 If you subscribe to Beautybar.com's Sample Society monthly subscription box, you probably were fortunate enough to get a mini Stila Smudge Crayon in your box this month. While on Facebook this weekend, I saw that someone requested a tutorial. I received my sample in the color Smoke, but I also own 2 full size versions of this product in the colors Kitten and Dazzle. For more info on the Sample Society program, please visit BeautyBar.com.  Stila's Smudge Crayons are very easy to use, waterproof and long lasting. I absolutely love this product and will probably purchase it in more colors.

I left my sample at the office, which I received in the color Smoke, a taupey gray color similar to Urban Decay's Mushroom.  For this tutorial, I will be using the color Dazzle and Kitten. Dazzle is a sparkly deep gray color and Kitten is a champagne peachy pink with gold in it (perfect for highlighting).

This product works as a stand alone shadow, a base for powder shadows, and the lighter colors such as Kitten, work as a highlighter to highlight cheekbones, cupid's bow and just under your brow bone or inner corner of the eyes.

How do I use this product?:

For a 5 minute smokey eye, I took the color Dazzle and applied it just to the base of my lash line because that's where I wanted the color to be most concentrated. I then pulled the color up using a cream eyeshadow brush. You can also smudge it up using your finger or a concealer brush if you prefer. I kept reapplying the color, always starting at the base of my lash line and pulling the color up with the brush until I got the desired intensity. I also drew a little bit on the outer corner of my eye to define that area. Pull the color up into the crease using the same brush (or your finger).  Blend out any harsh edges using a synthetic crease brush or blending brush. I recommend blending out each eye before moving to the next once because once these set they do not budge, so you'll need to work somewhat quickly.I then took the crayon and drew about 1/3 of the way under my lash line and smudged it gently with a pencil brush.

Optional: I then used Kitten to highlight the inner corner of my eye and just under the brow bone, applying the color straight from the crayon then blending with a brush (you can also blend with your finger). That's it. You are done. How easy is that?

 This is the fastest easiest way I know how to do a smokey eye. I'm not sure what other colors came in the Sample Society box, but you can use this same technique with any of the colors and it will give you a different look depending on how deep the shade is.  Here is the final look. You could make this as light or as dark as you want it depending on your preference by simply adding more color:

 Note the nice highlight in the inner corner of the eye and under the brow bone (above).

 If you want to take the look 1 step further, and treat the smudge crayon as a base for a powder shadow, after following above steps, you can apply some of Urban Decay's Ashpalt shadow from the Smoked palette to just the outer corner of the eye over the top of the Smudge Crayon, blending it into the crease  and under the lash line as I've done here:

 Note, I also used Stila's Smudge Crayon in Kitten as a cheekbone & brow bone highlight (above).

As you can see, this final step doesn't change the look much it just adds another layer of dimension to the look and it will make the look last a bit longer on the eye because you've layered the product. Here are the powder shadows I would recommend for layering based on your color of Smudge Crayon:

Kitten: Use the Kitten powder shadow from Stila
Smoke: Use Mushroom from Urban Decay
Dazzle: Use Ashpalt from Urban Decay's Smoked Palette

Available shades of Stila Smudge Crayon:

• Black
• Kitten
• Midnight Blue
• Umber
• Antique
• Pink Violet
• Rose
• Smoke 

I no longer see Dazzle on Stila's website so it may have been a limited edition or discontinued shade. 

Price for full size product is $22 which includes a built in sharpener.  Please visit http://www.stilacosmetics.com for more info 

Stila is a cruelty free and Eco friendly company!

Spotlight: 100% Pure Cosmetics Vegan Brushes

It is with great pleasure, that I am writing today's post about makeup brushes from 100% Pure Cosmetics.  If you are unfamiliar with this brand, please see more under my Synthetic Makeup Brushes Part 3- About the Brands : http://makeupmattersbylnc.blogspot.com/2012/08/synthetic-makeup-brushes-part-3-about.html post, where they are listed in my synthetic brush guide. I was first introduced to this brand through their coffee bean caffeine eye cream which works wonders on puffy under eye circles and fine lines. It's my holy grail eye cream and I don't know what I would do if they ever discontinued it. As many of you may know from my previous posts, I am on a never ending quest for good quality synthetic brushes. The brushes from 100% Pure Cosmetics came up in my search when I was looking for brushes, but I couldn't really find any personal reviews on them. I generally like to read other people's personal thoughts and reviews on products before I buy them. That is why it is with such pleasure that I am writing this post. I hope that this information is helpful to someone like myself who was looking for a more personal account of these brushes.

Here are the brushes that I have:

• Cruelty Free Angled Brush #8 ($13): This brush is AWESOME for applying eyebrow powder and shaping your brows. This has become my go to brow brush because of the angle, size and stiffness of the bristles.You can use it to apply brow powder, brow wax or eyeliner.
• Cruelty Free Contour Brush ($15): This is a stand out for me among the brush line. I think this is a really great blending brush, and blends eyeshadow perfectly every time. The bristles are really soft and the dome shape of the head makes it perfect for blending out harsh edges. 
• Cruelty Free Eye Liner Brush ($9): I like this brush for gel liners.  Just dampen it with a little water, dip it into your gel liner pot and draw the perfect line of color. This brush can be used dry or wet to create different effects.  I find I use it most for applying dry powder shadow to my bottom lash line. 
• Cruelty Free Blush Brush ($18): Another stand out brush for me, this is truly a multipurpose brush. 100% Pure Cosmetics advertises this as a vegan blush brush, but when I first got it I used it to apply liquid foundation and it gave me a beautiful airbrushed finish.  I've also used it to apply powder bronzer & blush and have found that it works equally as well for all 3 tasks. So, I think you are really getting 3 brushes in one here, because it does all 3 jobs quite well. 
• Cruelty Free Eye Shadow Brush ($12): This is a flat shader brush perfect for packing on color to the lid. If you prefer long handle brushes, you'll love this one.

Now let's take a closer look at each brush individually. Before we do, I want to mention that although these have white bristles, they are easy to clean. When I first received these brushes, I was worried that the white bristles would get stained with product and they wouldn't look pretty when it came time to photograph them to share with you. I used them with very bold pigments including NYX Cinnamon blush, a dark bronzer, pigmented eyeshadow etc. and as you can see from this picture which was just taken, after lots of use and a few washes, they look good as new! Product came out easily with my daily brush cleaner spray, and brush shampoo, with no extra effort.

First up is the Blush Brush:

 This is a flat top kabuki style brush with a nice long handle and long Ferrell. In fact, all of the brushes in this post have quite long handles, though 100% Pure Cosmetics also makes shorter handled brushes if that's what you prefer.

 I love this picture (above) because you can really see how dense the bristles are here. The bristles are so super soft, you would never guess these brushes are synthetic. These brushes are just more proof as to why it's totally unnecessary to kill animals for brushes (or anything for that matter).

Next up is the Eyeshadow Brush:

 Note the long handle and long flat bristles. This could also double as a concealer brush.

 Above is a side view of the brush, note the flat head making it easy to also apply a small amount of color to the lower lash line using the tip of this brush.

Here is the Eyeliner Brush:

Once you wet the bristles they can be smoothed to a point and you can get a nice fine line from a potted gel liner. I also used this to apply powder eyeshadow to my lower lash line and because the bristles are so thin, you get a nice natural looking line every time.

Like the others, this brush also has a nice long white handle. 

Angled Brush #8:

This brush has a slightly angled head, with thin flat bristles and the perfect amount of firmness making it ideal for filling in brows, or lining the eyes. For me, as mentioned above, this is my go to brow brush. I think you could also use this is a lip brush, it would probably work great for applying something like the OCC Lip Tars or even gloss. As you can see most of these brushes are really multitaskers so you are getting much more than what you are paying for with each brush.

Contour Brush:

 This really is a great blending brush. I know many makeup artists who have all synthetic brushes except for the MAC 217 because quite honestly, there are not a lot of good synthetic blending brushes on the market. This synthetic blending brush really works great for blending out color, and in my personal opinion could and should replace that brush in your kit as a more cruelty free option. While the shape is not exactly the same, it is a domed brush and the density of the bristles is about the same. I really like the way this blends out color on the eye, and I've even used it to apply under eye primer and concealer.

Like the other brushes, this one has a nice long handle, and feels quite sturdy, yet comfortable in the hand.

 I've juxtaposed the bristle head with my index finger to show you size.  I think this is the perfect size for most eye shapes. I hate when companies make their blending brushes too big, not everyone has giant size eyes. This one, is just the right size!

Here is a final look at all of the brushes together:

From left to right (pictured above): Blush Brush, Contour Brush, Angled Brush, Eyeshadow Brush, Eye Liner Brush

Overall, I really like these brushes a lot. I think these are very reasonably priced for what you are getting.  It is important to note that not all synthetic brushes are created equal. I have made the mistake of purchasing brushes only to find them unusable. I've bought brushes from other companies that smell of paint or other oddities, or brushes that simply fall apart after one use.  The brushes from 100% Pure Cosmetics are sturdy, well constructed brushes. They are easy to keep clean, do not shed and have a nice long handle. 

If you are looking for a holiday gift for someone you know who likes makeup, or needs some brushes to start out her collection, this would be a great place to start without breaking the bank.These brushes are available for purchase on the company's website at:

www.100percentpure.com

I hope you enjoyed this review, and as always please feel free to ask questions in the comment box below.

*Note: These brushes were sent for consideration by the company. This does not in any way alter my review, all of my reviews are 100% honest. I never recommend a brush or product without using  it personally first. I do not get paid to write reviews, and only write them in hopes of helping others to make good purchasing decisions.

SNEAK PEEK! URBAN DECAY VICE PALETTE

Urban Decay is coming out with a BRAND NEW limited-edition Vice Palette featuring 20 exclusive shades in a gorgeous compact. Product will be available on urbandecay.com 9/15 and in stores approximately 9/27. 

Here is the good news, If you are NYC area TODAY – you’re in luck!  

Date: Friday September 14^th

Time: 3pm – 9pm

Location:  Sephora 5 Times Square: 200 W 42nd Street New York, NY 10036 (212) 764-2525.

One day only!  Get The Vice Palette here FIRST before it launches globally. 

Meet Eric, and his team of artists, get a customized look from highly anticipated The Vice Palette.  20 ALL NEW Eyeshadows, an incredible assortment of shades, and a beautiful case with a double ended eyeshadow brush.

A DJ will be on hand and tokens of appreciation for the first 100 customers.

Here is a sneak peek:

Urban Decay Create Your Own Palette- QUADS!

I am super excited to introduce you to the brand new Urban Decay Create Your Own Palette QUADS!  As some of you may know, Urban Decay came out with the Create Your Own Palette system not too long ago, but it held 6 shadows. While I love the 6 pan case, I was majorly craving a 4 shadow palette so that I could take it with me for touch ups, or to switch from a day look to a night look without having to carry around the larger 6 pan palette. In fact, I even dropped an email to Urban Decay a few months back with this request. Looks like the team over at Urban Decay already had something in the works, and now its available!

There are 3 create your own quad style palettes available: Breathless, Rock and Melt

What Urban Decay has to say about the new palettes:

Each one of these perfectly purse-sized aluminum palettes features a different limited edition
design on the outside inspired by our love for color. And the unique pop-out feature
inside makes it easy to change up your eyeshadows on the fly—for an endless array of looks.

NICE
PACKAGE:
Our makeup-obsessed staff loves to experiment with color. From nudes to vibrant hues to deep,
dark shades, these customizable palettes can hold any threesome (or foursome) they can
dream up.

HYPE:
Urban Decay launches three exclusive 4-pan Build Your Own Palette designs for the holiday
season. Build your beauty arsenal one eyeshadow at a time with these collectible (and
completely customizable) palettes. To get things started off right, we’ve popped in a never before-
seen shade that’s universally flattering and perfect for day or night. Whether you go
naughty or nice from there is all up to you—with three empty spaces and a massive selection
of shades, the options are limitless. Load up the remaining slots with your favorite UD shades
or change ‘em out whenever you get a craving for more!

THE SKINNY:
Don’t forget that each 4-pan palette comes with a full-size, never-before-seen shade of
Eyeshadow, an $18 value just on its own! Each one contains Urban Decay’s brand new Pigment
Infusion System™, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety
texture, rich color, serious staying power and blendability. UD junkies will definitely want to snap
up all three of these limited-edition palettes:

BREAK IT
DOWN:
Build Your Own Palette (SRP $18) is available at Sephora, ULTA and select Macy’s stores. Or
online at sephora.com, ulta.com, beauty.com, macys.com and urbandecay.com.
• The Sephora - exclusive Build Your Own Palette in Breathless, featuring the
namesake shade Breathless, a medium taupe.
• The ULTA - exclusive Build Your Own Palette in Melt, featuring the namesake
shade Melt, a sheer, shimmery peach.
• The Macy’s - exclusive Build Your Own Palette in Rock, featuring the namesake
shade Rock, a sheer, shimmery oyster/taupe.

What I have to say: I LOVE THEM! Very happy with this design, and I think these are just perfect for girls on the go (like me).  It's a great way to house my single shadows, and I am really happy with the included shadow in each kit, I think they are great neutrals that will work on most anyone. 


Here is a closer look at the quads that I have filled with my own color combos!:

 Each quad comes with 1 unique shadow, but as you can see above, I've filled them with my favs.  Hopefully these will give you some ideas on how to fill yours too!

I absolutely adore the packaging. Urban Decay gets me every time with their beautiful packaging. I mean look at the artwork here, truly thought out. Below is a closer look at Breathless (this shadow below comes with the case):

Breathless is a medium taupe shade which I love for daytime to define the eye crease. In my palette, I've teamed it up with Virgin, Sin and Secret Service (my personal favorite shade from UD). I think this is a nice neutral quad for daytime.

Next up is the Rock Palette, which comes with a sheer shimmery oyster/taupe color:

Rock is very shimmery, and again, I think this would make a great color for your eye crease. Because it's so shimmery, this would look great for an evening eye look. To complete this quad, I stuck with the gem-tone theme seen in the palette's cover and used shades like Shattered, Last Call and Zephyr as a highlight.


Last, but certainly not least is the Melt Palette:

The cover is adorned with "melting" roses and reminds me of the scene in Alice in Wonderland where she is painting the roses red. Melt is a sheer shimmery peach color and I think this would be a great all over lid color for every day. I've completed the quad with Toasted, Foxy and again Secret Service.

Need more color combo ideas?  Have no fear, in addition to the above, here are my top 6 picks for perfect quad color combos:

1. Matte Quad: Foxy, Naked, Tease, Buck
2. Party Girl Quad: Woodstock, Shattered, Roach, Zephyr
3. Office Appropriate Quad: Buck, Sin, Blackout, Secret Service
4. Experimental Quad: Bender, Mildew, Psychedelic Sister, Secret Service
5. Shimmer Queen Quad: Vanilla, Oil Slick, Free Love, Psychadelic Sister 
6. Hippy Chic Quad: Peace, Free Love, Half Baked, Secret Service

To view all shades available and descriptions please visit www.urbandecay.com

What are you waiting for? Go buy one! 

Urban Decay Ocho Loco 24/7 Eye Pencil Set - Tutorial

 
 Like many of you, I purchased the 8 pencil set with sharpener from Urban Decay called Ocho Loco. This crazy eight set of beautifully pigmented eye pencils can be used as eyeliner, blended out as eyeshadow or act as a base for powder eyeshadow. While there are many great product reviews online about this product, I could not find even one tutorial using the product when I was searching for inspiration. I'm assuming it's because most will use these as eyeliners.  I thought I'd create a simple look for you today. This is a sort of grunge look, and my take on a smokey eye. It's super easy and quick.

For this look you will need:

• eye primer (I used Urban Decay Primer Potion)
• 3 eye pencils from the set: Mushroom, Rockstar and Perversion
• 4 brushes that work for blending out cream products (synthetic)
• makeup remover wipes
• Rockstar powder eyeshadow (or another shimmery purple shadow)- optional
• mascara
• concealer 

Note: Apply each color then blend out on one eye only, before repeating the step on the second eye. These pencils dry fast, so you need to give yourself enough time to blend out the color before the pencil sets. You should use a clean brush for each color, so that your colors don't get muddy. You can also use the same brush if you clean it in between each color, but you'll need time for it to dry so it'll be easier to use a fresh brush if you have it.

Here is how I created the look:

Pencil 1: Apply Urban Decay Primer Potion all over the lid, up to the brow and below the eye. Next, apply the color Mushroom from the pencil set to the inner third of your eyelid and blend across your lid using a brush about half way.  It should look something like this:

 Pencil 2: Apply the color Rockstar from the pencil set to the center of the lid. Blend with a clean brush pulling the color out toward the outer corner of the eye.

 You want to see a nice even layer of color across the lid. Your Rockstar will overlap Mushroom a bit. This is fine, this is what we want to create a blended look.

Pencil 3: Take the color Perversion from the pencil set and draw a sideways V shape in the outer corner of the eye, drawing a little bit of color into the crease. Blend the color into the outer corner of your eye, and pull it into your crease using a clean brush.

 

 

 Once blended out completely, it should look something like the picture above. As you can see, the black eye pencil, overtook some of the purple shade from the center of the lid. To correct this, repeat step using pencil 2 above, adding back that beautiful purple shade to the center lid (Rockstar).

Clean Up: Take a clean brush, and blend out any harsh edges. Take a makeup remover wipe and clean any smudges around the eye area. Apply your under eye concealer & mascara.

Finishing Touches: (optional) Apply the 3 colors to the bottom lash line in the order above; Mushroom on the inner corner of bottom lash line, Rockstar along the center and Perversion just at the outer part of the lash line. You may smudge to blend using your finger or a cotton swab if you desire. I used the same brush I used to blend out Rockstar above. Line the waterline with Perversion if you wish.
 
Here is the finished look:

 As an optional step: You can add just a little bit of the color Rockstar in the powder eyeshadow form to the center of your lid and blend across the lid.  This will intensify your middle color and add extra shine. This shade is available in Urban Decay's new Smoked palette as well as a single shade.

I hope you try this out. Play around with your new pencils. Makeup should be fun!