Red Lips and Rosy Cheeks
Bangkok has been an absolute treat for Beauty shopping. The last post featured highlights of my Skincare purchases and if you have been following ShimmerMe on Instagram, you would have seen a recent splurge at Sephora. My initial thoughts were that I would give shopping for Makeup a pass as I saw familiar cosmetic brands around. Well, that changed dramatically with my first visit to one of the Sephora stores here. I was kicked about finding a certain few brands that I have been eagerly waiting to try - Hourglass, Becca, Stila to name a few. And yes, I bought my first few liquid lipsticks and I am so in love with them. I love the Red one from Stila so much that it turned out to be the main inspiration behind this look. Getting to the look itself, I wanted one that is strong, stylish and glamorous that would enhance the simplicity and elegance of a monochrome outfit. In this post, I am going to focus on the new products that I have used for this look. Do refer to earlier posts on how I prep the skin, the under eye are and also groom my brows. So here we go.
Eyes
When I am on the move, I carry travel friendly palettes with essential colors that allow me to create day and night looks. For this look, I used one of the Ted Baker Black/Silver trio eye-shadow palettes. The black shade is highly pigmented with a metallic sheen and I used it all over the lids, the metallic silver in the crease area and the shimmery white in the inner corners of the eyes.I have used Kat Von D tattoo liner in 'Trooper' to line the upper lash line and extended it a bit in the outer corner. I tightlined the upper lash line with Mac Kohl pencil in 'Smolder', lined outer half of the lower lash line with the same and dusted the same black eyeshadow to set it.
Base – Eyes & Face
For years, I have not even remotely considered buying a foundation other than Bobbi Brown. It has always felt so weightless and perfect, just like skin. But when I was at Sephora and speaking to my sister, she mentioned about the great reviews that she has been reading about the recently launched Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick. Once I did a swatch, I realized the 'why' behind the hype. It is a formula that combines a concealer and foundation which means it gives buildable full coverage without being heavy on the skin. My shade is ‘Golden Tan’ and I’d highly recommend the product. The best way to apply is to swipe a few lines on the face and then buff it out with a brush. I used my Full Coverage brush from Bobbi Brown. I have set the foundation using ‘Dim Light’ from the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette. It is a finishing powder and I really like that I get a smooth and non-powdery finish with it. I’d use it as a perfect alternative to Laura Mercier’s Translucent setting powder.
Blush, Contour and Highlight
The Ambient Lighting Palette is gorgeous. Period. What I love about the palette is that it helps mimic the effects of warm lighting, leaving you with a subtle glow. Aptly named, I'd say. I used ‘Incandescent’ from the palette as a highlighter on the cheekbones, browbone, bridge of the nose and cupid’s bow. The very fine shimmer particles in it gives a nice pearly glow. 'Radiant' from the palette is golden beige and I chose it for a subtle contour. The sunkissed glow that it gives works perfectly for me. And now to the blush, I am head over heels with Jaclyn Hill Becca face palette and I can’t wait to use it all. For the blush, I used ‘Amaretto’, a rosy brown mineral blush from the palette. It works as a blush/ bronzer on my skin tone and it really warms up my cheeks.
Lips
As I mentioned earlier, I am totally sold on this shade, ‘Fiery’ from Stila. If I knew that liquid lipsticks were this good, I would have stocked up on them earlier. It is absolutely non-drying, long staying and the color is an amazing deep red. No lipliner, no brush for application, it comes with a doe-foot applicator which is very easy to use. Just one coat and it doesn't move.
I would save this look for the evening, but the lipstick and just a winged liner can work great for the day too. I wear red lips mostly with black or white outfits and tend to avoid bright and bold coloured outfits with it. We don't want to go overboard, do we? A long time ago, I used to think that Red lips is a definite ‘NO’ for me, but now I have about 5 shades of red that I thoroughly enjoy wearing. May be I should do a post soon featuring all the reds, would you like to read ? Let me know :-)
