Green Lantern Inspired Makeup Tutorial. Who's feeling like a superhero?

So, who's excited about the Green Lantern this weekend? ME! I'm feeling festive as usual, so I decided to do a makeup look inspired by the movie. I didn't think the female lead had anything different as far as makeup to emmulate, so I took from the picture of Ryan Reynolds below. His mask is green but the immediate area surrounding his eyes is black. So, I did a black smoky eye with green shadows placed over the black. I also had to incorporate glitter, because, If I were a superhero, you'd be assured I'd be loaded with glitter. So, I did add some gold glitter to the black in the look.

I used mostly higher end products, namely: MAC and Urban Decay but also used other affordable products like physician's formula and NYX. There are great drugstore/lower end green shadows that can be used to produce this look. Essentially, all you need is a matte black shadow, green shadow, and liner. This is another video tutorial, so please bear with me on the videos. They are still new to me.

The above picture was used for inspiration

This is the finished look - eyes only.



Finished look - everything all together. Notice that the lips and cheeks are very muted due to the heavy eyes.

Thanks for reading/watching!

Products:

FACE

Covergirl natureluxe foundation in 'flax'

Glamoflauge concealer in 'light'

NYC color loose smooth skin powder in 'translucent'

Physician's formula bronze booster in 'light to medium'

physician's formula mineral glow pearls in 'translucent pearl'

EYES

Urban Decay primer potion

LASplash eyeshadow sealer/base

NYX Jumbo Pencils in 'rocky mountain green' and 'black bean'

MAC paint pot in 'bare study'

MAC eyeshadow in 'swimming'

Urban Decay eyeshadow in 'chronic'

NYX single eyeshadow in 'black'

LASplash diamond dust glitter in 'golden smoke'

Milani eyetech liquid liner in 'black'

Urban Decay 24/7 liner in 'zero'

physician's formula shimmer strips gel liner in 'hazel eyes' (bottom color used)

MAC's eyeshadow in 'lightfall'

LIPS

LUSH's sugar scrub in 'sweet lips'

l'oreal color riche lipstick in 'fairest nude'

MAC's lip gelee in 'fashion flower'

Sally Hanen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep + Sally Hansen and OPI Crackle!

I love crackle polish!! I have crackle polishes from OPI, China Glaze, and now Sally Hansen and I love them all! This is a mini-review of the Sally hansen and OPI crackles as well as the sally hansen insta-dri line.
The picture below is of Sally Hansen's insta-dri in 'silver sweep' as a base. The sally hansen crackle in 'cherry smash' and the OPI crackle is in 'black shatter'. Of course, the OPI is the black top coat and the sally hansen is the red. You can see from the pictures that both shatter equally well. I applied both in a linear fashion.

Insta-Dri Review:
As for the base coat in silver, I have to say that I also love this polish!! It does what it says - it dries fast; which, I love. I paint my nails a couple times a week due to chipping and I love it when I have a good fast dry nail polish. I really love this color because it looks just like liquid metal on your nails. But I have to say that I love the whole insta-dri line. The brush for the polish is oversized, which makes it easier to apply the polish. Plus, they all go on in one or two coats max and look great. The color selection is great and they churn out new polishes pretty frequently. So, I cannot say enough good about the line. The downside of the insta dri line? Chipping. But, I find that it doesn't chip as fast as other fast dry polishes. The chipping curse seems to be very common to all fast dry polishes.

Crackle Review:

For me, I have loved all my shatter/crackle top coats pretty much equally. What matters when it comes to these topcoats, IMO, is the color selection and the crackle action. As far as color selection, china glaze is tops, followed by sally hansen with OPI bringing up the rear. China glaze has a line of regular colors (mint, white, pink, purple, etc....) and they are debuting a line of metallic crackles. Sally hansen has a line of a few shades which is comparable to the primary lines by china glaze and OPI. I do like that Sally Hansen is more accessible than the China Glaze and OPI and the line has both primary colors and metallics. OPI was the front runner in the shatter game with their black shatter coming out first, but have been slow to churn out more. Just recently, they did release more colors in the shatter line.

As for application, the sally hansen and OPI go on similarly and shatter quite easily with ease in applying it evenly. China Glaze is a little thicker with less cracks in the average size coat. To make the china glaze crack more, you have to apply it thinner than the competitors. But, overall, I love them all and would recommend them all. The one thing sally hansen has over the rest is that it can be bought wherever sally hansen is sold (drugstores, major retailers), while the China Glaze and OPI have to be bought at Ulta or salon supply stores. For me this isn't an issue, but it may be for others.

I definitely recommend the crackle, as well as the sally hansen insta-dri. The two together make for a really fun manicure. I will be trying the metallic crackles by china glaze soon and will probably post on those as well.

MAC Bare study dupe found!! Covergirl intense shadow blast review.

I have found a dupe of one of my favorite MAC products ever. Let me first say that I love MAC's bare study paint pot because it is gorgeous and ever so versatile. I use this product pretty much every day. It makes a great eyeshadow base in general and works great as an all over with neutral looks. It just looks good with anything. So, of course, I would recommend the MAC point pot in bare study to anyone....I just love it.
But, for those of you on a budget or those that don't have easy access to a MAC counter/store, I have found a great dupe. Cover girl has a new line of cream shadows called Intense Shadow Blasts. I picked up one in 'beige blaze' (typo: i used the wrong terminology on the swatch pictures - it is beige blaze, not blast) and found that it is pretty spot on for bare study. It applies a little lighter than bare study. I would describe the texture as like that of a mousse. Bare study is more of a sturdy cream. You can see from the swatch below that bare study has a more pink base to it and applies more evenly without blending. Otherwise, it would be extremely hard to tell them apart (especially on the lids). The two swatches below were taken without flash in different lighting (natural vs. artificial).

You can see from the picture below, that the color in the packaging is very similar as well.

Let me talk about some other aspects of the packaging. It uses a doe foot type applicator so it's not as hygienic for multiple uses as the bare study (but, I would guess most people purchasing the covergirl are just using it for themselves only). And, I could foresee a problem getting every last drop of product out of the covergirl as the doe foot will have trouble reaching all areas of the tube.

The CoverGirl states that there is a primer built in and that it won't crease. I can't attest to the strength of the product alone as I always wear a primer under every cream shadow, the MAC paint pot included. However, with my E.L.F. primer, the cover girl did not crease through a whole days wear! And, without saying, neither does the MAC. It applies well, blends easily, and stays on. It also works well under powder shadows - it doesn't make them more difficult to apply or blend as some creams do.

Bottom line: I really enjoy these new cover girl shadows. Make sure you get the new product and not the old smoky shadow blast sticks (as they were pretty terrible) - it would be easy to get confused with the similar names. Look for the packaging pictured above. I like these shadows so much, I already have a total of 3 out of the 6 colors offered. I think they are a great, inexpensive, cream shadow that look great on the lids. I also think this is a good alternative for those that don't have access to MAC and would like to get their hands on Bare Study. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to see more of this line!

Emma Frost (January Jones) Makeup Tutorial as inspired by X Men First Class

I love movies and I love makeup. I am combining the two loves into one by emulating the looks I see in the movies. I do this often at home but would like to share what I do.

After seeing X Men First Class this weekend, I knew that Emma Frost was the character I wanted to model first. She wears frosty, diamond like glitter in the movie. This fits her well since she can transform into a diamond form. I also love glitter so this was very fun for me.


I decided to go in a different direction with this tutorial. I filmed myself applying the makeup on myself this morning, using a picture (posted below) as inspiration. I thought it may be more helpful to the vast majority of you to actually see me applying the makeup. Please let me know if the video route is better than the regular posts I've done in the past. Since I don't like the sound of my own voice (and neither does my flip video), they will be silent or with a music background.

I understand that the music I've chosen for the video doesn't have anything to do with X Men but it's what I have in my collection and what I enjoy listening to (Green Day and Three Days Grace today).

I have the finished product pictures below as well as the product listing. This look is, in my opinion, a modern version of 1960's-esque makeup and really wearable as far as glitter goes. You could always omit the glitter and replace it with a shimmery shade which would be more appropriate for work or school. As always, you don't have to use the same products I have. As long as the shades are similar, it should still work.

Oh, and I'm very new to the video game. So please forgive some patchy editing as well as not getting into the viewfinder appropriately at times.

The video.......

The pictures.......

This is a picture of Emma Frost from the movie

Above are just the eyes.


Finished look above and below

Product Listing:

Eyes: E.L.F. eyeshadow primer, Bare Minerals High Shine Eyecolor in 'Ice', Wet N Wild comfort zone palette (2 shades), LA Splash Sealer/base, LA Splash Crystallized glitter in 'fuse', MAC's 'Phloof', Physician's Formula shimmer strips gel liner for 'hazel eyes' - black color used, maybelline volum' express one by one mascara in black, maybelline lash stiletto mascara in black

Face: Revlon colorstay foundation in 'buff', NYC color powder in 'translucent', physician's formula Happy Booster bronzer in 'light bronzer', MAC mineralize blush in 'giggly' (limited edition).

Lips: Cover girl lip perfection lipstick in 'sweetheart', nyx's mega shine lipgloss in 'sugar pie'

Retailers for the brands above:

Wet N' Wild - drugstores, Wal-Mart

Cover Girl - drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target, Ulta

MAC - MAC counters and PRO stores

Physician's Formula - drugstores, Target, Ulta

NYX - Ulta, http://www.cherryculture.com/

Revlon - drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target, Ulta

LA Splash - Ulta, http://www.cherryculture.com/

NYC color - drugstores (rite aid), Target

Bare Minerals - Ulta, Sephora, Bare Minerals Botiques, http://www.bareescentuals.com/

E.L.F. - Target, Kmart, http://www.eyeslipsface.com/

Maybelline - drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target