Perfect Eyebrows + My Eyebrow Routine

HOW TO GET THE PERFECT EYEBROWS + MY EYEBROW ROUTINE

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One of my favorite parts while doing my makeup, is the eyebrows. I just love eyebrows! I believe that they basically frame the face and give some structure to it. Imagine how weird your face would look without eyebrows. I know right? Therefore, eyebrows are a very important part of any makeup routine.

The first thing is to give the right shape to your eyebrows. By right I mean the shape that suits and flatters your face the most. The best thing would be to follow the natural arch and pluck it based on that. The two ends of your eyebrow are guided by your nose and your eye. So basically to find the beginning of your eyebrow mark a straight line from your nostril and up. Where your nostril ends is where your eyebrow begins. The end of your eyebrow is found my placing a ruler or a pencil diagonally from your nostril to the outer corner of your eye. This is where the eyebrow should end. To find your arch, you get the very same pencil/ruler and from the end of your nostril (like all the previous times), you take it at the centre of your pupil and up. That’s how you find where the highest part of your arch should be. It is an easy peasy way to map your eyebrows.

My eyebrow routine-Favorite products

When I groom my eyebrows, I basically pluck them where I need to in order to maintain my shape, and then I also use a tiny pair of scissors to trim them a little bit. I also use alcohol before I start plucking, to open up my pores a little so the process won’t hurt that much. Of course, I also brush them through the entire process so I can see how they will look eventually.

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When I am doing my eyebrow makeup, I use a few products I really like. For feeling in my brows I use a pencil or a shadow. My favorite pencil is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Medium Brown. I absolutely love that pencil because it has a very fine tip, which is perfect for creating a natural (not overdrawn) look. Plus it has a spooley brush as well.

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When I have more time at hand, I prefer to use a shadow than a pencil. My favorite duo is from the Naked 2 Basics palette from Urban Decay. I use the second darkest shade called Primal for the first half of my brow up to my arch, because this is a lovely taupe-brown shade that will keep the look natural. If I used a darker shade my eyebrows would look unnatural and overdrawn. For the second part of the brow I use the darkest shade called Undone, because it is a cool-toned dark brown, which is perfect for filling in my sparse part. I use an angled brush because of its shape.

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After I am done with the filling of the brows, I brush them with the spooley to blend any excess product and then I use my Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel to set my eyebrow so there won’t be any unruly hair flying to different directions. Sometimes when I am too lazy to fully do my eyebrows, I use a tinted eyebrow gel to fill them in a little and set them at the same time. I mostly use the Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Brunette but lately I am loving Benefit’s Gimme Brow in Medium/Dark. Both of them are lovely.

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Besides the products mentioned above, I also love Urban Decay’s Brow Box in Brown Sugar. It is an amazing all-in-one product as it has 2 shades for the brows, a pair of tweezers, two angled brushes and wax to set the brows. An amazing tool perfect for daily use or when travelling.

Brows are an important part of the face; they add structure to all the characteristics. Therefore, grooming them is an important part of a makeup look. It doesn’t matter what you use to get the right brow; it could be shadow, pencil or simply a tinted brow gel. No matter what you choose to use or how you choose to do your eyebrows, keep in mind that they should always frame your face and highlight your features. Try not to overdo them but instead always keep them natural-looking. It doesn’t matter how thin or thick they are as long as they look natural and not like glued on or drawn on. I would love to know your eyebrow routine and your favorite eyebrow products. Also lets connect on my Instagram (@vogueandmacarons) or Twitter (@vogueandmacaron).

Till next time take care dolls 😉 xxx

Vicky

MY MOST AND LEAST FAVORITE MASCARAS

MY MOST AND LEAST FAVORITE MASCARAS

1 Mascara is an important part of any eye makeup look. It enhances the lashes and adds definition and intensity to the eye. Even a “natural” makeup look can stand out with a touch of mascara. There are many different types of brushes that serve different purposes. There are those that add volume, length, intensity or all of them together. I have tried quite a few mascaras and I have come to absolutely love a few! I really like my mascara to separate and elongate my lashes and I really hate it when the mascara clumps my lashes and makes them stick to each other. In this post I am going to talk about my favorite mascaras and about those I don’t really enjoy wearing.

Lancome Definicils

definicils

This is probably my favorite mascara. I love how long, slim and neat the brush is. It reaches my entire lash line even the inner and outer corner. It doesn’t apply a lot of product to the lashes, so it doesn’t stick them together. On the contrary it separates them and creates a natural look. You can easily build it up and make your lashes as intense as you like. It also is not messy at all. It is the perfect mascara for defined, long yet natural-looking lashes.

Lancome Hypnose

hypnose

Another amazing product from Lancome, this iconic mascara really deserves all the hype. It is a little different from the Definicils one, as its brush is kind of wavy instead of straight. This is very helpful for adding volume and thickening the lashes, instead of elongating them. It has a creamier formula, which really intensifies the lashes and creates a more dramatic look instead of a natural one. I like how once again it reaches my entire lash line and how doesn’t clumps my lashes, even though it does carry a lot of product. This is the perfect mascara for a statement night-time look.

Benefit They’re real!

benefit

This was my favorite mascara for years prior to the Lancome ones. I really love this mascara. Before I used it for the first time, I wasn’t really wearing any mascara, as I was disappointed from all my previous ones. This mascara really changed my life. It has a lovely long brush, similar to the Definicils one but a little bigger. The bristles are quite small; therefore it doesn’t carry a lot of product. Just like the Definicils, it lengthens my lashes without clumping them at all. I also use it close to my roots to add some volume and curl to my lash line. Basically, it is multi-mascara that adds volume, curl and length to the lashes without creating a mess.

YSL Effet Faux Cils

ysl

This Yves Saint Laurent mascara is my last favorite one. It has a shorter brush than the others and it has a swirly design instead of bristles. Although it is shorter, it does get to my inner and outer corners quite easily. The swirly design of the brush may give the impression that it creates a lot of mess, but actually it doesn’t. It is very neat, even though it carries a lot of product, and it doesn’t clump my lashes. It creates full, bold lashes by adding volume more than length. It is perfect for creating a deep, intense, dramatic look like the Hypnose one.

In order to have a more complete and honest post, I thought it would be helpful to mention a couple of mascaras that didn’t satisfy me as much as all the above. I need to stress out that the following mascaras are not terrible but simply not as good or effective as the previous ones.

Too Faced Better Than Sex

too faced

I was really, really disappointed by this hyped up Too Faced mascara. I had been dying to try it for quite a while, so when I finally got my hands on a sample of it, I couldn’t contain my excitement. My first impression was that the brush is very messy. It has an hourglass shape, which is a great idea for adding volume and length to the inner and outer corner, while keeping the middle more natural. This idea would have worked better if the bristles weren’t as long and very close to each other. This is the perfect example of clumping mascara. It carries way too much product that is not distributed evenly and as a result, my lashes are clumped and they stick together. I really wanted to love this mascara because I love Too Faced as a brand, but I was not satisfied at all. I feel that in all it is a great idea but poorly executed.

Buxom Lash Mascara

buxom

This mascara is quite disappointing as well. I got it as a sample in a Sephora goodie bag and I was really excited to try it out. At first I found weird how instead of screwing the lid, you simply pull it out. I believe that this very design is the main reason why this mascara is bad. The brush is straight and long with short bristles, which normally would be great, but the size of it is big. It is like a triple version of the Definicils one. That size combined with the pull-out design, result in a clumpy and messy mascara. A lot of the product is gathered at the two corners of the brush which in turn clumps the corners of my lash line. Also as mentioned, the brush is too big to handle and I feel it’s too big for my eyes in general. I do however believe that it is not as bad as the Too Faced one. In my opinion, if the brush was longer and screwed in, it would be much better.

Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant

smoky

If there was a big brush competition, this mascara would be the winner. Its brush is simply huge, which obviously is a problem to me. I like its unique “pyramid” shape, where one corner is small and as you move to the other one it gets bigger and bigger. This is perfect for making the outer corner lashes longer and more voluminous, creating a flutter look. As much as I love the idea, like with the Too Faced mascara, I believe it is poorly executed. A multi-purpose mascara for lengthening and volumizing the lashes, it would be amazing if it didn’t carry so much product. It really clumps my lashes. A lot of product is gathered in the inner corner of the brush, while there is a huge size difference between its two ends. The outer end is much bigger than the inner one, therefore the inner corner is clumpy and the outer corner is too big for my eye. The only good thing is that it is swirly mascara, because if it had bristles it would be really awful.

I have tried many different types of mascara because I love trying new products. Each one has a different style and a different purpose, but not all of them are effective nor do they achieve that purpose. The worst thing mascara can do, is to clump and stick your lashes. Sadly some of the mascaras above do exactly that. However, there are some that are absolutely lovely! They elongate the lashes without clumping them for a nice everyday look, or add some serious volume for a more dramatic one. Comment down below and share which is your favorite mascara and why. Also don’t forget to pop over my Instagram (@blueberrylover) and Twitter (@vickyinlalaland) to say hi!

Till next time take care dolls 😉 xxx

Vicky

 

 

 

 

MAKEUP TRENDS AND FAVORITES FALL 2015

        MAKEUP TRENDS AND FAVORITES FALL 2015

Pictures from www.harpersbazaar.com
Pictures from www.harpersbazaar.com

As the weather gets colder and gloomier, I couldn’t be happier since fall is my favorite season! There is something about grey clouds and brown leaves that I just find fascinating and beautiful! What I love more however, is the transitional makeup of this period; moving from warmer and brighter colors, to cooler and darker ones!  In this post I am going to share my favorite trends and products of this season’s transitional makeup!

  1. Eyes
From left to right: Urban Decay Naked Basics 2, Urban Decay Naked 3, Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye, MAC Blacktrack
From left to right: Urban Decay Naked2 Basics, Urban Decay Naked 2, Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye, MAC Blacktrack

Two are the season’s hottest eye makeup trends: the nude, perfectly lined eyes and the timeless smokey eyes. For a perfect nude eye, I love using Urban Decay’s Naked Basics 2 palette which has 5 matte nude-brown eye shadows. Then I use either a liner – I love MAC’s gel liner in Blacktrack – or a dark brown eyeshadow as I find it perfect for a softer look. For the perfect smokey eye, I love Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. It has the perfect brown, bronze, silver and black colors for either a soft, melted chocolate smokey eye or a rock, fierce one. Don’t forget some layered, voluminous mascara, like Bobbi Brown’s Smokey Eye one and you are ready to go!

  1. Face
From left to right: MAC Breath of Plum, MAC Blush Pink, Benefit High Beam, MAC Full of Joy
From left to right: MAC Breath of Plum, MAC Blush Pink, Benefit High Beam, MAC Full of Joy

Fall is the season to put aside our bronzers and sculpting powders and  stock up on cool pink blushes, and champagne or rosy highlighters. I absolutely love MAC’s Full of Joy blush which is a cool toned pink with frost finish, as well as MAC’s Breath of Plum which is a sheer, darker pink (almost plum) shade. For highlighting I choose Benefit’s High Beam as it is the perfect shimmery pink highlighter, or MAC’s Blush Pink highlighting powder from the Philip Treacy collection, which is a silver infused pink powder. These products create a blushed and a perfectly glowing, cool toned skin, which is perfect match for the cooler weather.

  1. Lips
From left to right: NARS Audrey, MAC Brick-O-La, MAC Amorous
From left to right: NARS Audrey, MAC Brick-O-La, MAC Amorous

Brick red lips are perfect for fall. Paired with a flawless base and no eye-makeup, they create a warm look which contrasts with the cold weather. My favorites are MAC’s Amorous (satin cranberry) and Brick-O-LA (mid-toned berry), as well as NARS’s Audrey (red currant) from the audacious series.  However, if you’re feeling bold enough, another fall trend  is the 90’s – grunge inspired dark purple (almost black) lip. Blackish purple is a statement on its own, and therefore, it should be combined with a nude and flawless face. Feeling quite bold myself, lately I have my eyes set on MAC’s Nightmoth lip pencil which is a blackened plum shade. Once I tried it on it felt a bit strange as I am not used to this colors but I have come to really like it. What do you guys think? Do you have the Nightmoth pencil and if so how do you wear it? I am still a bit unsure so I would love any enabling!

This fall’s makeup is a mixture of trends like clear face-bold lips, soft brown eyes-pink cheeks and fierce metallic smokey eyes. Whichever trend you decide to follow, make sure to play with the colors and just be yourself! I would love to know which one is your favorite trend, so don’t forget to comment down below!

Till next time take care dolls 😉 xxx

Vicky