After I posted my last Youtube Tutorial, a few people left comments for me asking for some more 'neutral' looks. I always get nervous when I hear that word, 'neutral'. A) Because I'm so much better with color and B) Because I'm not always sure what people consider neutral. Some people say neutral when they really mean natural, because a lot of people don't realize that these terms aren't interchangeable. You CAN have a neutral, natural look but neutral technically just means using color that doesn't attract attention (browns, blacks, greys, whites, beiges, muted tones, etc). So, this is just a REALLY long winded way of saying that I did a neutral look that is by no means natural looking. I hope that's what you wanted, YouTube commenter, because that's what you're getting.

When I decided to take on the challenge of a neutral look I wanted to try and do something different than I normally do. I recently realized that my fall back color is gold. I have worn or incorporated gold eyeshadow into the last like 8/10 looks I've done ... so I insisted on doing something silver this time. While looking for silver inspiration I found an old tutorial by Marlena of Makeup Geek that was based off of Kim Kardashian's Vegas photoshoot. While I don't particularly care for Kim Kardashian, the look was perfect and I'm a huge fan/supporter of Marlena's amazing work. So I figured what better way to pay homage to one of my personal makeup heroes but by recreating her look/tutorial with products from her Makeup Geek line? So that's what I did. Here's what I used and here's the tutorial:

Marlena's Tutorial

My Recreation of the Tutorial

Here's how it turned out. I apologize for the grainy nature of these photos. The camera was not behaving that day and they all came out with this kind of blurred effect. How EVERRRR ... on the plus side, I was having probably the best hair day of my life (not saying much, but still a small victory) so I can live with a few blurry photos.

My camera was being cantankerous and obstinate so it wouldn't take a single close up shot of my eye that was in focus. The best I could do was take a shot of my eye from regular distance and just blow it up, so I apologize for the grainy-ness of the shot. I think you can get the basic gist from the glamour shots though; silver lid, brown crease, black liner. Boring, but beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed this post, as boring as it might have been. If you have any requests for looks, you can always leave a comment or e-mail me at pigmentsandpalettes@gmail.com, I try my best to respond to all my fan & follower e-mails. Love you guys. See you next time!

I don't know where the rest of you guys are reading this from right now, but where I am it's been bleak, grey, and bitterly cold for the past two weeks. Awful, just awful. When it gets that way for too long I always feel the need to infuse my life with color wherever and however I can. I haven't done a fun, colorful look in a long time so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get back to what I love most ... COLOR! Specifically, rainbow makeup.

When life is looking grey there's little that's more uplifting than a gorgeous technicolor rainbow, and so that is where I turned to for inspiration. I knew I wanted something that would wow, something spectacular that crossed the full spectrum of color. I saw this image for I-Candi cosmetics and fell in love instantly. 

I absolutely had to try and recreate this. I immediately reached for my Sugarpill stash. Sugarpill is synonymous with colorful makeup creations and I knew I had what I needed in my kit to recreate it. Here's what I used:

Someone asked for a written explanation of how to get this look so here's my best attempt. Start with Darling in the middle of the lid; apply generously! Take Dollipop on a blending brush and work it into the outer-v of the eye, blending out in a cat-eye shape. Lightly bring some of that same color through the crease of the eye. Don't over do it! Take Poison Plum on a bullet brush and darken the crease of the outer-v. Don't forget to pat some on to the inner corner of the eye as well. Take Buttercupcake and blend it back and forth over the browbone, working it slowly down into Dollipop. The two should mix to create a warm, orangey color in the crease. Highlight under the arch of your brow with a little bit of Tako. Return to Dollipop and bring the color along the lower lash line. For the waterline, apply a layer of Goldilux, which you should also blend into the inner corner of the eye. Add a dab of Lumi over Darling to give it extra iridescence, line the eyes and apply mascara & lashes. C'est fin! Here's how it should look when you're all finished!

Now, how about a blast from a past! All this talk about rainbow makeup has me reminiscing for the first look I EVER did. This was almost two and a half years ago!

My first ever makeup look - September 2010

See how much my makeup & photography skills have improved since then! I have to laugh when I see this because it makes me remember how how insanely proud I was of this look at the time, and it's so awful. Just goes to show how much we can grow in a short period of time with a little practice. 

Well, that's all for today's ridiculously rainbow post, until next time! So don't forget to heed Pochahontas' wise words my beautiful babies ... paint with all the colors of the wind!

 

With my life being a bit busier in the past year or so, I've had fewer and fewer occasions for sitting at home and doing makeup looks just for fun. Nowadays, the only time I really get to sit down and play with my stash is when I have an event to go to like a birthday, party, or a dinner. This presents a small problem because the old me that did makeup just for fun wants to seize the opportunity as a chance for crazy, colorful, fun, makeup playtime. But then after I get all painted I realize that I do in fact have to leave the house, and needless to say you can feel a little overdone if you're rocking rhinestones & sparkles on your eyes when everyone else wearing 'regular' makeup. Sooooo, I try to tone it down a bit when I'm going out with friends but it's almost impossible for me to subdue my lust for all things colorful. You can't keep a good woman down! So, this look was my best attempt at doing something semi wearable that also lets you have a little fun with color. Take a look!

Lashes from www.fauxlash.com; Bianca Lashes

So, there it is. My version of 'understated, wearable' party makeup. Yup.

So, this was my original face chart that I drafted up before I got ready for Saturday night's party (Yes, this is something I do in my everyday life. I have intense planning sessions every time I get ready to go out somewhere that start at least a week in advance. And that now also apparently include face charts. I have a problem. I am not working on it.) So, this was the look I did but as I was rushing out the door I had no time for pictures so the ones of my eye above are actually a recreation I did a few days later. Unfortunately I didn't have time to recreate the whole look but the eyes are what count the most anyways. So that's why I included the chart, so you could see the full vision.

So, as is the theme with this post so far, I didn't actually get any decent pictures of what I wore because I was too busy being fabulous. The above image is the closest recreation I could come up with. Teal and gold are a slick, chic, sophisticated color combo for winter wear (I think), and it also complemented the eye makeup without being too matchy-matchy. Here is the only photo proof I could find of my outfit. The tiny top hat I found at the party. It started out as a joke but quickly became my favorite part of the outfit. I fought a man for it.

And there you have it. Everything you never wanted to know about my going out/getting ready process. I'm going out again this Saturday too actually ... shit, I better start planning! 

Has this ever happened to you? You're sitting at home in your relaxation uniform, you know the one; old sweats, oversized t-shirt, slippers, ratty hair, no makeup, food on your chin ... when all of a sudden some last minute plans come up and you have to be out the door in under an hour. PANIC! Well, last Thursday I got an unexpected call from a friend who wanted to meet for dinner downtown at 7:00. This meant I had almost no time to deal with the natural disaster that was my face at the time. Well, when in doubt ... smoke it out! Seriously once you master the basic technique(s) there's nothing simpler or safer for a going out go-to look than a monochrome smokey eye. If you want to make it a little bit more exciting, try it in a color other than black or brown. I did mine in a deep indigo blue using only a handful of cheap products. Here's how it turned out.

 

To balance out the deep dark look of the eyes I wore a barely there lip color and skipped blush completely, substituting it for a light dusting of bronzer (my skin needs all the color it can get during the hellish, sunless depths of winter in Canada).

 

For clothes, here's what I suggest wearing/pairing this look with. A look this simple is very versatile which means you can dress it up or down, but I think it really lends itself best to a 'groomed grunge' aesthetic. I have the great fortune of dating an amazing guy who also just so happens to be a visual merchandiser at Forever 21 which means he's constantly bringing me home clothes (I don't know what I ever did to be so lucky). Most recently he got me this bad ass graphic t-shirt of a roaring tiger. I've been dying to wear it ever since he brought it home and I thought this would be the perfect occasion so here's a rough recreation of what I wore. Smokey eyes & studded boots. If there's a better combination, I haven't found it yet. 

Easy Rider: Round out your biker chic style with some feathers & studs for an All American aesthetic with attitude.

Throw on a leather jacket, tease out your ponytail, and you're officially the baddest bitch in town. From frumpy to fabulous in an hour flat, Pigments and Palettes style!

Today's post is a two-in-one review/tutorial for the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Hypercolor Brow & Hair Powders. I'm going to show you how you can easily achieve temporary dip dyed locks in five fun colors or mix and match for awesome ombre effects! Keep reading to learn the simple secrets to trendy, temporary hair color!

Watch the video to see the product(s) in action and learn some tips for applying them or skip the tutorial and just read the written review below. They both contain essentially the same info.

I've reviewed Anastasia Beverly Hills before so if you want to know more about this company then I definitely recommend checking out that post. I was so in love with their products that when the samples they sent me ran out I went straight to Sephora to stock up on more. If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is. Their brow wiz pencil is to. die. for. I never use anything else. Anyways, I've come to expect high quality from ABH and these Hypercolors are certainly no exception. Here's a little info on exactly what they are and what they can be used for.

"Wipe on, wash out color. Instant Gratification. Get an intense flash of color without dyeing, bleaching, or spending hours in the salon. Apply to brows with an angled brush or rub the powder onto the tips of your hair or streak it for outrageously fabulous looks that wash out with ease. Set with hair spray when applying to hair or Brow Gel when applying to the brows." - Anastasia Beverly Hills 

They are $12.50/each and come in five fabulous colors; Mega-Watt Green, Electric Blue, Teal Tornado, Ultraviolet and In the Pink. 

Top: Teal Tornado, In the Pink, Megawatt Green
Bottom: Ultraviolet & Electric Blue

All shades sold seperately

All but In the Pink can be used as both hair & brow color (in the pink is not approved for use around the eye area). I didn't bother with swatches because you can see how they look in the video. My personal favorites were Electric Blue & In the Pink but they are all individually awesome.

Okay, so in general - how did I find my experience with Anastasia's Hypercolors? 

They get points for: All the colors work on all hair colors, reasonably priced when comparing to permanent alternatives, amazing pigmentation, extremely easy to use & easy to blend, washes out like a dream so there are no worries about staining skin/clothes/hair. All in all a high quality product (as always) which yields great results that get lots of compliments

They lose points for: This stuff is HELLA messy. The fall out on this is insane and it will get all over the place if you're not careful. It's a good thing this stuff washes out as easily as it does, thank god. I'd also like to see them expand the selection of colors but these five are a really great start.

Final Words: If you love fun, funky hair but have commitment issues when it comes to color then this stuff is an absolute must have/try, at LEAST once!

I'll spare you the reasons & apologies and just get straight to it. I've been away but now I'm back and I'm resolved to get back to good blogging habits by posting more regularly. To kick things off I have a beauty box review for you from a new company called Wantable. As this is the first beauty box I've ever received I can't compare & contrast it to others but I can give you my unbiased, honest opinion of my first experience with a beauty box. Shall we?

 

 

I'm assuming most of you know the general gist of how beauty boxes work but if you don't here's the short and sweet of it: You subscribe to the company for a monthly fee and in return every month they ship you a box of makeup products to try out. Couldn't be simpler! With Wantable in particular here's how it works: There are two types of boxes to choose from 1) Make Up or 2) Jewelry. Once you've selected your box of choice, fill out a short quiz/questionnaire telling Wantable a little bit about what kinds of things you do and don't want to recieve from them (I opted out of nail polishes, for example. More on that later). Then you get a little bit more specific on your preferences. Hate sparkles, no problem. Love sheer shimmery products, you got it! Once you're finished filling out the info just sit back and wait for your beauty box to arrive.

Moving on to the goodies! In total I received eight products: Powder Blush, Cream Blush, Highlighting Powder/Eyeshadow, Lip Gloss, Nail Polish (more on that later), and three fragrance samples. Take a look:

 

And now for the close ups:

MyFace Cosmetics Lip Gloss in 'Hot Stuff'; Retail; $18.00

"A warm, muted rosy pink that is a perfect pairing for modern nude lips. Never sticky, but luxurious with chic shine. Apply over your favorite lip product or alone for a touch of iridescent shine." - Wantable

Swagger Cosmetics Blush/Eyeshadow in 'Golden Rose'; Retail: $14.50

"This is a beautiful, vegan, super sparkly rose gold that is perfect for highlighting over blush. Dust this powder on tops of cheekbones and decollete whenever you need a hint of sparkle. Product also doubles as an eyeshadow!" - Wantable

Mia Bellezza Blush in 'Flirt'; Retail: $16.50

"Create a beautiful healthy glow with this amazing blush. Satin pressed long wearing formula will float over your skin with ease, no need for harsh blending. Apply with a blush brush in a circular motion from apples of cheeks out toward temples for a healthy glow." - Wantable

V-Glow Cream Blush in 'Indian Summer'; Retail: $18.00

"Lightweight radiant golden brown, sheer powder blush to contour and colour the cheeks. Advanced optical technology brings a youthful glow. This blush effortlessly creates a natural radiance." - Wantable

My Face Cosmetics Lil' Bling Nail Polish that I wasn't supposed to get 

Annnnnd then this happened. For those of you who skipped the intro to look at the pretty pictures (tisk, tisk) you probably missed the part where I said I opted OUT of getting any nail polish. At first when I saw this I thought to myself "Those bastards! Why ask someone what they don't want if you're going to send it anyways!?" Good thing they include an inventory list! I cross checked all the items on the inventory and there was no nail polish listed, but there was an eyeshadow listed that I was meant to get instead. So, still an oops on their part but not as insulting of an oops, an oops I can live with and overlook. Shit happens.

I'm not including any pics or info on the fragrances because, well, how does that saying go? If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all? So I won't say anything about those. Here's what my boyfriend had to say about them instead! His reactions to the three scents were: "Talc-y", "Old Lady" and "Not as bad as the other two I guess". So let's just leave it at that.

From L-R: Mia Bellezza Blush in Flirt, Swagger Cosmetics in Golden Rose & V-Glow Blush in Indian Summer

I really like how all of these products work so perfectly together. The colors are all totally harmonious which made it easy to combine them. I will definitely be using these for my full face makeups. I especially like the highlighter by Swagger Cosmetics though it's more of a blush/highlighter combo because of the strong rose pigment. I liken it to a more sparkly version of the NARS's Orgasm Blush that everyone (including myself) is obsessed with. So for these three, 10/10 will use again. Here's how they look on the face:

Happy, healthy, glowy cheeks! You can also see here the slight translucent shine of the MyFace lip gloss. Very subtle & sheer. A good color to keep in the purse when you just need to freshen up your lips on the go.

Okay, so in general - how did I find my first beauty box experience with Wantable? 

They get points for: Top notch customer service experience (seriously SO helpful, went above and beyond), asking for and respecting your personal makeup preferences, full size products, products I would actually use, products complement each other nicely, including product use tips & suggestions, inventory list, free shipping, simple send-it-back policy, speedy delivery

They lose points for: Fragrance fail & the nail polish mix-up (sending me a product I wasn't supposed to get in place of something I was supposed to get).

Anyways, you should definitely check them out at www.wantable.co! Hope you found this review helpful & stay tuned for more posts!