Review: Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner

April 21, 2016Leave a comment

When it comes to eye makeup that eyeliner on your eyelid makes the rest of your look pop; apply a little mascara and you’re set. For me, applying eyeliner on my lid is a hassle. I used to use the same pencil on my waterline on my lid and it looked faded and grey (I was using a black pencil). Then I switched to liquid eyeliner, and while I used MAC’s Liquidlast Liner, it was still difficult for me to apply, even with the tiny brush at the end.

Then Veronica recommended I try Smashbox’s Limitless Liquid Eyeliner pen and that worked better than the liquidlast liner. However, I was still having trouble. One eye would have thicker eyeliner than the other or I’d mess up one eye and have to start over again.

Screen Shot 2016-04-21 at 12.47.09 PM copy Since I want to practice my cat eyeliner technique, I wanted to use a product that was really forgiving. After watching countless reviews on YouTube, the common denominator amongst most of them was the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner. So I headed to Sephora.com and placed my order for the gel eyeliner and the appropriate brush to apply it with.

I have to say, I am really digging how this eyeliner looks. It is highly pigmented (a little goes a long way) and with the brush, I feel like I have way more control over the application than I did with the Smashbox liner. I haven’t tried the cat eye yet, but I will be this weekend, for sure. The wonderful thing about gel eyeliner is that if you mess up, a damp q-tip goes fixes the mistake. I haven’t had to remove my eye makeup and redo everything to get that perfect shape. Tip: if you’re new to gel eyeliner, create a line of dots close to your lash line and connect them for that flawless look. If you mess up, that’s okay. Just “erase” with a q-tip.

Here’s a photo my look today. If you like my video, be sure to follow me on Snapchat (leighleigh915) to see the video of this look and more makeup (and every day life) stuff.

2016-04-21 08.37.13

My look today:

Foundation: Too Faced Born this Way in warm nude.

Concealer: it Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye

Eyes:

• Urban Decay 24/7 black eyeliner pencil (on waterline)

• Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black ink on lid

• No eyeshadow

• Benefit They’re Real mascara

Lips:

• Too Faced Perfect Lips Liner in pink/neutral pink

• Too Faced La Matte lipstick in Sorry, Not Sorry

Do you have a favorite gel eyeliner? I’d love to know which brand you use. Comment below.

xoxo,

Leigh

Ipsy Glam Bag

March 8, 2016Leave a comment

courtesy of ipsy.com

I am always in search of new makeup, especially eyeshadows, lipsticks and glosses, blushes, mascara and the occasional liquid eyeliner. Being the Virgo that I am, I do extensive research before forking over a substantial amount of cash for a new makeup product by a top notch cosmetic line. If I had it my way, every product would be available in sample form and I could try things out and see if they work for me.

That being said, last Friday night, an old colleague of mine from my retail branch banking days told me about the San Mateo-based company, Ipsy. I had never heard of Ipsy, but she said that it’s similar to Birchbox, and you get to keep these cute little makeup bags along with your samples, for only $11 per month ($10 for the samples/bag and $1 for tax). Before even paying for your first glam bag, you go through a whole questionnaire about your skin tone, eye color and complexion, along with what brands you like and products you may use and other important makeup and beauty questions.

courtesy of ipsy.com

I’ve looked through past glam bags and they’re all fabulous. Each bag is catered to your specific profile, so no one bag is the same. I haven’t received my first bag yet, but I will be sure to review the products once I get it (should be around mid-April). You can earn points to redeem more products and enter giveaways, as well.

You can learn more about Ipsy and sign up here.

Do you subscribe to a different glam box? Let me know in the comments.

xoxo,

Leigh

Star Wars: CoverGirl Makeup Collection

December 14, 201512 Comments

It’s almost here…the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (opening in theaters this Thursday). Leigh and I both share a mutual love of the movies, and decided to pay homage this week by transforming the look of our blog and writing about all things Star Wars! First up, I’m talking about Star Wars inspired makeup.

CoverGirl recently released a limited-edition collection of makeup inspired by Star Wars. The collection includes 6 lipsticks, 3 nail polishes, and 2 mascaras (waterproof and regular in Very Black). The lipstick shades are a little out there for my personal taste, but I could see myself wearing the Nude 70 (last one, below) and maybe the Red 30 (3rd one, below).

All three nail polish shades are very wearable and perfect for this time of year in the colors (left to right): Speed of Light 200, Red Revenge 180, and Nemesis 195.

For a little inspiration, Iconic makeup artist and CoverGirl Global Creative Design Director Pat McGrath has created seven intergalactic beauty looks to go with the collection. See all of the looks and the face maps explaining the colors and techniques used for each below. I love the soft neutral palette for the Jedi look – definitely the most wearable of the bunch. But a less theatrical take on the “Droid” or the “Chrome Captain” looks could be fun for New Year’s Eve!