Quick Tip: Dried up gel liner?

This post is (unfortunately?) not about how to "save" a dried out gel liner, but about what you can use it for once it starts drying out!

I personally love gel liners! But (there's always a but, isn't there) once they start drying out, which they will eventually, they won't be as easy to use to line with.

However, gel liners work wonderfully as eyeshadow bases, and they still work for that even when they start getting a bit too dry to line with!

So! Don't throw away those half-used and half-dried eyeliners! Try them as bases!




This post is actually about the effect that different colored bases can have on duochrome eyeshadows!
In this look and this look I used MAC Blacktrack f/l as a base for the color on the lid
In this look I used MAC Dipdown f/l as a base on the lid
In this look I used both MAC Non-Conformist f/l and MAC Iris Eyes f/l as bases on the lid
I know I have used gel liners as bases in many other looks, but it seems like I haven't posted them... Hmm :P

Quick Tip: Removing nail polish

When removing your nailpolish, place a cotton pad with nail polish remover on your nail and let it sit for a couple of seconds(or more, depending on the nailpolish remover and the nailpolish you're wearing) to dissolve the nailpolish before you try to remove it. That'll make it easier to get all the polish off without rubbing your nails and getting the polish on your fingers! :)

Quick Tip: Using lipstick as blush

Try using lipsticks as blush!

This is a nice alternative to cream blushes and also a great idea if you have to bring your makeup somewhere and don't want to bring powder blushes - for example if you're afraid of breaking them or if you keep your blushes in palettes and don't want to bring a whole palette.


How to:
I dot a little bit of lipstick on the apples of my cheeks and blend it out with my fingers. I find it easier to apply with my fingers rather than a brush - that way the heat from my fingers warms up the product and makes it easier to blend.

Different types and brands of lipstick have different staying power and color payoff on the cheeks - just as they do on the lips. Try setting the lipstick with powder to make it last longer.



See the look I posted here, where I used MAC Impassioned l/s on my cheeks :)

Quick Tip: Dazzleglasses

MAC recently re-released their popular dazzleglasses with the Doubledazzle collection and this time a lot of the colors are going to stay in MACs permanent collection!

Now, the Dazzleglasses are super sparkly but sheer glosses. So how do you make the glitter and color show up better?

Just like my quick tip on glittery eyeshadows, you can make the glitter in Dazzleglasses stand out a lot more by applying them on top of something that has a more opaque color - like a lipstick or lipliner. The Dazzleglasses are actually my favorite gloss type to layer over lipsticks! :)

The glitters in the glosses are not all like the actual base color of the gloss, so depending on the effect you want you can uses different tones as bases.

Here's an example of how different lipsticks and lipliners alter the color and glitter payoff of Funtabulous Dazzleglass which is discribed as "purple with violet pearl":

(click on the picture to view full size)

1: Bare skin (The color will look even more sheer on pigmented lips)
2: MAC Russian Red l/s
3: MAC Gladiola l/s (LE w/ Dame Edna '09) Try Girl About Town for a similar result.
4: MAC St. Germain l/s (perm. in Europe. LE w/ Sugarsweet ´09 in the US)
5: MAC Rebel l/s
6: MAC Odyssey l/s

Of course, this tip would also apply to glittery glosses from other brands! For example, the GOSH light 'n shine lipglosses and the Makeup Store star lips.

Quick Tip: Makeup wipes and how to make them last longer without drying out

Using makeup wipes does not clean your skin as well as a real cleanser but I do like the wipes in some situations.

The wipes are great if:

• You're going somewhere and don't have room for makeup remover and cleanser or if you come home late (and maybe even drunk ;) ) and am just too tired to bother with real cleanser.
• You want to quickly clean your skin before doing new makeup.
  
• You do makeup on others and have to quickly cleanse their skin before you start.

How to make them last longer without drying out:

• Cut the wipes in half or even smaller, if you don't need a whole one - for example if you don't have a lot of makeup on, or if you're just using it to remove your lipstick/eyeliner/mascara/whatever
• Make sure your store the pack of wipes upside down! This is super important - otherwise all the moisture will sink to the bottom of the pack and the wipes on the top will be dry while the last wipes you get to will be completely soaked.

Different brands of wipes:
I've only tried the MAC wipes, the Nivea Visage wipes and the wipes from a Danish store called Matas.

• MAC Wipes make my skin burn and turn red (even though I don't have sensitive skin at all) but it works really well for removing makeup and I use it on a lot of other people without problems.
• The Nivea Visage "Refreshing cleansing wipes for normal to mixed skin" are my favorite to use on myself. They even take off liquidlast liners with a little rubbing!
• The Matas wipes (if any of you are in Denmark?) are not some that I will purchase again. I feel like I have to rub really hard to get the makeup off and I don't like the smell.
  

Quick Tip: How to make glitter in eyeshadows show up on the lid

Just like the duochrome eyeshadows that I posted a quick tip about earlier, glittery eyeshadows work really well on top of colored bases.

It can be quite tricky to get the sparkles in shadows like MAC Beauty Marked or MAC Black Tied to show up if you apply it on top of a regular primer/base. You have to pack it on and even then, the eyeshadow doesn't look like it does in the pan.
The trick is: a colored base!
Black Tied works best over a black base and while Beauty Marked works well that way too, it also looks great over a red or purple base like MAC Flammable paint (DC) or MAC Royal Hue s/s (DC) or the Mehron aquacolors.


Click on the picture to view full size

1: ArtDeco eyeshadow base
2: MAC Blacktrack f/l. Any black eyeliner/creme shadow/aqua color will give the same effect.

Quick tip: Duochrome eyeshadows

Colored bases are gret to use under a matching eyeshadow to get a more opaque/deeper color but using a duochrome eyeshadow over a colored base can create completely different effects!

Try using a duochrome eyeshadow on top of a colored base to get different effects from the same eyeshadow.
Black bases usually bring out the duochrome but I love to experiment with different colors :)

I swatched some examples of duochrome eyeshadows and pigments over different colored bases
for you to see:

Click on the pictures to see the full size! :)

MAC Pink Bronze pigment

1: ArtDeco eyeshadow base
2: MAC Artifact paint pot
3: MAC Gracious Me shadestick (DC). Fresco Rose p/p gives a similar effect
4: MAC Blacktrack fluidline. Any black creme eyeshadow/liner/aquacolor gives the same effect

MAC Stars n Rockets eyeshadow & MAC Pink Pearl pigment

1: ArtDeco Eyeshadow base
2: MAC Rich Purple chromaline (PRO. Not eyesafe)
3: MAC Gracious Me s/s (DC). Fresco Rose p/p gives a similar effect
4: MAC Blue Peep f/l (DC)
5: GOSH white kohl pencil
6: MAC Blacktrack f/l. Any black creme eyeshadow/liner/aquacolor gives the same effect

MAC Old Gold pigment

1: ArtDeco eyeshadow base
2: MAC Uppity f/l (LE). Any gold base gives a similar effect
3: MAC Minted eye kohl
4: MAC Blacktrack f/l. Any black creme eyeshadow/liner/aquacolor gives the same effect

MAC Gorgeous Gold eyeshadow

1: ArtDeco eyeshadow base
2: MAC Minted eye kohl.
3: MAC Uppity f/l (LE). Any gold base gives a similar effect
4: MAC Blacktrack f/l. Any black creme eyeshadow/liner/aquacolor gives the same effect