Nyx FOTD

Thought I'd share a little FOTD I did last week, using my new Nyx items I got from Cheryl's Beauty Blog sale.

This is pretty similar to my everday look, as far as the color palette, but was much simpler and quicker to do:)  I did a strong eye, so I downplayed the blush and lips.  As usual I am wearing Revlon PhotoReady foundation in Shell...applied with the foundation brush I got in my Ebay 24 piece brush set.

For the eyes I started with the Nyx jumbo eye pencil in Dark Brown all over the lid and blended it out using a synthetic brush (another from the Ebay set).  Next, I patted on some of the Brown nyx pigment powder, which set the pencil.  I lined my upper lid with a black gel liner and my waterline with a black kohl eyeliner.  Using a q-tip I blended some of the brown shadow under my eyes.  Two coats of mascara a dusting of blush, chapstick and I'm out the door:)

Products Used:

FACE

Revlon PhotoReady Foundation Shell

Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer Light

Rimmel Stay Matte powder Transparent

EYES

Nyx jumbo pencil Dark Brown

Nyx brown pigment

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips gel eyeliner Black

Revlon Colorstay eyeliner Black

CHEEKS

Nars Orgasm

LIPS

Burts Bees Chapstick

Hope you guys like this simple look, I love when makeup is easy:) XOXO Charis

Revlon PhotoReady foundation review

 

I've been trying to wean myself off of powder mineral foundations, mainly because I think they don't really go well with my skin type.  They tend to fade too quickly, make my oily spots more oily and my dry spots to dry.  I do have some high expectations when it comes to what I want in a liquid foundation.  Staying power is top priority, can't oxidize, must feel light on the skin, medium coverage, and oil control.  Before I spend top dollar on department foundations I thought I would test the 'supposed' best of the drugstore.  Revlon's foundations are highly recommended by the beauty community, and since I'm a liquid foundation newbie I thought I'd try the lighter of the bunch.

What Revlon says:

Revlon PhotoReady Makeup - for poreless, airbrushed skin in any light. Photochromatic pigments bend and reflect light to erase every flaw. Complete, yet undetectable coverage. Soft, luminous finish. 

- Oil free

- Fragrance free

- SPF 20

What I think:

I was a little nervous, since this was my first time ever...EVER...using liquid foundation.  Even though I have watched countless Youtube tutorials on how to apply liquid foundation, sponge, brush, fingers.  I decided on using the foundation brush that came with the 24 piece brush set I bought off Ebay.  Its a nice size synthetic foundation brush.  

The foundation comes with a pump which makes it very easy to use.  I used one pump for my whole face.  It blended amazingly well and the one pump was probably more then enough for my entire face.  The color match was also very good.  I used the shade Shell which is the third lightest shade, usually I am the second lightest shade in foundations, for reference.  

I noticed that the foundation contains some sparkles or shimmer, which doesn't really bother me since I only noticed it on the back of my hand and not my face.  The coverage is a great deal better then my mineral foundations, which is something my mum noticed she said I looked like a porcelain doll, my skin was so perfect.  

The best part was how this foundation felt like nothing...like I wasn't wearing foundation...scores huge points with me:)  The wear was around 4 hours before I started noticing my oily spots showing through, but this honestly did not really bother me.  

The only real issue with this foundation...I found when I started taking pictures.  It makes me look like a ghost.  With or without flash I appear ridiculously pale in pictures with the Revlon PhotoReady foundation.

 

 Pictures taken right after application in natural light with flash

You can really see in the second picture the difference in color from my neck to my face, and let me assure you it blended quite evenly with my skin tone in natural light.

Pictures taken 4 hours after application

As you can see around the four hour mark, my oily spots started to shine through around my nose and cheeks.  But the foundation faded away pretty evenly as you can see there are no streaks:)

All in all... I think, despite how I look in pictures the pros outweigh the cons of this foundation.  I probably would repurchase PhotoReady again, just because I love how lightweight it feels, and the coverage.  If you have not tried this I recommend you pick it up for around $15-$20 CAD you really can't go wrong.  I'm excited to try Revlon Colorstay foundation since I've heard great things, get ready for a post on that:) XOXO Charis

24 piece brush set from Ebay

So I ordered this set a while back on Ebay from the seller Tomtop Auction. I've ordered a few other things from this seller, they are based out of China so shipping to Canada 'can' take a very long time.  As in my case, it took a month to get here but the seller kept in communication and tracked my package for me...turns out it had been stuck at customs for 12 days:P

Anyways....onto the review.  I paid a whopping $11.93 CAD with free shipping, for 24 makeup brushes you can't go wrong.  I'd pay that, just for the brush roll.  I was really looking forward to the face brushes, since the ones I currently own are either too soft or too scratchy....and yes there is such a thing as too soft.

First thing I noticed was the horrible chemical plastic smell coming from the brushes.  I have yet to wash them so I don't know whether that will go away or not.  The brushes are also very light which makes them feel strange in my hands, I dunno...maybe its just me but I like a little weight to my brushes. The brushes were listed as being goats hair and perhaps some of them are, but the little fan brush and most of the lip and eyeliner brushes are all the shiny synthetic type material.

Overall I was not a fan of how hard and scratchy ALL of the face brushes were...minus the foundation brush which is also synthetic.  I don't think I will be using them on my face at all.  The eye brushes on the other hand are pretty good, especially the angled brow and eyeliner brushes. I'm also loving the variety in sizes and shapes of eyeshadow brushes...I'm definitely going to have a lot of fun with that:)

The next brush set I will be trying will either be the Elf cosmetics studio line, or the Sigma Complete kit. 

PROS:

• The price...soooooo cheap, and I mean if the brushes are crap you still got the brush roll.
• The Eye brushes are pretty decent and they offer quite a variety.

CONS:

• The face brushes are just horrible.
• Most of the face brushes have fallout.
• The smell
• How long it took to ship....a month is a bit excessive.

CONCLUSION:

Onto the next and hopefully better set of makeup brushes:)  I won't be purchasing makeup brush sets off Ebay again.