MY NEW YEAR'S EVE MAKE UP

My New Year's Eve make up

Hello girls!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope you had a great New Year's Eve night!!

I would like to share my look from last night!
I have to say it was particularly dramatic, as I realized when I caught the sight of my own face from one inch away in the elevator mirror :-O

But you know, photography takes away a lot of intensity, so sometimes you have to face the choice whether to look good in real life for a few hours, or in a picture that will stay forever.

I had already fake-tanned darker than usual, so for my base I used my everyday foundation L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) in a darker shade, DW5 Gold Sand.
After applying it with my with my Real Techniques stippling brush as always, I did the extra step of blending it in with my fingers to maximize the seamless final result.

I used Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30 on my face where needed, and Pupa Magic Concealer in shade 12 - light and brightening, with very good coverage while not drying - on my undereye area.
I applied the brightening Pupa concealer under my eyes in an area wider than usual, and also down my nose, on the lower centre of my forehead and on my Cupid's bow, as a first step of the dramatic Kim-Kardashian-worthy face contouring I meant to achieve.

I created a very intense and elongated black eye with Kiko Colour Sphere eyeshadow 28, a beautiful glittery black.
I also applied Essence Black Mania eye pencil on my waterline, and finished off with Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base + Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara.

I filled in my eyebrows with Catrice Eyebrow Stylist pencil in shade 020 Date With Ash-ton, a step I otherwise skip on a daily basis.

As a bronzer I chose my Laura Mercier Golden Bronze.
It is a very warm bronzer with a golden shimmer. It's usually too dark and too orange for my complexion, but this time it was just what I needed to complement my tropical (fake-)tanned skin!!!
I first applied the bronzer with circular motions on my cheeks, my temples and the top of my forehead - the areas that sunlight would naturally hit first -, and along my jawline to give my face more dimension.

Then with straight brush strokes I emphasized the hollows of my cheeks, to create the illusion of sunken in cheeks which would by contrast bring out the cheekbones.

It's always best to use matte shades for contouring, as contouring gives dimension by creating shadows, and the presence of shimmer in the product used would counteract the shadows.
In my case this bronzer still served the purpose supremely because being so dark for my skin tone it still created shadows :-)

I highlighted the top of my cheekbones with Mac Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish, my favourite powder highlighter.

Now that the rest of my face was complete, fully contoured and highlighted, I went back to the eyes to reasses their intensity.
I picked up my top favourite eyeshadow palette Kiko Color Fever Shadow Palette in Unexpected Rosy Taupe and used its darkest shade, a very pigmented blackened plum with red and violet microscopical glitter, to darken along the top and bottom lashline the glittery black eyeshadow I had previously applied.

On top of this, I smoked it all out to ultimate lethal effect by blending the Laura Mercier Golden Bronze into and above my crease and below the lower lashline.

Last but not least I contoured my lips with Pupa True Lips lip pencil 13, a deep mauve shade, and filled them in with gorgeous pinky nude Mac Syrup lipstick.

Phew this was a long post!! We almost made it to Easter haha!!! :-D
What was your look last night girls?
Please tag me in your Instagram pictures @mjintheskywithglitter or write me here in a comment the link to your blog post!!

If you would like to see other New Year's Eve themed looks you can check out Mac Reflects Antique Gold - New Year's Eve and Winter Angel make up look :-)

Happy New Year once more,

stay beautiful

<3 MJ :-*

NEON GLAM make up look

PRODUCTS USED

L'Oreal Lumi Magique foundation in W3/D3 Gold Linen applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush

Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30 on my face where I needed extra coverage

Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in 02 Light on my undereye area

Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen in 001 to brighten up even more the inner corner of my eyes and my inner undereye area.
It is basically the same product as YSL Touche Eclat, only I find it a little more pigmented. I still wouldn’t use it as a concealer on its own

Mac For Effect paintpot, a beautiful BEAUTIFUL glittery dark grey. In the pot the microglitters look mostly green and fuchsia, once applied on the eye it looks more like a tradional white/silvery glitter

Kiko Colour Sphere Eyeshadow 42, a satin black, pigmented enough to make my eyes as black as I wanted them to be, while still letting all the glitter from Mac For Effect Paintpot glisten through

Kiko Eyeshadow 121, a light cold taupe as a transition colour to blend the black into my skin

Pupa True Kohl eyepencil 01 (black)

Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base

Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara

Collection (formerly Collection 2000) Eyebrow Definer in 3 Blonde, a very ashy almost olive-y shade, I love it! This is my favourite eyebrow pencil both because of its colour - I HATE red toned eyebrow pencils -, and because it is creamy and pigmented and has a very nice and smooth application, but at the same time it is very longlasting

Kiko Eyebrow Designer brow gel, a clear brow gel

Catrice Precision Lip Liner in 040 Berry & Sally, a shade in between berry and burgundy

YSL Rouge Volupté lipstick in 22, a very creamy and luxurious burgundy shade

Kiko 01 Mat Tan, a dark matte bronzer

Mac Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish, my favourite powder highlighter

And in this look there’s a special guest that can’t not be mentioned: my beautiful H&M necklace!

It is a wide triangular dark silver chain covered in big blue gemstones and smaller crystal, silver and black beads.

I bought it last February. I usually have love at first sight with everything I buy, but with this necklace it was even more than love at first sight. It was more a case of this-will-be-one-of-the-most-beautiful-things-I-will-ever-own at first sight! :-D

 This is the picture I took with Instagram right after buying it :-D

This same necklace was later made with pearls on a golden chain, and turquoises also on a gold chain. I got the one with turquoises :-)

Thank you for taking the time to read :-)

Love
MJ :-*

HALLOWEEN QUEEN make up look

This is what I came up with today during a pretty bad thunderstorm, which inspired me a vampy witchy look ;-)

My base is L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) foundation in DW3 Gold Linen applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush + Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30 + Clinique Line Smoothing concealer in 02 Light on my undereye area.

My Kim Kardashian-style cheekbone contouring is courtesy of beautiful The Balm Bahama Mama bronzer ;-)

On my eyes I am wearing Kiko Eyeshadow 175 - a dark ashy brown shade  -, Pupa True Kohl eyepencil 01 - black - and Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base + Essence Multi Action mascara.
A basic smokey eye always leaves every possible door open for everything else that's about to happen on your face.

On my lips I am wearing Mac Currant lip pencil, a dark burgundy colour, and Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Flash in 992 Black Lame.
I was immediately fascinated by this Dior gloss because of how dark - basically black - it looked in the tube.
In fact, it is a blackened burgundy with the infallible Dior mirror shine, full of multicoloured microglitter - fuchsia, yellow, blue, green!! They are clearly visible in the picture, love it!!

I just have to say that the consistency of this lipgloss is not the easiest to work with. It tends to apply a little uneven and has to be worked on a little, meaning it's not for a quick touch up on the run. Once it's on, it's as stunning as it can get.

On my head I put on a beaded necklace by Accessorize from a few years ago. It was long and I doubled it up so that it would fit my head. Like it??? :-D
If you like hairbands you might also like this other look Night Drive In Moscow make up look :-)

Kisses xx

Love
MJ

Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Flash 992 Black Lame

THE MAGENTA SERIES: MAC VIOLETTA LIPSTICK

Mac Violetta lipstick

I'm so excited to write about Violetta!
And with this name, doesn't it feel like you are talking about a real person??? :-)

Violetta was my first Mac lipstick! <3
I got it when it was released exactly 3 years ago - end of September/October 2010 - with the legendary Venomous Villains collection.
Seriously, that collection gave me nightmares. I couldn't sleep at night, panicking wondering if it would sell out before I could get my hands on it. I went to unmentionable extreme lenghts in order to get all the products I wanted, and still for some of them there was nothing do to - SOLD. OUT.

Oh I have to say this, I remember this phone call when I was at my local Mac store - the owner was obviously so exasperated by customers begging him for products from the Venomous Villains that I heard him say on the phone "No. No. All sold out. It's finished. NO! There's nothing left to do! It's never going to come back!"
Hahahaha pure madness!!! :-D :-D Who else remembers this collection???

Violetta was a pro product at the time, but it has since become permanent.
It is a bright magenta infused wuth fuchsia and blue microglitter, which give a purple sheen to it, best appreciated with flash light.
It has an Amplified finish.

Mac Violetta lipstick - Natural light. With flash. Natural light

On my face I kept everything else as bare as it could be without becoming washed out by such a bright lipstick, and I put my hair up in a ponytail.
It was all about Violetta!!!

I felt that my natural complexion was a little too pale to wear Violetta (or most other make up products hahaha) at its best, so I had previously topped up my self-tan.

My base was L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) foundation in DW3 Gold Linen, applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush + Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30, and Clinique Line Smoothing concealer in 02 Light under my eyes.

On my eyes I applied Kiko Eyeshadow 175, a very dark greyish brown with no red in it not to clash with the purple lips and to keep the entire look on the cool tone.
I smoked it out with Kiko Eyeshadow 121, a delicate taupe shade.

I lined my waterline with Pupa True Kohl eyepencil 01 (black), and I applied my Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base + Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara.

Then I used beautiful Benefit Hoola bronzer to contour softly my cheekbones, my temples and my jawline - very important especially when the hair is up, to prevent the face from looking out of place on top of the neck haha!!

To finish off the look, I highlighted the top of my cheekbones with divine Mac Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish, my favourite highlighter.

And after taking this picture, I was finally ready to start my car and go!! :-D

Now if you want to see the ultimate magenta lipstick you NEED to see Mac Flat Out Fabulous :-*

And if this is not purple enough for you, dare to see Mac Heroine lipstick if you haven't yet ;-)

Thank you for taking the time to visit me, I'll talk to you soon :-)

Love
MJ

FANTASY GEISHA make up look

I got the inspiration for this look while listening to "Princess of China" by Coldplay and Rihanna, one of my favourite songs <3

I used L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) foundation in W3/D3 Gold Linen which is my everyday foundation, mixed with L'Oreal True Match foundation in N1 Soft Ivory to make it lighter.
I applied it with my Real Techniques stippling brush for a flawless and perfectly blended finish.

Clinique Line Smoothing concealer in 02 Light, both on my face and under my eyes.

Under the inner part of my eyebrows I dusted Washed Ashore (matte apricot colour) from the Sleek Makeup Monaco palette mixed with Sleek Makeup Aruba blush (matte neon orange).
This helped give my eyes dimension while using an unusual colour that would fit this look.

I lined my upper lashline with Le Rose de Versailles eyeliner from Creer Beaute, a Japanese brand.
I love this eyeliner for its exceptionally thin and precise brush, perfect to line the inner corner of the eye.

Under my eyes I created a very thick line using the matte black eyeshadow from the Sleek Makeup Original palette, and I lined my waterline with Pupa True Kohl eyepencil in 01 (black).

Around the outer part of my eyes I dusted Washed Ashore mixed with Magenta Madness (matte magenta) again from the Sleek Makeup Monaco Palette, and I brought it down outwards and towards my cheekbones.

I finished off the eyes with Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara.

On the apples of my cheeks I applied Sleek Makeup Santorini blush (matte neon fuchsia/magenta).

On my lips, I first of all applied the concealer all over to blank them out. Then I created that peculiar square shape using Maybelline Superstay Lip Liner in 46 Red and NYC Expert Last Lip Colour lipstick in 432 Red Rapture.

I wasn't too sure about the finished look at first, but it has grown on me and now I love it :)
I hope you will like it too, thank you for coming to see me <3 :-*

Love
MJ

MAC JUST A BITE LIPSTICK

Mac Just A Bite lipstick

The products I used to create this look are:

L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) foundation in DW3 Gold Linen applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush

Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30

Clinique Line Smoothing concealer in 02 Light on my undereye area

Dior Style Liner in 094 Black for a sleek, luminous finish

Le Rose de Versailles eyeliner from Creer Beaute, a Japanese brand, to perfect the inner corner and the outer cat-eye flick with its ultra thin and precise brush

Pupa True Kohl eyepencil 01 (black) in my waterline

Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base

Essence Multi Action mascara

Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara for maximum definition on top and bottom lashes

Kiko Eyebrow Designer brow gel, a clear brow gel

Rimmel Natural Bronzer in 021 Sun Light on my cheeks, on my eyelids and crease, and under my lower lashline

Mac Cherry lip pencil

Mac Just A Bite lipstick

I hope you liked this look :-)

You can also see swatches and review of Just a Bite here Mac Indulge Collection Fall 2013 :-)

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog x

Love
MJ

TURQUOISE STARDUST make up look

Mac Reflects Turquatic

PRODUCTS USED

L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) foundation in W3/D3 Gold Linen - my favourite foundation, applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush

Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30 - my favourite concealer for my face where I need some extra coverage

Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in 02 Light on my undereye area  - I wasn't going for a particularly contoured look, since it was all about the eyes so dramatic and blindingly bright, so I picked a concealer that was closer to my natural skintone, while still being a little lighter - more pink-toned as opposed to white-toned

Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base

Dior Diorshow Black Out mascara

Mac Reflects Turquatic glitter - I mean, how do you even begin to describe this!

*Mac website and glitter packagings state "Glitter is not eye safe and is not recommended for use on this area of the face", because some glitter particles might fall into the eyes and hurt them.

So if you apply glitter on your eyes, please just be careful :-)

Duo Adhesive lash glue - the most popular glue in the make up world

Kiko Colour Sphere eyeshadow 42 - it is a satin carbon black baked eyeshadow. I love love LOVE this line of Kiko eyeshadows. I own most of their shades, and many of them are my favourite eyeshadows of all time <3
I used this eyeshadow in the outer corner. I wanted the glitter to first blend into something dark but still luminous, before blending the whole thing into a matte shadow

Kiko eyeshadow 175 - a very dark cool brown, a greyish brown as opposed to a chocolate brown.
It has a slight sheen to it in the pan, but it looks flat matte on the eye. I used it to blend the crease and the lower lashline

Pupa True Kohl eyepencil 01 (black)

H&M Bronzing Powder in Gorgeous Tan - it was so inexpensive and the colour looked so perfect - matte and non orange - that I decided to give it a try.
It looks beautiful on the face but it is very powdery, so I would not recommend it for countouring or sculpting work

Estee Lauder lip pencil in Spice - a dark browny pink that I used very lightly

Sephora Gloss Miroir lipgloss in 18 Rusted Rose - the name really tells it like it is, I have several glosses from this range and they all look like glass on your lips

I hope you enjoyed, thanks for coming to have a look :-)

Stay BLUEtiful ;-)
Love
MJ

GOLDEN SAPPHIRE make up look

PRODUCTS USED

L'Oreal Lumi Magique foundation in W3/D3 Gold Linen - this is my perfect holy grail all time favourite foundation in my all time favourite shade. This shade is slightly darker and warmer than my natural skin tone, so it improves my complexion while still looking completely natural.
I always apply it with my Real Techniques stippling brush, my all-time favourite foundation brush :-)

Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30 - again, my perfect holy grail all time favourite concealer for the face, and again, slightly darker and warmer than my natural skin tone. It matches perfectly my L'Oreal foundation

Diorskin Sculpt concealer in 001 - on the undereye area

Mac Pure Creation paintpot - a surefire eyeshadow base in the perfect shade for the eyeshadow I was going to put on top of it

Pupa Luminys Extra Pearl eyeshadow in 04 - one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, I could spend hours just looking at it. Sadly, it was part of the limited edition Sunset Glam collection in 2010 :-(

Catrice Starlight Expresso (350) eyeshadow - it is a little powdery, but it is so inexpensive that for the purpose of blending other colours into the crease it works just right

Essence Black Mania glossy eye pencil - a little too creamy and with a tendency to bleed, but very intensely pigmented, and again, very inexpensive

Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base - a MUST for me before wearing any other mascara

Dior Diorshow Black Out mascara on my top lashes

Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara on my bottom lashes - I find its skinny stiff brush ideal for the bottom lashes

Kiko Eyebrow Designer brow gel - it's a clear brow gel and I have had it for a few years, the top of the cap has come off and made it even more make-up-bag-friendly!

Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzing powder in 51 (fair skin) - matte non orange bronzer I used both for bronzing and contouring

Mac Definitely Defined Extra Dimension Skinfinish highlighter - the next best thing after Mac Soft and Gentle.
Soft and Gentle is more gold and is in the uber-popular Mac Mineralize Skinfinish formula. Definitely Defined is more pink, it has a creamier texture and a more metallic finish.
Here I chose to use Definitely Defined because I felt like a pink highlighter would sculpt more the cheekbones by contrast with the overall golden complexion

L'Oreal Shine Caresse lipgloss in 101 Lolita - I have to say I was at first a little skeptical about this new texture in between stain and gloss, to the point that I didn't even care to try them for a long time. But when I finally did, after seeing my Beyonce-lookalike best friend rocking the mauve shade, I immediately fell in love with them.
The moment you put them on, they feel strangely liquidy and wet, but if you rub your lips they somehow become soft and creamy. And they are longlasting too.
It is really an innovative product, I didn't have anything like this in my make up collection!
Also, I know you shouldn't judge a product by its packaging but seriously, this is the most beautiful packaging I have ever seen!

I hope you liked this look, thank you for taking the time to check out my blog :-)

Love
MJ