THE MIDNIGHT HOUR make up look

I got inspired for this look at around midnight ^_^

For my base I used my magical trio L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) foundation in W3/D3 Gold Linen (applied with my magical Real Techniques stippling brush) + Mac Pro Longwear Concealer in NC30 on my face + Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer in 02 Light under my eyes.

For my eyes I used my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette.
I applied Blackout (matte black) all over my eyelid up to my crease, and on my lower lashline.
Then I blended it with Busted (sligtly purply brown with a burgundy and golden sheen) in the crease, and with Pistol (a frosty grey brown) below my lower lashline.

I lined my waterline with Essence I Love Rock gloss eye pencil, and I finished off my eyes with Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base + Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara.

I contoured my face and my cheekbones with Mac Harmony blush (matte taupe) and I blended into it just a touch of Mac Star Wonder Mineralize Skinfinish (mauvy pink with golden shimmer) on my cheekbones.
I instinctively reached for Star Wonder as a blush because its shade of pink is the same I wanted to use on my lips, and its golden shimmer would go perfectly with the gold undertone of the eyeshadows I had on.

Not that I think that the make up shades we use for a look have to "match" or be immediately connected to each other. I find contrasting shades a lot more interesting.
Just in this case I thought this whole eyes-cheeks-lips combination would bring the entire look together beautifully.

On my lips I used Lala lipstick by NYX (again, a mauvy pink). I just dabbed it on lightly because I wanted it to enhance my natural lip colour, not to let the lips be completely overshadowed by such strong eyes while still looking naturally rosy.

We need to come up with more looks for other times of the day and night, it sounds like it would be fun!!! :-D

Thanks for sharing here with me a part of your own hour, whichever it might be :-)

Love
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 :-*

MAC RUSSIAN RED vs RUBY WOO

With the recent Retro Matte collection and with Rihanna even creating her own version - Riri Woo - for her Riri Loves Mac collection which has just taken the make up world by storm, Mac Ruby Woo lipstick has become the talk of the town.

So I thought this would be the perfect timing to write a comparison post between Ruby Woo and Russian Red, Mac's most popular red lipstick. Probably THE most popular red lipstick ever.

Russian Red is the lipstick that Madonna wore throughout her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990, basically enough for me to want to sleep with it under my pillow!! :-D

Left: RUSSIAN RED, Right: RUBY WOO - natural light

Both lipsticks are a cool-toned red. Russian Red is a little darker, Ruby Woo is a little brighter.

Also, both have a matte finish. Russian Red is a slightly creamier matte, while Ruby Woo is in the Retro Matte formula, the most matte and pigmented and long-lasting formula you can ever think of.

My favourite red is and will always be Russian Red :-) Ruby Woo is a very close second though :-)
On a general basis, I will pick up Russian Red for a night out, while I will go for Ruby Woo if it's daytime, and I always pair both of them with Mac Cherry lip pencil.

These are two looks I created with the two lipsticks.
Russian Red for a dramatic, theatrical look, and Ruby Woo for one of those days when you wake up at 8 in the morning already feeling like a diva hahahaha :-D :-D

Russian Red and I

Russian Red and I

Ruby Woo and I

In both looks my base is my favourite foundation L'Oreal Lumi Magique (True Match Lumi) in DW3 Gold Linen, applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush.

So which lipstick is your favourite??

I hope you are having a great day!

Love <3
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

THE 90s - SUPERMODELS AND MADONNA INSPIRED make up look

Yesterday I saw on James Molloy's - Director of Artistry for Mac Cosmetics in Asia - Instagram page @molloysie - a picture of Madonna from 1992 shot by Steven Meisel.

Madonna is my favourite singer, and her look in the early 90s is my favourite of hers.

I guess the Nineties in general are my favourite makeup era of all times. Back then I remember looking at pitctures of supermodels like Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell on the Gianni Versace catwalk, and thinking those girls in those dresses were the most beatiful thing that could possibly exist.

So yeah, as soon as I saw James's picture I had to grab colours and brushes straight away!

The products I used were very basic.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique foundation in DW3 Gold Linen, applied with my Real Techniques stippling brush, and Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC30.

Matte dark brown eyeshadow in the crease and matte medium brown eyeshadow on the lid.
A thin line of black liquid eyeliner just to make sure no flesh colour would show through my lashes.

To get big, thick and long lashes without using fake eyelashes I applied Helena Rubinstein Spider Eyes mascara base and Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara.

On the lips only a matte lip pencil. Spice by Estee Lauder, a dark browny pink, was exactly the shade I had in my mind that I wanted to use on my lips. I applied the pencil a little darker on the lip outline to stay true to the era :-)

Then bronzer. A LOT of dark matte bronzer. I used Kiko 01 Mat Tan from an old limited edition summer collection.
I made the contouring under my cheekbones very strong, and I even put bronzer all over my ears and a good inch into my hairline to make sure that nothing of my original pink skin would show through!!! :-D

I also tried a softer version of the look, to make it more modern. I simply wiped away some of the paint I had on!
So the eyes became of a softer brown, the lips turned into a natural nude and the contouring became less dramatic.
I didn't touch my ears though, I left them all bronzed up hahaha!! :-D

If you would like to see more celebrity inspired looks I created, please go to

Iggy Azalea inspired

Beyoncé - Why Don't You Love Me music video inspired

In The Sky With Glitter - Victoria's Secret inspired

I would love to know what you think, thank you for taking the time to come over to see me <3

Love

MJ