I went shopping today with an unexpected little bonus from work! Wooo! I picked up a Benefit skincare kit, an NYX black eyeliner (my Maybelline just doesn’t stay put long enough), and a Smashbox Photo Shoot set with Look Book. There are four looks in the Look Book, and I will do them all on video! Hopefully this weekend…
Video: HauteLook, FACE atelier Beauty Hauls
I finally made a video. Our first one. Actually, it was so long that I had to make two parts of it.
Picture Tutorial: Eyeshadow in Silvers and Grays
It’s been too long since I posted! To make up for it, here’s an eyeshadow tutorial (didn’t have time for video).
For today, I used LORAC’s Double Booked Full Face Collection. This has become my new favorite makeup kit, hands-down. There are 16 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, a bronzer, a highlighter, 2 lipglosses, an eye brush, and a lip liner! HOLY CRAP. I got this on HauteLook for, like, $25. It is a $350 value!!!
The left side (first ‘page’ of the book) are cool colors, the right side (second ‘page’) are warm colors, as far as the eyeshadows. For this application, I used the strip of silvers that you see on the cool colors side.
Using a flat, base eyeshadow brush, I applied the lightest (almost white) shadow from arch to lash, all over the lid. Make sure to hit the space right over your iris well, as that makes eyes appear to be more open. Also do the inner corner of the eyes.
Using a shadow contour brush (rounded, with an angle), pick up the next color (a light gray/silver color), and apply from just above your eye socket bone to just under the crease, and down to the lash line on the outer half of the lid.
Product Review: Carmex Moisture Plus Lip Balm
Here in the harsh, Chicago winters, we like to have as many kinds of lip balms and chapstick products as possible. I was at my mom’s house last weekend, and we were talking about glosses, and to prove a point, I pulled out my purse. I reached into the side pocket and proceeded to pull out 13 different kinds of glosses and lip products. These are always in my purse. Some are new, that I’m testing out to share with you, some have been in there for a couple years. But once it goes in there, it rarely comes out. My purse is like the Bermuda Triangle of fashion.
The one I want to talk about today is Carmex Moisture Plus Lip Balm. Remember the bright yellow Carmex tins? Then the little tubes? I LOVE those–maybe it is because of the slight tingle you feel when you put it on when your lips are chapped, and you know it is working? Yes. Love.
As you can see, Carmex has finally put their wonderful product into a gloss tube form, in a stick. The end is slanted, like a skinny lipstick, and it really lasts a while. I’ve been using mine religiously for a few weeks now, and only about an eighth of an inch is gone from the top. They also have tinted versions (pink and peach), though my local Meijer didn’t have any stocked. I think I paid about $2.50? Maybe less. Really, not much at all.
This balm is wonderful. It keeps my lips hydrated for hours, looks nice and satin/shiny, and you can’t beat the price.
Bottom Line
Pros: Very inexpensive, lasts long, does what it says
Cons: If you don’t like the Carmex smell (almost menthol-ish), well, then you won’t like this
Worth it? Heck yes, it is. I feel like going back and buying 10 more, just so I don’t run out, or in case they discontinue it. This happened with my favorite balm, ever–Victoria’s Secret Soothing Nighttime Balm. I made that little tin last for 5 years (maybe longer, actually) because they discontinued it not longer after my mom put them in our Christmas stockings. So disappointing.
Product Review: Napoleon Perdis Long Black Mascara
Tonight’s review is for Napoleon Perdis Long Black Mascara in Double Black. I got it in my Wild Roses Limited Edition Palette from HauteLook.
As you can see, the wand is bent at the start of the brush. While I have done this on my own with mascara wands to get a better angle, I’m not so sure it helped with this one. It almost seemed like the side of the brush (and it’s cylindrical–there shouldn’t be ‘sides’) under the bend was flat, so it wasn’t a reversible angle that you could hold it the opposite way. Maybe my brush was defective, not sure.
While applying mascara, I tend to do a back-and-forth motion while swiping up the lashes, helping to separate the strands and coat each lash. Doing that with this wand managed to get mascara on my upper waterline, though, which then put little black pieces on my eyeball. While it didn’t hurt, it certainly wasn’t cute.
About our Recommendations and Reviews
As I stated before, we will do product and technique recommendations and reviews here. The products we feature will be items that we ourselves use, so it will be a varying range of drugstore items to designer products. Also, the products we discuss are always because we WANT to discuss them, not because we are paid to do so. If ever a company reaches out to us to do a review on a product they provide, we will specify that in the post.
If there are products you are curious about, feel free to email us, or leave a comment! We will gladly try to answer any questions that you have.
Since we are a new venture, we rely on you to help us grow! If you are in the Chicagoland area, please contact us to see what we can do for you in person, as well. While we mainly focus on doing on-site make-up, we are open to requests for other things (such as personal make-up tutorials) as well.
Welcome to ViP Faces!
Hello, and welcome! This is the site for ViP Faces, a trio of make-up artists in the Chicagoland area that is now offering on-site makeup and hair services! Whether you are in Skokie or Plainfield, Rockford to Downtown Chicago, we’ve got you covered. We will come to homes, hotel rooms, anywhere you need us to (travel charges apply). If you’re getting married, going to a dance, having a girls’ night out, any occasion you might need your make-up professionally done, give us a call or email!
This site will be used not only for updates on the business, but for posting recommendations and reviews on make-up, skincare, techniques, etc. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow us at @ViPFaces.
We are working on the site, so please excuse any frequent changes in the looks!
