July Favourites!

Wow! Summer is going by way too fast!! Already posting my July favourites and I suddenly feel a rush of panic come over me to do as much as I can this next month and cram summer activities into my calendar! But first, lets talk about a few products I've loved, some manicures I've attempted, my go-to makeup and day makeup look and of course another MAC collection I could not resist!

First, I want to talk about the products that I've reviewed and loved this past month. Of course, as you know by now, I've been loving(!!) my Dior Airflash Spray Foundation in colour "300" and love the product inside and out! This is perfect for summer and the coverage is fantastic without feeling heavy! I absolutely love it (to read my full review, click here) and I use it in all my makeup looks and on clients. They love it too! I'm definitely going to stock up my kit with more of these babies!

Another product that I have been loving and have done a review on (to read my full review, click here), is Tarte's Pure Maracuja Oil. I've been talking about this a lot lately, mostly because I am just thrilled with my results. It really comforts my skin and keeps everything the way it supposed to be. Great for evening out skin tone, healing acne and anti-aging, it's an all-around skincare gem. I am definitely buying the full size and soon!

I love me a good manicure, especially for summer! I just love all of the bright colours and cute combinations and designs. I can honestly say that I am a polish-holic and my addiction has been brought to a new level thanks to Julep and their Maven Monthly Subscription. Back in June, I introduced a new series where I will be talking about be products I received monthly from my Julep Maven subscription and also use the new nail polishes in a manicure. This month I received a great Maven box(to read about my July Maven box and manicure tutorial, click here), I loved everything in it, especially the nail colours! They are so summer!!! I love the light peach cream colour ("Cassie"), but I love the grey ("Alaina") and that I'll be able to bring that colour into my fall nail art and manicures. For more information on Julep and their Maven Subscription, or to subscribe please visit: http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/230456/ 

Some colours that I have been loving this summer are coral and teal, so why not combine those colours in a funky manicure? So I did! I love the edge and fun that a diagonal tip gives a manicure (for the full tutorial post, click here), not to mention how easy it was to do! Anyone can have this fun, summery manicure with materials in their own home! For this nail art, I used MAC's "Pistachio Cream" Nail Laquer (Baking Beauties LE Collection) with H&M "Summer Coral" that I got a couple summers back. Loving the colours separately, but together is magical!!!

 

Along with summer nail looks, I posted a summer day go-to look, using some of my favourite makeup and colours for spring/summer. Summer is a great time to play with colours and not only for special occasions! Have fun, take advantage and use colour in your everyday makeup routine (to see the full look and tutorial, click here). I wanted to show you how I incorporate more colour into my daily makeup and go-to look and maybe inspire you to use an on-trend colour in your everyday routine.

Again, since I was loving coral, I used MAC's "Free to Be" Matte eyeshadow (Liberty of London LE Collection)  to add some brightness to a neutral eye. I love mixing bright colours with muted browns to really make the bright colour pop. I only used 3 colours for this eye look - "Buck" Matte eyeshadow by Urban Decay cosmetics, MAC's Mylar Satin Eyeshadow, and of course MAC "Free to Be". I made sure to really layer on the coral pink in the outer corner to intensify the colour and give the lid an ombré effect. I love this eye makeup and continue to use it almost everyday as my everyday day makeup!

For this look (and almost everyday), I used my MAC "Mocha" Satin Lipstick to polish off the look. I love this neutral lipstick, its dark enough to bring some drama, but not light enough for it to disappear like a nude lippie. It's a great alternative to the light beige nude lipstick. I can already foresee myself using this for my fall makeup looks. Good thing I have a backup of this beauty!

Along with "Mocha", I've been loving my new MAC Cremesheen Lipglasses in "Fever Isle" and "Narcissus" from their recent Tropical Taboo Collection. When I'm not wearing my go-to neutral "Mocha" and wanting to wear something with more colour, these are what I have been reaching for. I love that "Fever Isle" is bright enough for a sexy night look, but still pretty and creamy for a less dramatic, day look. I've noticed that I have been reaching for "Narcissus" more for my night looks and sometimes for day looks with a neutral eye, for when I'm feeling a little more daring! I love these colours and I already have a ton of ideas and lip recipes for them that I will share soon!! So many possibilities!!

Another item that I used to achieve a luminous glow for my make up look is MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in "Adored" which is also from their Tropical Taboo collection. I didn't think that I would find anything that would top MAC "Soft & Gentle", but this comes to a very close second, if not a tie! I love "Adored" because it does have a coral colour that I think really goes well with coral blushes that I have been using lately. It just meshes seamlessly, and that's why I think it's gives skin a flawless luminance. A definite must have and staple for my kit and all makeup looks!

Speaking if the Tropical Taboo Collection, no monthly recap would be complete with talking about at least 1 MAC Limited Edition Collection! Last month, MAC released a fantastic summer collection, showcasing a lot of their "Mineralize" products in funky and bright colours. It would be hard for any MACaholic to resist this collection! A lot of fun and surprising colour combinations that come together to make a perfect and super sparkley colour for any summer makeup look. Although the options were abundant as to what you can have from this collection, I chose two Mineralize Eyeshadows in "Cha-Cha-Cha" and "Time and Tango", two Cremesheen Glass in "Fever Isle" & "Narcissus", and the Mineralize Skinfinish in "Adored". I also, from a previous collection already have "Heroine" & "Ablaze" Lipliner, which are repromoted with the Tropical Taboo Collection . I love these colours and products for many different reasons (to read the full Haul & Review, click here),  and I am so happy to have them as part of my kit and collection!




Well there you have it dolls, a quick recap of everything that I have been loving his past month. I have a few products that I am currently reviewing for future reviews and favourites posts, so stay tuned this month for more. What were your favourites for July? Do you use any of the products I've mentioned, and if you do, how do you like them? I would love to hear what you think of my favourites and some of your own in the comments box below!!

For more favourites and other beauty related posts, please be sure to email subscribe to my blog (top right corner), and you can also follow my blog on Bloglovin' along with all of your other favourite blogs and bloggers! For more daily photos and videos and a glimpse in my daily life, follow me in Instagram (@fernonje) and if you have any questions or comments, please send them to makeupmasochist@gmail.com and I will reply as soon as I can. I will always make time for my readers!





Until next month (no rush, not looking forward to summer being over yet!)

xoxo
Ashley

Client Cases - Before & After: Liz

Hey guys!

So I decided to make a new series of posts here on the blog just for my wonderful clients - what they wanted to get done, how I executed and of course the end result. Now, I am pretty horrible at remembering to take before pictures, but I will try my best to remember for this series of posts. I kinda find that there's an ironic humor to the series title "Client Cases" lol... Seems sooo police work to me, but I like it and it makes me chuckle a little bit, mostly because I imagine that I am about to write out my clients criminal record LOL! Hope you guys find this new series enjoyable! Here is my first installment of "Client Cases" (*said in a deep narrating voice*)

Here is Liz, she came to me and wanted her makeup done for an upcoming wedding and also wanted a messy bun updo for her hair. Here is a photo of her in her own natural glory (no before photo, I told you I am very forgetful about before photos because I am so excited to play!!) She's GORGEOUS, right? How lucky am I to have this beautiful canvas to play with?!? True, natural beauty that only needed to be enhanced, not changed.

I wanted to start curling her hair before starting her makeup, this way I will pin it up to set the curls and her hair will be out of the way for makeup application. So split the hair into half inch sections, curled smaller sections of the hair with my flat iron and pinned the curls as I made them, making sure that they were still warm so they would cool and set while pinned. I did this all over her head in half inch sections until all of her hair was curled and pinned. Once that was done and set, I got started with her makeup.

I decided to do a nice neutral but glam eye, flawless skin and pink girly pout to go with her navy dress and accessories. First, in order to get a dewy complexion, I cleansed and moisturized with an SPF day cream and even tried to bring more moisturization by spraying the face with Avene Thermal Water before moisturizer. Liz does have dry spots and skin, so I felt it was essential to bring in as much moisture before applying any makeup. I think it makes a huge difference on how the skin looks with makeup and wears makeup for long periods of time.

Once her face was clean and ready, I applied face and eye primers to prep her face for makeup application. Primer is a crucial element in having makeup stay put, especially all night. I love face primers that fill in pores and lines, to give it smoother look and texture. I used Benefits Porefessional Primer on her face and Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion for her lids and under the bottom lash line.

To achieve this flawless glow I used Dior's Airflash Foundation in "300" on the outer perimeter of her face and Benefit's Hello Flawless Oxygen -Wow! foundation in "I'm so money, Honey!" on the inner circumference of her face. This technique, I find, helps give a more natural look and contours the face. I applied the foundations with a wet Beauty Blender and blended using a stippling motion.

To contour the hollows of her cheekbones, the bottom of her chin and parts of her neck I used a wet flat angled blush brush with a matte taupe shadow and used the pointed end of the beauty blender to blend and shape. I went over the contoured areas lightly with MAC's "Nude on Board" Bronzer (Temperature Rising LE Collection) to set and shape the contoured areas.

Flatter Me

Once that was done, I used Benefits Hello Flawless Powder in "I'm cute ans a bunny, Honey!" all over with a large powder brush. To giver her a glow, before highlighting, I used MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in "Flatter Me" (Archie's Girls LE Collection) all over her face. Skin is most important when doing any makeup look, keeping it fresh and flawless is key.

To begin with any eye makeup look, I filled and shaped her brows with a medium brown matte shadow and hard angled brush. I used a clean mascara spool to blend the shadow and make it look more natural. To clean and highlight the brow, I used a matte pale pink shadow under the entire brow and on the outer rim of the brow tail.

Caramel Sundae

Haux

Showstopper

To do most eye makeup looks, I like to start at the brow bone and move down, so I started framing the eye by using MAC "Caramel Sundae" Satin Eyeshadow (Archie's Girls LE Collection Palette) and applying it above the crease and outer V with a blending brush. Once that was blended up and out, I grabbed MAC's "Showstopper" Matte Eyeshadow (Archie's Girls LE Collection Palette) and used a pencil brush to apply this dark brown shadow to the inner V, darken the outer crease and under the outer lash line, really blending it into the Caramel Sundae colour. To blend and merge these colours and to add more dimension and drama, I used MAC Haux Satin Eyeshadow as a blending shade and used a fluffier blending brush to apply it in the crease, outer lid and under the outer lash line. For the lid colour I used Urban Decays "Sin" from my Naked palette and applied that to the entire lid and in the center of the lower lash line. Last step for the eyes, before lashes, is to highlight the inner corner of the eye. For this I used a Urban Decay's "Virgin", from the naked palette and used a rounded angled eyeshadow brush to apply it to the inner corners of her eyes and also as a highlight under the arches of her brows.

Ripe For Love Blush

Adored Mineralize Skinfinsh

Once the eye makeup is done, I applied concealer to cover up the under eye circles, some blemishes, but it also serves to clean up any fallout of shadow or lines around the eye make up. I used Benefit's Boi-Ing Concealor in light/medium (I mixed both as fair was too light and medium too dark) with my Sigma Flat Angled Brush P88 to apply, blend and highlight any areas. Her skin was now ready to put some colour back in, so I used MAC's "Ripe for Love" blush (Temperature Rising LE Collection) on the apples of her cheeks and blended up towards her temples. To really finish off and bring the look full circle, I used MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in "Adored" (Tropical Taboo LE Collection) to highlight her cheekbones, cuspids bow and dip of her chin, to give her a luminous finish.

For her lips, I wanted to do a simple but sweet pink, to really go with and pop against the navy of her dress, but not not overpower the eye makeup. The recipe I used was: first apply Hello Kitty by Sephora Sweet Gloss in "Pink Bow" as a base. I wanted to layer a similar pink lipgloss to give her lips a fuller look, so I used MAC's "Perennial High Style" Lipglass (Liberty of London LE Collection) on top of the pink base colour. To give her a high shine and some sparkle, I layered on MAC's "Nice Kitty" Lipglass (Hello Kitty LE Collection) just in the center of her lips. Very ohh la la!

Last step, is always mascara and lashes. I wanted a more natural set of lashes that still had the glam factor, so I used Ardell's Demi Wispies false lashes with my Duo lash adhesive. Before applying the lashes, I applied Clinique's High Impact Mascara in Black - just on the outer corner of the lashes. Best trick and tip I have to applying mascara is let the glue dry a bit before applying the lashes. Don't be afraid of using too much glue either, make sure there is enough glue especially on the outer tips of the lashes. While the lashes set and adhere, I like to go over the lashline where the false lashes are glued, and apply a black liquid liner along that seam and to also hide any excess glue. The liner gives it a clean line and adds so much drama to the eye, I love it! I used this new liquid liner that I picked up at the beauty supply and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked and how easy it was to apply!

Just a quick couple spritzes of a no-name costume makeup setting spray, to make sure that everything will stay in place all night long. I like to use this spray because its made for costume make up, so I know it will keep regular makeup in place!

Now during the time I was doing her make up, I gave her hair time to set while being pinned. I took out all the curls and softly separated them and used my fingers to comb them in the direction they were to go. To give her volume, I separated the hair in sections and teased the sections back until I reached her ears. I softly combed the hair and smoothed the sections, and was ready to start pinning up the curls. I used my fingers to manipulate the curls and used Bobbi pins to pin up the curls in a discrete way.

And here is the beautified and ready to party Liz...

(You can see my Kitty napping in the background! Hehehee, so cute!)

Doesn't she look amazing?!? Stunning! I love clients like her who aren't used to having their makeup and hair done, and really appreciate when they do. She loved it so much that she (almost!) cried, I didn't let her though because I had no time to get her fixed back up! LOL. There's no better feeling as an artist, than to see how much people really enjoy and appreciate your work. She felt beautiful, as she should, I just helped her remember how it feels to love yourself and feel confident because she's beautiful inside and out! I couldn't be happier with the end result and I hope she was thrilled with it too!

Well there you have it folks, the first instalment of my new blog series "Client Cases". Hope you enjoyed reading and learning on how I achieved this look for Liz, and I hope that you like this series and my future client cases! I will try harder for future posts to take more photos of the process so that you can have a better visual and see the steps as I go along. I promise these posts will just get better and better!

If you like reading about make up application or seeing before and after photos, don't forget to email subscribe to my blog (top right corner) to get notified of future posts! You can also follow my blog on Bloglovin' (Makeupmasochist) and for more photos and a daily glimpse into my daily life, be sure to follow me on Instagram (@fernonje). You can also email me with any questions or concerns at makeupmasochist@gmail.com, I will try to respond to all emails in a timely manner.

Thanks for reading, I declare this client case offically CLOSED!

Until next time!

xoxo
Ashley