Victoria's Secret -- Christmas is OFFICIALLY here!

Is it weird that I associate the VS runway show with the beginning of the holiday season?  I remember at high school people would curl up in the common room to watch it, only to feel bad about themselves afterwards and start doing Pilates in the hallways.  Ah, memories.

About a week ago I enlisted the help a beautiful new girl to help me recreate this year's runway look.  Unfortunately, by the time we got to makeup, the sun had set and the video is suuuuuper dark/oddly yellow-looking.  Howeeeever, I did manage to get a few hundred photos, so we'll take it from here!

 After reading about a million different interviews with Tom Pecheux, I've picked out the most consistent pattern.  I hate when in one interview, they claim to use all VS products, and in another he's obviously like, "Psht, I'm using real foundation."  As a result, I'm not using any of the same products that he claimed to use.

1. Prep -- Start off with cleansed, moisturized skin.  I applied a layer of La Roche Posay Nutritic to her face and C.O. Bigelow's Soothing Lip Buffer to her lips.  After a few minutes, I soaked up any excess Nutritic with a tissue and left the lip exfoliant on.
2. Base -- I had to mix Deem's colour from a bunch of foundations I had, but go for your regular foundation and concealer.  If you have extremely dry but smooth skin, don't be afraid to mix a little illuminator in there for extra dewiness!
3. Set -- Tom Pecheux eschewed "heavy" make up this year, so he used a technique where he mixed all the powders together -- I used E.L.F. HD powder to set her make up on her forehead, nose and chin.  Since we're going to do a lot of work on the cheeks, don't powder them just yet.
4. Cheeks -- this was a three-step system.
   Contour:  I mixed the HD powder with Benefit Hoola so I could get the silky finish as well as the colour.  I used an EcoTools powder brush to contour under the cheekbones, around the temple and a little on the nose and chin for an all-over glow.
   Blush: I used a mixture of Benefit Dallas and Benefit Hoola to start building the gradient towards the cheekbone.  I mixed Benefit Dallas and TheBalm Hot Mama and applied to the very top of her cheekbone to start introducing a little shimmer.
   Highlight: Since the Victoria's Secret girls are famous for their bronze-y gold shimmer, I didn't want to use a pink or white-based shimmer like Benefit High Beam or Mary Lou-manizer from TheBalm.  I ended up mixing Mary Lou-manizer with a little MAC Gold Nude (LE) pigment to get the right colour.
5. Eyes -- There was almost no shadow on the eyes this year, so I used the same mix of Gold Nude and Mary Lou to highlight the centre of the lid.  I tightlined the upper lash line with a Styli-Style pencil and used the Lancome Artliner for a clean, precise wing.  Deem already had amazing lashes, so I just used two coats of waterproof Great Lash after curling with a Shu Uemura curler -- waterproof formulas hold curl better!
6. Lips -- After removing the buffer, I was left with a plump, soft lip to work with.  If you want, you can use a lip plumper or perfector to encourage that va-va-voom pout, but I didn't bother.  I realized I don't have a nude lipstick that works for her so I mixed Viva Glam Gaga I and NARS Morocco to get a nude-y pink base, and topped it with Revlon Nude Lustre for a high-gloss finish.

That was shockingly exhausting to write.  I'm not sure why.  VS hair tutorial tomorrow?  Maaaaaybe.

A moment on the lips, forever on...

...your cuticles.

I was playing around in my lipgloss stash this weekend and found not one, but two tubes of C.O. Bigelow My Favourite Lip Balm.  I never usually repurchase something like lip balm (unless it's changed my life like this one one or this one) because I have such an A.D.D.iction to them.

I remember picking this one up when Bath and Body Works had one of those 3 for 2 type deals, and after deciding that I'D over-backed-up (though...is there such a thing?) my Mentha Lip Tints, I'd take the impulse plunge and attempt something new.  Of course, that almost never happens =P.

Thing is, this was about a year ago -- I thought I liked this balm, but apparently somewhere along the line, it just dropped off my radar.  I reapplied and I realized why.  This is exactly that sort of liquid-y, non-sticky balm/gloss combination that I hate.  I think it was thicker when I first bought it, but maybe with time it lost a little molecular integrity? No idea.  Either way, it was an adequate moisturizer, but nothing impressive or spectacular.

Either way, I wiped it off quickly with my fingers and absent mindedly rubbed it into my cuticles.  A couple minutes later I realized that it had completely absorbed.  Just for luck, I tried one more time.

A new cuticle oil?  That's what I call shopping your stash.

Quick Tip: Moisturized Matte Lip

Don't you just hate it when you try and film a video and it just doesn't work for you?  Even on the 11th take?Yeah, that was me with this blog post.

But don't you hate it even more when despite your best preemptive moisturizing action, your lips dry out the instant you put a matte lipstick on and chunks of brightly coloured lip flake off your mouth?  Me too.

One way people combat this flaky curse is by applying a thick layer of lip balm underneath their lipstick.  To them, I say, nay!

I understand conditioning your lips before you start your makeup in hopes that all the product will have absorbed by the time you get to your lips, but I highly advise against putting more product on just before your lipstick.

Why?

Bright lips = high maintenance lips.  I never wear a bright lip unless I'm fairly certain I'm going somewhere that I won't be drinking, eating, whistling or talking.  Alas, sometimes you are subject to a group-whistle rendition of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream.  You never know.

One way to give yourself more time between reapplying is to stain your lip with the colour you're wearing.  If you put a lip balm on immediately before, the colour will not stain into your lips.  So to put the moisture back in, I suggest...putting lipbalm on after you apply your colour.  What is this??

Hear me out.  Take a really waxy balm like the ones from EOS or Burt's Bees.  This is not the time for a Philosophy balm, Kiehl's #1 or Nivea Essential.  You want something extremely solid.  Lightly rub some of the product off on your finger and press (PRESS) it into your lip, as rubbing the product in will take all the colour off.  Sure, it might be more annoying when you take a sip of your drink, but at least it won't migrate to the outline of your lips à la 90s nude-lip-dark liner-trend.  You know the one.

Also taking this moment to debut Tod's new hair!

On Tod: MAC Flare! (LE) from Glitter and Ice

Hair Architecture

Kiss of Spring -- Out, Damned Snow!

On Tod: MAC Blooming Lovely (LE) from the Liberty of London collection

 On me:  Revlon Pink Pop

Today, it barely snowed for the first time all winter.  

To fend off the snow, I decided to go all spring-y and pastel-y.

Without Flash

With flash

Please Refrain

Tod says I am no longer allowed to bring any of the following into our house.

Lip Products

Cleanser

Neutral Eye Shadow

Mascara

I'm not sure I agree with this new arrangement.

My attempt at an excuse:

....most of the mascaras everything was purchased at the L'Oreal warehouse sale?

Butter

Tod and I were raving about Scarpetta's tomato and basil pasta (so simple but SO GOOD) and when I read to her that the last step in the recipe is to add a tablespoon of butter, she gave me a weird look.

"You add butter??"

I get that all the time.

People have such butter complexes.

Butter is the single most aromatic thing you can add to anything.  A spoonful will completely change your pasta, your oatmeal, your corn and your life.  All that chatter about dairy fat and cholestrol -- put that away.  There is no place for such heresy in this house of indulgence and procrastination.

Do you know why restaurants can charge you eight times as much for something you can prepare yourself?  It's because they've taken the time to add a pat of something that should be readily available in your house.  When you walk into a restaurant or a patisserie, inhale and go, "...What smells so good?"  It's butter.

You know this feeling.  It is the warm, savoury scent that arises when you step into your grandmother's house.  The pale gold colour that reminds you of lazy Sunday mornings.  That rich, dulcet flavour that rests on the line between salty and oh-so-sweet.  Whipped, softened, melted.  That adjective people use when they want to describe something absolutely luxurious and decadent.

Live it.
Eat it.

How long has it been?

Long enough for me to buy something new and use it in a look.

My new purchase?  Orange Pop by Ben Nye.   My first purchase from a real makeup artist brand!  And the best part?  It was $10.  It was hard not to get one in each colour.  I'm currently lusting after the red. Flame, I think it's called?  That's the one.

So I decided to do a gradient-y cheek.  I'm getting a little bored with the two-tone lip so I figured...why not two-tone cheek?  And then things got a little cray-cray.

No they didn't.  But you get it.

1. Apply Maybelline Mineral Power Liquid Foundation in 01 Light with fingers.  After drying, apply another layer on dark circles

My first time using this foundation!
It spread really well onto her skin, but she mentioned it felt kind of gross on.
Sheer to medium coverage, I'd say.

2. Use MAC 129 to dust Ben Nye blush in Orange Pop on the apple of the cheek

I'm in love with this colour.

3. Using the same brush, take MAC Overdyed into the hollow of the cheek and sweep up towards the temple.

Of course, I had to get a good gradient shot.
Check out that pinky-orange goodness.

4. Use your fingers to press The Balm's Mary Lou-Manizer on top of the cheek bone and onto the brow bone, connecting the two around your eye in a C-shape.

5. Finish with brows (MAC Lingering), a shimmery neutral shadow on your lid (UD Virgin), a neutral brown shadow (UD Naked) from your crease to browbone and a dark lip (Stila No Competition).

 

You're getting sleepy...

Sleepy...

...and we're gone.

Kiss of Stila

On Tod: Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten
On Me: Stila Lip Glaze in Merry

I figured since everyone's going full-speed towards Christmas, I'd half-jump on the bandwagon and miss.

"54 Days until Christmas" Favourites

I've recently realized how close we are to December.  Apparently my way to deal with that is to purchase things?  Anyway, of those things, here are the ones I've been reaching for.

I loooooove favourite anything!