Eyeliner Application - An easier way to... Wing it!

This post is for people who have the same or similar problem as I, or who doesn't want to give their eye a paper-cut, or put tape on their face, or hold a piece of flimsy tissue paper up to their eye to trace, or any other reason why you are still looking for a way to apply eyeliner. Have you always wanted to wear winged eyeliner but could never get the wing angle looking quite right? Well, that's me. My parents were nice enough to give me a little something from both of their genes. One slightly hooded normal eyelid and one completely hooded eyelid. So as you can imagine creating wings with my eyeliner is more difficult then normal and I gave up on it a long time ago.

My method is very similar to holding a piece of paper up to your eye and I was dumbfounded when I stumbled upon a perfect winged liner for my eyes. I was applying eyeliner to my water lines and over shot on the bottom outer corner so I grabbed a paper towel folded it and started to very gently wipe it off. When I removed the napkin from my face i had a straight line starting at my eye and extending out like winged eyeliner. It was faint so I decided to fill it in. GOLD! The line the napkin created followed the natural fold of my hooded eye and showed me where the line needed to be.

So on to the how too!

Step 1. Grab a paper towel or paper napkin and fold in half creating a pretty good (doesn't have to be perfectly flat) crease.

Step 2. Take your eyeliner and apply it to any area of the folded edge of the crease. Make it about 1/4"-1/2" long.

Step 3. Bring the drawn on part of the napkin up to your bottom water line and while lining up with the natural curve of the outer 1/3 of your bottom water line rub the napkin's crease lightly only about an inch back and forth (from nose to temple.)

Step 4. Remove napkin and you now have a solid tracer.

Step 5. Use liner to darken and fill in the area.

Now if your like me and because of the hood you will get a stamp on the upper part of your eyelid. Don't fill in past the first millimeter or two, past your eye lashes. Then pat on some clear/ translucent face powder to the liner wing (unless you used some bad ass liquid liner line MAC's Liquid liners or Makeup 4 ever.

I hope this is helpful and allows some who were wing impaired like me to try the winged liner out again, and maybe this gave some of you have a new quicker way to put on you liner.  (seems to me like it would be )

An American Cutie~

My go-with-me-everywhere Beauty Bag

This post is about my beauty bag. I take it with me EVERYWHERE. This bag carries all the things I feel I may need at any point or place, like if I get stuck some where and need to spend the night there. Eek! right?

Luminess Air

Luminess Airbrushing System

$299.90 us 
 

I have been a bad blogger lately. I am sorry, will you forgive me?

I have been spending my time wisely! I have tried a couple new products that I am super happy to share with all of you! The first one I am so excited to share with you all The Luminess Air Airbrush System. I have wanted to try out an airbrushing system since I had the CHANCE to win one at the Glaminar I went to in December. (Which I didn't) So when Makeup Talk, a beauty community that allows you to meet new people, share reviews, and join in discussions on their talk forum had a contest for bloggers to win one, I put a LOT of time into winning one of them! And hot damn, I won one! So after about a week of posting and tweeting EVERYDAY I was chosen randomly as one of the two winners of a Luminess Airbrushing System. I couldn't be more thankful to Makeup Talk and Luminess Air for having this contest. THANK YOU!

Luminess was super fast on shipping it out, I got it about a week after I was announced as a winner. They have five systems to choose from. I received the iLuminess for TV system (1 speed). This system retails for $299.90 and the makeup kit included retails at $80 (if they sold it separately). The entire package that was sent to me came neatly packed and included a stylish silver case to house the compact compressor and stylus while in use and during storage, an empty bottle with directions for mixing a cleaning solution of alcohol and water for the stylus. An AC adapter, (It is battery capable as well,) an informational DVD and Getting started booklet. A starter makeup kit that included one of each of the following in .25 fl. oz bottles. Moisturizer & primer, G-1 Brightening glow, Blush, Bronzer, and four different color foundations. I chose the Medium Matte formula so I got numbers 3-6.

 

They make using the Airbrush system look so easy but it's NOT! Ha ha ha. Just holding the stylus is a challenge. Luckily, I play several musical instruments so this instrument was no different and was able to manipulate my digits to hold it correctly and comfortably. The biggest challenge I have run into is applying the proper pressure to the trigger. The first time I tried to work with it, the foundation was being spit out in spurts. At first I thought it was broken... then I thought, maybe I was pulling back too much on the trigger... then I took the damned thing apart! Ha ha ha. I like understanding my instruments inside and out, and taking it apart was the smartest thing I did. After taking it apart and playing with all the mechanics of it I put it back together with a better understanding of how the trigger works, how the flow of the make up is compromised by the needle, and the tension needed to make it all work. Anyone that gets an airbrushing system, take it apart CAREFULLY and learn how it works first, unless you are uncomfortable with doing things like that yourself. However, eventually you will need to disassemble it to clean the needle off so you might as well know how the thing looks clean, so you can keep it clean!

The airbrush system takes a combination of pressure, distance, and patience. Eventually it will be faster than applying traditional foundation but take your time while learning. Learning how to cover blemishes and get an even coverage will take more than one time to prefect, so don't give up after the first time. Light pressure on the trigger to bring it back, never past the half-way point, (unless cleaning it out) and holding it about 7-10 inches away from your face is kind of like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time! ha ha It can be done though! Try it on a sheet of paper first, this will also allow you to see what the coverage is on a white background. When applying to my face it seemed as though it wasn't covering anything till I put my stylus to paper! Done right you will layer very thin layers of makeup to achieve your look, so make sure to cover blemishes first by using a lighter color than your foundation and hold the stylus about 3-4 inches away from your face. Now unless you have almost flawless skin you are going to need a bit of makeup in the stylus. I used probably 12-16 drops in the machine, but got a thicker than desired finish. So with that said 8-10 drops will be good to cover the entire face for the average non-perfect skin. Blemishes depending, can be about 2-5 drops. For blush I found that 4 drops was perfect for both cheeks and 3 drops of bronzer covered the common highlighting areas since it is so pigmented, on the face and I also used it as eyeshadow to boot!

They have two different formulas to choose from. Satin and Matte. The satin formula is for dryer skin. This is what they recommend for everyday wear to give you a dewy, ultra light weight finish. If you have oily skin like me then the Matte finish is more for you. Better coverage with the matte finish and oil controlling properties that last up to 50 hours. Yes, 50 hours! I don't know about that since I am not going to stay up for 50 hours straight or sleep in it to find out. ha ha. Their matte foundation formula, which is what I received is nice, its a little thinner than I was expecting, it is weightless when dry, even after I over sprayed my face it was like I had nothing on still. You do not have to set it with powder , but they do recommend it to help the length of wear. You can use their translucent powder which is formulated to work with the foundation or any other translucent powder will do.Their colors are numbered like most but Luminess has given even numbers pink undertones and odd numbers a yellow-olive undertone, so what ever color your skin is as long as you pick your color range correctly you will have no problem matching your skin to a foundation.

Their Moisturizer & primer takes nothing to apply 2 drops and 5 seconds takes care of the thin layer needed. I can't tell yet how moisturizing it is but from my experiences so far it doesn't make my face oily!

3 drops of the G-1 Brightening glow is supposed to give you a light shimmery-esk highlighter you would use as your highlighter for the high planes of your face. (cheekbones, nose, chin) anywhere else you want accented. I couldn't tell if it was really working too well so I layered it on a little thick. I am still on the fence with this item. It gave a slight glow but I will pass on this one next time.

The Blush gave my cheeks a very natural pink glow and complimented my skin tone very well. It was easy to get a slight glow to my cheeks and with a little layering I was able to achieve a great pink color on my cheeks.

The bronzer was amazing! The sun-kissed glow it gave to my face and it's use as an eyeshadow worked really well! It is super shimmery and lost none of it's shimmer after a couple hours. I was very pleased with both usage results.

None of the products dried out my face, but dried to a great finish. Their products are a little on the expensive side, so I will probably try out MAC's airbrushing colors and foundations the next time I hit the Pro Store. Plus I get them right away, unlike Luminess which from what I can tell is by mail only. There are so many products out there I want to try a good amount of them to see which is suited for me. For now the Luminess ones will work great for learning how to refine the talent!

 

 

Just a side note,  the pictures come across with perfect color and match, but IRL the makeup was a bit dark on me and was noticeable.

I hope this was helpful. I enjoyed writing it for you all!

Love and Airbrushing

Jamie!

Lady Sylvana ~ WoW

Lady Sylvana

For all you WOW lovers out there. I am working on creature looks. If you would like to see me recreate a character let me know I will will try. This is my second attempt on the Lady Sylvana look from World of Warcraft. I used acrylic paints this time and it was MUCH harder than the regular makeup. But here are a couple of pictures. I hope to perfect it one more time and with less blue skin and with regular make up. The regular makeup look turned out Sooo much better.

If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

I hope you like the look and appreciate all the input you can give.

Your American Cutie, Jamie

Roxie Hart ~ Marionette

Marionette Roxie Hart


Lately I have been catching Chicago the movie on TV and beside the great music and captivating choreography I was very intrigued with Rene Zellweger's makeup during the song "We both reached for the gun." If your not familiar with it, in this scene Roxie is dressed up like a marionette and is being controlled by Billy Flynn Her lawyer. Her makeup in this scene is great at making her look like a doll. More than just a doll but a marionette! I loved the look so much I really wanted to recreate it. After my attempt my husband said he and I are going as Roxie Hart and Billy Flynn to the next costume party! Ha ha

The look took me about 2-1/2 hours and with a little more preparation and the right tools I think I can get the time down to about 1 hour. I really enjoyed doing this look. I enjoy the more unusual creative looks rather than the everyday or sexy smoky eye looks.

Roxie Hart Marionette

Face
Dermalogica, Multi Vitamin Toner
Go-Theriputicals, 15% Vitamin C
Kate Somerville, Dermal Energizing treatment
Murad, Essential-C eye cream SPF 15 ~ Around eyes
Dermalogica, Sheer Tint Moisturizer, Light
Cover FX Skin Prep, Nourishing foundation primer & anti-aging serum ~ face
MAC, Studio Sculpt SPF 15 foundation, NC20
Cover FX, Cream Foundation, C30 ~ blemishes
Cover FX, Loose setting powder, light
Cover FX, Powder foundation, B25 ~ contouring

Eyes
MAC, Orb, Prized ~ all over
MAC, Shroom ~ Highlight
MAC, Print, Copperplate, Fabulous Feline ~ Crease
MAC, Brown Down ~ Eyebrows
UD, Zero 24/7 liner ~ Liner, top bottom, water lines
UD, Perversion ~ Over zero
MAC, Vanilla pigment ~ Center eye lid
Bad Gal Lash ~ Mascara
Sephora black Mascara
Individual lashes to outer half, top and bottom

Cheeks
MAC, Dollymix
MAC, Chéz Chéz Lamé ~ Highlight cheeks/ nose/ chin

Lips
MAC, Natural ~ Liner
MAC, Omega ~ on Liner
ELF, Royal Red ~ lip stick

Hope you liked the look.
Thanks for reading and have a dolly day!

American Cutie Jamie

Valentine's Day Lace

It's almost Valentine's Day and many are inspired by the conversation hearts, chocolate, flowers, love. I have seen this technique done before and have this awesome pattern on a dress so I decided to make it happen.



This look is inspired by all the lacy lingerie that is tossed on the floor on Valentine's Day. I love this look. It took me a long time to create but well worth the outcome. It is a shame all I did was take it off after I took pictures.


Valentines Lace overall time 2-1/2 hours

Eyes
Urban Decay ~ Primer Potion, original - All over lid
MAC ~ Chilled on Ice, Pinky beige w/ gold micro glitter - All over lid
MAC ~ Prized, Pale Peach - All over lid
MAC ~ Quite Spoiled, Mauve w/ pink pearl - Inner lid
Urban Decay ~ Last Call, Shimmery berry w/ pink pearl - Outer lid
MAC ~ Palace Pedigreed, Deep Berry w/ pink pearl - Crease
MAC ~ Russian Blue, Dark blue based Grey - Crease
L’Oreal ~ HIP Chrome Eyeliner, bright silver chrome - Inner water line
MAC ~ Pink Opal, White pigment with iridescent shimmery - Highlight/ inner under eye liner/ water line
Urban Decay ~ Zero, Black - Top water line / outer bottom water line
MAC ~ Smoky Heir Superslick Liquid Eyeliner, purple w/ a silvery blue pearl - Top eye liner
Benefit ~ Bad Gal Lash, Black - Mascara
Urban Decay ~ Smog, dirty shimmery brassy brown - Eye Brows
Anistasia ~ Clear Brow Gel, clear - eyebrows
Wet'n Wild ~ Rhinestone studded false eyelashes, black w/ rhinestones - eye lashes

Cheeks
Clinique ~ Smoldering plum, shimmery plum w/ pink pearl - checks
Urban Decay ~ Moonshine, iridescent opal - highlight on cheek bone and nose
MAC ~ Rose Olé, shimmery dusty rose - highlight on cheek bone and nose

Lips
Burt's Bees ~ Pomegranate lip Balm, opaque red - moisturizer
MAC ~ Nightmoth, Deep berry plum - lip liner and fill
MAC ~ Violetta, Bright magenta - full lips
MAC ~ Hothouse, Bright Magenta w/ pink and silver glitter - full lips
MAC ~ Pink Opal, White pigment with iridescent shimmery - center of lips

Face
Dermalogica ~ Multi Vitamin Toner - face
Go-Theriputicals ~ 15% Vitamin C - face
Kate Somerville ~ Dermal Energizing treatment - face
Murad ~ Essential-C eye cream SPF 15 - Around eyes
Dermalogica ~ Sheer Tint Moisturizer, Light - face
Cover FX Skin Prep ~ Nourishing foundation primer & anti-aging serum - face
MAC ~ Studio Sculpt SPF 15 foundation, NC20 - face
Cover FX ~ Cream Foundation, C30 - blemishes
MAC ~ Mineralized Skinfinish Natural, Light Medium - face
Cover FX ~ Powder foundation, B25 - contouring
My Dress ~ Lace design from a dress - pattern
MAC ~ Russian Blue, Dark blue based Grey - lace pattern

I hope you liked this look.

Love and Lace, your American Cutie
Jamie

Urbanglow Cream Highlight

Urbanglow Cream Highlight in Moonshine

$24.00 .17 fl oz.

Colors: Brown Sugar ~ Warm taupey brown, Sin ~ Shimmering champagne, Wicked ~ radiant pinky shimmer, Moonshine ~ Iridescent shimmer.

Highlight, highlight, highlight... super pretty when done correctly. Right on top of the cheek bones, down the center of the nose, a touch on the cupids bow, and chin. Urban Decay's new cream highlighters are super easy to use from it's cute packaging to it's formulae.

The packaging is super cute and feels heavy. It's defiantly not cheap feeling. It doesn't come with an applicator but your better off with your finger or a make up sponge. They are creamy in consistency and are sheer in color. I bought Moonshine and it's an iridescent pearl color that matches better with lighter skin tones. It is very blend-able and works fabulously with MAC Pigment Pink Opal. It's not greasy nor does it dry out the skin. It doesn't have a scent that I can smell. The formulae isn't thin, hard or chunky. It has a thick creamy consistency which helps it to stay where you put it. It has great pigment and stays put all day. It does disappear a little bit over time but wear is pretty much all day.
I love Urbanglow Cream Highlight. The colors are universal for all skintones and types.

Packaging:5/6, Value:6/9, Formulae:20/24

Overall: 82%

Hope you have a highlighted day!

Your American Cutie Jamie

MAC Cham Pale Collection

This collection couldn't have come at a better time.

MAC Special Reserve Highlighting Powder
$28.00 net wt .35 oz

I have been looking for a powder highlighter to add to my collection and viola! MAC introduces Special Reserve Highlighting Powder in Chez Chez Lamé and Rose Olé.

Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin ribbons of metallic yarn.

Both colors remind me of Lamé fabric. From the manufacturing shape of it to the shiny, velvety, shimmery texture. Chez Chez Lamé is a super shimmery gold tone. Rose Olé is a super shimmery rose based darker gold. Both have a velvety texture and go on easily and evenly. I have found that Chez Chez Lamé is good for cooler toned skin and Rose Olé is good for warmer skin tones, but both work on all skin tones to highlight the high planes of the face.





Chez Chez Lamé/ Rose Olé

I LOVE both colors, but am partial to Rose Olé which isn't sold out yet. Go to www.maccosmetics.com to buy.

Chilled on Ice Paint Pot
$16.50 net wt .17 oz



Chilled on Ice is a pinky beige with gold micro glitter. It is super smooth and a little goes a long way. This is a great base for shimmery eye shadows and on it's own it is an eye brightener. It doesn't do well as an eye shadow on it's own if you have oily lids.


Hope you have a shimmery highlighted day

Jamie