What's Your Favorite Bronzer?

As I start to contemplate the end of summer I am finding ANY reason to get out into the sun. To feel the warmth and lounge by the pool with my boys. What will I miss? What are the staples of summer for me? #1 Summer activities: swimming class, picnics, park dates, BBQs, and lounging at the pool (face FULLY covered of course!) #2 The food: Watermelon, cherries, corn on the cob, avocados perfectly ripe, summer salads...oh the list could go on and on and on =). #3 Bronzer for that sun kissed glow! There is nothing like a healthy glow in your skin and bronzer is JUST that! What is your favorite bronzer?

Now I know that all of us have seen the effects of bronzer overload. Oompa Loompas among us, if you will. There is nothing worse...well, few things worse than over application of something as drastic as bronzer. When applied correctly it can enhance your face, sculpt and chisel and give you a healthy "no sun" glow. Remember our three? I talk about that a lot when dealing with bronzer. If not, check out this video. It's packed with loads of tips and tricks when contouring your face. Some people are what I like to call, bronzer deficient, or bronzed and confused when knowing how to pick out just the right one for you. DON'T BE ASHAMED or even embarrassed. We ALL have gone through it, myself included, but there is help without going to group meetings =). Make sure to pick out a bronzer with as little to no sparkle as possible. Sparkle attracts the sun and therefore is "pulled out". A matte bronzer in the hollows or sunken in parts of your face will deepen them ever so slightly giving you dimension and killer "curves". If you crave that sparkle then choose a highlighter or shimmer powder to dust just above said bronzer. Just remember that less is more and more = oompa loompa. Happy bronzing while we still can =).

Melon EOTD

While Irene pelts down rain outside, to keep from being bored out of my skull I thought I'd share this latest EOTD with you all. x3

I mainly wanted to use the fabulous color called Melon from BFTE Cosmetics. (You can see swatches here.) I got this color because I've had a look in my head for weeks, but lacked the right color to actually create it. So with Melon, I tried to do a bright melon eyelid which fades into light gold shimmer, and a baby blue accent underneath. This is the basic concept, but for some reason the look turned out different than I'd pictured. I wasn't in love with it, but it's not horrible lol. I may try recreating it sometime to create a look more like I'd originally pictured. ;)

No flash

No flash

With flash

Products I used:

-UDPP

-NYX JEP in Milk all over lid

-Sephora mini white eyeliner on lower lashline

BFTE pigments in:

-Melon: super bright melon shade on lid

-Chaos: shimmery light orangeish-pink in crease

-Cornflower: baby blue on lower lashline

-Ornamental: pale shimmery gold above crease, inner and outer corner, and under Cornflower

-Guipure: super sparkly bright gold on browbone
-Raspberry: hot pink patted on over Melon

-Loreal Carbon Black felt tip liquid liner pen on upper lashline

-Almay black liquid liner on upper tightline

-UD 24/7 pencil in Zero on waterline

-Shu Uemura lash curler

-Maybelline Colossal mascara in Classic Black

-Red Cherry #600 lashes

-mark. Eyemarker in Java and BFTE Truffle on brow

Even though it's not quite the look I pictured, it's still pretty in it's own way. I failed a bit with the picture-taking though, not sure what happened but I had to stop when my camera battery died. :P

Thanks for reading, hope everyone on the East Coast is staying safe in this storm!

~Emily<3

Darling Girl Cosmetics review and swatches, yay!

I ordered from Darling Girl Cosmetics almost two months ago, but as some of you know I've been having computer issues, so the fabulous product shots I took of my package when it arrived are currently trapped on my laptop which is in the custody of my dad or brother until they (hopefully) fix it. However this week we finally got a new camera to replace the one that broke, so I was finally able to take some new product shots and swatches to share with you all! The swatches turned out not too badly, thankfully. The product shots aren't as good as my previous ones, but I guess they'll do. :P

I'm not going to talk too much about the ordering process and all that, mostly because it was a while ago and I forget the details lol. (All I really remember was that I hit some snags in the ordering process, but Susan was nice and helped me through it.) There are plenty of blogs reviewing DGC in depth, so I'm mostly reviewing my personal feelings about the brand and the products themselves, with emphasis on the best part: the swatches! So buckle up for a pic heavy post and keep reading...... ;D

I ordered:

-Blogger's Review Set with samples of Electra, Mardi Gras, Exhale, Rose Queen(blush), and Miami Holo-gloss (This is a genius idea!)

-So Sakura set with Liquid Kiss gloss and petit-sized eyeshadow

-Glitter Glue

-My order came with free samples of new eyeshadows Barbarella and Danceteria, and a petit jar of Charming Coral blush, the free gift with purchase!

On to the pictures! I feel weird without a picture of the entire order together, so I guess I'll just jump right in... (Don't forget to click the pics for full-size viewing!)

Electra eyeshadow, a metallic "Oscar the Grouch" green with a hint of gold and shimmery goodness. I'm a sucker for this type of green, and I love this one a lot!

Mardis Gras eyeshadow, a pretty aqua-teal with subtle copper shimmer. It reminds me of oxidizing copper, like the Statue of Liberty. (You can see the copper better in the swatch photos.)

Excite eyeshadow, a beautiful lavendery purple with aqua shimmer. This type of shade seems common enough, but this seems like one of the prettier versions! The purple isn't at all greyish, and the aqua stands out nicely over Glitter Glue.

Rose Queen blush; I have an obsession with blushes, so after browsing for hours upon hours, I settled on this rosey shade. It has a purple undertone which one would think might be too cool for someone neutral like me, but I actually love it. It looks mauvey pink in the bag, but when applied to my face it takes on more of a berry tone. It has very subtle shimmer, I really like it. I've worn it several times already, and I'll probably wear it a lot in the coming cooler months as well.

Free sample of Barbarella eyeshadow! I'd just seen this color on Susan's blog and Facebook, and I was sad that I'd already ordered because I definitely would have included this in my order. For some reason this shade was really hard to photograph; the color didn't really show up accurately in any of the pics, it ends up looking more brown than pink. To me it looks like a light, bright, metallic coppery pink shade, almost like a brand new penny. Thank you Susan for sending me this sample, I adore it!

Free sample of Danceteria; if you could make eyeshadow out of a discoball, you'd get this bright metallic silver with CRAZY multicolored glitter! I'm not a big fan of wearing glitter since it kind of gets everywhere, but this stuff is pretty cool. If you love glitter, you probably need this shadow. ;P

Miami holo-gloss; peachy-pinky-coral gloss with tons of gold glitter. When I tried it on, the glitter really stood out! Again, since I'm not a big glitter-wearer, I think I'll try wearing this with another gloss to tone down the glitter a bit, but it's really pretty to look at. ;3

So Sakura Liquid Kiss gloss. It's a soft pink shade with fuchsia-violet highlight, terribly pretty.

Here you can see the shimmer! Ignore the scratches and debris, it's been in my purse since I got it. (Except for the week it apparently went to camp with my sister, which is actually probably where the scratches and debris came from. ;P)

The applicator is smaller than I'm used to, so I need to apply a few times to get a glossy pout. No real smell or taste that I could notice.

My gorgeous GWP blush and Sakura eyeshadow petits- I LOVE the artwork on the jars! They feel very sturdy and high quality.

L to R: Charming Coral Blush and Sakura eyeshadow. If I have an obsession with blush, I have an UNHEALTHY obsession with coral. When I saw the swatch pics of Charming Coral, I knew I had to order; it's so pigmented and bright! I've worn it a few times, applied with a stippling brush it gives me a nice bright flush of coral. <3

Each label tells you what's safe in the cutest font ever. Despite the warning I've been very tempted to put Charming Coral on my eyes. >.<

Now for swatches! (Except for So Sakura gloss which I forgot to swatch, sorry..)

L to R: Electra, Mardis Gras, Exhale, Danceteria, Barbarella, Sakura, Charming Coral, Rose Queen, Miami holo-gloss. This pic is in direct sunlight :)

In daylight :)

Closeups with flash!

More closeups!

Direct sunlight so you can see the sparkle :) Look at the blue in Exhale!

Slightly out of focus for shimmer-purposes ;)

Here you can really see the copper sparkles in Mardi Gras! Sooo pretty...

Slight violet sheen in Sakura <3

Blushes and holo-gloss. I obviously swatched the blushes without blending them so you can see the colors better ;)

Amazing glitter in this gloss!

All eyeshadows were swatched on DG Glitter Glue, blushes and gloss were swatched on bare lotioned skin.The Glitter Glue, (which I sadly just realized I forgot to take pictures of this time :<), was what interested me in DGC to begin with; I read some blogger reviews about how awesome it was, so I had to try it myself. I really like it; super easy to use, and makes shadows look awesome! I've been using it whenever I want to swatch a shadow, not even for pictures but just to see what the shadow looks like over a foiling medium. It's good stuff :)

So there you have it! I am thoroughly enjoying my Darling Girl cosmetics, and I look forward to purchasing more. Susan is a sweetie and always seems to be working on new products, which I love; I can't wait to see what drool-worthy things she comes out with next. If you haven't tried Darling Girl Cosmetics, I highly recommend them!

*All products were purchased by me, all opinions are my own, yada yada yada. You know the drill. ;)*

BFTE haul with swatches #11

Beauty from the Earth recently had a Back to School Sale, so I'm back again with another BFTE haul! It just happens that I order from them pretty regularly because #1.They're awesome. #2.They give me free stuff, like the free full jar of eyeshadow I get for each 365 I win. If that's not incentive, I don't know what is.

The swatch pics are a little blurry but still give you a good grasp on what these colors are like in person. Typically I use my sister's little handheld camera to swatch, as it's much easier to handle and the macro works great and does all the hard work for me. xD However since said camera is currently broken, I therefore attempted to take some swatch pictures with my bulky Rebel, usually reserved for portraits only. 

On to the goods! (Please click each photo for maximum drool capacity!)

L to R: Bubbly, Canyon, Melon, and High Roller glitter.

L to R: Gun Metal, Lola, Coal, and Celtic Charms(COTW).

Bubbly, Canyon, Melon, High Roller(over Darling Girl's Glitter Glue), Gun Metal.

Canyon, Melon, High Roller, Gun Metal, Lola, Coal, Celtic Charms.

Good shot of Lola, Coal, Celtic Charms, and Chocolate. I wanted to compare CC and Chocolate; CC has more depth because of it's deep matte base and coppery/red shimmers. Chocolate is a lighter, more metallic pinky-bronzey shade. (You can also see the micro shimmers in Lola on the far left!)

Bubbly, Canyon, Melon, High Roller, Gun Metal, Lola, Coal, Celtic Charms, Chocolate. This is what I mean when I say that Bubbly GLOWS. <3

Natural light;  my sister has pretty tan arms from being at camp for 3 weeks lol. xD

My own impressions:

-Bubbly was my free pick for my latest BFTE 356 because I had to have a full jar of this stuff. I got a sample baggie in an order a while back and fell instantly in love. It has some nuances but the overall impression is a pigmented, glowing, metallic peachy-gold.

-Canyon is a light creamy kind of peachy-beige; not quite matte but super dense and silky, with very fine micro sparkles. It's a little darker than I thought it would be but that's actually a good thing. This is a really nice color, I can't wait to play around with it!

-Melon... ahhh Melon... where do I start? I've been craving this color for weeks because there's a specific look that's been in my head, but I couldn't do it yet because I didn't have the right color; NOW I do. Melon is a saturated red-pink-coral-melon shade, exactly what I've been needing in my collection. It's not matte but there ain't no sparkles here; just lightly pearly and smooth. I love it.<3

-High Roller is a bright blue micro glitter. What can I say, I thought it would be cool to have in my collection. ;)

-Gun Metal is a bright, smooth, lightly shimmery, metallic silver. If you're looking for a light-medium silver without a lotta sparkle, you should be happy with this.

-Lola is a sheer light grey with very fine micro sparks that appear to be light blue. It reminds me faintly of Harmony, but more of a neutral grey than blue. It's an adorable shade; I don't know if it's the name or what, but it seems cute and delicate.^^

-Coal is a completely matte dark grey. I got this and the other greys because recently I was trying to do a smokey eye for a tutorial, but realized I don't have ANY grey shadows! So this should come in handy.

-Celtic Charms was the COTW this week. It's a pretty popular color amongst BFTE fans, and I can see why. I'm not a big "dark matte base" fan usually, but it does give this shade an interesting depth and complexity. I didn't get to study it too closely, but it seems to be a dark brown, almost black base with dark brown shimmer and some bronze/copper/red sparkles.

Harvest was my free sample, which I already have, so this little baggie will go in my giveaway drawer for the giveaway I'm planning on having someday. x3

Harvest is kind of a sentimental color for me, since it was my very first COTW in my very first order, and one of the very first colors I used in my very first BFTE look. It's a super bright and metallic shimmery copper, almost like a new penny, very eye-catching. ;)

I was planning to swatch it with this batch but I forgot. :( For an old swatch, go HERE. For looks using Harvest, go HERE and HERE.

So I love everything, but of course I'm never disappointed with BFTE. Crystal just announced that she's been working on some new colors so I'm totally excited for that, can't wait to see what she came up with! Thanks a bunch for reading guys, hope you're all enjoying your Saturday! ;)

Bronze, gold, and blue EOTD with BFTE

Time for a quick eotd post :) I haven't been doing much play-makeup lately, and when I do I can't always take pictures because of the camera/computer situation I mentioned in my last post. :( But 2 nights ago I felt like playing with my BFTE pigments, so I created this look that's been on my mind for a while now. It's a bronze, gold, and blue look and I love how it turned out, even better than I pictured! (Don't you love when that happens? xD) If you'd like to see more, scroll down for the pics ;3

I didn't edit this one at all because I think the colors are pretty true-to-life, at least on my screen.

The rest of the pics are lightly edited for basic things like exposure and vibrancy, but most of them turned out pretty good so I didn't have to do much. I think I'm getting the hang of this picture-taking stuff!??

Blurry sparkle shot! Look how pretty, like sunlight on the ocean! x3

The last three were without flash since I finally have some (sort of) decent lighting in my new room. I like the softness it gives <3

Products I used:

Eye:

-UDPP

-NYX JEP in Milk (on lid)

-Sephora mini eyeliner pencil in White (under lower lashline and on waterline)

-BFTE pigments in:

-Chocolate (chocolate brown with bronze shimmer on lid and crease)

-Harvest (copper on inner third of lid, along crease, and blended up browbone)

-Autumn (metallic gold along inner half of lower lashline)

-Very Vanilla (matte vanilla shade dusted lightly along browbone)

-Ornamental (light shimmery gold blended up tear duct and browbone)

-Way Up High (matte white with gold shimmer, blended into tear duct and browbone)

-Cornflower (baby blue under Autumn)

-Peacock (Bright shimmery teal under outer half of lower lashline)

-UD 24/7 pencil in Zero (upper tightline)

-Shu Uemura eyelash curler

-mark. Lash All You Want high volume mascara in Black (I like this new mascara!)

-#507 Red Cherry lashes (applied with Duo lash glue)

Brows:

-mark. Eyemarker pencil in Java *discontinued*

-CS 88 Matte Palette (medium warm brown shadow)

Skin:

Revlon Colorstay foundation in Beige (just around eye)

-CS Camouflage Concealer Palette (just around eye)

-mark. Powdermatic setting powder in Light/Medium *discontinued* (just around eye)

I just did the one eye, pretty simple stuff. I had so much fun with this and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I hope you enjoy it too!^^

Should I be embarrassed to post my non-makeup'd face? Hmm.. nah!

Thanks for reading, happy weekend everyone! :3