Casual + Cute Glasses Makeup

I recently had to update my glasses prescription which meant I needed to get some new glasses.
So, I bought two new pairs from Tijn Eyewear (not sponsored), one with my new prescription and another pair that I use for school that has blue light protection since I use my tablet for note taking and homework. I recently have gotten a bit paranoid about blue light eye damage so I've been eyeing protective eye wear for awhile.

With wearing glasses everyday, I've had to modify my makeup to avoid some new annoying realities that come with constant eye wear.

The thing I like to avoid most is foundation or concealer getting smudged on the bottom edge of my glasses! It bothers my peripheral vision and it makes me feel sloppy.

So, to get around that I've completely nixed foundation and liquid concealer from my daily routine. Also, since I tend to start my day straight from the gym, I wear less makeup than I used too~ just enough to look rested and polished.

I always start the day off with clean and moisturized skin, since I forgo foundation, I want any visible skin to look as fresh as it can~

My next step is applying a pore minimizing primer that has UV protection. I like Hera's lavender primer as my skin has been getting quite tan and my concealers are now a bit pale for me, the lightly tinted primer helps to blend the colour of my makeup to my skin without extra coverage.

To help my under eyes look less sallow, I use Tatcha's Pearl Tinted Eye Illuminating Treatment, in Moonlight, to add some brightness back into my skin, not only does it add a bit of colour but it also helps to reduce discolouration and fine lines with prolonged use.

A small secret product I've constantly had in my life for the past 10 years is La Bella Donna's Loose Mineral Foundation,  in Nicoletta. La Bella Donna's mineral foundation was created and used for use in post facial surgery offices, safe to use on healing and sensitive skin. It also was created to cover healing and textured skin too~ I've usually kept a stash of this foundation for emergency days when I had horrible break outs. Recently though, I've been using it to spot conceal areas and to keep my skin looking makeup free but covering up areas of hyperpigmentation. 

Also, since it's a powder, any pigment that might be under my glasses don't get picked up by my frames, keeping my glasses looking clear and clean!

^With applied concealer and brows~

I also like my brows to be low maintenance, and smudge free. I've recently been using PMELtete's Tint Dual Eyebrow. The formula of the pen is similar to a stain and lasts all day! (I've accidentally got it on my hands before and it is a pain to try washing off completely). The pen has a brow gel on it's opposite end and it's pretty good... Not my favourite, but it does it's job. It's just conveniently there, and I can't complain.

To finish off my makeup, I draw a very thin winged eyeliner with my favourite Jill Stuart liquid eyeliner in brown, and tap on some of my go to YSL Lip Stain, in 220 Nude Steam, on my cheeks and on my lips (it's the exact colour my cheeks flush after the gym so it looks amazingly natural on me!). Then finish off with a spritz of Tatcha's Luminous Dewy Skin mist, which helps to meld everything seamlessly into my skin and give me a believably real dewy finish that makes any makeup look like it is my real complexion.

If I want a bit more oomph, I tap a bit of YSL's Touche Eclat Glow Shot onto any high points on my face I want to emphasize.

A quick and simple look for every day~ and it only takes me a few minutes to do so I have more time for studying and getting tasks done!

With my prescription lenses, there's a polished and casual feel!

If I want to dress up the look more, I can easily add some light but eye catching additions.

Since I will be adding eyeshadow, I want to fully conceal my under eye bags. I keep going back to Hera's liquid concealer since it's the perfect in-between shade, close to my skin tone and slightly lighter to brighten up my under eyes.

For the sake of staying compact and simple, I am using my Jill Stuart Pajama Party palette. Also, because I always use the pink shade from this compact as it's the only pink that doesn't give me an allergic reaction. (I have a precious review on this palette here).

In addition, I absolutely adore Etude House's Wonder Fun Park pigment, and use it to make the look more sparkly.

I use the Jill Stuart palette on my crease, lash line and under eye. Then, I tap the Etude House pigment onto the center of my lid, and applied on the inner corners under my eye.

Admittedly, the look isn't for everyone, but I really love the simple and slightly distressed feeling this style of makeup gives. The look falls perfectly into step with the makeup the models I admire seem to wear on the daily. I may still be heavily influenced by Larme styles!

To finish off the eye looks, I use brown false bottom and top lashes.

The Romantic Minnie and Daisy series lashes from Shobi, that I love, now come in a brown shade! So, I have a ton in my collection now!

Brown false lashes, give the volume of false lashes, but give a softer look to the face. I absolutely adore how they give a glam yet youthful appearance, nothing too intense but still alluring!

I am also trying  new contour, Mochi Pact by 16 Brand~ It's something quite interesting, it's something in between a cream and a powder, the pouf it comes with has a soft mochi texture that feels great on the skin and leaves a thin film of the colour where applied.

I've been playing around with different types of contour since I've been leaving my skin looking bare~ so far this contour looks the best since it's so sheer and buildable. Plus, it doesn't leave any trace of product, only leaving behind a slight pigmentation so it lets my skin show though, keeping it looking natural.

I apply a bit of my YSL Tint-in-Balm to my lips, and the look is finished! 

A Soft cute natural look! 

Topped off with my blue light protection lenses, and the look is nicely complimented~ The touch of shimmer peeks through the lenses and my eyes can stand out past the unique frames.

I know the natural looks are very different from my usual makeup, but it's been fun to play around with what I can do with bare looking skin. Also, figuring out how to happily wear glasses after decades of resenting them has been it's own mini adventure!

Hope this week has been treating you kindly! It's been stressful for me, but I'm trying to take my stresses in stride and to learn from my mistakes and improve myself~ turning my negatives into some type of positive! Phew~ but, I'm very satisfied that I've been managing to keep up with my blogging!

<3CarisseIris !!

Doe Eyed Vixen~ Tutorial

So, sometime this summer I figured out a way to erase years off my face, and make heavy makeup look less intense. The result ended up looking somewhere in between innocent and a bit sultry..

Main products I used:

Etude House, Personal Color Palette, Warm Tone Eyes
Jill Stuart duo, 107, In Love with Love
PeriPera Ink Color Cara Mascara, in Dry Rose
YSL Touche Eclat Glow Shot, Sunset
YSL Glossy Stain, 220
YSL Volupte Tint-in-Oil, Love Me Nude 11

The most used and loved palette I have right now is my Etude House Warm palette~ it's good mix of sheer shades that are build-able and easily blend-able! It's not very suited for those who don't like sheer/natural eye shadows that tend to be found in a good amount of Asian cosmetics, but I find I enjoy the look of them a lot! It fits the soft, romantic, effortless, eye look I want to have.

The shades used are:

W1, Honey Milk - matte warm taupe

W6, Spangle - chunky glitter beige

W8, Dull Espresso - matte deep brown

W11, Toasted Pecan - matte peach taupe

W13, Cream Tea - cream shimmer

The main focus of the look is the eyes~  The look is a large and rounded 'doe' eye, but with a sultrier appeal to them. 

I started with a clean lid, and primed my eyes with the cream shadow of the Jill Stuart duo.

1. Crease: Taking 'W1', the lightest contour colour, blend it in a windshield motion along the eyelid crease. This will serve as a way deepen the depth of the eyes and as a way to create a more seamless and blended eye.

2. Inner + outer corner: Using a mid tone matte first, for me that was 'W11', and blend a bit of shadow onto the inner eye lid and outer crease to further deepen the contours of the eyes. This will create a rounder eye shape. If you want to enhance this shape even more and amp up the sultriness, take a deep brown shade, 'W8', and blend the deeper colour onto the outer corner of the eyelid. 

3. Eyelid: I take an eye shadow that is lighter than my skin tone and will catch the light nicely 'W6' and load it onto my fingertip [usually my ring finder of my non-dominant hand, as it's the most gentle finger to use around the eyes] and tap it right into the center of my eyelid. This serves a a highlight to further the perspective of an rounder eye shape and really deepen the contours created in the steps prior.

4. Lash line:  Using the deep brown eye shadow, 'W8', and a smaller brush or applicator, smudge the shade along the lash line to give the appearance of natural shadows from your eyelashes and to create the look of a thicker lash line and to add a smokiness to the look.

5. Eye bag: Instead of smoking out the lower lash line I used the middle shade contour shadow, 'W11' to again intensify the 'doe eye' look. I blend the shadow along the natural crease under the eye. This will add the illusion of larger eyes by adding a few millimeters to the eye area not to mention giving more space vertically on the face to the eye area. 

6. Under eye: I use a light shimmer, 'W13', to finish off the eye shadow portion of the look. It adds a  3D volume to the lower lash line to make the contour look more believable. It also makes the eyes look a bit puffier which gives a fragility to the look.

The next trick is lightening the lashes. It sounds a bit counter productive, but it is the highlight to the look and what actually captures peoples attention (especially in person), and lessens the heaviness of the eye makeup.

The shade I chose is the shade of my hair colour/ lighter than my natural lashes.

To further bring the look together and make the lashes look cohesive, I use the mascara to line my lashes. I use an angled eyeliner brush and use the mascara like a gel liner to give myself a very straight winged eyeliner, lacking the classic flick of a cat eye.

Like all my looks, I add top and bottom lashes! Ill be 100% real, I don't love these lashes at all but they were the only light brown shade top and bottom lashes that I found locally and looked pretty decent. I would probably recommend looking around on Amazon or eBay for nicer ones.

You could probably get a similar look by  very carefully prepping and colouring normal (black) false lashes with the coloured mascara.

It's hard to show the true colour of the lashes, so here's a photo from my phone in direct sunlight.

I finish everything up with a bit of YSL Glossy Stain, 220 to the apples of my cheeks and my lips for a natural flush of colour, a touch of YSL Touche Eclat Glow Shot on the high points of my cheeks for a slight glow, and YSL Volupte Tint-in-Oil to serve as a lip gloss.

Then, that's it!

A very contradictory look. Or what I like to envision it as an innocent look with a mysterious undercurrent~

<3CarisseIris

Romantic Disney Eyelashes by Sho-Bi~ Review

I've been eyeing these Romantic Minnie and Romantic Daisy lashes by Sho Bi for awhile.

The collection consists of 8 types of lashes for different looks but I felt the No.3 Dolly Eye and No.7 Sexy Eye would fit my preferred lash style best.

The lashes remind me a lot of Jumily lashes, their construction is quite delicate and the lashes themselves are very soft and lay on a thin clear strip. I love these types of lashes, Dolly Wink I would put in a similar category [but I find Dolly Wink brand is a bit more durable than Jumily lashes, and in turn same as this brand.]

 The No.3 Dolly eyes are quite similar to Dolly Wink #2 but in comparison, are a bit more even with the lash dispersal, and not as long as Dolly Wink lashes.

In general, the lashes are quite dense, which I was surprised with after application. 

The lashes are quite light and yet still have a thick and very apparent false lash appearance. 

The shape of the lashes are great for my eye shape since they open up the appearance of my eyes, with the tapered shape, and winged appearance. The spaced lashes near the center are what give off the dolly visual and add a very cute touch to the eyes. The thing I like most with this pair and also why I love Dolly Wink #2, is that the center of the lash is it's thickest part in regards to the amount of lashes concentrated there. With the heaviest part of the lash in the center, the eyes have a very doe like appearance and look and make my eyes look more rounded and larger.

For an every day lash, I think I will happily wear these. They look quite close to a stacked lash in regards to density and have just enough flair to be enhancing without going overboard, just passable for a day time lash. It's a great mix of cute and intense for lashes and great for those who enjoy a dramatic eyelash.

I tend to stay away from lashes that seem to be the same thickness throughout because I always fear they will look too heavy for my eye. But, with the No.7 Sexy eye lashes they are the more natural lashes of the two. Actually, apart from say House of Lashes Sweet Romance [I  wore for halloween since I was dressed to look younger], these might be the most natural lashes I've worn to date.. They actually remind me of how my lashes looked when I had lash extensions.

From it's appearance on the tray, these lashes are quite deceiving! These lashes are so light, they remind me of butterfly wings, and they are not as thick as you would assume, or at least I assumed when I bought them. They did give me a bit of trouble applying because they were so delicate and I accidentally was able to slide the lashes out of place on the lash band with my tweezers. I also had a bit of a problem controlling the lash, but when I finally got them on my lashes, I was blown away with how elegant they looked. 

 Because of the even lash dispersal of these lashes, they give the eyes a more sleek and cat eyed appearance. The look and shape is further enhanced with the heavier outer lashes that rather than enlarging the eye shape like the dolly lashes, work to elongate and compliment my eye's natural shape. In retrospect, I wish I work more natural lower lashes with them as the ones I wore above don't have the same feeling as the Sexy lashes and actually work against the beauty of these lashes. So; for note, Dolly Wink #13 bottom lashes and this pair are a bit awkward with each other. Shame on me, I just found I had a pair of #12's in my lash case after editing these photos;;

In person these lashes are perfect for a daily look, even for those new to lashes or want an enhanced natural look. They actually come in brown too which would look even more natural and are quite tempting to me to try out! I'm actually shocked how much I love this pair, and they make me feel so sultry and effortless. Hands down, I'm so glad I tried a pair like this and they would be great for daytime and days where you want noticeably thicker lashes but want to avoid bulky lash bands and looking too over done.

How I feel overall about these lashes are I love them. It's very rare that I would hate a lash, but I avoid the types I dislike~ Mostly those that feel overly synthetic lashes or ones with overly thick lash bands.

Since this brand is comparable to my fave two lash companies it's safe to say I can add Sho-Bi's Romantic Disney to my list of my lash staples.

They easily get a 5/5 in my book.

 I'm not going to lie, I was actually pushed to get the lashes finally because I have a new phone case and phone theme that went perfectly with the lashes.

You can find these lashes on eBay [here] if you are interested in purchasing a pair.

I hope you enjoyed and found the review helpful,
<3CarisseIris