Month: April 2016

Music Muse Makeup: Festival Season

.Reading time 5 minutes.

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When Coachella hits its officially festival season. I’m sure like me, many of you have lusted over the perfectly mused, slightly lived-in makeup and outfit vibes of Victoria’s Secret models, musicians and fashion bloggers. My motto for a great festival look is bronze, highlight and a pop of color. I love to use bronzes for festival looks as they give that desert vibe that looks messy yet chic. With so many festival or even just summer concerts, I’m already booked for Beyonce and The Lumineers!, you can wear a bronzy look like this all summer long. Keep reading for how I got this look.

Makeup Look

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Moisturizer: Neutrogena Hydro-Boost Gel in SPF 15 (so important to wear sunscreen to any outdoor event this season. I like to use a moisturizer with SPF and a foundation/BB cream with one too).

Foundation: Urban Decay Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector in Light. (This features SPF 20 and has both foundation and concealer properties so you only need one step! For this look I used concealer as well, but you definitely don’t need it).

Concealer: Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer in Fair Neutral.

Powder: Maybelline MasterFix loose powder

Brows: Colourpop Brow Pencils in Bangin’ Brunette and Black N’ Brown (previously blog post shows how I use these). Topped with NYX brow mascara in Espresso

Eyeshadows:

  • Crease: Too Faced PB&J Palette shade Peanut Butter (any warm soft matte shadow will do)
  • Lid and Inner Corner : Jordana Made to Last Liquid Eyeshadow in Forever Sand (I buy mine at Walgreens; a liquid or cream eyeshadow gives that highlighted gleam and won’t budge).
  • Browbone: Too Faced PB&J Extra Creamy (any off white shadow will work)
  • Lower lashline: Too Faced PB&J Peanut Brittle with the darker bronze shade in the Carli Bybel palette on the outside. Her lighter bronze would work in place of Peanut Brittle.

Liners: 

Lashes: L’Oreal Carbon Blac Telescopic Mascara with Ardell Demi Wispies cut in half on the outer lash. (Cut your lashes in half for a more natural lash look, honestly I’d just go with mascara for a festival).

Bronzer: L’Oreal Glam Bronze in Light $14.99. So I could not find this online at all. It’s a new limited edition bronzer and you get a very large pan. I think the color is a bit cool, but it is pretty great for really fair skin like mine. I didn’t think it looked muddy at all. I put photos below incase you find this in-store; I got mine at Walgreens.

Highlighters: MAC x Rihanna RiRi Hearts Cream Higlighter in Diamonds (this is from 2013, but any liquid or cream gold highlighter will do I love Benefit’s Watts Up as well). I topped this with the gold shade in the Carli Bybel palette (3rd highlighter in). Get your paws on her palette soon, it’s going to be discontinued in June!

Blush: NYX Ombre Blush in Strictly Chic

Lips: Colourpop Ultra Satin Lip in Tansy topped with an old Bath and Body Works gloss (any tinted gloss with shimmer will work) You defintely want a no fuss lip look for these types of events. I love Colourpop’s Ultra Satin lips, they’ll stay all day and wear comfortably.

Top: Forever 21 Festival Collection (similar here and here)

Necklace: ASOS Pieces Benna Statment Necklace (sold out :(, but I love ASOS’s costume jewelry, it lasts long and looks/feel expensive without Urban Outfitters prices) Type in silver statement necklace in their search and you’ll find a ton of similar options.

 

Colourpoppin’ Into Spring: Brows and Ultra Satin Lip Review

.Reading time 6 minutes.

 

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Happy Spring everyone! Sorry I’ve been a little makeup-post MIA, but my skin was freaking out over the past month and I finally got it to behave. Listen to your Momma when she tells you less is more; I swear with all the skincare obsession you see on Youtube and social media you want to just pile it on. That’s not to say skincare isn’t important, but just remember if a simple routine works for you don’t feel the need to add this oil and that cleanser and a toner to the mix, but do always add a sunscreen for daytime. I’m loving the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel in SPF 15; it’s light, doesn’t smell like sunscreen, hydrating and doesn’t break me out! Anyway, on to this post which is all about my favorite affordable brand, Colourpop. I swear each season they kill it even more. Read on to hear my stance on their new brow and Ultra Satin lip products!

Review and Swatches

 

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Colors from left to right: Petit Four, Marshmallow, Lost, Cozy, Lyin’ King, Tansy, Frick ‘n’ Frack, Echo Park, Magic Wand

Colourpop’s Ultra Satin Lips retail for $6 and hit the market right as many bloggers and makeup lovers started to lose faith they’d get a long-wearing lipstick that didn’t dry the shit out of their lips. Well welcome the best formula I have ever worn, and I mean ever. I purchased nine shades in a variety of colors, and not one color wears any less than the others, which can often happen with darker colors that aren’t a matte. Speaking of, these lipsticks are not transfer-proof, but they do stay put on your lips for about 6 hours with eating and drinking. They are honestly the perfect lipstick. You get that longevity you love from a matte without the crusting and drying of a matte liquid lipstick. Seriously, I would hitch these things if I could. All the shades are great, but particular standouts for me are Frick ‘n’ Frack (I wear this almost daily), Cozy (the perfect spring coral with a hint of spice), Magic Wand and Lyin’ King (best name ever). 10/10

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Brow pencils in: Black N’ Brown and Bangin’. Brunette Bangin’ Brunette brow color.

So for the brows, the pencils retail for $5 each and the brow color retails for $6, I still am working with these to see how much I really like them. The pencils are much creamier than say the NYX Microbrow Pencil, and if you’re not careful you can get really heavy-handed. I personally use Bangin’ Brunette (the lighter pencil) in light strokes in the beginning of my brow through the arch. Than I use Black N’ Brown towards the tail, and brush through it all with the spoolie. I like to use the brow color if I’m going out, I think it’s  a bit intense for everyday. The one thing I don’t love about these is how long the handle/twist up is, it makes it really awkward to hold and you can only get a little product out. Overall, for the price I think these are a win, but if you don’t mind spending the extra $5, I still prefer my NYX microbrow pencils. 7.5/10

Makeup Look and Products

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Moisturizer: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel

Foundation: Fiona Stiles Luminous Concrete Foundation in 01 Porcelain 

Concealer: NYX HD Concealer in CW01 Porcelain

Powder: Maybelline Masterfix Powder

Brows: Colourpop Brow Pencils in Bangin’ Brunette and Black N’ Brown with NYX Espresso Brow Mascara

Eyeshadows: 

Mascara: L’Oreal Carbon Black Telescopic

Liner: Jordana Cat Eye Liner in Black Leather and L’Oreal Silkissime in Black

Lashes: Ardell Demi Wispies (remember to cut your lashes to fit your eye shape)!

Blush: Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette– Hush

Highlighter: Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone

Lips: NYX lipliner in Ever and Colourpop Ultra Satin Lip in Frick ‘n’ Frack

Top: Express

Nameplate necklace: Baublebar

 

Why I Will Never Shop At Missguided Again

.Reading time 8 minutes.

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It’s with a heavy heart that I have to untangle myself from slay-worthy, trendy and most importantly affordable clothing. I’m sure like me, many of you have heard of the U.K. based clothing brand Missguided by now; you’ll see their fierce pieces on some of Youtube’s most fashionable bloggers and immediately be ready to place an order. The company may seem like the next ASOS or Forever 21 with an even edgier website and all-star collabs. So you’re probably wondering why I just sprinkled in buy-worthy adjectives to describe a website I will never shop at again… well I’m sure you can see from the image, but I’ll explain further.

I had placed five orders total to missguidedus.com between 2013 and July of 2015. The first three orders I placed I had no issue with. The highest one totaled $126.50 (I promise pricing is relevant to this post). My fourth order, the dreaded fourth order, totaled $177.60. For all orders I used a coupon code, so that fourth order I got 20% off and “free shipping”, Missguided states it has free shipping on most orders to the U.S. So I’m doing fine, loving most of my new stuff, until about a month later I receive a FedEx bill for $68. I see the company on the bill is Missguided, so I contact their customer service concerned why I’ve received a bill from them.

I emailed a customer service representative back and forth and with the response I got you would’ve thought this happens all the time. Shannon, the customer service representative, told me it’s customs that enforces the fee if you place an order out of the U.S. Your order must be over $200 she states, mine was only $177.60, so I’m even more confused until I realized that the 20% off promo doesn’t count towards customs, they only count the clothes at their full price.

My first inquiry was why had I ordered from other out-of-states sites such as ASOS and Sabo Skirt for similar prices and never gotten a customs fee? Next, I wondered why the hell this website advertises “free shipping” (there is no disclaimer when you order, you must go to their Help page and read up on delivery to figure out you may be charged a customs fee) when you place an order even close to $200, which is not an outrageous amount to spend for a seasonal buy. I asked Shannon these questions and she directed me to the delivery questions page on their website which made me feel like Missguided was blaming me instead of taking responsibility for not having a clear disclaimer on their website.  If they had a disclaimer at checkout they would still get the sale, but I would’ve placed two orders to avoid a very large shipping fee.

Good companies firstly have a shipping disclaimer, I work for a retail Ecommerce site and we have one when you checkout for certain states/countries, also we would never not offer to try and make the situation better by either paying the customs fee or offering a coupon code at the very least. Missguided did none of this. I got a measly sorry, and “We hope you’ll reconsider” shopping with us after I told Shannon I’d no longer purchase from them. Oh, but it gets better.

So, I finally decide to pay the customs fee recently (I was hoping stupidly it’d go away), but as I was talking to a co-worker about my experience, she was going through a shipping debacle elsewhere, she said she’d check their website. I did, and now it states in their delivery questions section you have to spend $800 to be charged a customs fee. It’s not even a year after my shipping horror story and now I’m even more enraged. I just paid a $77 customs fee (with interest the fee went up) for a $177 order and now you have to spend $800 to be charged!?

I took to Missguided’s Facebook, which I encourage anyone who may still want to order from there to checkout because there’s a slew of other people who have shipping issues with them, which made me feel like a part of a very sad fashion army. They asked me to privately message them  and I did. I inquired why the customs fee had changed and if they could do anything to assist with the fee I had been charged. Once again, I received the same response. Which to me means this is a company issue, not a customer service personality issue.

After reading everyone else’s qualms with their shipping, I felt validated. That’s also why I needed to write this. Missguided is blowing up, many fashion and beauty gurus I love who live in the U.S. order from them, and I know many other people are influenced to buy clothes from the clothing sites these girls buy from. I’m not sure if they are sent these clothes, or know about the customs fees, but it’s a shame their viewers don’t know about the possibility of outrageous shipping fees. I wouldn’t even mind if it was made clear in their checkout, but it’s still not. I tested this 20 minutes ago by adding over $800 worth of merchandise into a cart and going through checkout to see what the shipping said. Still, there was no disclaimer, just a $14.99 shipping charge. (I didn’t purchase by the way this was all before putting in my shipping info). All I have to say is check the disclaimer on out of country sites, but honestly if it’s a good website, you shouldn’t have to.

Note: Sizing is really off for this site as well, I’m normally a size 0-2 and I ordered a dress in a 2 and then a 4 and it was so stiff I couldn’t get it past my hips for either.