NYE

Good morning my friends! Happy last day of 2014. I know I say this basically every post but-- WHERE HAS THIS YEAR GONE!? This morning I spent an extra few minutes in bed cuddling with my fur baby than I normally would, to think and reflect, I'm feeling very grateful for this past year as it has been a huge learning experience for me. Learning about what I love to do, and what I don't... and teaching myself to follow my heart no matter what. I'm also more than ready to take on another year, one I can only hope will be full of adventure and fun! 

My parents have been in town for a few weeks now, and my beautiful Mama, is the proud owner of the Stila 'In the Light' palette that I constantly drool over but have oddly enough never picked up and used... Until yesterday! I finally got my hands on it and played with some looks. I love doing a dark lid with gorgeous full falsies and then keeping the bottom clean and bright so the whole look isn't too heavy. This look is gorge for a night out on the town, and perfect for your New Years Eve party tonight! 

See what I mean about the bright factor? L o v e !

What I used...

The pigment in this palette. Just amazing!

Face...

Primer: Benefit Porefessional 

Foundation: Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 5.5 {I love this foundation more than words but shade 5.5 is clearly way too dark for my skin tone, I bought this in Vegas when I had a spray tan and the girl suggested this shade for me... clearly wrong, but I'm obsessed with it so the odd time I do wear it, I spray Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs down my neck and connect it to my top}

Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me in Light

Powder: Banana by Anastasia Beverly Hills from her Contour Palette

Contour: Nars Laguna

Blush: BH Cosmetics Glamourous Blush Palette {peachy pink shade}

Highlight: Nars Albatross

Eyes...

Primer: MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

Eyeshadow Breakdown: I used Bliss as my transition colour, and then blended Sandstone in the crease as well as the outer corner of the eye. I then applied Kitten all over the lid, and again took more Sandstone to blend throughout the crease, adding a touch of Ebony to smoke everything out. I used Venus from Urban Decay Cosmetics for my inner corner and brow bone highlight

Waterline: Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Liner in Perfect Black on the top and Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude on my lower

Mascara: Marc Jacobs O!Mega Lash in Black

Lashes: House of Lashes in Iconic

Eyebrows...

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in Soft Brown

Lips...

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in San Paulo {I'm so obsessed with these right now. Affordable, gorgeous range of colours and they last so long on the lips}

"May your coming year be filled with magic

 and dreams and good madness. 

I hope you read some find books

 and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, 

and don't forget to make some art - 

write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.

 And I hope, somewhere in the next year, 

you surprise yourself."

♡

Have a night full of laughter, dolls.

See you next year!

xx,

S.

Holiday Glam

Ho Ho Ho! Can you believe we're only 184 hours away from Christmas? This whole year has been an absolute blur of amazing-ness, I can't believe it's almost over... especially since I'm the worlds worst procrastinator and I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet but I'll get there! There are so many things that I love about this time of year. The Christmas movies, sprinkling my Christmas obsession from one end of my house to the other, baking + spending time with loved ones, and of course the events. I decided to put together a few of my favourite looks to wear to any get together you may have over the holidays! I started with my go to, the classic holiday glam- red lips and clean bright eyes...but I did however pop a little glitter in there to give it a sassy twist and I just loooove how this look came out. I'm wishing I had a party to attend tonight but instead I'm drinking hot chocolate out of a mug that says I'm on the naughty list in my over sized pyjamas :) Lets get into it...

the face

What I used...

Face...

Primer: MAC Strobe Cream

Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Light Beige

Concealer: Maybelline Age Rewind in Fair             

Powder, Highlight + Contour: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit

Blush: MAC Gingerly

Eyes...

Primer: MAC Paint Pot in Soft Ochre

Eyeshadow break down: I used the Lorac Pro Palette for all my shadows. I wanted to create a subtle cut crease so I used Taupe on a medium size fluffy brush as my transition shade, then using a small pencil brush I applied Sable, following the natural crease of my eye then I lightly blended the two upwards together. On my brow bone is White and all over lid colour is Cream. I haven't used this palette in a while and it is bombbbb! I then lightly applied Black on my lash line and buffed it out. On the lower lash line I used Sable and blended it out with Taupe

Waterline: Gosh Truly Brown Pencil

Glitter: NYX Glitter Liner in Gold- this did not show up great on camera but this pop of glitter was gorge in person! 

Mascara: Marc Jacobs O!Mega Lash Volumizing Mascara

Lashes: Ardell Whispies

Eyebrows...

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in Soft Brown duh

Lips...

Liner: NYX Lip Liner in Hot Red

Lipstick: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Amsterdam {so amaze balls. go buy it! drugstore approved}

I hope you guys enjoyed the first of my holiday looks!! Next up is going to be something really glittery and dramatic so stay tuned lovers

♡

"It came without ribbons. It came without tags. 

It came without packages, boxes, or bags. 

Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store.

 Maybe Christmas means a little bit more."

xx,

s.

Estée Lauder

So I had the most amazing experience last night! I was offered to work a spot applying make up on some gorgeous ladies at my local Beauty Gala with the Hudsons Bay company at the Estee Lauder counter. It was such a great atmosphere. So many ladies came out in groups with their girlfriends to enjoy the fashion show, shop cosmetics and skincare, and get their make up done. It was a great night and thank you to all the ladies who came to see me and let me try new products out on them. The classic red lip was definitely a hit!

After working with Estee Lauder cosmetics all night long, I'm so excited I was able to take some products home to try for myself. To be honest I haven't used much of their cosmetics in the past but I hear amazing things about the skin care line and after being able to play with foundations, concealers, eyeshadows, etc at last night's event, I'm really enjoying it so I just wanted to share with you my little goodie bag :)

So pretty right!

I love the little gold clutch that it came with. So perfect to pop some products to touch up with through out the night

What I got:

Advanced Time Zone Age Reversing Line & Wrinkle Cream

Advanced Night Repair Serum (I have heard amazing reviews! So excited)

Double Wear Zero Smudge Lengthening Mascara

Sumptuous Bold Volume Mascara/Pure Color Gloss in Rock Candy

Two lip colours: Stay Pink and Stay Cranberry

I can't wait to try out these new products and thanks again to all the lovely ladies I met! 

My classic holiday glam I wore for the event:

I was in such a rush last night I hardly got any pictures but I plan on blogging this look later this week! Stay tuned beauty lovers...

xx,

S.

"Be yourself.

If you water yourself down to please people or to fit in or to not offend anyone,

you lose the power, the passion, the freedom and the joy of being uniquely you.

It's much easier to love yourself when you are being yourself."

Oct. Faves!

Well, another month has come and gone... This whole entire year for me has been one big giant blur! I can't believe it's already November and before we know it we'll be sitting around the Christmas tree  and then clinking glasses and toasting to the new year. WOW. Did I just get a little ahead of myself there? Let me slow it down and bring it back to the present...

What I'm going to be sharing with you guys today is my OCTOBER FAVOURITES! A few lip products, a few foundations, bronzers, blushes, etc... thankfully this month has been pretty tame for me in what I've been obsessing over but I'll just stop talking now and let you guys check it out for yourselves :)

Octobers Beauties

Foundations...

L'Oreal Paris Magic Nude Liquid Powder

what I love most about this foundation: It glides on smooth and silky and feels weightless on the skin. The consistency is different, you have to shake the bottle really well before use, then I just apply it to the back of my hand but be very careful as this comes out more 'watery' and can create a big mess if you aren't prepared. I just dapped it onto my face and then used my damp beauty blender to blend it out. This foundation is my 'every day' favourite, it has buildable medium coverage and wears well throughout the day.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation

what I love most about this foundation: Am I allowed to say everything? I was almost nervous to finally purchase this beautiful product on my trip to Vegas after reading countless rave reviews, but with the pricey price tag I feared once it was mine I would not be able to live without it again... and yep, that happened! Not only does it apply really smoothy and seamlessly, it's long wearing and it really gives you that 'luminous' glow. 

Bronzers & Blushes...

Milani Baked Bronzer in Glow

what I love about this bronzer: The subtle glow and bronze it gives off is so great for every day wear. It's applies easily and gives you a beautiful sun kissed glow.

Mac Cosmetics Gingerly Blush

what I love about this blush: It looks good with so many different make up looks, whether you're going with a strong look or something more soft, this shade (darker peachy matte) is great. I always find myself grabbing for it on days where I'm in a rush! It wears really nicely without any bronzer and gives my face a nice lift. The colour payoff stays strong for about 4-5 hours without applying any touch ups. 

Sonia Kashuk Sunset Blush

what I love about this blush: One of my most favourite blushes that I've ever owned! I wear this so frequently it probably wouldn't even matter if I didn't own any others this one would make me happy all the time. It's a beautiful orangey peachy with just a touch of shimmer. It's long wearing and has such gorgeous colour pay off. This beauty is one I will always be repurchasing.  

Eyebrows...

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade

what I love about this: One word- Bulletproof. This creamy brow pomade does not budge. It took me a few tries to get the technique right after years of using her Brow Wiz pencil, but with a small angled brush, a light hand and easy product, you can really make your eyebrows look flawless. You can go with from a light fill in to a really structured intense brow and that's another thing I love about this. Totally versatile and it comes in tons of shades!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel

what I love about this: it does an amazing job at locking in and taming all my crazy stray eyebrow hairs. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm in the process of growing out my eyebrows. Using a brow gel wasn't in my regular routine before this but now that I have some unruliness happening up there, this ensures everything locks into place. Just another brow product by this genius that hasn't failed me!

Eyes...

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue

what I love about this: it works so amazing with all those pesky glitters and pigments we love so much! It makes the colours look even more vibrant and beautiful and it keeps mostly any fall out from happening. Coming from a glitter girl, I have gone through many products to keep my pigments and glitter in place and none of them have done as good of a job as this bad boy!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna dressyourface Palette

what I love about this palette: I know I don't even need to get into this one because my past two blog posts I have been ranting and raving about this beauty. The shades are gorgeous, they are pigmented, they apply amazing, blend amazing, stay put... This palette is just a winner.

Lips...

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in HellBent

what I love about this lipstick: the lasting quality. This lipstick is a really beautiful 'pin up' red shade, it goes on moisturizing but dries as a matte. I do find this drying on the lips but that's basically unavoidable for the most part when you have a matte lipstick. The colour is everything for me on this one. And the packaging. Ah, the packaging...

Kate Moss for Rimmel London 107

what I love about this lipstick: The price point. The raspberry matte shade this lipstick gives off is stunning. It's long wearing, again, it's drying. Definitely moisturize your lips before hand!

Yay my friends! We made it through another month. Thanks for reading and don't forget when I'm not here you can find me at: http://instagram.com/makeupbystevie 

"A girl should be two things:

who & what she wants."

♡

xx,

S.

Fall Inspired

Well here I am again. Back with another look using my beloved Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna Palette. It's rare that I buy a palette and don't stop using it for over a month. I fall in love with products fast, think I will never love anything more, and then something new comes along, or I fall back in love with an oldie... Whatever it may be, I change up what I use regularly and it must mean my obsession has gone to another level with this beautiful baby because I still can't put it down! The shades are so versatile and you can rage from natural looks to very dramatic. In this case I went really dramatic. Surprised? Probably not!

In case you forgot what this Tamanna {dressyourface} palette looked like... 

Oh and here's what my face looked like...

♡

What I used:

Face...

Primer: Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional

Foundation: L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder Foundation

Powder: "Banana" from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit

Hightlight: Mac Cosmetics Skin Finish Soft & Gentle

Contour: The Balm Cosmetics Bahama Mama

Bronze: Makeup Forever Mat Bronze in shade 20

Eyes...

Primer: Mac Cosmetics Paint Pot in Painterly

Lid eyeshadows: {all tamanna palette} "Bengal" and "Chocolate" in the crease, "Noir" on the inner and outer corners of my eye, "Venezia" on the middle of my lid. 

Liner: Maybelline Cosmetics gel liner in Blackest Black

Mascara: L'Oreal Miss Manga

Lashes: House of Lashes in Pixie Luxe

Waterline: Annabelle Cosmetics liner in Curacao 

Lower lash line shadows: "Bengal" and "Chocolate" with "Blush" as my inner corner highlight

And please excuse and ignore my horrible eyebrows at this point in my life. I have taken the plunge and promised myself to grow my eyebrows out until they are much fuller! I didn't want to add much product to that hot mess... but I did do a little filling in with my Hourglass Arch Pencil.

Lips...

Liner: Essence Lip Liner In The Nude

Gloss/Colour: L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Blushing

Review on these lip paints will be up soon!

If someone tells you that your lashes are too big, stop talking to them.

You don't need that kind of negativity in your life

Follow me on: 

@

makeupbystevie

xx,

S.

All That Glitters

Anyone who knows me is fully aware of my love of dramatic make up. I never shy away from a dark smokey eye, a strip of full lashes, or a whole lotta glitter. I have been getting so excited for holiday make up and the other night I got my first taste of what I can only hope will be a busy next two months of lashes, glitter, cat eyes, oh my...

This beautiful girl is one of the closest to my heart. Any time we get together we have the most amazing time but when make up is thrown in the mix it`s just icing on the cake for me. I took my favorite pigment of all time plus one of my all time favorite lipsticks to one of my all time favorite faces and boom... a gorgeous dramatic look! (perfect for a holiday party) or any other night of the week. 

Check this beaut out...

Product List:

Face: L'Oreal True Match foundation, Maybelline Dream Lumi concealer, The Balm Bahama Mama to bronze, Sonia Kashuk blush in Sunset

Brows: Hourglass Cosmetics Arch Pencil

Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion Primer, Tamanna Dressyourface Palette, Too Faced Glitter Insurance, Makeup Geek Utopia Pigment, Sephora liner, L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara

Lips: Revlon Raspberry Bite

"Notice the people who are happy for your happiness, and sad for your sadness. They're the ones who deserve special places in your heart."

xx,

S.

Fall Glam

Happy day, friends! Today I'm so excited to share with you some amazing pictures of one of the most beautiful girls I know. She's a complete stunner without make up on and to be honest doesn't wear much on a day to day basis, but since she was in town she let me take her everyday make up routine to a whole other level for our turkey day celebration! Not only is she stunning, hilarious and one of a kind but she's also my little sister... To say I'm a proud sister would be an understatement! 

I absolutely LOVE the look we created. It was such a blast to play with darker tones for fall and since I purchased the Tamanna Dress Your Face palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills while I was in Vegas I have hardly put this baby down! I started following Anastasia Beverly Hills on Instagram so long ago I can hardly remember. She is always posting so much amazing work by other artists, and just recently started collaborating with a handful of them and producing so many gorgeous palettes. This one definitely jumped out at me as a must have because of the warm toned shades and their amazing pigments. If you've checked out dressyourface on Instagram, you would know she wouldn't sell anything less- she is AMAZING at what she does.

Tamanna Dress Your Face palette

So goooood <3

Now that you've seen the beauty of the palette...

Before & After

What we used to acheive this beautiful fall face:

Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

Concealer: Nars Creamy Radiant

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

Eyes: Tamanna palette (Bengal in the crease, Sangria all over the lid)

The Balm Nude Tude palette (Sexy used on the outer V)

Sephora Black liner smoked out with Noir from Tamanna palette

House of Lashes Noir Fairy lashes

Contour: Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Stick & The Balm Bahama Mama

Highlight: Mac Soft and Gentle skinfinish

Lips: Rimmel Nude Delight with Rimmel Apocalips Lacquer in Nude Eclipse

Sorry for the picture over load but there was so many beauties to pick from it was hard to narrow it down at all! What a face...

"What I love most about us being sisters is we can have totally inappropriate conversations no sane person should ever have. Ever."

xx,

S.

Favorite Lips for Fall

Lipstick, lipstick, lipstick. Who doesn't love lipstick? I think one of the reasons Fall is my favourite time of year maaay be specifically for that reason. I'm really drawn to the bold berry lips. Not that you can't rock a berry lip any time of year, because honey, you can... but there is nothing more gorgeous to me than a statement lip paired with a cute scarf and your favourite over-sized sweater. ADORABLE! The best part about rocking the statement lip is you can basically skip everything else. Let your lips do the work. A little mascara, basic face make up and you're so good to go.

However there's no way I just restrict myself to berry coloured lipstick throughout this whole season. I still love all shades of lipsticks, I just find myself stepping away from the really bright florescent shades that I always grab for during warmer months and I tend to apply more dark, deep shades. Even my love for nudes goes a little deeper and darker. 

With that being said, I introduce you to a few of my very favourite colours I love for fall. 

From left to right... 

L'Oreal's collection privée by Jlo Jennifer's Nude | Benefit Lady's Choice

NYX matte lipstick Indie Flick | Covergirl Spell Bound

Mac Heroine | Revlon Raspberry Bite

Nars Future Red | Nars Train Bleu velvet matte lip pencil

So dreamy!

& creamy :)

Minus the Nars lip pencil (which is a bit of a pain in the you know what to apply and if you have dry lips I strongly recommend applying a lip scrub before hand because this little baby will look a giant mess. Trust me)

My all time favourite lipstick of all these beauties at this moment is Revlon's Raspberry Bite. She applies like a dream and the best thing is you can apply more as a stain and then work your way up to a really bold shade. Oh and it's from the drugstore so I mean, how can you go wrong? 

"Life starts over again when it gets crisp in the fall"

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

xx,

S.