FOTD: Valentine's 2014 or the Alcoholic Face

FACE!

This is my first FOTD on BBT :) Our bathroom lights got a switch and suddenly, my portraits are coming up more color-accurate. Enough so, that I feel comfortable starting FOTDs. And I just love playing around with makeup, it gets depressing that I can't share!

Back to my V-Day look: The anchor here is the wine lips. All my other makeup choices revolved around this color.

Love this lippy!

I chose this deep wine from Colour Collection's Ultimate Wear Lipstick in Plum Promise straight outta my third BDJ Elite Box, the Colour Collection Special. It's a little far from what I normally consider as plum (more blue) and I honestly consider it a wine (more red). Regardless of what the label tells me, I'm calling it wine! It's translated a little raspberry in the pictures but it is a whole lot deeper in person.

I noticed it applies patchy but the finish is pretty comfy and unintimidating! It's a bit sheer so it's not as huge a slap of color as it could be, but that only makes it more wearable for me.

I wanted to try something from my New Year's haul. A brick shade like Burberry Hibiscus or bright pink like NARS Schiap were calling out to me but I ended up foregoing those brighter choices.

I felt like Hibiscus would be too red, and I didn't want to look like a walking crayon, what with my very red dress. I'm a walking Valentine cliche, but even I have my limits, y'know? And NARS Schiap, I feel, would just look silly against my skin while wearing a really red dress.

Then of course, choosing a really bold lip meant that I had to simmer down on the eyes a bit. I hate makeup looks that are bright on both the lips and eyes.

I'm tired of the bold lip - cat eye combo so I thought I'd do a shimmery, nude eye instead. I ended up with an Etude House Bling Bling Eye Stick combo in Golden Tail Star (champagne) and Little Bear Star (copper). A lot of people panned on this, saying it's more of a shimmer-topper than a standalone shadow, but I think it's perfect considering the look I'm going for.

I would have settled with Golden Tail as a lid wash but I feel like my eye area is so flat so I grabbed the darker Little Bear to further define the area. I contoured around the outer V and feathered a little bit over the lid to create a false appearance of deeper set eyelids. I finger-blended the area above my lid and left the outer V a bit darker.

Lesson learned: Shadow sticks are great in defining the outer V!

I got a call mid-makeup from my boyfriend who told me not to wear my outfit and makeup yet. He'd planned for us to stop by "elsewhere," a surprise, where my dinner look could possibly get ruined.

I stopped with the shadow sticks and packed them in my retouch kit along with my Fairy Drops Platinum mascara, which I got from my Girls Night Out BDJ Elite Box. I chose this tube 'cause it's aged perfectly and the once too-runny formula is now a just-right fiberwig formula. Here's what my eye looks like with the mascara:

I like the extreme length but I don't like the lack of volume. My lashes have become too spindly and even though I've opened this tube months ago, it's still of a runny texture that magnetizes my lashes to each other instead of defining and separating them. I knew this all before choosing the tube and I deliberately picked a mascara that would give me longer but non-voluminous lashes.

As an aside, I'd like to laud this mascara's amazing waterproofness! It held through tears (of romance!)  and didn't budge despite us hanging outdoors.

As for the face, I went crazy with the shimmer. I thought it'd look good against candle light, teehee. I used my Ginvera BB Cream, which is super dewy and dries up really shimmery; I get a lot of compliments when I use this BB cream. I topped it off with Ellana Minerals Intensive Blend Mineral Foundation in French Vanilla Latte because I knew it would control the oil but not settle too matte. I then used Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light because I need MOAR shimmer in my life!

Candlelight glow = SUCCESS!

I think the whole look ended up being a little Lorde-y.

source

I officially christen this look as the Alcoholic Face. No, I don't have beef with Lorde. But Champagne lids paired with Wine lips? Sounds like a rockin' party to me!


Here's the complete list of goods:

Eyes

• Brow - K Palette 1 Day Tattoo Real Lasting Eyebrow Pencil in 02 Grayish Brown
• Lids - Etude House Bling Bling Eye Stick in 09 Golden Tail Star and 10 Little Bear Star
• Lashes - Fairy Drops Platinum Mascara Waterproof mascara

Lips

• Colour Collection Ultimate Wear Lipstick in Plum Promise

Face

• Primer - Guerlain Meteorites Light-Diffusing Primer (or the pink variant)
• Concealer - Missha The Style Perfect Concealer in 02 Natural Beige
• Base - Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream
• Set - Ellana Minerals Intensive Blend Mineral Foundation in French Vanilla Latte
• Finishing - Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light

P.S. In case you were wondering, we had a fantastic Valentine's- and I hope you did too! The holiday has gotten so commercialized but I hope none of us forget: there is no greater joy than sharing a few quiet moments with the person you love. Beyond the grand gestures and garden-like bouquets, nothing's touched me more than the privilege of getting to enjoy a four course meal planned to perfection by my loving bf.

Yes, he told me not to plan anything because he's doing something for me. I am so honored to have the person I love place me in the same pedestal I reserve for him. This year has been my most romantic Valentine's so far :) He says he feared it was cliche, but I felt so special I couldn't care less.

*The Ellana links are affiliate links. I'm among a pool of bloggers who get a small commission when purchases are made through our personalized links. I have no quota and was not required to feature the foundation.