EOTD: Blue and Green...

When I was a child, I remember my grandmother telling me "blue & green should never be seen, except with a colour in-between". I don't know who coined this phrase, but in my book it's a whole lot of hooey - I adore blue and green together and reckon they are perfect partners. Why else would Mother Nature give us green grass and blue sky, one on top of the other? Of course it has to be the right blue with the right green - for instance I wouldn't pair an olive with a turquoise, or a forest green with a pastel blue, but emerald and navy? Now that's a winning combination if ever I saw one one...

I started by tightlining the top lid with bhcosmetics Waterpoof Eye Liner in Midnight, then patted down a base of MNY Color Tattoo Metal in Electric Blue - this was a treasured gift from the beautiful IndieAna. A brilliant shade with excellent staying power, really grips the pigments you apply over the top, and gives the shadow heaps more impact.

Next was MUA Pearl Eye Shadow in Shade 6 on the inner corner, the most stunning emerald green. I can't stop raving about MUA eye shadows - there's not one in my collection that doesn't deliver the most amazing pigment and durability.

After that was my trusty (and very old) Revlon Matte Eye Shadow in Riviera Blue over the rest of the top lid - I think I've had this pan for over 3 years and it still lays down so well. Perfect for toning down the shimmer of the tattoo base, and the colour is unique in my kit. Sometimes you can still get hold of this discontinued range on Catch of the Day, OzSale or brandsExclusive for $4 or $5 dollars - highly recommended :-)

Took my usual MNY Master Precise Liquid Liner along the bottom lashline - simply CANNOT live without this liner, it is unbeatable for ease of use and value for money. I dipped my angled liner brush in water, dabbed it on a tissue, and then smudged some MUA #6 over the top so the black liner wasn't so stark.

MNY The Falsies waterproof mascara is my current fave. Interesting as I struggled with it at first - couldn't get it to apply without clumping. The trick is rotate the curved wand as you stroke the lashes - this is three coats of totally waterproof, flakeproof & volumising product. There are at least eight other mascaras in my drawer, but this is the only one that gives me the bulk and lasting curl I absolutely demand from a mascara.

My last step in every one of my eye creations is to line my waterline, and just about every time I use essence White Kajal - ridiculously priced at under $2, lasts for hours, and it doesn't sting or make my eyes water :-)

As always, this eye look was specifically created to match my outfit - can't cope if I don't match lol...

Have your heard this silly saying about blue & green? Are there any other fashion "guidelines" you follow, or choose to ignore?

Take care of  you,

kats xxx

Liptastic L'Oreal Christmas Giveaway!

WOO HOO gals - I'm so excited I can hardly type! I wanted to hold an extra special super duper giveaway to celebrate my first Christmas as a blogger, and those amazingly generous folks at L'Oreal have come to the kats colourings party with a truly awesome giveaway prize :-)

Some lucky follower will score not one, not two, but...

The ENTIRE SET of

L'OREAL INFALLIBLE 2-STEP LIPS!

This is the same collection of 14 gorgeous glossy sticks I received as part of my Blogstar prize, and it's up for grabs for a kats colourings follower. How can you be in with a chance to win this fabulous bag of luscious lip-loot? Read on...

• First of all you MUST follow me - either by GFC, Bloglovin or email.
• Secondly, you MUST comment on this page as to why you'd like to win this prize, and include your email address, username (where applicable) and how you are following me (sorry this is open to Australian residents only - promise I'll have an international giveaway early next year).
• Thirdly, and this will decide the winner, you MUST include in your comment a guess at how many of my lip products are in the glass container in the pics below - I've taken two photos, roughly front and back to give you an idea (I can assure you the glass vase contains only lip products). Obviously not all are visible, but I can't make it TOO easy now can I? I've counted all the items I placed in the container (several times to be sure) and taken a photo, which I'll post at the end of the giveaway. 

 

The follower who meets ALL of the above conditions and guesses the correct or closest-to-correct answer will receive this stunning collection of lipsticks from L'Oreal, valued at over $400! In the event of a tie, I will put the finalists' names into a hat, and draw one out to determine the winner.

Competition closes at midnight on Saturday 14th December and the winner will be notified by email and announced on this page on Sunday 15th December. They will then have 24 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize, or I will award it to the next closest guess (or draw another name from the finalists in the hat if there is a tie).

The prize will be posted to the winner by Express Post satchel to give it every chance of being delivered before Christmas. Best of luck to all who enter, and a huge thank you to the gorgeous ladies at L'Oreal for their generosity in making this fabulous giveaway possible.

Take care of you,

kats xxx

_________________________________________

This giveaway is now closed

Here is the photo of all the lip products before I placed them in the jar

There were 63 in total, and the closest guess was 64, which means the winner is...

♥ Fawn ♥

Congratulations sweetie! Please respond to my email to claim your fabulous prize :-)

EDIT: Fawn has emailed me and claimed her prize :-)

__________________________________________

Giveaway Terms & Conditions

1. Only one entry per person permitted.

2. To enter, you must follow me on Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin or email, post a comment as to why you'd like to win this prize and include a guess as to how many lip products are in the glass container pictured above.

3. Include your GFC or Bloglovin' user name & email address in the comment.

4. This competition is open to Australian residents only.

5. This competition is hosted by katshepsutt via the kats colourings blog at katscolourings.blogspot.com.au.

6. The total prize consists of 14 x L'Oreal Infallible 2-Step Lipsticks RRP AUD$419.30.

7. Competition closes midnight Saturday14th December 2013 (Sydney time).

8. The winner will be based on the most accurate guess, and notified by email and via a post on this page of kats colourings on Sunday 15th December 2013.

EOTD: Smashbox Olive & Silver...

If you're wondering how I choose what colours to put together, my general rule is to pair similar undertones - warm with warm, cool with cool. For example, if I'm going with an olive green, I'll often combine it with a gold, bronze, or orangey shade. Similarly, if I choose a cool blue, then I'll enhance it with a silver or tealy green.

Consequently this was an interesting experiment - just for a change I thought I'd try a warm green with a cool silver from my Smashbox Click You're It palette. This is a terrific box of colours by the way - the shades are all grouped into columns of what-goes-with-what, which makes it super easy if you're not sure which to choose. In the pic below, you can see that #5, #10, #15 & #20 are the ideal partners, so I was kinda pushing the boundaries to combine #15 & #3. But then again, I'm a firm believer that some makeup rules are made to be broken, if for nothing else other than to determine if they're valid or not ha ha!

I also had a hunch that this particular combo might just be ok because my eyes are a cool green colour, and I kept the silver close to the lashline

 

My verdict? I reckon the warm/cool rule is a pretty valid one - I think I scraped through with a "pass" on this particular combination, probably because of my cool tealy eyes. But I think this particular green will totally come alive when I combine it with shade #10, and I'll do that in the next few weeks for comparison.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this look though :-) Do you follow traditional makeup rules/guidelines, or do you make up your own?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Purple #2

The other day I realised that I've only posted one PURPLE EOTD so far - gaaahhhh! It's not because I don't adore purple eyeshadow (oh but I do!), I actually wear it probably once per week, but my camera doesn't seem all that keen on capturing the beauty of this particular hue - it tends to make it look more blue than purple, or even a bit murky & muddy, and consequently there just haven't been that many pics worthy of posting. Well that was until this week when I went all out to find a blend of pigments that my camera just couldn't argue with, and here it is...

Interestingly, the shadows are made by what I'd call a bargain brand - L.A.Colors, which is a range you find in those discount bin variety stores where they sell anything and everything. This particular palette is called Venus, and it truly is a goddess collection of purples, all for the exceptionally wallet-friendly price of $6.99. These are baked shadows and really pop when applied with a damp brush. For this look, I blended the bottom two colours over a gel base.

This was also the perfect opportunity to try out the new Face of Australia Budge-Proof Gel Eyeliner in Pure Purple. Using a gel eyeliner as a base is my absolute favourite and most trusted way of showing off a powder shadow to its best advantage, as well as ensuring it lasts through the day. 

This particular gel takes a lot longer to dry than others in my kit, which was a darn nuisance the first few times I used it, but now I'm enjoying the extra time that it gives me to press on the powder before it sets. Pure Purple is a gloriously bold deep violet, far more pigmented than the MNY Painted Purple tattoo, more true purple than either Mirenesse Purple Tart or Virgin Violet, and pretty good value for $9.95. I also have it in Brilliant Blue, but that's for another day :-)

The gel is creamy and shimmery and has a brush built into the lid - the bristles are quite petite and fine, so I used one of my own flat brushes to plaster it over my lid, but the one it comes with would probably work well if you wanted to actually use it as liner (ha ha what a thought - using a liner...as a liner!).

I have quite a few of these L.A.Colors shadows, and will gradually give you a glimpse of them in the months ahead. The non-baked ones aren't quite as spectacular, but one or two of the pans in each of the regular palettes I have are true beauties :-)

Take care of you,

kats xxx

LOTD: Berry bright...

I'm a magenta lover through and through - have been for years. It's one of my favourite shades for any day, any season, any occasion, and I have quite a few lip, cheek and eye products as well as items in my wardrobe that I'd definitely classify as out-there magenta pink. And because I love it so much, I'm not averse to moving a little bit left or right of centre for those days when I don't want to be quite so loud (lol), and today was one of them.

Having chosen a black and pink outfit, and bearing in mind I had some customer meetings in my diary, I thought I'd tone down my usual whoa! look by heading towards a bright berry instead, so here's what I put together...

Nabi Bright Pink Lipliner (L47) - I've mentioned this brand earlier in my Lipcolour Mixing & Matching article. Although the eye crayons aren't nearly as well pigmented, their lip pencils are brilliant. There's quite an extensive shade range available, they're a good mix of firm but moist texture, and the colour lasts and lasts. An absolute bargain at around $3.

Next I applied ModelsPrefer lipstick in a shade called City Chic. This is Priceline's own brand of cosmetics, and these lipsticks are beautifully moisturising, well-pigmented, the packaging is classy, and the regular price is $9.99.  Kate from Seducedbybeauty put me onto these, and I will be forever grateful :-) Some of the colours on Priceline's website are way off though, so I suggest you choose them in-store. In fact City Chic appears to be a browny-mauve on their colour chart, when as you can see, it is a bold bright berry.

To give this a wee bit of a Spring lift and add some extra plumpness to my pout, I topped it with Mirenesse Velvet Lip Lift Moisture Shine in shade #41. This gloss has a wee bit more red in it than the lipstick, but it tones in exceptionally well. Mirenesse sure knows how to make a great lipgloss :-)

And here's the finished look - bright and colourful, but a step back from OTT :-)

I think I might now be a berry lover too - how about you? Do you have a favourite berry lipstick?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Apricot and Brown...

I seem to be going a bit Apricot mad this spring - there's something so incredibly appealing about it, I think because it's calming, fresh and warm at the same time. Not nearly as riotous as straight orange, and soft enough to flatter just about any complexion. Actually I can't think of an eye colour that wouldn't look fabulous with it - grey, brown, blue, hazel, even my tealy green peepers seem to come alive when offset with this delicate shade.

As you may have gathered, I'm quite the experimenter - I do so love exploring putting different shades together just to see what happens. Of course, pairing apricot with brown is hardly what I'd call "experimental", but as I'm only just discovering the beauty of this colour, I'm taking baby steps and going with a sure bet lol. Going forward I can imagine this would look stunning with a lapis blue or a deep amethyst,  a gold-olive or perhaps even a rosy pink? - oops there I go dreaming again, but I can't help it! Colours just call out to me to play with them, and with so many possibilities, I was inspired to go through my kit and dig out some shadows that haven't seen the light of day in a long while :-)

For this look, I remembered my bronzey Maybelline New York Hyperdiamonds palette, one I've had for over 2 years, but probably haven't used for 12 months. These days I keep my shadows safely locked away in drawers so they stay dust-free, out of the light, and don't seem to deteriorate as fast over time, and I'm happy to report this little palette still has plenty of life left in it.

I started by tightlining with Mirenesse Inside Out Kohl liner in Amun (deep red/brown), and took it underneath the lower lashes, followed by a base of MNY Tattoo in Fierce & Tangy. Over that went a blend of two of the colours from the MNY palette (marked above) along the top lashline, and Paper Bag from the Sleek V2 palette towards the crease and lower lashline. Finished it off with my usual MNY The Falsies waterproof mascara & essence white kajal on the waterline.

 

I reckon this shade is wonderfully versatile and goes with just about anything - definitely time I had a poke around in my cabinets to see what else I've been neglecting :-)

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: ASAP Grey...

Recently I had the good fortune of winning an ASAP Pure Mineral Make-up set from a beautyheaven comp, and included in the kit was a very pretty dove grey Mineral Eye Colour. Initially I was a wee bit disappointed by it's performance on bare skin (very sheer), but was determined to make it work, and here it is in all it's glory! I used a thin layer of MNY Color Tattoo in Audacious Asphalt as a base, and that's all it needed to show just how silvery soft and gorgeous it is :-

Such a delicate grey with a teeny bit of sparkle, lasted all day as well. I have so few greys in my collection, but who cares when I have this little number, number 8 actually!

To create this look I used the following items:

bhcosmetics black liquid liner

MNY Color Tattoo in Audacious Asphalt all over the top lid

White from the SAVVY Smoky Palette along the top lashline

ASAP Pure Mineral Eye Colour #8 over the rest & underneath

Black from the bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette in the crease

MNY Master Precise Liquid Liner on the lower lashline

bhcosmetics Waterproof Eyeliner in Huntress on the waterline

MUA matte beige on the hood

MNY The Falsies waterproof mascara

I've always thought of grey eye shadow as a bit dreary, and certainly not anything I could get excited about, but this one shadow has singlehandedly changed my opinion - it's strikes me as being both mysterious and elegant, and I still can't get over the fact that I can load up my brush, pat it onto the base, and there is NO fallout.

How do you feel about grey eye shadow? Is it a hue you wear often, rarely, or not at all?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

The Inspired Blog Award

Well didn't I have my Thursday turn into something special! The beautiful, kind and ever so supportive Gemma over at Lady Sapphire Blog has nominated me for an Inspired Blog Award - what a honey you are Lady S, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and the top of my blog!

Agnieszka from Beauty Cat Castle has kindly created this award so that us bloggers can spread the love for our favourite inspirational blogs. The Rules are simple as...all we have to do is nominate at least three bloggers who inspire us, and explain why :-)

Some of my faves have already been nominated by Gemma, but here are a few more way deserving gals...

Magda from All the pretty faces hasn't posted in a while, but her eye makeup creations were responsible for the development of my passion many years ago. She is a true artist and creates the most exquisite looks with colour combinations I couldn't even dream of. Do check out her blog - I'm sure you will be in as much awe as I am at the beauty of her work :-)

Next is IndieAna from IndieAna: In Search of the HolyGrail - a dear friend, and one of my greatest enablers as far as beauty products are concerned (I blame her constantly for my ever growing collection!). She seemingly has no fear regularly posting full FOTD's, plus EOTD's and NOTD's (the latter in particular are out of this world), as well as writing strikingly honest and informative reviews. We also share a passion for magnificently pigmented & shimmery eye shadows, and I can count on her for bringing to my attention those suppliers outside the mainstream.

And my list of "inspirers" wouldn't be complete without Kate from Seducedbybeauty. Back in July of this year, Kate invited me to be her first Guest Blogger - I was so honoured, and it certainly whet my appetite for blogging, so much so that I started my own a few months later! She's also one of the most beautiful and elegant ladies I've had the pleasure to know, her articles are honest, entertaining and exceptionally well written, and her videos are a pleasure to watch. With the gift of the gab, she's both professional and refreshingly natural in her delivery.

All of these ladies are brilliant bloggers, and inspire me every day to improve my writing, makeup application and photography skills.  Lovelies, all of you totally rock at blogging!

Thanks again Gemma dear for this award, I'm so touched.  And I don't see any reason why I can't nominate you back darling - you make me want to be a better blogger, and a better human being xxx

Take care of you,

kats xxx

SPOTLIGHT: bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette...

I just had to have a little rave about this palette. I have (ahem) quite a few in my kit, but this is the one I'm reaching for most often at the moment. Adoring vibrant colours as I do, this was IMPOSSIBLE to resist when it was on special not so long ago. I have just about all these shades already in a 120 palette from the same company, but this one is such a handy size, and I love the mix of mostly mattes, the fourth row is shimmery jewel tones, plus there's a winter white and basic black along the base.

For those gals who do their makeup on the move, there's a decent sized mirror on the inside of the lid, and it comes with a clear plastic protective sheet to cover the pans.

The pigmentation is brilliant for US$15 (currently on special for $9.95!) and the colours are sweet and sassy for spring and summer - just about every shade is covered here, and they blend so beautifully it's super easy to make any colour in between.

Here's a couple of looks I've created using this palette - I've marked the shades I used with an "x"...

         

 

  

 

It's pretty safe to say I'm totally in love with this palette! Shipping is a little hefty at US$12.45, but I usually wait and order a few things at the one time which makes it worthwhile (their black eyeliner felt pen is the best, I use it almost every day), and the parcel always arrives within 10 days.

Do you have a favourite palette that you use over and over again? Have you tried any bhcosmetics products?

Take care of you,

kats xxx