EOTD's: Kat Von D Blacks & Greys...

As much as I complain about the cold weather (I'm truly a Summer gal at heart) I do love playing around with greys and charcoals during the chilly season, and Kat Von D does the BEST shadows for smokey eye looks. In the pics below, I've used both the Chrysalis & Monarch palettes - the pigmentation is astounding and the powders are so easy to blend, even I don't have trouble getting rid of the join ha ha...

So this is Summerfly (gold) and Deadhead from the Monarch palette - can't believe she's discontinued this fabulous collection of Autumn shades! For the waterline, I used Eye Of Horus Serpentine Sultry Goddess Pencil - this is such an interesting deep olivey green, and perfect for when I don't want the starkness of black. I also used their Alchemy Gold Liquid Metals eye liner on the lower lashline...

Face was Mirenesse Velvet Maxi Lift foundation, Maybelline Master Highlighting Blush in Pink Rose, and lips were Rubi Shoes Ruby Red...

I am so in love with this mix of gold and grey - so very different, and I normally wouldn't put anything with grey except silver, but thankfully someone else figured out the combo was a winner, and now I'm in search of other grey/gold pieces...

For look number two, I switched to the Chrysalis palette, and chose Graphic Nature (shimmery charcoal) and Lunar Lights (silvery white). My base was essence White Kajal on the inner half, and Max Factor Charcoal Grey Kohl Pencil on the outside, as well as the waterline...

Even I'm amazed at my seemingly seamless blending, but I swear it's just SO EASY with these shadows...

Foundation was Maybelline Super Stay 24 hour, cheeks were Laura Geller Blush "N" Brighten in Berry, and lips were Chi Chi Viva La Diva Lady Bump...

And here's the jewellery - I'm crazy about black, white and silver together, it's so simple and yet so elegant...

For look #3, I cheated a bit because I was trying to match the leopardy top in the pic below. The fabric is a mix of black, grey and a sort of lichen green, so I used Eye of Horus Goddess Pencil in Emerald Tabular as a base underneath Chrysalis Black Milk (dove grey) and Lunar Lights...

And because the end result was a bit dreary, I added the same Emerald Tabular on my waterline...

Same Maybelline Super Stay foundation, cheeks were Savvy Cheek & Lip Colour in Cozy Coral with a dusting of pan #3 from the BYS Endless Summer Trio, and lips were Maybelline ColorDrama Intense Velvet Lip Pencil in Fab Orange, which is more like Fab Red...

Was looking for something to go with the pendant, and scored the bangle and earrings from Target for half price ♥ Not a perfect match, but it'll do...

What's your go-to palette for a smokey eye?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Yellow, Black and...Purple!...

Wow how scary is it that February is almost half over? I'm way behind with my EOTD posts, in fact this is my first for the month, so I'm not going to waste any time blabbing, except to say that this was yet another experiment that didn't turn out quite as I'd planned lol...

Can you guess this was to match a black and yellow outfit? Actually I don't have very many yellows in my kit - they're mainly on the golden or orangey side of the fence, but I do have this sunny pineapple shade in the bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette. It's a matte so I used the slightly shimmery Chi Chi Midas Touch Waterproof Gel Eyeliner as the base, and Eye of Horus Smokey Black Goddess Pencil underneath the matte black. When it came to the waterline, I immediately reached for the EOH black liner again, but then thought that choice was a bit ho-hum because that's what I ALWAYS do, so instead I took a chance on the Amethyst Jewel one. Hmmm - not sure that purple was the best option here, but I ran out of time to do anything about it, so purple waterline it was ha ha...

As you can see, after two weeks, my hair is still smooth and straight, and I'm STILL tripping that I don't have any frizz! For my face I applied Mirenesse Liquid Silk Foundation, and cheeks were Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick in Make a Mauve, with a sweep of Laura Geller Blush-N-Brighten in Berry...

Lips were one of my favourite plummy lippies, DB Cosmetics Longwear in Perfect Plum...

And here's a new little feature - I've started taking a quick and dirty pic of the jewellery of the day (JOTD), on a back drop of the top half of my outfit. These photos seem to be popular on my Instagram page, so I'll include them here in case anyone's interested ♥

Hope you're having a brilliant summer lovelies, and if you're on the other side of the world, that you're keeping warm ♥

Take care of you,
kats xxx

EOTD: bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil Yellow & Black...

Well whoop-dee-do, at last I'm on holidays, and despite all the Christmas activities, and gift shopping (that I haven't finished yet), I finally have a chance to catch up with my blogging - oh how it's pained me to only post once a week! And with all the prize wins I've been blessed with of late, I have at least 12 months of reviews to write and upload, as well as finishing up my lipstick and foundation refresh articles that have fallen by the wayside. My plan is to get a whole bunch done and dusted over the next few weeks, and stash them away ready to upload at a moment's notice - well that's the plan anyway ♥...

I'll start with a long overdue and summery EOTD - used one of my all time favourite (and highly recommended) palettes, bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil. This baby is versatility plus - the pigments are all fabulous, and the colour range means I have just about every requirement covered. If you've been thinking about venturing into the land of colourful eye shadows, then this palette is a great way to begin, and you'll only have to outlay around US$10...

My base was Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eye Liner in Midas Touch (gold). I concentrated the yellow along the top lashline, and then blended the matte black downwards from the crease, and also took it underneath the lower lashline. Waterline was ModelsPrefer matte black kohl...

For my face I used DB Cosmetics Longwear 24 Hour Foundation. Got myself a rosy glow happening with DB Cosmetics Lip & Cheek Rouge in the shade Irresistible, and then dusted some bhcosmetics Iris over the top. Lips were DB Cosmetics Currant Kiss...

Hope your December hasn't been too frantic so far, and that you'll be able to take some time to relax and enjoy the end of year festivities in style ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Sleek Acid Orange & Black for Halloween...

This was my Halloween look - pretty tame, and not much different to what I do every day (lol), but the colours were appropriate for the occasion. From memory last year's All Hallows Eve EOTD was created using the Sleek Acid palette as well - I can always count on it to deliver a nice pumpkiny hue, and an intense spooky black...

Interestingly I used a pink Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eye Liner (Hopelessly Devoted) as my base as I wanted to soften the vibrant orange down a little - I find most shadows adhere brilliantly to these liners...

I'm sure I'm not alone when it comes to photographic issues - apart from lighting inconsistencies and a camera that often refuses to focus, my biggest challenge is getting my two eyes even. My eyes aren't the same shape, or in the same condition as far as ageing is concerned. My left peeper is the only one I take closeups of, mainly because it has less yucky red veins in the white part (sclera), and the area above the lid isn't as wrinkly. The right hood actually droops in an odd way as well, so when I'm taking a both-eyes shot, often the crease colour ends up looking a different width, and so the whole effect is a bit whacky. But we're all dealing with imperfection one way or another hey, and I thank my lucky stars that I wear specs, so it isn't all that obvious if my eye makeup doesn't exactly match ♥

For the waterline I used ModelsPrefer Matte Black Kohl - it doesn't last all that long, but it's so creamy and gentle, I don't mind reapplying it every few hours. It's actually the blackest black crayon in my kit...

I'm not really into the whole Halloween thingy, so I didn't do anything special on the actual night - just had fun handing out some gingerbread Draculas and sweets to some of the cleverly attired neighbourhood children when they came trick-or-treating ♥

Did you dress up or party for Halloween?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: MUA Platinum & Charcoal...

MOST unusual for me to upload two posts in one day - but I'm making an exception as it's the last day of the month, and work has overtaken my blogging life this week (boo!). However I was determined to not let it get the better of me, so here's #8 EOTD for July ♥

Haven't done a silvery black look in yonks, and this MUA Platinum is undoubtedly the most stunning silver in my collection. Crikey you could almost read by the light it throws off lol! I've had this for several months and it's been laying forgotten and unused in one of my drawers as I've been distracted of late by quite a few palette purchases (ahem). Anyways it's ahh-mazing, and you'll be seeing it far more often in future ♥

My base was essence White Kajal, and for the crease I added MUA matte shade #20, a pan I've had (and used regularly) for over two years, and which barely has a dent in it. Along the top lashline, I added some definition with the new Maybelline Hyper Sharp Wing Liner (love it!), and on the waterline is Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Black is Black. These liners are the BEST ones in my kit for the waterline - they stay put for at least 4 or 5 hours...

Hope July was kind and generous to you ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Sleek Acid Peppermint and Black...

I'm sneaking in a look I actually created last month when I was using the Sleek Acid palette every day - let's call it "Acid Flashback" lol. The olivey lime green and white blend seemed to be popular, so I did a similar combination with the neon green and white, mainly to show you all how super versatile this palette is...

Starting with a layer of white first, then applying the vivid green over the top softens it down to a pretty pastel, and it's proof that if you have a palette with fabulous pigments, you can create just about anything...

The base was essence white kajal, and you can see that the black is so dense, it wasn't at all fazed by having the white underneath on the outer corner. For the crease I barely had to touch the brush on the black pan to pick up enough oomphy particles to create some definition...

I don't know about you, but I fancy a bit of cooling peppermint on a hot summer's day ♥

Do you use colour to cool you down?

Take care of you,
kats xxx

EOTD: Red, Gold & Black...

This was today's Melbourne Cup Day eye look - a colour combination I've done many many times, but it always turns out slightly different. Of course it depends what you put where, and the product I use on my waterline tends to make a big difference...

I've changed the lighting for these early morning photos. I now have two globes - one cool and one warm white in an effort to get the most realistic and true representation of the colours I use. Because of the added brightness, everything seems a lot clearer camera-wise, or perhaps I should say "gorily graphic", which may not be such a good thing considering my age lol. But hey, I always prefer to tell it like it is, so here we go, warts and all ♥♥♥

My base was Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bold Gold, a rich metallic cream that has lots of pretty sparkles to enliven the flatness of matte pigments. Over that I applied Mirenesse Secret Weapon 24 hr Liner in Pure Gold along the top and lower lashlines - love this stuff, and once it dries, it's there for the whole day. The red is a blend of two matte shadows from the bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette - one of them is pinky red, and the other is orangey red, but together they made just the shade I was after...

I pressed the black from the same palette into the crease, and went over the gold on the lower lid with MNY Master Precise Liquid Liner. On the waterline is ModelsPrefer Matte Black Kohl Pencil - out of all my crayons, this is the most long lasting in this damp area, and I don't experience even the slightest twinge of irritation. Brilliant, and I'll be buying it again.  My mascara is always Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Hydrofuge (waterproof). I'm going through another phase where I'm sticking to the same one because it never fails ♥

Regrettably, no time to take a pic of any other part of me, but as you can probably imagine, my outfit was black and red with gold jewellery, and I added a slightly subdued red lip using Rimmel 1000 Kisses Stay on Lip Contouring Pencil in Red Dynamite, Lacural Minerals lipstick in shade 980, and topped with Mirenesse 3D Forever Gloss in Star Struck...

Did you do a special make up look for The Race That Stops a Nation?

Take care of you,

kats xxx