EOTD: MUA Emerald & Navy...

My love of teaming emerald green and navy is pretty well known by now ♥ - it's one of my most frequent combinations, and it works in any season. Having recently changed my hair colour though, I reckon I'll have to check out what works with the new hue and what doesn't. So at the risk of boring you, here we go again lol...

My base was Chi Chi Stay On Eyeliner in the shade Wanna See Your Peacock - it's a lovely shimmery green, almost metallic, and holds the shadow brilliantly. Over that went MUA Shade 6 (emerald), and then I blended the crease, outer corner and lower lashline with MUA matte Midnight. It's a beautiful deep blue, although in these pics it looks more like black. Waterline was Eye of Horus Emerald Tabula Goddess Pencil. Looking a bit googly-eyed here, but I've discovered that NOT smiling when I take the photos shows off the shadows better, and there's less wrinkles and crinkles ha ha... 

For my face I used Mirenesse Liquid Silk foundation, cheeks were Lacura Minerals Cream Blush in Pink Rose dusted with  Hourglass Ambient Mood Exposure, and lips were Cover Girl Ravish Raspberry...

And here's all the jewellery I put together to go with my outfit...

Hope your weekend is super relaxing, refreshing and revitalising ♥

Take care of you,
kats xxx

Christmas EOTD: Lime Crime Red & Eye of Horus Emerald...

Ahh Christmas Eve - love it! I usually spend at least half the day (and night) wrapping gifts and making them look as pretty as possible. I have quite a large extended family, some of whom I only see once a year, so there's a stack of birthday gifts to parcel up as well. I breathe a huge sigh of relief once they're all done, and then I can relax and enjoy the rest of the evening at home. Most times I'm makeup free (including tonight), so here's an EOTD I created a little while ago to get me in the mood for this special time of year...

Chi Chi Like A Virgin (white) Waterproof Gel Eye Liner was my base, and I patted down Lime Crime Muse and Rebirth from the Venus The Grunge palette, concentrating the lighter shade (Rebirth) close to the lashes. Just adore the bricky reds in this palette - I have absolutely nothing even vaguely like them in any of my other collections ♥ I softened the black eyeliner along my lower lashline with Icon from the same palette, and then lined the waterline with Eye of Horus Emerald Tabula Goddess Pencil. Trust me gals this is THE eyeliner, and I'll be getting my mits on the whole set eventually. Actually tragedy struck last week and I lost my Jewel Amethyst pencil - I reckon it rolled off my bench into the bin (which has now been moved) and it went to the tip. A sad day...

For my Santas-Little-Helper face I used Mirenesse Liquid Silk Foundation, cheeks were DB Cosmetics Desire Lip & Cheek Rouge dusted with the brightest red from the bhcosmetics Glamorous Blush palette, lips were W7 Ruby Lipstick topped with Chi Chi Money Bags Chandelier Gloss...

How do you spend your Christmas Eve - do you do anything special?

Take care of you,
kats xxx

EOTD: Emerald & Copper...

Crikey - 3 days till Christmas! About time I posted a festive EOTD to celebrate hey ♥ I usually do a few Santa-Season looks at this time of year, but no doubt like every one else, I haven't had one minute to spare in the last few weeks. Anyways, at least this one from last week is a bit mistletoey lol...

My base was Eye of Horus Emerald Tabula Goddess Pencil - I am SO in love with this liner, so creamy and gentle, and amazingly pigmented. It takes a few minutes to set, and because I'm so time-poor before work, I set it by patting on some Colourpop Cosmetics Empire Super Shock Shadow - it's almost identical in colour, but it has a delightfully pretty shimmer. And with my 2nd order of EOH pencils, there was a special deal - I scored a free gift of Copper Sphinx Liquid Metals liner! You'll be seeing this featured quite a bit in future looks, that's for sure ♥

I lined the waterline with the Emerald pencil, added the Copper Sphinx underneath the lower lashline, and defined the crease using Kat Von D Shadow Box...

Face was Mirenesse Liquid Silk Foundation, on my cheeks I dusted the middle pan from the BYS Coral Me In trio over the top of Lacura Soft Coral Cream Blush, and lips were Revlon Sandstorm topped with essence XXXL Shine Gloss in Glamour to Go...

I'm also celebrating because I finished my Christmas shopping today - yay yay and thrice yay! Are you done with all your gift purchases?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

REVIEW & EOTD: Eye of Horus Goddess Pencils...

I've been meaning to place an order with Eye of Horus Cosmetics for well over a year, and finally got my act together towards the end of last month. I was specifically interested in their Goddess eye pencils, as I'd heard and read rave reviews, and my stash of long lasting crayons was dwindling away to nothing. I tend to use coloured eye liners as the bases for my pigments rather than primers so I'm always on the lookout for something that doesn't budge, and the waterline is an area I like to fill in to give my EOTD's some extra oomph, as well as disguise some discolouration. So with the promise of a velvety smooth and waterproof formula, 12 colours in the range, PLUS the Ancient Egyptian theme (which is so dear to my heart ♥), these pencils sounded like they were made for me...

At the time of my order, there was a special deal of a free Emerald Tabula pencil with any two products purchased, so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on three crayons at what worked out to be $20 each (RRP $30) plus free shipping on orders over $50. The other two colours I chose were Jewel Amethyst and Lazuli Blue. All three are stunners, but my favourite is the Emerald (no surprises there, given my eye colour), and unlike the others that are shimmery or contain micro glitter, the green one is matte ♥

The swatches below are over bare skin, and a couple of strokes of each. My camera doesn't pickup the gorgeous sparkle in the purple, nor does it do justice to the pretty multichrome effect in the blue...

Top to bottom: Jewel Amethyst, Lazuli Blue, Emerald Tabula

The formula is most definitely long lasting - brilliant in fact. I haven't had much success with the Lazuli Blue on the waterline so far - although I can build up the density on my lid, on the waterline it's quite sheer, but another blogger suggested waiting till it dries before adding the next layer, so I'll try that next. They do take a few minutes to set, which gives time to smudge them with the sponge on the other end of the pencil. They are a generous size though, considerably longer than the mainstream liners out there, so they should last a while. I also bought the matching sharpener ($10) and so glad I did as it's far superior to the others I have in my kit. One other thing to mention is that the colour product is quite soft, so I'm thinking I'll keep these in the fridge once Summer well and truly sets in, especially before sharpening...

Below are a couple of looks I've created using the pencils. This first one is Lazuli Blue on the top lid and lower lashline, and Emerald Tabula on the waterline...

And here is Jewel Amethyst top and bottom, and Emerald Tabula on the waterline...

The Emerald Tabula is such a joy to wear on the waterline - it's soft, soothing and magnificently dense, and almost feels like a balm. It wears off a wee bit of the outer section after a few minutes (as does ANY other liner or kohl that I've tried - my eyes water a lot!), but stays put on the rest of my waterline for almost the whole day - bliss!

Absolutely in love with these pencils, in fact I've just ordered Smokey Black, Teal Malachite & Scarab Sapphire, and I'll review these in due course. Incidentally I found a code on the internet to receive a 15% discount - just enter "Review" at the checkout. This took $13.50 off my order, so thank you to the Syeda Sisters ♥

Eye of Horus products are Paraben free, made from natural ingredients, are alcohol-free, suitable for those with sensitive eyes (or contact lens wearers), and they don't test on animals. Perfect...

What's your favourite eye liner pencil?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

P.S. Adding this to Ingrid's Monday Makeup Madness Link Up Party - be sure to drop by and checkout the beaut listing of blogs from 6:30am xxx

SPOTLIGHT: Colourful Bling!...

Having just about exhausted Goldmark's stock of bling rings, I had to go further afield - struck gold (well gems at least lol) at Prouds where I found all these beauties, and all within my $50 limit. Took a bit of fossicking I can tell you, and several months of regular window shopping, scanning of their catalogues etc., but I'm thrilled to bits with what I found ♥

This "ruby" was most definitely the bargain of the bunch at $25. It's such a pretty pear shape, exceptionally feminine, and with the surrounding sparklers flashing so brilliantly, I'm chuffed to at last have something semi-real that I can wear with my red clobber...

Out of all my colourful bling rings, this would have to be my favourite - has every quality I want in a dress ring. Elegant styling, exquisite colour, not too flashy so that it looks fake, and fits my finger perfectly. I bought this at the same time as the ruby - it wasn't actually on special, but I fell instantly in love, and it just scraped in under budget (by 5 cents!). Absolutely adore this little honey ♥

And here's the closest thing to a Princess Di replica that I own - hard to believe but I've spent months trying to capture the stunning blue lights within the stone, and even this photo doesn't do it justice. I swear taking pictures of sparkly jewellery is 100 times more difficult than eye makeup or a flatlay! She's a beauty though. Oddly enough I went into Goldmark looking to see if they had anything blue - the ever so helpful shop assistant said she had nothing in stock, but directed me across the mall to Prouds as she'd seen one in the window. What a sweetheart ♥

Still a couple more to left in the vault to reveal, and I'm in the market for both a yellow and an orange stone ring to complete my rainbow bling collection - wish me luck!

Take care of  you,
kats xxx

EOTD: Colourpop Empire...

Is there an emerald green eye shadow on the market prettier than this Colourpop Empire? Hard pressed to find one I reckon - it's so shimmery and sparkly too, absolutely love it to bits, and even more so because it was a gift from my darling friend Hissycat Krissy ♥

I am SO impressed with these Colourpop eye shadows - they're cheap as chips, super buttery and the pigmentation, well I think you can see it's rather stunning...

I actually dumbed this down a bit by using a dark brown base on the outer two thirds - I was wearing olivey shades, and while I wanted my eyes to be a brighter hue than my somewhat dull outfit, this emerald was way too vivid, so I started with Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Lo Cal Chocolate. Essence White Kajal went underneath the inner corner, and bhcosmetics Waterproof Eye Crayon in Huntress was my waterliner...

Facewise, I'm wearing nude by nature Liquid Mineral Foundation, cheeks were the middle pan from the BYS Coral Me In blush trio, and lips were BOE Beauty Mocha...

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Sweet Kisses Mint Slice...

Ok so following on from my Models Prefer Sweet Kisses review, here is the first of quite a few EOTD's I've created using the shadows in this box. Not surprisingly, Mint Slice is my absolute favourite!...well so far anyway...

It's really quite a magnificent pigment, almost matte, but I pressed it on over the top of MNY Tattoo in Too Cool, and that's what gives it the slight sheen. Sure I have other minty greens in my kit, but this one has a tinge more blue in it - isn't it gorgeous?

I also added a touch of Maple Fudge on the outer corner - haven't tried this on it's own yet and am very much looking forward to making it a feature in the not so distant future as this particular blue is quite unique in my collection... 

What I think really made this look extra special was what I used on the waterline - an essence limited edition gel liner called BBC All Night Blue, an odd name because to me it's more green than blue. I'd forgotten all about it, and even when I was using it more regularly (maybe 12 months ago?), I don't think I'd ever tried it on my waterline. Holey guacemoley! This lasts brilliantly, almost the whole day, and being matte I was able to get a really dense coverage, and the colour couldn't have been a better match. I'm so excited to have rediscovered this beauty, and you can be sure I'll be giving it a work out far more often to make up for lost time lol...

Thank you again sweet Tulip - I love this shade so much that if Models Prefer released it on it's own or in another smaller palette, I'd stock up in a heartbeat ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Lemon and Lime...

A case of the dreary drizzles here in Sydney today, so what better way to brighten the boredom than with a juicy lemon & lime eye look :-)

So I started by laying down a base of MNY Bold Gold Color Tattoo - I've been giving this deliciously creamy and sparkly gel quite a workout since it arrived, and am kicking myself for not buying it when this range first came out. This particular one is brilliantly versatile, and will give a soft glistening lift to just about anything applied over the top :-)

Next I automatically reached for my bhcosmetics Take Me To Brazil palette, but the yellows were all too yellow, so I cracked open the 120 box and found a pretty pastel lemon I hadn't tried before, plus the two greens below...

I'm always fascinated to watch youtube vids of how gals apply their shadows, and in what sequence - I've decided that it doesn't matter too much which way you go about it, so long as it works for you, but I always start with the inner corner, press the shadows on, and then blend backwards from the outside in...

Just about every eye look I create is an experiment, and looking at these two greens in the palette, I wasn't 100% sure they would work together - I classify the deeper green shade as coolish because it contains some blue, and the brighter one is certainly leaning towards the warm side of the spectrum with a fair amount of yellow in it. As a rule I don't usually mix cool & warm tones together, but I'll be playing around with this concept in the future as I suspect the combination will work just fine if I stick to the same shade family. All up I was pleasantly surprised with the result...

I used the cool green along the lower lashline instead of the lime because it's pretty close to my natural eye colour, and then added essence white kajal on the waterline...

I love how colour can change my mood - some shades are definitely calming, but I always find green to be refreshing and energising. Do you find colours affect you in different ways?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

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