Look: Wedding Makeup Take 2

How I would have done my wedding makeup? For the peace of mind, I hired a professional makeup artist. And I think she did a good job for the pictures. They turned out OK. I still looked like myself! But I wasn't satisfied. My dress has peal and crystal details, so does the veil. The make up was a bit too done up especially with the eyes. She used a pair of natural looking false lashes and jet black eyeliner. She also altered the shape of the inner corners of my eyelids so that they appeared to be more even. Why on earth did I let her do so? Those eyelid tapes were uncomfy and didn't feel right, although they were teeny tiny.

I felt like a more subtle and relax look would balance out my wedding gown better. Here are my wedding makeup for pre-wedding photos. And by the way, the hubs and I endured the photo session for the sake of our parents. We knew back then that we would laugh at these pictures some day. We already did.

The dress. Me a few years back,  a couple of days before the wedding ceremony.

The traditional dress. I was very into bright floral at the time. Now I would opted for a simple white instead. 

This is how I would have much preferred. Glowy skin, softly contoured cheeks, natural eye shadow, crisp eyeliner, and casual red lips. So I keep my complexion matte with glowy cheeks. I want full brown, natural and well defined eyeshadows and NO FALSIES. No objection to false lashes but I love the relaxing look of my lashes. I also opted for a undone throw-away red lips instead of the classic bridal soft pink lips. There you have it.

My re-do makeup. Cool lighting. I wasn't topless guys. 

My re-do makeup. Warm lighting. My actual wedding jewelry. Peals! 

Makeup breakdown

Face

Clarins Ever Matte Foundation SPF 15 in 108

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer Custard

Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder

Edward Bess All Over Seduction in Sunlight (everybody should own it)

Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Intensity 2 (contour shade)

Tom Ford Blush Narcissist

Eyes

Dior 5-color eyeshadow quint Beige Massai (my all time favorite palette)

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel liner Espresso

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Stretch Mascara

Tom Ford Brow Sculptor Espresso

Lips

EOS Lip balm

Laura Mercier Satin Lipstick Cherrywood (same here)

I had so much fun writing this post. Tell me what you think ladies. And if there's enough interest, I'll do another look (yes, I have something else in mind too).

Joanne xoxo

Look: Neutral and Hot Pink

Houston rises and shines at 93F today. The fall equinox has just came and technically we're in the middle of the fall. I'm sort of panicking as time flies by so fast and in a few months is Christmas. In the fare well of the summer, I thought I post this neutral look with a pop of pink.

Since the lips take the center stage, I kept the eye makeup neutral and sheen coupled with glowy cheeks. Everything is subtle and understated so that the lip can shine. Chanel Glossimer in Pink Teaser is a gorgeous bright pink that stays put and moisturizes my lips. It's also very wearable, and frankly you can wear this type of pink year round.

Please pardon my brows! In my own fashion, I forgot to do the brows that day :D. I hope you all had an awesome summer! xx

Face

Clarins Ever Matte Foundation

Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder

YSL Touch Eclat 

Edward Bess All Over Seduction Afterglow

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed

Eye

Dior 5-color eyeshadow Rosy Tan

Bobbi Brown Long wear Gel Liner Espresso

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Mascara

Lip

Chanel Glossimier Pink Teaser (limited edition)

Review: Clarins Ever Matte Foundation SPF 15

My long quest for a perfect match foundation have reached a great destination. Ladies, I present to you my all time favorite foundation: the Clarins Ever Matte Foundation SPF 15 ($32 for 1.01 oz). Click here to see this foundation in action.

The foundation has a refreshing cucumber scent that isn't overwhelming and fades soon after applied. It's housed in a solid yet squeezable plastic tube. I really love how light weight and sleek it feels on my hand. Perfect for travel or on the go touch up.

The shade reviewed here is 108 Sand since I want to match my facial skin, which usually will match shade 110 Honey, to my neck skin. Shade 110 Honey matches other foundations I've used (reviewed here). 

Clarins Ever Matte smoothes out my skin, reduces pore size giving my complexion a natural tighten look. If you're familiar with ultra-smooth finish of BB cream, you can imagine the similar finish of Clarins Ever Matte yet not as heavy looking.

The foundation feels weightless and dries in a matte natural finish. I don't look like wearing foundation at all and I don't feel like that either! It's buildable from sheer to medium to full coverage to accommodate your preferences. It looks completely like my second skin even with full coverage that cover most of my blemishes. No matter how sheer I apply the foundation, it stays put for 10 hours without a primer or a settling powder. I have combination skin, only my T-zone looks shiny at the end of the day.

What I love the most about Clarins Ever Matte is it doesn't oxidize into pink (like Chanel Mat Lumiere), yellow tan (like Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk) or orange (like Dior Skin Nude), even when being layering on top of a sunscreen. I've looked long and hard for a foundation that owns this trait. And this alone is the winner for me. My skin, though combination, is notorious for turning foundations into one shade darker and changing their colors.

Sheer Coverage, you still can see the veins

Full coverage, no veins 

Now, if you live in the regions of dry weather or have dry skin, Clarins Ever Matte might be a bit flaky. I could still wear it during the cooler months in Houston. All I did was to moisturize my skin well before applying the foundation.

Bottom line. The best foundations I've ever tested. Hands down. If you haven't tried Clarins Ever Matte, I urge you to do so next time you visit a Clarins counter. 

Quick look

My friends and I had a girl's makeup/hangout the other day. I can't wait to share the looks I did on my friends. A special thank you to Doan and Jessica for their incredible patience. Also, I thought I'd post a picture of the look I wore that day. It's my husband's favorite and mine too, simple, easy and natural for everyday.

Photo by Doan

Face
Clarins Ever Matte Foundation 108
Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder for T-zone
YSL Touche Eclat 08
Edward Bess All Over Seduction in Sunlight
Dior Bronzer in Aurora (as blush)

Eye
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
Dior 5-color eyeshadow in Beige Massai (all shades except the rusty color)
Bobbi Brown long-wear gel eyeliner in Espresso
Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Stretch mascara (sample)
Shu Uemura eyelash curler

Lip
Dolce & Gabbana shine lipstick in Soiree

Have a great week!

Lately

I literally stayed away from beauty blog through out the months of April and May. My life has been hectic like hell and I lost my inspiration to blog. But all the beauty purchases I made since January were all huge success. I love every single one of them. So I decided to share a brief overview of these goodies and will do a more in-depth description later on.

First and foremost, I finally found THE foundation that I desperately wanted for years ever since my love affair with makeup began. Yes, nearly 10 years. Clarins Ever Matte Skin Balancing Foundation. Smooth with extra finely milled texture. Matte without being dull. Stay on all day (no setting powder needed). Natural like second skin. Doesn't turn orange half day through. Weightless. Cover well and buildable. I found my right shade. Affordable. Smell refreshing. Smart packaging that works well for traveling. I don't think it's the perfect match for everybody but it should work well on loads of skintone and type. I can no longer come back to my Chanel Matte Lumiere or Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk. Totally in love!

Other awesome discoveries were Dior 5-color eyeshadow quint in Beige Massai and Chanel 4-color quint in Kaska Beige. Both are universally flattering neutrals with beautiful pop of colors. Beige Massai, in particular, has everything I love about the best of Dior 5-color quints. And Chanel Kaska Beige is simply a-must. Hands down. Sadly, Dior Beige Massai was discontinued (yes, I checked with Dior). So I had to raid ebay's beauty department and grabbed two (of course).

I've also been using Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Espresso Ink non-stop since March. YSL Touch Eclat is my new under eye concealer. Edward Bess Compact Rouge in Love Affair (seriously, every girl needs this) is my every day blush and will be until the fall comes.

Some other happy procurements include
YSL Rouge Couture in 27
Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Gloss in Beach
Makeup Forever HD Blush in No. 6
L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Bronzed Taupe
Maybeline Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in Tough as Taupe
Clinique Black Honey
Becca Shimmer Skin Perfectors in Pearl and Opal, both of which aren't new to my collection but I waited until I got a good use of them to write reviews.

I'm very excited to continue to share and learn more about makeup. I hope you are doing well.

Joanne