Tag: fake freckles

ColourPop Cosmetics Haul!

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Hey everyone!

Sooooo, this post has been a really, REALLY long time coming. For those of you who follow my posts regularly, I’m sure you’ll remember me teasing this post as far back as December (or possibly even late November) of 2020. It’s taken a while, but it’s finally here! I honestly can’t even tell you all how excited I am to share this post with you — not only have I been DYING to try ColourPop out for a while now, but all the roadblocks and delays I ran into while making this post only made me more excited to finally be able to share it.

ColourPop is a brand that I’ve been hearing about since, like, forever — it really seems like every single makeup blogger, vlogger and Instagrammer was obsessed. However, due to the fact that I’ve been hesitant in the past about buying makeup online without seeing it in store (as well as the fact that I’m not American, and international shipping can be a pain), it took me a while to getting around to trying it out for myself. I took the leap in 2019 with buying cosmetics online from Kylie Cosmetics, and after having taken the leap once I realized it was no where NEAR as nerve-wracking as I was making it out to be. It takes a while to narrow down products when you can’t see them in person to decide, and yes, you won’t always get exactly what you’re picturing. However, so long as you stick to popular products (such as shadow palettes, highlighters, lip glosses or whatever the site your shopping from is known for) and read the colour description and reviews on products such as lipglosses that can be hard to see the nuanced differences in from photos online, you should be good.

At the end of 2019, I rated ColourPop as one of the brands I was most excited to try in 2020. With my fear of purchasing from online-only cosmetic brands out of the way, it was on the top of my list being one of the best-known makeup brands out there that I’d never tried. However, as we all know, 2020 de-railed pretty quickly, and my need to purchase loads of makeup suddenly dropped to zero.

I honestly kind of forgot about trying ColourPop for a while — after all, I maybe did my makeup like 10 times total last year — until one of their collabs caught my eye. ColourPop, after all, is kind of known for their numerous collabs with different influencers and brands. However, the particular collaboration in question that re-launched my interest in trying the brand was none other than their Sailor Moon collection. As a slightly-less-than-casual anime fan, while I’ve never watched Sailor Moon specifically (yet), I was kinda obsessed with how cute these products were and the concept of the collab overall — so I finally decided to give it a shot. (I mean, I was also kind of drawn in by their tie-dye shadow collection, too…… both collections seemed like they were totally made for me, TBH).

Between the international shipping and the fact that I placed my order only a few weeks before Black Friday, it ended up taking my package over a month to arrive. After all the anticipation, though, I did finally get to test it all out and I’ve finally written out all of my thoughts and first impressions to share with y’all. So without further ado — let’s get into it!

Sailor Moon Collection Eyeshadow Palette in Pretty Guardian

Did I really buy this eyeshadow palette simply because it has Sailor Moon on the front? Perhaps. But do I love it anyways? Absolutely! The colours are absolutely stunning, and while they aren’t a combination that I’d usually expect together, they go beautifully with each other. What’s more, this palette comes with neutrals, mattes and blending shades as well as bright, shimmery and bold colours, so you really can make any number of complete looks with this palette alone.

Sailor Moon Collection Glitter Gel in Moonlight Legend

This glitter gel is absolutely UNREAL. I feel like I’ve been searching for a product like this since, well, forever. (Seriously, where was this glitter before I went to Fvded in 2018?). I know ColourPop is far from the only cosmetic brand that sells chunky glitter in clear adhesive such as thing, but it’s certainly the most major brand to do so that I can think of offhand (and certainly the easiest to get your hands on). All that aside, though, this product actually works wonders. As in, when I swatched it on my hand, I expected it to rub off instantly or wash off entirely with water, as so many liquid-glitter type products do. However, this stuff stayed put. As in, it didn’t even budge on my HAND after a few hours. Which basically means that you’ll have NOTHING to worry about when you wear it on your face. Don’t worry, though — it comes off super easily with makeup remover, so it’s not like it’s one of those products that stays on because it’s impossible to get off. The glitter is soooo pretty, too — it’s not as pink as it looks here as the gel goes on clear, but the glitter chunks are a sort of iridescent blue-pink that I’m really obsessed with. Now all I need is for COVID to end and festival season to restart so I can get the most possible use out of this stuff!

In A Trance Eyeshadow Palette

This was the eyeshadow palette that really convinced me that I had to put in an order with ColourPop. While the Sailor Moon collection really caught my eye, when I saw this I knew I had to have it for myself. My favourite colours are blue, purple, and pink, so this palette was literally made for me. I gave it a test run on New Years Eve, and honestly I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d heard great things about ColourPop, but at their price point, I found it hard to believe that they’d blow my mind. However, I was overall pleasantly surprised. Some of the super pale-pastel shades were less pigmented than I expected, however, it’s kind of a classic problem that many pastel shadows seem to have. Even the most expensive and high-quality pastels of any brand will always turn out less pigmented than non-pastel shades of the same line. However, when I tested out some of the darker colours, such as the darker pastel blue, the colour payoff was INSANE. Like, I wasn’t ready. (Seriously, I went in HARD with this blue, expecting it to be less pigmented like the lighter pastel blue and almost messed up my whole look when it turned out to be pigmented AF). All the colours blend out really well though, and they aren’t patchy at all, so I’ll let the fact that the pastel shades aren’t as pigmented slide. After all, they’re still beautiful and 100% buildable, so they just take a little more effort (but it’s worth it).

Blush Crush Eyeshadow Palette

I saw this palette and just felt it would really make a great everyday palette for me. I’ve really been digging the pale pink vibe for day-to-day makeup lately, so I decided to give this one a go. I don’t always love how coral/warm toned neutral shadows look on me, so for daily use, I tend to go for more neutral pinks and neutral or cool toned browns, depending on whether I’m trying to go for a casual “day out” look or something more professional. Trying this palette out, it may be a winner — I do kind of find the ColourPop glitter shades to be a bit difficult to use, but the shimmer and matte shades are to die for and the made a great daytime look.

Super Shock Highlighter in Manifest That…

Wow. Okay, so, I actually don’t even know where to start with this highlighter. I’d heard about Super Shock highlighters before here and there, but NOTHING could have prepared me for how much I was going to LOVE this product!!! Seriously, I can hardly put it into words. I probably sound kind of weird right now, but this highlighter was a total game changer for me. If all of ColourPop’s highlighters are this good, I don’t know that I’ll ever buy a highlighter from another brand ever again. In all honestly, I was actually super skeptical before I actually tried it on. Not only does the colour look a little bland in-package, but the packaging itself was actually kind of broken — it doesn’t really stay shut on it’s own. However, I’m so blown away by how it makes my skin glow like I’ve never seen it glow before that I’ll just tape it shut — who cares!

Freckle Pen in Soft Brown

While I don’t really wear them often, I’m a huge fan of fake freckles. In the past I’ve applied them using cool-toned shadows and a tiny liner brush, however, even as I got pretty good at freckling my face, some freckles always ended up looking botched and I’ve never really ended up wearing them out in public. However, when I tested this pen out, it made applying freckles so easy I may actually give wearing them out and around a go. (I mean, I guess post-COVID since they’d be entirely covered by a mask, but still). This pen has a fine enough tip to give you itty-bitty freckles, but you can definitely create a whole variety of sizes with it. It’s easy to apply so they don’t end up looking weird or smudged, and the colour is cool-toned enough they actually look real. Basically, I’m going to be drawing on fake freckles a lot more often from now on.

Lux Gloss in Panache

Overall, this lip gloss is pretty solid. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly pretty decent overall. I did find it to be a little heavy and sticky — but at the same time, the colour is gorgeous and it’s really pigmented for a gloss. I haven’t gotten much of a chance to see how it lasts when I wear it out in public (because, you know, COVID and all) but wearing it around my house with a full face of makeup, it did seem to pass the reliable and long-lasting test. It’s not perfect, but I’d definitely consider trying ColourPop’s glosses again in the future.

Lippie Pencil in Another Round Pencil

While I’m not super knowledgable on lip pencils, I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with this one. I have a decent-sized collection of lip pencils from the last few years, but honestly — I never really used them up until a few years ago. They seemed kind of pointless to me. Now I realize how useful they are, but my collection is still a little small since I still have a hard time coughing up a whole load of money for a product that goes UNDERNEATH my lip products. Like, I know they’re worth it on one hand, but on the other …….. anything more than like $15-$18 for a lip pencil is just asking too much. But $8? I’m sold. This pencil is creamy, pigmented and overall great value for it’s cost. Next time I need a lip pencil, I’ll know where to look.

To sum up my overall opinion, I have to say — I’m kind of obsessed. These products would be pretty good quality for any price point, but to my knowledge there’s almost no where else you could get such high-quality products for such a low price. For the cost of my entire haul, I could maybe get an eyeshadow palette and a lip gloss from the average brand that Sephora carries. While I’m still going to indulge in more expensive brands from time to time, ColourPop is the perfect brand to fill in any missing items from your collection, or for hopping on the latest trend without dropping too much.

I hope you all enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you! It was a long time coming but honestly, it was worth the wait. Now that I’ve tested the waters with ColourPop, I’m honestly excited to give more of their products a try. (Fingers crossed I’ll get more chances to wear makeup in 2021!). If you’ve tried out ColourPop before, drop a comment below and let me know how you liked it, or which products and collabs were your fave! I’d love to hear all about it.

I hope that all of you are having an amazing week, and despite everything, that your January’s are going well so far. This year has been off to a rocky start for sure, but we still have 11 months to hopefully turn it around and make it better than the last one.

Stay tuned next week, where I’m going to be sharing a surprise post with a bit of commentary I have about the online blogging community and changes I’m making for myself and my blog. I’m kind of nervous to share it with you guys, so I hope you all read it and share your thoughts about if you feel the same!

Much love and see you next week,

Meredith

Last Minute Halloween Makeup Ideas!

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Hey friends!

This upcoming week is one of my all-time favourite holidays: Halloween! I absolutely adore the 31st because not only is it a somewhat non-traditional holiday, but you get to be creative and dress as absolutely anything you want — and absolutely no one will question it!

Now, if you’re like me and EXTREMELY busy, you may not have had a lot of time to put thought into what you’re going to be this year, and that’s okay! If you want to dress up and have no idea what to be, or decide really last minute to go out this Halloween, I’ve got you covered. All the looks I’m sharing take an hour or less, and all of them can be done with supplies you have at home.

Past Halloween Costumes: Space Cowboy, Boxer, Snapchat Filter, Dead School Girl, Spring Breakers, Lifeguard

As someone who has attended a whole lot of costume parties in my lifetime — both for Halloween and not — I’ve gotten used to putting together costumes on the fly. There’s sooooo many articles out there on last minute Halloween costumes, but many of them are about outfits, not makeup. I’ve always found the thing that really nails any look for me is almost always the makeup, and the outfit can actually be rather secondary (especially if you’re just throwing together things you already have in your closet). So without further ado, check out some makeup looks you can use to look like you put heaps of effort into this years costume, even if you really didn’t!

The Joker

Joker Makeup

This one is going to be HUGE this year. The key here, if you’re going to make this costume stand out, is really nailing the makeup. The best part about this look is if you’re not a pro is the messiness only adds to the look! To really sell this costume, be sure to add a green wig or hair paint, as well as whatever clothes you can find that replicate Joaquin Phoenix’s iconic Joker suit.

Pennywise

Pennywise Makeup

2017’s classic revamped! If you didn’t get a chance to rock this costume when “It” first came out two years ago, now’s your chance. Drawing on the lipstick may seem daunting, but no one will be able to tell if it’s not perfectly symmetrical. Finally, to really amp up this look, add some cool colour contacts of your choice, a red wig or hair paint, and your best clown costume!

Dead (Insert Costume Here!)

SFX Blood Makeup

This one is a classic I decided to leave up to your interpretation. Any costume can be made creepier by adding a “dead” element to it, or you can even just go without any additional costuming and just the makeup! To start this one off, the most important element is the fake blood. Back when I was a film student, I had to do all my SFX makeup myself. While I’m no expert, I’ve certainly picked up some tips and tricks.

First of all, I’m going to share with you guys my personal recipe for fake blood that you can make at home! It’s edible too, so you can use it in/around your mouth — and it’s only two steps! All you’re going to need it chocolate sauce and food colouring, mix it together and voila! It looks incredibly real. If you need to thicken the consistency, add clear hair gel. To really add to the look, add black makeup underneath wherever you want the “source” of the blood to appear, and add purple, red and orange eyeshadow around the edges to mimic bruising.

For face makeup, all you’re going to need is a lighter foundation shade, and some grey/purple eyeshadow to mimic under-eye circles and a chiseled cheekbone look. To spice up this costume, you can go the classic route of making it a dead schoolgirl (like my costume above!), cheerleader, etc. or just add a twist to any other costume you were planning to wear! Coloured contacts and wigs really help to take this look to the next level as well.

Alien

Alien Makeup

SUPER on brand if you were into the whole “Raid Area 51” vibe this year. Make your silver eyeshadow look just like metal by wetting your brush before you apply it. You can really take this look in any direction you want in terms of secondary colours — you can opt to keep it all silver, or add green, blue, or even pink depending on what exact look you’re feeling. To top it off, add some glitter freckles like I did above if you’re into it. If you want, add a hat and boots to create a Space Cowboy; I did this last year and it was beyond fun! To bring this costume together, be sure to add metallic sliver EVERYTHING to your outfit — and maybe even a wig!

Leopard Cat

Leopard and Cat Makeup

A classic, but make it fashion. Being a cat seems so basic until your makeup takes it up to the next level — if winged eyeliner is your forte, amp it up with some crazy liner and smoky eye! If you’re not into the basic cat costume, turn it on it’s head by adding a leopard print vibe — it’s a lot easier than it looks and looks SO CUTE irl. This costume is so simple, really, just add cat ears and an outfit of your choice and just like that, you’re ready to go!

Hope you guys all have a fantastic Halloween, whatever your plans may be! If you got any last minute inspo from this post, I’d love to see how your looks turned out! And if you’ve put together something elaborate and super creative, I’d love to hear them. Halloween is the best because the possibilities are endless — it’s all so individual and completely up to you!

So have a great week loves, and happy Halloween! Stay tuned for next weeks post — and I’m sending you all positive vibes so you can start November off right.

Stay spooky,

Meredith

Get The Look: Fake Freckles!

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Hey everyone!

So, today I figured I’d share a little tutorial: how to create a natural, sun-kissed freckled look. With the last few weeks of summer coming up, it’s time to take full advantage of the tanned summer look. While it can be nice to look super glowy and golden all summer long, many of us have busy lives and can’t afford to hit the beach every day. Plus, for those of us without freckles it can be a fun way to switch up your look! However, it can be tricky to make them look natural, hence the growing popularity of products to help mimic a freckled look. But with these easy steps, I can show you how to freckle your face with products you likely already have at home.

Step One: Do Your Regular Make-Up!

I do my freckles as the last step in my makeup, so to start your just going to do your makeup as usual. I find that freckles look waaaaay more natural on skin that looks naturally tanned (even if you’re super pale). The best way I achieve this is with bronzer. I usually start off with a matte bronzer (I personally use Too Faced Chocolate Soliel Matte Bronzer) and apply it all over my face and cheekbones using a large powder brush as I find it makes my other makeup blend more naturally.

Then, I take a shimmery bronzer (I like the use Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer, it’s one of my personal favourites) and apply it to my cheekbones, temples and jawline with an angled bronzer brush. I find this works best if you go in lightly on your forehead/jaw. To make it look as natural as possible, be sure to blend your cheekbones right up into your ear.

Finally, and most importantly, I take some shimmery bronzer and apply it to my nose. If you’re outdoors a lot, your nose tends to tan more than the rest of your face as it sticks out under direct sunlight. So I find applying a bit of bronzer to your nose tip makes you look a little more naturally sun-kissed!

After this, I simply finish with matte pink blush as well as highlight. If you’re looking to warm up your complexion a bit, the blush can always be applied to your nose and temples as well! Additionally, I always highlight my cheekbones, top of my brow, nose tip and cupids bow. I find the nose tip especially important if you’ve applied bronzer to your nose to help blend it all together.

Step Two: Use Eyeshadow That Matches Your Skin Tone!

For the freckles themselves, I like to use eyeshadow to create the look. Once you’re done with the rest of your makeup, you’ll want to take a light, matte brown eyeshadow to create your freckles (similar to an eyeshadow you may use as a transition shade). For this, it likely depends on your skin tone, however I find a light taupe/neutral brown looks the most natural. As well, you may want to choose a slightly darker shade to help vary the colour and intensity of your freckles.

Step Three: Apply Freckles!

For this, you’re going to want to take an eyeliner brush and wet it. Simply dip it into your selected eyeshadow shade and start applying! Just patting on plenty of gentle dots I find works best for me. To get the most natural look, I find it works best to begin on the bridge of your nose and spread outward from there, doing your best to maintain a random pattern and going back in to fill in any sparse areas after the fact. As well, I find it best to concentrate on the nose, but also spread all the way past your eyes, being sure to keep them fairly high up on your face.

It’s important to keep your freckles light, otherwise they make start to look unnatural. If some of them are almost invisible/not perfectly circular, it’s okay! Ultimately no one will focus on each freckle individually and it will only help to heighten the natural appearance of your look. I personally have found its easier to pull this look off if the freckles themselves are almost barely there, rather than too in-your-face. As a final step, try to blend them out a little with powder or extra bronzer.

And just like that, you’re done! No freckle tattoos or stencils required. Finish with a setting spray to help your makeup last all day and go out there and show off your look!

Much love,

Meredith