Imperfections

imperfections are exactly what make us all so perfect.

as I hold the gem stone in my hand, it's so smooth and soft on one side.

on the other, it's rugged, cracked, so scarred.

it tells the story of what it has been through; the time it took for the earth to form it. 

to shape it.

to plan its path. 

i look into his eyes and see such a delicious shade of brown. 

honey coloured sweetness.

Kindess, Ambition, Love.

- all within such a small part of his whole being.

However, he is not perfect. 

I am not perfect.

....

You are not perfect.

That is what makes this life, all the more interesting! 

life's healthy impacts

Life...


Isn't always about the people you meet - 

however, I am learning that it IS about the impact you make on the people you meet.

Honesty, kindness, compassion, patience, love, respect...

all traits people are drawn to.

If you do not treat a person with virtue, they will lose interest in you.

AVOID BEING SELFISH.

//listen, to hear, not to answer.//


Offer advice when asked, otherwise your opinion does not really matter.


Oldest rule in the book:


Treat others as you would want to be treated -


then,


YOU will go far in life, my dear.

Morphe Brushes 35O: Color Nature Glow Eyeshadow Palette

Morphe Brushes' famous 35O: Color Nature Glow Eyeshadow Palette. You know, the one that comes into stock and then immediately disappears after, seemingly, 2 hours. I managed to get my hands on one of them and it is definitely well worth the effort: putting constant reminders in my phone for dates it went back into stock, extreme stalking of the website, and listening very closely to every Jaclyn Hill Snap about that damn palette!

This palette is basically the definition of fall makeup. I was able to create all sorts of looks with this thing! Don't worry, I have a few planned to go up on the blog soon :) . 

Packaging: Regular Morphe Brushes design. 

35 amazing warm toned eye shadow shades.

Here are some swatches! Reference the above picture from far top left to bottom far right for order coordination of colours for the swatches below. 

(14 swatches)

(14 swatches)

(7 swatches)

Pigmentation:  Brilliant. I was quite shocked about how amazing the quality of the pigmentation of all of these shadows are for the price I paid: Retails for $22.99 ( I live in Canada so I did end up paying a fair shipping rate). Website: http://morphebrushes.com/products/35o .

Consistency: Again, SO good for the price I paid: buttery, smooth, NOT chalky! 

How to Use: You can use dry or with MAC's Fix +. You can mix shades together or use alone and create all sorts of different makeup looks. #somanylotd's!!!!

Have a great week beautiful people! 

cheers, amy xo. 

Daytime Makeup Look Feat. Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette

Now that September is over; everyone should be back into the grind of things. Whether you work or go to school...you probably want something that won't take away from your beauty sleep, yetttt will still make you look put together and chic. So go on and wear your leggings, cozy sweaters, and combat boots - here's a makeup look to go with alllll of those things! 

Meet my dear friend Mikayla, I'm so lucky to have such beautiful makeup models!

I wanted this look to be something easy to achieve and affordable. I used the Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette, so all of the eye shadows are conveniently in one place (automatically saves you some sweet morning zzzz's). Here is a link to my full review of this fabulous little palette: http://thoughtsfromamyr.blogspot.ca/2015/09/maybelline-blushed-nudes-palette.html .


Products Used:
1. L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer
 2. The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream
3. Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer
  4.  Maybelline Color Tattoo: Bad to The Bronze (use this to prime lid)
5. Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette (I go into full detail on which shadows I used below)
6. The Body Shop Bronzing Powder - Light Matte
7. NYX Blush - Coral Dream
8. Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector - Champagne Pop
9. Covergirl The Super Sizer Mascara - Black
10. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Whiz - Light Brown



How to Achieve This Eye Look With The Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette

(Click on the pictures in order to make them bigger, sorry if you can't see them!)


Step 1: Pack this baby all over your lid.


Step 2: You want to use windshield wiper motions to blend, blend, blend
the heck out of this colour in order to create a nice smooth transition shade.


Step 3: Add this to your crease, use windshield washer motions for this as well,
make sure there are no harsh lines. 


Step 4: Add to the outer V area of your lid, blend into the previous shade.
This will add more definition to your look.


Step 5: Use a definition brush to line the lower lash line.

Step 6: Using a pencil brush, smoke out that last shade we just used. Go ahead, SMOKE it out! Now that lower lash line won't be as harsh.

If you followed all of those steps, you should end up with this easy, peasy, fall makeup look:








(Can I just say...highlight on fleek girrrl!)




So go ahead and enjoy a little extra zzzzz's in the morning, but still look FABULOUS for your day! ;)

cheers,
amy
xoxo.

Maybelline The Blushed Nudes Palette

Happy Fall Everyone! 

It is officially here, I no longer have to feel ashamed for wearing all of the fall make up looks in the summer. I can now proudly parade around in all the blacks, browns, reds, and oranges as much as I want!

Maybelline's The Blushed Nudes Palette: Let me first start off with saying, it's the same thing as you get with most drug store palettes...some AWESOME pigmentation with some of the shades and some very, very poor pigmentation with others. There is an initial sort of seal on top that you kind of have to work through before you get the real quality of the shadows. I find this is another general issue with any sort of drug store eye shadow. So if you are planning to buy this, or already have and aren't really happy with the results...stay patient and work through the top layer of the shadow. 

I have created a couple looks with this palette that I am really very happy with. *They will be going up on the blog soon*! 

The packaging is simple, yet very cute. The writing is cool and the size of the overall palette is quite small, so very easy to travel with. 

It's got all the shades you need to create a very neutral look or a dark and vampy look. Perfect for fall I might add. None of these shades are very matte, although some have more shimmer in them than others. 

Here are the swatches...as you can tell the lighter colours have the poorest pigmentation (plus I'm super pale, so they don't show up as well on my skin tone as they would on others' #palepeopleproblems. All you milky white people, you feel me?)

As for the darker shades, I'm quite impressed with the pigmentation! The colours are beautiful as well, I use a lot of the rose gold colour and the darker pink shade in a lot of my looks.

Overall, I am quite happy with this palette, I really didn't know what to expect as I didn't purchase the original Nudes Palette from Maybelline. For such a small palette, you can really get a lot of good makeup looks out of it! 

Let me know what you guys think about this palette :) ! 

 cheers, 

amy xoxo. 

Falling Leaves Makeup Look

I'm such a fall person..people give me all sorts of horrible looks when I tell them I'm actually excited for fall. 

However, it is something that can't be helped when you are involved in the beauty world.

This makeup look was inspired by the colours of all the falling leaves (don't worry, leaves haven't started to fall yet, NOT even in Canada, no need to panic!).

My lovely cousin Jennifer volunteered to be my makeup model for this look, after all, isn't everything better when you have company!

Makeup Products Used: Tarte Mascara - Lights, Camera, Lashes + Anastasia Brow Whiz - Dark Brown + Ardell Brow Defining Kit - Dark Brown + Kat Von D Tattoo Liner - Trooper + Cover Girl Liquiline Blast - Black + M.A.C Paintpot - Soft Ochre + NYX Blush - Coral Dream + NARS Bronzer - Casino + The Body Shop Bronzing Powder - Light Matte + L'Oreal Color Infalliable - Burning Black + NYX Eye Shadow - Rust + Mary Kay Eye Shadow Quad - Autumn Leaves + Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector - Champagne Pop + M.A.C Lipstick and Lip Liner - Whirl

Everyone, meet Jen - ain't she a beauty! <3  This picture also shows you how pigmented Becca Cosmetic's Shimmering Skin Perfector - Champagne Pop is - I'm REALLY in love with this product. See my last post about it:
http://thoughtsfromamyr.blogspot.ca/2015/08/becca-cosmetics-champagne-pop-by-jaclyn.html

How to Achieve Eye Look: 

1. Prime eye with M.A.C Paint Pot - Soft Ochre.

2. Use the gold shade within the Mary Kay Eye Shadow Quad (I sprayed some MAC Fix + to make the pigmentation stronger).

3. Press NYX  Eye Shadow - Rust into the middle of the eyelid.

3. Use L'Oreal Infalliable - Burning Black on outer corners of the eyelid.

4. Press a little bit more of NYX Eye Shadow - Rust into the center of the lid and blend in with the gold and purple shades.

4. Tight line with Covergirl Liquiline Blast - Black.

5. Use Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner - Trooper to create winged liner.

6. Apply Tarte Mascara - Lights, Camera, Lashes.

DONE. 

If any of you try this look, tag me in your pictures on Instagram: @arussel1

cheers, 

amy xoxo. 

Becca Cosmetics: Champagne Pop by Jaclyn Hill

"Highlight On Fleek"

It was pretty hard trying to track this baby down, since it is so POPULAR! I visited my Sephora a few times to try and purchase this and each time I went in, their response was: "Oh yes, we just got a shipment in this morning, but we are all sold out already". Sephora's 'email me when in stock' worked like a charm in this situation. I FINALLY have my hands on this amahhhzing highlighter.

Packaging: The box it came in was quite appealing to the eye. Regular Becca Cosmetics packaging used for the case.

Pigmentation: 10/10 - you GLOW when you use this as a highlighter. If you want dewy looking skin, this will certainly attain that look. The shade of this product is made to work on every skin tone.

Consistency: Buttery, a little goes a long way!

How to Use: *Top of cheek bones*, along the bridge of your nose (if you want more glow bring a little up onto the forehead and above the brows), across brow bones, cupid's bow.

Let me just add, Jaclyn Hill is an amazing makeup artist - she knows what she's doing - 'nuff said. What are you doing still at your computer? Go, Go, Go - this is a limited edition product - Go before it's too late! Jaclyn is also such a great inspiration, truly genuine, and hilarious. If you haven't already, you should go subscribe to her YouTube channel. I will make it SUPER easy for you: 

https://www.youtube.com/user/Jaclynhill1

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer (a look using this will be up soon)! 

cheers, amy 

xoxo.