Green Smoky Eye - no black

So, I recently purchased sample jars from Glamour Doll Eyes. I really love the quality & value of these pigments, I had plenty of trouble choosing from the amazing range on the website. I bought a few matte pigments, Martini Olive was one of them; a dark forest green. I knew it would be perfect for a green smoky look. I ended up coupling greens from my 120 palette with Martini Olive and I'm super pleased with the out come. 

Products Used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

NYX Jumbo eye shadow pencil Rocky Mountain Green

All eye shadows taken from lower half 120 palette.

Lid colour:  3 down 2 across

Crease: 3 down 4 across

Blend out crease: 3 down 3 across

Outer V/Darker green: Glamour Doll Eyes Martini Olive

Highlight: 3 down 1 across & 3 down 3 across

Face

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in 303 True Nude

Covergirl Tru Conceal in 2

Face of Australia translucent powder

Sleek contour kit 

Avon True colour blush Golden Glow 

Lips

NYX round lip gloss in Cafe Latte

www.glamourdolleyes.com

eBay palettes from China - To Buy or Not To Buy

During this time of economic crisis it’s not a surprise that we as makeup addicts might enjoy a bargain. But as a student it can be hard to afford the high end products that whisper sweet nothings in our ears ‘buy me, you know you want to’. But wanting cannot magically create unlimited funds. As an Australian it is also difficult to acquire products that grace the many hauls on YouTube or blogging websites. It surprises people when they find out how expensive drug store brands are here; 3 or 4 times the price Americans might pay.  But there is an option out there for us struggling cosmetics junkies, I turn to my lover and saviour; eBay. I can find myself browsing for hours; clothes, accessory, nail art, but mostly makeup.

An eBayer will no doubt stumble upon the massive amount of listings coming out of China; cosmetics in various palettes, shades and of course prices. Most cosmetics from China come from a vendor; a company that mass produces the same product and sells it to another company  who then place their logo or brand name for resale. Often palettes arrive in basic black cases with no discernable label.

 

Is it safe you might wonder? In the last few years China has become the third largest cosmetic market alongside Japan and the US. According to Hygiene standards for cosmetics in 2007, companies have been faced with rigorous testing stages that must include 9 types of data in order to prove cosmetic safety.

A few tips for someone contemplating buying a palette or makeup item from China via eBay.

1.            Know your ingredients, the FDA has provided a list of harmful unsafe ingredients. Helpful website below. www.makingcosmetics.com/unsafeingredients-18.html
2.       Ensure sellers provide a list of ingredients so you can cross reference
3.            When you receive your palette do a test on the inner forearm and wait for any reactions.

Now others might wonder about the quality of these products, some say they are chalky and un-pigmented. To this I think it’s a matter of trial and error, some palettes are different to others.  To solve the chalkiness issue I simply use a cream/tacky base and it works just fine. I have three 15 colour eye shadow palettes and I have been able to create colourful and lovely looks. No need to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive makeup when I can spend a quarter of the price and still get my makeup fix. Check out my coral smoky eye using one of the palettes.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Melski87?ob=5#p/u/13/7TTvR4rDUBs

http://www.youtube.com/user/Melski87

All My Favourites

-Foundation (or tinted moisturizer): Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in 303 True Nude
-Powder: Face of Australia loose powder
-Face Primer: Inglot Under makeup base 
-Blush: Lovely by Earth glo mineral makeup
-Bronzer: L'oreal Glam bronze in 01 golden sun
-Concealer: Cover girl tru conceal in 2
-Highlight: highlight in sleek makeup contour kit
-Moisturizer (regular or tinted if you put a foundation up top): Roskin skin repair dry skin
-Lipgloss: NYX whipped
-Lipstick: NYX Athena
-Lip balm: Maybelline baby lips
-Lip liner: Elizabeth arden plumrose
-Eye primer: NXY HD eyeshadow base
-Eye shadow: Inglot 428 pearl (beautiful navy blue)
-Eye liner: Crush cosmetics gel line in cosmic
-Mascara: Too faced lash injection
-Face brush:Sigma F30
-Eye brush: Sigma E25
-Nail polish: Australis Peekaboo 
-Perfume: Vera Wang Princess
-Makeup brand high-end and Drugstore: Inglot & NYX
-If everything in your make up collection was taken away, what 1 item would you repurchase first?: A 120 palette

Mail Time: new palettes.

So I am an avid eBayer. My hauls on Youtube consist of products from eBay or online stores. This is purely due to the fact that I live 100kms from the nearest Mall, I'm in the middle of frickin' no where. but hey whose complaining : / ..... But not to worry I will be leaving this small town that; no matter how much it bored me and left me feeling isolated I must concede that living down the road from my University campus has allowed me to complete my studies with ease. (Graduated on June 2nd woot woot) In two & a half months, me and my Dad are flying down to Sydney to find a house to rent, buy furniture yada yada yada and then I will fly back up to Darwin and me and my partner Kerin (plus pup Tubby) are driving across Australia, over 3,000kms should be fun. Next year I do hope to begin a make up course, but I will have to do it part time as I am my dads carer and he takes priority these days. 


Anywho lets get on to my new palettes that arrived in the mail today. I have been wondering about these '15 eye shadow palettes' on eBay, are they any good? they obviously come from a vendor because they come in plain black cases with no company logos. there are several different kinds, the first one I purchase a few weeks ago, it comes with golds, lilacs, corals. I really loved that one and did a coral smoke eye using that palette. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TTvR4rDUBs


so I have bought 2 more, the first one to arrive has blues, greens, grays and purples. 

each eye shadow is very metallic but has a satin feel to it. I love the colour shades; each colour is unique and can stand on its own but its easy to find light, medium and dark (lid, Crease & outer V) tones in this palette.  

Lastly I bought another 120 eye shadow palette, yet again it is a generic one from a vendor, I have no idea why people would pay $30 for a BH cosmetics one when I got mine for $13. It comes in a basic black plastic case, this one seems a lot sturdier then my first 120 palette which was branded Manly, the lid of that one broke fairly quickly. 

This came packaged very well, Both layers of eye shadow were completely wrapped in plastic and underneath that was the usual clear plastic sheet. the cover seems made well too, I remember my old palette when you'd place the top layer on the lid you'd have to hold it there but with this one it actually slots into place. only two eye shadows damaged on the journey, fixed them already. now for some swatches, just a few. 

My entry for GlamourDollEyes Anti-Valentines day contest

So I went for purple smokey eye, but what really makes this look is the light purple eyeshadow, its called Smokey XXX and its a TKB trading pigment, its such a beautiful reflective eyeshadow. I only have a few GED eyeshadows so I couldnt come up with a look using those. I would love to have more! 

Products used:

Mac Eyeshadow in Mystical Mist

TKB pigment in Smokey XXX

Black Eyeshadow from 120 Palette

White & Brown Eyeshadow from BS Cosmestics

MaxFactor Khol liner in Black

Models prefer Mascara in Lift & Curl

Random Ebay Lashes.

Face:

Estee Lauder Futurist Age renewing foundation in Shell Beige 

Savvy concealer in Natural

Face of Australia Translucent powder

Avon Blush in Classic Aura

contour colour random ebay palette

Avon Nude Lipstick

Random Lipgloss.