Cotton Candy Lids

Missed the county fair last time it was in town? I did. No corn dogs, no cute petting zoo, no roller coasters, no tilt-a-whirl, and no beautiful, pastel toned cotton candy. While there’s not much I can do about it until next year, I am cheering myself up with this lovely little cotton candy inspired eye tutorial. I decided to use a sparkly theme for this, but you can choose matte tones if you’re fonder of those. To join me, you’ll need:

Eye lid primer (Nars Smudge Proof Eye shadow base)

Turquoise Eye Shadow (L’Oreal Bright Shadow Duos in Showy, lighter shade)

Magenta Eye Shadow (L’Oreal Bright Shadow Duos in Reckless, lighter shade)

Light pink Eye Shadow (NYX Trio Eye Shadow in Cherry/Cool Blue/Hot Pink)

Baby blue Eye Shadow (Ditto)

Indigo Eye Shadow (Instant Beauty Loose Powder in Screaming Purple)

Black gel liner (Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Blackest Black)

Lavender pencil liner (YSL Pencil liner in Purple Silk)

Black pencil liner (YSL Waterproof pencil liner in Velvet Black)

White Eye Shadow (Estee Lauder eye shadow in Tranquil Moon)

For the tools, you’ll want either sponge-tip applicators or whichever brush is more comfortable for you to apply an even wash of color. You’ll also want a couple of angled brushes. Don’t forget to include your favorite mascara (YSL Singulier Waterproof in Vibrant Black!) 

Step 1-

Totally optional, but I love how purples and lavenders look with green eyes, so I threw my contacts on!

Step 2-

Prime your lids only! You’ll want the most vibrant color here.

Step 3-

Apply turquoise eye shadow to the inner half of your eye. Try to make it even and don’t be afraid to deposit a lot of color. You want this to be bold. It’s okay if the color fades a little bit towards the middle, though.

Step 4-

Fill in the other half of your lid with the magenta eye shadow. If the eye shadow base is too dry at this point, consider adding a little more. Otherwise, work through Steps 3 and 4 quickly! My suggestion is to prime and paint one eye at a time.

Step 5-

With your brush, lightly blend the line where the two colors meet. It should turn a lovely shade of purple. You’ll want to create a gradient effect.

Step 6-

Dab some of the light pink shadow along the area you painted magenta, in the crease. Make sure the two colors blend.

Step 7-

Do the same with the inner corner of the crease and the baby blue shadow. The final effect is to have the darker shades fading into the lighter ones.

Step 8-

  Line your bottom lids using the indigo shadow. If you’re using loose powder like me, you might want to add a little primer to avoid fall out. If not, just make sure to keep a steady hand and dab off excess product before you bring it to your eye.

Step 9-

Liner your top lids with black gel liner. Be careful to keep the liner relatively thin.

Step 10-

Extend the black liner outwards, in a cat-eye shape.

Step 11-

Use your lavender eyeliner to draw in a connection between the black liner and the indigo shadow. The soft texture of the pencil should allow you to create a gradient effect between the two colors.

Step 12-

Add a small dab of white shadow in the inner corners of your eyes and sweep it over your brow bone, above the pink and baby blue. This will bring the look together.

Step 13-

Wrap things up with a sweep of black pencil liner on your water line and mascara.

Enjoy!

Sparkly Lips Tutorial

The following is a cute little tutorial for adorably twinkly lips! We’re gonna go with a pink color scheme, because the materials will be easier to find in this shade, and heck, pink and sparkles just belong together!

You’ll need:

Shiny or metallic hot pink lipstick (NYX lipstick in Flower)

Shimmer powder (NYX Shimmer roll-on in Pink)

Pink glitter (NYX Glitter on-the-go in Hot Pink and LA Splash Body Glitter in Santa Monica)

Sparkly pink lip gloss (Lancome Juicy Tubes in Raspberry Ice)

Step 1:

Apply your pink lipstick. 

Step 2:

Apply the shimmer powder over your lips. If you’re using the one from NYX, just roll the product onto your finger and dab.

Step 3:

Add a coat of the sparkly pink lip gloss. This will help the glitter stick.

Step 4:

Dab the pink glitter on your lips. You’re done!

Optional step:

If this look is too over-the-top or you used too much glitter and it feels too grainy, just apply another coat of lip gloss over it. It’ll smooth it out a bit and reduce some of the shine.

Enjoy! 

Throwback Thrillers: Tokidoki Cosmetics

It’s always sad when a favorite product is discontinued. But even worse than that is when your entire line gets taken completely off the shelves. That’s how I’m feeling about Tokidoki no longer producing their line of products at Sephora.

 I’m gonna be honest, not everything was mind-blowing in terms of quality, though I didn’t find anything unusable. And there was a decent handful of amazing items. What really had me head over heels for this line was… well… it was so darn friggin’ cute!!!

On to the items:

(Not Pictured) The Lion Poppa palette-

Good for neutrals with a very natural blush that would compliment most skin tones. The best part about this little palette was how slim and tiny it was, making it a travel essential. 

Tokidoki eyeliner in Sabochan and Tokidoki Punk Lash Mascara in Cactus Rocker-  

Again, these were not out of this world, but they did the job, and you got to show off the cute little packaging to your friends!

Prisma Lipgloss-

Very light hint of color and all-around pleasant texture.

Cromatico eyeshadow (in order: Carnivora, Soya, Adios Star, Skeletrina, Diamante, Romeo)-

These were a lot of fun! Some of them could get a little bit chalky, but like with Ulta eye shadows, it wasn’t anything a little high quality primer couldn’t fix. They also came in really exciting, vibrant colors, great for dramatic gals.

And now, my favorites, BY FAR… drum roll, please…

Tokidoki Make-up Brushes! So cute, I could die!!!! (They’re also 100% synthetic, so animal-lovers, fear not!)

Pittura Brush Set-

These three brushes are ridiculously adorable, each topped with a Tokidoki character (Donutella, Adios, and Mozarella, in order.) There is a flat lid brush that applies color seamlessly, a fluffy crease brush that is soft and blends beautifully, and the tiniest, cutest little angled liner brush. The best part about  these is that you don’t have to worry about using any kind of make-up on them and damaging them. As of yet (and I use this set CONSTANTLY, with all types of colors) I’ve been able to wash all the product off and keep my brushes looking new and pretty. 

Kabuki brush-

This beautiful kabuki brush is super soft and is awesome for applying highlighter or powder. Like the eye brushes, it cleans off very well and I haven’t experience any shedding whatsoever.

Siberia Blush Brush-

I had to track this one down and now it’s one of my favorite cosmetic trophies. This angled blush brush fits my cheek bones perfectly, deposits color evenly, and appeals to my love for all things pink. It’s so princess-y and cute, how could anyone resist? 

Urban Decay's Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Make-Up (Official Foundation of The Gilded Lily)

One of the most frequent questions I get is how do I keep my foundation from looking cakey or chalky in pictures. From personal photos to my work on the blog, I want to keep my face fresh and moisturized-looking, not like I covered it in beige flour.

 This is why I’m so grateful for Urban Decay’s Naked Skin liquid foundation. The formula is super light-weight and comfortable and its HD formula always comes out looking excellent on film!

The best part about it? You will find a color to match your skin tone. From pink-toned to yellow-toned, the range is awesomely wide, making sure to include the often-neglected darker skin tones, with eighteen different shades. 

This is me without a stitch of make-up. Yes, I know, EWEWEW.

Wanna find out which one fits your best? Pick up a little sample pack like I did. It comes with sample sizes of four different shades and a nifty little chart for finding out which one suits you. Just hold the little sheet to your face and see which one disappears entirely against your skin. That will be the one that works for you. 

With Naked Skin Liquid Make-Up in 3.5

Enjoy! 

Tips and Tricks: Quick Fix for Oily Hair

Sometimes we find ourselves in a bit of a rush in the morning, but are still in need of a good shampooing. Or worse, sometimes in our hurry, we become a little generous with styling products and leave-in conditioners and are left with a greasy, sticky mess last seen on Professor Snape. So what can we do when we have less than ten minutes to go out the door and our hair is unsightly? 

Well, there are several dry shampoos out there on the market, but if you want to keep it as simple as possible or if it’s not a product you happen to have laying around in an emergency, a bottle of baby powder will always do the trick! 

Step 1)

Let me make it clear first and foremost that I made my hair greasy with a liberal handful of Organix Keratin Serum! No need to be grossed out by my hair! 

Lightly apply some baby powder over the greasy area. Take it easy on the application, as too much will end up giving your gray streaks… not fun. Work in sections, from the roots to (if necessary) the tips. If an area doesn’t need it, avoid powdering it.

 Step 2)

Run a soft-bristle brush through the powder until it is entirely brushed into your hair.

Step 3)

Ta-da! You should be good to go! Your hair won’t be as shiny as it usually would be, but at the very least you won’t look dirty or unwashed. 

Note: It’s easy to use too much powder and end up with a white patch. 

If this happens do not, I repeat, DO NOT, use water or product to try and smooth it out! This will cause the powder in your hair to clump up and make it look like you have bald spots, at which point, you’ll pretty much have to start all over again and wash the stuff out of your hair, completely defeating the purpose of this tutorial. If you have too much powder in your hair and brushing it just isn’t cutting it, try lightly tapping the area to dust the powder off or hit it with a blow dryer until the spot fades. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll cover you in an urgent situation.

Enjoy!