celebrity-inspired looks #1 - elizabeth henstridge at the 2014 ctv upfronts

Hello! It's been a while and somehow I logged in to find that I've gotten 70 pageviews today. You're all popping out of the woodwork, what happened?!

Anyway, so if you follow me on Tumblr, you'll notice that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is sort of taking over my life. (And by sort of taking over, I mean has 300% taken over.) I also have a habit of loving casts and their dynamic even more than the show itself, and this show is no different. The ladies of AoS are phenomenal and after I saw this picture of Elizabeth Henstridge, I knew I had to try to copy her look.

(I tried to take a picture with my teeth showing and I just looked so awkward. And yes, I'm wearing a lazy t-shirt because it was disgusting in my room and I didn't want to change!)

What made me want to try this look was the lip colour. I currently don't own anything of the sort, as slightly purple-leaning cool pinks aren't entirely my style. But it looked amazing on Elizabeth, so hey, why not?

I didn't have much of a close-up on her eye makeup, but she seems to favour neutral eyes with a bit of a flick on the eyeliner, so that's what I tried to do. Dot a shimmery, light eyeshadow in the inner corners of your eyes. (Alternatively, you can wait until the end so you can adjust the pigmentation as necessary.) Take a matte eyeshadow close to your natural skin tone and swipe it across your entire lid. This acts as more of a base than a part of the look, as it will make blending the other eyeshadows much easier. Use a gold eyeshadow and pat it onto the centers of your lids, and tap a medium-dark brown eyeshadow into the outer corner. Blend the dark eyeshadow into the lighter shades with a tapered brush.

(By the way, you should all be proud of me: I didn't finger paint my eyeshadows like I usually do!)

Take what's left on your eyeshadow brush and blend it into your lower lash line to give some definition. Use a black gel eyeliner and a small push liner brush (I used Wayne Goss' No. 8 brush, which is sort of a godsend) and press liner into the base of your lashes. Use a normal angled eyeliner brush to line your upper lash line and create a small flick at the outer corners. I completely forgot to use mascara, but you can layer some on after curling your lashes. Falsies are totally optional, but I think Lil is wearing some in that picture so I just went for it.

For the lip colour, I blended two different shades together to achieve a similar look and then added a layer of the lighter colour on top. I think the final colour looks pretty similar, although I can't say for sure as most of the pictures I've seen of her were edited.

Also, might I mention the miracle of layers? My hair is a lot longer than it looks in this picture but my front layers are noticeably shorter. Huzzah!

BROWS
Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express brow kit in Brunette
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
(All eyeshadows from the Sigma Beauty Bare palette)
Inner corner - Approach (pale, warm beige shimmer)
Entire lid - Elope (matte cool beige)
Center of lid - Command (light gold shimmer)
Outer corner - Hitch (matte medium-dark ash-brown)
Liner - Inglot Cosmetics AMC Eyeliner Gel in 77 (matte jet black)
False lashes - Ardell 109 lashes
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15 Fair

FACE
Urban Decay Naked Skin liquid foundation in 1.0
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01
Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelée in Poppy Paradise

LIPS
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Matte Lip Tar in Pretty Boy (super-rich fuchsia) + Stained Gloss in Hedonist (neon pastel pink)

orphan black clones series #5 - helena

HELENA.

Okay, Orphan Black does such a good job of turning your expectations of a character a complete 180° from what it was originally. Helena is now more of a sympathetic character than ever and I love that.

Obviously I don't have blonde hair or hair with any natural texture, for that matter, but I slept in braids (which took me three hours... Let's not talk about it) and took them out this morning. It looks more frizzy than floofy like hers, so next time I would try bigger braids, but I'm never attempting this again.

For her "eyeshadow", there wasn't really a procedure for this. I just took matte eyeshadows and layered them until I got something close to her sunken-eye look and blended it haphazardly together. Messy is key here! I actually made the under-eye section way too dark and then had to lighten it up with some liquid concealer which seemed to work pretty well. The lipstick is a matte nude that I had to use two separate shades to get close to what I wanted, but it seemed to work well enough.

I also have a picture of me with red lipstick on like she did (SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED s2e05!) getting ready to shoot Rachel here, and I wanted to do red lipstick because none of the other clones take their lip colour this far.

Also, I've decided I want a jacket like Helena's, so that might happen in the future. Who knows? I only had a white tank top that looks a little bit like her outfit post-rebar stabbing, but without the lace. I also took a picture posed like this in my sister's bedroom (because mine is a mess, let's be honest) BUT I hate how it turned out, so you'll only get to see it if you ask very nicely.

No close-ups because there's nothing special about this!

BROWS
Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express brow kit in Brunette
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Paula's Choice The Nude Mattes Palette: Beige, Café au Lait, Chestnut, Plum Taupe
Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette: Faint (warm, dusty brown matte)
It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Matte Luxe Transforming Eyeshadow Palette Vol. 1: Sunrise, Sunset
Saucebox Cosmetics Etude palette: Biscotti, Caramel
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15 Fair

FACE
Urban Decay Naked Skin liquid foundation in 1.0
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye concealer in Light

LIPS
NYX Cosmetics Soft Matte Lip Cream in London (mid-tone beige) and Athens (matte peach beige)
OR
Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick in 645 Red Revival (deep red)

orphan black clones series #4 - cosima niehaus

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it?

I have excuses that you don't care to hear for all of it, but I do have to say that I did this look before a graduation party I'm going to shortly and holy hell does it take a long time to try to finagle my hair into "dreads". And by dreads, I mean I did a few crappy twists around the top of my head and gathered the rest of my hair into a ponytail because my hair is impervious to styling unless I fry it.

Cosima has the coolest look, in my opinion, although my personal look leans more toward Sarah. (You'll see that once I link my post-Cosima makeover picture.) Obviously I don't have dreadlocks, but her eyeliner is amazing.

The dumb thing is that you can't even see my hair! Well, Cosima's makeup is actually rather straightforward. Take a liquid liner (black is the most common, of course, but if you have a navy liner, that's what the makeup artists on the show use!) and line your upper and lower lash lines. Then extend the line on the upper lid outward to create a wing, and extend the line on the lower lid toward your nose. Now, I know that for Cosima's makeup, the eyeliner on both lids is connected in both the outer and inner corners, but since my eyelids are hooded everywhere except the inner corner, where they're more monolid-like, I didn't connect the inner corners. If you don't have this issue, you can connect the lines easily.

I used a black liquid liner, so after the shape was created, I used a navy pencil liner and a thin liner brush to outline the shape and give it the correct colour. It doesn't seem like Cosima wears much other makeup, but I did use a bit of a nude lip colour to lighten up my natural lip colour. (I put on a layer of a light OCC lip tar and then dabbed on a nude/mauve Bite lipstick over that.)

BROWS
Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express brow kit in Brunette
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
bareMinerals mineral veil
Liner - Sephora Collection Long-Lasting 12HR Wear Eye Liner in 01 Black (matte black) + Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Binge (pearly navy blue, discontinued)

FACE
Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 13 Bright Beige
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01

LIPS
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Interlace (palest crème peach)
Bite Beauty Lipstick in Pepper (dusty rose)

After I took my hair down and changed (and put a tiny Dutch braid where my part normally is), this is what happened. I went from Cosima to Sarah-as-Cosima!

review - paula's choice the nude mattes eyeshadow palette

Charlotte requested that I review this ASAP, so here you go!

Even though I 100% do not need another neutral eyeshadow palette, Paula's Choice has a 15% off deal until the end of April so I caved. I'm weak when it comes to makeup, okay?

Availability: paulaschoice.com (This is a referral link that will save you an additional $10!)
Shades: This palette has 12 shades, 11 matte and 1 highlighting shade.
Price: $40, but if you use the code AMGSHOPAPR15 before April 30th, you can get 15% off.

(1) Cream, (2) Beige, (3) Pink Sugar, (4) Café au Lait, (5) Tan, (6) Chestnut, (7) Clay, (8) Plum Taupe, (9) Gunmetal Grey, (10) Chocolate Truffle, (11) Coffee (12) Onyx.

About:

This unique eyeshadow palette features 11 velvety, true matte shadows plus one highlighting shadow in universally wearable shades—the kind you’ll find in any good makeup artist’s kit! In fact, the experts at Paula’s Choice consulted with makeup expert and YouTube sensation Wayne Goss on the creation of this palette.

The superbly blendable and buildable shadow colors range from soft ivory to rich brown and smoky black, making them versatile for day, night, or any time in between. The slim, mirrored case is recyclable and includes a professional-quality brush that allows flawless application and unlimited looks.

Ingredients:

Talc (texture enhancer/absorbent), Mica (texture enhancer/mineral pigment), Magnesium Stearate (binding/anti-caking agent), Dimethicone (silicone-based texture enhancer), Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Polybutene, Synthetic Wax (binding agents), Mineral Oil (texture enhancer), Methylparaben, Propylparaben (preservatives), Iron Oxides (cosmetic pigment).

... One day I'll get the hang of swatching, I swear. That being said, don't let these swatches fool you--the shadows are really wonderful and blend like a dream. I had to put in black lines in the above photos so you could see where the lightest three shades are. Unfortunately, I'm very pale so the first shade is only slightly darker than my skin, and the flash blew out all of the colours.

I also need to learn how to use eyeshadow brushes, but that's a story for a different time. I should stick to finger painting because it's gotten me this far.

As for wear time, I have exceptionally greasy eyelids, so I expect that most people will have better experiences than me. When I used primer and a layer of translucent powder, the eyeshadows lasted five hours before creasing. With just primer, I barely made it an hour and a half before they started to crease. I think my experience is completely atypical, though, so I'd advise you trying this palette for yourself, especially if you're looking for a neutral palette that has mostly matte shadows.

orphan black clones series #3 - rachel duncan

Time for a third clone! So, I have to admit that Rachel fascinates me a lot, as she seems to be a bit of a red herring villain at the moment. That being said, I think her motives are rather unexplained and I can't wait to see what her real story is.

This look is based on this picture. I really tried to give a withering look but it just looks like I'm tired. Which is pretty close to the constant, pervasive truth! Obviously, I don't have blonde hair, nor is my hair short enough for a bob, so I improvised. I couldn't replicate the blonde, of course, but I put my hair into a faux-bob using this tutorial. My hair is incredibly thick so if I do this again, I'm going to leave less hair for the braid that is tucked underneath the rest of the hair, but otherwise it seemed to work well enough. (It looked so much better in person than in all of my photos...)

Rachel is very polished and since she's got blonde hair, her eyebrows seem to be a bit lighter than the other clones'. She's also got a bit of a tan in comparison with everyone else, and that might be more noticeable because of her hair colour. I had to apply bronzer all over my face, which looked HILARIOUS in natural lighting but didn't seem to do too much in flash photography.

For the eyes, take a very pale grey-brown shimmer shade and tap that into the inner corners of your eyes, drawing the colour out toward the center of your lids. Take a darker grey-brown shade to the rest of your lid. Using a matte brown shade, blend the colour into your crease and take the excess to your lower lids along the lash lines.

Take a flat liner brush (I used Wayne Goss' Brush 08, which is a ridiculously tiny push liner brush and I think I'm in love with it) and load it with a black cream liner, then tightline your upper lash line and line your lids. I used a pencil liner instead of a cream because I didn't want to open one up and have it dry out. Use a few coats of mascara on your upper lashes.

I spent a good ten minutes trying to find a lip colour that would mimic the one Rachel used and I think I got close, though hers appears to be more red-brown than mine, which leans more warm pink.

BROWS
Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express brow kit in Brunette
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
bareMinerals mineral veil
Inner corner - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Verve (oyster shimmer)
Outer lid - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Pistol (light gray-brown shimmer)
Crease - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Tease (pale brown matte)
Under eye - Urban Decay eyeshadow in Tease (pale brown matte) + Paula's Choice eyeshadow in Cafe Au Lait
Liner + waterlines - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (matte blackest black)
Lashes - Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black

FACE
Urban Decay Naked Skin liquid foundation in 1.0
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01
Under eyes - Benefit Fake Up Concealer in 01 Light
Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil bronzer

LIPS
rms beauty lip2cheek in promise (warm salmon pink with golden shimmer)