First, thank you guys for the amazing support and volunteers!! You have truly made my heart smile! Homecoming hair and makeup appointments (by non-family members lol) have already been booked - that's so much more than I could have imagined at this point!! I am so excited and grateful!
In the last post, I told you to check out Etsy. I hope you have browsed a little, its completely addicting, just like Pinterest but that's a whole 'nother blog post!
One of my favorite (and I have quite a few lol) cosmetic shops is Carina Dolci. This shop led me to discover the power of eyeshadow primer. Their primer is called Starry Eyes Serum. Its a super light weight, clear primer. There are many varieties of primers on the market and I'll go in to some of the others later but this is my every day, go to primer. Just like when painting a wall, primer for your eyes insures a properly prepped surface for smooth shadow application. It makes your shade more vibrant, minimizes fallout (the pesky little flakes that end up on your cheek when you apply eyeshadow) and makes it last a lot longer. There is nothing that irks me more (well, yes, I'm sure there is lol) than having great eyeshadow on in the morning only to check it later in the day to find its creased, faded or spread where I didn't want it to be. Starry Eyes Serum is a little miracle in a bottle every day but especially on hot, humid or even rainy days when makeup tends to melt, run or smear!
In the last post, I told you to check out Etsy. I hope you have browsed a little, its completely addicting, just like Pinterest but that's a whole 'nother blog post!
One of my favorite (and I have quite a few lol) cosmetic shops is Carina Dolci. This shop led me to discover the power of eyeshadow primer. Their primer is called Starry Eyes Serum. Its a super light weight, clear primer. There are many varieties of primers on the market and I'll go in to some of the others later but this is my every day, go to primer. Just like when painting a wall, primer for your eyes insures a properly prepped surface for smooth shadow application. It makes your shade more vibrant, minimizes fallout (the pesky little flakes that end up on your cheek when you apply eyeshadow) and makes it last a lot longer. There is nothing that irks me more (well, yes, I'm sure there is lol) than having great eyeshadow on in the morning only to check it later in the day to find its creased, faded or spread where I didn't want it to be. Starry Eyes Serum is a little miracle in a bottle every day but especially on hot, humid or even rainy days when makeup tends to melt, run or smear!
This is what the bottle of serum looks like. It has its own doe foot applicator and a little goes a long way! I think the best way to describe what it feels like is kind of like if you squirted eye drops out and then applied them to your lids with your fingers. Its a cool, slightly wet feeling but not over powering at all. It doesn't run and dries quickly. I actually do one eye at a time when applying makeup to insure getting the power out of the primer. I will prime and do all of my shadow application on one eye and then do the other so it doesn't dry too much before I begin. The serum also does not have a scent for those of you that are sensitive to fragrances.
I picked a light purple and dark purple shadow to swatch to show you the difference of primer vs no primer. The light color is called Lollipop and the dark color is called Grape Pop Rocks. Both colors have a smooth consistency with a pop of sparkle. As you can see, they are loose pigments rather than pressed eyeshadows. I had never used loose pigments before I discovered Etsy and now I rarely use pressed.
Side note...I need to take pictures in natural light from now on - these taken in indoor lighting don't do the colors justice! Sorry!
I swatched both colors on the inside of my arm. The left shows no primer and the right shows with primer. Its especially noticeable with the darker color but also makes the lighter color stand out more and adhere better. Starry Eyes Serum makes my shadow stay in place without creasing from the time I put it on in the morning until time to go to bed. Its crazy how fresh this makes eye makeup look all day!
This is one of those simple "duh" things for me. When I tried it and thought of putting makeup on my face like paint on a wall, priming just makes sense! For those of you (and I know you are out there lol) grimmacing at the thought applying colorful, bold, dark shades, we are going to ease in to it and go over techniques that will allow you to apply with confidence and make them as bold or subtle as you are comfortable with. Both of the shades above are totally wearable shades for anyone! Some of you see me often in person and know that my face varies greatly depending on my mood and the color palette I've chosen for the day. If the way I sometimes wear my eyeshadow is too bold or colorful for you, don't worry, we will go over how to make it work for you!
Carina Dolci is a fabulous shop all around. The shadows are great quality. They are smooth and the shimmery pigments do not have large glitters in them like some other brands do. They are teeny, tiny flecks of sparkle that don't over power but they truly do brighten up your face. The primer is a must have for me now. I am on my second bottle and highly recommed it. If I have to pack an overnight bag for a trip, you can guarantee this is in it!
The fabulous owner of Carina Dolci is such a complete sweetheart! She truly cares about making her customers happy and producing a quality product. She has a lot on her plate right now so her turnaround time is slightly longer than normal but I promise you it is worth the wait! Her packaging is adorable - the shadows come wrapped like little pieces of hard candy and that's got to make you smile when you open it!
A huge thank you to Carina Dolci for offering a 10% off coupon code for you guys to use! Just put in LEEELLEN12 in the promo code box at checkout and your discount will be applied! Go show some love and treat yourself to something new!
P.S. If you are new to Etsy, the checkout is very similar to Ebay's buy it now. It directly links to Paypal. Super easy and fast!
At home this week, we've been working hard on making a little area of the house into a functional space for makeup and hair. Its not 100% complete, I'm still looking for "the right" storage containers and decorations but I'm super excited about it and will probably give you guys a little sneak peek this week ;)
Stay tuned!
Thank you <3
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