DIY: Lazy Highlighter-Blush-Contour Combo

Yes, I've seen the rainbow highlighter trend, and while I'm in LOVE with it, it's just not practical for my face. So what I made instead is a Highlighter-Blush-Contour Combo. Check it out!

So here's how to do it. What you'll need is just:

• Micas/oxides of choice. I buy mine from TKB Trading, and most sample sizes cost only $1.50 for 6g. You'll definitely only need sample sizes for this. To put how much 6g is in perspective, an average eyeshadow pan contains 0.5-2g of eyeshadow, and an average blush/bronzer pan contains between 3-5g of products. So if you opted for 6 colours like me, you'll have enough for at least 14 large blush pans (since we're adding fillers too). The ones I got were:
• Ivory Lace 
• Sparkle Rose
• Mermaid's Gold
• Apple Blossom
• Aurora
• Cinnamon Matte Tone (I think this has been renamed to Brown Oxide Matte Tone)

With the exception of the oxide, which is $1.75/6g, everything is $1.50/6g. On hindsight, I should've nixed  Ivory Lace & Sparkle Rose, and stuck to just Mermaid's Gold, Apple Blossom, Aurora, and the brown oxide instead. So total cost for micas: $6.25-9.25.

• Zinc Stearate. Again, a sample size is enough, but if you want to use up all 24-36g of micas & oxides, then you'll need 8-12g of this (2 sample sizes). This is $1.50/6g, and it's cheaper to get 1 oz ($2.80) than 2 sample sizes (though 2 sample sizes may be cheaper if you factor in shipping costs). So this will cost you $1.50-2.80.

• Sericite Mica. Pick whatever you want, I went with L-Lysine since that's what's available to me. This costs $1.50/6g. While 1 sample size can get you about 3 blush pans, you'll need 16-24g of this to use up all your micas and oxides. If you need 24g, it's pretty close to 1oz (28.34g), so I'd get the 1oz option ($2.80-3.50). So this will cost you $1.50-3.50.

• TKB Trading's MyMix Clear Pressing Medium. $2.50 for 0.5 fluid ounces. 

Total cost of project: $11.75-18.05.

Now here's how to do it….

WARNING: If you're attempting to stamp cute designs onto your pressed product, do NOT use a stamp that's smaller than the pan. I did that and everything exploded out. I only got it right in the 2nd attempt T.T

IMPORTANT: Sterilize everything.

1. Place the micas and oxides in separate small ziplock bags. Mix 2 parts sericite mica with 1 part zinc stearate.

2. Mix 1 part mica/oxide with 1 part sericite mica + zinc stearate mix.

3. Mix the pressing base with the powders until you get this clumpy, wet sand sort of texture. Make sure you add the pressing base drop by drop in so you don't get it too wet.

4. Place in layers in your pan & drown in alcohol.

5. Wait 1-2h until the mixture is nearly dry. To check if it's the right dryness, dip the tip of a tissue on it. If the tissue lifts the mixture off the pan, it's not dry enough.  When you lightly press down, this should feel compact and not squishy. If if feels squishy, you may need to add more powder in. I definitely had to:

After adding more powder, add a bit more alcohol. 

6. To press it, place a tissue (you may need 2-3 layers so it doesn't tear) or a piece of cloth over it, and push down. Make sure you press evenly. If you go to hard in the centre, everything will spill out.

7. Optional step: After you press, you can draw and stamp patterns on it! I used a stamp and a nail dotting tool to get my design!

And here's how it performs on my face! Left is unblended, right is blended:

Tutorial: Smoked Out Winged Eyeshadow

Here's the tutorial for the brown, smoked out wing eyes I'm sporting here:

Yes, I posted the tutorial for this look on my instagram ages ago, but I guess I just never got to uploading it >.<

My bad. Anyway, here's the tutorial!

1. Prime eyes. 

2. Apply your false lashes first if you have hooded monolids like me. Falsies alter the shape of monolids drastically, and can make this look end up looking off. Apply an eyeshadow close to your lid colour all over your lids to make blending easier later. I personally prefer to put this only on the top half of my lids, just so I can get the colour intensity I want on the bottom half. 

3. Line your lower lashline with a pencil liner (gel's ok, as long as the formula's smudge-able). Go slightly thicker in the inner corner and wayyy thicker on the outer. While keeping your eyes open, extend the line upwards, following the upwards slope of the outer half of your lower lashline. If you look at 3b, you'll see that this isn't a straight line at all. Monolids fold in all sorts of ways, so to get a straight-looking line, you need to draw crooked/wavy/funky lines to make it look right for your eyes. 

4. Fill in the gaps and thickly line your upper lashline. If you look at 4b, you'll notice that the bottom part of my wing still retains the funky shape I outlined in step 3.  

5. Smudge the edges of the liner. I use one of those sponge tip brushes, but you can also use a short, stiff blending brush or your fingers (super hard, but I've seen one girl manage this). 

6. Pat on a dark brow eyeshadow (black if you want more drama) over the smudged liner. 

7. Blend out the edges. I do this by softening the hard edges with a short, stiff blending brush, and the going over the blurred line with a dense, tapered blending brush dipped in the same colour. 

8. Using a fluffy blending brush, lightly wash an orange/light brown/rust/brick red eyeshadow above the blended dark brown shade. I personally like applying it in such a way that half of the brush is on the dark brown, and the other half is on the blank space. How high you go with this can alter your eye shape so much, so feel free to experiment with various placements to find what works for you. I find that for me, placing it higher in the center gives me a more wide-eyed look, and placing it higher on the outer corner like what Ike doing right now gives me a more cat-eye look. You may have to go back and forth between the brown and orange eyeshadow to get the blending right. The key to this look is smooth blending, so this will take some time.

 9. The look I'm imitating calls for a more defined wing, so sharpen your wing by sweeping upwards (still following the upwards line you created in step 2) with a q-tip dipped in eye make up remover. You can also touch up on the liner (I did), but remember to stick to the tip of the wings only and re-blend as needed. This is also the part where I conceal my undereye. 

10. Using a pencil brush, go over the outer half of your lower lash line all the way to the tips of your wings with the orange eyeshadow. Keep your eyes open for this since you may have to do a wavy shape to make it look even around your eyes. And you're done!

Tutorial: Eyeliner for Hooded Monolids / Single Eyelids

So I have hooded monolids (i.e. single eyelids with no crease, with most of my lids folding into itself), so as you can guess, this poses problems when it comes to lining my eyes, because my line disappears into my eyes as soon as I open them if I line them the mainstream way. I got asked about eyeliner placement for monolids, so I decided to do a tutorial on how I line my eyes!

I like lining my eyes with eyeshadow for a softer, more natural look, and I'm using My Pretty Zombie's Ojo De Gato for this!

1. The most important thing is to keep your eyes open for this. First, see where the outer part of your "eye line" slope downwards. I've lined this with a white dashed line on my eyes. Line the downwards sloping part, and then slope it straight outwards when you reach the corner. I've outlined the general shape of this line with the white dashed line above. It should look like the end of a gentle ski slope.

2. Now line the middle part of your eyes. I personally find going thicker in the middle (so your line looks like a squashed, upside down crescent) make your eyes look way larger. Extend the tip of the wing straight outwards. This should look kind of "weird" and way too high when you close your eyes. As you can see in 2b, the wing will not connect smoothly with your lashline and that's ok.

3. Connect the wing and semi-circle together and fill it up. When you get to the wing tip, keep opening your eyes to check how it looks as you connect it to your lashline. When I first started lining my eyes, I kept wondering why my liner always looked off and "blocky". Turns out, I can't line my eyes the mainstream way. When I close my eyes, the wing may connect to somewhere 1/4 into my lashline or look like a wavy block. Do what works for your eyes 😊

4. To get the line super sharp, I first put eye make up remover on a cotton pad and fold it in half. I angle it the way I want the bottom of my wing angled, place it at the bottom of my wing, and erase by swiping outwards. That's it!