Peachy Coral Spring Inspired Look

Hello Lovelies!

It is the time of year again when you put away your winter coat, set aside your deep colored makeup and pull out those pastels and colorful hues from your makeup  collection. Spring is here and it means that coral, peach and pink tone shades of makeup are back. 

So, I decided to create a very neutral makeup look yet still shouts for "spring". In this look, I played around with the shades of peach and pale coral. I just think that this color is the perfect shade for a neutral look in spring. It reminds me of a soft pastel petal blossoming and the thing about this look is it's very wearable and neutral so it's perfect for daytime.

Here are the products I used to create this peachy coral spring inspired look:

Face

• Maybelline Age Rewind Eraser Treatment Makeup Foundation (250  pure beige) mixed with L'oreal True Match Foundation (G3 Golden Beige)
• Maybelline Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle (light pale)
• CanMake Colorstick (orange salmon)
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit
• Catrice Prime and Fine Highlighting Powder (fairy dust)
• Mac Mineralize Skinfinish (medium plus)
• Essence Blush (80 autumn peach)
• Essence I Love Stage Eyeshadow Base

Eyes

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade (dark brown)
• Clio Slim Kill Pen Eyeliner (black)
• Coastal Scents Warm Eyeshadow Palette
• L'oreal Butterfly Waterproof Mascara
• Nyx Jumbo Pencil in my waterline (milk)

Lips

• Missha Lipliner applied all over the lips before lipstick (BE01)
• Too Faced Melted Lipstick (melted nude)

If you have questions about the products I used or if you want me to review any of these products please let me know by leaving a comment down below or by simply sending me a private message on any of my social media accounts (find the links on the upper right corner).

I hope you are enjoying the warm spring weather and if you are somewhere tropical, please head out to the beach and enjoy the water for me. :)

Keep Dolling Up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo

How To Maximize The Use Of Your Cream Concealer

Ever wonder how makeup artists get those perfectly defined brows, perfectly shaped lips and flawlessly applied eye makeup? Are you really getting the most benefit and use of your cream concealer?

Today's makeup tip and trick will answer all of those questions. I will  be sharing with you three awesome ways to maximize the use of your cream concealer. If you have been using your cream concealer just to spot treat your blemishes and skin discoloration, then, you probably  are missing out on some amazing tricks that your concealer can do for you. This trick will change the way you apply your concealer and change your look in the most subtle way.

Let's begin. In this makeup tutorial, you will only need a cream concealer  (the closest color to your skin) and a small brush  with defined edges. In my case, I am using the Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NC30 and a detailer brush from Real Techniques, which comes from their face brush set. 

Perfectly Shaped Lips/Cupid Bows

If you find yourself sloppily putting on your lipsticks- which by the way I am guilty of, then your cream concealer is your friend. A bleeding lipstick (lipstick that goes out of your natural lip line) is not so flattering. It will make you look like you do not know how to use your makeup or that you are a novice teenager, who have just discovered makeup. Either ways it's not good. This trick is especially useful when you are wearing bold vivid lip colors.

1. So, to give you those perfectly shaped cupid bows (see the circled part on the pic above), reach for your brush and cream concealer. Dab your brush to your concealer making sure you cover the tip of the bristles
2. Carefully draw the natural shape of your lips and give more detailed attention on shaping the curves of your cupid bows (the arch  on your upper lips). 
3. Finally, slightly press the concealer with your fingers so that the warmth from your hands melt or blends the concealer to your skin further. 

Perfectly Applied Eye Shadow or Winged Liner

This technique is especially helpful if you want to get a well-defined cat eye look (which I have two ways of doing, I'll share the other one next time). Or if you simply want to clean up the edges of your eye makeup, then this is also a good trick.

1. You might not see anything wrong on picture 1, but if you look closely, the darker shadow goes beyond the line where I drew my winged liner. You can go out with this look it is perfectly normal. However, if you want to put more emphasis on your winged liner, then grab your concealer and brush.
2. Draw a line where you want to get that crisp winged look and blend your brush further down to make sure you erase any smudges from your eyeshadow.
3. Finally, use your finger to blend your concealer to your skin. Tips: Remember to use your ring finger as explained on my previous post on concealing undereye circles.

Perfectly Defined Eyebrows

As I have mentioned on my post on how to define your brows, your brows are the most important part of your makeup. So, never disregard them because they are the ones that can pull off any looks you go for. Did I mention that concealer does not only create those clean and crisp lines below and above your brows, but also help cover up the tiny hair growth you have? In days when I am so lazy to shave or pluck  any regrowth under my brows, this technique comes in  handy.

1. After filling in your brows with brow pencil/powder/pomade, grab your brush and dab it to your cream concealer.
2. Following the natural shape and arch of your brows, draw a line on your top and lower brow line. If you overdraw the part where your brows start, use the excess concealer from your brush to lighten that part out. Tips: For covering hair re-growth, dab more concealer and build up the coverage as you desire.
3. Using your ring finger, blend the concealer to your skin making sure there are no harsh edges or weird patches. 

The picture below, shows a comparison of my defined and undefined look. Can you tell the subtle differences on the eyes and lips?

There you go, dolls. I hope I was clear enough. If you have questions, comments and suggestions for a next tutorial, please comment below.

You can also follow me on any of my SNS profile. See the sidebar on the right for the link.

P.S.: I am writing for ideafortoday.com. You can also see some amazing blog posts of any random topics from different bloggers out there.

Always remember! Everyday is a day to doll up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo

Review: Too Faced Melted Kisses Liquified Longwear Lipsticks

This week's product review is my first review on lip products. My first two posts on this category were drugstore products from L'oreal, so, I decided to go for the high end product this time. It's going to be a set of lippie products from Too Faced; they  are the Melted Kisses Liquified Longwear Lipsticks. This line of lipsticks from Too faced comes in 18 different shades. However, I only own this exclusive set that includes four deluxe-sizes oftheir four best-selling shades in Melted Nude, Melted Peony, Melted Fuchsia and Melted Berry. 

I've had this set for over two months now and have worn all of  them in the past couple of weeks. Although, I'd say I've worn one of them more often than the three. Can you guess which one? 

The company claims that these products coat lips in bursts of intense color that lasts for hours. It's innovative, angled velvet tip allows for precise application. 

Did Too Faced live up to its claim? Well, continue reading to see my thoughts.

Packaging

As you can see, these lipsticks come in a tube packaging with an angled velvet/sponge tip applicator. The tube itself is very sleek and eye catching. I especially love the way they colored the tube according to the exact color swatch of the product inside. The colored tube just makes it so easy to distinguish and to fish out especially when you are in a hurry and just need to grab the exact color you want. Thumbs up for this awesome packaging!

Formulation

These lippies are liquid style almost like a lip gloss but more opaque or pigmented and less glossy. In my opinion the finish for most of them is semi-matte, but "melted nude" seems more matte than the others. When you first apply it, it might look a bit glossy but as the product sets into your lips, it turns into a matte velvety finish. Although they're semi-matte, they don't make my lips dry. The color pay off for all of them are really incredible and they all are very opaque. 

Application

As described above, it comes in an angled sponge/velvet applicator promising to make the application easier. I would say that the angled shape of the applicator is pretty smart. It just makes it so easy to carve out the natural lines of your lips especially when shaping your cupid's bow. However, I do feel like the sponge applicator absorbs a lot of the product and it just makes me feel like wasting most of it, but maybe I'm wrong. I do suggest to press the tube carefully so you don't end up dispensing a lot of products. If you end up pressing too much and dispensing a lot, the product could end up bleeding outside the perimeter of your lips.  You only need a pea-size amount to dot it in the middle of your lips and use the sponge applicator to spread the product all over.  The application is pretty easy and the only hard thing about it is having the right control as to how much product to press out. 

Wearability/Longevity

As the company claims, these lippies provide long-lasting wear. Do I agree? YES and NO depending on the shades. Yes, because I found the bolder ones (melted berry and melted fuchsia) to have longer staying power. I think it's because they are brighter and they leave a pigmented bright tint on the lips. However, the more neutral ones (melted nude and melted peony) are not as long-wearing as the other bold ones. They tend to last only for 3 hours in my case, but it could also be because I have a bad habit of licking my lips and unconsciously eating my lipstick in the process. LOL...

Price/Affordability:

My set of four deluxe size (smaller size) is cheaper than the  price of a one full sized melted lipstick.  As I checked it on Too faced website, it costs about $21 for a one full size. I believe the melted kisses set only costs about $24; it's about $6 for each one of them. It was a steal for a high-end lipstick! However, I do think that the melted kisses set is a limited edition and might not be available on their website. You might be able to find them at Amazon or eBay, though. 

My Final Take-aways:

Do I recommend it?

If you have money to splurge on a $21 lipstick then, yeah! go for it. However, I do suggest getting the limited edition set instead of getting a one full-sized. In my opinion, it is more practical that way, so you can test out different colors and see what you want. Then, if you are really in love with one of them, then you can go ahead and splurge on the fuller size. However, for those of you are on the fence about it and don't want to spend that much for a lippie,  I suggest checking on some other drugstore options. Like here in Korea, I saw a pretty similar lippie from a Korean brand name "Code", although I don't own one. So, if you are in Korea, try heading out to  your nearest Olive Young and check out that product. Let me know if you found a drugstore dupe of these products in your country.

Will I buy it again?

As I mentioned above, there is one color that I am obsessed about. It is the "melted nude". I love my nudes. I just feel like it suits my skin tone better than the cooler tone and bolder ones.  So, to answer the question, I'll definitely get another tube of melted nude, once I ran out of the one I have now. I am also interested in trying out their other shades. I will probably wait for their limited edition set and buy the sets instead  of buying them individually.

I hope this review is helpful and insightful enough. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading! If you like my blog and look forward to my next posts, please hit any of my SNS sites on the right sidebar and follow me there. Thanks, hon!

Keep Dolling Up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo

How To Have Long Lasting Curled Lashes

Hello dolls!

I know that not everyone (including me) is gifted with long, curly lashes. I envy those of you, who have naturally pretty lashes. Well, as for me, I have to take extra steps and tricks on my makeup routine to achieve my desired lashes- lengthy, curly and full.

This weeks makeup tip and tricks that I will be sharing with you is the simplest trick I know and use almost regularly. It is simple because you only need two things to achieve this look, well, technically three if I count the mascara in. It is an extra step you take before applying your mascara and the beauty about it is it only takes 30 seconds to do, but the effect will last you all throughout the day.

Ok! Let's start. 

1. All you need is a blow dryer and "metal" eyelash curler. If you do not have a blow dryer on hand, then your warm fingers are good enough to use. 
2. Place your metal curler in front of your blow dryer nuzzle to warm it up. Let the warm air from your blow dryer warm the curler up for about 10 seconds. Caution: Only use this technique with a metal eyelash curler. You don't want to melt the plastic one. Tips: As mentioned above, you can simply warm your curler by wrapping it with your warm fingers. Although, this doesn't work on me because I always have cold hands due to poor circulation
3. Then, wait about 3-5 seconds before curling your lashes.  Once the curler is not scorching hot, curl the root of your lashes by pulling the curler downward to your cheeks (see photo above on step 3). I'd like to hold the curler for 10 seconds.
4. Release the curler and curl the same lashes again. But, this time, start from the mid section of your lashes instead of the roots. Curl for about 10 seconds and pull the curler upward before releasing. Then, repeat step 3 and 4 for your other lashes. 
5. Apply your favorite mascara to further emphasize and enhance your curls. In picture 5 above, you can see the difference between my right and left eyes. The right one is the finished look but the left one is untouched. Tips: Waterproof mascaras will help your lashes hold the curl longer compared to regular ones.
6. Voila! You are ready to rock those gorgeous pair of lashes.

Curling your lashes with just your curler and just simply applying a coat of your mascara might give you that desired curled out look. However, taking this extra step assures you that the curl will hold throughout the day. I have proven and tested this and I hope this technique also works for you.

Good luck! Please let me know if it helped you. 

Keep Dolling Up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo

Review: L'oreal Faux Cils Papillon Butterfly Waterproof Mascara

This week's product review is another makeup product from L'oreal. It is the L'oreal Faux Cils Papillon Butterfly Waterproof Mascara. 

This is the mascara that I use when I'm aiming for a cat eye look like the one in this picture:

I have been using this mascara for almost a month now so I feel like I can give a pretty decent review about it. Just to clarify, this mascara comes in two different formulas: non-waterproof (black container) and waterproof (blue container). This review is for the waterproof one; I haven't tried the regular formula.

This product claims to stretch and extend your lashes to create a winged-out effect. The wand and the formula is designed to lengthen and volumize lashes. Let's find out if it lives up to its claim.

Packaging:

It comes in a silver packaging with blue vertical stripes. It's rather thick and long compared to my other mascaras. The length is about 4.5 inches and almost an inch wide. This makes it less portable to carry around in your tiny purse. It has a very shiny and slippery texture so if your hands are oily or wet, you might have trouble opening it. I don't especially like the size and the feel of it. A smaller and easy grip container would make this better.

Formulation

The formulation of this mascara changed since the first time I opened and used it. It was rather wet at first but the more I used it the better the formula gets. I wouldn't say it gets drier but rather it gets thicker/denser and easier to apply. I just hate wet formula because they tend to smear easily and doesn't coat on my lashes well. It is jet black in color and it holds my curl all day. It is a lengthening and volumizing mascara.

Application

It comes with a wand featured above. I have honestly never seen a wand like this before. It is very uniquely design. The curved winged effect of the wand makes the application so easy as it follows the natural curve of your eyes. Both sides of the wands have tiny bristles that comb and separate your lashes well. As with any mascaras, make sure you wipe off the excess product on the bristles before applying them to your lashes so it doesn't get clumpy. Proper technique in application is also very critical no matter what mascara you use.  

Wearability/Longevity

It is waterproof formula so it stays all day without smearing. It is truly waterproof so you can totally wear this while swimming. The downside is it is kinda pesky to take off, but don't worry,  if you've read my post on technique in taking off waterproof mascara then it wouldn't be a problem. The longest I've worn this was 12 hours and it didn't budge at all and as I mentioned my lashes stayed curl all  day - I do have a separate technique on keeping my curl all day; I'll write about it soon. 

Price/Affordability

This is a drugstore product and it shouldn't be that expensive if you are in the U.S. As I am in Asia though, I pay more for the import tax. It costs about 18,000 Korean Won (17 USD/700PhP). However, I did get it on promo so I saved a couple of won. Compared to other Korean drugstore product, it is rather pricey. 

My Final Take-aways

Do I recommend it?

Yes! If you are looking for a waterproof mascara that gives you winged-out lashes (starts short at the inner corner and grows longer at the outer end) or a cat eye look, then this is definitely the one. It is both volumizing and lengthening so it gives you a very glamorous instead of a natural look. So if you are going for a glamorous look, then this is for you. 

Will I buy it again?

Yes! But only when it goes on sale. I think it's too pricey for a drugstore product. 

Here is a picture of my before and after lashes using this product. I applied two coats on both my upper and lower lashes. 

Well, let me know what you think about this product. Have you tried it? What's your take on it? 

Keep Dolling Up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo

Concealing Undereye Discoloration/Circles

Hello dolls,

Waking up with an ugly discoloration under your eyes from a late night partying or working hard is a normal scenario that could happen to anyone of us. I really didn't know a lot about undereye circles until I began applying makeup and became more aware of my skin and what not. At first, I thought foundation will just suffice in concealing them but obviously it doesn't.

Don't  worry though, I have found an effective way of covering them and I am so excited to share it with you. All you  need are three things.  You need a color stick in salmon peach/orange. Well, you might think orange color corrector/concealer might look strange on your skin (I thought exactly the same thing at first), but actually you'll  be surprised as to how effective it is in covering any cool-toned discolorations in your skin. You will also need a concealer. You can choose to use a concealer that is the same shade as your foundation or if you want a more lifted and highlighted effect on your face, then a concealer that is two shades lighter than your skin is perfect.  Finally, the last optional thing you need is a dampened sponge. Or if you don't have one, don't sweat it out, your fingers are just as effective. Although, blending it with your finger might take a bit longer than blending it with a sponge. Finally, a translucent powder is also needed to set everything in place. 

Please find the step-by-step picture tutorial and the detailed instructions below.

1. Get ready with your orange color corrector, concealer, sponge (optional) and translucent powder. 
2. Start with a bare face (before applying your face makeup). Applying it before your foundation, works better because you don't want to mix your color corrector on top of  your foundation. You would want to use it to correct the exact shade of the discoloration.
3. Apply the orange corrector to areas with redness and blueish color.
4.  Use your "ring finger" to gently press and even out the product.  Tips: You would not want to be tagging or pressing too hard on the skin around your eyes since it is the softest skin on your face. That's why using your "ring finger" is important because it gives the lightest force among all your fingers. Always remember to use your ring finger when ever you are pressing product around your eyes including eye creams and eye primer.
5. Then, layer up with the concealer that's 2 shades lighter than your skin. Create a triangular shape along the corner of your nose. This will highlight the area and bring it forward.
6.  Repeat step 4.
7. To make sure everything is blended, take a dampened sponge and use a tapping motion to blend everything out. Make sure to blend it outward towards your temple.
8.  See the difference! You can then, apply the rest of your face makeup then set your undereye with a translucent powder. The translucent powder will not add anymore color to your skin it'll just set your concealer so it doesn't move throughout the day. 

There you go, dolls. I hope my tips are useful and that it helps you create a healthier well rested look. 

Let me know how it works for you.

Thanks for reading!

Keep dolling up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo

Soft Neutral Look

Subtlety is beauty.

Sometimes being subtle with your makeup is a way to go, especially during daytime or when you want to look pretty without trying too hard. I created this look for that purpose.  Actually this kind of look is my daily go to. I just feel comfortable with neutral eyes and lips. If I do have something to head out for the night, I carry my Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 and a darker lippie to touch up and add darker colors to the look.

Here are the products used to create this soft neutral look:

Face

• Shu Uemura Lightbulb Foundation (564 medium light sand)
• Revlon Colorstay Concealer (medium)
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit
• Too Faced Sweethearts Flush Blush (candy glow)
• Catrice Prime and Fine Highlighting Powder (fairy dust)

Eyes

• Nature Republic Botanical Eyebrow  Mascara (brown)
• Clio Slim Kill Pen Eyeliner
• Coastal Scents Warm Eyeshadow Palette
• Mac Single Eyeshadow (expensive pink)
• Faceshop Pro Lashes Edge Edge
• L'oreal Butterfly Waterproof Mascara

Lips

• Etude House Soft Touch Auto Lipliner (milky brown)
• Maybelline Bold Matte MAT7

That's it, dolls. What do you think about this look?

Keep Dolling Up,

Gelie (Jelai) xoxo