the inspo vs. the look: pinterest edition #1

When I first saw this look, it was the clean brows coupled with the simple yet stunning eye makeup that made me drawn towards recreating it.

The Inspo:

Pinterest Look #1

I’m honestly trying to get better at recreating makeup looks but girl, I could only do so much with what I got on deck 😩. As soon as I finished, I went on a rampage with the damn camera. It’s like those times when you look so good, you have to document it because you don’t know when the next time will be. I ended up having more warmer tones than cooler / more spring tones but I’m not mad. I don’t think you would be either.

STEP BY STEP:

STEP 1: PREP & FOUNDATION

Before I forget, I do want to mention the primer I used with this look because skin prep really should be the first step in any makeup routine. Mixing Charlotte Tilbury’s “Magic Serum” with Caliray’s “so blown” primer, it gave me the perfect sticky base without making the foundation pill once I applied it on top. C Tily and that damn serum … it really is magic. But, I’ll save my review for another day.

Applying KVD Beauty’s “Good Apple” Non-Comedogenic Full Coverage Serum Foundation (shade Medium-030). Love the coverage on this foundation and the formula is cream of the crop. I feel like it’s not nearly talked about as much but everytime I use it, my base it flawless. The blend is seamless everytime and I even used it on my sister for her wedding makeup.

STEP 2: CONCEALER

Tried Fenty Beauty’s new “We’re Even” Hydrating Longwear Concealer when I first did this look and my jaw was dropped. Some people complain about creasing but I haven’t run into that problem… yet. I like the coverage and shade 175W is perfect because it also brightens my under eyes (and it’s waterproof!). I like to set it with the Huda Beauty’s “Easy Bake” Loose Setting Powder (more on this later). A+ in my book for this concealer, so far.

STEP 3: CONTOUR & BLUSH

I love the Makeup by Mario Contour “Softsculpt” shaping sticks but OMG … the packaging kills me everytime. There just seems to be more air space than product in that tube. But, nevertheless, still effective and one of my favorites of Mario. I am always torn between using this or Fenty Beauty’s contour stick but I would have to say that I find the Makeup by Mario formula a lot creamier.

I kept the contour minimal here since there’s a lot more focus on the blush and eyes; so, I kept it to my standard hotspots - cheekbones, jaw, and nose.

Pat McGrath’s “Legendary Glow” Colour Balms are my everyday favorite, especially “Peach Lotus.” Applied it on the apples of my cheeks and a little sprinkle on the nose, something to give me a natural blush.

STEP 4: SET MAKEUP

After patting Huda Beauty on my undereyes (shade: cupcake … which IN MY OPINION IS GOOD ASF DESPITE THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING ELSE IS ALWAYS SOLD OUT😭) … I like to use a “big fluffy” brush and lightly pat Laura Mercier’s Translucent Loose Setting Powder onto my face.

I wasn’t setting my contour (because it really didn’t seem like a huge focus) but I was definitely going to set my nose contour with this Jane Iredale “PureBronze” Matte Bronzer. I probably should’ve also set the rest of my face with a bronzer.

Oh, well.

STEP 5: EYEBROWS

Since the brows are what convinced me to even attempt the look, I knew I wanted them clean and not as drastic. Filling them in lightly with the ABH “Brow Powder” (shade: taupe) and applying Milani’s “Stay Put” Liquid Brow Wax.

This brow wax works great at first but I noticed that throughout the day, it looks like I have f*cking dandruff in my eyebrows. Not my favorite but it’s useful for a quick photoshoot with your makeup, not so much a night out. It is only $11, though. If you aren’t too “heavy handed” with the wax by applying too much, you just might get away with using this for a casual all day look.

**I recommend ABH Brow Freeze or even Got 2 B Glued gel for a long-lasting and reliable wax.

STEP 7: EYESHADOW

Eyeshadow is something I want to work on in 2024 but girl, let’s KISS (keep it simple, stupid). Using a warmer brown shade, I blended Urban Decay’s “Metal Mania” Eyeshadow (shade: Sound Tower) and patted Covergirl’s Glitter Cream Eyeshadow (shade: Sparkly Boots), a rose gold shade.

That’s honestly it. 😭

In retrospect, this was an okay-ish combination but didn’t really work with the blush color I had chosen previously. In addition, the Urban Decay shade was giving more “November” while the glitter shadow was more “Early Spring,” so I’ll probably think about that the next time I do this.

At least it looked good in the pictures!

STEP 8: EYELINER & LASHES

Ugh, I love a good enemies to lovers troupe. That’s me and eyeliner. If you’re ever looking over the homepage of my blog, I added a tiny section called current holy grail and the Ciate London “Double Wing Stamp” reigns in February 2024. This helps so much with people starting out with doing eyeliner because all you have to do… IS STAMP IT ON. I plan on making a video where I try to do it with my eyes closed… We’ll see how reliable it is then.

After stamping on the wing, fill in the eyeliner with Ciate London’s “Fierce Flicks”. You can actually get BOTH the stamp and the liner for $19 USD… WTF! — THAT’S A DEAL.

For lashes, I applied my favorite lashes from Plouise. This really sealed the look for me but a half lash would have sufficed, maybe not so much a “drastic” set (even though it’s labeled as wispy, lol).

STEP 9: LIPS

By far my favorite lip combo. It was an all-star team, really:

1. Plouise Lip Liner in “Bake My Biscuit” (this was limited edition from their 2024 Advent Calender but I linked a similar shade)

2. YSL “Rouge Volupte “Shine Lipstick Balm (shade: 44)

3. Tower28 “ShineOn” Lip Jelly Non-Sticky Gloss (shade: Chill)

STEP 10: FINISHING TOUCHES

We’ve reached the end, folks! Just a nice little pat of Milani’s “Baked Blush” (shade: Luminoso) and highlighting my nose tip, inner corners and cheekbones with Saie Beauty’s Glowy Super Gel (shade: Starglow).

This super gel from Saie Beauty is probably close to being high up there as a holy grail. Unlike other highlighters, when you apply with your fingers, it doesn’t leave an imprint of your finger with the product (if that makes any sense?). This product doesn’t dry too quickly as you try to blend it out and it’s BLINDING so worth a shout out before I close out this post.

See you in the next post… x

with love,