Naked, Nude, Neutral, Naaaaah

Ok, I'm just going to get this off my chest: I'm really bored and maybe even a little frustrated by the current trend towards neutral and naked makeups. I mean, Urban Decay, a company which was founded to provide high-quality cosmetics in crazy colors, built their whole Spring launch around their Naked line. How boring!

Don't get me wrong, I know that neutral colors have their place. I've even been buying and working with them myself, both for day wear and for the possibility of having a nice, neutral smokey eye to go with some costumes where I want a more sophisticated look. But really, how many beige palettes does one need? How many sheer nude lip glosses can one woman feasibly use? How many does one company need to make when swatches show that they look almost completely identical when worn?

And it's not just Urban Decay. It seems like nearly every company has to have their own answer to the Naked palette, and that's fine if you have a certain sense of brand loyalty or really prefer a certain eye shadow formula or something. But then I see Zoya nail polish do an entire line of pale, neutral pinks instead of the awesome greens and metallics I love to buy from them, and I start to worry. Is this the way of the future? Is the pendulum going to swing back towards a more natural look in cosmetics? Is it going to be difficult for me to find green nail polish and ridiculous sparkly glitter eyeliner and incredibly saturated eye shadow colors? Will I have to carefully hoard my current products?

I'm hoping that this is just a blip as Urban Decay looks to diversify their product line and reach a broader audience and all of their competitors release similar products to try to get a piece of the pie, and that soon they'll go back to focusing on the sort of things I really like... but I might have to go hug my old school purple velvet palette until I feel better.

(Product reviews return next week)

Beauty Blogging for Bellydancers Year-End Top Ten!

 Since I started Beauty Blogging for Bellydancers in January 2013, it seems only fitting that the last Friday of the year should be a retrospective of a few of my favorite products, ending with a couple that I haven't reviewed yet! Now, I'm not really good at ranking the things I love, so don't think of this as a "Top 10 Best Products" but more of a "the first ten things I thought of that I love and happen to have pictures of."

#1. Urban Decay Build-your-Own Palettes. While it's true that the colors in the palette I featured above had a "meh" pay-off, I really like the 6-pan build your own palette box they came in, and I also love my 4-pan with "Rock" in it. I also like that more and more companies are developing their own build-your own, because anything that makes it easier for me to take all my favorite colors in one easy package is OK with me.

 #2. BLAST FLIPSTICK! It is possible that I included these just because I love the name, but honestly, I do get a ton of use out of the berry-hued one.

#3. Lip Tar by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. I can't get enough of this stuff and I recommend it to everyone, I've even got my mom and my mother-in-law wearing it.

#4. Shiny, iridescent, color-shifting nail polish colors. This one is part of Maybelline's Color Show line but I like other brands, too.

#5. THE WONDER PENCIL! Another product where I love the name, but this unassuming, affordable product really does come in handy and I use it all the time. 

#6. Spellbinding Eyeshadow Book. I haven't used this as much as I would like but I am really in love with the colors.

#7. Imperialis Facial Moisturizer by Lush Cosmetics. I LOVE this stuff. It makes my face smell like orange blossoms. It's a light, creamy moisturizer which keeps my skin from drying out in the desert air.

#8 and #9. Zoya brand nail polish and Jamberry nail wraps. I love Zoya for their unusual colors which tend to hold up well. Here I'm wearing Seraphina with a Black Friday exclusive Winter Morning nail wrap for a lovely, wintery nail look. Jamberry lets me have the fancy nail designs I'd never be able to master myself, without having to carve out time to go to the salon.

#10. e.l.f Lashes. They're affordable. They're available in a variety of styles. They're easy to buy at Target. And while I've been told the glue isn't great, it is latex-free. I honestly don't know why I've never reviewed these, as they're definitely perfect for bellydancers. I mean, at this price, you can even occasionally wear them for date-night or a party and not feel guilty.

Urban Decay Black Market Pencil Set

When I saw this new Black Market 24/7 Pencil Set from Urban Decay, I knew I had to have it! I have no lack of eye liners, but this set of mini pencils has some really stylish Autumn colors that would fill some gaps in my collection.

The colors include West (sparkly brown), Desperation (matte grey), Black Market (sparkly black), Riot (sparkly purple), Apathy (sparkly olive) and Ink (sparkly blue). They're the standard UD mini pencil size, which means you can throw all of them into a travel bag easily, or put your favorite in the pencil slot of a palette.

Oh hey, did I mention that I'm in NY and it is COLD out here? So here's my eye look for NYC, using West and Apathy and a few colors from the NYC themed Book of Shadows, plus a warm, fuzzy scarf.

 Eyes closed. Not my best blending job, I only had a few minutes to do my face.

Swatch! Displayed on my arm in the same order they're packaged in. You can see that it's a nice range of dark neutrals and pops of color that will carry you through fall and winter.

I use 24/7 pencils in various colors for dance makeup all the time, and they hold up well. Not quite as bold a line as a good gel liner, but I also don't have to worry about waiting for them to dry, or having the entire pot dry out before I can use it because I live in a desert. Plus they're really portable and it's easy to take a bunch of colors on a trip with you. You can smudge them if you want or leave them as-is. The travel-sized pencils will last you a good long while, I haven't even used up half of my basic black Zero pencil and it's one of my go-to products.

New lip products from Urban Decay

 Please forgive the less than awesome nature of this photo, I should really allow myself more than 15 minutes to do my makeup before class. Anyway: fuchsia lipstick!

I figured I should try the new color-coordinated Revolution Lipstick and 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil from Urban Decay, because I do love things to match and it's so frustrating sometimes to find pencils and lipsticks that work perfectly together. You'd think that every company would make perfectly complimenting colors, but I have not found that to be the case.

I chose Jilted, a fuchsia-pink shade. The lipstick has a cool blue shift, which I thought was nifty and also probably a good way to tone down any yellowness in ones teeth. The liner does not have blue shimmer, but it does otherwise match perfectly, as you can see in this hand swatch:

What a nice color! I do feel like it's a bit intense for my skin tone, I definitely would never do it for day-wear and I felt like I should have done more with my eyes to balance it out... That said, it's also kind of fun to wear ridiculous fuchsia with blue shimmer lipstick. If I ever go to an 80s or glam-rock themed party, you KNOW this is what I am breaking out!

Both the liner and the lipstick went on pretty smoothly and delivered intense color. The lipstick is not very sticky and didn't leave a bunch of color on my water bottle during dance class. It stayed in place pretty well for an hour of drilling, so that's pretty good! However, my lips also felt pretty dry while using it, so definitely make sure you're well-moisturized before applying it. I like the formula enough that I might pick it up in other colors too! I think this will be a good one for dancers. There are a lot of shades in this collection that are intense enough to really pop on the big stage, and having perfectly-matching liners makes it easy to fill out your lips if needed.

Never enough eyeshadow!

 That's right, I am reviewing more eye makeup because I can never have enough! What's more, it's GREEN eye makeup. I've been told that the eye can differentiate between more shades of green than any other color. Isn't that cool? I try to test this fact by owning all of the green beads and eye shadows and costumes that I can afford.

Today's products are the new Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Zodiac and Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow in 171 (Iridescent Acid Green). These two colors look great together and I think I will be combining them for a lot of different looks!

 I decided to get fancy with the hand-swatch this time! From left to right: no primer, dry application; no primer, wet application; primer, dry application; primer, wet application. One light later of each color. Also, I need to moisturize. Yikes.

 Before I show you the look I created, I'd like to take a moment for a little PSA. Do not, under any circumstances, ever get UD's 24/7 liquid liner in your tearducts. Oh my goodness it hurt like a motherbeast. And then I had eyeliner everywhere from screwing up my eye from the pain. What a mess!

So now let's look at the other side of my face! Ahhhh, much better! I think when I use these colors together in the future I may put them over another color, and I will definitely blend them out so it's less of a harlequin look (it wasn't so delineated before I decided that I needed another layer or two of glitter).

After first putting down a layer of primer potion, I applied the MUFE wet with a loose eyeshadow brush, and following UD's advice, the Moondust was applied with my finger (also a little wet). Using my finger I had pretty much 0 fallout. I then took this look over to a spin jam and spun my fire fans. Tiny bit of fall-out but otherwise this makeup has stayed in place pretty well.

I am really excited about this Moondust shadow! It's such a pretty dark green that will go well with a lot of colors I already have, and it's super glittery. I want to apply it over my entire eye and then line it with metallic emerald gel liner. Plus it is compatible with the UD "Build Your Own Palette" tins!

I think that both of these colors will see a lot of use from me and I will be picking up other hues from these collections. The eyeliner, on the other hand, is on probation!

Underneath it all

 Let's face it: lips and eyes are the exciting parts of doing your makeup! But we can't ignore the importance of building our look on a good foundation (ha ha, see what I did there?).

I'm really lucky in that I have pretty good skin, so I can get away with doing light coverage. This is especially important because I have freckles, and I just have to accept that. It's pretty obvious that I have freckles on my arms, and on my chest if I've been out in the sun, so it would just look weird if my freckles were completely obliterated by my makeup. So today I'm going to show you the two sets of products I used in these two different photos.

 We'll start with the look on the right, my old fall-back routine. This is super duper light coverage, really only appropriate for if you have great skin and you're not worried about being washed out by stage lights. It's also good for normal day-time non-dance wear.

First I start with an Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in DEA (actually, I use this for the other look, too). Honestly, this product is a little more yellow than I would like, but it's easy to use, masks the darkness under my eyes, and usually by the time I put stuff over it you can't tell that it's yellow.

Next I put down a light layer of Pore Perfection Complexion Primer Potion. This is a lightweight, colorless product that makes your skin look kind of airbrushed. I love it! You may be able to see that I have pretty much squeezed that tube dry.

Lastly, I top it off with a dusting of Smashbox HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder in Fair. The light tint of this powder makes up for the colorlessness of the primer potion. Also, it comes in a neat container that has this weird scraper that you can turn to get just enough powder. This is nice if you're clumsy (like me) because you don't have to worry about spilling makeup everywhere. Plus it's fun to use.

 Remember when I mentioned that I was pretty much out of my complexion primer? Well, I was running out as the date was approaching for our troupe photo shoot. The local Sephora was sold out, and Urban Decay was sold out on their website. I was seriously worried that it wasn't going to be made anymore! So I decided it was time to invest in some proper foundation and come up with a new makeup routine. This look is a little heavier, especially because you can apply the foundation with a wet sponge for more coverage if need be. It's also really nice for photography, as you can see from my headshot.

I splurged on the Makeup For Ever HD Complexion Starter Kit in 110 Pink Porcelain. This kit comes with a full-sized foundation and small packages of primer and finishing powder, along with a nice kabuki brush. For the photo shoot I used all three products, but in general I tend to skip the primer if my skin is looking good and I'm in a hurry. These products are really easy to use, you can apply the primer and the foundation with your fingers or a sponge, and then dust the powder on very lightly with the soft kabuki brush.

Of course I follow both of these routines up with whatever contouring and blush the day's look requires, but those are product reviews for another day.

Speaking of another day, do you want a sneak peek at some of my exciting recent cosmetics purchases that are waiting for their turn to be reviewed? Of course you do!

Eyeshadow pencil! Nail polish! GREEN LIP TAR. Oh, it's going to be good!

Urban Decay Theodora Palette Review

 I wasn't going to buy this palette, really I wasn't. I already have two large UD palettes, two small ones, and a collection of their single shadows. And that's not even getting into what I own from other brands. Also, while I probably will eventually go see that Oz movie, I'm not so excited about it that I feel the need to buy promotional tie-in items. Above all else, I am trying to cut down on frivolous purchases to save up for Tribal Fest. But then I saw the early previews of the product and I really had to have it!

Inside the box of the Urban Decay Theodora Palette you will find the following items: the palette tin itself (containing 6 shadow pans and a liner), a lipstick pencil, and an instruction card detailing how to copy Mila Kunis's look from the movie. The funny thing is that her look does not use the eye colors I am most excited about! But it is a pretty nice brown smoky look which could be used for a night out, or dressed up with a little glitter to match a brown costume for a performance.

One of the big selling points for me is that this palette comes in a build-your-own box, so you can take the shadows out, put others in, transfer them into the smaller 4-pan build your own, and replace them with something else if you run out. The colors are (clockwise, starting from the upper left), Broken, Beware, Bewitch, West, Spell (duo shadow black glitter/gold glitter) and Jealous (due shade medium green/light green). These are all NEW colors and these Oz palettes are the first time UD has used duo-color shadows like this. It also comes with the new, exclusive super saturated lip pencil in Theodora (quickly becoming one of my favorite things ever) and a 24/7 liner pencil in Zero, aka the color that UD puts in everything when they can't think of a different color, I guess. I mean, if this is your first palette it's great to get a black eye pencil with it, but I must have 4 of these pencils now.

ARM SWATCHES! Thank you, Dawn Sehar, for explaining to me why beauty bloggers like arm swatches. This one shows the liner, the lip pencil (I drew a heart for you all because I did this on Valentine's Day), and then the shadow colors in the order I listed them above. As you can see, Broken is almost the same color as my skin, the browns all show up nicely, and the glitters and greens did not show up too well. This was done without any sort of primer, by the way. I'm running low and didn't want to use it all on my arm.

And how does it look on my face? Well, I didn't think I could fit ALL THE COLORS on my eyes without looking insane, so I focused on the four colors not used in Mila Kunis's look (so both shades of Spell and Jealous). I put the darker Jealous all over my lid and applied the lighter one up towards my brow bone, making a nice green gradient that looks really good with my fair skin, hazel eyes and red hair. I did a bit of dark Spell in the outer corner of my eye, and the light Spell in the inner corner and under my lash line. I wasn't too thrilled with the darker version of spell... it didn't really deliver much punch. But the golden one looked really nice, especially with the greens. I lined it with the Zero pencil, added some Super Curl mascara from a different UD palette, and colored my brows in with my UD brow box. Oh yes, and this was applied over Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, because I love that stuff.

And then there's the lips! OK, this pencil is the number one reason why I bought this palette. I was planning a vintage pin-up inspired look for the party last week, and I saw this color and I knew it was just right for my lips. It did not disappoint! This candy-apple red with a hint of sparkle just looks so good on me -- and I say that as a girl who started out her make-up wearing like sure that she would never enjoy wearing red lipstick. This color really minimizes the yellow in my teeth. I don't know if it actually makes them look less yellow, or if it's so in-your-face bright that my teeth just fade into the background, shamed by the awesomeness that surrounds them.

Am I saying that a lip pencil is worth spending about $50 on a palette? No. But I am saying that if, like me, you were teetering on the edge of indecision, it might be what pushes you over.

But wait... this is a cosmetics review by a dancer, for dancers! So how does all this hold up for dancing? Well, I have worn the lip pencil for two gigs and have been pretty happy with how it's held up all night. It doesn't wear off easily and it doesn't come off on your teeth and it's not too sticky. As for the eyeshadows and liner, I did not test this particular look with a gig, but I almost always wear Urban Decay shadows and 24/7 Liner and I am happy with how they hold up, as long as they're applied over a primer.

I am admittedly a little disappointed by the lack of color intensity in the two due-color pans. I think that if I was going to use Jealous for a performance I might have to add another, darker color. The black Spell seems to be a total wash, though it may prove itself after further experimentation. The gold Spell does seem pretty nice, and despite complaints on-line I didn't really notice too much glitter fall-out... but then again, I just wore it to dinner and Target, I wasn't working it too hard.