FOTD: Bronze Goddess...

The inspiration for this makeup is an eyeshadow I bought a while ago and somehow never used. I love looking at it in the pan, but never got round to wearing it. In the pan it looks like a marble of gold and burgundy/maroon. When swatched though it is bronzy, hence the title of the post. Yep. I’ve changed my hair.

 

Get the look:

Eyes:
Mary Kay concealer in  bronze 2Shadow Worx eyeshadow primerBlack opal bronze blaze eyeshadow (lid)Black eyeshadow from the Sleek eyeshadow palette (outer V)Clinique eyeshadow trio – the dark brown (crease)Flesh toned colour from the 88 palette (browbone)Airwoman brow pencil in #40Mary Kay mascara (black)

 

lips:
dark brown, maroon, and purple lip pencils
black Opal’s Barely Mocha (top lip & edges of bottom lip)
Island Beauty’s Honey (inside bottom lip)
a creamy browny-pink gloss
gold lip gloss



My First Cut-Crease Ever!

Ok. It’s not going to be just about my first.

After seeing several pictures of cut-crease eyeshadow applications, I decided to try it out. These were a while back, and pictures are taken from my phone. This is my true complextion, no flash to wash it out. The brows are just penciled in – didn’t use a concealer to clean it out. I usually don’t for myself except I have a ton of time

I really think the cut crease look will be great for Nigerian traditional weddings, considering the attires used.

The first set is my first ever cut crease. I was home and bored, so I decided to pass time by playing with makeup, as usual. I tried it out in different colours, pinks and purples on one eye, then yellows and greens on the other. (They’re in plural because I used at least 2 shades of each colour). Brow bone highlight for both sides is the same colour, but notice how they play out differently, though slightly so. My hair was a mess, hence the head wrap.

 

 

 

The pictures were taken with the camera of an old phone a while back. Forgive the excess light (actually sunlight) and zero editing skill.

 

In the second attempt at a cut-crease, I wanted a softer, more wearable look, so I did not enlongate the eyelids like I did in the first. I stopped the “cut” where my eye lid ends, and when open it looks really “natural”. The colour palette is similar to the eye on the left. I really didn’t like this second one when I was done; doesn’t look so bad now though. What I like about this one is how the colour fades up from the cut to the brow-bone. Sorry, too much light in some of the pics.

 

 

 

 

 

The third time, I did not make the crease as crisply cut as the others. I just used a pencil brush to apply the crease colour and blended slightly. I wanted it really defined but not crisply cut. It probably doesn’t qualify for a cut-crease, but. . .

 

 

 

 

This fourth one I did recently, but with very bad lighting. I really couldn’t see much of what I was doing, and I was in a crazy hurry. And I did not take pictures with my phone, so flaws are going to be uber-evident, not just in the eyeshadow application, but on my skin as well. The cut was ok but the rest of the crease is poorly blended and doesn't have that gradient fade that i like. I just realized that the colour theme is very similar to the “third batch” pics, but it was totally unplanned. In the end it looked really ridiculous – to me at least. I looked like a cartoon character, and just kept laughing at the pics. But still. . . Pardon the hair; there was no time to adjust it before taking the pictures

 

 

I think my first was my best, then the second. What do you think?

 

Ciao!!!!

 

FOTD: Meet the Parents

 

Hello everyone.

Story behind the look: I was going to meet my boyfriend’s parents for the first time. I’d been very reluctant to meet them, because I wanted to be sure of a lot of things before taking such a huge step

Anyways, there was no way I was going to show up there without makeup, though I know that neither his mum nor any of his grown sisters use any makeup, except maybe lip balm, neither do they approve its use. I am me, I wear makeup, but I did not want to be misjudged on account of that. So I decided to do something soft and cheerful, not too colourful, not “in your face-ish,” but not dull either. Truth is, I wanted everyone to see I was wearing makeup, and looking good in it, because that’s how I roll, and I won’t alter this for anything. I really can’t remember what colours I used here, but I think on the lid it was Opia eyeshadow quad - the silvery brown, and Etude eyeshadow in PP907 in the crease. The Etude is a dark purple and is buildable; a light touch will give this colour payoff. So here goes.

 

 

Ciao!!!

 

Tiph’s Hair Day: Update on the “Retro Hair”

So I got bored again and just took a scissors to the hair. Didn’t chop it to pieces or take it out, mind. I just cut it shorter all around, and then cut a bang in the front. You wouldn’t think that really curly hair would “bang” nicely (no pun intended), but it sooo did. Remember I said this weave was particularly obedient? Yeah.

 

Ciao!!!

Fotd: Dark Green Smokey Eyes

 

Hi there! I decided to do a dark green smokey today, but not so dark though, because it’s like when people hear “smokey” they expect something super black. It doesn’t have to be. You can do a “smokey eye” to suit the person you are, or the mood you are in. Also, everyone has their own unique way of doing a smokey eye, and there are many different types of smokey eyes  and many styles of smoking up your eyeshadow - something for everyone, really, from the most conservative to the most gothic. No big story to it. Since I didn’t have any green that dark, I just layered a deep green over black eyeshadow. It’s a little washed out by the flash ‘cos it’s a little darker than you see it here, just like I’m darker than you see here. (Still wearing the “retro hair”)

 

 

I’d done this look with pinky lips a while back. The eyeshadow creased before I left home inspite of the primer because of the black kajal from sleek that I used as base (never again). Anyways which lips would you prefer with the look?

 

Get the look

Face:

Mary Kay oil mattefier, Mary Kay concealer in bronze 2, Mary Kay foundation in 708 & 808

Eyes:

Mary Kay concealer in bronze2;

Shadow Worx eyeshadow primer

Sleek Storm eyeshadow palette – the black for my base

Coastal Scents 88 palette – first green from the black

Clinique eyeshadow trio – the dark brown;

Black liquid liner

Jordana retractable eye pencil – black

Air Woman dark brown brow pencil in #44

Cheeks:

Iman blush in Sable (reddish-brown), and

Bourjois blush in 85 Sienne

Lips:

Absolute! Lip conditioner

A rich brown lip pencil from Jordana

Island beauty lipstick in Honey

Creamy pink lip-gloss



 

 

 



Tiph’s Hair day: retro hair

 

 

Bored again with my hair, I switched styles and this time I wanted something that looked fairly retro, for no particular reason except that it caught my interest when I saw one in my aunt’s old album. The weave I chose to use is a particularly obedient one – the Mini Mireilli by X-pression. Reason? It just stays how you put it, and is thoroughly flexible when styling - you really can do anything with it. It’s also really light on the head, and doesn’t itch at all, and is ridiculously cheap – I actually laughed when I was told the price for a pack. I’m calling it retro because that was the inspiration for the style. It’d have to be a lot bigger to qualify. Enjoy!

 

 

I don’t get why some pictures get ridiculously shiny once they get on the blog, like the one just above.

 

 

See you soon.
Ciao!!!

 

 

Tipharah Nails: Bling Bling

 

 

I did my friend A.B.’s toe nails the other day and I thought it good to share in the blingy goodness. They’re really cute, and are her natural nails. I just placed rhinestones in random colours in the pattern I wanted

 

Hope you like. Sorry, photos aren't clearer.

 

Ciao!!!

 

Tipharah FOTD: Barely-There Makeup

 

In an earlier post I briefly mentioned a ‘barely there’ makeup I did a while back. This means that this isn’t a literal FOTD; it’s more of a featured FOTD, because I didn’t do it today. The inspiration for this makeup is a 2minute video I watched on YouTube titled ‘Dare to Wear Barely-There Makeup’ by Sephora in their Truth or Bare series (I think it was a series?) with makeup artist Tyron Machhausen. He’s just great, and created some really lovely nude-themed looks.

The first was themed ‘Naturally Flushed’ featuring bronze skin and pink cheeks, and looked sooo lovely. He used bronze and gold highlighters all over the model’s face, shimmer lotion on her eyelids and lashes, and nude lips finished with gold gloss. The only vivid colour was the pink blush.

The second was themed ‘Starry Eyed.’ For the look he created dewey glowing skin, and the focus colour-wise was her lips which looked peachy (not sure what colour he used). He used white eyeshadow on her eyelids to create a bright backdrop for her lashes. Her face was contoured and highlighted with shimmer, and after all of that everything still looked nude and natural, like the model had naturally dewey glowing skin and was just wearing lip-gloss.

The third look was themed ‘Soft and Smoky’ and was done on a really dark skinned AfrAm model. This was my absolute favorite, and not just because I’m dark skinned. This look featured violet eyes and nude lips, but you don’t see the violet in it (it was just in the crease anyways, and not so much of it), just a soft smokey glazed look, and superb skin! This look is the reason I wear nude lips today, because though I loved them, for some reason I thought I’d look weird in it. But she was dark and was rocking it!

So, my look is based off the third theme because I’m as dark as the model, and because I have a colour very similar to what he used on her eyelids. His was called Lipton. I used my FM Dark Skin Foundation in Mocha brown for the look because the gold highlight in it gives that glowing finish to the skin in photos (not to the naked eye though). For eyeshadows I used a light application to get the results I wanted.

Watch the video here:

 

Get the look:

Face:

Mary Kay oil mattefier, Mary Kay concealer in bronze 2, FM Dark Skin foundation in mocha brown, Mary Kay mineral pressed powder in bronze 2

 

Eyes:

Mary Kay concealer in bronze2;

Shadow Worx eyeshadow primer;

Opia eyeshadow quad - the silvery brown (eyelid & tear duct);

Clinique eyeshadow trio – the dark brown (crease & lower lash line);

L’Oreal single eyeshadow in 902 Lush Raven (an off black/dark grey, for outer corner & outer third of lower lash line);

Coastal Scents 88 palette, second colour on the lowest row, brow bone);

Air Woman dark brown brow pencil in #44,

Jordana black retractable eyeliner,

Mary Kay mascara

 

Cheeks:

Iman blush in Sable (reddish-brown), and

Bourjois blush in 85 Sienne

Lips:

Absolute! lip conditioner,

Air Woman lip liner in #18, 

Ushas pink & gold lip-gloss

 

Tiph’s Hair Day: The Double Bun

I saw this very lovely casual double bun in this picture on the internet last year…

I think it was done for the run way. It's super easy to do (3 minutes tops), and can be replicated on a weave, even when you have no leave outs (that's your own hair that you leave out in the part, and/or around the perimeter of your head). These are my renditions of the double bun on a full weave

Try it if you haven't; see if you like it. Comb the hair through, section off the top, smoothen and wrap it into a bun, securing the bun with bobbi pins (which must not show!). Do same for the bottom, and you're done!

Ciao!!!

Tipharah’s FOTD: NEUTRALS

In my humble opinion, I look really nice in matte colours. They do me well, so I like them and do them a lot, especially neutral colours. Question though: does it have to be brown to pass for a neutral? Hmm. Gold and bronze, and even cranberry will do for a really lovely neutral makeup on a dark skinned person. I did a ‘barely there’ makeup on myself a while back using golds and browns on my lips, eyes and cheeks, and it was lovely, but that’s for another day. Today’s makeup is brown themed. I love brown, and for some reason some of my friends think it odd. Green is my best colour, and brown is first runner up. Others follow behind. And I really don’t like pink except fuchsia or something close to fuchsia, else it just has this vibe that puts me off, and I have no idea why.

The choice of colour in my hair was an accident. I would never have deliberately sought out a colour 30 for any reason because I’m scared of colour in my hair, but this was the result of deceptive lighting at the store. I took it out the evening of the very day I put it in, fixed something else, and bought another pack in colour 1 (black) to mix it with, and that was a month later. This is the mix in the photo. Still don’t think I‘ll ever do a ‘30’ again.

 
Face:
Mary Kay liquid foundation in #708 and 808, concealer in bronze 2, oil mattefier, and mineral pressed powder bronze 2
Iman blush in Sable

Eyes:
Mary Kay concealer in bronze 2
Shadow Worxs eyeshadow primer (the shimmer one)
88 palette (matte/pearlescent); lid, outer corner and brow bone
Clinique eyeshadow trio–the dark brown (crease & lower lash line);

Lips:

Air Woman #18 pencil,

Island Beauty Honey lipstick,

a browny-pink lip gloss (name’s faded)

 

See you soon,

Ciao!