How To CONTOUR With Huda TANTOUR, On Oily, Textured, Tan Skin

How To CONTOUR With Huda TANTOUR, On Oily, Textured, Tan Skin

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, July 08, 2019

When Huda Beauty's Tantour Contour and Bronzer Cream launched, I barely gave it a second thought. First of all, I wasn't huge on contouring. Finicky business that, particularly when you're in a hurry. Who has the time to blend all that stuff seamlessly? Secondly, I have MAD texture - pitted acne scars - to which everything from blush and bronzer to highlighter tend to draw attention. Thirdly, ugh - a cream product, in a jar, no less! Ain't no one got the time for cream products. Not on my oily skin! Finally, the colours - NO WAY was something that looked like that coming within a mile of me.
Then, I watched this video review and demo, by Shahleena, one of the (few) Beauty YouTubers I watch and trust. And then, I knew I wanted to try it.
FIRST use in, I was hooked. These days, it is my one-stop cheek product. I skive off on everything else - blush and highlighter - but not this one. It even helps thin down my fat cheeks and double chin (thanks to steroids - more on that another time). But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

Scroll down for a review, swatches, and tutorial of Huda Beauty's Tantour Contour And Bronzer Cream, which makes contouring a breeze even on OILY, textured skin.

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Revolution x Carmi Make Magic Palette Review, Swatches, Duochrome Makeup Tutorial

Revolution x Carmi Make Magic Palette Review, Swatches, Duochrome Makeup Tutorial

Videos Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, June 04, 2019

Are you ready for this? Duochrome eyeshadows! Magical blending! Easy-to-do EOTDs with depth and dimension!
Meet the Revolution x Carmi Make Magic Eyeshadow Palette, launched by Revolution Beauty in collaboration with beauty YouTuber Carmi MUA. This is Makeup Revolution's second collab with Carmi.
The Carmi Make Magic Palette is very different from the Tammi Tropical Carnival Palette, that I reviewed here - that was a lot bolder, more summery - this one isn't seasonal, you can use it at any time. 
The palette costs just £10, and contains 20 eyeshadows, of which six are a bit larger, and include duochromes, foils, metallics, glitters, and shimmers. The rest are matte or pearly/shimmery, no glitters. The colour scheme includes something for everyone. There are perfectly work-friendly neutrals, including the ideal base shades for those who are tan/warm/medium/olive hued. There are pops of colour that will see you through Summer. There are rich, smoky shades. There are ice-queen pales. Best of all, there are warm and cool eyeshadows in here. In short, I think this is one of the most universal palettes I've seen in a long while.

Scroll down for my review and swatches of the Revolution x Carmi Make Magic Palette, and a duochrome eye makeup tutorial.

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GRWM: Summer Night Makeup Look With Givenchy

GRWM: Summer Night Makeup Look With Givenchy

Videos Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, June 13, 2018

It has been a while since I did a full-face makeup look or tutorial. A bad breakout - as usual - was the reason. Now that things are slowly clearing up, I've been playing with makeup again.
My YouTube and Instagram followers may have seen my first haul of the year, from Sephora, a couple of months ago. I bought quite a bit of Givenchy makeup, including my first cream eyeshadow - a gorgeous purpley black affair. These are the products I used for my makeup look.
This is a purpley-black smoky eye makeup look for Summer nights out.

Scroll down for a Summer night out makeup tutorial with Givenchy products.

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Fresh-Faced Makeup Look: Fresh Start For 2018

Fresh-Faced Makeup Look: Fresh Start For 2018

YSL Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, January 14, 2018

I had a very good first-half of 2017. Then, halfway through, Dad got bitten by a snake, and I was hospitalised with a severe case of anaphylaxis. Dad's doing better now, but then Gramps fell ill. I have allergy tests scheduled for next week.
So I hope 2018 is a lot better. To signify a fresh start for this year, I decided to do a fresh-faced makeup look. Dewy and soft, with very sheer foundation. Some mild peripheral warmth - no great contour. Soft neutral daytime-smoky eyes, and a gorgeously dusty-rose lipstick with coral undertones.

Scroll down for a wearable, fresh-faced makeup look tutorial, to make a fresh start for 2018! 

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How To Fill Your Brows With Sigma Brow Expert Kit Tutorial

How To Fill Your Brows With Sigma Brow Expert Kit Tutorial

Videos Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Discovering tweezer-magic in my late teens, I've ended up with overplucked eyebrows as an adult. Worse, they are asymmetric and flat, and try as I may, I cannot achieve an arched brow. Plus, I have sparse lashes. So I'm huge on filling my brows to frame my face - but without making them look weird and unnatural.
The Sigma Brow Expert Kit contains seven products to help achieve the perfect eyebrows. I have a demo for you further below.

Scroll down to know how to achieve the perfect eyebrows with the Sigma Brow Expert Kit.

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Six Ways To Incorporate Sunscreen In Your Makeup Routine

Six Ways To Incorporate Sunscreen In Your Makeup Routine

Videos Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, July 20, 2017

Ever skipped sunscreen because it left a whitish cast, or there was no time, or it made your makeup look weird? Or, because it made you oily, or pilled up, or because it made you break out? Makeup wouldn't stay on top?
I've been guilty of eschewing the SPF - for all of the above reasons. Thankfully, now you have products which don't give you any of these problems. Best of all, there are multi-tasker sunscreens which fit seamlessly into your makeup routine. No, I'm not talking about foundations with SPF, or moisturisers with SPF. Au contraire, new generation sunblocks function as primers, setting sprays, essences, and more, as you will see below.

Here are six ways of incorporating sunscreen into your morning routine, without disturbing your makeup.

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Soft Neutral Makeup Look With Duochrome Eyeshadow

Soft Neutral Makeup Look With Duochrome Eyeshadow

Videos Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, April 27, 2017

Some days ago, I had showed you a makeup look featuring the Makeup Geek Duochrome Eyeshadow in the shade Ritzy - see here. Here is another FOTD, with the shade Havoc. I cannot get enough of the Makeup Geek Duochrome Eyeshadows. I want them all! I have also discovered a fondness for Chantecaille - I picked up a couple of their lipsticks on last year's Boxing Day sales, and cannot get enough of them.
This look was done soon after I underwent my second round of subcision for scar-revision, so you can see a bunch of needle-entry points on my cheeks, especially the right cheek. Because of the procedure, I only used a CC cream and not a full-coverage foundation - also, the snail mucin in the CC cream helps my ravaged skin heal faster.

Scroll down for a soft-glowy makeup look I did using Makeup Geek Duochrome Eyeshadows, Chantecaille lipstick, By Terry Sun Designer Palette, and more. 

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10-Step Skincare Routine Guide, Tutorial: Why, What, How To

10-Step Skincare Routine Guide, Tutorial: Why, What, How To

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Ten points before we go any further:

1. This is not about a typical Korean skincare routine. I use a mixture of mainstream and Korean brands. 
2. Nor is it a strict 10-step skincare routine. You will find suggestions with just four products. Or even 12 steps.
3. This regimen is only at night. I have a life. My morning routine is a condensed 4-5 step version and includes SPF. That is for another post. 
4. Do not wake up tomorrow and decide to pile on 10 products at one go. Step by step. Introduce one product into your routine at a time. Build up to it gradually. I began with no/three steps.
5. There is no panacea out there. Some things work for some people. So include whatever suits you in your *-step routine.
6. Your mileage may will vary. Read that again. And again. Customise the routine according to your skin type. Skip/combine/split up/add steps.
7. You can use spot treatment, hyaluronic acid, a rinse-off mask, a sleeping pack, and a sheet mask on the same day you use Vitamin C. You can add every step you can think of and do a 20-step routine. Entirely up to your skin. 
8. My skin type is acne-prone, and very oily (the kind where countries think of replacing their oil export deals with my face).
9. An FAQ post will be posted tomorrow. Detailed posts on each step are also in the works.
10. Verbose post ahead. 

Scroll down for the Ultimate 10-Step Skincare Routine Guide and Tutorial.  

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How To Pack A Travel Beauty Bag: For Acne Prone Skin With Multi-Step Routine

How To Pack A Travel Beauty Bag: For Acne Prone Skin With Multi-Step Routine

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The problem with acne-prone skin - in my case, recovering from a severe infection - is that you need specific products apart from the usual cleansing-hydrating routine. It poses quite a challenge while travelling; you end up packing enough products to fill a cabin trunk.
Now that my skincare routine has been revamped by my new dermatologist (who won my loyalty when he told me the benefits of makeup) to include acid toning and clarifying facial oils, I have a host of new products in my regimen. When I went to stay with my grandparents recently after Gramps had medical appointments and Gran's sugar levels dropped, the challenge was to pack as lightweight as possible so as not to arrive with a freight train in tow, at the same time retain my multi-step regimen.  

Scroll down for travel beauty bag packing trips for acne-prone skin.

How To Work With Eyeshadow Crayons: Teal Eye Makeup Look

How To Work With Eyeshadow Crayons: Teal Eye Makeup Look

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, February 17, 2016

For a long time, I refused to try eyeshadow crayons. Shadow pencils or sticks - call them what you will. The SA in Sephora Rome talked me into picking up three Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic Glide-On Waterproof Eyeshadow sticks in July 2015. I agreed just to hit 150 euros and be eligible for tax-free shopping. The following day, I began hunting for more eyeshadow pencils and picked up crayons from MUFE, Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks, Nudestix and By Terry.

Here is a teal eye makeup look I did with eyeshadow crayons and how to achieve it.

What is Strobing? How to Strobe and FOTD

What is Strobing? How to Strobe and FOTD

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Friday, September 18, 2015

Strobe lights. So I supposed "strobing" must be a form of heinous torture where beams of 50,000 lm/m² were shone into prisoners' eyes until they watered and their retinas just gave up and burnt out, as described in The Gulag Archipelago. Overactive imagination, much?
Turns out it is highlighting the face for a luminous look. If contouring "deepens" the shadow-areas and sculpts your face, strobing accentuates the brighter areas (apples of the cheeks, brow-bones, chin, centre of the forehead...) with a fresh glow. 
I usually prefer a matte look, as my face already produces enough oil to fuel a small country for a month. So I was leery of strobing at first.
Chances of my looking like a female version of Edward Cullen, Esq. a glitter bomb? Very high, I decided, reaching for my favourite highlighter. Nothing ventured.
And, this is the result.

The products and method I used to achieve this strobed makeup look are detailed further below. G'wan, look.

Nail tutorial: How to take your mani through the week

Nail tutorial: How to take your mani through the week

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, June 07, 2015

Greetings from London, where Summer requires a few layers, a scarf and a jacket. I was in Bristol where my internet access was irregular-to-nonexistent, so it's good to be back online. Since I am trying to do a gazillion things here as well as find time to eat and live, some of my friends are kindly helping me out here for a while. Today, it is Nidia Doherty of Lit From Within. You have to visit Nidia's blog and look at that cute firefly, the way she matches her manis to her skincare and makeup products and her trove of trivia on all topics from essential oils to moisturisers. Over to Nidia now.

Hello, Readers! My name is Nidia, and I run a little blog called Lit From Within.  I'm excited to share a little nail art with you today! When I was putting this look together, I was thinking about how to take a mani through the week.  Maybe you have to be more conservative with your nails during the workweek, or maybe you don't have time to do anything other than a one-color mani most of the time, but you want to change it up for an event.

How and why I rebranded and changed to a new domain name

How and why I rebranded and changed to a new domain name

Website Cosmetopia Digest   Saturday, March 07, 2015

Utopia: a state of things in which everything is perfect.

I think this blog outgrew "My Beauty Junction" a while ago. I wanted something that was my own; that stood for my own corner on the internet. For sometime now, I have been racking my head over names; a discussion with a few blogging friends yielded results. Huge thanks go out to Anne Smith of Betty's Beauty Bombs for suggesting Cosmetopia, combining Cosmetics and Utopia. Apart from producing the best dang nail art stamping I have ever seen in my life, Anne clearly has a penchant for copywriting.
What is my version of utopia? It involves lots of great quality makeup, skincare that works, LOTS of gifts with purchase, subscription boxes that exceed their face value, haircare that removes frizz completely, acne treatment that eradicates pimples forever, makeup brands lowering their prices without compromising on quality... isn't this utopia a lot nicer than the one that politicians promise?

For fellow-bloggers looking to change their domain name, here's a step-by-step look at how I rebranded, changed my domain name and redirected the old URL to the new one. 

Fuss-free Half-up, Half-down Ponytail Tutorial For Frizzy Hair

Fuss-free Half-up, Half-down Ponytail Tutorial For Frizzy Hair

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, February 23, 2015

Try out this super-easy, everyday ponytail that is voluminous and bouncy. 

Ponytails are usually synonymous with sleek hair but my super-frizzy hair does not give a toss. My go-to hairstyle for almost everything from work to play is a half-up, half-down ponytail. It keeps the hair tangle-free and away from my back, and is not flat, but bouncy and voluminous. Not as serious as a bun and far more convenient than open hair. My hair is quite long and leaving it open and loose everyday would mean serious detangling every night.
All you need for this look are two accessories - a hair tie or a scrunchie, and a claw clip. I recommend the flat-backed revolutionary Linziclip, with hidden springs - reviewed here. The beauty of this style is that the hair tie is hidden, so you can actually wear a scrunchie without feeling that the world is laughing at you for staying back in the 1990s.
Here's how you get this fuss-free, wearable frizzy-hair ponytail. 

Beauty trends 1880s-1980s: Second Blogiversary Special

Beauty trends 1880s-1980s: Second Blogiversary Special

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Friday, January 16, 2015

 

A century of beauty trends, tips, tutorials and perceptions from 1880s-1980s magazines. 

 

The word "trend" implies something modern and not 130 years old, but more on the semantics in a minute.
I cannot believe it is two whole years since this blog began - I feel like a complete noob most of the time. I would like to thank everyone who has read this blog for their support and hope you have liked it here at least for an infinitesimal second, at some point... Thanks also go to ANYONE who has advised, helped and shared knowledge and posts with and for me. I have more colleagues now than I have ever had at any workplace and love that about blogging.
Last year, I celebrated my first blogiversary by showing you some beautiful vintage beauty advertisements - check the post here. It is my all-time favourite post.
This year, I am sharing article-excerpts from women-centric magazines from the 1880s to the 1980s, containing beauty trends (i.e., whatever was trendy at the time), tips, tutorials, and perceptions. All of these are from my Gran's and Mum's collections, carefully scanned under heavy scrutiny after months of begging, bribing, pleading, coaxing and emotional blackmailing, and returned amid many mutterings. Warning: Picture-heavy.

Enjoy the old-world beauty tips, tutorials and perceptions!

Thread nail art with Essie St Lucia Lilac polish

Thread nail art with Essie St Lucia Lilac polish

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Saturday, May 31, 2014

This is a beauty blog. Not a glossy magazine. And I am not a model, but a snub-nosed, wonky-toothed, oily- and acne-skinned former tomboy who is only learning my way through makeup. So there are bound to be fails.
But the courage to show a makeup fail has not been easy to find. You want to show the world your best efforts, not the ones that went awry. At the same time, fails show both of us where I went wrong, what not to do and how to improve on my attempt.
This is a nail art experiment I did with stranded embroidery yarn. I had seen string or thread manicures using sewing thread and wanted to try them out but ended up with stranded embroidery yarn instead of thin sewing thread! Thankfully, no freehand work was involved.

Here is how I did a thread manicure over Essie St Lucia Lilac nail polish.

DIY: How to cut your own FIMO nail art slices from canes

DIY: How to cut your own FIMO nail art slices from canes

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Wednesday, March 12, 2014

This is not a tutorial as much as a DIY learning experience.

In a moment of inexplicable brain-melt last year, I concluded that it was cheaper and better to buy full FIMO canes rather than pre-cut slices. The canes came in - all 50 of them - one cuter than the other, and I had visions of gorgeous nail art featuring the strawberries, the kiwis, the leaves and the cute butterflies. The first time I tried to slice the canes, I got each round at least a millimetre thick and highly uneven. You can see the nail art I did with those extra-thick slices here. I decided to try again. 

Read on to find out what happened when I tried to cut thin FIMO slices out of the canes.

Burberry plaid nail art design: Striping tape manicure tutorial for beginners

Burberry plaid nail art design: Striping tape manicure tutorial for beginners

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Monday, December 09, 2013

I've been meaning to do a Burberry nail art design ever since I swatched the Burberry Lip Mist lipsticks. The Burberry tartan is striking and there are too many knock-offs of the famous plaid, which was first spotted in the 1920s, as the lining to the trademark Burberry trench coat before featuring on outfits, shoes, bags and scarves.

You can easily replicate the check-pattern on your nails with a nail art pen or long brush, and pair the manicure with a black outfit or with your favourite Burberry dress. I decided to use some of the striping tape I got from eBay for $2.50 including postage (for 12 colours). This is equally easy and leaves no room for errors, even for those with unsteady hands or those who came last in drawing classes *me*. Striping nail art involves just three steps - Cut, Place and Trim!

Here's how you can do a Burberry manicure with striping tape.

Stamping nail art tutorial II - with Konad image plate and O.P.I. Don't Pretzel My Buttons

Stamping nail art tutorial II - with Konad image plate and O.P.I. Don't Pretzel My Buttons

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, November 10, 2013

Did you get all the stamping nail art gear I had suggested (see here)? Good, now find your flat surface and let's get started with the stamping process.

Stamping nail art tutorial basics I: Simple mistakes to avoid; tips, tricks and pointers

Stamping nail art tutorial basics I: Simple mistakes to avoid; tips, tricks and pointers

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, November 07, 2013

Stamping nail art is easy to do and always in vogue; you can't go wrong with it if you get some simple basics right. After receiving - and answering - some questions on how to do stamping nail art, I was asked to do a detailed post for beginners. I am not an expert on stamping (or any other nail art) and have my messy-stamping days, but I found that there are quite a few tricks that many of the videos tend to miss out on.

As there are several facets to stamping nail art, I'll be doing this in three parts - this one is on the equipment used. Part II will be the step-by-step tutorial on stamping nail art and part III will be a list of non-Konad/special polishes that you can stamp with. All will be detailed posts, and picture-heavy. If all goes well, I will eventually be sharing step-by-step tutorials for FIMO, ombre, watermarbling, splatter, tape and other kinds of nail art. Suggestions/hate-mail welcome.