I Make Pretty For You | Bold No Make Up Look for Fall

Okay, so technically there is some make up involved, but not nearly as much as a regular make up look.

All you need is your favorite colored eyeliner (two in this case) and some mascara along with your everyday moisturizers for your face. For this look, I used Stila's smudge stick in Starfish mixed with Milani Liquif'eye liner in green; my mascara of choice is my favorite from Maybelline. The liners are waterproof so smudging is minimal, and with the cooler temperatures of fall, it's unlikely to budge anyway. However, if you have oily skin around your eyes, just use a little powder or flesh-toned eye shadow to seal in the liner.

Pick your favorite nude lipstick to complete this natural look. This lip butter is a gorgeous nude color for darker skin tones.

There are a lot of variations of this look, which is perfect for those days when you don't have a lot of time to put a full face on, but you don't want to look like shit. Adding a simple colored eyeliner and some neutral lips is a great way to look like you tried to put your best face forward.

I know this photo looks pretty much identical to the first, but I'm too self-indulgent to care.

What are your bare essentials for a "no-make" up look?

I Make Pretty For You | Simple, Shimmery Everyday Look

 ...starting off with my customary grade school portrait style picture...

The simple part of this tutorial is in the minimal items used to create this look; it was designed to be an everyday look that can be achieved in about 10 minutes.

I stopped using this pressed powder for a while because MAC's loose powder was more suited for the hotter weather, but now that it has cooled down a bit, I've started using it everyday. It has a nice medium coverage and a matte finish that stays put all day (NW 45).

I use this brown eyeshadow called "cinnabar" by Mary Kay as a base when I want a really soft, muted look. I find that any color I put on top of it blends with my skin a lot more because this shade of brown is almost the exact color of my lids.

MAC's black eye shadow in "carbon" is not the most pigmented black I own so it makes an excellent daytime smokey eye shadow.

Stila's smudge stick in "Starfish" is the perfect lower lid eyeliner; I love the shimmer in it and how it can complete a look on its own.

I almost always reach for Lancome's "Makeover Metallic" eye shadow when I want a lower lid or inner tear duct shimmer. The pink actually goes on more silvery which makes it more compatible with other eye shadows.

 The end result should look very blended out and subtle; add your favorite mascara (see tools and priming items HERE).

Finally, I finished off with one of the popular Revlon balm stains, this one is called "Adore", 

it's absolutely gorgeous for darker skin tones.

...wrapping it up with my pouty-lipped posing.

Make sure to watch my quick tutorial video HERE.

I make pretty for you | Golden Green Smokey Eye

First of all, this could totally be my school portrait in like, the 8th grade. 

I usually stay away from doing beauty/make up posts or videos because there aren't too many products out there that are catered to my skin tone so it's hard for me to be inspired to invest the time or money in new items.

Nevertheless, I still love wearing make up and I recently decided to start putting together some looks with some new products that have worked really well for me.

Products Used for my Golden Green Smokey Eye Look:

 I moisturized first (I do everyday) with Jojoba oil and some Aveeno sunscreen lotion.

My eye primer and face primer:

I find that I have to shake up this Too Faced eye shadow primer before I squeeze it out because it separates sometimes; still works great though.

MAC is one of the few make up companies that go out of their way to cater to women with darker skin tones so I tend to wander over to that make up counter quite a bit when I have the money.

I have three different powders by them; their loose power is my go to for summer:

After I've applied my face primer, I apply my face powder and then my eye shadow primer. The powder helps absorb some of the moisture in the crease of my lid so my shadow primer is more effective.

While everything is setting, I apply my eye liner which is this amazing green pencil liner from Milani, another company that does an excellent job of marketing to people with darker skin tones. The Liquif'eye liner is a recent purchase and basically the star of this look. It goes on so smooth and has an incredibly vibrant color payoff that doesn't budge in the heat when applied correctly.

 I've never been here for the Naked Palette.
Stila gets it done for me every time. I got all cheesy and shot this one in the garden :P

I used these colors:

 Breeze has this wonderful muted shimmer to it I used it to highlight my tear duct area but it could also work as a nice highlight under the brow.

 Honey is the quintessential gold shadow; it looks metallic, but the shimmer is actually really subtle.

Moss makes a great neutral for darker skin tones; it's a wonderful crease color for a basic daytime smokey eye as well. 

Le Swatches:

Milani eye pencil---Moss---Honey---Breeze

I used NYX jumbo eye pencil in milk to help all these colors look as vibrant as possible.

My tools:

 Some Pixiwoo realness, a little E.l.f. and Sonia Kashuk. I keep it pretty standard.

All these brushes are fantastic and I'm definitely planning on getting more.

...and the final touches:

 ...finally, I added some Mega Plush action for the finished eye look.

I used one of my favorite Revlon lip butters, Sugar Plum; it's a perfect pink for darker skin tones.

I always use Blistex chapstick as a base for all my lip colors because the SPF 15 protects my lips, which is usually not found in lipsticks or glosses.

 The finished look, complete with superficial pouty-lipped posing :)

Tutorial Video Here.