Happy Thanksgiving: an eye tutorial for Cranberry Sass!

Start, as always, with a clean face and your products gathered and orderly.  I'm THANKFUL for all of my luck in finding such awesome makeup.  Pictured: WnW MegaPLUMP mascara in black, Madd Style Cosmetix loose pigments in Unicorns and Glitter, Kick Ass, Young Blood, Dirty Beats, Mudd Slinger, and Pawn Shop.  Also shown is NYX shadow base in flesh.  Not shown: MSC Awesome Sauce, Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original.

Gather your tools! I'm THANKFUL for my Fash set - it really is awesome.

Start out with your NYX shadow base.  I needed this look to be a little more conservative, so I went with the flesh tone, but it would be KILLER if you used a white base to really make the colors pop.

See? blends right in.

Now, MSC's Young Blood OR Kick Ass could be used alone, but I really wanted a deep cranberry, the color of home-made crock pot cranberry and port wine sauce, so I mixed equal parts of both to achieve the desired color.  Play around with it and find what you prefer most, though.

Ta Daaa! Bring that color out to the middle of your lids and slightly above your crease.

Next take your MSC Dirty Beats, and working from the outside in, meet the cranberry color in the middle.

Blend lightly with a fluffy brush using a windshield wiper motion in the middle of the eye, and a flicking motion in the crease, bringing the dirty beats into the cranberry color.

Once you have those colors blended, go ahead and use MSC Unicorns and Glitter in the duct and on the orbital bone, and make a very light sweep along your top lash line with MSC Pawn Shop, using a pencil brush.

Now you're going to take a drop of Awesome Sauce and mix up some liner with Dirty Beats, and line both lower and upper lash lines.

Try to make sure your hand is steadier than mine. (Due to a medication I take, I have a chronic tremble, which is why my eyeliner is always shite, no matter how much I may practice with it.)

Peekaboo!

From the side.  You can really see the Unicorns and Glitter and the Pawn Shop from this angle.

Ignore the breakout and the lack of makeup please.  4 AM tutorial.

Cheese!

Don't be intimidated by the red, and don't be intimidated by sassing it up even more than I did.  You're only as green as your courage is.  Boldly go, and stay Madd!

Winter's sunset

Here in the land of oranges and honey, winter comes just as rapidly, but far prettier than most places.  Our sunsets during the colder months are no less stunning than when they are during our lush, subtropical summers.  The following look may appear to be a tropical beachy affair, but I promise - it was based on a sunset from this very past week! :)

UDPP, MSC Lust, Strange Potion, Unicorns and Glitter, Never Ending Summer, Honey Badger, Bitch Slap, and Effin' Perfektion Powder.  ELF under eye concealer, NYX shadow base in white, W&W plumping mascara and W&W kohl black eye liner.

Brushes! (and wine! The wine is optional, though.)

Now, I know I've talked before about the importance of a good, soft cloth and high quality toner.  I want to go into that a little more in-depth right now.  Many people assume that they don't need a toner unless their skin is "problem" skin, but that's untrue.  Everyone's skin collects a surface layer of dead skin, oil, and dust/dirt particulates.  Your lids and lashes are no different.  Unless I've JUST gotten out of the shower, I will always use a mild toner in order to provide the cleanest possible canvas.  Makeup is art, after all.  Don't we want to make sure that we're working with materials of the highest caliber?

Freshly toned face! And bleary eyes!

After applying your UDPP, go ahead and work on those under-eye circles.  Mine are particularly stubborn- a mix of allergies and lack of sleep, so I really tend to pat on the concealer a little more densely.  When you've done so, let it set up for a moment.  You want it to still be tacky and blend-able, but not so wet that your payoff is more on your fingers than it is under your eye.  You also want to make sure you're patting it with the pads of your fingers, never rubbing.

See the difference between the right and the left? ELF is MAGIC, I say!  When you've done both eyes, set it with a sparing dusting of Effin' Perfektion Powder.  This will also help your eyeliner from wandering down your face.

Now apply a light layer of NYX's shadow base.  You want just the barest hint of white there, since you're using some subtle colors that can get lost and muddled if there's too much going on underneath.

Starting out with Never Ending Summer, bring that down into your lash line and stop about a third into your lid, or where your iris begins.  From there, pick up your Honey Badger and finish bringing that out to your outer corner.

Now it's time for Lust and Strange Potion.  I wanted to juxtapose the more subtle colors across from each other, so Lust went in the inner halves of my lids, and Strange Potion on the outside.  DON'T BLEND YET.

Bring the Bitch Slap in at the very very barest outer v of your eye, and up into the crease.  Blend it down gently with the pads of your fingers, taking the time to now just barely eliminate the clear lines of demarcation between the other four colors.

See? You can clearly see that there are multiple colors involved, but it has a cohesive appearance without being muddy.

Now take your Unicorns and Glitter, and use it both in your duct and across your orbital bone for just the lightest shimmer of pinky-gold to highlight.

Line with black liner first, and set the liner with more Bitch Slap.  Add the mascara of your choice, and....

Voila!  A beautiful look set to eliminate those winter sads by reminding you of the beauty that this time of year brings with it.  Stay Madd, darlings!

Summertime Blues

It's winter down here in Florida.  Daylight is lack luster, and it's dark by 5:15 PM.  For a gal who is used to evening temps of 90 or more, this is death on my mental health.  I suffer from SAD, and my order of full-spectrum bulbs has yet to come in.

In light (HA!) of that, I decided to give summer one last hurrah with some bright and bold blues.

We've got the usual suspects: UDPP, NYX Shadow base, Brown liner, Physician's Formula mascara, ELF under eye concealer, MSC Awesome Sauce, but some brand-new to this blog piggies! MSC's Third Wish, Cry Baby, Seaglasm, Nirvana, and Horror Galore!  Also used is MSC Uber Boss Lip Gloss in Pink Ladies.

Blurry Brushes!  Sometimes my camera cooperates.  Sometimes... sometimes not so much.

With a touch of Awesome Sauce, spread on the NYX base so you have fairly opaque coverage.

On the inner half of your lids, pat on Seaglasm.  Again, go for opaque coverage.  If you're like me, sometimes you just really need POP to bring up your spirits.

Using the same intensity, add Nirvana to your outer lid.

Last steps, line first with brown pencil, setting the pencil with Horror Galore.  Dab a bit of Cry Baby in  your ducts, and highlight with Third Wish.

Put on your gloss of choice, sit on the swing, and bask in the remaining daylight hours.  Heck, as long as it's above 70 degrees, fix a lemonade and REALLY pretend!

Sandcastles - beachy nudes for blustery cold days!

Ya'll know the drill by now.  Products!  ELF Under eye concealer, Rimmel London waterproof liner in brown, Physician's formula mascara in Black Brown.  Madd Style Cosmetix: Desert Punk, Secret Sinner, Dirty Beats, and Birf'day Suit. MSC Awesome Sauce. NYX Shadow base in nude.  Brow powder in hazel. UDPP.

Brushes!

Place a drop of awesome sauce in the NYX shadow base pot.  Smoosh it around really well, and then...

Apply to entire lid.

Blend really well!

Starting out with the Desert Punk, apply to entire lid.

Then fill in the outer middle to corner with Secret Sinner.  Blend, but not toooo much. 

Next, at the barest minimum of the outer v and into the crease, blend in Dirty Beats.  Bring that over nearly to your inner duct, being careful not to make monochromatic mud.

Tightline your lower lash line with waterproof pencil.

Apply brows, mascara, and under eye brightener/concealer.

Et voila!  A lovely, beachy nude look, perfect for wear in the winter as well as the summer.  I hope looks like this one keep you warm on the coldest of days!  Stay warm, and STAY MADD! <3