Who Do You Think You Are???

One of my favourite shows on television right now is the show 'Who Do You Think You Are?" - various celebrities are followed by a camera crew as they work with experts to find out where their ancestors are from.  Learning their families history and the struggles they went through really brought into perspective for them how precious life is and whats really important in life.  Sarah Jessica Parker found out of her relatives lived in Salem and one of her relatives was tried in the Salem witch trials (lucky it was towards the end of the trials and she was not put to death).  Lisa Kudrow learned of the horrors of the holocaust and the struggles of her Jewish relatives in Belarus.  Her family story was so inspirational!  Gwenyth Paltrow learned that one of her ancestors was a Rabbi that was known for performing miracles in his village, while her mothers side of the family was from Barbados. Brooke Shields discovered that she is of Royal blood and is related to many kings and queens of France (I always knew there was something so regal about her).  Part of the reason I love this show so much is that it makes you step back and look at 'who you really are' and where you've come from.  If you don't know about your past and don't respect the struggles of your ancestors, you lose a part of who you are.  Knowing your ancestry gives you a sense of stength that no matter what occurs, you are strong enough to survive and continue a legacy that will perhaps be uncovered for your children, grand-children, great grand-children etc etc.  I've mentioned before that my makeup muse if Angeline Jolie, but in all honesty, my #1 muse and the woman I look up to the most is my grandmother.  This past Sunday was the 4th year anniversay of her death and while standing in church, I realized that her presence is very much 'alive' and the mark she has left on my life will always be present. 

My grandmother was born in raised in a time of political turbulence.  She was born in Nedezow, Tomashov-Lubelski in Poland.  The area is known to Ukrainians as Chelm and througout history this land has gone back and forth between Ukraine and Poland.  The land was first established by King Danylo of Ukraine for the 'Rus' people to move and live, work the land etc.  My grandmother remembers everyone living together peacefully before the war - there were many Poles, Jews and Ukrainians living in her village and everyone respected each other, helping each-other out.  I always remember her telling me about one of her friends 'Moisha', a jewish boy who was taken from her village by the Nazi's - up until the time we started getting sick, she still spoke about how she always wonders what happened to him and wish she knew if he survived the war.  After the war, the relations between the poles and ukrainians was strained - my grandmother remembers her church being burned down by her neighbours that she once got a long with.  Then with the introdution of 'Acsia Visla' ordered by the Polish goverment, my grandmothers family was forced to move from their home and leave Poland to move to Ukraine.  My great-grandfather died en-route and by that time, my grandmother was already in Germany. My grandmother was taken by the Nazi's at the age of 15 to work in a forced labour camp in Bremen, Germany.  She never saw her father again, but was able to reuinite with her mother after 50 years. In Germany shy met my grandfather (also a Ukrainian taken to a forced labour camp) - my uncle was born in Germany as well - after the war, when communism started in Eastern Europe no-one was allowed in or out of the country.  She and her family decided to immgrate to Canada.  I feel lucky and privilaged to be living in a democratic country and I embrace the struggles of my family that brought them here ultimately.  So 'Who Do I think I am?????' - I think I'm lucky to have grown up with such a wonderful woman as my grandmother who, regardless of her struggles, made sure to teach me about tolerance and respect for all people.  I dedicate this post to her - my true 'muse' - I also admire the fact that we also look alike!!!

Soft 'Spiced Peach' Makeup

Peach is a stunning but sometimes tricky makeup shade to work with.  I find it similar to 'red' in that you need to find the rich peach shade for you.  Some people suit a light peach shade, others a beigy-peach, pink-peach or deep peach.  My personal favourite is a 'spiced peach' shade or muted faded terracotta - its perfect against my skintone, which is neutral-warm with some depth.  The key to making peach work is to find complimentary makeup shades - i.e. using a muted terracotta-peach blush to compliment the lip or going for a nice bronze-glow to bring out the 'spiced' effect.  The thing I know for sure is that this is one of my all time favourite looks.  Honestly, If I had to wear one makeup look for the rest of my life, this would probably be it!  I've decided to post multiple photos of this look next to a set of colours that I also find work against my skintone (the soft autumn palette):

For this makeup look I started with my basic flawless face, followed by PYW (pretty your world) - Goldfish blush.  On my eyes, I used Bobbi Brown Navajo eyeshadow as a base, MAC's Copperplate form the lid to crease (I also currently love NARS portabello duo as a lid to crease shade) and Teddy eye-liner with NARS Bengali smudged into upper lash line.  For that spiced peach lip-colour, I used Bronzelle with Barbarella lipstick.  Spice lipliner works equally well with Barbarella - I love playing around with both liner shades.  Spice is slightly deeper, so it works for evening as well!

Have fun playing around with different peach colours - don't get stuck is going for a pale or concealer-like nude lip - its not very flattering as a natural look in my opinion.  My makeup muse Angelina Jolie loves to wear lighter and muted peach, pinky-coral shades - check out some of her photos on-line to get ideas or simply go to Sephora and MAC and play around with different colours until you find one that works for YOU!

Angelina Jolie - A True Transformation Story Linked to Colour Analysis

ANgelina Jolie's 'look' been the subject of endless conversations in the makeup/beauty world.  I want to talk a little bit about her transformation from goth queen to sexy vixen and how you can create your own transformation! 

Just as Angelina started to become famous, she was known for spoting that pale beige lipcolour and uber dark hair:

I personally think this look made her have a very washed out appearance.  She was going for that gothic look at the time and instead of creating that smokey eye, nude lip vixen look, she looked sick and deathly!  However, Angelina eventually got out of this makeup rut (and we all have them - I think its just part of the transformtion of becoming who you really are - for me, I've been in endless makeup ruts and I finally want to find a classic look that works for all occassions).

I don't mean to put down Angelina -  in fact, she is my makeup 'muse' and idol - everyone has that one celebrity where they look up to them and gain inspiration for clothes and makeup - for me, that celeb is Angelina.  So how did her transformation occur - what brought Angelina back from the edge of death and looking like a vampire to this??????

Well, I think the answer to that question is a little complicated - its like asking, what is at the essence of 'change' itself?  Just looking at the photos we've seen of ANgelina so far in comparison to this one - her look has gone from 'harsh' to 'soft' - she has embraced her true beauty (both inside and out) and there is a harmony to her look that didn't exist before. Angelina is lucky enough to have the advice and talent of some of the best makeup artists giving her tips and tricks of the trade.  Another thing that I've noticed since Angelina's transformation to sexy vixen is that she has embraced her colours!  I've always supported the idea of colour analysis as an important way to better yourself and get to know what works for you colour wise.  I think the 80's gave colour analysis a bit of a bad reputation because the system was incomplete and too 'dictator' like - you can only be a summer, winter, spring, autumn etc etc - women were forced to be confined to one of 4 seasons with no movement and many makeup barriers.  Today the study of colour analysis leaves a lot of room for growth and its not about confinment - its about finding your harmony or finding your 'best self'.  Colour analysis has moved from putting women in a box to helping them tranform and manifest their best look!  The seasons have changed - there are no longer only 4 seasons with no movement within a season.  The Sci/Art approach (which is the best in my opinion) is a scientific approach that includes 12 seasons - 4 seasons are 'true' seasons (as you would remember from the 80's - true summer, true winter, true spring, true autumn), but the problem then and now is that not everyone fits into a true season.  Some women are 'soft' dominant (like myself and Angelina) - we fit into the neutral category, being able to wear both cool and warm tones (there is no restriction, rather its embracing your dominant soft look - I think everyone would agree that Angelina jolie looks a million times better in her soft medium brown hair with caramel/honey highlights and soft lipcolour vs the harsh winter-like black hair and pastel lip colour).  There are also Light and Deep types (also neutrals, leaning either neutral-cool or neutral-warm).  Getting draped by a certified Sci/art analysist is the best way to know for sure.  Check out the the following 12 blueprints website, if your interested in more information: http://12blueprints.com/

I personally feel that Angelina and I share a season - I feel we are both Soft Autumns (meaning we are dominant softs and leaning neutral-warm).  Here is my own personal transformation:

I never went through a goth stage, but I did go through a rut where I thought black hair and cool winter shades were my best - I thought this look made me look uber sexy, but in comparison to the next photo, you can really see the transformation take place:

The one thing that stands out the most to me is how the harsh winter look is forced and heavy vs the soft autumn look is harmonious and elegant.  Similarily, when you look at Angelina Jolie with the heavy black hair, you don't see 'Angelina', you see harshness instead of the elegance she has now found and embraced!  Although I have been draped as an autumn by colour analyist, it wasn;t the sci/art approach that I really like and admire.  I've decided that I am going to take the plunge and get draped - I just have to work out the date/times etc etc - I plan to get draped by Christine Scaman of 12 blueprints!  My prediction is that I will be a 'Soft Autumn'. 

I decided to put together a fun collage of both Angelina and myself next to the Soft Autumn colour fan - its obvious to me that these shades are so much more harmonious than the gothic or winter-like shades - but the key element here that is so important, is that going for a look may be fun, but in the end, when you embrace yourself and all that is beautiful and elegant about 'you' - you will shine brighter than any celebrity in Hollywood:

Retro Lipstick - MAC

Retro is a classic MAC lipstick - I think its one of their original colours and its one of those shades that is perfect if you have a neutral skintone that leans warm and is on the deeper side.  The MAC website describes this shade as a muted peachy-pink brown:

I find this shade just slightly too deep for me or perhaps this is just the deepest I can go - In the natural light it seems to look like a stunning 'mahogany' based shade - I'd love to hear your feedback about this colour - is it too deep or just right???

Contouring and Highlighting Makeup Effects

Since my last makeup class, I've been inspired by the concept of contouring and highlighting the face.  Its amazing how makeup can be used to bring out or tone down certain features just by playing around with the effects of light and dark.  My instructor used the following photo to help guide us through the process of contouring and highlighting - its taken from Kevyn Aucoin's book 'Making Faces':

I want to get as much practice as possible with contouring and highlighting, so I tried using this photo as a guide when I did my makeup this morning.  I started with my basic face of primer, foundation, concealer and powder - I then used a bronzer (MAC's Refined Golden) to contour and Bobbi Brown's Navajo shadow to highlight - Navajo was the closest thing I could think of to a natural highlighter - I want to find a shade that is slightly less frosted for future use and perhaps something with a little added warmth (I'm thinking a light peach highlight would look amazing):

The one thing that I love about highlighting right now is how I can make my eyes appear bigger and brighter - I made sure to highlight under my brow-bone and in the inner tear-ducts and it just creates a 'pop' effect for my eyes.  After contouring and highlighting, I simply added woodwinked eyeshadow to my lid and used a smaller eyeshadow brush to use the same shade on my lower lashline (MAC), blended Bengali by NARS in the crease to intensify the effect of the contour.  I used clinique's black brown eyeliner on the top and smudged it with an angled brush and then used Bengali on the lower lashline.  I then applied Stila's self adjust blush in coral and applied in-between the highlight and contour shades (another awesome tip I learned in class) and blended really well.  I finished off the look by applying Laura Mercier's Chestnut lipliner with MAC's Fanfare lipstick!

I can't wait to play around some more with the effects of contouring and highlighting and I can't wait to practice on as many people who will allow me - essentially, its about helping to create the perfect oval face shape - using highlighting to bring forth certain features and areas, while using the technique of contouring to create depth and minimize certain features.  I've recently read that Make Up For Ever has a contouring facial sculpting kit - I'm going to check it out the next time I'm at Sephora!!!

Farefare Lipstick - MAC Part 2

I wanted to compare Fanfare to my swatches of colours that were recommended for my skintone and 'wow' its a perfect match - its incredible how well the colour seems to compliment this swatch fan:

There is something to be said about finding the perfect colour to match your skintone - I'm SO excited to have discovered this shade!!!

Stila Convertable Color Blush in Camellia

Camellia is an amazing colour - in the pan it looks like a true terracotta shade.  Once applied to the cheeks, its gives the most natural peachy-brown glow.  I love that this shade can be used with so many different makeup looks and is perfect as a base for other blush colours, especially those in the neutral to peach/coral tones.  I wanted to try and show you the effect of this blush with a clean face, no other makeup added other than a natural lip colour (Bronzelle lipliner by Lancome with NARS Napoli and just a touch of Honolulu Honey applied to the centre of the lip).  I took this photo in natural light with no flash - I think it gives a really good representation of what the colour is like against the skin - check it out:

The thing I really love about this look is that it gives your face a natural flushed tan look, as if you've just hit the beach and the sun has just started to work a tan - not too dark or muddy, the perfect peachy-bronze glow!!!  I love pairing NARS Napoli with the peachy/coral shades - its the perfect natural peachy-pink lipcolour that is neither too light or too bright - perfect for everyday!!!

Makeup Artist in Training

I think my love affair with makeup began the day I left my mothers womb - I have always loved colour, painting, art, makeup etc.  I have worked with makeup ever since my mother gave me the go-ahead to start wearing makeup in high-school.  I've always experimented, torn pages out of magazines and tried to copy the looks.  For years people have been telling me to 'do something' with my passion for makeup and I finally decided that now is the right time to go to a reputable college and get my makeup artistry certification.  I have been looking around at various colleges and the one that really spoke to me was the Canadian Beauty College.  One of the ladies that I often talk to at MAC (she is a makeup artist at a nearby MAC locations) gave my the contact information and the rest just fell into place - I was really impressed with the course outline and the standards of the college and program.  So far I've completed two of the classes and I'm LOVING the entire experience.  My instructor Jenn is not only fantastic as explaining and teaching the material - she is exceptionally nice, friendly and really takes the time to answer any questions we may have.  I'm loving that I'm learning tips and tricks that are helping me apply makeup to others AND I'm loving that my own makeup application is becoming better! I know that this is exactly what I'm meant to be doing!!!  I'm looking forward to blogging more about what I'm learning and doing in class!  So far, here is what I'm loving the most:

-Learning to determine skintone and picking the right foundation, concealer and powder shades (I'm a neutral leaning warm)

-Learning the basics of contouring (this was todays class and I found this sooooo helpful - I can't wait to start playing around with this technique on myself and others - its actually fascinating the effects that makeup can do to hide and/or bring out the right elements of the face and its stucture)

-Learning what eyeshadow shades to use to bring out the colour of your eyes (my eyes are a blue-green shade with amber flecks).  My instructor Jenn suggested using a colour similar to MAC's Woodwinked and I loved the effect it had on my eyes - I feel they really do 'pop' and the best thing is that woodwinked is a universally flattering colour!!!

-Learning to create that everyday 'le no makeup look' that the Parisians are so well know for and then using makeup techniques to turn this look into a elegant day look - check it out:

Fanfare Lipstick by MAC

One of my favourite things in the world is coming across a colour that is both pretty and unique.  Fanfare fits this description perfectly - its not quite a coral and not quite a pink.  Its not too soft and light, but its also not too deep or bright - its actually the perfect 'complex' colour.  I tried Fanfare on its own and loved it.  I then decided to pair it with my favourite 'spice' liner by MAC to give it just a bit of of a neutral edge, without altering the colour too much.  The result - the perfect warm-toned pink.  The MAC website describes Fanfare as a 'mid tone yellow pink'.  I describe it as the perfect unique neutral-warm pink!!! 

A lot of the makeup I'm wearing in this photo was applied in my makeup class.  However, the eyeshadow I'm wearing is almost identical to MAC's woodwinked with a deeper bronze shade in the crease and smudged into the lower lashline as well.  I'm also wearing black mascara and a medium toned brown shadow on my brows.  After trying on Fanfare, I decided to play around with some blushes and ended up applying Stila's 'self adjusting coral' blush - this is such a cool blush as it reacts to your natural PH levels and 'morphs' into a colour that suits your skintone!!!  I lightly applied Spice by MAC before filling in my lips with fanfare - I have to say I absolutely LOVE this makeup!!!  I could definitely see myself adopting this look as my everyday day wear look - it feels so fresh and pretty for daytime!!!

Finding the Perfect Natural Lip Colour

Some makeup looks are governed by rules, others are not.  One of the questions that still resonates with me is "How to find the perfect natural lip colour?'.  I have heard so many 'methods' of finding that perfect colour - matching it to the colour of your inner gums. going a shade of two lighter or darker than your natural lip colour, pinching your lips and then trying to mimic the shade that appears right after you 'pinch' etc etc.  I do think that we have a natural harmony that exists within our own colouring, but if you want that 'my lips but better' look, sometimes playing around with shades until you find that 'custom colour' is key.  Since my last makeup class, I've been thinking about the notion of creating a custom foundation shade and how many women need to customize their foundation to fit them - why should it be any different for lipstick???  Some women have very pigmented lips, others have pale lips and different colours will morph or change on different people depending on many factors.  For example, my natural lipcolour has a pinkish tone to it, but when I wear pink lipstick, the effect is un-natural. My natural lipcolour will influence the pink colour creating an overly-cool pink shade. I don't suit pink lipstick at all - as soon as I choose the right balance of brown and pink-peach, my natural lipcolour will alter the shade and it will morph into the perfect neutral shade.  Here is a good example of what I mean:

In this photograph, you can see that my natural lipcolour is pigmented - its not overly pink, but it has a pinky-rose undertone.  I feel I need a splash of spiced peach to create the ultimate natural look.  Here is a photo of a lipcolour I really like on me next to the colour palette that I feel is my best.  The interesting thing about this lipcolour is that its custom made (I had to mix a liner with a lipstick and then blend in a more nude shade just to the centre of my lips) - It was only through customizing, that I discovered that finding the perfect natural lip colour is not as easy as a quick swipe of one colour - the most original shades are a combination of 2 or 3 shades mixed together:

Here is a close up of the photo so you can see the actual makeup:

To create this custom lip colour, I started with Bronzelle lipliner (one of my all time favourite lip liners), swept on Sandalwood Beige by Revlon (a warm, peachy shade) and them mixed Siss lipstick by MAC in the centre of the lips - The combination of the warm peach with the neutral nude is exactly what creates this soft terracotta colour.  I'd love to be able to say that my search is over, but we all know it never will be - I love the 'hunt' for the perfect lipstick products and now I love the idea of mixing and matching various shades until I can find a customized look that is perfect for me!!!

NARS Barbarella

Peach toned lipsticks are amazing - to me that have that soft romantic feel balanced with uber sexiness.  Angelina Jolie has been my makeup inspiration for the past little while and I find that she always looks stunning with a peach stain on her lips.  Barbarella lipstick by NARS is a 'true' peach shade in a tube.  Its not too light or too dark, not too bright or too soft - it is peach perfection:

I always like to mix in a neutral toned lipliner when working with any nude or neutral shade - I find that when you do that it mimics your natural lipcolour even more and the colour doesn't 'sit' on your lips, it has more of a harmonious, soft/elegant feel to it.  Since Angelina is such a makeup inspiration, I tried to find a photo where she is wearing a lipcolour similar to Barbarella and compared it to a photo where I'm wearing Barbarella with Spice lipliner by MAC:

In order for my lip colour to look even more like Angelina's in this photo, I would probably add a peach gloss as well - I'm thinking something like 'Giza' by NARS would be perfect.  Looking back at all the makeup photos of ANgelina Jolie over the years - she has gone from uber-dramatic makeup, ultra-beige lipcolours (many of which wash her out in my opinion), black hair and gothic inspired eyeliner and even platnum blonde hair.  However, once she embraced her softness, sporting a medium brunette hair colour with subtle caramel/gold highlights, neutral warm pinks and peach tones and wearing the softer earth toned clothes, she is 'glowing' - her makeup is superb and she looks more elegant and sexier than ever!!!  I think its important to have a makeup inspiration, as long as you stay true to yourself and the colours that work the best on you!!!

Capturing Angelina's Soft Look

I am always in awe of Angelina's soft makeup look - she looks so fabulous in the natural, neutral shades with some added warmth - soft corals, peaches, dusky rose-browns.  I've been trying to capture her look for a while and still need to polish up a bit on how she defined her eyes, but I think I've nailed the 'color' end of it - check out this photo that put together where you can compare the makeup looks:

One thing that Angelina has going for her is probably the fact that her photo has been photo shoped, so her skintone appears fresher and slightly more neutral-warm. but I think the effect of the makeup is the same.  Looking at this photo, I realize I need some more definition in regards to liner, going for that smoldering, but defined eye!  The lipcolour is quite good in comparison - in both photos I'm wearing a neutral toned liner - Spice (MAC) or Chestnut (Laura Mercier) with one of my favouite neutral toned colours - I beleive the top photo is NARS Barbarella and the bottom is MAC Ramblin Rose.  Dallas blush by Benefit is on my wishlist right now, but Bobbi Brown Tawny mixed with MAC's Blushbaby is a great alternative.  Aside for the defined liner, the shadows that Angelia wears are also consistent with a neutral-warm palette - shades like NARS portabello duo, MAC's Soba, Era, Copperplate or Bamboo shadows are probably good pics.  These are just a few recommendations if you're going for this type of look or want to recreate a similar makeup effect.  I didn't post this makeup comparison because I feel I look like Angelina (I Wish!!!) - I just wanted to show a makeup comparison/application style comparison - I hope this post is usefull, I'd love to hear back from you if you try a similar look or are looking for more colour suggestions!!!

MAC - Ramblin Rose Lipstick

Ramblin Rose is my favourite coral!  Its more of a neutral-soft coral vs a true bright coral, which makes it the perfect everyday wearable coral shade.  My other favourite coral is NARS Niagara, but its a little brighter and more of a coral-pink shade. 

I was playing around with Ramblin Rose the same day I did my Honey lipstick by Smashbox post, so the makeup is exactly the same other than the lipstick: http://renata-beautyandelegance.blogspot.com/2012/01/honey-lipstick-smashbox.html  Check out the post for details about the makeup colours I used for the face, eyes,cheeks etc!

I used MAC's Spice lipliner with the Ramblin Rose because I wanted to go for that Soft and delicate lipstick look - In the Spring/Summer, Ramblin Rose is perfect on its own with a touch of a peachy-coral gloss like Love Nectar by MAC.  The thing that makes Ramblin Rose so unique in my eyes is that its so versatile - pair it with a neutral liner and you get a soft-coral neutral lip, pair it with a brick-red liner and you've totally changed the colour to a coral-red shade.  I think Ramblin Rose should be a must have if you want to create a softer more natural coral lipstick look!!!  This is one of those lipsticks that even if I forget about it for a time, I keep coming back to it at some point!!!

Favourite Neutral Shades

I've been talking a lot about the neutral-warm makeup and lipstick shades.  I've decided that I want to stay away from labeling shades in correspondance to their 'season' when I first present them, as I want this blog to speak to 'everyone': for those who are interested in colour analysis and for those who just love makeup.  Instead, I'll be refering to shades as neutral-cool, neutral warm (either soft, deep, bright) or true cool/warm etc etc, making reference to the seasons as they correspond to those desciptions.  I want someone interested in finding a peachy-nude lipshade to gain just as much benefit from this blog as someone looking for a Soft Autumn shade.  That being said, here are my favourite soft neutral warm lipstick shades.  I've swatched them across my arm, as requested by one of my readers:

These three lipsticks are curently my favourite everyday lipstick shades.  From left to right, show here are: NARS Honolulu Honey, Smashbox Honey and Chanel Incognito.  There are my go-to neutral shades that lean into the warmer side of the spectrum.  I'll have to do some blush swatches as well, but with these shades I love to wear Bobbi Brown Tawny blush, MAC Blushbaby or Benefit 'Dallas' - my current favourite!

These are my all time favourite neutral shades with a peach undertone - Peach tones seem to make me happy and this is a perfect example of how you can find a peach to work with your skin (going from a warmer peach to a brown-based peach to a more pinkish-beige peach).  Here I have pictured left to right: MAC Freckletone, MAC Siss and MAC Cherish.  When wearing the more peachy-nude shades, I like to wear a very neutral toned liner - my current favourites are Bronzelle by Lancome, Spice by MAC and Chestnut by Laura Mercier!

I wasn't sure which photo was the most clear, so I decided to post both - These are currently my favourite go-to evening shades.  I've included my favourite 'red' and my two favourite deeper neutrals.  Pictured from left to right are: Cider Berry by Clinique, Bois De Iles by Chanel and Baroque by Chanel.  Cider Berry is such an elegant red because its a softer version of a true red with more of a brick/warm berry undertone - This shade with a smokey eye of browns and warm beiges is so stunning for evening - soft, yet elegant!  With these shades, my go-to liners are Sienna by Chanel - more of a neutral reddish brown, MAC Brick lipliner or Laura Mercier Chestnut, especially with Baroque, for a natural deeper lip shade!

I hope you enjoyed this post - I hope to do a lot more swatches of my favourite colours, as well as my own makeup application photos!  I'm always so excited to do requests for my readers, so if you'd like me to blog about something in particular or help you find some shades that would fit your lifestyle or personality, let me know - i'd be more than happy to research some products and shades and create a post around that topic!!!

Honey Lipstick - Smashbox

Honey lipstick is currently one of my favourites - Its the perfect soft, warm yet natural lipstick shade.  I could definitely see this colour becoming one of those shades that reaches 'holy grail' status in my makeup bag!!!

I tried to create a makeup look that is consitent with a Soft Classic look - I also put on a sweater that would pick up on that warm 'honey' feel of the lipstick:

I started this look by mixing pore-fessional primer, HD 125 foundation and Laura Mercier's #4 foundation (which has a honey tone to it) - I than applied this combination to my face.  I then used Bobbi Brown 'Warm Beige' concealer and finished with MAC's Refined Golden Bronzer. 

Eyes:  I started with Navajo as a base (Bobbi Brown), Soba from lid to crease (MAC), Teddy eyeliner (MAC) with NARS Begali smudged into the upper lashline and a Brown-Black Mascara

Blush:  I used Bobbi Brown 'Tawny' and Make Up For Ever #70 as a pop of colour

Lips: Bronzelle lipliner by Lancome with Smashbox 'Honey' Lipstick!!!

The Drape Test

Since my 'Rose vs Peach' posts, it was suggested that I do some more drapes but this time directly against my skin to see how the colours react.  I decided to take it a step further and do a whole bunch of different coloured drapes.  I'd love to hear your reactions and freedback - Which drapes bring my skintone to life?  Which drain me?:

The first drape is a True Autumn shade - I love the colour, but not too sure how it reacts to my skin - I feel it lights up my eyes, but makes my skin look a beigy pink vs adding that warm glow that TA's are supposed to have?

ANother colour that I love, but I can't believe how 'orange' I look - literally, my skintone changed from a pale shade (in the top photo) to an orange shade - nothing else has changed other than the drape (also, its important to note all these photos are taken in natural light, no flash, zero makeup)

This is a Soft Autumn drape - I purchased this top with the SA palette in mind and I have to say that I do really like it against my skin - my skin feels and looks clearer - any blemishes seem to kinda disapear - do you notice this as well - also, my skintone appears more 'even' - its not too pale or too orange, as in the first two photos I posted!

This is a soft blue/lavender shade - not sure how I feel about this - not bad, but not my favourite!

I have to say that I don't particularily like this winter pattern and colour against my skin - the colours completely 'overpower' and thats how I felt when I wore the Cool Winter shades - all you saw was the makeup, it overpowered me!!!

This drape is taken from a jacket I own that is a lighter warm beige shade.  I feel this colour is too light for me, but as an accessory shade it works, but putting colour preferences aside, I'm really trying to see how the shade is reacting to my skin and I have to say, its not bad!

This is a salmon/coral shade that I really like - its a softer coral vs a clear, bright coral - I really like this colour against my skin - much better than the cool pinks!

This is a warm pink shade and again, similar to the soft coral salmon, I really like it against my skin!

THis is a terracotta shade that any of the Autumns can wear - Its probably the closest shade that SA's have to orange - If you compare this photo to the pumpkin orange above, its clear that this shade is so much better for me - my skintone isn't turning 'orange' - instead, it looks healthy and clear!

I wanted to post this honey-camel SA shade to compare of the first TA 'warm amber' drape - the amber drape has that draining effect, whereas this SA honey colour is 'warm' but I find it works much better against my skin.  I love this jacket and get many compliments when I wear it!

This was the only deep rose drape I could find - I don't mind it against my skin, but find that my skin is starting to turn slightly ashy!

I'd love to hear which drapes are your personal favourites - which colours work the best - my favourite is the soft salmon/coral shade as well as the 3rd drape from the top (the soft, brownish-warm-rose shade).  Since I'm personally leaning towards SA, I decided why not combine two posts into one - here are a few SA lipstick drapes - I'd love to hear your opinion:

This is me wearing Incognito lipstick by Chanel with Laura Mercier's Spiced Cider Blush

Freckletone lipstick by MAC with Spiced Cider Blush

Ginger lipstick by Elizabeth Arden with Spiced Cider Blush

I find these shades look natural and really compliment my skintone - my favourite is Incognito (for everyday) and Ginger for a deeper lipstick look!!!

I hope that you all enjoyed this post - its interesting to see how colour can influence your skin - colour theory really is important and can change the way you look and feel!!!