March / April Giveaway | Winner Announcement!

The time has come!
It is officially time to announce the winner of the GIVEAWAY!!! 

I had a total of 52 entries. I had 20 entries on Instagram, 25 entries on Twitter, 4 through email, and 3 through the contact form on my website.
I didn't think I would get that many, so thanks so much for entering.

The winner of the giveaway receives the following items:
Shiseido Smoothing Eye Mask, Benefit makeup bag, Urban Decay eye shadow primer | Original | Full size, an Elf makeup brush, and an Urban Decay glitter eye pencil. 

The winner was chosen at complete random!

Debbie Martin

Debbie contacted me through the contact form, which is sent directly to my email!

Other giveaways?

I do have a couple other giveaways planned right now, so be sure to keep checking back to see if they're open :)

Thanks!

TUTORIAL | My Go To Look | Neutral Eye | Full Face

NEWS!

Tomorrow the winner from my March/April giveaway will be announced. I will post a blog with the winner's name!!!

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Alrighty guys,
so this look is going to be really simple because it is my GO TO LOOK!

A lot of people have their signature, everyday looks that they do, so I thought I'd show you guys mine. It's not a signature look or anything, it's actually very plain.

Also, I don't always use all the products I'm showing you guys today. Sometimes I use less products, and sometimes I use different products, such as different foundations.

**Having trouble getting my pictures to be the right way. I apologize and will fix this ASAP.

So if you want to see how I do my go to look, well then, please keep scrolling! :)

Products I'll be using:
Smashbox Primer Water
Maybelline Fit Me Liquid Foundation | Normal to Oily | 120
Maybelline Fit Me Pressed Powder | Normal to Oily | 120
Milani Eyeshadow Primer
Estee Lauder Pure Color Eyeshadow Trio | 05 Gilded Chocolates
Almay intense i-color Eyeliner | 003 Black Pearl
Lancome Hypnose Star | 01 Noir Midnight
Clinique Airbrush Concealer | 04 Neutral Fair
Milani Baked Blush | 01 Dolce Pink
Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit | Light
Lancome Loose Powder | 01 Translucent
NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray

Yes, it's a lot, but like I said, I don't typically wear all of these every day for my go to look. It just sort of depends on the mood I am in and how much time I have to do my makeup.

So lets get started on the look.

The first thing I always do is MOISTURIZE! I can't stress that enough. I do have combination oily skin, but all skin needs to be moisturized. If you have oily skin, I'd recommend getting a moisturizer that is oil free. I put my moisturizer on and then I let it dry completely. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes.

Here's a picture after I did moisturizer, getting ready to start makeup. & yes, I know I look like I'm mad at the world. Sorry haha: 

So for the makeup, I'm gonna prime my face first. And today, I'm going to use the Smashbox primer water. I have literally talked about this in so many blogs, I think. But I'm telling you guys, I love this product a lot.

After I prime my face, I want to do my foundation. I use two foundations always. I use a liquid and then set it with a powder for extra coverage. Today I used the Maybelline Fit Me Liquid & Pressed Powder. Both of these are the Normail to Oily in 120. These are amazing. I wouldn't say full coverage.. probably medium because I can still see freckles and whatnot through it. However you can build it up to full coverage. Also, they are inexpensive which I love. Highly recommend these to anyone. They also have a Normal to Dry kind as well.

& here is my face after applying my foundations:

After I apply my foundation, I move on to eyes because whenever I do my eyes I tend to get a lot of fall out with the eyeshadow, which can mess my under eye area up. I have found it easier for me to do it this way, but whatever works for you :)

To prime my eyes, I used Milani Eye Primer today. I haven't really used this primer, so I can't say much for it. However I do love the Milani line and have recently fallen in love with a couple of the Bella Eye colors.

For my eyes, I use neutrals for my everyday, go to look. I really like the Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Trio in Gilded Chocolates. I love the shimmer and glam it has to it. These eye shadows are also way pigmented and they are very easy to blend. I actually don't have a lot of fall out when using these eye shadows.

So whenever I did my eyes, I took the darkest shade in the outer corner, the medium shade in the inside corner, and in the middle I blended the two colors together really well. I also blended the eye shadows up so there wouldn't be any harsh lines. With the lightest color, I kind of just put it below my eyebrows so the harsh lines from the other shadows wouldn't be as noticeable, and again I blended all that out.

Here's a picture of just the eyeshadow:

For my eye liner, I used a NYC Liquid Eyeliner and the Almay intense i-color in black. 

Surprisingly my cat eye was even enough the first time. I usually have to repeat this step at least 4 times, not kidding.

& then I applied some mascara! I used the Lancome Hypnose Star | 01 Noir Midnight. I did two coats, and curled them with a lash curler.

So after I go back and do retouches and make sure everything is perfect with my eyes, I start on my under eyes, cheeks, contour, and etc.

After I am COMPLETELY done with my eyes, I start on my face again. For my under eyes, I used Clinique Airbrush Concealer | 04 Neutral Fair to get rid of my dark circles and bags. I have big bags under my eyes, so this concealer doesn't hide that, but it does take away my dark circles, and that's my main focus for in the mornings whenever I get up and I'm tired and they're really noticeable. With this concealer, I put it under my eyes, a line down the middle of my nose, make a flower in between my eyebrows (like on the middle of my forehead), chin, and on my cupid's bow.

After I used the concealer, I set it with a powder. For my highlights & contours, I use the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit | Light. It's by far one of my favorites. The powder doesn't settle into my fine lines or anything like that. And it stays all day. I also used the yellow tone, top middle, to set my under eye area. The reason I used the yellow is because dark circles are purple, so to neutralize them, you need to use a complimentary color. The complimentary color for purple is yellow. & that is the science behind that!

I also used the Contour kit for my contour, obviously. I like to blend all three bottom colors together, or sometimes I just use the bottom left color by itself. The only parts I contour are the top of my forehead and right below my cheek bone.
I typically skip the contour & highlight parts altogether whenever I'm in a hurry or just not feeling makeup that day. So this is not always part of my go to in a hurry look.

Next I just put on some blush that makes my cheeks pop. This time I used Milani Baked Blush in Dolce Pink.

I love the Milani blushes & I'm so OBSESSED with the color that Dolce Pink gives my cheeks. It literally takes me from looking dead to looking like I'm just really ALIVE and well! I know that sounds stupid, but I'm serious. It gives me life. 

After I'm done with everything, I just dab my face with translucent powder and apply NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray. I really like Lancome's translucent powder, so I used that for this look.

& that's it!
I know it was a lot, but that's just what I wore the day that I decided to take pictures for this blog. I normally just do a simple eye liner and no contour.
This normally takes me roughly 10 minutes and with contour and the cat eye, it only takes me about 15 to 20 minutes, so like I was saying, it just really depends on how much time I have.

Here's the final look:

Thanks for reading!!

XOXO
The Makeup Diva
Tarin

INTERVIEW | What Does Your Eye Color Say About You?

Hey guys! About a month ago, I wrote a blog that got a lot of responses, so I decided to follow up on that with an interview blog which got a lot of responses as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get all of the answers you guys gave me on it because there were so many, so I decided to do another blog that was followed up with an interview so more of you could be featured!

This blog is all about EYES.

Click here to see my Dark Pink Smokey Eye Tutorial, which was my eye of the day as well.
In the blog, I used several colors that go well with blue eyes, since I have blue eyes. And I wanted to get some input from people with different eye colors about the different color shadows they use!

If you want to read about their different eye colors, shadows, and more, then pleaseeee keep reading :)

Interview: What Does Your Eye Color Say About You?

Alright, so before I begin the interview, I first want to talk about complimentary colors. 

Complimentary colors when worn on the eye can really make your eye color pop. 

Here's the complimentary color for each eye color!

Blue: Orange

Green: Red

Brown: People with brown eyes are lucky, they are really the neutral eye. Any color works for them.

So if you are looking to really make your eye color pop, use a complimentary color. No, this doesn't mean you have to put it all over the eye, but maybe in a spot, just to pop it. An example of this would be the smudge it out under the bottom lash line.

If you try this, post a picture in the comments below and let me see your creations! :)

Alright, so here were the questions I asked several people: 

1. What eye color do you have? 

2. Do you prefer warm, cool, or neutral eye shadow tones?

3. What color eye shadows do you wear most often?

4. Do you think that the colors you are wearing most often enhance your eye color?

Like last time, I'll answer them too! Here are my answers:

1. What eye color do you have? 

My eye color is blue.

2. Do you prefer warm, cool, or neutral eye shadow tones?

Since I am cool toned, I like to wear cool eye shadow tones because I feel like warm tones wash me out. I also like neutral tones as well.

3. What color eye shadows do you wear most often?

Definitely browns.

4. Do you think that the colors you are wearing most often enhance your eye color?

I think they just neutralize it. Whenever I splash some red or orange on it, it really makes my blue eyes shine through.

& my eye color can be found on the blog I have linked above.

My first interviewee was Stine & here are their answers! Thanks so much for answering them!

1. What eye color do you have?

I have blue eyes.

2. Do you prefer warm, cool, or neutral eye shadow tones?

I prefer cool and neutral eye shadow tones.

3. What color eye shadows do you wear most often?

I normally wear neutral eye shadow tones, - and occasionally include tones of grey and greyish blues.

4. Do you think that the colors you are wearing most often enhance your eye color?

probably not, sometimes I wish I was a bit bolder, - as when I wear a little more make up/colour I always get complimented.

Next is Krista with Disney Ways. Here is her website: disneyways.com/press :)

1. What eye color do you have? 

Grey 

2. Do you prefer warm, cool, or neutral eye shadow tones?

I wear them all. I guess if I have to pick I'd say warm. 

3. What color eye shadows do you wear most often?

White, brown, grey, deep purple, dark brown, sometimes blue/green

4. Do you think that the colors you are wearing most often enhance your eye color?

4. Yes 

Next is Courtney! & here is her fabulous blog: balleticbeautyblog.wordpress.com Check her out, guys!

1. What eye color do you have? 

I have blue eyes

2. Do you prefer warm, cool, or neutral eye shadow tones?

I prefer neutral and warm tones. From time to time, I wear a cooler tone eyeshadow. 

3. What color eye shadows do you wear most often?

I love wearing browns and creams, and occasionally a purple or pink tone. I do this because I feel these are the colours I like best and make me feel comfortable. 

4. Do you think that the colors you are wearing most often enhance your eye color?

I would like to think they do, but I have been told to wear more blues and greens- instead of the browns I wear. 

And finally, is the lovely Krupa who is a beauty blogger and here is her lovely website: http://www.ishtyleawhile.com/

1. What eye color do you have? 
I have dark brown eyes

2. Do you prefer warm, cool, or neutral eye shadow tones?
I stick to warm tones. I kind of skeptic about how cool tones would look with my skin tone.

3. What color eye shadows do you wear most often?
Browns, golds,  bronzes, coppers are my most used shades. As you can see I am definitely for warmer and neutral shades. Sometimes I will go for purple and pinks when I want colour.

4. Do you think that the colors you are wearing most often enhance your eye color?Yes I think golds look lovely with the Indian skin tone and it is what I gravitate to naturally, even for an everyday look.

So as you can see by reading, everyone has different colored eyes within the three main categories which are blue, green, and brown. There are also so many ways to wear makeup to make it look good. 

------------------------------------I just want to take the time and thank each of my lovely interviewees on taking the time to answer my questions and for sending in lovely photos of their eyes.

If you'd like to share your answers to these questions, feel free to comment below.

Also, if you'd like to see more interview blogs, please give this a +1 or comment below that you'd be interested in interviewing, or you'd like to see more interview blogs. Just SOMETHING to let me know that you'd like to see more!!

Thanks for reading, yall!

XOXO
The Makeup Diva
Tarin

My April Beauty Favorites

I wanna go ahead and do my beauty favorites for the month of April because I'm excited to show you these amazing products!!!

I'm not sponsored by any of these companies, and I did buy these products with my own money.

Also, I just want to say that my giveaway is CLOSED. The winner will be announced on April 25th.

If you want to find out what my favorite products are... please keep reading :)

What are my favvvvv/go to products?!

So I only have 5 this month because I've been really trying to use tons of different products, so I can review a lot for you guys & let you know what I think.

I'm also going to include the link to and price of each product in case you're wanting to purchase it.

#5. Smashbox Primer Water

This primer is one of my absolute favorites. I have combination oily skin, so it's really hard finding products that help both my oily and dry skin spots. THIS PRODUCT IS AMAZING for that. It isn't oily, so it doesn't make my oily spots look dewy and it doesn't completely dry out my dry spots. It also has an amazing, refreshing smell that totally wakes me up during the day. Also, I usually spray this 3 times on my face, and that's all it takes. I hate using products that I have to cake on my face, and that is not this product whatsoever. 

I know a lot of people don't want to spend $30 on a "bottle of water" and that's totally okay, whatever works for you has & will always be my motto. I just went and splurged, and it worked out because I love this product.

Here's the link: Click here!

Price: $32

#4. Lorac Dazzing Dozen 2 Eye Shadow Collection

I'm freaking obsessed with two of these colors. I've been wearing them like basically every day this month. The two colors I'm in love with are Gilded and Acai. Acai reminds me of a matte dark cranberry color. It's beautiful. And Gilded is a shimmery gold color. Here are swatches:

These eyeshadows are so super pigmented. I have wore them with and without primer and literally cannot tell the difference, other than whenever I don't wear primer there is more fallout whenever I am putting them on. OTHER THAN THAT they're perfect, and I love them. 

This collection is exclusively for Ulta, and there are 12 eyeshadows in this set.

Here's a link: Click Here!

Price: $39

#3 Beauty Blender - Original

Okay, so I know just last month I posted my March Beauty Favorites, but I couldn't resist the temptation. I went and got myself a beauty blender because so many people told me that it was the bomb.com!

I must say, they are SO much better than the blending sponges I've been getting from Dollar General. After using my beauty blender for a couple days, I tried to go back to using the Dollar General brand one, and it actually felt really rough. It has no bounce to it, either. The Beauty Blender is soft, it doesn't absorb any makeup, and it is bouncy, like it does all the work for me. I love it. It's a smart investment if you like sponges better than brushes.

It's quite pricey, but if you don't mind, I'd recommend this to you.

Here's the link: Click here.

Price: $19.95

#2 Nyx Butter Lipstick - Gumdrop

This lipstick is INEXPENSIVE. It doesn't dry my lips out like most lipsticks, it's almost like it's moisturizing. And Gumdrop is hands down one of my most favorite shades of lipstick EVER. I literally throw this on whenever I just want a little lip color.

I did a lip look with this shade and another butter lipstick shade as well. If you wanna read that blog, click here.

I'm telling you guys, these Butter Lipsticks are HANDS DOWN my favorite line of lipsticks right now.

Link: Click here!

Price: $5.99

#1 Clinique Airbrush Concealer Illuminates

Guys. 

This is my MOST FAVORITE product right now. 

When I got this, I had actually planned on getting their 2-in-1 foundation/concealer duo and they didn't have a shade that was light enough for my under eye circles.

I love a good concealer anyway, because I have bad under eye circles and this hides it soooo well. I use the lightest shade - fair because I like for my under eyes to be a bit lighter than the rest of my face. 

I just wanna talk about the way to use it. Basically you twist the bottom and it squirts some into the brush on top, and then you just wipe it on your face. It's no mess. You don't even have to stick your fingers in it or anything, or dump it on the back of your hand. 

Hands down my favorite right now.

Clinique, yall are on POINT. I love it.

Here's the link: Click here

Price: $20

& those are my favorite beauty products for the month of April!

Thanks for reading. Love yall.

What are your fav/go to products? I want to know.

Leave a comment below for a chance to be featured in an upcoming favorites blog :)

XOXO,

The Makeup Diva

Tarin

PRODUCT REVIEW | Revlon Colorstay

After what has felt like years, I am finally BACK to blogging, even though it's only been like 4 days.

Anyway, today I'm going to do a product review, so let's get started!

Product Review: Revlon Colorstay Foundation

So guys, I have never tried these two products before, so this is also a first impression.

The liquid I purchased is for combination/dry skin. I picked up the wrong product as I do have oily skin. If you guys want me to, I can do a review of the combination/oily skin too, just let me know in the comments below.

I went to my local CVS and purchased these products. They were inexpensive and I believe they were around $10 a piece.

If you'd like to purchase them, I've seen them at Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens. Here's a direct link if you want to buy them directly from Revlon: 

Liquid: http://www.revlon.com/products/face/foundation-makeup/colorstay-makeup-with-softflex-for-combination-oily-skin#309975410013||0

Powder: http://www.revlon.com/products/face/finishing-powder/colorstay-pressed-powder#309975424010||0

Product Names:

Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation 150 Buff

Revlon Colorstay Pressed Powder - Light

Let's dive right inn!

Packaging:

Liquid: So overall I like this packaging. There's a lot more I'm going to say that I don't like about it, but over all I really do honestly like it. Okay, so I like the fact that it's see through, so whenever you go to the store to match it up to your skin, you can see exactly what color it is. Here are the things I dislike... I don't like that it's glass. I am a very clumsy person, so I can just see myself dropping this, and it shattering and making a mess. A lot of the liquid foundations are glass though, so I'm going to have to get used to this! Another thing is that it doesn't have a pump, which is sort of messy. But I normally just pour a bit on the back of my hand because I find that it's easier that way. The last thing I dislike like is that the font on the bottle is white, so with my shade, I find myself squinting to see what it says. This might have been why I picked up combination dry instead of combination oily. 

Powder: First I just want to say that the compact this pressed powder comes in reminds me of the compact that the pressed powders from Ulta come in! Anyway, moving on. Over all, I don't think this really matches the Colorstay liquid packaging at all, which is weird because I know most brands that have a liquid and powder set match? Weirdddddddd. I actually don't have a problem with this compact. I like everything about it. I like how it snaps shut. I like that it is clear at the top so you can see the color of the powder, just like with the liquid. I also like that there is actually a decent sized mirror underneath, like where the pad is. I actually don't like the little pad it comes with, but I don't use those, so I'll be okay!

Overall, the packaging is just plain & sleek, which is find with me. The packaging does not define the product. That's my motto.

Texture:

Liquid: For me, this liquid was very creamy. It wasn't very runny, but it wasn't a thick paste either. It was the consistency that I love with liquid foundation makeup. I actually love this texture. 

Powder: Good for a more full coverage look, but to me, it felt very heavy, and I didn't like it at all. 

How Did It Apply?!:

Liquid: This foundation was actually so easy to apply. And in my opinion, it went on very evenly. I love how my face looked after. I actually felt like it didn't look like I was wearing makeup at all, which I love sometimes. This makeup is perfect for a natural look, but it can also be built up with layers to do for a special event. So, this makeup is really ideal for any occasion and makeup look.

Also, I did not have to apply a lot to get coverage over my face & neck. I poured on the back of my hand the size of a nickel and it was plenty.

-Light to medium coverage; Medium to full when built up.

Powder: This powder seals the deal when wanting a more full coverage look. I put this on and I swear you could not see not one blemish at all on my face. I looked like a doll, which is really good except I wanted a more natural look because I was only going to school, so I felt like it was a waste.

-With liquid: full coverage.

Long lasting?!

The bottle said 24 hours, so I got REAL excited.

before & after foundation.

these pictures are awkward, excuse me.

8am - when i first put it on.

I put this makeup on at 8am because I had an early wakeup because I had some errands to do that day. I applied my moisturizer, Smashbox primer water, and then applied both types of foundation and then set it with NYX matte finishing spray.

I checked it again at 3pm and I was really excited because it actually still looked decent. I did see some oiliness on my forehead and the bridge of my nose, but that might have been because I got the combination dry formula.

this was at school at around 7pm. 

you can see that I look dewy on my nose, forehead, & cheeks.

At around 7pm is whenever I noticed it was settling into my fine lines, and moving a little bit.

I took my makeup off at 12am that night because I wanted it to last as long as possible. Whenever I looked in the mirror, I was shocked because besides it settling in my lines and it moving, it actually still didn't look bad. It looked really good, in my opinion, for not having been touched up all day. 

At the 12am point, I was so ready to get the makeup off my face, this is how I am with every type of makeup I wear. By the end of the day, I. Want. It. Off.

I can't say that it wouldn't last 24 hours for some people, but for me, it was starting to look kind of bad, so I don't think I could have went 24 hours with it. However, I don't ever have a need to wear it for 24 hours, so this was really good coverage for me.

Bottom line:

Liquid: I would recommend this product to everyone. I was actually shocked that this formula did so well with my skin. I was expecting to look SO dewy and just sweaty and nasty; However, that was never the case and I looked alright. Maybe next time I'll get the right kind.

Powder: I would recommend this to only people who are wanting a full coverage face. I wouldn't wear it just to be wearing it.