Beauty Sightings: Marco Marco Spring/Summer 2014 Collection

A fashion show probably seems like a strange place to go for beauty sightings, as the models' makeup is often very homogenous and there isn't a whole lot of behind-the-scenes footage. But the Marco Marco Spring/Summer 2014 collection gave us a rare treat: a runway dominated by drag queens and transgender models, all of whom appear to have done their own makeup, if this behind-the-scenes treat is to be believed. And with a wide variety of drag queens comes a wide variety of beauty product sightings!

I see some Ru Glue (ie, an Elmer's glue stick, used to flatten brow hairs) and some Tresemee hair spray. Anybody recognize the palette?

Liquid liner; the shot moves too quickly for me to see, but it looks like it COULD be MAC Boot Black.

That looks like a bottle of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in that kit! Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. (I'd say it's Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid, but the cap shown here looks black, not blue. Y/N?)

The NARS Loves Los Angeles palette from 2013. I think this belongs to Willam, but that could just be the editing playing tricks on me.

I do believe that's an NYC liquid eyeliner! Hilariously, I notice that most drag queens seem to use cheaper drugstore liquid liners (Almay, NYC, NYX, MAC, etc). It's probably not cost-effective to buy the super-expensive options, considering how much black liquid liner the average drag queen uses.

I'm 99% sure that this is L'oreal True Match powder based on the lid of the compact and its overall design, but wow, what a yellow-looking shade!

A gratuitous porn shot featuring some MUFE and Smith's Rosebud Salve.

Speaking of beauty, can we all take a moment to appreciate the one and only Mathu Andersen? I dream of having him do my makeup some day. He is pure perfection.

GLORIOUS.

Now for a side note: I'll be away for my sister's destination wedding for a while, plus I'll be entertaining my boyfriend for most of May. With that in mind, BOGL will be on a hiatus for the rest of May. Posts will resume in June.

See in you summer!

$20 New York City-Inspired FOTD

A recent post on MakeupAlley about the makeup you noticed in different cities really got me thinking: haven't I read about looks that are supposedly "truly such-and-such-a-city," and haven't I noticed that sometimes, certain trends truly pervade one city more than another? So I decided to do another $20 face, and one that was inspired by a look that is supposedly "truly New York City": a super-minimalist look with a pop of lipstick. I noticed this on a lot of ladies from sites like IntoTheGloss, and it really struck me: they were apparently wearing nothing but brow pencil and lipstick, and wow, it shouldn't have worked for me, but...it did. The textures of the skin, the bareness of the eyes, the simple hair...just amazing. This isn't a look I'd wear every day--it's a little TOO unmade-up for me--but I think I'll keep it in my emergency bag for the foreseeable future.

I didn't do a tutorial for this look because there isn't a whole lot to it. I used the NYC Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup ($2) in 676 Ivory as both a foundation and a concealer. It's not a product I would highly recommend: it's so thick you have to spatula it out of the bottle, it provides hardly any coverage, and it oxidized almost 2 shades darker after about 30 minutes. But it's cheap and provides the barely-there coverage I needed for this look, so I went with it. Then I filled in my brows with the La Femme brow pencil ($1.50) in Taupe and applied the TINIEST (and I mean TINIEST) amount of Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing mascara ($3.50) to my upper lashes in quick, feathery strokes. I wanted to add a bit of glow to my skin, since natural-but-healthy skin seems to be the NYC look, so I used Boots No 7 High Lights ($10) on my cheeks and under the arch of my brow. Finally, I decided to fill my lips in with a NYX Long lip pencil ($1.50) in Plush Red, since they're smooth and pigmented without being hyper-drying, but still give a matte look on their own. You can skip this step if you want a look more like the uber-minimalist one in the left picture (where I was clearly testing how Plush Red would photograph.

The changes I'll make for my emergency bag are that I'll carry some Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer ($42) instead of the NYC foundation, I'll probably take a more travel-friendly highlighter or pump out a sample of the Boots one, and I'll switch out the pencil to have some variety.

Haul + BB Cream Swatches

This week started out tough, but it ended on a high note.  I found a product I've been searching for for MONTHS--the Revlon cream blush in Coral Reef--and received two very lovely packages full of samples from some Makeup Alley friends: an assortment of BB creams and a variety of eye creams (one of which is already upstairs with my nightly skincare stuff). I usually ask that such kind people send their samples to people who don't have as much as I have, but these lovely ladies insisted that they would do well in my hands, and I must admit that I was curious about these products. I thank them both for their generosity.

Of course, once I get new foundations, I have to go on a mad swatching spree. Anyone who is incredibly fair or dark skinned knows that finding a foundation match can be especially difficult, since most foundation ranges don't make shades that match us. I therefore try to swatch new products against popular standbys, like MAC Face & Body and the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer, but, um...I may have gotten a bit carried away.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Etude Precious Mineral BB cream, shade 2
MAC Face & Body foundation, N1
NYC Smooth Skin liquid foundation, 676 Ivory
MAC Studio Tech foundation, NW15
Missha Perfect Cover BB cream, shade 13
Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer, Sx02
Revlon New Complexion foundation, 01 Ivory Beige
Etude Collagen Moistfull BB cream, shade 2
Skinfood Red Bean BB cream, shade 1

I swatched these on the inside of my arm, which is currently somewhere between MAC N10 and N15. My face and upper arms are "tanned" (ha ha I made a funny) to something between N15-N20. The Missha Perfect Cover and Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer are usually the best matches from my N10ish skin, but now that I'm a hair darker, the NYC foundation and MAC Studio Tech are a little closer.

As this picture shows, the Collagen Moistfull is DEFINITELY too dark for me, but I think it might match my sister pretty well. The Precious Mineral is also too dark, but not as much as the Collagen Moistful; it's probably around NW20. The Skinfood Red Bean BB cream is actually a pretty good match for me, and as I only have one packet of it and plenty of time, I figure I'll try it out first. (NOTE: my Korean is pretty rusty, so I might've gotten the shades wrong.)