MAKEUP | The makeup I did for myself for our backyard ceremony

Hello! Due to COVID, our original wedding plans were postponed and instead, Barrie and I got married in an intimate backyard ceremony with just our immediate family present and our closest friends watching on Zoom. I did my own hair and makeup for the day, and I wanted to share the details of my makeup look.

Face:

• Guerlain L’Or Primer*
• Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter*
• Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation*
• Guerlain Multi-Perfecting Concealer*
• Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Filter Setting Powder

Eyes:

• Paul & Joe Beaute Eye Primer
• Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Palette (now called the Bella Sofia)*
• Fenty Beauty Flyliner Longwear Liquid Liner
• Dior Diorshow Pump n Volume Mascara*
• Esqido Oh So Sweet Lashes*
• Burberry Effortless Eyebrow Definer*

Cheeks:

• Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow (for contour and highlight)
• Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Chic Blusher in Sex on Fire*

Lips:

• Lisa Eldridge Velvet Muse lipstick

Other:

• Finishing spray was Urban Decay All Nighter*

I used some of my tried and true makeup products for this makeup look. Even though there were newer products in my collection that were more exciting, these were the ones that I was sure would get me through this day and make me look amazing. My absolute must-have makeup items have been highlighted using italic text in the list above. While I loved most of the products I used, the ones in italics are my ride or die products.

I was a little disappointed with the Esqido lashes. I had been saving these lashes for at least five years and I always knew I wanted to wear them on wedding day. I normally don’t save lashes and only wear them for a day, but this time I tried to save them after, and they completely fell apart while I was cleaning them. I used a water-based micellar cleanser to clean the band but a lot of the lashes fell off the band, making them completely unsalvageable. For a $35 pair of lashes, it’s absolutely insane that you can only wear them once. I don’t think I would recommend these. The band was pretty uncomfortable to wear too, as it was a lot thicker than the KISS lashes I normally wear (I highly recommend those, if you haven’t yet tried them). I had two vials of Esqido lash glue and they both dried out within a year, so I had to use the KISS lash glue which was perfect.

We’re still going to have our “big” wedding next year with the reception and party for all of our family and friends. Let’s just hope this COVID thing eases up a bit so that we can have my family travelling here from China for it.

Thank you for reading!

Products annotated with an asterisk (*) were provided by PR for review consideration; all opinions are my own.

Review: Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation, makeup with skincare benefits!

Guerlain’s Parure Gold Foundation is one of the few high end foundations available that is still considered mainstream. Parure Gold Foundation first came on my radar because Temptalia raved about it, and it continues to be one of her go-to foundations even years later. The Parure Gold Foundation (C$95) was revamped towards the end of last year, and at first I was skeptical because a $95 bottle of foundation should be absolutely amazing. After a few weeks, I became a believer. This is one of the my most-picked foundations in my current rotation, particularly on days when my skin feels dull, dehydrated, and in need of a perk up.

Parure Gold Foundation has a satin-matte finish that works well on its own with or without powder. The texture is a drier cream, but it blends out seamlessly into the skin, creating a veil of coverage. It is relatively pigmented and a little goes a long way, I use about half a pump on my face (applying with fingers) and I can get medium coverage – my redness is neutralized, pores are smoothed over, and imperfections are hidden. The formulation is a wonder to work with, the product just melts into the skin and despite its buildable medium to high coverage, it never looks or feels heavy or cakey. For those with drier skin, this foundation is also wonderfully hydrating, and my skin has never showed a dry spot on any of the days that I’ve worn this.

The first few times I wore this, I was most surprised at how smooth and plump my skin felt AFTER I had removed this. The feeling diminished over time as I wore this more and more, but I felt that this foundation could repair my skin during the day as I wore this. Foundation is the makeup product that has the most contact with your skin over the longest period of time, so you should be wearing a good quality foundation that can help improve your skin, rather than just cover it. This foundation does both!

As with all Guerlain base products, I also found that it really gave me this glow-from-within type of radiance that is present in all Guerlain base products. It’s subtle, but noticeable, and something I really love. I previously reviewed the L’OR Radiance Concentrate which works amazingly in conjunction with the foundation. When used in combination with your choice of Meteorites powder, the radiance effect is even more maximized.

Overall, despite it being quite expensive for a foundation, I love this and would definitely recommend this to those having trouble finding a foundation that works. The target user for the Guerlain Parure Gold foundation is one who is looking for a matte finish but with a lit-from-within glow. I also recommend it because of its skin improvement properties, which is important because your foundation covers your face for most of the day.

Ingredients:

Celebrating Chinese New Year’s reds and golds with Charlotte Tilbury, La Prairie and Guerlain

It’s no secret that every since the brand has launched in Canada, I’ve been completely and utterly obsessed with Charlotte Tilbury. Today is Chinese New Year, and I’m sharing with you my Chinese New Year look featuring reds and golds from Charlotte Tilbury, accompanied by some of my favourite gold-based products from La Prairie and Guerlain. Valentine’s Day is also nearing, and this look with the soft eyes and lip will also make a great romantic look for a night out with your partner.

P.S. Happy Lunar New Year to everyone who celebrates!

On face:

• La Prairie Cellular Radiance Perfecting Fluide Pure Gold to prep skin (review to come)
• Guerlain L’Or Radiance Concentrate to prime skin
• Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation to cover (review to come)

On eyes:

• ArtDeco Eyeshadow Base to prime eyes
• Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette in Vintage Vamp
• Amaterasu Liquid Eyeliner to line
• Anna Sui Mascara Primer & Top Coat, with one coat of its Length & Separation Mascara
• Burberry Effortless Eyebrow Definer in No. 03 Ash Brown on brows

On cheeks:

• La Prairie Cellular Radiance Cream Blush in Lotus Glow (review to come)
• Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow to contour and highlight

On lips:

• Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipstick in Bitch Perfect

The Vintage Vamp palette is the star of my look; it is a beautiful palette containing four coordinating shades to create mesmerizing eyes. The shades are:

• Prime shade: a shimmery metallic pink that feels ultra creamy and smooth
• Enhance shade: a shimmery light burgundy that’s very smooth and pigmented
• Smoke shade: a metallic dark burgundy that’s also beautifully smooth and pigmented
• Pop shade: a glittery gold that has the hardest texture out of all of these. It has barely any base colour, and mostly is just chunky glitter

I love Charlotte Tilbury’s coordinating eye palettes because they are very easy to use with foolproof instructions, as well as excellent quality in terms of texture and pigmentation. I can also see why the Vintage Vamp palette is one of Charlotte’s more popular palettes. The colours are just absolutely beautiful together, with the ability to create a very soft and romantic look or an intense rock-and-roll look, depending on your mood of the day. Since I received this, it has quickly become one of my favourite eye palettes to use.

The light pink Prime shade is absolutely beautiful, applies smoothly (almost creamy) and adheres very well. There was a little bit of powder fallout with the two darker Enhance and Smoke shades, but it cleaned up easy. The only colour I wasn’t super fond of was the Pop shade of this palette because it felt a lot drier and was chunky compared to the other shades, but even then it adhered very well to the middle of my eyelid. For the Chinese New Year look I put together, this pop of gold glitter worked really well with the rest of the look.

How would you recreate your own red and gold look?