Project Make It Work: Day 2; and misadventures with hair dye!

Back with my second crack at Project Make It Work! This time I took a crack at my NYX palette!

I really liked the look of the opalescent shade called Opal (how appropriate). It's a cool shade that I think will work with a lot of different colours because it can take on aspects of the colours surrounding it, and thus be very versatile. This time I decided to pair it with purples but I think I'll try it with something completely different next time, to see if it's a versatile as I think!







Main colours used:

-inner part of the lids was NYX's Opal from the Opal/Platinum Silver/Luster trio. A PMIW Colour!

-outer lids and crease was the second shade from the right in the LA Colors Lollipop quint, a pretty medium cool purple colour

-carried both shades under the lower lashline a bit

-used 4th shade in the CoverGirl Urban Basics palette for inner corner and brow highlight - this has been a big payoff of PMIW for me, I find myself reaching for this shade more and more when I want a more subtle highlight - A PMIW Colour!

-liner and mascara!

Now! As for misadventures in hair dye! I have always dyed my hair at home, since I'm naturally a mid-toned brunette, and I only ever dye my hair other shades of brown (adventurous, I know!). So I was never too worried about messing it up since it wasn't like I was trying to go red or blonde!

But this time... I goofed! I usually buy the same dye, a Feria one, and I have tried one or two others but the Feria is what I always go back to and it always turns out great.

But this time, the siren song of the sale got to me. I didn't even really need to dye my hair... my last dye job had mostly faded rather than grown out, so I didn't have visible roots or anything. But I like to wear more self tanner in the summer, and I find that on me, having darker brown hair compliments that well. So I picked the brand of dye I'd never tried before because it was on sale so cheap - Nice n' Easy by Clairol.

I took about 10 minutes deciding which shade to pick before I had finally settled on one of their "Dark Brown" shades - I forget the exact shade name but it was definitely dark brown, and according to the little shade chart on the box (which I know aren't perfectly accurate but usually close enough!) I would have glossy, neutral brown hair (neutral is key for me! golden tones make me look yeeeuch).

So I follow all directions to a T.... climb into the shower to rinse after alotted time... get out, wrap my hair in a towel... 30 minutes later I start to blowdry.

It's black.

Not soft black, or very deep brown. Jet, blue-black. As seen in the pictures above!

*sigh* I normally wash my hair every other day, but I've been washing it every day to try and fade the colour faster. I'm making the best of it in the meantime (still playing around with getting my brows the right shade to match my hair!) and I have been getting compliments from people, but black still just doesn't feel like me!! I can't wait for this to fade down or out, but because it was a permanent shade it may take a little while. :/

Had any hair mishaps yourself?

Project Make It Work: Day 1

My first look to try and use up some of those shadows! Here's the post that explains the premise of the project.



*Sorry this pic is a little overly bright!! The flash really got bright but it captured the makeup so well!







Shades used:

-NYX Luster on the lid, a pretty cool shade that's almost like a toned down neutral version of chartreuse! Also used under lower lashline. A PMIW Colour!

-UD Hustle in the crease, a kind of muted plummy brown that I thought went well with the muted greeny-yellow of Luster

-used the white shade in the CoverGirl Urban Basics quad for inner corner and brow highlight. A PMIW Colour!

-NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker

-CoverGirl Lashblast Waterproof mascara

My first try at Project Make It Work was a success! I discovered a look that I REALLY like! Doing colour but in a very muted way is one of my favourite things... I usually go for more neutral looks, but I get tired of always doing browns, taupes, bronzes, silvers etc.... being able to find shades that ARE colours but just muted allows me to do colours in a more wearable way! And this Luster shade is great for that, a very unique colour! And the CG white is actually perfect for a brow highlight, I'll probably be using this a lot when I don't want to have a super shimmery highlight shade, as this one is just satin finish.

Project Make It Work!

I'm sure all beauty junkies have this same issue.... products you bought, or were given, that for whatever reason you just don't use. Maybe they're not the quality you would like, or the colours you would normally wear, the pigmentation isn't quite there or they just simply don't make it into your rotation because you favor other products first!

This project is all about making those items work - they're just sitting in your collection, taking up space - they've gotta earn their keep!

I've selected four eyeshadow palettes that I rarely use, and over the next few days I am challenging myself to use at least one of these palettes each day. I will be allowing myself to use other eyeshadows since none of these palettes have what I would consider a contour shade, and because I want to be able to figure out how to incorporate these shades into my makeup I already use and see what they work well with that I already love.

Here are the candidates!

1.

Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette in Incognito - this is actually a freebie size, this was given to me by someone several years ago, they had gotten it as a GWP but didn't want it. I have to say I'm a little surprised that this is constantly name dropped as a huge seller and popular item... the shadows are very smooth and buttery soft, but I find the colours veery pale and hard to see, and I'm fairly pale! But I'll figure something out!!

Swatches:

2.

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Quad in Urban Basics - this was a silly purchase of mine, I only bought it because I loved the look of the taupe shade... and I only realized later that it appears to be the exact same as the CG single Tapestry Taupe. So although the taupe is well loved, the other three get no play at all! I'm optimistic the white can be used as a semi-matte brow highlight, but I'll need to get creative with the other two!

Swatches:

3.

Merle Norman Lasting Eyecolor Trio in Rosas - another item given to me by someone else that was a GWP. All these colours are gorgeously pigmented and smooth, and I have used the peach a few times, but the other two not so much! And to be honest, that fuchsia terrifies me! Sooo out of my comfort zone!

Swatches:

4.

NYX Triple Shadow in Opal/Platinum Silver/Luster - the pigmentation on these is fairly nice, and the colours aren't bad - but for some reason I just never use these!! That has to change! The middle colour is fairly dupeable within my collection but the outside two, I have nothing else really like them!

Swatches:

First look should be up tomorrow or the next day!! Looks might not be on consecutive days (I'm not starting my new job until next week and so this week I'm just at home, and may not want to/need to put on makeup every day!) but I'll try to have several looks up over the next week or so!! :)