Thisdaystyle.com: 'Wake Up'

Here I am once again sharing one of my articles from thisdaystyle.com

There is more to makeup than just the cursory application of eyeshadow, lip gloss and once in a while, blush to liven the cheeks. Just like fashion, makeup is also influenced by the trends, the weather, our moods, your destination for the day and so many other minor factors. Did you know that it is in bad taste to use red lipstick when you are in read the rest of this article...

Thisdaystyle.com: 'Making Up Your Style'

A lot of the time we want what we don't need and neglect what we do have - Barbara Onianwah (that is a new lesson I learnt) and I apologise for being MIA for quite a while. As you all know, I am also a beauty contributor to 2 other sites thisdaystyle.com and MediAfritiQ.com, please permit to share some of my articles with you in the next couple of posts.


My first article ever was titled Making Up Your Style


A lot of times, it is assumed that makeup and style have nothing in common, that they are randomly emerging processes that have no central or unifying themes. Even I have made that same mistake for most of my makeup career but recently I have had a change of heart and read the rest of this article...

Steps to Personal Branding

I am currently a student of personal branding as I am on the road to building my personal brand and image.

I have been reading up on personal brand building and here are some of the key notes I have found along the way and I thought I would share them with you all:

- Discover your brand

- Know the difference between your internal and external brand: Your self-impression = How people perceive you

- Find your niche

- Put together your personal branding toolkit ie. business cards, resume etc.
- Create your online personality via a consistent social media presence on facebook, twitter, linkedin, pinterest and a blog/website

- Create your offline personality via a wardrobe that represents your personal style and brand.

- And don't forget your email address. It is common practise to neglect emailing with the advent of social media but we forget that all social media accounts are linked to an email address.

- The last and final step is STEP OUT INTO THE WORLD!!

How many of you have undertaken the Personal branding process and what step are you on now?

Barbara & 1923

Coloured eye makeup for the Office

It is commonly assumed that makeup for the office should be somber or nude or only browns or just plain or next to nothing. This misconception has led to a lot of dullness and drabness in the work place. Thus, it is believed that only those who work in the creative industry have the liberty denied others.

However, this is a belief that has been borne out of the inability to tame colour as most colourful makeup looks are seen to be outlandish and overly bright.

Here are a few tips for rocking coloured eye makeup in the office:

1. Rock only one colour at a time: never use more than one colour at any one time.

2. Keep the colour on the lid: place the colour on the lids only and do not extend it to the crease of the eye.

3. Pair with a somber colour: any additional colour on the eyes should be a more subtle colour or black. This will help to tone down the colour.

4. Blend away: to further diffuse the bright colour, be sure to blend smoothly into the crease colour.

Here are 2 of my bright office looks

blue eye makeup

yellow eye makeup

5. Smoke out the colour: one of the most effective ways to tame a vibrant colour is by smoking it out with black. My favourite method of doing this is by lining my upper lashline with a black pencil and then smudging the colour and blending it into the bright colour on my lids.

For smoked out colour eyes, always keep the makeup to the eye-lid area to maintain that sober and classy look suitable for the office.

smoked out green eyes

smoked out purple eyes

Always remember that when rocking coloured eye makeup to the office, the rest of your face should be as nude as possible. 

Please share your tricks for rocking coloured eye makeup in the office.

Gifty's Daughter Fashion Fair Goodie Bag

A couple of weeks ago, I received Fashion Fair makeup courtesy a dear friend of mine - Funke of Gifty's Daughter
Here is a review of the contents:

the colourful spacious purse they all came in.

yes, they were all in the purse with more than enough space to spare.
3 NYX wipes (all different. To help me combat my breakouts), 2 full-size lipsticks, facial shampoo & a lotion and an eyeshadow/lipstick combo mini palette

NYX blotting paper. One containing Tea Tree to help heal the blisters caused by the breakouts and one containing Salicylic Acid to help treat the breakouts.

I haven't used these though. They look so cute and I love anything travel size. I never want to use them but end up keeping them forever and ever.

eyeshadow/lipstick combo mini-palette

lippies on first level which slide apart to reveal the 4 frost shadows.

lipstick and eyeshadow swatches.

The full-size lipsticks in Power and Passion (aren't those utterly sexy names?)

Passion (of course the red had to be called Power) - this is an orangey-bronzey l/s with a little gold reflects in it.

Power - this is a true red lipstick. I tried and tried to get the right angle to show-off the beautiful slight shimmer in this lipstick but I couldn't.

These products will be featured in upcoming posts.

Product Review: Sedona Lace gel liner

I purchased the Sedona Lace gel liner along with the Vortex Brush set but for some reason I never got to use it until recently and that is why I am just reviewing it.

the gel liner in the packaging

i took off the seal and threw it away though. Liner is still as creamy as ever.

a swatch of the liner. It is true to the picture on the site and even though when i first saw it I wasn't too sure, I am still happy with this purchase.

Verdict
- It is creamy and the pigmentation is good.
- it can be used as a base for eye shadow (people take this for granted and say that all cream or gel liners can be used as a base but it is very tricky). The consistency of this product allows for use as both a liner and an e/s base.
- It is water-proof.
- I will go ahead to say that this product does not dry up easily. I have had it for about 4 months now and it is still as creamy as when i first swatched it.

Will be posting a FOTD soon where I used this as the base for the vibrant blue e/s in the look.

Barbara & 1923 Website

Hello everyone,

Today I will formally introduce you to my website which is a wix hosted one. The link is http://barbara1923.wix.com/portfolio

I used one of the flash templates to create my site and though it wasn't as easy as it looks I had fun seeing it all come together. I picked a simple template which has a standard bar on the left hand side which is constant.

The landing page

the landing page has 5 pictures of beauty looks ranging from clean to a little colour

a clip of the home-page pictures changing

Portfolio-My Work tab

Portfolio-New Work tab

the arrangement of the pictures. Click to enlarge

About tab

Contact tab

Do check out my site and let me know what you think. Thank you

Product Review: Zaron Glosses, Mascaras, Loose Powder & Balm

Hello everyone,

Here is the last installment of my Zaron products reviews.

Cotton Candy and Rusted Over. 

I have a sample size of Cotton candy which i used for this look. I love the pigmentation but Rusted Over is of a lighter pigmentation and cannot be used on its own for total lip coverage.

This l/p is the perfect companion for either Cotton Candy or Rusted over. it is a beautiful, creamy, pigmented lip pencil. Can be used alone with clear lip gloss or lip balm over it.

I am addicted to lip balms and use them for most of my work day FOTDs. I used this lip balm over a lip pencil in this look. I also love the signature packaging which means you can proudly bring it out of your purse and apply throughout the day. Having used a Zaron lip balm before, I knew to expect a lot of moisture and I was not disappointed

I more often than not use compacts on myself and loose powder on Clients and models but I have had to try this out for myself. However, due to the unique nature of my skin, I cannot truly testify to the Oil control qualities of this product but I must say that after recently going over to using under-eye concealing on regular work days, this powder sets anything under my eyes beautifully. On the days, I have a sheen, it is restricted to just my cheeks, my nose, chin and forehead while my under-eye area remains well set until i take my makeup off.

*sigh* what more can I say about the Zaron eyebrow definer powders? They are beautiful, but be careful how you use them or you will have really dark and over filled brows as both shades are really pigmented. I use the darker one to define the lower line of my brows and the lighter shade to actually fill in my brows (if i used the dark one, id look like i had black brows, lol)

I must say that I am still not very impressed with this mascara (yes, both of them). The product is too thick, the mascara doesn't work the lashes very well and they tend to drag on the lashes without depositing much product. I was excited to get the blue one again, in the hopes that maybe the issue was with the previous one but it seems that it is a constant issue that needs to be sorted out from production.

Have you used any of the products above? Please feel free to leave your comments as I am looking forward to reading your reviews on them too.