Tag: raffael

Basic face routine

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Hello Beauties!
It’s been a while since I haven’t done a basic daily face routine. Since the weather is getting hotter, slowly but surely, it will be changing soon. But for now here is what I use:

Primer: Raffael Cosmetics HD Primer. Smooth canvas and helps hold my makeup intact all day.
Foundation: Mac mineralize Moisture foundation in NC20.
Powder: Raffael Cosmetics Duo powder in C35.
Blush: Raffael Cosmetics #293 mellow with a touch of #329 bare skin.
Bronzer: Mac mineralize skin finish in Medium/Dark.
Mascara: Korres in Obsidian black (volumizing mascara and so far my favorite).
Eye brows: Raffael Cosmetics in Golden brown #6 with a thin angled brush.
Lips: For a nude look Raffael cosmetics: #399 Pussycat or for a touch of color: #448 Love lust hi gloss.

That’s it!! 🙂 ❀
xox

For those of you who follow my wedding plans and would like a small update: since it’s still (almost) a year away and I have  already booked the important things, I’m kind of on a stand by (cause its still early) in order to  finalize details and book the rest of the vendors. For now I’m planning a small, cozy engagement party for September. So I’m concentrating on that for now. 😉
(I may not talk about her everyday, I may not talk about it very often either but I think of her literally every DAY. Ever single moment that passes I miss her even more. She’s always in my heart and I love her!! To my number one fan, as usual! ❀ )

Summer lips

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Famous summer lipstick swatches!

I always show you ladies my Raffael lipsticks because that’s the only brand of lipstick I wear. They’re creamy, long lasting, pigmented, they don’t dry up and I can finish my latte and there’s still color on my lips, c’mon that’s AMAZING :P… I posted a review on raffael lipsticks if you need more details go read it.

Here are the swatches of summer hits:
The only one that is missing is Bambi #87 (i forgot it at my sisters house 😛 )

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Peony is a pink coral bright color, completely matte. Perfect with a winged liner and barely need to touch up because of the pigment.

Pretty smart is an almost red-pinky matte but has shine (not shimmer) but leaves a luscious look. This too paired with a winged liner or a very light smudged liner with lots of mascara, would look great.

Bibi is a light orange with an ever so slight shimmer leaving lips cool and silky looking for a summer “wet”  look. A natural smokey eye would look amazing with this lip color.

Pussycat is a completely matte, nude with a orange undertone. Great with a dark smokey eye either black, green, brown, purple… anything!

Dewy is the perfect shiny (again, not shimmery) luscious nude with a pinky-purple undertone as compared to pussycat. Great for any look, nude look, smokey, winged liner…

Hope you all find your perfect summer shades. Oh and don’t be afraid to test different colors sometimes a lipstick can change your entire look 😉

xox

Summer Makeup Favs

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the summer is approaching very quickly, I’m so excited! Colors are coming out!

Here are some of my makeup favorites for the upcoming summer:
Lipstick by Raffael Cosmetics in Bambi #87
Beautiful bright pink/peachy, no shimmer!
(My sis is wearing Bambi in the picture below)
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Lipliner from Raffael Cosmetics in Sweet. Cute pink very nude, can wear it alone or under any pinks and nudes.

FAVORITE eye shadow! Again from Raffael Cosmetics Perfection #519 (the name says it all) it’s a PERFECT shimmery base for a nice smokey or highlight. It’s like a nude with silver and gold shimmer. Goes with anything!!

And last but not least the new HD liquid foundation from Raffael Cosmetics. A perfect flawless coverage, easily applied with fingers to warm up product, does not cake on the skin. Leaves a flawless satin finish!

Enjoy the weather xox

And BTW, the glymm box this month was sooo disappointing in so many ways I did not bother posting also I am cancelling my subscription for certain personal reasons. I’m sorry for those who enjoyed those posts!

(Note: I was not paid to write about or promote this company, it’s really my own opinion and products were all purchased with my own money)

Optimus PRIME!!

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Ok no transformers here, but if you think about it properly it does kinda seem like that. Face primers and eye primers DO transform. I’d like to share with you guys my favorite primers for eyes and face and for what skin types. This is my opinion and from my experience so far, it can be differ from person to person and may not necessarily work for you.

Eyes:
In general they pretty much all work but some have different texture and finishes therefore have a slightly different outcome. Personally I use all of them but depending on the look I want to acheive I alternate but these are my favorites.

The best so far is Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. This is ideal for most type of eyes and looks, but I find it holds the color very well and easy to blend colors over it and layering. It goes on with a slightly oily feel but has a nice silky finish without being oily.
My second choice would be Raffael cosmetic Prime Time. This has a thick texture wich allows you to layer and put a nice amount of eyeshadows especially with black or vibrant colors. It holds it in place and  does not crease but it’s not ideal for people who have very oily lids.
My third choice is MAC’s paint pots in any shade. This too goes on very creamy and oily feel but dries as a powder, there is a variety of shades that can even be left alone with no worries of creasing. You can play with the eyeshadows to get different looks. This is good for anyone but idealy for people with very oily lids.

Face:
Here it’s tricky there are soooo many to choose from and the choices are tough…

Oily: Best bet is to go for MAC’s mattifying gel. Soaks up all excess oil leaving a matte clean look. If you don’t fully want the matte look you can always go for the next one.
Combination: Smashbox Photo finish primer. It evens out skin tone, leaves you with a perfect canvas for foundation or powder.
Dry: (smashbox would work as well) but my favorite is Cover FX Anti-aging primer. The reason why I like this one is because when your face is dry it tends to “crack” in some areas. This has a slight oily finish which slightly fills in those “cracks” and leaves a nice clean, dewy finish. Also good for people who have fine lines and wrinkles.

The importance of primers: it’s self-explanitory, it preps your face for a better finish. It creates a good base for your foundation or powder and holds it much longer than putting your foundation alone. Many people have spent so much money on products which thought they did not get the results they expected but that’s because they never put a base. That’s  why you hear people say they want a long lasting foundation cause the one they have doesn’t hold. Sometimes you don’t need all that crazy coverage foundation, all you need is a good base and a decent tinted moisturizer (please review my tinted moisturizer posted a few months ago to save money on this).

I hope this helps some of you with your daily routine and helps you save money on “disappointing” products when sometimes all you need is a good base.
Happy Valentine’s day to you all!!
xox

Pretty smart lips?!

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Mind games these titles 😛
I call it pretty smart lips, why you ask? It’s all about the lips… Noooooo it’s because the lipstick is CALLED pretty smart from Raffael Cosmetics. HAAAAHAAAA Got you… or not! 😛

Lately the weather here has been cold, really really cold! So aside from the really pink cheeks due to the extreme cold, I found my face looked blahhhhh.
So I played around with some lip colors to see which would be nice to wear everyday but not too much and then this one caught my attention! It’s been a week now, I wear this look almost every day, the only difference is the eye liner. For a more dramatic look I’ve been wearing black liquid eyeliner or brown depending on what I’m doing or if its only for work I only wear mascara.
It completes a basic look without looking too much, according to some coworkers I look “polished”. Not only is it a nice lip color but it’s also very lasting and does not dry out my lips.
LOVE IT!!

Fall Routine!

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I love Fall, I really think it’s my favorite season of all. Although it’s getting cold, EEK!

Anyway I’ve slightly changed my makeup routine since the fall, so here are some favorite products and what’s good for prepping for the cold weather.
For a flawless face I’ve been using Bentaberry /Super moisturizing face cream for girls mixed with a pea-size of my liquid foundation from Raffael cosmetics in C3, I apply it with a flat buffing brush in circular motions until well blended. I don’t always put powder because my skin gets overly flaky, so I sometimes prefer a dewy finish.
For eyes, I’ve been getting away with a simple primer base from Urban Decay – primer potion original and a thick black liner from Raffel cosmetic’s felt liner in Jet black. As for mascara, I’m loving the Benefit – They’re Real!.
For some color on my cheeks I’m using MAC’s mineralize skin finish in Medium Dark.
Finishing off the look with a nude/pink lipstick (my ULTIMATE favorite) Raffael in Dewy #475.

Now that it’s cold, my skin is getting dry and I’m sure yours is as well. I’m trying to do a self-facial at least once a month and use a heavier face moisturizer. It is also very important to exfoliate to remove all dead skin.

Enjoy! Get ready for the holidays, it’s so close!!  🙂

Happy Creepers!!

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Happy Halloween everyone! My favorite time of the year, the time where there are no limits to makeup and special effect are taken to extreme levels. I love it! Here’s a nice inspiration for you guys, this is my sister and her boyfriend as matchy skeletons so creepy 😛

Enjoy and don’t eat tooo much candy 😉

Makeup by Christina Paras

 

Products used: white and black halloween liquid makeup, raffael cosmetics transluscent powder, urban decay eye primer, old black liquid eye liner (to make the cracks), black gel liner, black mascara, raffael black carbon eye shadow and black eye liner in pencil in smolder.

A not so dramatic Smokey eye

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This is a basic smokey eye that is not too overdone. Black eye shadow was only used only in the outer lid rather than all over and I blended it with a nice light brown eye shadow in the crease. Instead of putting an intense black eye liner, I used a dark brown (almost black) for a less intense look and individuals lashes were used for this look.

All products used for this look were by Raffael cosmetics.

The “Can’t-Go-Wrong” Fall/Winter look

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As much as I’m extremely in denial, summer is over or almost over. I find the one simple classic look that will NEVER seize to amaze and have a great impact is the pin-up. A simple black liner with red or dark pink lipstick. This look is so easy to dress up and dress down (just like the little black dress).

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This look is so easy to play up or down. You can obviously leave plain liner and lipstick or you can add a nice light shimmer on your lids to slightly glamourize your look , you can excentuate your crease with a light brown and a matte nude eye shadow all over the lid. You can make your liner really thin or really thick depending on your mood. So fun to work with. With this look, you cannot go wrong and it’s the best “go-to” color option for fall and winter.
On this picture I’m wearing Sublime lip liner by Raffael, MAC Red by MAC, Black Gel liner by Raffael.

Enjoy this weather, Fall is the best season (for me 😛 ) xox

(Dedicated to my “3rd sister”, cousin and best friend who always supported me no matter what and always followed my blog. She was not only my first follower and number 1 fan in everything I did, but in my eyes she was and still is a true inspiration in my everyday life. I always wanted to be just like her. I love her so much and everyday she’s missed more than ever but i know she’s in a wonderful place right now ❀ )

Makeup’s been up to lately

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Yes yes, I didn’t forget to update 😛
Lately I felt like totally changing up my makeup routine. Since I was on holidays I wasn’t in the mood for any heavy look. Since then I feel like this “new” routine has stuck to me, but it’s more like I’m addicted to the overall finished look. It has that matte but glowy summer look with a light sunkiss tan, not too over-done but excentuates my features!
I normally NEVER skip out on the foundation. If anything I wear liquid foundation every time I wear makeup. During my holdiays, I was not in the mood for heavy makeup at all. Before starting I obviously moisturized and put a primer.
I used the dual powder by Raffael Cosmetics in C4 – C5 (I normally use C2-C3). I always contour my face with mineralized skin finish by MAC in medium-dark. For blush my new favorite color is by Raffael Cosmetics in Joy #220 it’s a peachy-pink that has a light gold-ish shine to it (as shown in the picture below). It’s perfect for highlighting the cheeks or even alone as a blush and I mix in a touch of pink blush to give it a boost of color like Raffael Cosmetics in Playful #309 it’s a bit of dark pink so I use just a little.


As for eyes I’ve been keeping it simple with liquid liner and the mascara Pro from Raffael Cosmetics.
Lip liner I use Sienna by Raffael and lipstick I’m using either MAC – Angel or Raffael – Chouchou wichever I grab first (they’re both almost identical).

I recently went shoe shopping mania (obviously!) 😛 so I’m gonna take some pictures and post them up very soon 😉 Don’t forget I love shoes just as much as makeup!!!

For details on Raffael cosmetics or where to purchase Raffael cosmetics please email me at christina.paras@yahoo.ca and don’t be shy 😉

(This is NOT sponsored by any company what so ever. These are my own opinions and all products were purchased on my own.)