tarte Tartelette Matte Palette Redux

So this is going to be a combination post. I've been promising to re-review my Tartelette Palette since my first review that I changed my mind on. And also this morning/last night I got a request for a step by step Matte Eye look.  So two birds one awesome eye palette. So I am not an expert at all when it comes to makeup, but I do watch a lot of Beauty Gurus on YouTube and read a lot of makeup blogs so I feel like somewhere out there I have back up for what I'm about to say and do.

I know Matte Eyeshadows are something a lot of people are afraid of because you have to be really careful, blend a lot and they just aren't as forgiving as shimmer shadows.  I think that's why at first I didn't like my Tartelette palette, I didn't know the trick yet.  So I added them to my eyes and wherever I put them they STAYED! Like they did not want to blend and the just wanted to chill in my crease all patchy and sad like.  So I scoured the internet to figure out what I was doing wrong and it wasn't till about 2-3 weeks after I had the palette that Tati shared this eye shadow changing tip on her channel. POWDER. After you primer your eyes, powder your eyes this makes all the difference. I swear! So I'll share in the photo's below how I do this, but I don't just powder my eyes once, I do it twice. And I can tell when I do a crappy job of it cause I get patchy shadow as a side-effect.  On to the step by step process.  (also this could be a little long because I captured the whole process) If you're just here for the eyes skip to Step 10.

Dangit I forgot to capture my BB Creams...sigh

Here's the majority of the products I used today I'll list them all with their shades along the way.  The most important step though is the base. You have to have a good even foundation to start with or the rest of the face falls apart, or melts off.

1.) Start with a naked face. I've added Josie Maran's Argan Oil Light all over my face with my usual ELF under eye Primer.  I also have on some chapstick.

2.) After this I add my allover face primer. I'm still using my Maybelline Master Prime Blur and still enjoying it.

3.) Then I start working on my base. Before I apply any BB creams I add my Lemon Aid primer from Benefit on any discolorations. I use this to neutralize my eyelid shadows and on any blemishes (which right now I seem to have a few)

4.) I also use this time to add my first of many layers of undereye concealer. I'm currently using Benefit's Erase Paste as my salmon based color corrector for under my eyes.



Here you can see my eyelids are a little lighter and my under eyes look a little yellowish but less blue.

5.) Now I add my BB cream. I'm using a mix of my Olay Fresh Effects BB cream and my Smashbox BB Cream.

6.) More concealing. I'm using a sample of Lancome's Effacernes Waterproof Undereye Concealer. Not sure how I feel about it yet. I like the texture but I still think we can do better...I think I have my color correcting down but it's the concealing now that's the problem...sigh

7.) More primer. Now I prime my eyes. I'm still using Wet N Wild's Fergie Take on the Day primer but it's almost out, so on standby I have Milani's eye primer.

8.) Powder! I do not powder my whole face, my skin is too dry for that nonsense but I do powder my eyes and undereye area and anywhere else that has concealer. It's called setting your concealer and it's important. I use Palladio Rice Powder for this, it's light and translucent.

So now we get to the good stuff, now we get to the eyes.

9.) First step to my eyes is to fill in my eyebrows I know I know sometimes I go to far and have very dark eyebrows and sometimes I do just enough and you can't see where I'm missing hair- today is somewhere between. I've been using and loving the NYX micro-pencil it's fabulous I use the shade Taupe.

For the next few steps you'll need a neutral palette I'm going to name the shades in the Tarte Tartelette palette but I'll also describe them and have a shot of the palette later highlighted with the colors I used.

10.) Take Free Spirit or your favorite light cream color all over your lid. I mean all over from eyebrow to lash line. This is the second layer of powder I spoke about earlier this doesn't need to be a thick layer but it needs to be there, your entire eyelid should be the same shade now and smooth when you run the brush over it, no skipping across the eye. I use a fluffy shader brush from Real Techniques called The Base Shadow Brush.

11.) Next I take Caregiver a pale but pigmented baby pink and cover just the moving part of my lid till the crease. I don't carry it into the crease here but cover the who eyelid again till the crease.  I use an ELF Essential Eye Shadow Brush but any short and flat brush will do.

There is now a pretty good amount of powder on my lids. It's not thick, you can't see it but if you run a brush across your lids it would feel very smooth- that's what you want.

12.) Now we attack the crease. I go in with my two medium colors and blend them together with a fluffy short brush by Real Techniques called the Shader Brush. I take this into Force of Nature and Wanderer  and tap off the extra and just start blending it into my crease. From inner corner to outer corner with windshield wiper motions. I go over this as much as I want.  This color covers the crease and goes about it and below it just the slightest. When you open your eyes you should see just a little bit of the crease color above your crease. This will be hard if you have fully hooded eyelids, mine are partially hooded so it works but the more real estate above your crease the easier this will be for you.

Here's how it'll look with eyes open and closed with just the first three eye steps.







13.) Okay here's the test to see if you have enough powder on your lids. Take a medium to dark brown color I used Dreamer on a fluffy domed crease brush I used my ELF Essential Eye Crease Brush. I dip just the top domed part of the brush in the color- start slow- and tap it off. Then I dot this on the outer corner of my eye. Do one eye at a time here, you can ever it out later. And I make a small triangle of shadow here.  (please see very unattractive picture here my lighting was hating me)

14.) Then Blend, blend, blend. Use the same brush, don't add anymore product and blend again into the crease, try not to go above the crease this time, but use the same windshield motions back and forth till it's completely blended out.

15.) Almost done with the eyes- next clean it up. Keep blending till you're happy and see an pretty gradient from one color to the next. No harsh lines, you want it to look smooth and effortless. I always go back into my pale pink and my cream color to re-highlight my browbone and brighten up my inner corner of the lid.

16.) Eyeliner time! I like to use NYX's Dark Brown Gel Liner, it's dark and smooth and goes on like a dream. I apply this with any liner brush right now I'm using my Sephora Liner Brush from high school so I have no idea if they still make it but it works beautifully. I do the very thinnest line I can do, just to darken up the base of my lashes, I don't use a very thick line.

17.) Lower eyeliner- I don't usually use eyeliner on my lower lash line I just take the darkest color eye shadow I used and an angled brush to pop it down there. Today I used Dreamer again and a no-name angled brush.






17.) The final eye step is to add mascara! I'm in love with my Benefit Roller Lash. It's like my Benefit They're Real but curlier. It's fantastic. However before I could finish using it- disaster struck!!!

Oh the tears. 

18.) After I cleaned up my mess. I continued on with the rest of my face. Which pretty much is always the same. Bronzer from my NYX Sunny, Blush from whatever is closest- today was my new Milani Tea Rose this stuff is strong! Then I finish with my ELF highlight in Moonlight Pearls.

And done! Geesh it always seems like such a long process when I write it out! But it really doesn't take me more than 15 minutes. 

Here's a close up of the Tartelette Palette and the colors I used. 

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PS So sorry I've been neglecting my beauty blog! I've been working on an excessive movie project on my main blog . It'll be done by the 30th for my birthday. But this is the most action my other blog has gotten in a while, so it's good for it. Once that project is over I also promise to continue my Makeup Madness series with my liners. 

Easy weekend makeup, March 2015

I don't mind wearing lots of makeup every day really. I love the finished product so the fact that I wear lots of makeup for the most part is just fine with me. But I do like to take as much of a break as I can on the weekend. I like to not cover my face and if I can get away with not using gel eyeliner or more than like 2 products on my eyes I get really excited.  So this was my go to makeup this weekend. I only left the house like twice and knew the people I was seeing wouldn't judge the lack of makeup on my face.

So here are the products I used. Just seven and one brush. Considering that on a normal day I could use anywhere from 15 - 20 products on my face this is a huge slim down. Here's what I did:

1. I used my Benefit Fake Up in 02 under my eyes. This stuff is a super hydrating concealer with a little bit of pigment. It's not strong enough for everyday use but when I'm going for a lighter/more natural look it does the trick.
2. Next I took my Master Primer by Maybelline in the Blue + Smooth formula and put it on the apples of my cheeks, near my nose, on my nose and the top of my forehead. All the places I have problems with pores. This is a somewhat hydrating primer, it's not really hydrating, but it doesn't dry me out so I feel it counts.  I only use it in targeted areas. This helps give the appearance of smoother skin and since I wasn't topping it with a BB cream I made sure to really focus on my problem areas.
3. Next I took my Define a Brow also by Maybelline and worked on my eyebrows. In the picture below you'll see my left eyebrow was really having some fun, I toned him down after I took the picture to make it look a little more natural.  I love using an eyebrow pencil because they're so much faster, but they don't have the added bonus of being controlling. 
4. Then I took my Maybelline (may used a lot of Maybelline products this day) Color Tattoo in Creamy Beige allover my eyelid and up a little in the crease. I love this color. It's a beigey brown that is just a little darker than my natural eyelids. It's the perfect no-make-up-make-up eye color. When you pull it up into your crease it naturally looks a little darker, it's beautiful.
5. Then I took my Tarte eyeliner in Bronze very close to my upper and lower lashline. Drawing very small strokes and really just trying to darken my lashes a little. I smudged it out a little on the ends with my fingers.
6. Next I used a sample of Clinique's High Impact mascara in black that my sister game me. It is not high impact, but actually gives a really natural flutterly look to my lashes. I gave two quick coats to my lashes and moved on.
7. Finally I finished with my Elf blush in Jest Setter. I love this color, its a very natural mauvey-pink. I like it because it goes with everything and is hard to get too much of, so it looks super natural. I took this on my Real Technique's Blush Brush and just really focused on blending it out and making it look super soft.

Here is my before and after- remember the eyebrows were addressed later no worries.

Easy Saturday makeup. 7 products only. #nomakeupmakeup #saturday #spring2015 #colortattoo #fakeup #blush #mascara #primerpower #brow #freshface

A photo posted by Tyler Archer (@tyleralyse) on Mar 7, 2015 at 9:50am PST

In the picture on the left I just have moisturizer on my face and it was a little pink.  I've been trying out and enjoying my Pond's Dry Skin Cream. It's really thick and creamy and smells deliciously like Baby Powder.

My February Face!

Here are the products I was using and abusing in February.  I didn't want to necessarily do a Favorites post because I think sometimes we use products that aren't our favorites because they're what we have, so since I using most of this stuff for a month. I now have an opinion on them.  I'm going to take us through my whole face routine.

Skincare:
I am terrible about washing my face every night, I'm lazy and I don't like to get my whole face wet.  So I use face wipes.  I know, I know they don't do enough.  I'll take off my makeup with the wipes as soon as I know I'm not leaving my house again for the night.  This month I tried out a new brand for me the Neutrogena Makeup Remover Towelettes. I had been a loyal fan of my Up and Up green packaged exfoliating wipes for years but these were on sale so I snatched them up.  I really like these, I feel like they don't dry out my skin as much and I don't have to put moisturizer on immediately after I use them.  I've already repurchased my second bag. But I do follow up the makeup wipes now with another newish product my Simple Micellar Water that I wrote about a while ago here. I just use this on a cotton pad and it gets off all the other makeup that was left behind from the wipe.  I usually use just one cotton pad on both side, but if I have lots of eye makeup on then I'll use two. I love this stuff I've already bought a backup. I'm probably about a 3rd of the way through my first bottle.

Right now I'm finishing up a tub of Neutrogena Deep Moisture Night Cream I've been working on this stuff for about a year probably. I use so very little of it and I was really bad for a while and didn't use it every night.  A little bit goes a long way and it is super deep moisture.  I have already purchased a different night cream to try after this is gone, but if it's a dud I will totally go back to the Deep Moisture. It has a nice old lady powdery smell, is super thick and lasts a really long time. What's not to love.

In the morning before I put on my makeup I've been using Olay Age Defying Classic Daily Renewal Cream. I love Oil of Olay, but this day cream does not impress me.  I switched from the Beauty Fluid which I'd be an avid user of for years because I wanted something a little more targeted to those fine lines I seem peeking under my eyes, but it's not cutting it.  I'm not shy when I use this so I'm going through it quickly. But I will not be repurchasing it. I bought a big tub or Pond's Dry Skin Cream and have been cheating on my Olay with it. It does a much better job, the tub is twice the size and half the price.  We'll see how it fairs in March.

Face Base:
I've started calling all my allover face stuff Face Base lately because it makes me giggle. These are all the prep/foundation layers I've been using.  After my moisturizer I've been using the Maybelline Master Prime just in the center of my face. I'm not sure it's actually doing anything. Like all primers I never see my pores shrunk or blurred. So whatever. It was on sale, it's not as drying as some primers but you can't convince me it does anything. Probably wont repurchase.  Next I tackle under my eyes.  I use the ELF Undereye Primer I'm on my second tube of this stuff.  I also don't know if it's working but I notice when I forget to use it. It's great at hydrating my under eyes and I feel like it makes me look more awake than if I just go in straight with concealer.  The last priming I do is for my eyes.  I use the Wet n Wild Fergie Take on the Day.  It's cheap and it works. It definitely helps my eye shadow stay on all day without creasing.  I love it. The only other primer I've tried for my eyes is from ELF and it didn't work so Fergie wins!

Now that everything is "primed" lets add some color! This month I was trying out the Benefit Lemon Aid that I heard was good for color correcting your lids and under your eyes.  So I agree it color corrects my eye lids great.  I love that it works as a great eye primer in addition to my actual eye primer. But for a concealer under the eye I just don't think it was the bees knees as I was sold it would be.  It's pretty dry and my under eyes don't need that torture forever. Probably wont repurchase, but I'll use it. After this I would use my It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye and pat it all over my under eye gently with my ring finger.  This stuff is awesome.  Talk about moisturizing and full coverage this stuff is great.  I've been using it for about 6 months, however in the last month it hasn't been covering up those dark circles as much as I'd like.  So I'm in search of something better.  Or something else to add with this to make it as good as I remember it.  It's expensive but lasts a long time and a little goes a long way.

I'm a pretty loyal BB Cream and CC Cream user and it's really a toss up to which one I used more this month. But I'll give it to my It Cosmetics CC Cream because it's the only foundation I took home on both my SA trips.  I love this stuff, it color corrects like no one's business. It has a little bit of moisturizer in it.  And it has stuff that's good for your skin in it- like Snail Secretion... I'll probably repurchase this as some point.  I use about a pump and a half to get all over my face. I apply it with my fingers and it gives a pretty velvety finish. Love it.

I was lucky in February not to have any major breakouts that needed concealing.  Go face! So the last step is just setting my under eye concealer with a little Rice Powder from Palladio.

It's all about the eyes:
While all my concealers and eye primers are sitting I like to do my brows.  This month I started using a product I've had for a bit but am only just now really using.  Maybelline Define a Brow is an automatic brow pencil with a little comb on the end. I love this stuff too!  This is great for when I'm looking for a really natural brow sort of look. It's quick and I don't really need to set it with anything. I've purchased a product like it so I don't need this, but it's perfectly decent and I wouldn't be against repurchasing.

For eye shadows I have really been loving my Tartelette Palette.  I haven't completely changed my mind about it but I have definitely figured out some tricks for using it.  I'm going to do an updated post about it soon.  So the trick with these shadows is having a good powdery base. I use the light nude tone allover the lid and really go to town with it.  As long as there's something between my primer and the shadows I'm trying to blend then it works fine.  I mostly stuck to the top row this month but I did try the middle row for Valentine's and it was lovely.  These are great shadows and I can't imagine I'll need to repurchase this but if I need to I will. I really am enjoying it.

For liner I've been using my NYX Gel Liner in Dark Brown. Love this stuff it's great. I use it pretty much daily.  It's dark, it's brown and it stays on like no bodies business but comes off at the end of the day. I will totally repurchase it.  Then I wasn't curling my lashes most of the month because the mascara I use curls them for me.  Benefit They're Real! I loooove this mascara.  Yes it's a bitch to get off my lashes but it makes them so so so long.  It really makes my lashes gorgeous.  I have a hard time going through mascara it usually dries out first so I already bought a back up of this and will probably start using it in the next few weeks.

Where are my cheeks?
So the last step of my face is to give it back some color.  I used my NYC Sunny Bronzer daily.  This is what I use everyday to carve out my cheek and make it look like I have cheekbones. I use it around my hair line and under my jaw.  Love this stuff it works great.  I've already mentioned in my Bronzer Maddness post that I wont repurchase this right away because I have other bronzer to use, but I will probably finish using this one up in March because I've hit major major pan on it.

For highlighter I use my ELF Baked Highlighter in Moonlight Pearls. This stuff is beautiful.  And I will never be rid of it! It lasts forever. So I may not need to repurchase it.  Also I want to see other highlighters in the future so I may not right away with this either. I use it on my non-existent cheekbones, bridge of my nose and inner eye corner.  Hardest to screw up makeup step for sure.

The for blush I jumped around at the end, but I'd say for most of the month my Nars Orgasm was the blush I used.  This is just a great blush that goes with everything and always looks good. It stays all day really brings life back into my face. I'm just not sure if I'll repurchase, it's super expensive. Mine came in a kit so I may look for dupes. I also have loads of blushes I love see my Blush Maddness.

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So that's what I did to my face in February.  Geesh it's a lot to write out.  You may notice that lips were missing, because I wasn't really wearing a lot of lipstick in February. I tried some new chap sticks but nothing special.  I'm kinda addicted to Selfies so here are a few of the looks that happened in February. (Also I figuring out my eye brows...don't judge)