KE MAKEUP ADVENT CALENDAR 2015 PART 1
Wow, what a long title 
So for any of you that don’t follow me on Facebook you probably don’t know that in December I posted a new post every day up until Christmas. So instead of chocolate in Advent calendar I shared with you my favourite products and tips.
I do want to have this featured in my blog as well so today I am posting first 12 days of KE Makeup Advent calendar.
Also I want to wish you a happy and healthy 2016! :*
DAY 1
Sooo let’s start with the basics. For the first day I decided to post something connected to the season we are in right now. These things I post here are only MY favourite products, we all have different skin types and tastes In winter I love to wear heavier, matte foundations. I think summer is reserved for glowy and fresh (+we don’t have much choice about going all oily anyways). So these are my two favourite winter foundations. I chose one high-end and one drugstore. Clarins Everlasting Foundation on the left is very full coverage but it gives you flawless looking skin. It is perfect for dark or red lipsticks, no redness peeking out to match with your lipstick 
On the right there is Bourjois Air Mat Foundation which I think is quite new but I fell in love immediately. It is still full coverage but more appropriate also for everyday use, not heavy on the skin at all. You can apply both with either sponge, brush or your lovely little hands I would also like to add a tip about choosing a colour of your foundation. Please do not say you will buy darker one because you don’t want to look pale. If you are pale, you are pale, that is your colour and having darker foundation than your skin actually is won’t help much. This is why you see girls having ugly neck line. Match the foundation to your skin and THEN add colour back with blush or bronzer :*
Other similar foundations I also love: Chanel-Perfection Lumiere Velvet, L’oreal True Match, Estee Lauder- Double wear, Max Factor- Facefinity All Day Flawless 3 in 1, Mac- Studio Fix Fluid…
DAY 2
For the second day I chose to talk about my favourite creamy nude lipsticks. I wear nude lipsticks on a regular basis so for me it is important to have good choices. The ones you can see in the picture above are creamy and very opaque nude lipsticks. What I also wanted to say is that I only like those lipsticks in nude, neutral, maybe soft coral shades and not bright reds or dark colours. Why? Creamy formula makes it so much easier to get your lipstick all around your face, in your hair & on your clothes… BUT it is not drying, which makes it perfect for everyday use.
Number 1 on this picture is my long-time favourite. It is YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick. This has to be the creamiest lipstick out there. The formula is so unique and just perfect. It won’t stay on your lips for a very long time though. 
Number 2 is my recent favourite but I still wanted to mention it. It is a H&M lipstick from their new makeup/cosmetics line. I think it’s called Cream Lipstick. I love the texture of it and it’s much cheaper from the last one. It is very slippery so using a lip liner and sticking to a nude shades helps a lot.
Next one is number 3 and it is KIKO Luscious Cream Lipstick. It is really nice and it stays on longer than the other two. I like KIKO Milano brand a lot. The prices are very reasonable and they have really nice quality products. Too bad we don’t have it in our little country but they do ship to Slovenia if you are an online shopper.
Number 4 and last one is from PUPA Milano. It is their Pupa Volume lipstick that REALLY impressed me. It says it should increase a lip volume but honestly I did not notice that. It is very creamy and moisturizing. The only thing that sucks is that in Slovenia they offer such a small range of colours. I wish they would have hundreds and I would have them all.
DAY 3
My love for black eye kohls/pencils is changing from year to year. Sometimes I really love it and sometimes it looks a bit too much. I guess it’s like that with all makeup but I’ve just noticed that this is a more intense love – hate relationship. Usually I much prefer liquid or gel eyeliners. They stay on longer and are not smudging. However sometimes you do want that smokey, smudged look and that is when I really like to use just normal black eye kohl. It is great to use it as a base for black smokey eye or just use it on the upper lash line to give your eyelashes fuller look. When I do sexy smokey eye I also like to put it in the waterline but I do not recommend you to do it if your eyes are smaller. It will make them look even smaller. If you want the opposite use a cream colour eye one instead.
Usually if you have oily eyelids, you will find eye pencils transferring on your eyelid- in that case use black eyeshadow over your pencil to fix it.
I have to say I did not try a lot of different black eye pencils but I did try some and they are the ones I always go for from now on.
The first one on the picture is a classic. It is a Max Factor Kohl Eye Liner Pencil. I think every mother or grandmother had it. It is also the first one I have ever tried and I do have to say I really like it. It dries so it doesn’t smudge that much and it is nice strong black colour.
The second one is what I usually use on my clients. It is Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-lasting Eyeliner. The name of it is so long it already tells you everything What it doesn’t say and I really like is that you don’t have to sharpen it (it has twist end?), so you don’t waste a product and also it is much quicker and much more convenient. It also has a small sharpener build in, if you do want to be very precise.
Number 3 is also from Max Factor and it is their Liquid Effect Pencil. It is meant for smokey eye because it is much softer and intense and it also has a sponge at the other end to smudge it. But once it dries, it does not move anywhere that is why it’s one of my favourites.
DAY 4
On day 4 I talked about one tool that changed my makeup application sooo much and I would recommend it to everyone. It is makeup sponges. But not just any, not the ones we are used to see (the small triangle silicon ones) but these ones on the picture. The left one is from Real Techniques and the right one is the “original” Beauty blender. The difference from other sponges is in texture and in the final finish they give. You always use this sponges WET! That is the only way they work and that is how they don’t soak in the product. I usually squeeze it under the running water (5-10 times) and then wrap it in a towel and squeeze water out. They get twice the size once they are wet and very bouncy. I think with the sponge you get really nice finish because they distribute the product so evenly and because they mix with the water a bit and once it dries it’s just perfect. You hardly put too much product on your face with that, but if you want a higher coverage with it, you just go over that part of the face again. Another thing you have to do is to tap it on your face not drag it. You can use it for primers, foundations, concealers… even for powder to fix it (I cannot believe I say that because it is a makeup “rule” to not apply wet products over dry ones, but it works so well I swear).
Which one would I choose between those two? I bought Beauty blender once and I really liked it (it is softer) but then I found the Real Techniques one for more than half of the price and it works the same (I even prefer the shape more) and from then on I always buy that one. It is also much easier to find it in Europe since it is UK brand.
Out of all sponges I have tried from other brands none others are like that. They just don’t work in the same way. Usually if the shape is similar the texture is more like small silicon ones which I never ever liked. I really tried finding something similar that you can buy in Slovenia because it would be much more convenient for me also but I just haven’t. You can however order it online and on day 5 (look below) I have posted my favourite online stores.
DAY 5
WARNING! Do not click on those links if you are an impulse buyer!!! You WILL for sure feel overwhelmed and spend your whole evening buying makeup.
Like I said on DAY 4, on DAY 5 I posted about some of my favourite online stores. I do use some of them quite often and I have never had a bad experience before.
1. FEEL UNIQUE
Origin: UK
Free delivery over 15€ (for Slovenia)
2. LOOK FANTASTIC
Origin: UK
Free worldwide delivery
3. BEAUTYBAY
Origin: USA
Free delivery over 21€ (for Slovenia)
4. KIKO COSMETICS
Origin: Italy
Delivery cost under 49€- 8,9€
Delivery cost over 49€- 2€
(for Slovenia)
SLOVENIAN ONLINE STORES
Delivery cost under 20€ -3,5€
Delivery cost over 20€- 1,95€
Delivery cost over 50€ for FREE
2. http://www.mojadrogerija.si/
Delivery cost is 2,5€
+ Pošta Slovenije 0,96€
DAY 6
You want that J.Lo glow but you just don’t know what her secret is? It is HIGHLIGHTER <3 I think highlighter is such a nice final touch to end your makeup. It makes such a different in terms of how your skin looks. It makes your skin look glowy and healthy which I love so much. You put it on the highest points of your face (the ones that stick out the most). For example on the tip of your nose, on top of your cheeks, right above your lip and above/under your eyebrows.
The ones I love the most are MAC- Soft (left) and Gentle and The Balm- Mary-Lou Manizer(right). I also love the ones from Chanel’s holiday collections, but I don’t want to mention the exact ones, because it is always a limited edition so you can’t really buy it anyways. I like Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Bricks and Isadora has a good one in Trio with contour powder and blush called Face Sculptor.
I also think this is a great gift idea for someone that loves makeup and experimenting with it
DAY 7
I LOVEEE eyebrows and I love the difference they make on your face ( I don’t love it that much if the difference is negative haha). Eyebrows are the frame of your face and its really important feature. I think we should follow the natural shape of our brows and not change them drastically by over plucking them. If you are not sure how to shape them find help and go to the salon or just pluck the ones that are sticking out most.
If you have full, thick eyebrows (you are very lucky) once you have them shaped you don’t need much filling in. But if you don’t and you want some guide to what products are my favourite, keep reading.
I would only really recommend one brand and that is Anastasia Beverly Hills. I use 3 of their products on regular basis and I don’t replace them ever. Not on myself or on my clients.
The first one and my favourite is a retractable pencil called Brow Wiz. You use pencil on the places your brows don’t grow (but should). I have quite a lot of those areas so that is the best for me. It stays on all day and they have nice selections of colours. It also has the best small spooley on the other end to brush through your hair.
The second one is Brow Powder Duo. Like it says it is a powder that you put on with a separate brush and it is more for those who don’t need much drawing in but just making them look fuller. It also looks much softer for those of you who don’t like defined brows. The lighter colour is supposed to be for inside part of your brows and the darker for the outside one or just to mix how you want it.
The last one is a gel. If you are familiar with gel eyeliner this looks pretty much the same but it is for your brows. It is called Dipbrow Pomade and you also have to use a separate brush with it. With this product you have to be really light handed and I wouldn’t recommend it to beginners. I mostly like to use it in summer because it is waterproof (and sweat proof).
The cheaper alternative: Catrice cosmetics brand. Their pencil is really good, but in my opinion too creamy. Brow product has to slide on easily but it shouldn’t be too creamy because otherwise it will slide right back off also But if you touch it up during the day it is really good though. I would also recommend the brow powder from Catrice, the only thing is that the colour selection is not very wide.
I mostly order my brow products online since I already know their whole colour range. I think there is one place also in Ljubljana where you can buy Anastasia Beverly Hills but the last time I was there they were only selling a limited amount of products ( didn’t have Brow wiz or Dipbrow pomade). I am not sure how it is now. In other countries Sephora usually sells it but also not in all countries for example not in Italy and Spain. It is the best to probably just order it online
DAY 8
I was talking about my favourite winter foundations on DAY 1. So I think it’s time for a summer update. Even though we are as far from summer as we can be. These are actually only foundations I like to use in summer but they are very winter appropriate also. I had to split them in 2 groups. If I do wear foundation in the day time that is either MAC- Face and Body Foundation or Bourjois- Healthy Mix Serum. Those two foundations are perfect for someone that doesn’t want high coverage, only making your skin look even and nice. Also for someone with dry skin those are perfect, very hydrating and the foundation won’t stick to the dry patches. The next two are my favourite summer night foundations. This is when I want a bit more coverage and when it is not that hot anymore so I can handle a bit heavier foundation on my face also. If you can’t tell already I really don’t like makeup when it’s hot or I sweat haha Okay the first one is NARS- Sheer glow and the cheaper one next to it is Bourjois- Healthy Mix Foundation. I LOVE both of these! <3 I also use both of them if my skin feels a bit dryer in winter so I would recommend it to people with normal or dry skin. Why I love them so much is because my skin is mostly oily but I can still get away with wearing those two hydrating ones.
Other similar foundations: Max Factor- Skin Luminizer Foundation, Chanel- Vitalumiere Aqua, YSL- Le Teint Touche Eclat (love this one also instead of Face and Body).
DAY 9
When you see makeup artist’s brush bag you probably think who would need that many brushes and what for? We really do need them, but please don’t think you have to have as many to create a good makeup look on yourself. Today I will explain which I think are essential eye brushes to have, how I use them and how they will make your life easier.
First of we have a brush I think makes the most difference. If I would have to choose one eye brush I would pick that one. It is a classic blending brush. Blending your eyeshadow is taking your makeup to the next level. It will look so much better so please do it You just put A LITTLE eyeshadow on the brush, place it in your eye crease and go back and forth (or swirl it around) until it’s nicely blended.
Next one is just a basic eyeshadow brush. It will make it easier for you if you have more than one for different colours in and in more sizes but it’s perfectly fine to only have one also. You will just have to clean it more often. I use it for inner corners, eyelids, under the brow, under the eye… Very useful but not as essential as blending brush.
The third one is a smaller blending brush or pencil brush and it is very useful for smoking out the lower lash line or intensifying the colour in your crease. It is also very good for smoking out the eyeliner because it’s usually much smaller.
Good brands for brushes: Zoeva, Sigma, Mac, Kiko, Eco Tools, also Essence has all of those brushes and are much better than the ones you buy in pack of 30 from unknown brand
DAY 10
In my opinion every woman needs a good neutral eyeshadow palette. And you only need ONE to do a lot of different day time or night time makeup looks. If you are more of a warm tones girl you will probably go for warm brown, gold, bronze shades and if you are a cool tones girl maybe silver, purple, grey shades. Or just buy both and have an option to switch it up What I look for in a good palette is that you have a few matte shades, few glittery shades, black or almost black eyeshadow and really light highlighting colour.
My favourite makeup palettes are still Naked palettes from Urban Decay. I think they do one of the best quality eyeshadows and they mix the colours in the palettes perfectly. They are pricier but I think it is worth investing in one. That is number 1. I still love the original Naked palette the most but the others are amazing also.
Number 2 is a recently new eyeshadow palette from the new cosmetic range by H&M. I think the eyeshadows are really good and affordable. Also the packaging in my opinion is nicer than a lot of more expensive brands so it makes a good gift.
Third one is a palette from Mac. It is the one you can build on your own. You can choose among different sizes (usually 2, 4, 9, 15…), not everyone needs that many eyeshadows and it’s usually more convenient to have smaller one for carrying around and traveling.
There are also other brands that have the same system like Kiko Milano, Artdeco, Inglot, Makeup Geek…
Number 4 is Isadora -Eye Color Bar. It only contains 6 eyeshadows but the colours go from light to dark so it is perfect for someone who knows wouldn’t use more than 6 anyways.
The last one is PUPART Palette by PUPA. I really like this one also. Eyeshadows are really nice and soft with a great pigmentation. The packaging is nice and sturdy so it doesn’t break easily.
Eyeshadow palettes make a great gift and in last few years you can really find it at almost any makeup brand. These are the ones I have tested and I know that work for me.
DAY 11
Primeeeeeeeers… A lot of people don’t use primers and I get it, because it is one more step you really don’t have time for in the morning Buuut it can make such a difference on how your skin looks and how long your foundation lasts on your face. It really depends on your skin on which primer you want to use. If you have dry skin you will go for really hydrating ones and if you have oily skin for more mattifying ones. If your skin is normal type you are just lucky These two that I am going to talk about are my favourite 2 primers.
The first one is a drugstore product and it is Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer. It has the texture like no other primers I have tried. If you know any other brand with similar primer please let me know. I cannot explain how it works but it makes your skin look creamy and soft (creamy is really not a good expression haha) and it also makes your foundation last longer.
The second one is MAKE UP FOR EVER Step 1 Skin Equalizer Smoothing primer. This one is the complete opposite of the first one. It has a silicony texture so it is perfect for smoothing out your skin and hiding large pores. Before finding this one I was using Benefit Porefessional which worked fine but I much prefer the MU For Ever one now.
I have noticed that women have separate opinion about different primers, so no hatin’ please haha
DAY 12
You know Saturdays are reserved for weddings and I have been working on one that day. It is was not the “wedding season” in December but it was so beautiful. My bride went for a vintage look with red lipstick. So I thought why not talking about bright red lipsticks. I have few of my favourites and mostly they are all matte. That is how I like my red lipstick to be, long lasting and smudge proof. (The bride will send me pictures and allowed me to post in on my blog so look forward to that by the end of January)!
The first one and absolute favourite is by a drugstore brand. It is L’Oreal Paris Color Riche Lipstick by Blake Lively. It is deep red colour with a blue undertone to make your teeth look white. I love to pair it with my favourite red lip liner by Mac- Cherry.
Next one is very similar colour and it is by Mac- Ruby Woo. These two lipsticks are almost identical. The difference is that Ruby Woo is even more matte so it stays on longer but the L’Oreal one is a little more hydrating and the price is much lower of course.
Third one is also by Mac and it is called Lady Danger. It is more of a bright coral red and it’s perfect for summer. It is also a matte finish just how I like it. :)
Number 4 is actually a lip gloss texture. It is Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in Shanghai Sizzle. It is soooo amazing. The pigmentation is amazing for a lip gloss, it is really moisturizing and it has a high shine that’s why it looks so pretty. The only bad thing about it is you HAVE to have your hair back otherwise you will end up having them in your mouth It always happens to me but I know there are some girls that deals with it I pair both number 3 and 4 with Max Factor lip pencil in Red Rush.
That is all for today’s post. I do agree it’s quite a lot so I will appreciate you even more if you came till the end . I will be back soon with PART 2 and in the meantime you can head over to my Facebook page or Instagram to see more of KE Makeup.