Beauty Blender Cleanser Dupe!

Whaddaup today I'm bringing you a dupe for the Beauty Blender Cleanser. I've been searching high and low for a cheaper alternative to the beloved Beauty Blender Cleanser.

When the cleanser first came out I was thinking, "why would I ever spend that much money on soap?" I figured I'd just use regular old hand soap/dish soap to clean my Beauty Blender. So when it came time to deep clean it I reached for my dish soap, lathered up...aaaaaaand it was still stained. No matter how much soap I used, how long I soaked it, the makeup stayed wedged in the fibers of my sponge. Frustrated with how disgusting it looked and, more importantly, how much I was breaking out from it, I bought the Beauty Blender Cleanser. Admittedly, the cleanser worked great! It got out all of the embedded makeup and my Beauty Blender looked good as new. I was pretty pumped, however the price, listed at $15.95 for the solid and $17.95 for the liquid, was a huge downer.

So, once again I found myself on the hunt for a dupe. Then in a brain blast of epic proportions I remembered good old Ivory soap. My mom uses it to remove stains like wine, blood, chocolate etc. Crossing my fingers, and all other crossable body parts, I washed my Beauty Blender with the Ivory soap. A chorus of angels sang as the makeup came out with ease. I was way too giddy about this discovery and to make it even better Ivory soap costs a fraction of the Beauty Blender Cleanser, sitting at $3.97.

So there you have it, listed below is a comparison of the two products and how well I think they cleansed. I hope this helped out some of you on a budget! Let me know of any other favorite dupes you have in the comments below!

Check ya later!

xxgk

Beauty Blender Cleanser:

Solid (1 oz, 1 count) : $15.95

Liquid (6 oz, 1 count) : $17.95

Pros: It definitely does what it says it will do. It gets out old makeup with ease, conditions and it smells nice.

Cons: It costs a lot of money.

Ivory Soap:

Solid (3.1 oz, 10 count...10 COUNT) : $3.97

Pros: It gets out all the old makeup/stains and its antimicrobial so it breaks down bacteria even better than antibacterial soap. It also costs $0.40 per soap, which is ridiculous.

Cons: It doesn't necessarily condition the Beauty Blender, (but as far as I've noticed it doesn't dry it out).

I'm back...again!

Gah! I've been neglecting this blog...agian. Long story short, school began. But now that my schedule is all set I'm hoping to get this wheel rolling again. For starters here is a bunch of FOTDs I never posted! If you'd like tutorials on any of these comment below. Enjoy!

...Oh and stay tuned because I've got some actual posts coming up of my recent favorites, product reviews and some tips and tricks!

Face of the Day: Graphic Liner

Hi again! Here's another face of the day, enjoy!

Graphic Liner:

Product List: 

Face: 

Base:Nars Sheer Glow in Gobi, MAC Prolongwear Concealer in NC15, Rimmel Stay Matte in 001 Transparent. 
Contour: Nars Laguna Bronzer. 

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Auburn, Dipbrow in Blonde, Maybelline Clear Mascara. 

Eyes: Lorac Pro Palette: Taupe through crease, Cream as browbone highlight and inner corner highlight, Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette: Tease in outer crease and on lower lid, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Bourbon, NYX Collection Noir Black Liquid Liner, L'oreal Voluminous Mascara. 

Lashes: Salon Perfect in Demi Wispies. 

Lips: NYX lip liner in Pale Pink, Maybelline Nudes lipstick in Bare All in the center of lips, NYX lipstick in Honey lightly dabbed over top.

Laters,

xxgk

HOW TO: Dramatic Smokey Eye

Tutorial time, enjoy! Here's the link to my album on Imgur: http://imgur.com/a/nmNvO

1. Here's a little before shot, lookin fly.

2. Start by priming your eyes. Blend in your primer using your fingertips or a small brush. I like to use concealers that don't crease, both the Maybelline Age Rewind and MAC Pro Longwear are great options. I prefer concealers like these over primers because they blank out any discoloration as well as provide creasless staying power.

3. I also went ahead and did my base and brows to make this a more pleasurable experience!

4. Next start defining your crease with a shade that is a few shades darker than your skin tone, this will create a smooth transition between the darker shadows we'll be using later. I used Nars Laguna Bronzer as my transition color. Laguna is a medium/light warm brown with a slight shimmer. Generally I wouldn't use shimmer in my crease but shimmery shades tend to blend easier (which is essential for this look) and most of the other shades we'll be using are matte so it'll balance out fine.

Using windshield wiper motions and a light hand I used a Sigma E25 brush to blend in the product from the outer to inner crease. Since this look is pretty blown out, I took a bit more product and blended it upwards, slightly above my crease. I created a bit of a "cat eye" shape because I want my eye to look more lifted.

5. Next take a slightly darker, warm tone brown, I used Sable from the Lorac Pro Palette. The goal here is to deepen the crease a bit, adding more dimension.

I took Sable on a Crown Brush SS012 Deluxe Crease Brush and buffed it into the outer half of my crease. Make sure not to bring this color above Laguna, as we want to create a blended look. I blended out any harsh lines with the Sigma E25 brush used earlier.

6. Next take a black shade with a flat shader brush and pat it on the lid. I used an SS011 Deluxe Oval Shadow Brush from Crown Brush. Be sure to keep this shade on the lid only. Blend out any harsh lines, but for the most part we want to keep the darkest shade low on the eye.

7. Then take any shimmery Taupe color, I used Pewter from the Lorac Pro Palette to keep it simple.

Take Pewter on a pencil brush and gently work it into the inner lid, blending it about 1/4 - 1/3 of the way across. I used another Crown brush for this.

8. Clean off the pencil brush and use it to define your lower lid with the same warm brown (Sable) we used earlier. Follow the curvature of your eye until you get about 7/8 (getting mathematical up in here) of the way across your lower lid.

Leaving space between your inner corner and where we stopped with Sable, drag whatever product is left on the pencil brush down a bit, tapering off how much pressure you apply as you go. Do this step very slowly and carefully, with a very light hand. You can always build up more product to make it more defined.

9. Then take a blending brush and lightly blend out the product to make it soft and diffused.

10. To add a bit more dimension to the lower lid, take a black shade on an angle brush and push it into the lower lash line. Take this color only about 1/2 way across the lower lid, again to keep the look soft. Then blend out the black with a small blending brush. I cleaned off the SS012 Deluxe Crease Brush and used that.

11. Next take a shade that's a couple shades lighter than your skin tone and use this to define your brow bone and inner corner. I used Cream from the Lorac Pro Palette on a small flat shader brush from Urban Decay (Good Karma Shadow Brush). I also used Cream on the same Urban Decay brush to clean up the lower lash line a bit and make the graphic detail look a bit more polished.

12. Then add your favorite black liner. I used one with a glossy finish to help it stand out against the black shadow.

To be exact, I used NYX Collection Noir Liquid Black Liner.

13. Then add a coat of mascara on the top and bottom lashes. I used Covergirl Clump Crusher on my top lashes and L'oreal Voluminous Waterproof on my bottom lashes.

14. If you'd like you can add false lashes. I find this step necessary because the look is quite dramatic and looks unfinished without them. I used Salon Perfect Lashes in Demi Wispies.

Boop! You’re all done!

Full Product List:

Face:

Base: Smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation in 01 mixed with Revlon Colorstay in 150 Buff, MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent.

Contour: L'oreal True Match Powder in W6, Nars Laguna Bronzer.

Brows: 
Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow in Blonde, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Auburn, Maybelline Clear Mascara.

Eyes:
Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer, Nars Laguna Bronzer, Lorac Pro Palette: Sable, Black, Pewter, Cream, NYX Collection Noir Liquid Black Liner, L'oreal Voluminous Mascara, Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara, Salon Perfect Lashes Demi Wispies.

Lips: 
NYX Lip Liner in Pale Pink, NYX lipstick in Honey, NYX Pump it Up lip plumping gloss in Elizabeth 07.

Thanks for reading!

xxgk

FOTD

Good morning! I thought I'd just post a little face of the day. Product list below, enjoy!

Product list:

Face:

Base: Smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation in 01 mixed with Revlon Colorstay in 150 Buff, MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent.

Contour: L'oreal True Match Powder in W6, Nars Laguna Bronzer.

Brows:

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde, Maybelline Clear Mascara.

Eyes:

Nars Laguna Bronzer, Lorac Pro Palette: Cream, Sable, Black, and Pewter, NYX Collection Noir Liquid Black Liner, L'oreal Voluminous Mascara, Salon Perfect Lahses in Demi Wispies.

Lips: NYX Pump it Up lip plumping gloss in Elizabeth 07.

Laters,

xxgk

How To: Warm Toned Smokey Eye

Hi again! Today I've got another tutorial for ya! I'm pretty much always down to wear a smokey eye, but I'm pretty much always not down for looking like a raccoon (but if that's your thing, respect man...respect). Anyways I've created a more wearable smokey eye for both daytime and nighttime goings-on. What I love about this eye look is that it's super versatile and will flatter every eye color and a lot of different skin tones. It's one of my favorite looks to wear all year round because it adds just the right amount of drama to my face without looking like I'm going clubbing...because I'm not nearly cool enough to go to the club. The warm toned browns and rust colors make it less harsh and much easier to blend than a darker black based smokey eye. Okay, enough with my ramblings, let's get into it, shall we?

1. So in this picture I've already got my base and brows on (If you'd like to see how I did my base, check out my last post here). We're going to start off by using two different bases to prep/prime the eyes for shadows. Here I'm using MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15 to block out any veins or redness on my eyelids.

Pro Longwear Concealer doubles as both a concealer and a primer because it's formula has priming capability built in. But for this eye look I'll be using both my Pro Longwear Concealer and my Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer because I'll be using a lot of matte shades. Matte shades can be harder to blend and tend to get patchy, so I'll want to make sure my base is smooth and has extra staying power.

After I blend in my Pro Longwear Concealer with my finger tips, I blend in the Lorac primer over top and then dust a translucent powder over my eyelid to set everything. I dust a translucent powder over top my primers because it will help the shadows blend out more smoothly.

2. Next I'm going in with Nars Laguna bronzer on a Sigma E25 Blending Brush and working the product into the crease (outlined below). To blend it out I use windshield wiper motions (back and forth) over my crease. I'm using this color because it blends easily and will act as a nice transition color from the harsher colors I'll be using later.

3. Then I'm taking the color Taupe from the Lorac Pro Palette, on the same Sigma E25 brush, and blending it over Laguna. I'm using windshield wiper motions to blend it out. I'm concentrating this color more on the outer crease in order to deepen it and make it appear more defined.

4. To make things simple, I'm sticking with the Lorac Pro Palette and going in with the color Sable, a nice reddish brown color. I'm placing Sable on my lid with a SS011 Deluxe Oval Shadow Brush. I'm making sure to pat the product on, not swipe it. I want to reduce the amount of  fallout (mess on my face from excess shadow) and ensure the product is pigmented and smooth.

5. After I've applied Sable, I'm going to lightly blend out the line between Sable and Taupe with the Sigma E25 brush.

6. Then I'm taking Espresso, also from the Lorac Pro Palette, and applying it only to the outer lid and blending it up into my outer crease. I'm using an SS012 Deluxe Crease Brush to do this. I'm using small sweeping motions to apply the shadow and then small windshield wiper motions to blend it into the crease.

7. Next I'm taking a warm toned rust color from the Bh Cosmetics 120 Color Palette 3rd Edition and placing it on my lower lid. This will help make the look appear more blown out and soft. I'm taking this color on a Sonia Kashuk Large Crease Brush and blending it along the curvature of my eye. I'm only taking this color 3/4 of the way on my lower lid. This will help to make the eye appear larger because I'm defining the largest part of my eye and leaving the smallest part (inner corner) light. (i.e. Darker colors will define features while light colors will make them appear softer).

8. Next, to add more dimension to the eye, I'm taking whatever Espresso color was left on the SS012 Deluxe Crease Brush and blending it into the very outer corner of my eye (in a V shape) to help the upper lid and lower lid transition together.

9. Moving on to highlighting the eye, I'm applying Cream, from the Lorac Pro Palette, and placing it on my brow bone and inner corner of my eye. This will help lift the eye and make it look more open and awake. This is important because we used a lot of darker colors which can drag the eye down and make it appear tired. I'm taking Cream on a dual sided brush from Urban Decay (this brush came with the Naked 2 palette but are sold separately here and here). I'm using the flat shader side to pack the product on and the blending side to blend the product out.

10. Mascara time! I'm using two different mascaras, one for separating lashes and one for adding volume. First I'm using Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara to separate my lashes out. I normally apply two coats of this and then go in with two coats of L'oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara to add volume and staying power. Quick Tip: Waterproof mascara stays on the lashes all day without smudging, but it can be a pain to take off at night. Instead of applying waterproof mascara directly to your lashes, apply a coat or two of non waterproof mascara first. This will act as a barrier between your lashes and the waterproof mascara, this way you get all the benefits of waterproof without the hassle. (Wow...I used the word "waterproof" a lot just then.)

And that's it! Eye look complete! I would love to see your variations or recreations of this! Tweet me them @gracemcqueelan or Tag me in your Instagram post @grace_mcquillan.

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave me a comment down below and be sure to follow me to be notified when I post something new!

Laters,

xxgk