Candy Corn Eye

I have been really struggling to get in the Halloween mood and decided to do a candy corn inspired look! My eyebrows are a hot mess, they've totally lost their shape and I think I need professional help (seriously!) so please pretend like you can't see them! But we all love Candy Corn in the fall....

Seriously, I haven't met a person yet who doesn't enjoy them! My husband has been eating them like crazy (and thinks I haven't noticed!) and my kids ask for some every day! So why not take this iconic candy and make an eye look with it?? I'm definitely not very good with fantasy looks - I much prefer colorful, but wearable looks. So that is what I did (although it was odd for me to not blend like I normally try to... I didn't want to make it look less like it's inspiration)

It's late, I feel like I'm rambling.... so I'm going to photo bomb you!!!! I used Virus Insanity eyeshadows and gloss, including Crazy Primer on my eyes.

 forgot to take a pic of it... but I used Midnight Hour under this eye

So which do you prefer? The yellow lash line with white water line? Or the smokey lower lash? I want to know what you prefer!

I also did my lips, but the close-ups turned out absolutely horrible and I didn't want to share :/ But I used Splat with Orange Julius patted into the outer edge and Speed Up patted into the center. I like the way it looks, and so does the Mister.... but only one picture came out that I'm not too ashamed to share!

So what do you think? Is candy corn the way to go? Have you ever used a candy as an inspiration for your makeup? What kind of candy did YOU seek inspiration from?

~ Painted Nymph

VIE Duochrome Halloween Collection

This post was a long time coming! I've had this collection for about a year now (bought it last Halloween) and have been meaning to write this up! I've been sooo busy, my makeup boxes have been collecting dust *cue tears* but I am so happy I finally got pictures!

I love Virus Insanity (VIE) and all of their colors, but mostly their DUOCHROMES! These colors are so gorgeous, I could hardly capture their beauty and depth with my camera. This post is very picture-happy, so you've been warned! And I apologize, with Thing 1 and Thing 2 and the Mister, I don't get time to do this until after dark, so no natural sunlight pics =(

Okay, so the Duochrome Halloween Collection is actually four duochromes and one regular (glitter-bombed) shadow.  I took pictures from 2 angles to pick up a little bit of the color shifts (all pictures taken indoors with flash)

Love Zombie, Witchy, Scaredy Cat, Haunting, Midnight Hour

So pretty! Here is how VIE describes the colors on their website:
Love Zombie - a bright, yellowy lime green with black glitter and shifts from a warm, orangey/coppery green to a cool silvery and lilac colored green
Witchy - a light purple with duochrome iridescence that shifts from a light golden green to a medium green to a rose color
Scaredy Cat - a bright salmon pinky orange that shifts from an orange color to a salmon color with greenish iridescence showing through
Haunting - a deep blackened brown that shifts from a brown to a reddish purple to a coppery gold color and contains orange glitter
Midnight Hour - a regular eyeshadow color, a deep black with dark purple, orange, and lime green glitter

Here is my descriptions of the colors...
Love Zombie - a bright lime green with very mild shifts to golden/coppery colors and loaded with dark black glitter
Witchy - silvery lavender color with very strong shifts to a lime-green-esque color and a rosy color and a deeper bluey purple
Scaredy Cat - a bright orangey coral color with mild shifts to a golden color, almost green, and more rosey color.
Haunting - a complex color that looks like a darkened purple-brown with an intense rose-red shift with a slight coppery shift and loaded with glitter that appears red and a mild blue-y shift
Midnight Hour - a "very black" matte black reg shadow glitter-bombed with purple, orange, and lime green glitters

Here's some swatches, different angles and primers in an attempt to photograph some of the shifts!

The Crazy Primer is sold by VIE.  As you can tell from the pictures, Witchy and Haunting have the strongest shifts, and Midnight Hour is not as opaque without a primer. Scaredy Cat is absolutely my favorite color, and I use it a lot. It looks pretty on my skin tone, and blends BEAUTIFULLY with other regular and duochrome colors. I definitely recommend a primer under any colors with glitter or you will find a lot of glittery fallout from them. I personally prefer to use Haunting foiled as a liner, as it is very dark but adds a pretty dimension to my look, especially a simpler look, without much effort.

As always, I attempted to come up with a look highlighting the colors from the collection... Not my favorite look, but lots of pictures to help capture some of the CRAZY shifts in some of these colors!

I used Simple Highlight on my brow bone, Scaredy Cat on the inner lid, Witchy blended into the outer lid, Love Zombie on the lower lashline and waterline, and Haunting (foiled) as the top liner. I did not use Midnight Hour in this look.

Please forgive my unruly eyebrow. They've been neglected.... Hopefully you caught some of the shifts in the colors! Have you purchased the Duochrome Halloween Collection? Do you plan to??

Please share your thoughts on the collection or my post (what you like, what you don't... help me grow and learn!)

~ The Painted Nymph

Disclaimer: These products were purchased with my own money and these opinions are mine and mine alone, I was not endorsed for this post in any way.

Amber Sands - Mary Kay Pictorial

Yet another pictorial.... sick of me yet? lol


I have a good friend who sells Mary Kay and I told her I would do a couple pictorials for her, as well. Unfortunately, I own a lot of retired colors and no new ones. lol But this is one I put together with the colors I have that aren't discontinued! It wasn't too bright, but still had a pop of color. I think Azure is one of my favorite colors ever! This has her website URL on it, because I made it for her facebook page.

So... I applied a primer (not pictured) b/c I always do, then I applied Moonstone to the brow bone, blended down toward the crease, and inner corner/tear duct with a fluffy angled brush.
Then applied Amber Blaze to the entire lid and blended it up into Moonstone with a small rounded brush.
With the same small rounded brush, I then applied Chocolate Kiss in the outer V and into the crease, blending up softly.
Using a flat angled brush, I applied Azure under lower lash line and blended softly into Moonstone in the tear duct.
Add liquid liner to the top lash line, curl lashes, and add mascara. Voila


As always, constructive criticism is welcomed. I'm no professional, but this is something I love and enjoy. Let me know what you think! And stop by my facebook page to say hi!


~ Painted Nymph

My Lucky Black Cat - VIE Pictorial

So, like I mentioned in my last post, I hate the sound of my own voice and don't want to make video tutorials, so I decided to give a whirl at pictorials! This one is set up different, I'm trying to figure out the best way to set it up. Anywho... Did this one with all Virus Insanity again!

So, first I applied the Crazy Primer with a concealer brush to entire lid, including inner corner/tear duct and lower lash line.
I used a fluffy angled brush to apply Simple Highlight to my brow bone, blended down toward my crease, and my inner corner/tear duct.
Using a small rounded brush, I applied Bad Luck to the inner 2/3 of my upper lid, and inner 1/3 of my lower lash line, blending it lightly into the simple highlight.
Using the same rounded brush, I applied Black Cat to the outer 1/3 of my upper lid, dragging it across the top toward the nose, then drug it down under the lower lash line, blending it into Bad Luck on the top and bottom.
Apply a small amount of 13 where Black Cat and Simple Highlight meet, and under Black Cat on the outer corner of the lower lash line. Blend.
Apply liquid liner to top lash line, curl lashes and apply black mascara. Voila!


As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! Let me know what you think of this set up for a pictorial or what you look for in one. And don't forget to stop by my facebook page!


~ Painted Nymph

Lemon-Lime VIE pictorial

So... I decided I wanted to give pictorials a whirl. I hate the sound of my own voice (lol) so I knew I'd never be good at making video tutorials (unless I stayed completely silent and dubbed in music behind it), and they sound like a lot of work! Sooo.... pictorials, it is! I don't have fancy brushes, and I'm not super skilled, but I'm learning and growing, and wanted to share some fun looks I love :) So here's a lemon-lime look I did using all Virus Insanity products!

So, I used Virus Insanity Crazy Primer, applied with a concealer brush (works better than my finger, and I feel like I'm less likely to waste it) to the entire lid, including tear duct and lower lash line.
Then I applied a sheer layer of Simple Highlight to my brow bone, blended down toward my crease, and to the corner of my eye, where my tear duct is with a fluffy angled brush (forget what it's really called).
Using a small rounded brush and the "tap" method, I applied Speed Up to the inner half of my lid.
Using the same brush and method, I applied Becca-ecca to the outer half of my lid.
I then blended Speed Up and Becca-ecca together and blended them up into Simple Highlight. I applied a small amount of lash glue to my lower lash line (b/c it holds glitters best) and used an angled brush to dab the Mystic Glitter onto the glue carefully.
I applied black liquid liner to my top lash line, black kohl pencil liner to my water line (you may not want to, as this makes the eye appear smaller, but I felt like it). Then carefully curl lashes and apply black mascara. Voila!
VIE is slowly adding ALL their products to their website (there are a TON) but you can browse what they have at http://virusinsanity.com -- and be on the lookout for regular sales!

It was my very first pictorial, what do you think? Any and all constructive criticism welcomed (how else will I grow?)


- Painted Nymph

Long Time No See!

So... I've been neglectful - please forgive me! I miss being around, so you deserve a little something in the meantime... So I'm going to post some pictures of looks I've done recently <3 I have three blog posts I should be getting up shortly, if I can find the time. I make them so link/info heavy, it really takes me forever to write them up =(


Anyway, I'm no professional... and some looks DEFINITELY come out better than others... but here's some of what I've been up to :)

 this was using Mary Kay

 This was using Mary Kay

 This was using Unique Pigments, Moi, and Virus Insanity

 This was using Carina Dolci, Tainted Glam, NYX, Virus Insanity, Dawn Eyes Cosmetics, and Mary Kay

 I don't remember what this look was... but a very sleepy princess woke up as I was taking pictures. She didn't like the camera.... haha <3

 This was done using all Virus Insanity

 This was done using all Virus Insanity - I was going to enter it in a Pixar contest (inspired by Boo hanging on "Kitty"s back in the locker room) but I forgot to make a sign. owell.

 Cam phone pic. This was done using all Virus Insanity

I just did this a couple nights ago. Eyes and lips are Virus Insanity

So.... anywho, nothing super fancy. Don't know if I've ever posted this before, but i REALLY, TRULY, DESPERATELY want to go to school and become a make up artist. Not for fantasy stuff... just regular beauty makeup - weddings, dances, tv, makeovers... that kind of thing. Everyday, WEARABLE looks. Some day.... Until later...


~ Painted Nymph


P.S. Don't forget to check out my facebook where I post far more often!

VIE: Friday the 13th Collection

Can you tell I love me some Virus Insanity?? lol! I purchased the Friday the 13th Collection while it was available, and I'm a little late posting (super sorry!). Anyway, the Friday the 13th Collection is ONLY available for one week immediately before and after Friday the 13th (there was one in April) - so it is only available for 2 weeks at a time. It is another duochrome collection, which is amazing! Anywho, I have lots of pictures for you <3

 Step On A Crack, 13, Bad Luck, Black Cat

 Step On A Crack, 13, Bad Luck, Black Cat

 Step On A Crack, 13, Bad Luck, Black Cat

 Step On A Crack, 13, Bad Luck, Black Cat

Aren't they pretty and fun???  I love this collection. Here is how VIE describes the colors:
Step on a Crack: Duochrome color. Earthy green with iridescence that shifts from bronze to reddish gold.
13: Duochrome color. Warm pink with iridescence that shifts from bronze to red to purpleish.
Bad Luck: Duochrome color. Pinkish purple with iridescence that shifts from purple to blue to teal.
Black Cat: Duochrome color. Deep blackened blue with iridescence that shifts from red to copper to gold.


I swatched them for you, too... over Crazy Primer, bare skin, and then foiled.

 Black Cat, Bad Luck, 13, Step On A Crack

 Black Cat, Bad Luck, 13, Step On A Crack

 Black Cat, Bad Luck, 13, Step On A Crack

Black Cat, Bad Luck, 13, Step On A Crack

It is SO stinkin hard to capture the color shifts on camera!!! I really love Bad Luck and Black Cat (I think it's just that I really love purples!) Okay, so... I'm trying to do comparisons, to really "review" the colors, per se, although I'm not very good at it [[yet]]. Let's see... Step On A Crack is similar to Ireland, but Ireland is a more yellow base with very light shifts. 13 is far more pink than I Love You (I don't own any other released pink duochromes).  Bad Luck, a first glance, reminded me of a duochrome version of Heaven's Mirror (from Markie's Video Game Collection) which is a medium purple with turquoise glitter - but Heaven's Mirror is NOT a duochrome; it is similar to Mischief, which is a more muted purple with warmer shifts; it is also VERY similar to Lafayette, which is a darker, cooler purple color with very similar shifts (almost a dupe). Black Cat has a couple colors it is similar too: Luxuria which is far more blue and silvery; Full Moon which is an ever so-lighter, more blue color, and more silvery/shimmery with teal specks [not a duochrome, either]; Haunted (from the 2011 Halloween Collection) which is FAR more rosy. Overall, these colors are gorgeous, and next time there's a Friday the 13th - I would totally check these out!!

 Bad Luck, Black Cat, and 13

Bad Luck, Black Cat, 13 (sry again for my eyebrows...)

Did you get the Friday the 13th Collection while it was available? Will you be purchasing it next time it's up for grabs? And do you like this comparison-style review/swatching? Please give me some feedback in the comments or on my facebook page - when people read my blog and give me feedback, it makes me want to write more!!!


~Painted Nymph


Disclaimer:
All thoughts and opinions expressed are solely mine and all products were purchased by myself. I was not compensated for this in any way.