October 2011

Halloween Tutorial: Snow Leopard

Posted 31st October 2011 by Yasmin | 2 Comments
We know Halloween celebrations are well on their way, but we wanted to share a look with you that our beauty editorial team put together for our community. The inspiration for this tutorial is the beautiful Snow Leopard. Let us know what you think in the comments!Step 1:
Prime the whole eye area with an eye primer of your choice. This is to ensure that the colours last longer and stand out more. Then, using white eyeliner, create the shape of the eye patch and fill it in. Make sure to pay extra attention to your eyebrows; you don’t want to see patches of your skin underneath. To set the eyeliner in place even further, pat some white eye shadow on top of the eyeliner. This will make it last a lot longer.

Step 2:
Line your eyes with a thick black line at the top and bottom using either a liquid or gel liner, as those are more prominent than a regular eyeliner pencil. At the inner corner of the eyes, make an exaggerated shape by extending the inner corner and filling it in, as well as creating a cat eye at the outer corner.
Step 3:
This is probably the hardest part, but with a steady hand, it won’t be too bad! Begin creating the leopard spots by making random ‘C’ shapes with smaller ‘c’ shapes within (or a large semi-circle and a smaller semi-circle facing it) to fill up the white patch.
When you’re done filling up the entire white patch around your eyes, this is what it should look like:
I particularly love how the spots look like against the eyebrows. It has a more realistic look and feel to it!Step 4:
Now line the top and bottom waterlines with a black eyeliner pencil, apply your favourite mascara, and of course, false lashes, if you wish for a more dramatic look.

Step 5:
To finish this look, using black eyeliner again, create the shape of the leopard nose at the tip of your nose, fill the tip in with white eye shadow, then using grey eye shadow, colour in the remainder of your nose.
For a more realistic effect, and as a final touch, using some of the grey eye shadow, outline the white patch and connect it to your nose, and you’re done!
Hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial on how to look like a Snow Leopard for Halloween. Of course, you can use other colours to create a regular leopard look. You could even go all out and colour your whole face in with this (if you have the time and patience!).If you do try this out, post a picture of your look on our Facebook wall, and also, don’t forget to comment and let us know what you think of this!

Credits: Thank you Eva for being our canvas :)

Exclusive Offers to Fall for this Season

Posted 12th October 2011 by Yasmin | 10 Comments
Hey there, gorgeous! Guess what we have in store for you? We’ve partnered with some of the brands in our September Luxe Box to provide you with exclusive promotions for their products!
Mèreadesso – Want to minimize prep time and have more time for other things, like catching a few more zzz’s before heading out to work/school/brunch date with your girlfriends? Then check out all the wonderful Mèreadesso products on their website and get 20% off your total purchase price by using the promo code LUXEBOX20. You will be prompted to enter your promo code after you enter your credit card information and proceed with checkout. Offer is valid until November 30, 2011.

Pür Minerals – Give your skin a kiss of pür with enhanced mineral formulas that will do wonders for your skin! Check out the Pür Minerals website for all the mineral goodness you need and get 20% off your total purchase price by using the promo code LUXEBOX. You will be prompted to enter your promo code before you enter your credit card information. Offer is valid until November 30, 2011.

 

Pure+Simple – Get beautiful skin with this brands natural products that cover everything from facial skincare to makeup. Check out Pure+Simple products to make the natural, beautiful you stand out even more and get 20% off your total purchase price by using the promo code LUXEBOX20. You will be prompted to enter your promo code before you enter your credit card information. Offer is valid until November 30, 2011.

 

City Lips – Give your lips the perfect pouty look with City Lips’ lip plumping products or look into growing fuller, longer lashes with their advanced lash-enhancing formula. Get 25% off your total purchase price if you use the promo code LUXEBOX. You will be prompted to enter your promo code before you enter your credit card information. Offer is valid until November 15, 2011.

Tell us, which of the above brands is your favourite and which products will you be purchasing using our exclusive promo codes this fall/winter?

Featured Products: Get More Compliments with Laura Mercier & Mèreadesso

Posted 3rd October 2011 by Yasmin | 13 Comments

We’ve all had those days where we just don’t find the time to do a full 10-step skincare routine. Sometimes we just want a product or two that can do everything we need them to do for us, and minimize the time we spend getting ready in the morning. This is where the Laura Mercier Perfecting Water and the Mèreadesso Face + Neck Toning Gel come into play!

Laura Mercier Perfecting Water

What this product does is it temporarily over-hydrates your skin to help any moisturizers or serums better penetrate your skin. It also has other benefits such as rebuilding and repairing your skin’s surface layers, and minimizing the appearance of pores. Abundant in antioxidants, it helps to protect against everyday pollution and damage that your skin may face.

The ideal way to use this product is to saturate a cotton pad and gently dab or pat all over your face and neck, making sure to massage it in. Depending on your skin type, you can increase or decrease the amount of product you use on the cotton pad. If you have oily skin, then make sure to only use a small amount of it, as it can double as your moisturizer and you can skip using any other products. If you have normal, dry or dehydrated skin, use more of this product on your cotton pad and make sure to follow it with any other skincare products you use on a daily basis, such as a moisturizer and/or serum. Or in this case, make sure to follow it with the next product!

Mèreadesso Face + Neck Toning Gel

The story behind the Mèreadesso brand is an interesting one. It is based on minimizing the time a woman needs to get ready, as the many bottles, tubes and containers of products can get tiresome after a while and we do get lazy with taking care of ourselves (you know it’s true!) Thus, the idea behind it is to include every bit of goodness in one product, and have your skin take what it needs from it. This is where this gel plays an important role in complimenting the Perfecting Water.

After your skin has been temporarily over-hydrated by the Perfecting Water, apply the Toning Gel to your face and neck. This product is very rich in multi-vitamins, antioxidants and mineral supplements that your skin can greatly benefit from. It helps with tightening the skin on your face and neck, and has a nice light refreshing citrus scent. Your skin will love you for it since the Perfecting Water aids the Toning Gel in penetrating your skin even deeper than normal, making you look and feel fresh, even beneath the surface.

A Little Tip on Product Application

When applying any moisturizers or serums, always make sure to move from the sides of your mouth up and outwards towards your ears in one swiping motion. This prevents any fine lines or wrinkles from forming around the mouth area as well as fighting gravity from pulling your cheeks downwards. As for your neck, always go from the bottom up. Got to keep that gravity at bay!

Have you tried the two products together? What did you think? :)