Olivia Frescura

los angeles beauty & lifestyle blog

Everyday Wearable Smokey Eye Tutorial with NUDESTIX Matte & Luminous Magnetic Eye Color

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Last week I was lucky enough to get the chance to film with one of my faves, Taylor Frankel from NUDESTIX to share their new Magnetic Matte & Luminous eye shades! We decided to do a tutorial on an everyday smokey eye- as that’s a look I always want to do, but wuss out!

The eye look was easy- we used NUDESTIX Magnetic Matte Eye Color in Taupe & Slate with NUDESTIX Magnetic Luminous Eye Color in Queen Olive to craft the perfect  smokey eye that you can wear anywhere and everywhere, from the bar to the office! I’ve been wearing this eye look so much lately, it’s so easy to do and looks great. I like to pair the look with NUDESTIX Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balm in Pulse to complete the look (which reminds me, I still need to review those!)

NUDESTIX Magnetic Matte Eye Pencil Terra Putty Slate Taupe Luminous Satin Queen Olive Copper Foil Review Tutorial

There are 8 new Magnetic Matte eye shades and 3 new luminous shades, which I have a selection of that I’ve been testing over the past week since filming. I really like these because they glide on creamy, and have ~45 seconds of play time before setting to a matte finish. They really last well, and with an eye primer underneath I didn’t have a creasing problem.

NUDESTIX Magnetic Matte Eye Pencil Terra Putty Slate Taupe Luminous Satin Queen Olive Copper Foil Review Tutorial Swatches
NUDESTIX Magnetic Eye Pencil Swatches: Putty, Terra, Taupe, Slate, Queen Olive, Copper Foil

My favorites of the moment are Slate, Taupe, and Putty, which I use to recreate the everyday smokey eye look. I want to try Fig next, because I love a rosey brown shade on the lid. All of these shades are perfect for fall, so if you’re looking for a new fall beauty wardrobe, NUDESTIX has it!

Want more NUDESTIX? See my review of NUDESTIX Intense Matte Lip & Cheek Pencil and NUDESTIX Eyebrow Stylus Pencil & Gel and Brow Wax reviews in the archives.

**This post contains products that I have received for free-for more information, please read my Disclosure Policy**

BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Splits Shimmering Skin Perfector & Mineral Blush Duo in Prosecco Pop/Amaretto Review

Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Splits Shimmering Skin Perfector Mineral Blush Duo Prosecco Pop Amaretto Review
Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Splits in Prosecco Pop / Amaretto

I rarely get excited enough about beauty products to make the effort to buy them on their launch date, but whenever I saw BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Splits, I knew I had to have one. I think BECCA has some of the best highlights in the game (still dying to try Pearl), and when I saw the blush in Amaretto, I knew it would be my perfect everyday shade. I was a little gun-shy about the $38 price tag…but, the fact that it was both blush & highlight sold me. The idea of a duo was super appealing to me, because I’m on the go or traveling a lot so it’s less to pack. Plus, that gold packaging though. ✨

Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Splits Shimmering Skin Perfector Mineral Blush Duo Prosecco Pop Amaretto Review 2
Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Splits in Prosecco Pop / Amaretto

Ever since I got this baby, I feel like I’ve yet to put it down. I will admit that Prosecco Pop is better for those with darker skin tones than mine, but every time I wear it I seem to get tons of compliments on my glow. Amaretto (besides being a component to my favorite cocktail), is a perfect everyday blush that has enough pigment to be visible without going overboard. If you’ve been hesitant to pick one up, I’d highly recommend this shade combo, because, as someone who already has Champagne Pop & strays away from colorful blushes, this was the best option from the 4 shades.

Kat Von D Lock It Concealer Crème & Setting Powder Review

Kat von D Influenster Lock It Concealer Creme Lock It Setting Powder Concealer Brush 40 Foundation Brush 10

Kat Von D has recently expanded her cult favorite Lock-It complexion line with concealers, a setting powder, and 2 new brushes.

Lock-It Concealer Crème ($26) is a high coverage creamy concealer formula that’s packed with pigment. I was sent the shades 3-Light Warm & 5-Light Neutral. The warm shade is far too peachy for me, but I’ve been loving 5, as it matches me near perfectly and is great at covering any undereye issues & blemishes.

Lock-It Setting Powder ($30) is a super finely milled setting powder with Micro Blurring Technology to smooth out pores. It only comes in one shade, a very light translucent color, so I wouldn’t suggest it for darker skintones. It doesn’t work well for baking because it’s too finely milled, but the texture of the powder is highly luxurious.

I’ve also been trying two brushes, the Lock-It Edge Concealer Brush #40 and Lock-It Setting Powder Brush #20 which both feel nice and look really cool. I like the powder brush for blending out blushes and contour, and the concealer brush is great for fixing blemishes when a beauty blender takes away too much product.

I’m really impressed with KvD beauty after trying these products, it even has me wanting to try the Lock-It foundation next! I can’t wait to see what products she launches next.

**This post contains products that I have received for free-for more information, please read my Disclosure Policy**

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold & Velour Liquid Lipstick in Gemini Review & Swatches

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold & Velour Liquid Lipstick in Gemini Review

A brand I’ve been dying to try this year is Jeffree Star Cosmetics. I’m no stranger to Jeffree, I used to follow him on MySpace back in the day and have even seen him multiple times at Warped Tour (and even have the pics to prove it). I may have even made a J-Star inspired tutorial (that shit is private now for good reason.). Anyways, I was holding out on trying the line until I could get my hands on the Ice Cold Skin Frost, and I luckily enough was able to snag it one relaunch along with Gemini, which to me, looked like my perfect everyday lip color! Also, if you don’t follow Jeffree on Twitter or Snapchat, you may be confused about those Cinnabon Delights. Just trust me & try them. He made them go viral, basically, so I thought they’d be the perfect prop with his products. 😉

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold & Velour Liquid Lipstick in Gemini Review Swatches

The Skin Frost in Ice Cold is everything. The pan size is huge (hello, pan size) and the color is unlike any highlight I’ve ever bought. I usually stick to gold and champagne highlights, but seeing as I’m pale as f*ck, Ice Cold is perfect. The formula is great- pigmented but won’t make a weird line across your face when applying. It shows up so well both day & night! They’re a great deal at only $29. I’m hoping he comes out with more shades that are wearable for light skintones!

Velour Liquid Lipstick in Gemini is a gorgeous terra-cotta nude that is extremely wearable for everyday. I stick with wearable colors because 90% of the time, I’m working, so I’d rather get something I can wear often. I’ve already tried his formula because my roommate has Androgyny. Actually, I have it because I stole it from her. The thing that is different with Gemini is that it has a root beer scent. I’m not crazy about it, but it isn’t noticeable on the lips once it dries down. I found that it doesn’t last amazingly while eating, but I’ve found the reapplication process to be hassle-free. I probably coated on 3 layers throughout the day (albeit the layers were super thin) and I had no crumbling or flaking. I recommend removing the majority of the product from the doe foot before applying, as applying too much will cause some issues.

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold & Velour Liquid Lipstick in Gemini Review Swatches 2

I took a quick iPhone photo to show you what the both look like- I haven’t had the time to pull out the tripod lately. But, as you can see the skin frost (on cheeks, nose, cupids bow) looks amazingly natural and lit from within, and Gemini makes for quite a gorgeous wearable nude!

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold & Velour Liquid Lipstick in Gemini Review 2

If you guys haven’t tried any of Jeffree’s products yet, I definitely recommend you try to stay tuned on Twitter for a restock. They’re reasonably priced and perform well- the only frustrating part is trying to get your hands on them!

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Golden Review & Swatches

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Golden Review

The reason why I can never buy limited edition products is because I don’t get the time to review until it’s out of stock…forever. And that was the case for the Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish 003 in Golden, which I wasn’t sure about getting but decided to take the plunge, because…that.packaging.tho.

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Golden Review 2

I’m sure you’ve heard anything and everything to know about this trio…but I thought I’d still put my piece in too. Skin Fetish 003 comes with 3 products for $72…so the initial sticker shock is outweighed by the fact that each product costs you $24, which is much more feasible. It comes with a duofiber brush, a powder pigment highlight, and a dual ended stick with a cream highlight and glossy face balm, which is a trend straight off the runway.

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Golden Review 3

I wanted to love you, Skin Fetish, I really did. But, I’ve found myself to be a bit disappointed. As far as the packaging goes, it’s very low quality. I get that it’s Pat McGrath “Labs” and is created to look like lab samples (I work in the beauty industry so been there done that). But, I think it would be much better if the products were actually printed with the product names, instead of all of them having stickers. The brush has a black sticker, the stick has a black sticker, and the pigment has a white sticker (that gets stained almost immediately). On top of that, the balm & highlighter are mislabeled on mine, which surely had to have happened more than once. It’s just sloppy.

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Golden Review Swatches

As far as the products go, it doesn’t get too much better, unfortunately.

I hate the brush, it doesn’t pick up any pigment at all and isn’t even a traditional highlighting brush. It would have been so much better with a fan brush or something that would better apply the products.

I have extremely oily skin, so my hesitation to buy this came from the cream highlighter & balm because I knew they wouldn’t work for me, and I was right. The highlighter is not creamy enough, and if you try to apply it, it takes off any foundation you applied beforehand. I even tried warming it on the back of my hand and applying with my fingers and it still removed my foundation. The balm does the same thing, and although I liked the look of the balm, I just wish my foundation wouldn’t get wiped off.

And lastly, the piece de resistance, the pigment. I was so excited when I saw that white-gold duochrome, and it certainly does shine in person. But, I think it’s better for darker skin tones as it mostly just shows up as yellow-gold on me and not white with a hint of gold as I had expected. So, I put it away and intended to just use it for nighttime looks, but then I found a way to use it and have it show up as a white-gold…layer it on top of other highlights! Sure, it kind of defeats the purpose, but it works.

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Golden Review 4

Overall I’m slightly disappointed in this, so I’m not even sure if I would buy any more Pat McGrath Labs products, even though I think Pat is awesome. I will say that it would look f*cking amazing on darker skin tones that can handle how dark the gold is! So, if you’re fair/light like myself, I wouldn’t waste your money trolling on eBay. The Sephora cast member that I had talked to said a lot of people were returning their Skin Fetish 003 kits, which is kind of upsetting to hear but I was glad to hear my reasons for not LIVING for it were valid. But, I’m excited to see what she comes up with next and hope that the products improve in future launches!