Bring out your inner animal: "Amber-cat"

I think I need a drinky-poo!!!

As I've stated in my earlier blogs, winter time for me means 2 things: being sick every other week and birthday season--voila!! Because I'm missing a very important birthday of a very dear friend, I'm taking this time to dedicate my post to her highness--my lovely Jonsi-Bunz :)) Fearless, fabulous and inFamous--Jonsi is the one who started my love for make-up and I thank her for this every day as I "apply" it on my face. Recall me mentioning "makeup shopping" in high school... Well, she was my partner in crime and so much more. Amber and Mercedes (our alter-egos) were local celebs and we continue to be a fierce duo whenever we're in each other's presence. Love ya Ambah!!! Happy Birthday darling and please have many drinky-poos for moi ;))

bisous,

Maryam (Mercedes) Maquillage

THE LOOK: is all about unleashing your inner animal and goin' wild with it!!! The focus is on bold, dramatic eyes and bright, pouty lips, but the look is still wearable if you've got the perrrrsonality to back it up :)) So, if you dare to wear, try it out, and care to share ;))) I'm no poet, but my muse sure is!!!

Because the look is inspired by this gorgeous DiVa, I would describe it as such: Fun, Bold, Fiery, Amber, Glowing, Sexy, Wild, Daring, Gold, Glam, Hot, Bling, Crazy, and Animalistic :DDD If you can relate to at least one of these qualities, you've got the Amber-cat in you!!!

Do I have the Amber-cat in me?? Let's see... meow

MY TOOLS: This is a crazy complicated look, so I won't go into details as I pretty much just winged it... Keep the face simple and clean--no contouring or bronzing necessary. Use shimmery shadows on your eyes and whatever bright sh*t you can find for your lips ;)

FACE: Here are all of the products I used on my face, excluding my primer and moisturizer.

Top Row: Coastal Scents Blush Palette. (I used the orange blush--#4, top row)

Middle Row: Nars Albatross Highlighting Blush, Coastal Scents Pink Kabuki Brush and Bare Minerals Matte Foundation in Golden Medium

Bottom Row: MAC mineralize blush in Moon River, Bare Minerals Warmth, Lancome Maquicomplet concealer in Medium Bisque

EYES: Below are all the products I used on my eyes (obviously not all the colors in the palettes lol), minus the lash glue: Duo adhesive in dark tone. Click on the picture to ENLARGE, read the names, etc.

The Palettes: NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Collection in Jazz Night. I used the shimmery pale yellow as a highlighter under the brow. Urban Decay Naked Palette, comes with a mini primer potion and a double ended 24/7 pencil in zero (black) and whiskey (chocolate brown). I used the four middle colors--Buck for blending, Half baked on the lid, Smog for the crease, Darkhorse for outer corner. Both palettes are must haves, but the NYX palette is $10, I could buy that with no money in my pocket... :/ (not literally like when I was a 14 yr old clepto, but figuratively... lol)

The Brushes: (left to right) Mini precision (pencil) brush for detailing the inner corners, lash line, etc; Angled Fluff Brush from Coastal Scents for highlighting under the brow; Sonia Kashuk fluffy contouring (dome-shaped) brush for contouring, blending, etc.; Coastal Scents mini chisel (flat) brush for packing on the color; Angled eyeliner brush for gel or cream liner. 

Eye liner and eye pencils: Clinique cream liner in true black (can under brush); NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencils in Cottage Cheese, Pure Gold, and French Fries. I use them under shimmery shadows to create a sticky base.

Single Eyeshadow and Duo: Bare Minerals eyecolor in Cleopatra; L'Oréal Hip bright shadow duo in Flamboyant. I used the gold for the inner tear duct.

Lashes: Elite lashes in #6, Black.

AND HERE'S THE EYE CREATION :)))

LIPS: I lined my lips with a red lipliner and filled them in only a few mm's, leaving the center of the mouth blank. I applied peachy orange lipstick to the blank portion, and applied golden orange lipgloss over. To the outer part of the lips, I applied a bright cool-toned red gloss. In Yo' Fayce!!!

Lipliner: NYX lipliner in plush red

Lipstick: Cargo limited edition in Evangeline (peachy orange)

Glosses: (left to right) L'Oréal Hip lipcolor in Precarious (bright orange with gold flecks); Sally Hansen Diamond Lip Treatment in Signature Taupe (light golden beige); Sally Hansen Smile Brightening Lip Treatment in Radiant (cool bright red).

I got all these lip products a while ago, so they're probably all discontinued, as cosmetics often are... :((

CHECK OUT THE LIPPIES :)))

AND THE REST OF THE FAYCE!!!

A "hiss" for my miss... prrrrrrrr... grrrowl... meow

 Doing my Jonsi-dance... roaarrrr

Bright Eyed Bright Smiled AMBER-CAT!!!

 Amber lights in yo Mercedes-Benz!!!

Maryam La Lopez

Hola señoritas :)))

If you happen to be going out tonight or tomorrow, here's a makeup look that will work with any eye color, outfit, or special occasion. My look of the day is J. Lo's Golden Globes makeup and though it's "inspired", I also tried to recreate her features on my face. Let me know if I pulled it off haha!! Please enjoy, and keep voting in my POLL on the right sidebar, Merci y Gracias!!!

besos,

Maryam Maquillage

How do you like my skills in imitating J.Lo's signature pose??

I don't know about you, but I think J. Lo looks damn great for her age!!! She's def got the youthful glow... who's to say there's almost 2 decades in our age difference!!? Go J. Lo!!! 

The angle is a bit off, but I tried... Hope you ENJOY :)))

THE LOOK: This look is super glam and sleek and I had so much fun recreating it :)) My favorite part was contouring and highlighting my face to transform it to look more like hers. Now, there are obviously some differences in our bone structures. I have a wider forehead, she's got a longer, pointier chin... Some similarities that I think we have is our jaw and cheekbone structure, though I think my cheeks are plumper and my jaw slightly wider... our noses are way different and so are our eyes, but the way the features are situated on the face is similar. In creating this look, I tried to highlight the similarities and hide the differences and I did this just for fun :))) 

THE FACE: After moisturizing, I primed my face with my favorite primer, Laura Mercier mineral foundation primer, and applied my concealer, Lancome maquicomplet in medium bisque, to all the places that needed concealing: under the eyes, around the nose, and on any blemishes or dark spots. J. Lo's skin is flawless and I tried to make mine appear that way :))) Afterwards, I used my Bare Minerals original foundation in golden medium (I typically use matte), the original is slightly shimmery--perfect for a J. Lo glow. Then, I took a dark matte bronzer, I used the one from a Coastal Scents contouring palette, and with a big ol' brush contoured the sides of my forehead, making it appear narrower. I did the same to my jaw and blended it out with a kabuki brush I typically use for my mineral foundation application. Since my cheekbones are already prominent, I contoured underneath ever so slightly, just to provide a base for my blush and applied peachy blush to the apples of my cheeks, blending towards the hairline. With a light golden highlighter, Nars Albatross, I highlighted the tops of my cheekbones, the center of my nose and right above the cupid's bow. 

THE NOSE: Super tricky... but I have to share this lol. My nose has no bridge... rather the bridge is there, but it starts very low and goes right to the point of my nose (my little brother has the same bridge--he's cool like that). The only way I can explain this is by placing my finger flat between my eyes, horizontally, to show that it just rests there comfortably. So, in creating a bridge, I literally took a flat eyeshadow brush and drew from my eyebrow down to the point of my nose and blended it out with my finger. So the shadows that you see are all fake created by moi!!! J. Lo's nose is wider in the middle, so I highlighted that part some more. I left my nostrils alone, there's just nothing I could've done to those suckers... they just flare lol... 

THE EYES: Here's where the fun starts for you :))) For the eyeshadows, I used the Coastal Scents 88 Ultra Shimmer Eye Shadow Palette.

• Prime the lids with a good primer. You know the one I like--Urban Decay primer potion.
• Use a silver color of a creamy/sticky consistency and apply all over the lid and above the crease. Blend out with your finger. I used NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Pots and pans.
• Take a gray eyeliner (NYX pencil in charcoal) and create a fake crease, slightly above your natural crease. Keep the shape straighter than you typically would. This gives a nice retro elongated effect. This shape doesn't have to be perfect (yet).

• Taking a silver eyeshadow on a flat brush, pack it on top of your lid and inner tear duct. There tends to be a lot of fallout with metallic/shimmery shadows, so place a tissue under your eye to catch it. 
• With the same brush, take a champagne color and apply it over the silver, just on the outer third of the lid. 
• Take a small pencil brush and apply a dark shimmery charcoal color on top of that fake crease you created earlier and right underneath your bottom lash line, stopping half way in.

• Apply the silver underneath the inner portion of the eyebrow, blending with the metallic charcoal. Since this part has no silver base, the color won't be as overpowering as on the lid.
• Take a dome-shaped contouring brush and a matte flesh-tone eyeshadow and apply it right above the charcoal crease, concentrating on the outer portion. 
• With a shimmery white color, highlight under the brow and in the inner tear duct.

• Line the top lash line with your favorite black liquid, gel, or cream liner. I used Clinique cream liner in True Black . Create a very small outer wing and line the remaining color slightly under the eye where you placed the charcoal shadow.
• Take a nude or peach eyeliner (Stila kajal pencil in Topaz is good) and rim the waterline for an extra pop.
• Apply your lashes and coat the bottom lashes with mascara.

THE EYEBROWS: Muy, muy tricky for me, cuz my brows are black and thick... I actually had to use a white pencil to cancel them out and draw on top with a brown pencil. I kept the shape shorter than I normally would and brushed the hairs down, like J. Lo's. 

THE LIPS: I lined my lips with NYX lipliner in Natural and applied Sephora lipgloss in Precious Pink. It's a shimmery pale pink with small glitters. 

Now I wanna go out!!! But I'm sick and snowed in... :((( Party en mi casa!!! 

P. S. Bring your face mask :/

STAY TUNED FOR MORE CELEBRITY INSPIRED LOOKS :DDD

P. S. I'm ready for the Red Carpet ;)