"Black Cherry Plum" with Silk Naturals

Bonjour mes belles! It's Wearable-Wednesday featuring ready-to-wear, universally flattering makeup that you can rock anywhere! I'm skipping Tutorial Tuesday and Review ThuRsday, so today's post is a three-in-one for all of you to take part in and enjoy. In it, I'm reviewing new goodies from Silk Naturals -- a mineral makeup company dedicated to bringing you fun, quality cosmetics made from great ingredients. As in all of my reviews, I'm including a makeup look and a tutorial to teach you how to recreate this look for yourself. So, with all this content to share, let's jump right to it!

Read more for pix, reviews & how-to's!

Silk Naturals offers handmade mineral makeup, natural skin care, organic lip products, as well as customizable foundations, hair care, makeup brushes and much more. Silk Naturals has one of the largest eyeshadow collections of any brand of its kind and even sells products for men! Moreover, SK is constantly coming out with new items and special launches, so this aspect is exciting and undeniably impressive!

For my review, I received a bevy of goodies: 10 mineral eyeshadows & eyeshadow enhancer, vegan lipstick, organic lip balm,  sheer blush, finishing powder and a sample foundation kit.

I was particularly excited about the foundation kit because I had been on a hunt for a great mineral foundation to replace my Bare Minerals, which uses bismuth oxychloride in its base, an ingredient that is known to clog pores and cause irritation in some people. I have acne prone skin, so as much I love Bare Minerals, I had to let it go.

First thing I did was mix the foundation. While some people might be intimidated to mix their own foundation shade, I actually found it a lot of fun! I'm a full-time makeup nerd, so this is totally up my alley. However, if that's not you, don't worry, finding your shade takes less than 15 minutes!


Silk Naturals allows customers to mix their own foundation using one of the following white bases:

• All Purpose -- silica-free formula provides creamy coverage, and can be used wet or dry.
• Original -- light, but very buildable coverage.
• Medium Coverage -- about twice the coverage of the original. It's buildable and natural looking
• Heavy Coverage -- one of the heaviest coverage products on the market. Best for spot concealing, but some women do use it as their regular foundation.
• Glow -- it's the Bare Escentuals look but without the bismuth oxychloride. Can be used in some or all of your foundation blend.
• Vegan -- midway between the Original and Medium coverage made without silk.

Plus, any combination of Perfect Harmony Vegan Foundations:

• Ebony -- formulated for neutral, cool or pink undertones
• Warm Gold -- formulated for tan skin with golden undertones
• Buttery Gold -- formulated for skin with yellow undertones
• Deep Ebony -- formulated for neutral undertones and is more pigmented than Ebony
• Peach -- peach (gold plus red) undertones
• Olive -- formulated for neutral or Mediterranean skin tones with no pink undertones

For my custom shade, I mixed: 

1. 5 scoops of All Purpose White Base  + 1 scoop of Warm Gold + 1/2 scoop of Buttery Gold.
• 4-6 scoops of white base are suggested per 1 scoop of foundation for Medium skin tones
2. After mixing everything in the jar and swatching the shade on my jawline, I found that the mixture was a pinch orange, so I added a 1/2 scoop of Olive and mixed the product once again.
3. I was surprised to discover that the finished mixture looked grayish in the jar compared to my Golden Medium Bare Minerals shade, but matched my skin tone flawlessly. 

Up close & personal:

Silk Naturals Vegan Foundation looks like real skin and covers imperfections just as great as Bare Minerals foundations. The All Purpose mixture is great for people with normal skin, but if you have texture problems, I'd suggest trying either the Medium or Heavy coverage foundations.

On to the Maquillage!

Silk Naturals founder Karen Stark was kind enough to offer us a 5% Promo Code good on all items, including foundation kits, minerals eye shadows, lip products, etc.! Silk Naturals products are already very well priced, so this is a little something extra. Thanks Karen!

Silk Naturals 5% COUPON CODE: maquillage

Products Used (EYES):

• Silk Naturals Stick Em' Eyeshadow Enhancer -- a great primer for mineral shadows. This product is completely clear and dries slightly tacky to help loose powders adhere better.
• Silk Naturals Loose Mineral Shadows in:
• Rebel (sparkly sheer black) -- worn on the lid over a black sticky base. This color is very glittery, but the sparkles are made from an inert mineral, as opposed to glitters that are made of plastic.
• Bewitched (deep brownish purple) -- worn on the crease and lower lash line. This is a complex color that is almost a duo-tone between brown and maroon / purple.
• Kick (bright sparkly purple) -- worn on the center lid. Kick is very vibrant and pigmented, it totally packs a punch!
• Sonic (light, pearly gold) -- worn on the inner corner and used as a highlighter on the cheekbones and nose. Sonic is said to be a perfect dupe of MAC Vanilla pigment.
• Welcome Matte (eyeshadow mattifier) -- a product that's unique to Silk Naturals and is great for toning down shimmery or sparkly shadows. Today's sparkly look wouldn't be possible without this baby and I'm completely addicted to it! Used in the transition between the crease and brow bone.

Other Products (EYES):

• NYX jumbo eye pencil in Black Bean -- used on the lid, as a base for Rebel
• Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid liner in Jet -- top lash line
• BDB Brow Powder in Ebony -- perfect for dark brows -- review to come!
• Red Cherry lashes #74 from HBwigs.com -- these lashes look like bat wings and are the perfect accessory to any dark eye makeup look. Don't forget my promo code!
• 10% OFF Coupon to HBwigs.com: MaryamM10

"Black Plum" Smokey Eye How-To:

1. Apply a thin base of Silk Naturals Stick Em' primer and allow a few seconds for it to set.
2. Using a stiff dome shaped brush, apply Bewitched (brownish purple) to the eye socket and lower lash line. Lift the outer corner towards to brow tail to give the eye an exotic shape. If you have large eyes or deep set eyes, apply the shade directly to the crease.
3. Clean off the brush and blend out the edge of the shadow using Welcome Matte mattifier. This will create a transition between the crease and brow bone.
4. Smudge a bit of black sticky base onto the lid and seal it with Rebel (sparkly black) eye shadow.
5. Apply Kick (bright sparkly purple) to the center lid and crease and blend the edges.
6. Highlight the inner corner using Sonic (pearl gold).
7. Line the top lash line with a black liquid liner and add false lashes to complete the look.

"Black Cherry"

On my CHEEKS, I'm wearing: Silk Naturals Sheer Blush in Carnal (plum shimmer)

On my LIPS, I'm wearing Silk Naturals Red Vegan Lipstick in Bombshell (blue-based dark cherry red) -- *photographed without flash to show off the truest color

• This vegan lipstick is very creamy and pigmented. Best part -- it does not stain your lips!

This ready-to-wear makeup would be great for a night on the town, a date, even prom -- that is, if you're into the darker side of beauty. I created this darker look specifically because I wanted to show that Silk Naturals mineral makeup is very well pigmented and can be as dramatic as any other makeup. As you can tell, I'm loving it!

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bisous,

Maryam Maquillage

♥

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*Some product/s in this post were sent for my consideration and review. The opinion stated is 100% my own.

Maryam Maquillage © 2013. www.maryammaquillage.com