Category — Milani

Ronni is our winner in the Milani makeup giftset giveaway! Congratulations! We had 357 entries making this our biggest giveaway yet. Thanks to everyone for making this contest such a success. I hope you all will all stick around for the new contest launching later today.

Also don’t forget to request my latest freebie find: The Pond’s Clean Sweep Towlettes! They should be fun to try!

Just your friendly neighborhood Bionic Beauty here to remind you ladies that you only have until Tuesday night at midnight (US Eastern Time) to enter to win the Milani “Bionic Favorites” makeup collection. So don’t delay and add your comment to *the giveaway post* today.

And stay tuned because on Tuesday (yep, that’s July 22nd), I’m launching the next giveaway. This will contest will close out Bionic’s one year, month-long blogoversary party.

Mark your calendars, tell your friends, shout it from the rooftops because you gals are gonna love this one! Any hair care junkies out there? (Hint, hint!)

Milani Cosmetics and Bionic Beauty have joined together to offer one lucky reader a HUGE collection of my favorite Milani makeup products! You’ll get all the beauty goodies listed below packed in a cute Milani bag.

• Java bean eyeshadow (Read why I think this is the BEST brown eyeshadow ever!)
• Smoke eyeshadow (Here’s my Smoky Eye tutorial using Smoke- a shimmery charcoal)
• Clover eyeshadow (Super green shadow with cool undertones & slight shimmer. Beautiful!)
• Runway Eyes palette in Glamorous Gems (I used this gorgeous palette in my Going Green look - Glamorous Gems contains the ultimate trendy bronzes for summer plus a range of neutral greens!).
• Sunset Duo Bronzer (Blush and bronzer in one compact. I never leave home without mine in my purse.)
• Runway Eyes Wet/Dry shadows (The *entire* collection! Did you know these shadows are almost exact duplicates for the new Vincent Longo shadows?)
• Minerals Loose Makeup foundation (This mineral makeup was very popular in our first giveaway on Bionic Beauty. It goes on so smooth and soft! And it’s Talc-free unlike many brands!)

To enter, please leave me a comment below on why you’d like to try the Milani & Bionic Favorites collection. If you’re already a Milani fan, let me know what your favorites product(s) are! Retail value is over $90! (And since some of you have asked: Milani can be found at your local drugstore, and shadows start at only $3.49. So expand your horizons, ladies. Milani really is a fantastic brand! ~BB)

This contest is the third in our month long series in honor of Bionic Beauty’s first anniversary, so stayed tuned for another giveaway!

The Rules: One (1) winner will be chosen from the qualified entrants and will receive a Milani giftset as detailed above. To qualify for entry, you must follow the entry rules as outlined in this post. The Milani giveaway is open to USA residents only. Please only enter once; duplicate entries will be detected and discarded. Entry deadline is July 21st, 2008 at midnight US ET. The winners will be chosen via Random.org and will be announced here on Bionic Beauty, on PRIZEY.Fetch, and contacted via email.
*Please note that I will not share your email address with anyone! I only use your email address to contact you if you are a winner. However, if you do not enter a valid email address, you will be disqualified.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Bionic Beauty blog newsletter (or you can subscribe in your favorite RSS reader) so that you can keep up with the product reviews, beauty and makeup samples and giveaways offered here. Best of luck to everyone!

July 4th represents the United State’s Independence Day but it’s also the day I first put a post up on the Bionic Beauty blog.

In honor of BB’s one year anniversary, I’m taking a look back at lessons I have learned this past year. I know there are quite a few more, but some lessons just seem to become instinct and I cannot process them or identify the actual point that I learned the lesson.

• Almost every high end product has an affordable duplicate.
• Branch out and try indie and local brands. Quite often they are more natural, very affordable, and fun to chat with your friends about.
• Samples abound! I can now travel at a moment’s notice thanks to all my sample size lotions, shampoos, styling products and even foundation! Bionic Beauty has shared 79 beauty samples in the past year.
  Stripping floors is hard work, no its not beauty related, but it is something I learned.
• Some ladies simply rock my world. Nenette, Erin and Jen. I am so glad we’ve found each other in the vastness of this crazy web.
• A blog requires many more hours a day than I ever expected. For a quick estimate, I spend 45-50 hours a week working on Bionic Beauty. On giveaway weeks, it’s many more since I have promised myself to send personal thank you notes to each entrant.
• Reader comments, emails, and feedback make those hours all worthwhile.
• Rubberized mascara brushes ROCK!

And without further delay… in order to say thanks to all my wonderful readers, Bionic Beauty will be hosting some fantabulous giveaways this month. The first of which has already launched - win a SpinLash mascara setup! Giveaways to come include Malibu Secret lotion, Milani makeup, pHormulate *and* White Sands hair care. Also in the works, highlights on my readers: Polls/surveys to share your thoughts, a “delurking day”, and a roundup of the best comments over the year.  So hangout, check back often, and join the birthday party all month long!

This look arose from me just wanting to have a little fun with some eyeshadow colors I had laying around. Since I had done a light purple natural look recently, I thought I would pump this version up a bit.

The makeup I used:

• Revlon’s Creme shadow quad in Not Just Nudes
• Milani’s Runway Eyes palette in Couture in Purples
• Ferro Cosmetics’ Rose Crystal Mineral Veil

I started by priming my eyelid with the peachy glimmer cream shadow (from Revlon’s Not Just Nudes quad). I applied this cream shadow across my entire lid and up past the crease.

Then (reference the photo below for numbers) I placed:
1. Ferro’s Rose Crystal Mineral Veil as a highlighter across my browbone. This product is meant for your face and all-over color and it really performs as an eye highlighter.
2. I applied the second to lightest shade (second from top) of Milani’s Runway Eyes palette on my entire eyelid.
3. In the outer corner of my eye, I applied the middle purple shade (the broken strip in my palette) from Milani, with a soft and small shadow brush. Try to be precise in the corner. If you have extra shadow on your brush, sweep it across the crease of your eye for a little depth.
-Blend, baby, blend-
4. To line your eye, use the darkest (bottom) purple shade from Milani and a liner brush. Line along your upper lash line and ‘press’ the shadow into your skin slightly (this helps it adhere and not fall out). I lined my bottom lash line as well, but this step is optional.
-Finish with a coat of your favorite mascara.-

Where I placed each color:

The final creation:

Do you wear purple eyeshadows on occasion?

In honor of spring, and maybe hoping to hurry the nice weather along, I took some time out today to dress up my toenails. After a few weeks of using the Noodle and Boo Balm, my feet are in much better shape for sandal season.

Base coat is Tinseltown by Jessica (very sheer pink, no sparkles but high gloss).Blue tips are Moody Blue by China Glaze (a robin’s eye blue cream, part of their Patent Leather collection).

The flowers on my big toes are Hottest Pink by Milani (This polish is about 2 shades darker than OPI’s This Little Piggy. It’s a translucent hot pink with shimmer.) The dots in the flower centers are using the Moody Blue again.

I applied a top coat (cheapie $1 Quik Dry from the grocery) to keep everything lasting for a week or so.

Mythbuster Beauty’s post on “Color Intervention 101” inspired me to try out a broader range of eyeshadow colors beyond my standard browns. During my latest trip to the local drugstore, I saw an ad board for Revlon’s new limited edition makeup “Reveal Your Wild Side“. I loved the green eyeshadow look shown on the boards (I can’t find a photo of it anywhere on the web, sorry!), checked the colors they used, and made a mental image for me to work from.

Here is my version. I’m “Going Green”.

The makeup I used:

• Milani Runway Eyes palette in Glamorous Gems.
• Milani single eyeshadow in Antique Gold.
• L’Oreal HiP Cream Shadow Paint in 809, Lofty (in the silver/pink tube).
• Milani Eye Pencil liner in Antique Green.
• Revlon Marble-ous Match eye liner/shadow duo pencil in Made for Jade.
• Milani Velvet Collection lipstick in Plush.

A photo of my finished look:

How I accomplished Going Green:

1. I applied a small amount of L’Oreal Cream Shadow Paint (similar to MAC’s Paint Pots) in Lofty to my entire lid and blended it up towards my brow. This color provides a nice neutral base for my eyeshadow.
2. Note: The HiP Cream Shadow Paints are not yet out in all drugstores, but I have had good luck at Walgreens and CVS. They are absolutely gorgeous, apply well, and stay put! You can get them for $2 off at Walgreens from now through February 28th if you use their coupon in the Super Saver catalog (in Walgreens stores).
3. Then I applied the Milani single eyeshadow in Antique Gold to my lid and into the crease.
4. I smudged some of the Antique Gold shadow under my lower lash line as well.
5. In the outer corner (the “V”) of my eyelid, I applied the darkest green from the Runway Eyes palette.
6. Then I blended, blended and blended my lid.
7. I lined over the shadow on my lower lash line with the Milani liner in Antique Green.
8. And I applied a thick line of the Revlon Made for Jade eyeliner (the green and brown marbled end) on my top lash line.
9. I choose the Plush lipstick by Milani to coordinate with this look. It’s subdued and the gold flecks in the lipstick perfectly complete the “safari” look.
10. A coat of your favorite mascara, top and bottom, and your finished!

I surprised myself by loving this green look so much. I couldn’t stop walking by the mirror to look at my eyes!