*~Sephora Watercolors~*

[Julessss14]

Working day-in and day-out on the Sephora site and apps, I am often seeking additional ways to be creative, and have fun, with beauty products. 

I’ve started a series that I dub *~Sephora Watercolors~*, mixing pencil, watercolors, a variety of shiny gelly roll pens and deco markers, and, of course, a healthy assortment of Sephora-sourced lip glosses, sparkly nail polishes, glittery face pigments, and more.

In terms of inspo? It’s a mix of the charming illustrations of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the (precious) watercolors of my grandmother, an artist in her own time, known for her Asian-inspired and tropical tableaus, mixing watercolor with fine pen marks. She also designed and merch’ed up the windows for the historic West Coast department store I. Magnin & Company in Los Angeles, which I think is pretty cool. 

So, without further delay, here is the series. I will post whenever I have a chance, hopefully bi-weekly. I’ll note out the date of creation, link to the products and list out the materials used in the work. 

Can’t wait to hear what you think! 🙂 ❤️💄

Note: Worked with product management @ / contracted for Sephora previously.

***

Left: 

• Sephora product: CHANEL Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Parfum 
• Date of creation: 4/19/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, pink gelly roll pen, gems, rapid tone repair dark spot corrector, Sephora Collection eyeliner, Dior lip gloss, Sephora Collection nail polish

Right: 

• Sephora product: JVN Complete Nourishing Hair Oil Shine Drops 1.7 oz/ 50 mL 
• Date of creation: 4/20/23
• Materials: Watercolors, silver deco marker, gems, gelly roll pen

[Julessss14]

Felt like gold was better here than silver given the warmth of the color story...

[Julessss14]

Btw I know I teased it before but here's my favorite combo of eyebrow glitter with @ stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow Perlina brushed up with @ MILK MAKEUP KUSH Clear Brow Gel Hydro 

(a rare moment of showing my face...)

[Julessss14]

• Sephora product: Topicals Sealed Active Scar Filling Primer for Acne Prone Skin 
• Date of creation: 8/31/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, green marker, silver deco marker, Sephora Collection glitter nail polish

[Julessss14]

(assemblage collage)

[Julessss14]

• Sephora product: dae Prickly Pear Hair Oil 1.7 oz/ 50 mL 
• Date of creation: 8/29/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, green marker, stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow Perlina,Trixie Cosmetics Lip Gloss (green, "vegan agenda"), Glossier Lidstar Long-Wearing Shimmer Cream Eyeshadow Lily, black micron pen

[Julessss14]

• Sephora product: Skinfix acne+ adapinoid Gel with Niacinamide + Squalane 1 oz / 30 ml 
• Date of creation: 8/26/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, pink gelly roll pen, silver gelly roll pen, beads from a bracelet gifted from a Korean temple, gold paint, MILK MAKEUP Flex Foundation Stick Warm Deep, Glossier Lidstar Long-Wearing Shimmer Cream Eyeshadow Lily, coral lipgloss, stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow Perlina, stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow Rose Gold Retro, Trixie Cosmetics shimmer topper, green markers, SEPHORA COLLECTION Color Hit Mini Nail Polish Firework 

One of my girlfriends from art school had gifted me this pink beaded bracelet that she got me at a temple in Korea. I've worn in for years, and, suddenly with the hazards of everyday living, the bracelet snapped in a moment of intense multi-tasking from my side. 

Taking from the zen concept of filing in cracks with gold, I decided to incorporate the broken beads into some gold paint with Sephora Collection nail polish. From there, lots of other material experiments with a variety of beauty products happened (you can peep the list of things above, including a new item from an order I did for Trixie Cosmetics to try some of their stuff (full disclosure I met Trixie out-of-drag at a Sunday party in Silverlake 🙂 and I introduced myself and we chatted and we, resoundly, both agreed that I should try the TC makeup...)

I've been loving this product from Skinfix (green ranks high on my favorite list of colors) so I made it the focal point of this piece. It's a little bit more maximal than my normal more clean and minimal aesthetic... but, in the practice of art, I think the most important thing is to keep going (not every day is the perfect masterpiece...)

There are something about the material quality of makeup that I find very sculptural... I included some detail shots that hopefully illustrates that point... maybe something to explore more..... 💛⭐

[Titian06]

@Julessss14 - Thanks for the closeup shots and items-in-use shots!  I think it's amazing how you can use makeup and skincare in this way. 🥰

[Julessss14]

💖

[Julessss14]

[Julessss14]

[Julessss14]

[Julessss14]

😄

[Julessss14]

• Sephora product: HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint Rose Gold Shimmer 
• Date of creation: 8/15/23
• Materials: Watercolors, juicy tube, pencil, flower gems from the French General on Riverside Drive in Silverlake, silver gelly roll pen, black micron pen, Sephora Collection eye liner, Sephora Collection glitter nail polish, clear nail polish

Experimented here with using the eye liner almost like a calligraphy brush... do we like? 💕

[Julessss14]

I love learning about new beauty brands. Since I am still a fresh face / n00b in the beauty space (though a bit of a seasoned tech industry vet tbh...), I was delighted to read the new feature on the Sephora iOS app about The Need-to-Know, Skincare Essentials from black-owned brands flipping up / adding a unique POV the beauty game. 

Previously, I had never heard of Hyper Skin before and I was almost cosmically drawn to their logo (wonderfully designed) and the ethos of the brand and founder Desiree Verdejo.

• Sephora product: Hyper Skin Brightening Dark Spot Vitamin C Serum 1 oz/ 30 mL 
• Date of creation: 8/13/23
• Materials: (this one has a lot very mixed media realness) Watercolors, Charlotte Tilbury Superstar Lips Lipstick - Pillow Talk Collection Pillow Talk (BI sample), red marker, pink gelly roll pen, MILK MAKEUP Flex Foundation Stick Warm Deep, green metallic gelly roll pen, SEPHORA COLLECTION Color Hit Mini Nail Polish Firework, gold deco marker, silver deco marker, face gems from Amazon, blue marker, Clarins paris lip comfort oil shimmer: 09 pop coral

[Julessss14]

In terms of my holy grail beauty products, it always seems to go back to Stila Perlina stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow Perlina ... It was actually recommended me to by a Sephora co-worker originally and since then I have basically tried the metallic rainbow, with my evergreen fave def being this light opalescent shade. 

The hearts here are actually from a BI rewards bazaar goodie of Charlottle Tilbz and a small Pillow Talk lipstick sample. Maybe something here with the lipstick writing / drawing?

• Sephora product: stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow Perlina 
• Date of creation: 8/11/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lip Wardrobe Set Pillow Talk, gold deco marker, glitter Sephora collection nail polish SEPHORA COLLECTION Color Hit Mini Nail Polish Firework, HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint Rose Gold Shimmer (very mixed media this one...)

[Julessss14]

 

• Sephora product: MILK MAKEUP KUSH Clear Brow Gel Hydro 
• Date of creation: 8/10/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, beads from the French General, a variety of nail polishes, black micron pen

I kind of like the diptych with contrasting backgrounds. The months of experimentation maybe paid off in terms of adding some dimensionality and sculptural quality to these pieces?

[Julessss14]

• Sephora product: MILK MAKEUP KUSH Clear Brow Gel Hydro 
• Date of creation: 8/10/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, beads from the French General, a variety of nail polishes, black micron pen

[Julessss14]

They say that the best things in life are free and I think that's absolutely true for this Milk Makeup clear brow gel that a friend happened to gift me. Honestly it's one of my favorite things (and I love to comb in a little eyebrow glitter and mix in some stila perlina).

• Sephora product:MILK MAKEUP KUSH Clear Brow Gel Hydro 
• Date of creation: 8/10/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, beads from the French General, a variety of nail polishes, black micron pen

[Julessss14]

Abstraction with nail polish, foundation, sequins and stars...

Going to circle back to Sephora beauty products in a bit but for now enjoying the abstract era 🙂 

[Titian06]

Very pretty, @Julessss14 !  I like the colors and shimmer!

[Julessss14]

Thank youuuuuu