Beauty Bugs

This post will be an entry in ShopStyle's "What I Am Loving" contest. FYI.



That fluffy bird is a purple finch, because apparently whoever is in charge of naming species is trippin'. Anyway, I wanted to start with a non-insect specimen so people who are leery of six-legged beasties can be warned that yes, there will be actual pictures of them in this post. Proceed with caution. Steer clear if you have mottephobia.

As you may or may not know, I work for an environmental company called Creeklife. Consequently, I spend a lot of time scrolling through pictures of nature, finding stuff to post on the blog, Tumblr, Facebook, etc. That's how I came across John Flannery, who takes cool photos of various critters. Some of the subjects are beauuuuutiful, like this Hummingbird Clearwing, a kind of moth that's basically a fairy:



I am tying this topic into ~style~ by matching beauty products to the pretty insects. Delightfully, one of the first items to come up when I started searching was Chantecaille's limited edition "Save the Bees" palette, which is relevant because obviously:

// palette // background //

For the Hummingbird Clearwing, I needed a delicate chartreuse shade and a rich magenta/brick color. (I know--magenta and brick? But I see both of them!) Chartreuse was covered by OCC loose shadow in "Wasabi", and I also remembered "Mint To Die For" by Notoriously Morbid Cosmetics because Matte Kat wore it recently:



The complex red was harder, but these LORAC lip glosses and this Estee Lauder lipstick aren't too far off:



For the above Gray Hairstreak butterfly, I chose Sunday Riley's "Primasilk" shadow, matte "Manhattan Grey" by Mineral Essence, and "Sheer Brilliance" orange lip gloss:



Giorgio Armani's "Color Bliss" palette is kinda perfect for the dragonfly:

// photo & swatches: Beautezine //

So many colors on one little lady! (She's an American Lady butterfly.) This ultimately adorable Dior blush is perfect for the rosy bits:



Rococo creme nail polish and Burberry complete eye palettes fill out the rest:

// Indigo Kir Royale //

Of course, after looking at all this schmancy makeup, I'm left over here with my Dollar Tree junk. Siiiiigh. (If you're wondering how that fits into my ethical shopping ideals, the answer is that it doesn't. I am weak and impulsive.)

To end with, a portrait of Rachel Louise Carson, author of Silent Spring and famous trailblazing environmentalist. Seriously, I learned about her in high school. Feel free to read more on the USDA's Flickr.