Selfie!!

I wanted to take a moment of pause and gratitude for my beautiful clients it makes me so happy when I'm able to make you happy! I love seeing selfies pop up on my feed when I do your makeup it's the best feeling when I see you girls radiating with confidence. ✌🏼️ #GirlPower #Selfie 

Fresh to Fierce with Arbonne

Get ready for some good CLEAN makeup fun! I met up with Arbonne District Manager, Erica, a few weeks ago to play with her Arbonne makeup and create a few simple looks she could create on her self as well as demonstrate on her clients.

We started with a day time look, went for a wedding look (it's wedding season after all) and then we did a dramatic night time look. As some of you already know, Arbonne is a GREEN company it is an earth friendly organization with pure, safe, beneficial products and cruelty–free formulas.

In testing out the products, here are my 3 favorites from left to right:

• Their silky smooth light bronzer- there is only one shade its just called bronzer and it sells for $36
• Sheer Glow highlighter- perfect for all skin types and again light weight. You only need a tiny bit and I suggest to dab it on your cheek bones with your ring finger. Sells for $42
• Arbonne Makeup Primer-This luxurious makeup primer glides on to visually diminish the appearance of fine lines and pores, creating a smooth surface. Very silky texture. Sells for $40

Other products used were: The blossom blush, which really is the perfect shade to use sparingly for a more natural look or pack some on for a little punch. Nice and rosy finish! We used the eyeliners cocoa & toffee. The cocoa Eyeliner is dark enough for some drama but very nice for a more fair complexion and light eyes like Erica's. Toffee we actually used to even out her brows. We applied this verrrryyy lightly and with an eyebrow brush for a natural look. We tried out both the CC cream and the perfecting liquid foundation. Surprisingly the CC cream had more coverage than the foundation I felt. The mascara we used in all 3 looks was It's a Long Story Mascara (Erica's favorite!) The lipgloss we used in all three looks I LOVED it is Glossed over lip gloss in Linden. It is the perfect peachy-pink and their claim to fame is "maximum lip shine with major softness. Plant extracts and peptides leave lips feeling quenched and intensely moisturized for a smooth-looking, plumped-up pucker"

THIS IS HOW WE DID IT:

Day look: makeup primer, perfecting liquid foundation in Buff, blush in blossom, eye shadow: linen all over entire lid, smoke very lightly in crease. Eye liner in cocoa to lightly line the eyes along top lash line and about half way across the bottom lash line. We used toffee for eyebrows. On the lips we used glossed over lip gloss in Linden.
Wedding: Arbonne Intelligence CC Cream in  light mixed with Perfecting Liquid Foundation in Buff, Bronzer under the cheek bone, sheer glow highlighter on brow bone as well as cheek bone and a dab on cupids bow. Eye shadow in chocolate along lower lash line, outside corner, and lightly in crease.
Vanilla (under brow on top of a dab of the highlighter), liquid eyeliner in black along the top/upper lash line, lip liner in Tulip and glossed over with Linden.
Night time: Kept the same as the wedding for face, but changed the eyes. We added eyeshadow in titanium in the outer crease and along lower lash line. Then packed in some smoke inside the crease or her eyelid. We also added some false lashes which were obviously not Arbonne -however still cruelty free!

Here is Erica's Day & Night look.

For orders please visit:

http://www.ericaondre.arbonne.com/

ENJOY! Xo

GROOVY BABY

We have some major festivals approaching in the next few weeks. Are you going? What are you packing? I will be at jazz fest and though it is extremely difficult for me to consolidate, here is my packing list that I came up with!!

My Must Haves:

Bronzer- I choose MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Gold Deposit this gives you a goddess-like glow! Some would call it a J-Lo glow but I prefer to stick with goddess. (No offense J-Lizzle)$32

Highlighter- I am crazy for highlighters right now I have them in every form! I will doing another post strictly dedicated to highlighters soon!! For pack on friendly reasons I am choosing a baked highlighter from Laura Geller in the shade French Vanilla! This highlighter is GORGEOUS swipe it across your cheekbones, down the center of your nose and a dab on your cupids bow and you're good to go!! SO PRETTY! $30

Lipstick- Festivals require bright lipstick. The beauty gods say so! Options for Bright red corals would be something like Kat Von D Under Age Red or Mac's Lady Danger. Pinks you could do something like Mac's Show orchid, Candy Yum Yum, Silly (Limited Edition), or Kat von D Backstage Bambi. Orange/Corals Reel Sexy (mac limited) Go-Go Kat Von D, Flamingo or Sushi kiss both by Mac. $16-$24

A Pair or 2 of Falsies- Duh... $2-$17

Brows- Either brow powder or brow wiz from Anastasia would be great because they are compact and travel friendly.

For your liquids baggie:

Duo Lash Adhesive in dark tone $6

Kat Von D Trooper liner because nothing stays better than this liquid liner! Nothinnngggg! $18

Smashbox Full exposure waterproof mascara because it is so black and makes your lashes say "WHABAMMMM!!!" $20

If you aren't a lipstick girl I recently discovered an awesome NARS lipgloss called Easy Lover it is a super sheer Fuchsia pink color (perfection!!) $26

Mac Pro Longwear concealer because it covers fantastically, is nice and compact and stays put! Another great concealer is Kat Von D concealer Mac is $19 Kat is $26 take your pick.

Travel Sized Makeup forever setting spray - or - My favorite Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting spray because you'll be dancing and sweating $10-14

MAC Lightful lC Tinted Cream with SPF- This is a CC (color correcting) cream that reduces imperfections while increasing the natural radiance of your skin instantly and over time. Infused vitamin C, it works to correct your overall complexion by reducing the appearance of pores and diminishing dark spots and hyper-pigmentation, and the SPF 30 protects against UVA/UVB rays. Perfect for being outside all day!!

Extras:

A Dual Ended brush, this is Kat Von D's Contour brush. Id use the larger end for bronzing and the smaller end for highlighting.

Funky sunnies- Major Festival must have! (I love my Quays!)

A statement bib necklace- total must have right now! Spring, summer, fall, winter, they are consistently hott!

xx

War Paint Witchery

So how in the christ do girls go from this to that?!

The short answer:

And then theres the big long explanation that you've been dddyyying for...

What I am going to do, is go through piece by piece of what I have done to my morning project (face) before I have to go to work at MAC or a wedding. 

(And heres hoping my managers at mac don't either hate or fire me because I'm posting the cold hard truth of what is on my face when I go to work.)

First before everything I set my hair in pin curls. I roll my hair with my 1 inch curling iron, put my thumb at the end of the barrel, let go of the clamp, catch the curl, and I pin it to my head. This way my hairs out of my face and my curls will somewhat stay for the day once I take them down.

Next:

I get redness from the bottom of my nose to my chin, I do not know why, I must be an alien. 

To fix this irritating skin flaw of mine I use MAC CC cream in neutralize. CC as opposed to BB is Color Correct. I buy the yellow one because it cancels out my redness, and my unfiltered girl brain truth is it makes me feel less ugly ::insert big smile::

Next I found some pores and fine lines I decided needed some filling, instead of blowing my cash on botox, I whipped out my new (even less expensive than I was using before) friend, NYX Pore Filler!

It is half the price of Benefit's Porefessional which I had been using before, and it works just as good!

Surprisingly I found that wasn't enough so I took a dime size glob of NYX Clear Studio Perfect Primer because I knew I would be taking this picture for y'all :)

At this point I probably didn't need to do anything more to my skin because quite I probably was even toned, but what would I say to my mac customers when they wanted my foundation? So, I took a small amount of MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation (Shade NC 25) that I had a sample of and covered the rest of my face. Studio fix is a full coverage matte foundation that I wanted to give a try to see if I would like more than my precious Kat Von D. Its a close call. Studio Fix is about $10 cheaper but theres just something about the Kat foundation that I can't let go of...

Next I whipped out my awesome new contour palette from Kat Von D!!!! Shade + Light  I love it so much and you should all buy it ::heart eyes:: I will explain how I use it in a future post (that was supposed to be a prior post..oops). It's starring my Team Fabulous partner in fabulousness, Shauna, so that should excite you. If its not exciting you're probably an alien. I contoured and highlighted with that palette with a little help from Nars Albatross to up the wow with the highlight factor.

The blush I used was MAC Melba. I am very boring with my blush, I hardly wear it unless I have to go to mac, and when I do wear it its always a very neutral color. I don't know what my beef is with blush, maybe because I don't love my redness issue. I guess I'd rather be shimmery or bronze.

Next because I couldn't stand looking at my horrendous brows, I took out my new NYX Brow gel!! Its very awesome, it is almost a quarter of the price of my beloved Makeup Forever Aquabrow, and it works THE SAME. I love when that happens. I use brunette NYX brow gel and my Aqua brow color is 25.

My eyeshadows I used Kat Von D's New Innerstellar Eyeshadow palette with a teeny tiny bit of help from Kat Von Ds (Can't find anywhere) True Romance Eyeshadow palette in Lady bird. I only needed the orange which I think she has in her awesome Star studded book that they had over the holidays at Sephora, I got one but not for me :( but I'm sure I could use it if I really wanted to ::evil grin:: riiiight Shauna?? Mac Brick eyeshadow would also be an ok dupe for that. Basically orange eyeshadow is an awesome way to transition a smokey eye and warm it up a bit. If you have hazel, light brown, or green eyes it really has a way of making  your eyes brighter -or- at least appear to be lighter you tricky little witch you....

The mascara I used is a travel size mascara that I absolutely LOVEEE Buxom Full & Fabulous. 

-moment of truth: I got a ton of different mascaras for my gfs for christmas and this one I kept only because it had leopard print... GAH I'm a bad person..- Ok I feel better now thats off my chest.

This mascara makes me feel fancy! I only wish it was waterproof. Floop.

NEXT I stacked on a pair of lashes that I actually made. Often when my lashes are a bit too disheveled to salvage I will cut them up and make my own. I couldn't even tell you how many different pairs I have on in these pictures but I can tell you that I will make a DIY post about it. 

Lastly the lips. The lips are always such a difficult decision for me. I never know what I want on myself let alone other people. This I feel is one of my weaknesses in my artistry. I need to learn what the heck I want to put on people. 

Sometimes when I don't know what I want I just do everything. So thats what I did....

(just like when I want a snack... I want all the snacks.)

There are 4!! Different lip products on my lips.

First I used Half-Red lipliner from MAC slightly outside of my lipline. Shaded inside that, the corners of my mouth, and a few lip contour lines (I'll show you later)is Whirl lipliner. I took my Spirit lipstick and used it to blend the two liners together lightly. I left the center still mostly blank, except for some light feathering. Feathering is when you do short quick light strokes. The center of my lips I saved for a lighter shade of lipstick, Blankety. This ombre and overdrawn-ness is what caused my lips to look large & in charge & I love it! Over drawn lips are not always for everyone, but sometimes if you can do it right it can really look great. 

I set everything with MAC Fix +  spray...because its winter, I wouldn't be sweating or crying, and it smells good. 

I took my hair down, I hated it, I took this picture, and I took my extensions out and put my hair up. Hahahaha

There is the truth behind my very own before and after. I hope you enjoyed this long drawn out post :)

All products that are available to be purchased I linked, your welcome.

Have an awesome weekend xoxox

Lipstick Surprise!

HOLD THE PHONE!!

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!

At least once a week depending on how busy my week is with makeup, I go through my entire kit, and sanitize everything. I clean product and their containers. This helps me clean anything I may have missed when I put it away. It also helps me keep track inventory & what I may be running low on. This afternoon while cleaning lipsticks I came across 3 that looked basically empty. 

For those of you that are familiar with back to mac, when you have 6 empty containers, bring them in to a mac location, and you can get a free lipstick. I had an empty mascara and two empty mechanical brow pencils in a bag already.   I was about ready to head out to mac and grab my free lipstick. That was until my curiosity got to me. I kinda wanted to know if there was any lipstick actually left in the tubes worth saving. I took out a q-tip, pulled the cotton off one end, and inserted the wand into the tube of lipstick.

Past the plastic casing there was still a good half inch of lipstick in the tube!!!!! 

For those of you who already knew this, shame on you for not telling me

Only kidding...

For everyone else, YOU'RE WELCOME!

Happy Thursday ladies!! 

Happy dance party for those of us who have a favorite lipstick that they don't make anymore and you've been holding on to its precious tube in a memory vault!!! 

All hope is not completely lost...yet

 ::happy tears::

ALL THE NEW

Happy new year everyone!! And Happy new makeup to me!!!! I want to start with a few new Kat Von D Launches that happened this month!!! First there was the Innerstellar eyeshadow pallet inspired by the moon and stars. Normally I don't migrate towards purples or silvers but I sure am glad I did!! I found a new love for the hues as a matter of fact! These eyeshadows are super pigmented and silky smooth. Kat never EVER disappoints ;)

Next is something I have been waiting quite some time for. I have a love hate relationship with teasers. The Shade Light contour palette I had known about for painful amounts of MONTHS before it was launched. The second I received an email for this glorious creation, I ordered immediately. Yes, a contour palette has been done time and again, the most popular that I can recall was the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palette. Kat's wins by a landslide. The tones aren't too orange they do not look like bronzer when applied they have a very natural tone to them. With this palette you can go dramatic or natural and at $46 its super affordable for quality product.

The brush pictured is Kat Von D's concealer brush, its not new, but its new to my collection. Plus its pretty!

Contoured & Highlighted with Shade Light palette

My next new item is something very different to my kit. It is one of Jeffree Star's new lip glosses. When I saw them on instagram I thought they were neat looking and it was cool that he has his own lip glosses but I wasn't rushing to order. That was until I saw a fellow makeup artist, Korry, post a picture of all three that he ordered on his lips!! Although he is darker skin toned than me I fell in love with the purple velour lippie called "I'M ROYALTY" It is loud!!!!! 

and it is gorgeous!!! I first thought, "oh, that would be cool for fashion shoots," but then I tried it on... and oh lawdy it was over!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this lipstick and I will find ALL the excuses to wear it!!

It is so pretty and you all need it!

All Kat Von D products can be found on Sephora.com 

The Jeffree Star Liquid Velour Lipsticks can be found on http://jeffreestarcosmetics.com (if they aren't sold out because they sell out every week!)

Trick or Treat smell my... face....

This is for any girl out there that loves a flawless face...& chocolate. I personally don't need chocolate in my life...but I kinda like smelling like it!

"This powder foundation formula features crystalline powder, which works on all skin types to conceal imperfections, leaving skin with a soft-focus appearance. Infused with an antioxidant-rich, oil-absorbing Exclusive Cocoa Complex, a non-drying powder that defends against free radicals, it minimizes the appearance of fine lines and pores, and provides skin with a subtle, chocolate scent. This foundation can be reapplied throughout the day for medium-to-full coverage that doesn’t look heavy or cakey." High-fives to that and lets go to Sephora!!!