FOTD: Smokey Navy + A Blast from the past !

That's my brother and me stylin' on Independence day of 1991 :)

And, here's my face today. My camera died out after taking a couple pics.. the other one came out blurry. :( And I don't have my charger.

I really liked the color combo. I applied NYX Black eyeshadow all over my lid all the way up to my crease, and applied MAC "Deep Truth" e/s over it to create sort of a navy color, and then I applied a little MAC "Plumage" e/s in my crease and blended a little MAC "Surreal" e/s into it at the edges. I used MAC "Gesso" e/s for my highlight and in the corner of my eyes. And I lined underneath my eyes with NYX black eyeshadow.

I'm LOVING my NYX black eyeshadow. It's the first eyeshadow I've purchased from NYX, and it's so smooth and pigmented. I like it even better than MAC Carbon!

Tutorial: Smokey eyes with a hint of pink!

FACE: Studio Fix Fluid NC40

Ben Nye Concealer

Ben Nye Translucent Set Powder

Smashbox Soft Lights Blush in "Blushing Pink"

MAC "Dame" Blush

MAC "Honour" blush for highlight.

EYES: HIP Paint in "Secretive" for a base

NYX "Black" eyeshadow

NYX Triple shadow palette in #36

MAC "Pink Venus" eyeshadow

MAC "Your Ladyship" pigment

L'Oreal extra intense liquid liner pencil in black

L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara

Ardell #45 faux lashes

LIPS: MUFE lip liner in 4C

Revlon lipgloss in Pink Diamond.

First, I applied moisturizer to my face, applied concealer with my concealer brush and my foundation with my MAC 187 brush. Then, I set my foundation with powder. I use my blush brush for this, and sweep it all over my face. (I didn't take pictures of these steps because I didn't start my tutorial with a bare face.) Now on to the eyes..

STEP 1: I take my L'Oreal HIP Paint and apply it all over my lid with the brush it came with, and then blend it with my finger tip.

FOTD: Dramatic Black Liner

This was yesterdays FOTD. Very simple.. I did everything the same like I did on my tutorial, but I made it a little more dramatic by smudging MAC "Carbon" eye shadow under my eyes, lining my waterline with a black eye liner pencil and smudging the black on top as well all the way across my eye.

Face: Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Tawny
MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer NW25
Ben Nye Neutral Set Translucent Powder (under my eyes)
MAC "So Ceylon" MSF

Eyes: MAC "Carbon" Eyeshadow
L'Oreal Extra Intense Liquid Eye Liner Pencil in Black
YSL Faux Cils Mascara

Lips: MAC "Subculture" Lip Liner Pencil
MAC "Myth" lipstick
Clear lip gloss

Well, I'm off to ULTA now to get some goodies! I'm going to pick up some NYX stuff with my coupon! And I'll try to do a night look tutorial today.

Forever 21 Outfit for under $100!

I put this little outfit together. Everything is from Forever 21. They are all available on the website. A cute dress perfect for the daytime. You can even take out the belt and put your own. The shield earrings have a light pink painted accent on them that match this dress perfectly. No need for a necklace, the earrings are large enough. You can accessorize this with a bunch of thin bangles, wooden bangles, or as shown, a few large bangles. Since the print on the dress is very busy, choose bracelets that have little to no design on them. The satchel is very cute and makes this outfit very chic. You can choose from caramel brown or cream (if you want the cream bag, you'll have to change your accessories to silver). My choice would be the brown because I love gold. Also we have some plain caramel brown sandals that match the satchel and have a few gold accents. And then to finish the look off, some gold framed aviators with a thin white accent across the top. The grand total is $74.50. I think this look would go perfect with some beach waves in your hair! It would also be cute with a a thin rope headband.. As this look is very boho. :) See my post for easy beach waves!

TUTORIAL: How I apply my everyday makeup.

There was a couple requests for this. My skin at the moment is HORRIBLE and I'm breaking out like crazy.. that's why I really didn't want to do a step by step showing close ups of my skin. But anyway, here goes. This is the stuff I mainly use for an every day look.



#1 Estee Lauder Daywear Plus Moisturizer 

#2 MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer NW25 

#3 MAC 194se concealer brush 

#4 Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in Tawny 

#5 MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush 

#6 MAC 316se lip brush (i use it for my brows) 

#7 Urban Decay Twice Baked e/s 

#8 Ben Nye Neutral Set Powder mixed with a bit of MUFE powder for color 

#9 MAC 168 Angled brush 

#10 MAC 129se Blush brush 

#11 MAC Refined Golden bronzer (crushed) 

#12 Christian Dior Sunrise Party Blush 

#13 Loreal Extra Intense Liquid eye liner pencil 

#14 YSL Faux Cils Mascara 

#15 Ardell Fashion lashes 104 

#16 DUO black eyelash adhesive 

#17 MUFE aqua lip pencil in 4C 

#18 MAC Partial to Pink Cremesheen glass 

#19 MAC Hue Lipstick.

STEP 1: I moisturize my face, concentrating on dry areas of my face.

STEP 2: I take my concealer brush and concealer and apply it under my eyes, under my brows, in the corners of my nose and on any blemishes that need concealing.



STEP 3: I take my MAC Duo Fibre brush and dip the white tips of the brush in my foundation. Then, in a stippling motion, I apply it to my whole face. Then, I lightly brush my face so it is all blended. (I have a lot of product on the brush.. it was enough for my whole face)



STEP 4: I fill in my brows with my mac lip brush and my urban decay eye shadow.



STEP 5: I take my MAC angled contour brush and dip it in the Ben Nye powder and blend it under my eyes so it won't cake. You may also apply it to your cheeks or whole face, but I didn't. I wanted a little bit of a dewy look even though this is a matte foundation.



STEP 6: Apply bronzer lightly all over my face with my MAC blush brush. Mainly applying it to the bridge of my nose, cheekbones and near the hairline of my forehead.



STEP 7: I lightly apply blush to the same brush and apply it to my cheekbones. I smile when I apply it so my cheeks pop..



STEP 8: I take my black pencil liner and line the outer corners of my eyes, a half way line under my eyes and on my lid. I only do it halfway so its not too dramatic for a daytime look. Then I take a smudge brush (or smudge applicator) and smudge the lines so they aren't harsh.



STEP 9: I apply mascara to my top and bottom lashes. (love this mascara!)





STEP 10: Apply my faux lashes with a small amount of adhesive. Then use a little more eyeliner to blend the strip on your eye lid. Use the smudge brush again. (pic #2 is unblended, pic #3 is blended) 

STEP 11: I apply my lip liner and then use my fingertip to blend it into my lips. I then apply Hue lipstick and partial to pink lip gloss.



done! kisssssssesssssssss!!!!

New Highlights w/ Beyond the Zone Radical Bleach Kit!

Okay, lots of stuff to talk about today. I'm going to do two separate posts. First off, I highlighted my hair last night.. my roots were REALLY due for a touch up. I used different things than usual this time around and it was much easier and turned out better.

This is the process.. Supplies used (all purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply): Beyond the Zone bleach kit, Clairol Professional Creme Toner in #311 Towhead and 20 volume developer.



The bleach kit comes with a mixing tub, 40 volume developer, plastic gloves, plastic highlighting cap and powder bleach. So you don't need to buy anything extra. (Save the tub and mixing tool for later when your going to tone) All I did was put the highlighting cap on my head and pull out small strands out of just about every other hole. (I hate this process! lol) Then, I mixed the powder bleach from the kit, with the 40 volume developer and applied it to all of my hair right away. Depending on your hair color this could take a half hour to 90 minutes. After 30 mins, this is what it looked like..



It works really fast! There were strands of my hair that were already very blonde. But most of it as you can see is yellow, and my ends are brassy strawberry blonde. So, I let it sit in my hair for around 45 minutes, and shampooed my hair and towel dried it. Then, I took the toner and mixed it with 2 oz. of 20 volume developer and applied it to all of my hair concentrating on the areas that were the most brassy. I let this sit for around 10-15 mins. The ends of my hair were pretty orange, but the blue violet toner completely got rid of that :) Then, I shampooed and conditioned. That's all!

Haul: Forever 21 & My Sexy New Shoes!

Alexander Wang "Alexis"

I picked up these booties from Forever 21 for $34.80 last night. They are the exact dupe of Alexander Wang's "Alexis" boots. When I saw them, I told my friend I was with.. I HAVE TO HAVE THESE!! And she just couldn't stop laughing because she thought they were ridiculous.. but I knew I could rock them!! I'm really happy I did decide to buy them. They're really comfortable too! I looked on the forever21 website, and it looks like they sold out of them.

 

Here's mine..

I can't wait to wear them out! :)

NOW...

If I can only find a dupe for the YSL Cage Booties..

Gah!! I want them so bad!

Forever 21 had cute caged sandals on the website, I waited a few days and went online to purchase them and they were sold out! And I wasn't able to find them in store. SO SAD!! :(

These are the ones from forever 21.. different, but similar concept.

and I got some other stuff.. this purplish blue ruffle top from forever 21 for only $5! A navy hooded short sleeve sweater, and two other sweaters.. gray and navy (not pictured) that are short sleeved on clearance for $6 each, a green halter from Kohl's for $8 and some skinny jeans from Express.

AND, omg I loved this motorcycle faux leather jacket.. it was soo sexy! But, the faux material smelled like FISH. Do you know what eyelash adhesive smells like? Smelled identical to that. I was so sad. I've had a faux handbag that smelled like that too and the smell didn't go away so I knew I couldn't get the jacket :( What a bummer!

You can see this jacket here

FOTD: Hot Pink & Burgundy + My Weekend.

Friday I went out with two of my best friends to dinner and to a hookah bar in Indiana. I'm really sick of Hookah.. all of my friends love it though.. because we're all middle eastern. lol We had a good time. We got a private room with a big flat screen TV. It was pretty nice. I always have a blast with my girlies. My friend took pictures on her camera.. so I'll probably put up a couple pics when I get them. Yesterday, my boyfriend, his sister and her husband & I went to a Casino and stayed there for like 8 hours! I wore high heeled sandals, and my feet were killing me!! By the last couple of hours I was walking around like I was a drunk or something. I had a really fun time. Slots are so addicting! I went to bed around 5 am and slept most of the day away today.. what a bore! And it's so cold out! I went outside for a bit and it was like 62 degrees. Chicago weather stinks. and I've been just lounging around the house. I think I may treat myself to a foot bath, massage and pedi. I asked my boyfriend and he said no. LOL, How rude.

Here's today's face :P

Face:
Rimmel Lasting Finish 16 hr Foundation in "Soft Beige" (This shade is too light)
Bare Essentials Bronzer in "Faux Tan"
Smashbox Soft Lights Blush in "Blushing Pink"

Eyes:
YSL Faux Cils Mascara
MAC "Falling Star" eyeshadow in crease
Hot Topic Hot Pink eyeshadow blended into "falling star"
MAC "Pink Bronze" Pigment
Sephora colorful e/s in #05 (the bronze)
Urban Decay e/s in "Flash" (the purple)
MAC "Your Ladyship" Pigment for a highlight
Wet n Wild Pink Glitter
Revlon Colorstay eye liner in Black (on the waterline)
MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
Modlash #45 falsies

Lips:
MAC Spice Lip Liner
MAC Shygirl lipstick
Smashbox Pout lig gloss

Haul: Drugstore Makeup! Lots of Revlon & Rimmel Foundation!

100+ FOLLOWERS!!!
Wow!! Thank you so much everyone for following me!! It really means a lot to me that people take the time to read my blog and check for updates! You guys are the best :)

I never really buy drugstore makeup, but I wanted to give some highly rated items a try. Walgreens has 40% off all Revlon Colorstay Makeup, so I checked the reviews and purchased a couple items. I'll have reviews for everything soon. :) I haven't tried anything out yet.

From Revlon, I bought Colorstay Eyeliner Crayons in Navy and Black. I heard that these are amazing and they last, so I can't wait to give them a try. These came to $4.49 each. I also got Colorstay Under Eye Concealer in Light/Medium. I also heard good things about this, and I've been wanting to try something different from what I use.. I always use cream concealers. This is a liquid. I got that for $5.99. And I got three different lip colors. The Colorstay Mineral Lip glaze in Unlimited Nectar, which is a very pretty beige coral, Colorstay lip color in Smooth Nude, which to me looks like a cross between MAC Myth and Freckletone (which are two of my favorites!) and lastly, a lip gloss that wasn't on sale; Pink Whisper.

Also, I got my favorite set of falsies.. Modlash #45 and Rimmel Lasting Finish Mineral Enriched Foundation (16 hr makeup) in #200 Soft Beige. This is supposed to be pretty good, I'm going to try it out today. This color looks light, but Sand looked really pink.. did not want that!

I also wanted to pick up Max-factor PAN-STIK foundation stick but, Walgreens didn't have it, so I'll be picking up that up pretty soon, probably from ULTA since I have a coupon.

Have you tried any of these? What are some of your drugstore favorites you'd recommend?

FOTD: A Smokey Look Using Brown/Gold Eyeshadows

I took the pictures at the end of the night.. so my makeup isn't looking the greatest.

Face:
Revlon Colorstay Foundation # Medium Beige (Giving this a try)
MAC Select Cover up NW25
MAC Refined Golden Bronzer
Christian Dior "Sunrise Party" Blush

Brows:Urban Decay Twice Baked e/s

Eyes:
HIP Paint in #Secretive for a base
Urban Decay Twice Baked e/s (mainly in crease)
MAC "Interview" Mineralized e/s (darkened the crease w/ the brown.. and filled lid in with the coppery gold color)
MAC Carbon e/s, Ricepaper e/s (Carbon for top liner, ricepaper for highlight)
MAC "Coco Bar" Liquidlast Liner (Brown liquid liner on lid and below eyes)
L'Oreal Extra Intense Liquid Liner Pencil (on waterline)
Benefit BADGAL Mascara

Lips:
MAC "Myth" and "Hue" lipsticks with Clear gloss over it.
I have some residue from "Vegas Volt" being on my lips.. that's why it looks like I have liner, or a reddish tint to my lips.

Hair: Beach Waves with a Flat Iron!

How to create Beach Waves using a Flat Iron

 

I was browsing YouTube for hair tutorials, and I came across a bunch of beach wave tutorials. There are so many video tutorials on how to do it, and there are many different techniques.

I tried it out myself using my 1" Jibere flat iron, which isn't the best flat iron for creating curls, but it's the only flat iron I have right now. **As a side-note, using a flat iron with rounded edges will work the best for smooth curls. Plates with square edges can cause crimps in the hair, and the flat iron won't glide through the hair as easy.

Step 1: Start out with completely dry, brushed hair. Distribute a heat protector to all of your hair to minimize breakage. I like using Tresemme Heat Tamer Protective Spray or Fantasia IC Hair Polisher Heat Protector.

Step 2: Section your hair off in four sections, starting underneath your hair, take one inch sections of hair at a time, clamping the flat iron near the roots, and slowly pull the iron down rotating the iron in a half-way turn. Slowly bring the iron down the stand of hair, making sure the iron is slightly turned the whole way down.

**The way you hold the iron wand how long you hold it through the strand will impact the look of your waves. Holding it horizontally will create more rounded curls, and holding it vertically will create looser waves. Also, holding the iron for too long down the stand can cause tighter waves. If your waves are too tight, don't worry, because they can be combed out later.

Continue with the rest of your hair, going through each section. When you get to the area of hair that falls on the sides of your face, make sure to rotate the iron away from your face.





Step 3: (optional) For a more natural effect, lightly comb or brush through your waves. (Don't worry, you won't ruin all of your hard work).

Step 4: Finish your hair off with a finishing cream or balm. All you need is a little dab and work it through the curls with your fingers. This will define the curls and reduce frizz. (Although frizz isn't a bad thing when you want to look like you've been at the beach!) My favorite finishing cream of all time is Bed Head After-Party Smoothing Cream.


I didn't use a finishing cream because I wanted my hair to look really natural and effortless - frizz and all. I love the look, and it's so simple to do! It's a great look for the daytime or for going out!

I also went for a more natural, summery makeup look today using one of my favorite summer foundations - Make Up Forever Face & Body.

Face: Make Up Forever Face and Body Foundation #34 (Perfect light, summer foundation!)
Ben Nye Blue Neutralizer Concealer
Chanel Bronze Universel Bronzer

Eyes: Yves Saint Laurent Faux Cils Mascara
Urban Decay "Midnight Cowboy" eye shadow (in the corners of my eyes near my tear ducts)

Brows: Urban Decay Twice Baked Eyeshadow (Yes, this eyeshadow has shimmer, but it doesn't show up unless applied heavily)

Lips: MAC Spice Lip Liner
MAC Sandy B Lipstick

Hope you liked this look! Let me know if you give it a try.