What I Got For Christmas

Merry Christmas!!! With the Christmas season comes lots of baking, decorating, time with family, and of course SHOPPING!! My wonderful family spoiled me with presents this year, not trying to brag but they're amazing. Since most of these items are makeup/fashion related they'll reappear in many future blogs. I haven't had a chance to try anything yet, since it's not even a week after Christmas, but I can't wait to test out all these exciting products!!!

Smashbox 

"On the Rocks" Be Legendary Lip Gloss Set 

Shades included

-Azalea

-Legendary

-Pout

-Gilt

-Jewel 

Limited Edition Travel Brush Set 

- #20 Double-Ended Smudger Brush

- #22 Fan Brush

- #32 Shadow Brush  

Lorac 

Pro Palette

- Contains mini "Behind the Scenes" eye primer

"Sultry Starlet" Shimmer Eye Shadow Palette

(Ulta Exclusive)

Red Rhinstone Eye Lash Curler 

Stila 

"Masterpiece Series" Eye and Cheek Palettes

- The Minimalist Palette

- The Impressionist Palette

- The Modernist Palette 

Urban Decay 

Nail Color in "Vice" 

Travel Size Supercurl Curling Mascara 

Travel Size Original Primer Potion

(Mascara and Primer Potion are re-purchases, literally just ran out of both so PERFECT TIMING!! Definitely recommend both products, the primer potion is the only primer I use and the mascara is my favorite mascara, it makes your lashes look so long and curled its just fabulous!) 

EOS 

Limited Edition 4-pack Inspired by Rachel Roy 

Includes

-Barbados Heat (Wildberry)

-St. Barth's Sunrise (Pink Grapefruit)

-Indian Summer (Orange Blossom)

-Aloha Hawaii (Strawberry Kiwi) 

Maybelline 

Baby Lips Limited Edition 2-pack 

Shades Included 

-Ruby Star

-Crystal Kiss 

Teen Vogue Handbook 

Starbucks Tumblr 

(because it's cute and adorable and why not?)

Rosetti 

Bethany Outlook Mini Crossbody Bag 

(The peacock wreath surrounding the purse was also a Christmas present)

Juicy Couture 

Rainbow Sequin Leopard Backpack

Literally IN LOVE with this backpack, I just used it for a trip to New York City and it was amazing. Not only is it so glittery and fabulous, its very spacious. (I fit five books, five magazines, my laptop and my camera in it and still had a little room to spare) 

White and Grey Sweater Slipper Booties

(From Kohls) 

Beauty and the Beast Stained Glass Window Dress 

(From Hot Topic) 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with joy, laughter, and happiness. Have a sparkly, glittery sunshine-filled 2015!

The Resurrected Rockstar

Bow down and stare in awe at Jojo Love also known as “The Resurrected Rockstar” 

Character Backstory: Jojo Love was the most famous singer of her time. She had released 4 albums, gone on 3 world tours, and acquired millions of fans. As she was performing her biggest concert of 100,000 screaming fans, a large stage light fell from the ceiling, and landed directly on top of her. Jojo tragically died right on stage. Everyone thought her career was over, but due to the dedication and adoration of her loyal fans along with their love and support, Jojo came back to life. She’s ready to continue taking over the music world, one stage at a time.  

I originally created this look for Halloween, but I’m just now getting around to writing about it. I (obviously!) got really into this costume and makeup design. I feel its more elaborate usual, but I had fun and let my creative side take control. 

Costume

-Black sheer tights

-Ripped white jeans 

-Red tank top 

-Black shredded short sleeve top

-Black and gold leather jacket 

-Black booties 

I would recommend ripping the jeans and black shirt yourself, like I did to make it more dramatic. To rip the jeans stuff each pant leg with newspaper and cut straight down, the newspaper gives you something to cut into and it helps prevent going through both sides. Also, try to alternate one vertical cut and one horizontal. 

Jewelry

(The amount of jewelry can be altered without disrupting the look, I understand this list will seem excessive, truthfully it was, but I feel the character would have worn a lot while performing, especially her biggest show. Bottom line, you can recreate this look without the jewelry and still have the same affect. By the end of Halloween, I had taken most of this off, but the costume still made an impact) 

-Silver and black chain earcuff

-1 Black and pink star earring

-Coin/chain necklace

-Long red and black necklace

-3 keys necklace

-Saturn necklace

-Red heart framed by wings necklace 

-Hieroglyphics necklace 

Hair

 (My hair was already dyed with the blond streaks, but you could use temporary dye to add some crazy colors)

First I brushed my hair and got out any tangles. 

Then I straightened it with my Chi flat iron using Tresemme Keratin Smooth Flat Iron Smoothing Spray

After than I parted my hair and combed it all over to the right side. 

I sprayed a decent amount of Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Anit-Humidity Hairspray all over my hair, brushing lightly in between coats. 

Makeup (my favorite part!!) 

*Products used 

-Simple light moisturizer 

-Revlon colorstay foundation in ivory 

-Original beautyblender

-Wet’nWild single eyeshadow in sugar 

-Urban Decay original eyeshadow primer potion

-Urban Decay eyeshadow in Oil Slick 

-Urban Decay eyeshadow in Polyster (check spelling) Bride

-Urban Decay eyeshadow in Gunmetal 

-Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Black Velvet 

-Maybelline superstay 24hour color lipgloss in Constantly Cabernet  

**Notice no mascara was used, that was done on purpose to keep the eyes dark and not make them look open and alive but “dead”**

*How-to 

-Apply a small amount of the simple light moisturizer all over the face and neck. Give this a few minutes to dry, before moving on. This step is very important as using all these products can be very drying and damaging to skin. 

-With a beautyblender, blend a generous amount of Revlon colorstay foundation in ivory all over the face and down onto the neck. I suggest using ivory, because the goal is to get the face to look as light as possible without being stark white. 

-Before that dries completely, take a big fluffy face brush and dust Wet’n’Wild eyeshadow in Sugar all over the face. Apply this as you would a matteifying (check spelling) powder. The more coats, the lighter the skin will appear. I suggest brushing over the face at least 3 times. 

-Apply a small amount (you don’t need much, it’s very concentrated) of Urban Decay original eyeshadow primer potion all over the top lid. 

(The next few steps should be messy. Don’t apply the shadow very precise, sweep the brush across. The character died a tragic death, her makeup won’t be perfect, it’s going to be smudged.)

-Dust Urban Decay eyeshadow in polyster over the browbone as a highlight

-Using a heavy hand, brush Urban Decay Oil Slick eyeshadow all over the top lid

-With a wide flat brush apply Urban Decay eyeshadow in gunmetal across the lower lash line, creating a thick line. 

-Use Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Black Velvet on the waterline 

-Apply a generous amount of Maybelline superstay 24hour color lipgloss in Constantly Cabernet on lips

-Use the same eyeliner to thinly outline lips 

-Congrats!! You have been transformed into a Resurrected Rockstar!

Have fun re-creating this interesting look. I hope it inspires you to create your own character and story. 

Review on NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel

"Deck the halls with bows of lipgloss" That's how the carol should go...in my opinion. It's almost Christmas!! Why not do a quick little product review on an amazing stocking stuffer?

I received the NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel in my July Ipsy bag, that's right July and I'm still excited enough to create a whole post on this product. All of the NYX Butter Glosses are fantastic. They have a light, feminine vanilla scent that complements any perfume. They have great color payoff, especially for glosses which are traditionally more sheer. The staying power should also be mentioned, it's not the best I've ever seen, but it's pretty high on my list. I believe the best quality of this product is the texture. These glosses are so smooth and creamy, just like butter!!! The application is effortless, and the formula is very moisturizing, which is so helpful during the winter months.   NYX Butter Glosses make great Christmas presents and should be a staple in every makeup lover's collection.

Maybelline "The Nudes" Palette

People hunting it down in stores, devoted fans of the brand, tons of chatter on social media, no I'm not talking about the iphone 6 but the new Maybelline eyeshadow palette "The Nudes". Beauty bloggers and professionals have been talking about this product nonstop since its release a few months ago. "The Nudes" is the first-ever drugstore eyeshadow palette, containing 12 neutral shades to create many different looks. Now the big question is can a $10 drugstore palette really replace our beloved, prestige palettes we've been using for years? 

   (Without primer) 

(With Avon Eyeshadow Primer in Light Beige) 

 "The Nudes" palette contains 12 brown-toned eyeshadow shades, with a mixture of shimmers and mattes. It can be found in most drugstores for around $10-12. Contrary to most larger palettes the individual shadows don't have names, which can be difficult when trying to talk about the different shades. (The lighter brown one next to the slightly darker brown one is much more wordy and confusing than rose next to charcoal). Anyway names (or therefore lack of) aside this is a good palette.....good, but not great. I'll definitely get lots of use out of it and the size makes it perfect for travel but it will never replace my Urban Decay or Bare Minerals shadows. The shadows have decent color payoff but aren't overly pigmented. They are fairly easy to apply, however you have to use quite a bit to achieve the look you want. The one great aspect I've noticed is staying power. This stuff won't budge! I've worn it all day, multiple times and there's no creasing or smudging at all. I would recommend this palette to anyone just starting out with makeup. It's inexpensive so if you mess it up it's no big deal. Also the colors are easy to blend and play around with. On the back of the case there are pictorials showing you different ways to apply the shadows. I created a few different looks using this palette. 

The first look was done with three matte shadows. I'm not a huge fan of matte colors, (I prefer lots and lots of GLITTER!!!) but I've been rocking this look all week! These colors are a great way to transition into mattes. They're easy to blend and work with, because let's face it mattes aren't nearly as forgiving as shimmers are.

The second look is with all shimmer shades. It was the first look I created with this palette. It's a good neutral day look, not too much but still pretty. I tried to do it similarity to how I would with a more expensive palette and I think it turned out pretty well. After applying a few different times, I noticed these shadows are very good for lining the top and bottom lash line. They're somewhat powdery which in this case makes them easier to smudge along the bottom lash line. Also they blend well into the rest of the shadow on the top lash line. 

 The last look is a bit more dramatic. The only color that isn't a brown in this palette is the black on the bottom right corner. I wanted to use it at least once, to see what it was like. I lined the top and bottom lashes with it and was very impressed. It's easy to work with and has great staying power much like the rest of the palette. 

(All shadows are applied over Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion, with various mascaras) 

 All in all this is a good product. You can't expect to get the same quality from a $10 product you would from a $50 one. As far as drugstore shadows go I think these are some of the best. They have great staying power and are super easy to work with. This is a great palette to travel with because you have lots of options, it's small, and if it breaks you won't have to work two Saturdays to buy a replacement. Props to Maybelline for opening the door to a whole new world of drugstore products.

Autographed Makeup by One Direction Giveaway

Ello mate! Oh how I wish I could travel to England, the scenery, the shopping, the boybands!!!! Speaking of a certain incredibly talented, incredibly famous boy band. The One Direction makeup collection by Markins International was recently released at Macy's on August 11th and (here's the best part) you could win an autographed collection!!

Markins was founded in 1984, and ever since they have been known for creating affordable, high-quality cosmetics. They practice cruelty-free testing and have won many awards for product safety. Markins also owns Wet'nWild, Physicians Formula, The Color Institute and many others.

Their latest project is an entire makeup collection inspired by the chart-topping band One Direction. The collection is limited edition, available at Macy's, Stage Stores, Beauty Brands, Lord&Taylor, and Dillards (US locations). There are three different sets each named after one of their world-famous albums ("Up All Night", "Take Me Home", and "Midnight Memories") The makeup comes in a collector's tin and they have pictures of different looks you can recreate. Each tin includes, a lipgloss that glows under black UV light, creme lipstick, 5-color eyeshadow palette, chubby eye or body pencil, black mascara, nail polish, and stencils.




Picture from Markins International Website

Giveaway Details!!!!!

To enter: Follow the link https://promosimple.com/ps/5645 you must enter an email address, like the Facebook page, and post a tweet to twitter. You may also earn extra entries by pinning on pinterest, referring friends, and liking the twitter page. The contest is for the US and Canada only.
Good Luck!!!!

"Powered by Brandbacker"




Sparkly Eye Makeup Tutorial

As I was "diligently" cleaning my room earlier I stumbled upon a few makeup items I have never tried. Of course a normal person would just set them aside to test later, but I must drop everything and create a whole new look using them, then write a detailed blog about it and all this while rocking out to The Wanted. Bottom line... room is still a mess, but I have a new post so yay!

First I used the City Color, Mousse Eyeshadow in White Gold all over the lid, from upper lash line to brow bone. This eyeshadow is crazy pigmented so you only need a small amount and make sure to blend it out.

Next I used the NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Plum Purple to line the upper lash line. I drew a fairly think line, but DID NOT wing it out. I wanted the liner to be visible against the bright shadow, but not take all the focus away from it.

Then I used the Wet'nWild Coloricon Eyeliner in Purple to line the lower lash line. It's a couple shades lighter than the top liner, to create a more fun upbeat look instead of a harsh dark liner. I drew this line fairly thick as well, as it is lighter and needs a few coats to make an impact. I also drew it out just a little on the ends to give it some shape.

Finally I coated my top and bottom lashes (generously) with the Urban Decay Perversion mascara.

Taa-daa! The completed look!! Perfect for a girl's night out, lunch at a trendy cafe, or an afternoon of NOT cleaning your room.