Luxe Look - 5/25/11

Time to break out your primer, pull out your bright eyeshadows, and put your paws up, because it's time for a Lady Gaga inspired tutorial!

As always, we'll start with a clean, moisturized face, and apply your foundation and/or concealer!

Let's work on the eyebrows! Fill in your eyebrows heavily and create an exaggerated shape. We want these to be bold and dark! Compare the filled in brow on the left to the natural one on the right

Now apply eyeshadow primer all over your top and bottom lids. Take a shimmering shadow close to your skin tone and sweep it all over your top lid, including up toward your brow bone.

Now this is the most time-consuming part, but fear not, for you can do it! Grab your slanted eyeliner brush and a black gel liner, and you're going to do a cat's eye. But it will be above your crease, and extended to the edge of your eye. Then glide the liner down until it reaches your lower lash line. Use this as your reference:

It helps to open your eyes and see if the line is still visible when your eyes are open. If not, just make light lines above your crease and close your eye, and fill in between. (This can be a difficult part, if you have any problems, leave me a comment and I'll help).

Once that's done, fill in the middle of your lip with a hot pink eyeshadow.

Next, fill in the outer corner of your lid with a nice purple shadow, and blend where it meets the pink.

Then apply a yellow eyeshadow on the inner corner of your lids, and sweep some on the inner corner of your bottom lid.

Lastly for the eyes, apply a few coats of mascara for your top lashes and one coat for the bottom. Now take a pink blush of your choice and sweep it along your cheekbones, blending well.

Lastly, the lips! Line your lips with a lipliner and exaggerate your lip line to be more angled. Then, with a lip brush, apply a pink lipstick within the lines you created, being careful not to go outside of it. Then apply the rest of your lipstick as your normally would. Blot with a tissue if needed, and apply a shiny gloss to the center of your lips.

And you're done! Add some accessories and take some photos, little monsters!

Diva DIY - 5/24/11

One thing I love to do is turn junk into fashion, and thanks to ISLY, I've found a new way to tear up my old t-shirts into something bohemian and fun! Check out the tutorial to make a braided necklace of your own here!

I used a medium white graphic shirt to make a necklace, and just for fun, a bracelet! I did the bracelet using the same instructions, but I used only three strips of fabric (one was the green trim of the sleeve), and when I braided it, I doubled it over so it would be snug on my wrist. Then I just wrapped another piece of fabric around them both to secure it in place and sewed it together. Took me less than fifteen minutes!

So here's the bracelet:

For the necklace, I pretty much just followed the instructions exactly:

I definitely say if you have time, and some t-shirts you don't mind cutting up, try doing this!

Luxe Look - 5/22/10

Time to do some makeup! We're going to go for a bold lip, with neutral eyes, inspired by neon and a mix of the 80's and today's fashions.


So start with a clean face! Once you've cleansed and moisturized, prep your face with foundation and/or concealer, and apply your favorite lip balm to moisturize.

So let's get started on your eyes! First, lightly fill in your brows with an eyebrow pencil

Now apply primer to your top and bottom lids, and swipe an eyeshadow that's a shade lighter then your skin all over your lid.

Now sweep a dark brown shadow on the outer corners of your top lids and extend it along your crease. You can also use whatever is left on your brush to sweep on the outer edge of your bottom lid. Be sure to blend well.

Now apply the same eyeshadow directly about your crease and blend halfway up toward your browbone.

Now highlight under your browbone and the inner corners of your eye, and blend it out.

Now apply a black pencil eyeliner along your top lid, keep it close to the lashline.

Now finish off with your favorite mascara.

Now that we've finished the eyes, swipe a mauve blush upwards along your cheekbones.

Now wipe any excess lip balm from your lips, so we have a nice, dry canvas.

Using a lip liner in your skin tone, line the natural shape of your lips and lightly fill in your lips, rubbing it in to ensure your lips are covered.

Now grab a hot pink lipstick, no time to get cold feet now; get your LOUDEST pink you have!

Ooh, too loud. Now press your lips on a piece of tissue. This is optional, but while your lips are stuck to the tissue, you can brush some translucent powder on to soak up the oil and prevent your lipstick from smearing.

Also optional, apply your favorite gloss to give your lips some shine!

Now the look is complete! Here it is altogether:

Now pose and take lovely pictures (and share them with me)!

John Frieda Dream Curls Curl Perfecting Spray Review

Going natural with my hair instead of straightening it everyday has been very liberating for me, and has done wonders for my lifestyle! But with the good comes the bad, and that includes finding products that WORK for my curly hair. So to prevent hair like this:

I need to have something to cut down on frizz BIG TIME. So when I got a free sample of the new John Frieda Dream Curls Curl Perfecting Spray, I was excited!

It claims to transform "wilted waves & curls into sexy swerves, curves & spirals." Pretty big claims, huh? So, I washed my hair, left a bit of conditioner in, and waited for it to dry a little. So I waited until it was just damp instead of soaked, and sprayed liberally all through my hair.

First impression, it smelled nice, not chemical-y, just a sort of generic hair product scent. It was a little sticky, but not overbearingly. So I promptly left the house and came back probably 6 hours later, and here are the results:

My curls are defined, pretty much no frizz, light, bouncy, and most importantly, NOT CRUNCHY! I wasn't expecting much from the spray, but it DID deliver! So curly girls, give this a shot!

John Frieda Dream Curls Curl Perfecting Spray
Price: $6.00 - $16.00

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat Review

I adore just about every nail polish trend, so when the new shatter polish by OPI came out, I HAD to try it! But I'm still in college, so of course, I'm broke now, and I'm a good hour and a half away from my "local" Ulta. However, when I walked into Walgreens yesterday, I was immediately greeted by a huge display showing off the latest nail polish by Sally Hansen:

The new Crackle overcoat! Apparently, these are slated to come out in June, so let's just take this as a birthday present for me from the fashion gods!

These come in eight shades: Antiqued Gold, Snow Blast, Vintage Violet, Fuchsia Shock, Distressed Denim, Cherry Smash, Ink Splatter, and Fractured Foil. Being the cheapskate I am, I bought the Ink Splatter, which is a deep black.

So while I was there, I also picked up some Wet n' Wild polish, since I just needed a cheap hot pink (which is lovely, btw) and clear polish.

So here's everything I used!

I prepped my nails with the usual; pushing cuticle back, filing, buffing, etc., so here's my nails without the Crackle overcoat and just the hot pink polish.

Please excuse the sloppiness, I didn't want to clean it up until I apply the Crackle. So, now I apply the overcoat, but let me say that this was a difficult polish! It would become gummy while applying since it dried so quickly, so there's virtually no way to get a clean application on your first attempt. Aside from that, let's see the results:

Looks pretty good! It did a pretty decent shattered effect, can't really complain. It's a bit rough, texture wise, since it's hard to get even application, but you can't beat the price and it is a fun polish!

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat
Price: $7.00 (approx)

Mini Haul!

Okay, let's start this blog off with a mini-haul!

I went to my local Victoria's Secret, and I didn’t have any intention of getting anything outside of "beauty supplies". With that in mind, I walked out with:

 The new Victoria's Secret lip plumper: Big Smooch!

Attractive packaging, no? So I'm on the hunt for a great lip plumper, and spoiler alert; I'm still looking. This is a two-in-one gloss, one side is a normal, pink gloss. On it's own, it's a nice color, not too sheer but not totally opaque, very glossy.  I would wear this on its own. The "plumping" gloss is a frosty pink LOADED with sparkles. I followed the instructions and applied the regular gloss first then used the plumper. It does have the traditional tingly feeling when you apply it, but the results are lacking. You decide if it plumped my lips at all:

So, I would recommend this if you're looking for a nice, sparkly gloss, but if you solely want plumper lips, look elsewhere.

  

Victoria's Secret Big Smooch Lip Plumper

Price: $12.00

Okay, on to the Very Sexy Now!

I'm a huge fan of the original Very Sexy, but unlike its predecessor, Very Sexy Now is much lighter and easier to wear on any occasion. It borders on that of a floral, but has warm, musky undertones. I definitely say go for this scent! It'll move well from spring to summer, but not so much day to night.

Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Now Sheer Sexy Mist (2.5 fl. oz)

Price: $15.00

Okay, on to Victoria's Secret's sister store, Bath & Body Works!

First up are these little guys! Liplicious's "Royal Pucker" and it's accompanying cupcake top! I'm a sucker for knick-knacks, so I caved in and got the cupcake top too! But the star is the Royal Pucker gloss.

This is probably my favorite gloss from B&BW EVER. That's saying a lot, since I'm a gloss junkie. It's not sticky at ALL, this glides on your lips and stays on for a long time. The color is absolutely lovely. It's a gorgeous warm red color with purple undertones, and it is extremely shiny. The scent was my only issue, it's "spiced berry", since I can't stand certain spices mixed with sweet, but it's starting to grow on me and I hardly notice anymore! So, yes, slick, nice color, good scent, I say go get this!

Liplicious Royal Pucker

Price: $7.00

My next buy was the C.O. Bigelow's Lemon and Pomegranate fragrance mist

I got the Lemon and Pomegranate Fragrance Mist, and it is DELIGTFUL! I am definitely looking forward to using it this summer. It smells exactly like pink lemonade, and is a bit tangy (can I use tangy to describe a smell?). It may be too sweet for some people, but it's PERFECT for me! My only problem is the versatility makes it useable only on hot days, definitely not for colder climates.

C.O. Bigelow's Lemon & Pomegranate Fragrance Mist (6.7 fl. oz)

Price: $16.50

Last but not least, the new Aloha PINK Wild & Breezy body lotion!

I'm a huge fan of PINK products, call me what you may, but sometimes they are the best products. This is one of those times!

First of all, the scent. It's subtle, but flowery and fruity, reminiscent of summer. It's not overpowering, which is perfect for a lotion.

Next is the packaging. C'mon. How cute is that?! I look at it and wish I were in the Bahamas! I plan to keep reusing this container long after I run out of the original lotion.

Third is the actual lotion itself. It claims to be a "supersoft body lotion", and that's a big claim to live up to. The moment you put some lotion in your hand, it's silky and smooth, very rich. Then you rub it into your skin, and it just absorbs completely. You skin will just drink it up. It's not greasy at all and your skin feels ridiculously soft and supple. Best part? A little goes a long way, so you'll not run out of this fast!

And finally, the price. It's $12 sticker price. Okay, I don't know what your price range is, but to me that's a bit much. However, let's do a comparison. Bath and Body Works' signature collection lotions. Rainkissed Leaves for example. That lotion is $10.50! So why spend more when you can get the signature collection for cheaper? Side by side comparison time!

Still can't tell? Okay, let me show you:

the Rainkissed Leaves lotion is 8 fl. oz., no biggie, standard size. Aloha PINK is 16.9 fl. oz.! To sum it up, the PINK lotion is more than twice the amount of the signature collection lotion, and for $2 more! Yeah. Go get it.

Aloha PINK Body Lotion

Price: $12.00

All right, that ends my first post ever! What products from Bath & Body Works or Victoria's Secret are you gonna get?