Tumblr!

I haven't updated in a while, and I apologize! Tons of life issues sprang up, but I'm going to shoot for a Luxe Look before Wednesday night!

But in the mean time, you can get your fix of all things luxe on Luxe Dreams' tumblr page! Just check it out here, follow, reblog, or just check it out!

Again, sorry for the lack of posts lately, I can't wait to work on the next one!

Surprise Review!

It's been a few days since my flurry of posts, and I didn't want to do another Luxe Look just yet, so fortunately, I was lounging on my day off, and I got a nice little package in the mail!

From who? Why, Milani cosmetics! I don't have much of a history with Milani, but I did love their Glitzy Glamour Gloss (which I must replace!). So, I open it and lo and behold:

The new HD Advanced Lip Color!

So, what, is it a gloss or a lipstick or something? Well, it's hard to classify; it's creamy, so I can't really call it a gloss, and it's too creamy to really be a lipstick. But, for simplicity's sake, let's just call it a lipstick.

  

And here's a swatch:

So let's check out what they promise with this:

"Milani introduces 3-in-1 lip color that nourishes, hydrates, and delivers a sheer wash of color with clarity and perfect radiant shine. It instantly comforts dry, chapped lips, and provides long-term moisturization."

Well, I first put this on when my lips weren't in tip-top shape, and...it's not as moisturizing as they promise, but I wouldn't just put this on dry lips anyways. So I moisturized my lips with my EOS lip balm, and tried it on again:

Before

After

 It's a really creamy, moisturizing lipstick, so I love how it feels. It's not sticky, nor does it just rub off when you rub your lips together. The color is pretty sheer, shiny, and pearly. It doesn't have much of a taste to distract, and the smell is a yummy watermelon.

As far as lipsticks go, this one is pretty nice, it's worth a try! The price is a bit steep, at a standard $8.99, but I guess that's not a terrible price.

Milani's HD Advanced Lip Color

Price: $8.99

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