Green Lantern Inspired Makeup Tutorial. Who's feeling like a superhero?

So, who's excited about the Green Lantern this weekend? ME! I'm feeling festive as usual, so I decided to do a makeup look inspired by the movie. I didn't think the female lead had anything different as far as makeup to emmulate, so I took from the picture of Ryan Reynolds below. His mask is green but the immediate area surrounding his eyes is black. So, I did a black smoky eye with green shadows placed over the black. I also had to incorporate glitter, because, If I were a superhero, you'd be assured I'd be loaded with glitter. So, I did add some gold glitter to the black in the look.

I used mostly higher end products, namely: MAC and Urban Decay but also used other affordable products like physician's formula and NYX. There are great drugstore/lower end green shadows that can be used to produce this look. Essentially, all you need is a matte black shadow, green shadow, and liner. This is another video tutorial, so please bear with me on the videos. They are still new to me.

The above picture was used for inspiration

This is the finished look - eyes only.



Finished look - everything all together. Notice that the lips and cheeks are very muted due to the heavy eyes.

Thanks for reading/watching!

Products:

FACE

Covergirl natureluxe foundation in 'flax'

Glamoflauge concealer in 'light'

NYC color loose smooth skin powder in 'translucent'

Physician's formula bronze booster in 'light to medium'

physician's formula mineral glow pearls in 'translucent pearl'

EYES

Urban Decay primer potion

LASplash eyeshadow sealer/base

NYX Jumbo Pencils in 'rocky mountain green' and 'black bean'

MAC paint pot in 'bare study'

MAC eyeshadow in 'swimming'

Urban Decay eyeshadow in 'chronic'

NYX single eyeshadow in 'black'

LASplash diamond dust glitter in 'golden smoke'

Milani eyetech liquid liner in 'black'

Urban Decay 24/7 liner in 'zero'

physician's formula shimmer strips gel liner in 'hazel eyes' (bottom color used)

MAC's eyeshadow in 'lightfall'

LIPS

LUSH's sugar scrub in 'sweet lips'

l'oreal color riche lipstick in 'fairest nude'

MAC's lip gelee in 'fashion flower'

Sally Hanen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep + Sally Hansen and OPI Crackle!

I love crackle polish!! I have crackle polishes from OPI, China Glaze, and now Sally Hansen and I love them all! This is a mini-review of the Sally hansen and OPI crackles as well as the sally hansen insta-dri line.
The picture below is of Sally Hansen's insta-dri in 'silver sweep' as a base. The sally hansen crackle in 'cherry smash' and the OPI crackle is in 'black shatter'. Of course, the OPI is the black top coat and the sally hansen is the red. You can see from the pictures that both shatter equally well. I applied both in a linear fashion.

Insta-Dri Review:
As for the base coat in silver, I have to say that I also love this polish!! It does what it says - it dries fast; which, I love. I paint my nails a couple times a week due to chipping and I love it when I have a good fast dry nail polish. I really love this color because it looks just like liquid metal on your nails. But I have to say that I love the whole insta-dri line. The brush for the polish is oversized, which makes it easier to apply the polish. Plus, they all go on in one or two coats max and look great. The color selection is great and they churn out new polishes pretty frequently. So, I cannot say enough good about the line. The downside of the insta dri line? Chipping. But, I find that it doesn't chip as fast as other fast dry polishes. The chipping curse seems to be very common to all fast dry polishes.

Crackle Review:

For me, I have loved all my shatter/crackle top coats pretty much equally. What matters when it comes to these topcoats, IMO, is the color selection and the crackle action. As far as color selection, china glaze is tops, followed by sally hansen with OPI bringing up the rear. China glaze has a line of regular colors (mint, white, pink, purple, etc....) and they are debuting a line of metallic crackles. Sally hansen has a line of a few shades which is comparable to the primary lines by china glaze and OPI. I do like that Sally Hansen is more accessible than the China Glaze and OPI and the line has both primary colors and metallics. OPI was the front runner in the shatter game with their black shatter coming out first, but have been slow to churn out more. Just recently, they did release more colors in the shatter line.

As for application, the sally hansen and OPI go on similarly and shatter quite easily with ease in applying it evenly. China Glaze is a little thicker with less cracks in the average size coat. To make the china glaze crack more, you have to apply it thinner than the competitors. But, overall, I love them all and would recommend them all. The one thing sally hansen has over the rest is that it can be bought wherever sally hansen is sold (drugstores, major retailers), while the China Glaze and OPI have to be bought at Ulta or salon supply stores. For me this isn't an issue, but it may be for others.

I definitely recommend the crackle, as well as the sally hansen insta-dri. The two together make for a really fun manicure. I will be trying the metallic crackles by china glaze soon and will probably post on those as well.

MAC Bare study dupe found!! Covergirl intense shadow blast review.

I have found a dupe of one of my favorite MAC products ever. Let me first say that I love MAC's bare study paint pot because it is gorgeous and ever so versatile. I use this product pretty much every day. It makes a great eyeshadow base in general and works great as an all over with neutral looks. It just looks good with anything. So, of course, I would recommend the MAC point pot in bare study to anyone....I just love it.
But, for those of you on a budget or those that don't have easy access to a MAC counter/store, I have found a great dupe. Cover girl has a new line of cream shadows called Intense Shadow Blasts. I picked up one in 'beige blaze' (typo: i used the wrong terminology on the swatch pictures - it is beige blaze, not blast) and found that it is pretty spot on for bare study. It applies a little lighter than bare study. I would describe the texture as like that of a mousse. Bare study is more of a sturdy cream. You can see from the swatch below that bare study has a more pink base to it and applies more evenly without blending. Otherwise, it would be extremely hard to tell them apart (especially on the lids). The two swatches below were taken without flash in different lighting (natural vs. artificial).

You can see from the picture below, that the color in the packaging is very similar as well.

Let me talk about some other aspects of the packaging. It uses a doe foot type applicator so it's not as hygienic for multiple uses as the bare study (but, I would guess most people purchasing the covergirl are just using it for themselves only). And, I could foresee a problem getting every last drop of product out of the covergirl as the doe foot will have trouble reaching all areas of the tube.

The CoverGirl states that there is a primer built in and that it won't crease. I can't attest to the strength of the product alone as I always wear a primer under every cream shadow, the MAC paint pot included. However, with my E.L.F. primer, the cover girl did not crease through a whole days wear! And, without saying, neither does the MAC. It applies well, blends easily, and stays on. It also works well under powder shadows - it doesn't make them more difficult to apply or blend as some creams do.

Bottom line: I really enjoy these new cover girl shadows. Make sure you get the new product and not the old smoky shadow blast sticks (as they were pretty terrible) - it would be easy to get confused with the similar names. Look for the packaging pictured above. I like these shadows so much, I already have a total of 3 out of the 6 colors offered. I think they are a great, inexpensive, cream shadow that look great on the lids. I also think this is a good alternative for those that don't have access to MAC and would like to get their hands on Bare Study. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to see more of this line!

Emma Frost (January Jones) Makeup Tutorial as inspired by X Men First Class

I love movies and I love makeup. I am combining the two loves into one by emulating the looks I see in the movies. I do this often at home but would like to share what I do.

After seeing X Men First Class this weekend, I knew that Emma Frost was the character I wanted to model first. She wears frosty, diamond like glitter in the movie. This fits her well since she can transform into a diamond form. I also love glitter so this was very fun for me.


I decided to go in a different direction with this tutorial. I filmed myself applying the makeup on myself this morning, using a picture (posted below) as inspiration. I thought it may be more helpful to the vast majority of you to actually see me applying the makeup. Please let me know if the video route is better than the regular posts I've done in the past. Since I don't like the sound of my own voice (and neither does my flip video), they will be silent or with a music background.

I understand that the music I've chosen for the video doesn't have anything to do with X Men but it's what I have in my collection and what I enjoy listening to (Green Day and Three Days Grace today).

I have the finished product pictures below as well as the product listing. This look is, in my opinion, a modern version of 1960's-esque makeup and really wearable as far as glitter goes. You could always omit the glitter and replace it with a shimmery shade which would be more appropriate for work or school. As always, you don't have to use the same products I have. As long as the shades are similar, it should still work.

Oh, and I'm very new to the video game. So please forgive some patchy editing as well as not getting into the viewfinder appropriately at times.

The video.......

The pictures.......

This is a picture of Emma Frost from the movie

Above are just the eyes.


Finished look above and below

Product Listing:

Eyes: E.L.F. eyeshadow primer, Bare Minerals High Shine Eyecolor in 'Ice', Wet N Wild comfort zone palette (2 shades), LA Splash Sealer/base, LA Splash Crystallized glitter in 'fuse', MAC's 'Phloof', Physician's Formula shimmer strips gel liner for 'hazel eyes' - black color used, maybelline volum' express one by one mascara in black, maybelline lash stiletto mascara in black

Face: Revlon colorstay foundation in 'buff', NYC color powder in 'translucent', physician's formula Happy Booster bronzer in 'light bronzer', MAC mineralize blush in 'giggly' (limited edition).

Lips: Cover girl lip perfection lipstick in 'sweetheart', nyx's mega shine lipgloss in 'sugar pie'

Retailers for the brands above:

Wet N' Wild - drugstores, Wal-Mart

Cover Girl - drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target, Ulta

MAC - MAC counters and PRO stores

Physician's Formula - drugstores, Target, Ulta

NYX - Ulta, http://www.cherryculture.com/

Revlon - drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target, Ulta

LA Splash - Ulta, http://www.cherryculture.com/

NYC color - drugstores (rite aid), Target

Bare Minerals - Ulta, Sephora, Bare Minerals Botiques, http://www.bareescentuals.com/

E.L.F. - Target, Kmart, http://www.eyeslipsface.com/

Maybelline - drugstores, Wal-Mart, Target

Half Moon Manicure with Essie + How to

So, I don't know about everyone else, but I am loving the new half moon manicure trend. But, if you're like me, you want to know how to do it yourself. Well, I've tried two different techniques to do this. The first is the free hand technique with a nail brush. This is where you place the light coat on your nails first and then dip a small nail art brush (or small acrylic brush) into the darker color to draw the moons. Then you use the rest of the darker color to fill in. This is difficult for me despite my ability to use my left hand pretty well. So, what to do?

I found via youtube that another technique is to use binder reinforcements to create the moon shape and paint over it as a guide. That, my friends, is what I did here. However, I found that it's easier to cut the binder reinforcements in half to make it easier to stick them to your nails.

So, this is what you do:
1. Paint nails all over with a base color. I prefer to make this a light color since you're going to be going over it later. This is the color of the 'moons'.

2. place the reinforcements on, one hand at a time, and paint over in your top color. I would advise that these colors have good contrast to make it stand out more.

3. remove reinforcements and add a top coat. done!

Below is my finished product. I have Essie's 'imported bubbly' on the bottom and essie's 'coat azure' on the top.

Sorry for the blurry pic below, but it's a good close up of the moons.

Organix Ever Straight Brazilian Keratin Therapy Review

Another beauty product review! Yay!

So, Keratin therapy is really 'in' right now. Keratin treatments at the salon are very pricey though and everyone's looking for something that will give semi-permanent straightening at home. I personally have tried a pricier keratin product that I did enjoy so when this went BOGO at rite aid, I decided to try it. I've only used the product once thus far, but I'll give you my first impressions.

I also want to point out that I have naturally straight hair. I use the keratin products for extra managability in straightening my hair. (it's naturally straight, but I still have to blow dry and/or straight iron to get it totally straight)

In Shower Experience: I LOVE the way this stuff smells! It smells like pina colada-ish suntan lotion. I don't know if I"m alone here, but I love the smell of Hawaiian tropic esque lotion.
The one thing I noticed in-shower was that it was lacking in lather. You really have to add extra water to this to get a good later. And, if you're like me, you figure the more lather, the more clean your hair is getting. So, this was a bit unsettling. After I did get a lather worked up and rinsed the product, I noticed that my hair felt dry and tangly. Thank goodness I bought the conditioner too! However, from what I understand, the drying/lack of lather problem is common to sulfate free shampoos/conditioners. This product is sulfate free which is great for us color treated folks......so, I do appreciate that.
The conditioner goes on and it does make my hair feel smoother in the shower, so I'm greatly relieved.

Out of Shower experience:
So, my hair was more difficult to brush through due to it being a bit more tangly and drier, but I was able to work through this without much difficulty. The perk to the shampoo being a bit drying is that your hair dries faster than it does with more moisturizing brands, so this is good for me.
During styling, I did notice my hair was easier to blow dry straight and it needed less flat ironing. When I was done, my hair was perfectly straight, so I was pleased. I'm working on day two hair now and it's still straight, so it did a good job in this department.
There is a styling product that goes with this line that I didn't purchase. The bottle claims that you get better results when you use that product. I can't speak for that but would be interested in hearing from any of you who did purchase the styling product.

Bottom line: I enjoy the smell of the product and the way it makes my hair more manageable and straight. Does this work miracles to straighten hair? Nah......but it does make it more easy to style/straighten. I'd be interested to hear from you curly haired girls and let me know how this worked for you. Would I repurchase? Yes - I'm always looking for shampoos that will preserve my color and the sulfate free options here are great for me.

Next, I'm going to try the Moroccan argan oil products in the organix line. I'll let you know how those fare as well.

MAC Starviolet look

Thought I'd grace you with another look. I'm trying to use different colors to create a variety of looks. So, I dipped into my MAC palette and found some shades I had yet to use. I decided to do something with pink and teal. The camera didn't pick up the teal like I wanted it too but it's there.

How to do it:
1. Eyeshadow/Brows: Urban decay primer potion all over, MAC paint pot in 'fresco rose' to the lid. MAC's 'pink venus' to the inner eye lid and MAC's 'star violet' to the outer lid. MAC's 'plumage' to the crease and blended. Hightlight to the brow bone is MAC's 'lightfall'. Finally, MAC's 'carbon' to the outer 'V'. I also applied a little bit of MAC's 'phloof!' to the tear duct area.
MAC's 'espresso' goes on the brows with a liner brush to define.

2. Eye Liner/Lashes: The top lashline gets a black, gel eyeliner. I don't have MAC's 'blacktrack' so I used maybelline's gel liner in 'blackest black'. I applied MAC's 'carbon' on top of the gel to set it and smoke it out a bit. Physician's formula shimmer strips pencil liner (the purple one) goes on to the waterline and L'oreal's HIP color chome eyeliner in 'black shock' to the actual lashline, again, with carbon applied on top with a liner brush for some smoke and depth. My eyelashes are culed and then I apply both a volumizing and lengthening mascara to the top and the lengthening mascara solo to the bottom.

3. Face: Revlon photoread foundation in 'vanilla', Revlon's photoready concealer in 'fair', and Revlon's photoready translucent powder to finsih.

4. Blush: I used 'giggly' by MAC to the cheeckbones and contoured with Too Faced's 'sunbunny' to the hollows. I blended all this out with a bronzer brush.

5. Lips: MAC 'mile' lipstick + MAC's lip gelee in 'Fashion flower'

I do want to note for anyone interested, that the Fashion Flower colors I used are out with the current collection and are most likely limited editions. Freso Rose paintpot isn't permanent from what I understand but all other shadows I used should be permanent.

"what do you do to your skin?" - My reccomendations for facial care

So, I get this alot.....
"your skin is so pretty! what do you do?"

Now, I'm not complaining about the compliments, I love hearing this. But, I wanted to share my experience to let you all know how you can have the skin you always wanted.

1.) Get thee to a dermatologist!!!
*I claim no fame to my complexion, at all! I have what I would describe as finicky skin.....skin that is prone to breakouts and dryness at the same time. I finally wisened up and went to the dermatologist when I started really struggling with acne in college. I have been a loyal patient ever since. My skin has long cleared since 2001, but I still go to my derm. Why? He keeps my skin regimen appropriate for me and that keeps my skin performing at its best. So, please consider going to get professional help if you feel you just can't get a handle on your skin issues.

2.) Makeup works wonders
Again, I always credit not only my derm but my current foundation to my skin looking nice. I do have a red-undertoned complexion and I have broken capillaries on my face, so foundation is a must. You can certainly wear foundation without looking like you're wearing anything at all. Go to a department store and get color matched. After that you can try to conquer the drugstore foundation aisles with your matching color in hand for comparisson. My foundation routine varies by season, and mood but I always wear it. It doesn't take me but 5 minutes to apply and it evens everything out and makes me look not so scary.

3.) Moisturize and protect
I use a moisturizer everyday prior to foundation. I started doing this to give a more even canvas for foundation application but I found that the moisture was much needed. Also, a moist face looks younger - this we know. I say protect because SPF is the one thing you can do to prevent aging (among the other things SPF does for us) and most moisturizers have an SPF built in. Right now though, I'm using the Neutrogena Baby SPF 60 under my foundation. Since it's made with natural sunscreens (also important - titanium and zinc), it can give a whitish cast to the skin. But, with foundation it's not noticeable and I feel comfortable knowing my skin is well protected in the summers here.

4.) Maintain
Treat your skin nicely. Make sure you nuture it. And make sure to keep up whatever works for you. In my experience with my skin, if I stop doing what works, it quickly goes back to being finicky.


So, that's about it. So that everyone knows what I use, I'll list my skincare routine below. I do reccomend the Over the counter products I use as I wouldn't use them if I didn't like them. But, again, the core of my routine is the derm prescibed regimen.

My Skincare:
Cleansing: l'oreal go 360 clean exfoliating scrub
Treating: derm prescribed topical antibiotic and topical acid based acne preventative
**I do not want to reveal the exact names on this forum as I don't want to endorse/fail to endorse any particular prescription product.**
Makeup remover:Neutrogena eye makeup remover for eye products
SPF: neutrogena pure and free baby SPF 60
Moisturizer: Oil of Olay complete moisture cream
Foundation: Revlon Colorstay in Buff

MAC Kitschmas and Shadowy Lady look/tutorial

This is a look I did a while ago, but I'm just now uploading. This is one of my favorite looks and I do it frequently. I am a big fan of pigments and MAC pigments are some of my favorites. This is using a shimmery pigment, kitschmas, as the base for everything. Hope you enjoy!! First off, the product listing. I have each product labeled with their corresponding name/shade in the picture above. 1. E.L.F. eyeshadow primer 2. Maybelline eye studio creme shadows in 'purple possibilities' - I used the pink shade on the right. IF you have MAC products, their paint pot in 'fresco rose' is also an awesome base. 3. NYX jumbo eye pencil in 'milk' 4. MAC pigment in Kitschmas 5. MAC four shade palette in 'shadowy lady' - colors used are 'shadowy lady' and 'smudged violet'. I know shadowy lady is permanent but I'm not sure about 'smudged violet' 6. Wet N' Wild Palette in 'lust' - I used the cream colored top right shade 7. NYX single eye shadow in 'matte black' 8. Milani eyetech liquid liner in 'black' 9. Milani easy liner for eyes glitter in 'black rocks' 10. NOT PICTURED - NYX studio liquid liner in 'extreme purple' 11. NOT PICTURED - mascara: l'oreal voluminous million lashes and maybellinee lash stiletto Lets go though how to do this! I really love this look because for brown eyed girls like me, the purples really bring out the color of your eyes. I love the shimmer in the pimgment and I like how this is more 'toned down' than my normal looks so I don't feel like I'm grabbing quite so much attention but still have a really pretty look. 1. prep eyes with primer, I used e.l.f. primer. Also, apply the eyeshadow bases. I used the maybelline purple possibilities as a drug store product and have also used the MAC paint pot in fresco rose and has pretty results. I prefer the MAC paint pot but the maybelline works almost as well for a lot less money. Put the pink color all over the lid. I used the NYX jumbo eye pencil in milk for the brow area and the inner corners of my eyes. 2. Apply the MAC kitschmas pigment wet over the entire lid. Use a flat shader type brush. I use the E.L.F. eyeshadow brush. 3. Apply the MAC shade, 'smudged violet' through the entire crease area for transition. 4. Apply MAC's 'shadowy lady' to the outer crease only. Put this on kinda heavy and then blend it out with a clean blending brush. 5. Apply NYX single eye shadow in 'matte black' (or any matte black, you can find these everywhere) to the outer 'V' of the eye and then blend that in with a clean blending brush. 6. Apply the Wet N Wild Lust palette shade (top right shade) to the brow bone and inner crease over where the NYX 'milk' shade lies. 7. Apply the milani eyetech liquid liner (or any other black liquid/gel eyeliner) to the top lash line. Place the NYX liquid liner in extreme purple to the outer half of the top lashes. Other good purple liquid liners are LASplash liquid liners, and Hard Candy Walk the Line liners. 8. Apply the milani easyliner for eyes glitter in 'black rocks' to the lower waterline. Other good water line pencils are physician's formula shimmer strips, Urban Decay 24/7 liner pencils, and revlon colorstay liner. 9. Curl lashes and apply mascara. I am still loving l'oreal voluminous million lashes for the first coat and maybelline lash stiletto for the second. And the finished lood with eyes closed....

My Fast Face! Using MAC products.

So, this post is intended to deliver a more realistic makeup look. Most days, we don't have time to spend 20 minutes on awesome looking, glittered-out, smokin' eyes. This is how I look when I don't have time or plan to reapply more makeup later. You don't need a lot of products to do this and most of what I used is MAC. All the products I used are pictured below - that's pretty much all I used (except my foundation/powder/blush). I think this whole look took 15 minutes for the whole face, tops.

Pictured are all the products AND brushes used. And they are....

1. Sephora eyeliner brush

2. Eco Tools concealer brush

3. NYX eyeliner pencil in 'white pearl'

4. MAC paint pot in 'bare study' (permanent line)

5. MAC fluidline in 'waveline' (permanent line)

6. eyelash curler

7. NYX round lipstick in 'galaxy' -> LOVE this color!!!

8. l'oreal voluminous million lashes mascara

9. Maybelline lash stiletto mascara

** Also used on face: Stila convertible color in 'lilium'; revlon colorstay in buff foundation; revlon photoread concealer in fair; revlon colorstay powder in fair.

So, for the eyes, all I did was use the MAC paintpot in bare study to the entire eye and brow area (using the eco tools concealer brush). This color is awesome. It's a shimmery champagne color and since it's a paintpot (doubles as base and cream base), it stays on forever. That's all for the eye color. Now, to line my eyes, I used the MAC fluidline to create a winged toplash line (using the sephora brush). I realize my wings aren't even and I'm working on that!!!! However, the uneven wings are not very noticeable with closed eyes. For the bottom lashline, I used the NYX pencil to line the water line. Since this is a white color, it gives you a more awake look. Curl lashes and apply mascara - you're done!! For the lips, I used just the NYX lipstick in galaxy. I only applied a little blush to the apples of my cheeks and that was using the stila convertible color. That's it!

How to Wear Red Eyshadow Right!

So, it's no secret that I love bold, bright ey color. So, red is fitting, right? The problem with red eyeshadow is that it can make you look sick or weird if you use it wrong. I feel as though I pulled it off pretty well if I don't say so myself. Here's the key -> don't use a lot and keep it grounded with neutrals. You can see from the picture below that I put the red eyshadow only on the inner parts of the eyelid and used darker colors on the majority of the lid and the outside of the lid. Also, picking a good red will help. I used the red chrome pigment from NYX. To darken the red a little further, I applied a dark eyebase to the entire eyelid. I used NYX's jumbo eye pencil in slate as the base and applied the red chrome pigment over that to the inner lid and NYX's black chrome pigment to the rest of the lid. Blend. Then, I used a taupe transition color over the entire crease before applying a matte black to the outer crease and a black glitter powder shadow (WNW's dupe for MAC's black tied)to the outer 'V'. ^^just the eyes

^^Finished look. See, I still look normal. :-)

Products used:

Eyes:

E.L.F. eyelid primer, NYX jumbo eye pencil in slate (base), NYX Dramatic Chromatic Pigment in Red, NYX Dramatic Chromatic Pigment in Black, Wet N' Wild's 8 pan palettes in Petal Pusher (browbone highlight and deep purple 'crease' shade) and Blue Had Me At Hello (black tied dupe), NYX single eyeshadow in black -matte, Milani eyetech liquid liner in black, milani easyliner glitter liner in black rocks (waterline), maybelline lash stiletto, l'oreal voluminous million lashes

FAce:

MAC mineralize skinfinish in Pink Power, Cover Girl lip perfection lipstick in Sweetheart.

Essie: Cute as a button Swatch and Review

More Essie! I don't think that Essie has the same range of colors that OPI or China Glaze has but the colors that they do have seem very unique to me. I always end up in the Essie section of Target determining my next purchase. This time, it's Essie's Cute as A Button. This is evidently from a 2009 summer collection, but I'm just discovering it. Corals are going to be huge this year - nails, lips, etc... So I figured this is the perfect coral shade for me to start the season with. I found no problems with application or otherwise. It did take me three coats to get the color you see below but that's nothing abnormal as lighter colors usually take me about three. I used a fast dry topcoat after application which gave it more shine. ^^The bottle itself

^^Label and color name

^^ Picture taken without flash, indoors.

^^ Picture taken with flash indoors.

Sucker Punch Hair and Makeup Tutorial: Baby Doll

Sucker Punch! I love Zack Snyder movies (300, Watchmen) so I went to see this on Friday. Unfortunately, we had to leave mid movie because I had a migraine but I really liked the 1.5 hours I did watch and would love to see the rest. The main character in the movie is Baby Doll and is named as such because she looks like a baby doll. I loved her 'look' in the movie and tried to emulate the makeup and hair. This is my attempt. For this tutorial, I will cross reference the product used by referring to the number I assigned them in the product picture. Let me know if you have any questions about where you can buy the products.

The picture below is the finished look. I will start with the hair. You can see from the picture of baby doll above, she has pigtails with a headband and bangs. So....

HAIR

1. Part hair in the center to create pigtails. Secure more towards the back of the head than the front. Straighten bangs and pin back.

2. Spray pigtails with hairspray to hold curls. Take a smaller barrelled curling iron OR a straightening iron (if you know how to use a straightening iron to curl). I used my CHI straightening iron to create the curls. 3. Place a headband BEHIND the bangs. Baby doll uses a stretchy all around headband. I used this type also because it doesn't give me a headband headache.

MAKEUP:

A.) FACE

1.) You want your skin to look creamy and pale with a touch of pink blush. This is easy for me as I'm already really pale. So, apply foundation with concealer. I used a highlighter to bring more light to the center of my face. I used E.L.F.'s shimmering facial whip in spotlight (product number 4 below). I applied this cream highlighter to the bridge of my nose, my forehead, chin, and cupid's bow. Then, I applied my powder to set this and the foundation.

2.) Blush: This needs to be pink and rosy. Baby doll's do not wear bronzer!! I used l'oreal's True Match Blush in c3-4, tender rose (product 10). I applied this sort of liberally to the apples of my cheeks.

3.) Lips: You want your lips to be nude/neutral. I used revlon colorstay lip liner in natural (product 15) to line my lips and applied maybelline's color sensational lip stick in sugared almond (product 12). For gloss, I used NYX's mega shine lipgloss in baby rose (product 13).

B.) EYES

1.) Prime your eyes with any primer. I used E.L.F.'s primer (product 1).

2.) Apply cream bases. I used NYX's jumbo eye pencil in milk (product 2) to the browbone and Wet N' Wild's Idol Eyes creme shadow in 130 Pixie (product 3) for the entire lid. Blend those out with a finger or creme shadow brush.

3.) Apply a light, shimmery shade to the entire lid. I am using E.L.F.'s mineral eyeshadow in Angelic (product 5). I applied this wet to the entire eyelid and brow.

4.) Apply a taupe color to the crease in a defined manner. It's not an exact cut crease but, it's not a very blended look. I used Wet N' Wild's single eyeshadow in Nutty (product 9). I applied this with a flat shader brush so that it would be more precise.

5) Now, to add some definition to the crease, I took a darker brown and went over the line I just created, working from the outside in. I do this to make sure the darkest colors are in the outside of the lid. I also applied this with a flat shader brush to ensure precision. For this, I used the Wet N Wild 8 pan shadow palette in comfort zone. I used the bottom left shade (product 11).

6) I took a small blending brush and blended the two colors together and blended them out a tad, but not too much as I still want to keep precision in the color.

7.) Baby doll uses a lot of eyeliner on the top lashes with a cat eye. I realize my cat eye is not even here, but I'm working on that. I used a gel liner for this. Using maybelline's blackest black (product 6) and and eyeliner brush, I applied it thicker at the outer eye and winged it.

8.) For the lower lashline, I didn't see very much if any liner, so I used a golden eyeliner pencil to give some reflection but not depth. I used Urban Decays 24/7 pencil in el dorado (product 14). I applied to this to entire lower lashline very close to the lashes.

9.) Curl lashes and apply mascara. I'm using my tried and true everyday combo, l'oreal voluminous million lashes (product 8) first and then maybelline's lash stiletto (product 7) as a second coat. This helps both create volume and length.

Just the eyes picture above ^^

Products used ^^

Product Review: Matrix Biolage Colortherapie Shielding Shine Mist

Another review! But, this one is for hair stuff! My obcession isn't limited to just makeup, I love anything beauty-ish. Hair is no exception. I bought this as I already love biolage color care shampoo and conditioner to extend the life of my red color.

Claims: This claims to provide some UV protection to your hair as well as making it smooth and shiny (even reducing frizz).

Price/Where to buy: I bought mine at Ulta and unfortunately, Ulta doesn't list biolage online. It seems to go for about 15.77 at wal-mart online. I am not sure if you would find it at your local wal mart, though. Any store that carries salon products like Ulta or Trade Secret should have it.

Packaging: It comes in a pump that is similar to one that you would use for hairspray and you get a lot for your money as you only need a pump or two per use.

Smell: It smells like a Pina Colada! It has that typical sunblock coconut type smell, which I love. But, if you're not into that, you may want to stay away. I will say that once you spray it on your hair, the scent dissipates. So, if you want to try but don't want your hair smelling like a tropical bar, I can tell you, it won't.

Review of the Claims/General Impression: I love this stuff! I can't believe I just re-discovered it. I recently found that the ends of my hair were looking kinda frayed, and it's most likely do to all the color I put in it. I needed something that would smooth the ends out. I had originally bought this with the intention of only using it when I'm out in the sun for long periods of time (which rarely happens), thinking the UV protection would be nice. I started using it again recently when I discovered that the ends of my hair were looking ragged.

This product smooths out those rough ends, gives my hair shine, and also gives me some comfort knowing my hair is protected from the sun when I'm outside. I would recomend this to anyone with color treated hair who is worried about fading. I would also reccomend it if you suffer with minor frizz or want something to make your hair shiny.

The only downside is that this will make your hair oilier at a faster rate. I wouldn't say using for the past two days has made my hair super oily but that it has made it slightly more oily than usual. I think the best thing to combat this is by using it sparingly. You don't need a ton! Just a spray or two.

LOVE!

St. Patrick's Day look using MAC, Urban Decay, and NYX

Alright! It's St. Patrick's day and I'm not remotely Irish but it's a great reason to wear green! This look can be done using any variety of green colors. You'll need a mid-tone green, bright green, and dark green. I'm using a variety of products to achieve this, so, it can't be done with just one palette that I own. However, you can achieve the same thing with different brands/shades.




What will you need?


1. Eye primer
2. cream shadow base in white/neutral and green
3. Three green shades: bright, midtone, and dark.
4. a matte, black shadow
5. black liquid eyeliner, black pencil eyeliner, green pencil eyeliner
6. shader brush, crease brush, blending brush, regular eyeshadow brush, pencil shadow brush
7. Bottle of water for pigments (if you use any)
8. of course........mascara


1.) Prime the lid. I'm using E.L.F.'s eyeshadow primer for one dollar at target!! It's pretty darn good stuff. I wouldn't say it is as good as urban decay primer potion or NYX's HD eyeshadow primer (I consider these two equivalent) but it's aaaaaalllllmost as good. It shows signs of wear about an hour or two earlier than the previous two I listed.




2.) Apply a cream shadow base to the lid in green. I'm using NYX's jumbo eye pencil in rocky mountain green. Apply this from lashes to crease (not into crease but up to it). Take a light white color and apply to the brow bone at this time also (highlight).

3.) Apply the green midtone color to the lid. Here, I'm using a MAC pigment in antique green. I ALWAYS apply pigments wet, no exceptions. It gives you the best, vibrant color of the pigment. This is no exception. Spray that shader brush with water, grab the green pigment, and apply all over the cream shadow base on the lid. Below, I have the picture of the MAC pigment I used.

4.) Now, take the deepest green color and apply it to the crease (using a crease brush). I'm using 'libertine' from Urban Decay's black palette. The color is a green that's very dark (dipped in black) and pictured at the bottom right of the palette. The black palette is one of my favorites from UD and probably gets the most use of all their palettes. I'm also going to use the matte black, 'black dog' in this look. I use this palette almost everyday mostly for no other reason than that one, perfect, matte black. The palette can be purchased only at sephora, btw.

Front of the palette pictured below...

5.) Apply a bright colored shadow/pigment right below the arch of the brow over the white cream base. I'm using NYX's pearl pigment in 'pearl'. These pigments are cheap (I bought mine for 1.99 each) and they are freaking awesome! They apply great, stay on, and look vibrant. I highly, highly, reccomend. Again, I'm using a wet shader brush to loosely apply this. We'll blend it out in a minute.

6.) Now, blend the libertine in with a clean blending brush. Also, blend the pearl pigment into the crease color to allow for transition. Apply more libertine if need be and keep blending until you get a good look.

**Here, I'll add a trick I use to get precise looking eye makeup. I apply my eyemakeup before any foundation and use a cloth makeup remover to easily remove any eyeshadow fallout or mistakes. I get the eyes all clean with the wipe before I apply my foundation. Whala.....perfect eyemakeup with no fallout on your face.

7.) Now, use an eye pencil brush (a smaller, precise brush) to pick up the matte, black color (I'm using 'black dog' from the black palette) and apply that to the outer "V" over the libertine. We do this for additional depth. Blend that out with the clean blending brush also.

8.) For a little extra pop, I'm using a bright green for the center of the lid only. I am using 'kush' from the Urban Decay Book of Shadows III. Ignore the brush in the picture...."kush" is at the top right. See how pretty it is? Looks just like money.....:-)

9.) Now, you're ready to line the upper lashline. I'm using a liquid liner. I prefer maybelline's Ultra Liner in black. I wing this out a little at the edge of the eye.

10.) Line the lower waterline with a black liner. I'm using Physician's formula Shimmer strips liner in black. I also like Urban Decay's 24/7 liner in Zero, as well as L'oreal's HIP black chrome eyeliner for this purpose.

11.) Line the lower lashline with a green liner. I'm using a 24/7 glide on pencil from Urban Decay in 'mildew'. You want to place this right below the black on the waterline.

12.) Curl lashes and apply mascara. I'm currently loving L'oreal's voluminous million lashes with Maybelline's lash stiletto on top. (volumizing for the first coat then legthening for the second is a winning combo).

And....the finished look......

Essie: Sand Tropez Swatch and Review

Essie!!! It used to be that Essie could only be bought at places such as Ulta. However, recently, Essie has made its debut in CVS, Rite Aid, and Target (probably walgreens too, but I haven't checked). Which means..........you can use extra care bucks and up rewards from CVS and Rite aid to buy Essie polish. So, that's exactly what I did.
I have always been a big fan of bright or dark nail polishes but I have been wanting to try the nude polish trend and Essie had the perfect color: Sand Tropez. I thought I'd like the color but I didn't realize how much. I love this color. It almost blanks out my nails against the pale color of my skin. It's pretty neat; I welcome the change from my traditional polish selections. the picture below if of the bottle.


As far as the polish application and the polish itself, Essie holds up to OPI in quality. The polish applied smoothly and evenly. I always top it off with a fast dry top coat, so I can't say a whole lot for the drying time. Also, I noticed that in my second day of wear, it chips less than a brand like China Glaze. So, overall, Essie is a winner in my book. CVS and Target have a good selection of shades to try out and I think I will definately purchase again.


The label for the color. Sand Tropez.

This picture was taken with some daylight streaming in. I think it does the best job of showing the color.

This was taken in the indoor light with no flash.