Top 5 Favorites

Hey guys! So today I’m going to talk about the five makeup products I cannot live without. In the past, I did a post about my favorite current products but today I only get to choose the top five in my collection. This is hard for me because I normally use about 10-15 products on my face every day. This post includes makeup brushes because to me, if you have a good applicator then your makeup is more likely to look good!

My first product is definitely my Beauty Blender, it’s super useful and I use it everyday to blend out my foundation, concealer, bake my face (put powder on my face) and so much more. I have the black one which in my opinion, is far superior to the other colors. For whatever reason it seems to blend things so much better. My next favorite is the best product I’ve ever purchased. It is the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara! Literally makes my lashes so long and fluffy. I’ve tried so many drug store and high end mascaras and none come close to this one. I always end up going back to it the moment my other mascaras run dry. None of them come close to how good this one is.

My third favorite is a pallet. Now for pallets, it is constantly changing because certain pallets have the shades I am loving for a specific season and whatnot. So currently, I’m loving the Too Faced Sweet Peach Pallet. It’s fairly compact, so during the holiday season it is easy to travel with. As well as smelling so good, it has a lot of neutral shades that can be paired with bold lips (a personal preference during the winter months). It also has one specific color called “Nectar” that I am absolutely in love with!

The second to last product would have to be the Laura Mercier Translucent Powder, although slightly messy, this powder completely sets my base makeup without looking cakey or powder-y. It also smells really clean and does not have any flashback (making your face look pale when cameras flash). And last but not least, my favorite concealer is the Tarte Shape Tape Concealer. In the winter months, my skin tends to start to lose my summer tan as well as also staying up late to study. With that combination, my dark circles are 10x more visible. The Shape Tape is a super full coverage concealer that takes away any imperfections or dark circles and leaves a flawless finish. I personally think that the Airspun powder and Shape Tape concealer work together like a dream!

All of these products definitely work well together I would say. I use them on a day-to-day basis and I have always been nothing less than impressed with how my makeup looks when using these 5 products. I hope you enjoyed reading this! I would love to know about other people’s makeup interests as well as what are some of the best products for the winter months when skin tends to go dry and matte products don’t seem to work as well as they used to.

Happy Holidays! 

Christmas Makeup Look

HAPPY FIRST WEEK OF CHRISTMAS

 

Well…kind of. For me, the Christmas season officially begins on December first so to celebrate that I thought I would do a fun Christmas Makeup Look.

To start off, I did my face makeup by using a primer and then blending the foundation into my skin with my beauty blender. After that, I concealed any blemishes and added concealer under my eyes to add brightness and cover dark circles. I then proceeded to add a cream highlighter (always add cream products before powder!) to the tops of my cheeks and tip of my nose and cupids bow. I blended that all in with a concealing fluffy brush and set my entire face with a loose translucent powder. Once my face was set, I was able to start adding color and depth back in; I took my NYC Sunny Bronzer and blended it on the hollows of my cheeks, my temples, and around my jaw line. After that I added Milani’s Luminoso blush to the apples of my cheeks and blended it back into my bronzer. Finally for the face I sprayed a large fluffy eyeshadow brush with setting spray and added highlighter on all the places I put the cream for an extra glowy look.

After the face was done, I moved onto eyes which are fairly simple. I used my Morphe 35O pallet and took a medium darkness orangey-brown shade and blended it into my crease and packed it onto my lid. I then took a champagne colored shimmer shade and put it in my inner corner and on my brow bone to highlight. I filled in my brows (slightly darker than normal to add to the dramatic look) and added a thin line of brown eyeliner onto my eyes. Finally, I added a few coats of mascara on my top and bottom lashes!

I’m sure this doesn’t seem too Christmas-y so far but to complete the look, I wanted to use a bright red lipstick. The hard part was finding a red lipstick that wasn’t too pink and wasn’t too dark. So, to create my perfect red color I mixed NYX’s “Kitten Heels” Liquid Lipstick and Revlon’s Liquid Lipstick in “HD Romance”

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Everyday Makeup Look!

While putting on a full face of makeup with bright shimmery colors and super sharp contour is fun, it isn’t always realistic for everyday wear (unless that’s your style- you do you boo). I normally keep my makeup fairly natural looking but having makeup on I think gives me a little boost of confidence that I need to get throughout the day. In my opinion, the key parts to an everyday makeup look are long wearing and lightweight. No one wants to feel like their makeup is caking on under sweat throughout the day! Today I’m going to explain my everyday makeup routine.

I always start with a moisturiser to make sure my skin doesn’t get too dry under the different powder products I’m going to put overtop. I then take a mattifying and pore filling primer and rub that into my skin with my fingers. I highly recommend a mattifying primer because it keeps your skin from gaining any excess oils and pore filling because it keeps the makeup and dirt from penetrating your skin- which causes pimples. I then take a concealer that is the same shade as my face and cover over any spots or blemishes; you can use a BB cream or lightweight foundation to do this depending on how much coverage you’re wanting to have. After that I use a concealer one or two shades lighter to put under my eyes and on my eyelids to conceal any purple or veins that show through (college kids get no sleep didn’tcha know?). I personally like blend that in with a Beauty Blender (any makeup sponge works just as well) and set with a pressed or loose powder. If you’re wanting more coverage, use a powder with color but if not a translucent powder works the best. To finish off the face, I use a light to medium bronzer in a “3” motion on the outer perimeters of my face and on the sides of my nose and then use a coral-pink blush on the apples of my cheeks.

I’m very into monochromatic looks so I try to keep all of the colors on my face around the same shades. I use a fluffy eyeshadow brush to put the bronzer that I used previously into the crease of my eyelids and under my bottom lash line then I add a cream shade onto my lid. I quickly fill in my brows with a dark brown eyeshadow and use a clear brow gel to keep the hairs in place. To finish off the eyes I take a black mascara and coat my top and bottom lashes until I think they’re long enough. Last but not least I put on chapstick or a pink-y nude lipstick on my lips! 

Favorite Products!

Hey y’all! So while this post won’t have a specific makeup look, I want to show some of my favorite products I’ve discovered from throughout my years of doing makeup. I was originally going to do both makeup and skincare, but I have already told y’all some of my favorite products for skincare in a past post. So this will basically be a run down of all of my most tried-and-true makeup products starting with primer and ending with eyeshadow!

To start, I’ll go with the products used specifically on my face. For primer, my favorite has to be Maybelline’s Baby Skin Primer. Not only does it smooth your skin and cover it from makeup clogging your pores, it blurs over any lines or texture on your skin giving you a smooth base. The next product I love to use is Garnier BB Cream for Shine Control. This paired with the Baby Skin primer takes away any oils that could shine through your makeup during the day. To make sure my skin has a little extra coverage, I like to go in with my Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in the shade 10 for blemishes and the shade 15 for under the eyes (to brighten and conceal darkness). After I finish my base makeup, I like to set it all down with Airspun Loose Powder or Maybelline Fit Me Loose Powder (for more coverage). These are all drugstore products so they are super cheap and can be found at any CVS or Target!

The next products are still face related but are more fore dimensional effect rather than a solid base. My favorite bronzer is definitely Too Faced Chocolate Solei bronzer because 1. It’s a matte bronzer that is perfect for my skin tone and 2. IT SMELLS LIKE CHOCOLATE! To pair with the super-sweet bronzer, I love to use Milani’s baked blush in the shade “Luminoso.” It is a light pink with gold reflects and shimmer that make your skin constantly look like you’ve been outside. The last face item is ColourPop’s Supershock Highlighter in the shade “Churro.” The golden shimmer pairs amazing with the blush.

Last but not least is eyes and Lips. For my eyes, my all time favorite pallet is the Morphe 35o. It has thirty five eyeshadows for only $23!! Not only is it cheap, the quality of the eyeshadows is amazing and the color range is so diverse. For eyebrows I honestly just use a dark brown eyeshadow from that pallet to fill them in. I have found the holy grail of mascaras not only is it a drugstore brand (cheap!) it is also one of the most high quality products I have ever used; Maybelline Lash Sensational is by far the best product on this list in my opinion. And last but not least; lips. While the majority of the time I wear Chapstick or Vaseline on my lips, when I do go out I reach for either “Lolita” by Kat Von D or “Velvet Teddy” by Mac. Both are pink-toned nudes that go perfect with basically any look.

 

Spooky Looks!

As Halloween looms closer, we are frantically looking for different DIY costumes! But the older I got, the less interested I became in costumes and the more interested I got with the face makeup! As a college student, I don’t think I will be going to a Halloween party dressed in some extravagant costume but rather a simple “costume” with some sick face makeup! While it may be the typical “college girl” look, I personally think any sort of animal-print makeup is a fun and easy way to look both cute and spooky on Halloween. Last year I went as a deer and this year I’ll be going out dressed as a cat- I know, basic). But honestly both costumes were super easy once the makeup was done. Just an all black or all brown outfit and ears (or antlers) and I was good to go! Here are two easy outfits to go with either deer or cat makeup.

I will admit, sometimes costumes aren’t the easiest thing to pull together but doing something slightly Halloween-ey is what really counts…right? That’s why I think spooky or cute makeup works for just right for the occasion- even without the costume! The next two looks I did were strictly eye makeup and while they were a little time consuming, the results were totally worth it. I loved how cute the Jack-o-lantern turned out and how cool the contrast between black and orange looked on the spider look.

Honestly, Halloween is all about having fun and creating a new persona for yourself (also CANDY – duh). So any type of makeup or costume is going to be great if you feel and look confident in it. So walk out with pumpkin covered eyelids and or a gory skull face. You go girl.

Bloggin’ about a Blogger

So while my blog is obviously the most informative and sought after beauty blog (totally kidding, my posts don’t compare to some of my inspo’s) there is a few other people in the beauty/makeup industry with equally amazing accounts! One in particular is Zoella; she has been one of my favorite beauty/ lifestyle blogs for a few years now because she offers a fresh and fun approach on beauty and lifestyle tips! I discovered her on Youtube while I was in the middle of a makeup-video binge session. From that point on, I have been obsessed with anything and everything this girl does! She has her own successful blog and Youtube channel, runs an awesome beauty blog and has a book series! Seriously cannot get enough of her-also, how CUTE is this Halloween theme on her blog?!

What’s unique about Zoe Sugg (Zoella is just her username) is that she has built this huge brand for herself at such a young age while also battling anxiety and mental health issues. She is only 27 years old and she started blogging and filming beauty videos all the way back in 2009! It is insane to me how successful this woman has become while also trying to navigate through her late teens and into adulthood. She is consistent with her blog content and is so passionate about her posts and the audience she shares it with. I love that she posts things that make her happy (no matter how randomized the topics are) because so many bloggers feel like they have to stick to one topic but she is constantly just interested in telling people about the random things in life that interest her!

Her blog relates to mine because we both have such a big passion for beauty and makeup. I love that I can look up to her as both a blogger and a woman in the business world. She has a knack for making people truly enjoy her content and continuously coming back for more and that is something I strive to achieve with both my blog and in my personal life! Zoella is becoming a huge brand that is taking over the beauty industry and pulling people across the world into the blogging world of Zoe Sugg. I am so excited to see how much further she goes!

Caring for Your Skin

So far all I have talked about is the fun, creative side of makeup but one thing that is equally important is SKINCARE. Your face is the most important factor when doing makeup and without it, you’re kinda out of luck. It’s like when you’re painting; you make sure to take care of your canvas and keep it clean but, if you get your canvas sticky or dirty or muddy your paints are not going to go on as nicely. This is the same as your makeup! Some may think that skincare is a hassle or a chore but I’m here to tell you that skincare can be fun!

From face masks to pore strips, there are many different ways to keep you face clean and healthy. For an every day clean, I recommend a gentle facial cleanser that also removes makeup. These can be found at drug stores or high-end beauty stores. Personally, I use First Aid Beauty’s facial cleanser but my favorite drug store cleanser is Clean and Clear’s deep action cream cleanser. Both are amazing cleansers, but the Clean and Clear leaves your face feeling cool and refreshed while the First Aid one makes your skin feel clean and glowing. Apart from the basic cleanser; spot treatment, pore strips, and face masks are also things you can do for special occasions or tougher breakouts.

My favorite spot treatment medicine is the Clean and Clear Spot Treatment (is it obvious that I love Clean and Clear?!) because you can automatically feel it cleaning out the infected spot on your face. Pore strips can be super painful but super worth it if you’re needing a good cleaning out of all the gunk on your nose. Not only are you cleaning out dirt and makeup, but you are also cleaning out the deep set blackheads that have arose from the dirt and makeup. A good brand is the Biore Charcoal Pore Strips as well as the normal pore strips. My last and favorite thing to do whenever I wanna clear my skin (or even just a fun little pick-me-up!) is face masks! They come in all different types and all different colors and scents. There is sheet masks, peel off, clay and many, many more! My two personal favorites are peel off and clay masks. I’m not sure why, but I just feel as though my skin is cleaner afterwards! Some really cool masks are Milkpiggy Hellpore Mask (EXTREMELY PAINFUL but totally worth it) and Kapulet’s Dry Pink Clay Mask (I like this one mostly because it’s pink).

I hope you enjoyed my tips about skincare and everyone please TAKE CARE OF YOUR SKIN! Masks, face washes, moisturizers, treatments, etc…do not take your skin for granted! Here’s some fun face masks pics that I hope you like!

Step By Step!

This next look is, again, inspired by my favorite Youtuber, Tori Sterling. I consider this a “Daytime Fall” look because it is not too dark but it still goes along with the trend of dark colors and  warm brown shadows that this season has in store for the makeup world. This post is going to be more of a step-by-step guide as to how to create the look just as myself and Tori Sterling did. All of the products used will be a part of the guide but I wanted to say that I did use the Too Faced Sweet Peach Pallete for the entire eye look.

Step 1. Base: To start my eye makeup, I always make sure I have a clean slate. To do this, I take concealer (I use Maybelline Fit Me) and blend it into my eyelid. I then take a white/ skin colored eye shadow or face powder and pack that on top of the concealer. This ensures that the base won’t be sticky or wet because if it was, the actual colored eye shadow would blend choppily and have an uneven color. This is similar to what your base should look like. It should be a blank canvas, ready for shadow!

 

Step 2. Transition: Every eye shadow look starts with a transition shade that will help the darker colors blend into each other more smoothly. Depending on the look you do, it should be a few shades lighter than the one you will be using in the outer “V” of your eye. In this case, I used with the color “Puree” all in the crease and blended it up towards my brow bone with a really big fluffy blending brush. In this picture you can see that the color is blended to the point of being seamless on the edges and I have also done my eyebrows!

 

Step 3. Deepening the crease: For this step, I took the color “Summer Yum” on a flat blending brush that’s smaller and more precise than the previous brush (like this) and blended it starting at the center of my lid and moving back and forth in windshield wiper motions from the outer to inner corner of my lid. This gives your eye a deeper effect and make    the color “Puree” look light in contrast.

Step 4. Lid Color: The FINAL step! Take the colors “Peach Pit” and “Charmed, I’m Sure” on a dense flat brush and pack the colors all over the bottom half of your lid. Once the color is of reasonable darkness (color varies on personal preference), go back in with the big fluffy brush and blend out the edges to make the 3 different shadows blend together at the seams! Add “Summer Yum” to your lower lash line with the same brush from Step 3 to balance the color out. After your eyes are done, add the color “Nectar” to the inner corner of your eye on a small flat synthetic brush (Pro Tip: Wet your brush for more pigment!) and on the center of your brow bone blending out towards the tail of your eyebrow. Add some mascara or falsies and you’re good to go!

And viola! Your eyes look bold and ready for a fun day (or night!). Enjoy!

 

 

Fall Eyes!

It’s beginning to feel like that time of the year again! That’s right folks; the pumpkin spice, cozy sweater, scary movie season is upon us! Well, kind of at least. In Texas it’s jackets in the morning tank top in the afternoon kind of weather. But weather can’t keep us from breaking out our dark lipsticks and burnt orange eye shadows. This season in the makeup world oranges and reds are making a huge splash. Summer was all about glowy, natural looks but fall is all about dark colors and vibrant eyes.

In the look I created I went for something kind of subtle. I’ll be honest, I really did not know where I was going at the beginning of this look but I personally think it turned out gorgeous! I used my Morphe 35o eye shadow pallet and basically blended all of the different orange/red shades and created a smokey fire-y look. I then added a shimmery burnt orange color to the center of my lid and finished it off with winged eyeliner and mascara. This was definitely a simple look to create but nevertheless I was extremely proud of it! I actually got this idea from a look done by my favorite Youtuber Tori Sterling who I am constantly taking looks to recreate.

Although I do think this look turned out amazing, I did have a few struggles while doing it. For starters, I am terrible at winged eyeliner. I normally can’t do it to save my life! If I’m honest, I had to use at least 3 or 4 q-tips to fix the mistakes I made on my eyelid before the wing turned out alright. I am super critical of my work, so the little things that really aren’t that important I always try to fix and improve. The saying “practice makes perfect” takes on a whole new meaning when you’re doing the same kind of eyeliner a hundred times just to get it semi-decent! But, overall I do think this is an awesome starting point for fall and for eye looks!