Tutorial Tuesday - Springtime Mix!

It's finally starting to feel like spring everyone!  So this week I have an quick and easy springtime tutorial for you!  I do have to say, that yesterday I really felt un-motivated to move from my couch to my computer.  But I love you all too much, so I did!  Here's the tutorial!! ENJOY

Enjoy!

Products Used: 

EYES

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil, Milk
• Sephora, Cinderelly
• Sephora, Gus Gus
• Sephora, A Wish
• Urban Decay, Psychedelic Sister
• POP Beauty Mascara, Black
• MAC eye kohl pencil, Smolder
• E.L.F. liquid eyeliner, Black

BROWS

• Bare Minerals, Brunette

FACE

• E.L.F. bronzer, Warm Tan
• Benefit Bronzer, Hoola
• MAC, Pink Swoon
• Benefit highlighter, High Beam

LIPS

• MAC, Nicki Viva Glam
• My Glam glam gloss

Tutorial Tuesday - Metallic-A

Another Tutorial Tuesday!! YAY!! And this look is SUPER EASY!  It reminds me of warmer months but is still pretty good to pull off even if it is still freezing outside!

Products Used: 

EYES

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil, Pure Gold
• NYX Ultra Pearl Mania, Yellow Gold Pearl
• MICA Beauty Gel Liner, Black
• MAC Eyeliner, Smolder
• POP Beauty Mascara, Black
• Ardell Lashes, Demi Whispie

BROWS

• Bare Minerals, Brunette

FACE

• E.L.F. bronzer, Warm Tan
• Benefit Bronzer, Hoola
• NARS Cream Stick, South Beach
• Benefit highlighter, High Beam

LIPS

• Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie, Dare Devil

So, what do you think?  Would you rock this Metallic-A Look?

I Do THIS for Fun!

Photo Creds to: @yellowcamisole

You all know how much I love makeup.  I love the ability to create a work of art and the best thing about it is every canvas is different.  Twice this month I had the opportunity to teach my first makeup seminars to some weary parents about makeup on their dancer.  New dancer moms, with the fabulous Shining Stars School of Performing Arts, needed a little help with makeup application for their dancer.  I volunteered my services and provided them with a class on how to apply makeup on their young dancer in a way that doesn't make them look too mature for their age but magnifies their natural beauty on stage.

I decided to share this information with you!  Here is what my makeup kit usually has!

FACE

Primer - Face primer is used to "prime" the skin prior to putting on foundation, powder, and/or other cosmetics.  It serves two main purposes (1) to achieve a smooth and even completion and (2) enables the makeup to stay on for an extended amount of time for a flawless and long-lasting look

Which one's to use & why:

• Clear (Most will use clear)
• Green (If you have a lot of Redness)
• Lavender (If you have a lot of Yellowish undertones)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Ulta's Matte Primer! But the past couple of times I went, they were out!! I must order it from the website.  It is seriously fab!

Liquid Foundation - Liquid foundation stays longer and provides better coverage. 

• Maybelline FitME Foundation I have used for a while now and is the brand I recommend. I love the coverage and how well it keeps my natural features too. I have a lot of freckles, and while the foundation offers coverage for my imperfections, it still lets my angel kisses shine.

Powder Foundation - Powder foundation will set your liquid foundation and make it stay put.  It will still smear a little but not as much if you just had the liquid foundation on.

Blush - Blush will brighten up the face and not make you look flushed and washed out.

• For light skin tones use a light peachy/pink blush 
• For medium skin tones use a rosy pink/deep peach (medium looking pinks)
• For dark skin tones use a rose/deep orange color

Bronzer - Bronzer is used to help contour the face and provide a more symmetrical and natural look.  To choose the correct shade chose a few shades darker than your foundation.

You can totally get away with using eyeshadows for this too!

EYES

Primer - For the same reasons as the face primer (see above)

Urban Decay and Too Faced are some of my favorite primers, but I also love using the Jumbo Cream Eye Pencils by NYX. They work just as great and some shadows seem to pop out even better than using the different mono colored primers. PLUS THEY ARE WAYYYYY CHEAPER TO USE!

Shadow - Depending on your eye color you will want to choose different shades.

• For green/hazel eyes use plum, burgundy and reddish brown shadows
• For brown/dark brown eyes use taupey purples
• For blue eyes use warm orangey copper-based shades

Eye Liner - There are three different types of eye liner, gel, liquid, and pencil

• For deep dramatic eyes, use liquid
• For for sultury and softer looking eyes, use gel
• For even softer looking eyes and less dramatic, use pencil

Mascara - There are so many mascaras out there that you can use to enhance your lashes.  Remember to replace it the moment it becomes clumpy, which is usually around the sixth month mark

LIPS - Lipstick should be treated like blush. Depending on your skin tone your lipstick will be different.

• For light skin tones choose soft pinks or neutrals 
• For medium skin tones mid tones or reddish berry colors
• For dark skin tones use deep plum colors

Brushes - I recommend using brushes over the sponge tipped applicators.  They are easier to use and help blend the colors much better.  I use Crown Brush (they are fabulous and I believe they are the makers of a high-end makeup company's brushes).  You can also use brushes from Studio Tools (available via target) and ULTA has this little kit that is pretty decent as well.

So what does your makeup kit look like?

Tutorial Tuesday - Winter Wonderland

In honor of the snow MD got this past weekend I did a Winter Wonderland tutorial for you all!

EYES

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

Sephora’s Cinderella Palette in Ball Gown

Bare Minerals eye shadow in Ice Queen

Mark Cosmetics eye shadow in Piccadilly

Mark Cosmetics eye shadow in Latte

MAC Cosmetics Kohl eye liner pencil in Smolder

Marbella permanent eye liner pen in Black

Tarte Cosmetics Lights, Camera, Lashes

BROWS

Bare Minerals in Brunette

FACE

E.L.F. bronzer in Warm Tan

Benefit Bronzer in Hoola

MAC Cosmetics blush in Pink Swoon

Benefit highlighter in High Beam

LIPS

NYC lipstick in Flirty

Thanks for watching! Let me know what you think or if you have any requests!

Tutorial Tuesday - Gray Skies

Another Tutorial Tuesday is here and last week in the DMV it was nothing but gray skies for DAYS I mean DAYS.  The sun didn't arrive until Friday afternoon!  So in honor of the gray skies here is this weeks tutorial!

Enjoy!

Products Used in this Weeks Tutorial

Eyes:

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
• Sephora's Cinderella Pallet, Kill Joy, Jaq, A Wish, Ball Gown
• MAC Kohl Liner in Smolder
• Marbella Permanent Eye Liner in Black
• Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes in Black

Brows:

• Bare Minerals in Brunette

Face:

• E.L.F. bronzer in Warm Tan
• Benefit bronzer in Hoola
• Laura Geller blush in Apricot Berry
• Benefit High Beam

Lips:

• Laura Geller dual lip stick in Carribbean Kiss

Boxin' Out & Baggin' Up - My Glam Bag

Most of you know that I am a lover of Birchbox and have been subscribed to their sample service for over a year now. I love trying new beauty products but to be quite honest their past couple of months have been BORING! Don't get me wrong I love being exposed to new brands. Actually if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have found Zoya nail polish and Jouer moisturizing tint both of which I am absolutely in love with.  But, I would love to see some of those "big" brand names in there every once in a while.  Ok, ok, what constitutes as a "big brand name" since all of them are considered "big brand names" right?  Well, yes that is true, but I want to see MAC and Urban Decay in there among others.


Anyway, I was twittering one day last month and came across My Glam Bag. First off, I have never heard of them so when I saw the word Glam and the word Bag I was instantly curious.  I love glam and I love bags so I had to check them out.  Basically, they are the same deal as Birchbox. $10/month gets you a bag stuffed with samples.  So, I signed up to try it out and just got my first shipment last week.  OMG, this bag was AWESOME!  Check out the contents:

1. NYX Roll On Glitter - I love NYX they are inexpensive but still great quality. I use these products all the time!! The Roll On Glitter can be applied to the eyes, face, and body!  On top of the full sized sample, they gave you a coupon code for 30% off more shades at NYX's website.  The cost of these are $4.50 with the 30% off the end up being $3.15 which is awesome!


2. Freeman Facial Mask Sachets - Never heard of Freeman but this bag included a easy-to-use skin-perfecting mask.  Haven't had a chance to use it just yet, but it sounds like I will love it.  Mine came in Goji Berry!  Glammies get 16% off when you go to Freeman's website.  The full trio is just $10 for My Glam Bag girls!  WHAT?!  That is so great!


3. X Out Shine Control - If you have skin problems then X Out is suppose to be the best stuff to stay flawless and shine free.  Sounds good to me! My skin has completely changed since having a child. I went from never having acne in high school (ok, ok, the occasional stress bump would arise) to now having anxiety over my skin!  This is an oil-free moisturizer with a mattifying complex and according to X Out's website, it works just like those other home supply acne medicines where you can choose between a 30- or 60-day supply one time or continuing shipment (actually they are the makers of Proactiv).  A continuing ship for a 30-day supply is $19.95 and Glammies receive a free full-size Shine Control with their purchase of their supply!  Not sure if I am going to end up purchasing the supply. My 10% benzyl peroxide works just fine for me.

4. Premier Dead Sea Cinderella Mask - The fact that you are seeing the words "Dead Sea" is enough to already fall in love with this.  I love anything and everything that involves the salts from the Dead Sea and I always feel the most beautiful after I use them.  However, they are so expensive!  Premier's website values the Cinderella Mask at $149.99!  WOW!  I cannot find myself loving this that much that I would spend that kind of money on it at the moment.  Maybe if I fall in to major money I would buy it and use it more often!

5. NuMe $100 Gift Card - Perhaps this is my most favorite part of the glam bag this month!  $100 dollars for me to spend anyway I want at NuMe's website!  They have professional styling tools, hair extensions,  feather extensions, so many things I don't know what to choose from!  I have been wanting hair extensions so I believe that is most likely what I am going to be spending it on.  Birchbox has never given us a gift card like this!  Last month we got a free iTunes download but that is squash compared to this!  How awesome right?!?

So the question is will I continue this subscription service?  Um, Hell Yeah!  This is so freakin' awesome!  I'm not ready to give up Birchbox just yet, but they definitely need to step up their game if they want my business!

Here is My Glam Bag's website if you want to check it out too!

Baggin' in up and Boxin' it out!

Nicole

St. Patricks Day

St. Patty's day is suppose to be a religious holiday, and to some it still is, for others it is a time to relax party and find cute ideas to dress yourself up.  Heck, even in Chicago the river is dyed green to celebrate this festive occasion.  For me, whelp, it is another day to get creative with makeup colors I probably wouldn't wear any other time.  I love green and think it is a beautiful color, but it is hard to wear on a daily basis.

So, I decided to do a simple look that is easy for this occasion.  The video is below! 
Eyes

Kush - Urban Decay
Meteor Shower - Sephora
Money - Urban Decay
Uzi - Urban Decay
Algae - Hard Candy

Black Liquid eyeliner from Revlon
Smoulder Pencil Kohl liner from MAC
Benefit BadGal Lash in Black

I dusted a light peach to my cheeks and gave my lips a touch of nude.

Green Beers & Gold Coins!

Trendy Tangerine w/a Splash of Lime

Runways this spring were filled with bright vibrant colors, including orange.  Orange is said to be the bold color of the season and we are seeing it on more and more celebs and models in each month of our fashion and beauty mags.  For me, the color scares me quite frankly and I am not sure I am ready to "wear" it just yet.  However, working with a little inspiration from a watch band I had, I found a way that can ease my way into the color.  This might help some of you, who prefer to stray from bold colors, try a little something new.

You can totally tone down this look too just by changing the lip color to more of a clear gloss and let your natural pink lips shine through. 

Optional Step is to prime your eyes with NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencils in Lime and Milk


Shadows Used

Shimmery Soft Brown - Last row on the “warm side” of the Sephora Anniversary Palette, 3rd from the bottom
Tangerine - #48 form the A Nod to Mod Palette on the Sephora Color Play II
Lime Green – First row on the “cool side” of the Sephora Anniversary Palette, last color
Shimmery White

Finishing off the Eyes
Lime Eyeliner from CoverGirl Liquid Line Blast
Smoulder by MAC for lining the lower lash lines
Black cream liner – I used Sephora’s cream liners
Benefit BadGal Lash mascara

The rest of the Face!
Hot Pink blush – The one I used was from my A Nod to Mod Palette (Sephora Color Play II)
Pink Lipstick – Temptress from CoverGirl’s LipPerfection Line.

Here is the video! Enjoy & let me know if there is anything else you all want to see!

Katy Perry's Grammy 2011 Inspired

Hey All:  This look is for my Collab Channel.  I said I would put the information here so you all could see a list of what I used for this look and for what she looked like!

Well, here she is!

Ummm....Gorgeous.  Leave it to KP to bring together lavender, lime green and hot pink!

For the Eyes:

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Lavender
Maybelline - Lavender Fields
Bare Minerals - Halo
NYX Glitter to Go - Luxurious Lavender
Cover Girl LiquidlineBlast - Green Glow
Revlon Liquid Liner - Black
Maybelline One-by-One Mascara - Black
Bare Minerals Brow Color - Brunette

For the Rest of the Face:

Maybelline Minerals Blush - Peach (any shimmery pinky peach)
Cover Girl LipPerfection Lip Color - Temptress
Cover Girl Lip Perfection Lip Liner - Radiant

I am trying out the new FitMe Collection by Maybelline and am getting ready to do a review.  Check it out in the next couple of days!

Hope you all enjoy!!! P.S. If this is your first visit---Thanks for Coming!!