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

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 - Pretty in Pink

Hi Revolutioniers! We made it to another Tuesday which means I have another tutorial for you.  This week I focused on Valentine's Day since it is only two weeks away.  I do have to say that I have received A LOT of compliments on this look! I hope you all enjoy!

Here are the products used for the look:

EYES

• Urban Decay Primer Potion, Original
• Too Faced, Gum Drop
• Sephora, Matte Smokey Gray
• Sephora, Sparkly Black
• Sephora, Lavender Pink
• Sephora, White
• MAC Eyeliner, Smolder
• Sephora Gel Liner, Black
• Benefit, Bad Gal Lash
• Ardell Lashes, Demi Whispie

BROWS

• Bare Minerals, Brunette

FACE

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

LIPS

• Revlon Colorstay Liner, Blush
• Bare Minerals Lip Buxom, Leslie

So, what do you think?  Would you wear this look out?

Just a reminder! I am hosting a giveaway.  Check out this post to see the rules and what you can win!

Tutorial Tuesday - For Your Brown Eyes!

Today's tutorial is featuring my baby sister, who is gorgeous (in my opinion), but suffers from major redness on her cheeks, and doesn't really like to do her makeup as much as I do. Here is her before:

For Her Skin

1. I prepped her skin with my Ulta Matte Primer
2. With my Cover Girl Green Corrector Stick I covered her cheeks and other redness prone areas.  The green correcter stick counteracts with the redness so that it hides it underneath the foundation.
3. Using a {wet} makeup sponge, I patted  (not smeared) her face with Maybelline FitMe Foundation in 240 
4. Using a loose translucent powder, and a big powder brush, I lightly covered her face to set the liquid foundation

For Her Eyes

1. I prepped her eyes with Urban Decay's Primer Potion
2. Using my flat eyeshadow brush I dabbed UD's Bordello in the corners of each eye and bring it 1/3 of the way towards the outer corner of her eye on her lash line
3. Using my eyeshadow brush I pressed UD's Kush in the middle of her eyes and on the middle bottom of her lash line (so that it mirrors the top)
4. Using my round {pencil} crease brush I swirled UD's Rockstar in the outer corner of her eyes and working my way in to the crease of her lid. 
5. Using my fluffy crease brush I continued to blend Rockstar to fade the color all the way to the brow bone
6. Using my angled blender brush I brushed UD's Bordello to blend all the colors to prevent any harsh lines
7. Using my MAC Eye Kohl liner in Smolder I lined her upper & lower lash lines
8. Using my Marbella Permanent Eyeliner pen in Black I lined her upper lid with wings on each end
9. I topped her off with two applications of blinc mascara in Black

Finishing the Face

Cheeks

• I used Mary Kay creme blush in Sheer Bliss and Mark powder blush in Charmed

Lips

• I lined her lips with Mac lip pencil in Spice
• I topped her lips off with Mac lipstick and lipglass in Viva Glam V

Contour/Highlight

• Contoured with E.L.F. bronzer in Warm Tan
• Highlighted with Benefit High Beam

Thank you to my awesome sister for letting me play makeover!!

Tutorial Tuesday - Packing Makeup for Vacation

So today's Tutorial, isn't really a tutorial.  It's more how I pack my makeup for my long trip but you may be able to take some of my ideas and use it for your next trip!

This is all I use for all of my make up needs.

Here is all the makeup I take with me:

• Acne treatment cream
• Medicated eye drops for itch relief
• Ulta Face Primer
• Urban Decay Eye Primer Potion
• Maybeline Fit Me Foundation
• Colorscience Face Powder
• Benefit Boi-ng
• Benfit Hoola
• E.L.F. Shimmery Bronzer
• Makeup Sponge
• Maybeline Blush
• Mary K Blush
• Laura Geller Blush
• MARK Blush
• Sephora Gel Liner
• E.L.F. liquid eyeliner
• Bare Esscentuals Brow Filler
• MAC Kohl Pencil
• Marbella Permanent Eye Liner Pen
• Blinc Mascara
• Sephora Anniversary Palette - The best thing to do when travel is bring a large palette like this. That way you are not having to bring a lot of little palettes with you.

I use the smaller makeup travel bag to place all the little items in.

I use the large makeup bag to hold the large palette just in case it gets tossed around.  

Are you all wondering where my lipsticks are?!?!?  This is how I pack those (and some other things).

I bought this plastic container from the dollar store.  It use to hold (as you can see) cotton items such as, cotton balls, and sticks.  I dumped those out and filled it with these:

The top closes and it allows for all these little items to have a place with out moving.  It helps them travel very nicely!  (P.S. I also have some correction sticks in there too!)

And there you have it.  What little tips and tricks do you use to pack your makeup for the sake of space and safety?

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

Jennifer Nettles Inspired ACMA Look

Ok so I know it has been a while since i have gotten you all a new make up look, but i have been sooo sick!

I was relaxing 2 Sunday's ago flipping through so TV (which is rare for me) and saw the Academy of Country Music Awards.  On there was the beautiful Jennifer Nettles with a smokey purple eye look.  But it was different in that it kind of faded to the inner corner with the one dark purple on the outside.  So, I have recreated the look for you guys.  Mine however is inspired, and not necessarily exactly alike.  But, it is super easy to do! 

Here is what I used:

• All over the eye lid staying heavy in the corner tear ducts, my NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Lavender.
• Next I used my Stila, Moxie Eyeshadow with a medium sized crease brush.  Starting from the outer corner of the eye blending the shadow in to the middle of the eye.  Concentrating heavily on the outer corner and softening the look the further inward you go.  I also used Moxie under the bottom lash line about 3/4's of the way
• Then I swept and blended Urban Decay's Bordello above the moxie and to the bottom of my brow
• Last I took Uzi by Urban Decay to highlight the bottom arch of my brow
• I also used my MAC eyeliner pencil in Smoulder and lined my bottom water line 3/4 of the way
• Then I used my MARK. Get in the line liquid eyeliner in Painted Black for a VERY VERY thin line on the top lashes
• I topped off the eyes with my Tarina Tarintino Mascara, 2 coats
• For the Cheeks I kept with the "Faded" look by using my CoverGirl Tru Cheeks I used the peachy pink on the cheek bones leaving it heavier towards the hair line and lightening up as I move in toward the apples of my cheeks.  On the apples of my cheeks sweeping back I used a light pale pink

• For the lips I used Rimmel lipstick in Crush which is a light coral shade and topped it with a frosted nude which I used from MAC lipgelee in Resort Life

Here is the video to see how to do the look! Enjoy!

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!

V-Day, Not Your Normal Look!

Valentines is a day to cherish and honor the love in your life.  In my opinion, it is too commercialize for me and I much rather be curled up on my couch watching a movie with my husband and kids then go out in the craziness of restaurants and stores.  I remember when I used to think V-Day was everything!  I use to get so sad when I didn't have anyone to spend it with! HAHAHA! Now I sing a different tune!

That said, a lot of makeup looks are done with pinks & reds for this holiday.  I on the other hand wanted to give you guys something different to try out.  Whether you are going out or staying in, try this look on for size.  It is definitely my husbands favorite thus far!

Here is the information:

Eyes

Sephora Color Play Palette II, Angelic Boudoir

#24 & #26 - Which are a medium Orchard/lavender color & a magenta (you will hear me struggle to explain this color) I researched and "magenta" was the closest to the description! hahaha!

Urban Decay UD <3's NYC Palette
Bordello & Snatch - Bordello is a like a soft mauve color and Snatch is a soft pink with gold shimmer undertones

Sephora Anniversary Palette

 I don't know the numbers but the colors are like a semi-sweet chocolate brown & a light-wood ash brown

Urban Decays 24/7 liner in Ransom
Hard Candy's Walk the line liner in Sugar Plum

L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara - use this so you don't have to worry about falsies!


Cheeks

Sephora Color Play II Palette, Angelic Boudoir (its just a pink blush)

Lips

1000 Kisses by Rimmel London in Natural
L'Oreal in Fairest Nude
Lip Gelee by MAC in Resort Life

No matter what you plan to do, hope your day is filled with love and joy from the people that truly matter!  Enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

Hi Everyone!  If you are still in need of a hot look for the evening, that I have one that is just for you! 

O.K. O.K so this is a goofy picture of me.  But I took so many and they all kind of stunk!!!!  And I had the fam constantly interrupting me during the make of this video.

Anywho, here is the information on all the colors I used to achieve this bright fun look!

• Hard Candy Eye Def in Sprinkles
• Stila's Moxie
• A Pinkle Color for my Sephora Color Play I Palette<---I am totally coining the phrase (you need to watch the video to understand!
• MAC's Creme de violet
• Hard Candy Walk the Line eyeliner in Suger Plum
• Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliner in Ransom
• A Posy Pink blush
• MAC's Viva Glam LipGlass

This was super fun to do enjoy the video!

Dirty Smoky Sexy Look

Here is a great look to where for any occasion, whether it be work, school, or out to the store. Here is all of the information on the products used:

EYES:

UD <3 NYC Palette (Urban Decay):

• Midnight Cowboy Rides Again
• Maui Wowie
• Snatch
• Suspect
• Smog

Maybelline New York Stylish Smokes

• Emerald Smokes

L'Oreal Paris Bright Eyes Duo

• Brazen

Benefit Bad Gal Mascara

Cheeks:

Nars Multiple in South Beach

Lips:

• Prestige in Cameo
• Maybelline in Sweet Ginger
• Hard Candy Visibly Wet in Beauty

Here's the video! ENJOY!

All that Glitterz!

Hi Everyone!  I love all thinks sparkly and glittery and here is my take on Sephora's Beauty in a Box, Urban Decay.  The box lists for $52!  I am showing you how to do this look for way less!

Green Eyeshadow base: Envy by Bare Minerals - I already had this, any bright green will do!
Glitter Green Eyeshadow: Hard Candy, Eye Def, in Algae
Glitter Gold Eyeshadow: Hard Candy, Glitteratzi, in Goldfinger
Yellow with brown undertone Eyeshadow: from my Sephora Anniversary Palette
Goldish brown Eyeshadow: from my Sephora Anniversary Palette
Blue Eyeliner: Hard Candy, Eyeliner Duo, 140 Sublime
Eyeliner: Mabeline Eye Studios, Blackest Black
Mascara: Benefit, Bad Gal Lash
Light Peach Blush: from my Sephora Color Play Palette
Lip Liner: Rimmel London, 014 Wild Clover
Lipstick: Rimmel London, G80 Sweet Ginger
Glossy Lip Pencil: Hard Candy, Visibly Wet in 240 Beauty

The box only comes with the makeup to do you eyes.  So here is the total price of the comparable items in the box $16.00! So that is 1/3 of what you would pay for the total box!

Hope you enjoy!