 **Real quick before I get into this review: WE HIT 75,000 VIEWS FRIENDS!! Combined with my blog spot under weebly and then the new stats from my domain (because you lose all your previous stats apparently when you switch to a domain) we have now hit 75k total. I was at 66+ when I bought my domain and am heading into 10k right now on the new one. I'm very excited, as you know this is just a blessing from above and I'm appreciative for it and the opportunity to do something I love. So Violet Voss just released 3D Faux Mink lashes. I'm obsessed. The new trend is 3D everything when it comes to lashes. I don't necessarily think it's a new thing, I think it's just a more accurate name for layered styles of lashes. These are amazing. I love this company so much to begin with and when I seen they were working on lashes I knew I wanted to try them. I was so pleasantly surprised with the styles they chose and the fact that they are super affordable. There are 8 styles that range from $7-$9. They are all styles that I would wear. I think they done a fantastic job. They are better than some mink lashes that I own. I won't name names but when I wore these a few times they beat out some of my expensive mink lashes. Mink lash's whole selling point is that they're lighter, fluffier and more natural looking for the most part. These do the exact same thing. The only up side to real mink lashes is probably that you could wear them more times than synthetic lashes but judging by the band and how sturdy these are I think they may go the extra mile for ya. I'm willing to put it to the test anyway.  I got the styles "Eye DGAF" and "Vamptress". I can't choose honestly which one I like better. I think I lean a little more toward Vamptress but I don't know cause I love them both. Vamptress was $9 and Eye DGAF was $8. At the time I believe it was free shipping over an order of $10 but I'm not sure if that is still going. Some other styles I'm really interested in are "Eye Do" and "Striptease" but I love every style they put out from the looks of it. They're really comfortable. I wore Vamptress all day yesterday, to my friend's dinner and everything. They started to lift at the end of the night but that's expected a little more glue could've touched that right up. The thing is that even though mink lashes look so good in pictures they often are hard to wear all day and need to be trimmed. The only ones I truly get away with wearing a long time without them irritating my inner eye is Lena Lashes. The rest I really have to work with throughout the day. Not all but some. Could be because I choose super fluffy styles but I really really appreciated that these didn't need to be trimmed they just worked. I've not had lashes fit like that since my beloved Red Cherry 213's. I got so many compliments yesterday on my makeup, even inside Sephora from the employees (which makes me feel good) and I really believe these made the difference.   The pics above are Vamptress. So beautiful as you can see. I generally don't like lashes that are longer and flared in the outer corner but these I LOVE!   These two pictures are Eye DGAF. They are basically my signature style of lash. Short on the corners and longest in the middle with all the criss cross action at the base. I love these as well they are just a little more dramatic than Vamptress I think.
So there ya go. I love them I can't say enough good things about them. I may be wearing faux mink for a while cause these are doing me all kinds of right. If you like lashes.......just go, go check them out, and thank me later.
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 This is Linda (Lin as I call her), lovely isn't she? She agreed to be my model for a post on tips or makeup application for women who were aging. Now, I want to say that bottom line as with anything, you do what makes you comfortable and makes you feel good. So you can take these tips or disregard them, it's all in how you want to look and what you're looking for. So with that out of the way I want to tell you a bit about Linda's skin. She tans very easily and works outside often, you should see her flowers, she has little to barely any wrinkles, no age spots, her skin has become a little dry on the nose and forehead through the years but that's about it. Her eyelid has become hooded somewhat but she has no under eye bags or circles. She really was an awesome model and her skin is very impressive. So getting into some tips or things we discussed:
 So those are my best tips I can give you. Be sure to blend your shadows, and your foundation. Make sure your face and neck are the same color. Find a lip color that looks the best and let that be your signature lip and as for the rest, practice makes perfect. I want to thank Lin for being my model, it wasn't even a task to do her makeup because she has such good features.
**** Disclaimer: As always you are welcome to criticize me, but please do not say anything unkind about my models or people that let me post their pictures on here. They are doing me a favor by allowing me to use them in a blog post. I will block and delete your comments if you choose to be in any way rude or less than polite about someone who is featured in one of my posts.  As you know, I love a good pair of lashes. My obsession started with Red Cherry 213's which I still love and grew to all different kinds. I have quite a collection now. I'm always down to try new companies and especially if they offer 3D which is just a layered lash. Which a lot of companies have been offering for years but no one thought to call it 3D. Anywho, I recently purchased some Lilly Lashes. The style is Mykonos. Its a popular style, thanks to Jaclyn Hill. I of course love this certain style as they remind me so much of the Nubounsom Bella lashes that I LOVE.  These are gorgeous, simply put. My only complaint is that the right side seems to differ from the left. The lashes are supposed to be shorter on the inner part of the eye, and on the right eye that just isn't the case. They're still totally wearable and it could totally just be me, because looking at the picture they seem right. I swear though I have a hard time figuring out which is which when I put them on. None the less, they are gorgeous. I like the Nubounsom Bella just a little better because they're so full but these are a little more wearable than the Bella ones. You can see the eye look and they aren't the main focus which is really nice. They aren't crazy long either which is also nice. I find them very comfortable, with a band that is similar to Lena Lashes band as far as thickness. They are $30 I believe, and I'm sorry I couldn't find a coupon code for them.   I'm wearing them in both looks above, with no liner. As you can see they do well with colorful looks and neutral looks.
 There is all kinds of beauty out there. Some people like simple, and naturally enhanced beauty. Some people like a little more, and some people like the whole 9 yards lashes, bright lips, color, winged liner, everything. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of that. It all depends on how you feel, whatever makes you feel good is what you should do. AND FORGET THE REST. Forget what people say, don't take their input if you don't want it. You do exactly what makes you feel beautiful and the rest of the world will stop and stare. So these looks can be work, school, or whatever appropriate.  First up, is for my natural babes. I'm wearing lashes but you don't have to. The keys to natural makeup, or natural looking makeup is:
So starting with the first point, playing up your features, focus on that. If you have great lips, make that your focus. Wear bright lipstick, or just lipstick in general. Super shiny gloss and a highlighted cupids bow also emphasize lips. If you have great skin, find a blush that gives you a glow. Subtle colors of peach and pink with soft sheens to them are great choices. Highlight the skin with eyshadow or powder highlighter. Highlighter brings light to the face which catches the eye. Speaking of eyes, if you have a great shape or beautiful colored eyes find a shade that compliments it. For eye shapes focus on your crease to contour the eye socket more. Another great tip that's fast and easy is cream shadow. Just make sure to wear eye primer. Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks are wonderful and so are Maybelline Color Tattoo. This will give you a solid metallic color across the entire lid. Blend it will your finger or a brush and it's a simple fix. If you've got great lashes, pile on the mascara. Wear a ton, wipe off 80% of the product on the brush and just build from there. Looks that I feel best in, like really really sexy, is when I'm wearing lashes and gloss like the picture above on the left. Its simple, looks natural, and it's not hard. Skin care is your foundation. Find something that works for you. If you're oily, get products to help combat that and invest in primer. If you have texture issues make sure your exfoliating and choose a smoothing primer. If you're dry make sure you are moisturizing with the heaviest hydrating moisturizers and products you can use. Including sprays like Fix Plus from MAC to keep those dry patches at bay. For problem skin, do whatever your dermatologist suggests first but I really like the Murad Acne Line if you want to try something. Invest in good concealers and foundations that cover. The Dermablend Smooth Liquid Camo is breathable but really nice. Revlon Colorstay is also good with coverage. Cream concealers will hide blemishes better that liquid concealers. As for brows, they frame your face. Just drill that in your head. If you don't want to do anything else at least make sure your brows are shaped, meaning tweezed or something so they have a shape and don't have sparse hairs every which way, and if they're very sparse try filling them in to "sculpt" them slightly. This can be as light or heavy as you want. So Benefit Gimme Brow is a really great low maintenance tool. It fills in and builds up the brow with fibers. While also taming the the brow and keeping it in place. Brow powder or even eye shadow applied with a slanted brush will fill in and define a brow just fine. Neutral tones like taupes and cool toned browns work better on most unless you're red headed or very warm brown. If you want a natural, minimal, look I wouldn't go past powder. I wouldn't mess with pomades and brow pens I would stick to powder and brow gel.  This is some intermediate looks. They require a little more work. Or at the very least have more color. So this is where I would start using lip color. Like mauves, burgundys, berry colors something that is neutral but that you can see. The eyes are definitely smokier with not your normal browns. More berry, purples, and inner corner shimmer and such. Notice the lower lash lines are really smoked out. I choose eyeshadow over liner any day on the lower lash line because crayon liners melt so easy. Powder stays better. These blown out smokey eyes require more time because your have to layer colors to give them more depth so you have to spend a lot of time blending. So just keep that in mind. Start with a lighter shade on a bigger brush and then work your way into darker colors applied with smaller brushes and blended out with that bigger brush again. Blending is key and it does take practice. You don't have to wear lashes for this either, but I always do. You can sculpt the brow a little more if you want with these looks too. Venturing into brow pens, pencils, and pomades. Not entirely necessary though.  These looks are more advanced. So winged liner, brighter and darker lips. Colorful shadow. Lashes of course. Dramatic, sharp lined shadow. Just a lot of different options. I love color as you know and I feel like there is always a way to wear it without looking like a clown. It's all about blending. For lip color, start with a neutral toned eye look and a colored lip. That way you don't have so much to focus on or like you're trying to hard. Even in the bottom right picture I have a colorful eye and a pink lip. It goes well together because it's a more muted pink and the colors on the eye stay on the lid and lower lash line they aren't super dramatic or too high in the crease.
The brows are more sculpted and not on the natural side. There's a lot of highlighting going on too, cupids bow, inner corner of the eye, heavy highlight on the cheek, and so on. Winged liner that is both very dramatic and in the bottom right it's a very small wing. As for eye shadow, some colors are actually really easy and complimentary like, earthy greens, plums, cranberry, navy, and even baby pink and soft corals. You can pair those with neutral eye shadows like browns and peaches and have an awesome "pop of color " which makes it the focus. If you want to do a colorful eye then start with a more nude lip and then go from there. So that's my tips. Practice, practice, practice. Remember what ever you feel comfortable with is what you should do. As long as you feel beautiful, that's all that matters. Promise.  Occasionally I do a fashion related post on here. Today is your lucky day. I have been looking for druzy cuffs for about a year. I've seen plenty, sure, but they were quite expensive. So I loved them from afar. I was on Etsy while I was in the hospital and I found the best little shop, Ocean Bella Hawaii. The had affordable Druzy cuffs with 2 price points. I got the more colorful, freeform, ones but the neutral ones are positively gorgeous and have a thicker band and I'm definitely going to get some of those. Of course cuffs isn't the only thing Jaylene offers there are necklaces and more. If you dig that boho vibe or really get into the wire stone bracelets like Bourbon and Boweties then check these out. I know they're cuffs and not wire bracelets but I think they're gorgeous mixed in with all kinds of stacks of bracelets from wire bangles to more simple bracelets. They're a great pop of color or just flat out complimentary to what you're wearing.  I'm wearing the pink, turquoise blue and yellow. I love them. Don't press on the druzy to tighten them to the wrist, press on the wire so you don't loosen the stone.
Seriously go check out her page. You'll see some really cute things that are begging to be yours.   It's that time of year again.....time for school supplies, getting up early, seeing your friends again and looking like a real live person 5 days a week. So I'm bringing you an easy makeup routine and hair that will let you sleep in a few minutes longer. This is all about products that will multi task, last and work fast. (hey that rhymed) So for this look I used Smashbox #shapematters palette for the face and eyes. You could also use it for brows but I used Benefit Gimme Brow Voluminizing Brow Gel. It's just quicker. For lips I used Sephora Collection Rouge Infusion in Peony which is #19 I think. So with the eyes I kept it kinda neutral but with some color. It's a shimmery mauve pink and a deep eggplant color on the outer corner. Blended with a peachy color in the crease. No liner. Tons of mascara. Brows I just swept Gimme Brow through, I made them kinda feathery though. I wanted a more natural unkempt look. For the face I used the contour powder for contour, bronzer for blush and glow for the highlight. I set my under eye area with the highlight (matte yellow) shade from the palette. My foundation is MUFE Ultra HD foundation. Your foundation, or bb cream will work just fine. Lips are a liquid lipstick that is actually more sheer and stays shinier. So it doesn't have the staying power of a matte liquid lipstick but it does stay on very well. The color is like a more intense color of my own lips which looks really nice. So this look is clean, fresh and a little smokey. For the hair I found this on Pinterest. I do recommend using clear elastics or really really thin elastics for it. It was really easy and something different to try. It took me about 3 minutes, if that.
So there ya go. If you have a setting spray then I recommend using it but if you don't want to that's fine too. Always have a sponge, brush or pouf in your bag to buff out any creases or dab away any shine.  I bet you never really thought you'd ever use a color wheel. They seemed like pointless little graphs in school. In makeup it's basically defined by the color wheel. So much relies on in. I didn't think much about this until I was watching Samantha from Batalash's eye shadow basics video, where she talks about using a color wheel to get inspiration for eye looks. Then as I thought about it I realized how much I used a color wheel without even thinking about it. You need to know what compliments other colors or cancels other colors out. So in terms of eye shadow the colors that are opposite each other are the ones that will "compliment" each other or "make the other stand out more". The ones beside each other are those that will blend better. In short there are two ways I use a color wheel: to correct things like dark circles, and redness. The other way is to see what colors are going to make others "pop" and what colors will blend easily into each other with eye shadows.  So lets talk shadow. All the looks above are looks that use colors that are on the opposite side of each other, and one that is colors that are beside each other or in the same color family. So the top left is a yellow green with blue, and orange in the crease. Which are all on the opposite sides of each other. The top right is using two colors to blend that are beside each other which were purple and pink and then a pop of really bright orange-ish yellow which is across from those. So the crease is easy to blend because the colors are close to one another in tone but you still get that pop of color in the center where you used your opposite shade. The bottom left is colors that blend easily. Which gives you a "gradient effect" with eye shadow. That one fades from orange to a pink, like an ombre effect. The last one, bottom right, is one of my all time favorite combinations. I love doing it. It's beautiful. A cool toned purple with a soft peach. You can go as soft or as bright as you want, this in particular is a very light shiny peach color on the inner corner so it looks extra pale. The purple goes from lighter to dark. The crease is a darker peach to really make that purple stand out. This is one of the prettiest combinations I think there is actually.
Next is "color correcting". Which I'm sure you've heard of. I actually use this every day. I use a peach corrector under my eyes to cancel out purple tones. You can also use peach shades to correct veins or sunspots. I use a yellow toned concealer to help cancel out the blue under my eyes. Yellow concealer will blend in easier with my foundation as well. I use yellow based foundations to cancel out pink in my skin (not redness just a pink undertone). Even though it's not directly opposite on the chart, I find that pink (lighter pinks) are better canceled out with yellow tones and yellow is very brightening. If you have redness, like full blown redness, then green correctors are your friend. You don't have to use tons of colored concealer though. Smashbox has color correcting primers in green and peach colors. Blue correctors brightens light skin, Pink and Yellow brightens light to medium skin (depending on your undertone in your skin), Peach brightens medium to tan skin, and Caramel brightens darker complexions. Makeup Forever also has a good selection of primers as well and I think NYX does as well. I'm sure there are color correcting bb creams but I've never used any color correcting bb creams though. LA Girl and NYX have nice color correcting concealers that are affordable and work really well. So that's it. I hope I explained it in a way that you could understand it. Even while I was typing this out I was thinking "how do I put this into words and make sense?" lol. Anyway, inspect your skin and if you have some issues like uneven skin tone, dark areas, or redness, perhaps try a concealer or primer to see if that helps you. Keep in mind your foundation is going to cover any corrector you put on your face so you're not going to have a "green" cast or look "orange" from a primer or correcting concealer. Feel free to experiment, it's just makeup and it washes off.  ***this above picture is the full size product photo from Sephora. Recently, I got the new Makeup Forever Artist Plexi Gloss in shade 202 (unfortunately out of stock right now). It came in the Give Me Some Lip set from Sephora. Which if you haven't looked at it, it's a very nice set. I actually don't have a lot of glosses. I've never really liked them actually they get in my nerves when they're super sticky or too minty. This however, I want every shade they have. This is $19. This specific color is gorgeous. Is a peachy pink. It's not sticky but has a lot of shine to it. It's not super thick either to wear it gets goopey. It's not thin to wear it will run all over the place either. It's just a solid gloss. I'm going to get the clear one next because I really feel like a clear gloss is all you need for gloss. This is absolutely fantastic though. The applicator is a strange applicator it's tear drop shaped with a cut in one side. I still can't figure out that purpose but it's still nice and cool. They come in 35 colors from sheer, to opaque, and a clear one. I'm a huge fan, I think gloss is coming back in a big way. As opposed to the matte look so I suggest giving these a try.  These are the swatches from the Give Me Some Lip set. MUFE 202 is the last one on the right.  I'm wearing 202 over Tarte Coral Blossom that I applied very very sheer and then added the gloss over top.
 This bad boy is the #shapematters palette from Smashbox. It's a 3 palettes in one palette. It's incredibly convenient. I got this in my Epic Rewards gift from Sephora. I was afraid some of it wouldn't be the best quality like some palettes can be. You usually get one thing or a few that aren't as good quality. I can truly say from packaging to product they hit it out of the park,. It's amazing quality from the shadows to the contour to the brows. It's sturdy packaging with a huge mirror and double ended brush. I'm very VERY impressed with this. It comes with a "lookbook insert" for face, eyes, and brows, that you literally just scan over your phone and it shows you a video. It's a very revolutionary concept although I haven't tried the cards yet. This goes for $65 at Sephora. It comes with: 9 best selling shadows (3 shimmers and 6 mattes) Contour, Bronze, Highlight and Shimmery Highlight Brow Wax 2 Brow Powders in Taupe and Soft Brown   Left side is all the eye shadows. Swatches from Top to Bottom are:
Top Right is the "face" section. Top to bottom is:
Bottom Right is the brow section. left is Taupe and right is Soft Brown The brow wax is clear so it can't be swatched. I use it with an angled brush. I do prefer brow gel as opposed to clear wax. It works just fine though. <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/13981591/?claim=s75xcy49khq">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> This will definitely be going with me if I'm having to travel anywhere or touch up makeup possibly. It's big and kinda bulky but it has everything you need. I personally prefer that than having a ton of small compacts or brow pencils that can get lost in makeup bags or whatever. It's just convenient and it's great quality as well, so even though you'd have to stay on the neutral side that would be fine because it's still gorgeous and fantastic formulas.
 Sephora has come out with the new "Give Me Some Lip" set this year. Last years is also still available. I got it and really liked it especially cause they're affordable ($25). This years I can tell you is a lot better. You get a really nice mix of lipstick, liquid lipstick, tinted balm, and gloss. I'm really impressed and the packaging..............so cute. I will be keeping it on my vanity just cause it's so dang cute.  So you get: Kat Von D Lolita (very popular) Fresh Sugar Rose tinted lip balm Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Crème in Je T'Aime Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Coral Blossom Makeup Forever Artist Plexi Gloss 202 Sephora Rouge Infusion The Neutrals in 19 Peony  Swatches from left to right are: Sephora, Kat Von D, Marc Jacobs, Tarte, Fresh Sugar Rose, MUFE gloss
The Sephora Rouge Infusion is really pretty. I've always been a fan of Sephora liquid lipsticks though. They have good formula and they've never disappointed me. This particular line is more sheer. It's not the pigment of a liquid lipstick which can be like a mask. Its long wearing but it's actually not as pigmented as it swatches. It's a little more sheer like I said. Kat Von D Lolita is a cult favorite right now. It's quite brown. I'm so excited to finally have it. This is just a deluxe size but honestly that will last a long time. You'd be surprised just how far lipsticks and mascaras go before they run out or need to be thrown away. Usually they end up going bad before you can use it all. I always recommend getting a deluxe sample if you can at all of mascara. At least you'll get more use out of it. I have some "dupes" of this color but I must say that this formula is very nice. It's a perfect fall shade. Marc Jacobs is a really pretty rose shade.I wouldn't say it was neutral, it's on the more bright side but still wearable. It's very pigmented. It's a good fall transition shade I think. To transition you from summer into fall. It's very creamy and shiny. They're just all around good lipsticks. The Tarte lipstick is a full sized lipstick. Which is awesome. The packaging is adorable. It's very shiny and moisturizing. The coral color is bright and very fun for summer. I already have another color in this. They're a little sheer due to how moisturizing they are I think, but they're still very pretty. Not long wearing though. So take it with you if you're wearing it out. Fresh Sugar Rose is actually not my favorite. It's great if you need a subtle tint but I don't like that. Their balms tend to be too waxy for my liking. I have the regular version and I already had this one. It's still good, it's just not something I'm into. Makeup Forever Plexi gloss is really nice. The applicator is very cool. It's a gorgeous color. I'm actually interested in every gloss in this whole line now. I feel like gloss is really making a comeback. Matte lips where so popular for such a long time but I think gloss is really gonna be popular again soon. The have a clear version in the line and I'd like to get it as well. This color though is truly pretty. It has no shimmer, it's a peachy pink, it's the prettiest gloss I own to be honest. I give this set a huge thumbs up from price, to packaging, to product it's just a steal I think. If you want to try out some new things I recommend this all the way. |
ErinI'm from Tennessee. I'm a makeup and skincare lover. I have always enjoyed creating looks but I love to help people with product knowledge and application even more. I've been able to start blogging and do these things I love because God has seen fit to bless me with the opportunity. Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me! 
  
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