Lions Tigers and Nails : Makeup Looks

'Sugar Skull' Makeup Look

Halloween is my favorite holiday and in recent years I've been experimenting around with Halloween face painting kits that you get from Target. This year I decided to turn my face into a Sugar Skull from the Mexican Day of the Dead Holiday. I find the design of Sugar Skulls to be extremely intricate and artistic. The bright, jubilant colors are appealing against a white background so they really stand out.

Traditionally, symbols and figures of Halloween are always dark and spooky like the Grim Reaper, however, Sugar Skulls introduce a new personality to our ghoulish holiday. This being said I got myself yet another face paint kit from Target and decided to transform into a Sugar Skull.

I started off by priming my face with the Benefit Porefector primer, which I bought a while ago from Macy's for only $10 since I picked up the sample size package. Once my face was matte I used my fingers to spread around the white cream makeup from the Halloween kit. The makeup was very buildable and pigmented and easy to work with. I did not apply this around my eyes. The only thing I'd do differently next time with regard to this is using a makeup sponge to apply and spread the makeup.

Afterward, I began working on my eye area. I took a very black eyeshadow from my Makeup Essentials Classic 10 palette and applied that to my brow bone, eyelid, and undereye area. Below that I applied a bright sky blue eyeshadow from a palette I bought from Macy's. I didn't apply any of the black cream makeup from the Halloween kit since it isn't recommended that you get this product anywhere near your eyes.

I applied the black cream makeup to my nose, however, in somewhat of a triangular shape. This was extremely pigmented and creamy so less is more! I used the colorful grease-based makeup from the Halloween palette to apply pink, orange, and blue dots around my face in an unplanned pattern. My goal was just to add enough color without overdoing the look.

For my lips I applied a hot pink lipstick that I got from Walgreens. I used Wet n' Wild's Don't Blink Pink which went really well with this look and also looks great as a regular everyday lippie. The lipstick added more fun to the look!

Lastly I topped it off with a spookily cool headband (see what I did there?) I bought it from Walgreens and, to be honest, this headband is what inspired me to do this look. I was with my brother checking out decorations and this headband was hiding on the bottom shelf. The colorful flowers and the skull on top reminded me of Sugar Skulls and I knew I had to buy it and create this look!

There you have it - my Halloween Sugar Skull makeup look!

Happy Halloween!

'TASTE THE RAINBOW' EYE MAKEUP

I used to be a big Skittles lover. The enticing little pebbles came in all the deliciously sweet colors of the rainbow and, to top off the experience, the candies had a crunchy shell and soft inside - the ultimate mindblower for a seven year-old. Though I don't like Skittles anymore, I decided to pay homage to the popular candy by doing this makeup look.

Now, first things first, I am so clearly NOT a professional makeup artist so don't mind whatever tiny mistakes I might've made if you're a professional makeup artist who happens to be reading this (if you are, WOW, I am super honored!) but if you don't see anything wrong with my makeup application then yay!

So, I know some people might find it a bit strange that I used a combination of yellow, green, blue, and pink eyeshadow - some people might not even dare leave their room looking like this let alone post a picture to Twitter but I took one for the team and decided to do this to inspire any of y'all who are curious and want to experiment with their eyeshadow a bit.

Method...

The first thing I did was was apply eyeshadow primer to my lids and a little under my eyes. I used the original Urban Decay formula to do this. Primer helps your eyeshadow last longer and really good quality primer can help prevent your eyeshadow from creasing.
I went in with my ELF studio eyeshadow brush and put a generous amount of the bright green color that I drew a heart around in the picture on the bottom left. This eyeshadow palette doesn't name their shades, unfortunately. I applied this green color to the inner corners of my eyes and to the first quarter of my eyelids. I also applied a bit just under my lower lash line.
The next color I used was a fun yellow (which actually matches my backpack!). I applied that to the second quarter of my eyelid and blended it a tiny bit with the green. I also applied this color just under my lower lash line like I did with the green.
Next, I took the bright blue that I also drew a heart around in the picture and I applied that to the rest of my eyelid and outer corner of my eye. This color is one of my favorites on this palette.
Finally, I took the pink that you see from the palette and I used it as a crease color. The pink actually looks more like a cranberry color but I felt that it was a good accent for the look.
I finished off the look by doing a very thin line of eyeliner on my lid using my ELF cream eyeliner. I also applied one coat of the Maybelline Pumped Up mascara.

There you have it!

This was my tribute to Skittles! I suggest topping the look off with a bright pink lip but only true Skittles fans can accept that challenge ;)

MAKEUP LOOK: I'M GETTING SUNBURNED

I think it's cool how Wet n' Wild has those nice little eyeshadow trios that tell you wear to apply each color because, let's face it, we can't all be pros at eyeshadow application. I certainly am NOT a pro in any way shape or form, as you can probably tell by my pictures above but I felt that I did a decent enough job to upload it to my blog!

I purchased this trio from Wet n' Wild called I'm Getting Sunburned from Walgreens for about $1.49 which was extremely cheap and Wet n' Wild's products usually are pretty good so I decided to give this trio a shot. The trio has a golden colored eyeshadow which is meant to be applied to the eyelid, a chocolate brown shadow for the crease, and a diluted light pink for the brow bone. All of the colors have a bit of a shimmer to them. Now, I'm not a fan of shimmery eyeshadows because I wear a (heavy) full face foundation everyday and I don't like feeling and looking like I caked on a lot of makeup and shimmer was always something that I felt could enhance my flaws (which I absolutely did not want!) and add to that "makeup overload" kind of look so I always avoided it even when it looked amazing on other people, though, I bought this trio anyway because I was attracted to the gold and pink.

So the first thing I did was apply an eyeshadow primer. The one I used is from Urban Decay's original formula. I took my ELF Professional Eyeshadow Brush and began applying the gold color all over my lid. Afterwards, I applied the brown to my crease. This is where I started going wrong...

I purposely applied a bit of brown over the gold on the outer corner of my eye because I thought it would look good but then I realized that it didn't so I tried blending it out as much as possible. Did I save the day? I don't know, you tell me.

Then I took the pink and applied it to my brow bone. The pink was way more sheer and shimmery than I thought it would look. I'm glad that it kind of looks decent in the top picture but otherwise I'm not certain if people would be able to tell that it's light pink and not some kind of white. After I was done with the triplets I applied my ELF cream eyeliner in my classic winged style and applied my two favorite mascaras - Maybelline Mega Plush and Maybelline Pumped Up. I applied my Revlon foundation to my entire face and around my eyes to clean up any stray marks I might've made with the eyeshadow.

Points for improvement:

Go easy on the crease color. Crease colors are usually dark and I feel like I applied a little too much of the brown on my eyeshadow brush.
Stick to matte eyeshadows. In my opinion, I wasn't made for shimmer - NOT a match made in heaven! Overall I feel like this look is just okay on me but it might have served me better if the shadows were matte.
Learn crease techniques. Again with my crease color - I think that this is the biggest issue I had because applying color to the eyelid is easy enough but I think that my crease techniques must improve for an overall better look.

There you have it - my makeup look using the I'm Getting Sunburned trio from Wet n' Wild! This was a fun way to pass the time at 11:30 at night when you're bored and have nothing to do! =) I hope to try out other makeup looks, especially from my Naked 2 palette because I bought it two years ago and have used a total of just 3 times...oops...

18 TIMES NOT WEARING EYELINER FELT GREAT!

*note: this is an extension of my previous post on 6 Reasons Why Not Wearing Eye Makeup Feels Great!

If you know me, you probably know that I’m never not wearing my eyeliner-mascara combo. Like many other college girls on campus, I rock my winged liner to class daily, complete with enough mascara to give me jumbo eyelashes. Maybe I’ll wear some eyeshadow here and there - maybe. Today I decided that my eyes should go naked for a change and that change was quite pleasant! I took on the day’s challenges without my Maybelline Mega Plush mascara. Here are some times when you were able to breathe easy without your eye makeup on:

1. When you can touch your eyes freely.

This is a major plus if it’s allergy season and your eyes are itching like crazy! Throughout the day if I felt the need to rub my eye, I didn’t have to worry about smudging my eyeliner because I wasn’t wearing any! We’ve probably all been there at some point during our makeup journeys - we have to touch our eyes for whatever reason but we have to be extra cautious (and extra annoyed) with it because we don’t want to ruin our eye makeup. Not today!

2. When you aren’t concerned with how you look.

This was interesting for me because I usually tend to wear a lot of makeup and my college life basically consists of people seeing me in eye makeup all the time. Girls who tend to do the same thing might be inclined to feel a little insecure without it, however, I didn’t once wonder how good or bad I looked today. My looks were so far out of my head since I didn’t have to wonder if my eyeliner still looked a flawless as it did when I first applied it.

3. When you don’t waste time making sure your mascara doesn’t clump.

Mascara can trick us all from time to time. One day you might get the perfect application, complete with the right amounts of length, volume, and curl and then somedays you might mess up slightly and end up with clumpy eyelashes. I doubt most girls are a fan of their mascara making their eyelashes look like giant spider legs and de-clumping can be a real pain in the butt!

4. When you don’t end up with mascara marks on your brow bone.

Raise your hand if this has happened to you at least a few times - you apply mascara and the wand accidentally touches your brow bone, leaving black marks above your eye. Anyone have kleenex? Situation two: your eyelashes are so long that they sometimes touch your skin and leave mascara marks. It happens - you’re not alone! Did I get any mascara on my brow bone today? Absolutely not.

5. When you don’t get mascara smudges on your glasses.

I don’t wear glasses (except for my go-to sunglasses) but I can imagine how annoying it must be to take off your glasses and see black streaks on the lenses. This can happen when you wear glasses but the mascara makes your eyelashes super long. Then you’d have to curl them so they’re less likely to touch the lenses. That’s literally double the work!

6. When you don’t have to swirl the wand to get product out.

I’ll admit it - I’m a swirler. It irks me when I pull my mascara wand out of the tube to apply product to my eyelashes and it seems as though there’s barely anything on the wand. It sometimes makes me wonder if there’s even any product left inside the tube! If you also tend to vigorously swirl the wand inside the tube to get product out, rest assured that you’ll skip that step for the day.

7. When no creasing means no problem.

Sometimes when we wear eyeshadow it tends to crease after a while, which ends up making our masterpieces look unclean and the opposite of pretty - a disgrace to our amazing makeup skills! Whatever gorgeously wild color combination you might have played with barely stood a chance. Creasing can be one of your worst enemies when you’re rocking eyeshadow - it’ll make sure you don’t rock it too long! Without adding eyeshadow, creasing is literally nonexistent.

8. When you don’t end up with overly-smoky eyes.

Yes, there IS such a thing as an overly-smoky eye! It’s not intentional of course, but sometimes we just go a little overboard - especially if we’re a bit heavy handed. Smoky eyes can sometimes be tricky to get the hang of, anyway. Luckily, if you’re taking the day off from eye makeup, it won’t matter if you usually fail at smoky eyes (like I do!) Ahhh, a breath of fresh air!

9. When you don’t under-blend your eyeshadow.

Ever try to recreate colorfully gorgeous eyeshadow from Tumblr or Pinterest except when you do it it’s just sections of blue, green, yellow, and purple sitting on your eyelids rather than a harmonious blend of the shadows resting gracefully on your eyelids? Yeah. So have I. If you don’t make a grab for the eyeshadow you run the risk of not accidentally making yourself look like a clown! Don’t get me wrong, clowns are cute, too - when they’re at the circus and people know they’re makeup is done that way on purpose.

10. When you just can’t get that Tumblr eyeshadow look

And you wasted a good fifteen minutes from your morning routine to hopefully nail it! When this happens to me I always shake my head in annoyance and ultimately decide to remove it if it looks far off from what I was trying to achieve. Sigh, all that work for nothing. Here’s a Tumblr look that looks gorgeous and best of all anyone can create it: the no-makeup face. The trick is to just not wear makeup!

11. When you don’t accidentally poke your eyeball.

We’ve all gone through that stage when we were first figuring out the eyeliner application process. It was like some sort of “initiation” before we became good at putting on eyeliner. We probably look back at our naive high school eyeliner days and laugh but it’s not impossible for it to happen to us again. If you’re planning to skip the eyeliner for the day then I promise you, you will also skip that slightly-painful-for-ten-seconds poke in the eye.

12. When you get an even eyeliner application.

The secret is not wearing eyeliner! Have you ever had those mornings where you do perfect eyeliner on one eye and try to recreate that perfection on the other eye and it just doesn’t work? One eye has more eyeliner than the other; one eyeliner wing is longer than the other; one wing is shorter than the other - I could go on and on about the numerous ways in which we mess up on our eyeliner. Opting to not wear eyeliner takes away the eyeliner mistakes for the day. I didn’t have to spend time attempting to fix any of my eyeliner mistakes because there were none to make!

13. When you’re eyeliner decides to relocate to other parts of your face.

Your eyeliner decided to pull a “Dora the Explorer” on you and is now somewhere by your eyebrow. Stop being so adventurous, eyeliner, I’m trying to look like I know how to apply makeup! It’s a blessed day indeed when you apply your eyeliner in the morning, attend class all day, and return to your room after 10p.m. to find that your eyeliner stayed right where you left it.

14. When there’s no need to rush your morning routine.

Eye makeup application can potentially take up a good chunk of your morning routine. We all wish that we can snap our fingers three times and have the world’s most perfect eyeliner sitting on our eyelids, however, that kind of sorcery doesn’t exist in our world. Getting breakfast with a friend but you’re running late because you’re trying to perfectly wing your eyeliner will very likely earn you a few irritated texts. Without eye makeup you can drastically cut your morning routine by a good fifteen to twenty minutes.

15. When you don’t feel “overly made-up”.

Sometimes it can be really easy for us to feel like we applied a little too much makeup this morning. Eyeliner and mascara might look great today but tomorrow we might look in the mirror and say that the eyeliner is a bit too much. Don’t ask why we do this, it’s probably just a weird girl thing. This feeling doesn’t exist when you give the eyeliner and mascara a break and truth be told, the feeling of freedom is sweet.

16. When the water works come on.

Maybe you’re a crier - it’s not your fault you’re so in touch with your emotions so why does your makeup have to punish you for it? Maybe you’re like me and you laugh so hard that you have two mini waterfalls coming out of your eyes. Either way, mascara and/or eyeliner can be your worst enemy when the water works come on. You don’t even want to think about how bad it is when you don’t have spare tissue in your pockets!

17. When people don’t give you weird looks at the gym.

I’ll admit it, I’m sometimes that girl at the gym who wears eyeliner and mascara while she works out. I sometimes get raised eyebrows in my direction as people wonder why I’m wearing so much makeup when I’m just going to sweat through it all and ruin it. It can sometimes be annoying but it’s nothing a little eye-roll can’t fix. As Taylor Swift once said, “shake it off,” but for the record it’s also a cool day when you aren’t being silently judged for winged eyeliner at the gym.

18. When you’re pissed off and everything you do is a fail.

Applying eye makeup when you’re in a bad mood should just be a fire hazard. Just stop, drop the eyeliner, and roll on off to class. Save yourself what little patience you have left and just let your eyelids breathe for the day. You’ll thank yourself tomorrow when you’re in a better mood!

Winged eyeliner, smoky eyes, colorful eyeshadow, gigantic lashes, and things of the nature are all super pretty but no eye makeup is ALSO pretty! For those days where you throw up your hands in annoyance because you can’t get the winged liner right, or you angrily storm away from your mascara tube because your eyelashes refuse to de-clump, now you have 18 great reasons to feel great about skipping the makeup routine for a day!

6 REASONS WHY NOT WEARING EYE MAKEUP FEELS GREAT!

If you know me, you probably know that I’m never not wearing my eyeliner-mascara combo. Like many other college girls on campus, I rock my winged liner to class daily, complete with enough mascara to give me jumbo eyelashes. Maybe I’ll wear a some eyeshadow here and there - maybe. Today I decided that my eyes should go naked for a change and that change was quite pleasant! Here are some reasons that might make you consider giving the eyeliner a break for the day:

1. YOU CAN TOUCH YOUR EYES FREELY

2. YOU FEEL LESS CONCERNED WITH HOW YOU LOOK

3. YOU DON’T WASTE TIME MAKING SURE YOUR MASCARA DOESN’T CLUMP

4. NO CREASING, NO PROBLEM

5. NO OVERLY-SMOKY EYES

6. YOU GET AN EVEN EYELINER APPLICATION

Winged eyeliner, smoky eyes, colorful eyeshadow, gigantic lashes, and things of the nature are all super pretty but no eye makeup is ALSO pretty! For those days where you throw up your hands in annoyance because you can’t get the winged liner right, or you angrily storm away from your mascara tube because your eyelashes refuse to de-clump, now you have 6 great reasons to feel great about skipping the makeup routine for a day!

TESTING: NYX LIPSTICK IN HESTIA

I had been looking for a pretty, dark almost wine colored lipstick for a few weeks now. I used to have the Jordana lipstick in Country Wine which was beautiful, moisturizing, and did I mention beautiful? I threw it out, though, because it was my mom's and she's had it for years upon years and I took it from her, used it a few times then realized she's probably had since I was in middle school and figured prolonged use wouldn't be good for my lips so I tossed it ^^

I was looking for a replacement lippie for myself and I've used NYX lip creams in the past but didn't really want a matte finish so I went to the store and picked up Hestia. This line of NYX lipsticks are named after things from Greek Mythology. The color I was originally looking for was called Siren which had a bit of violet to it that I was in love with but since I couldn't find it, I decided to take a chance on Hestia and was glad I did!!

The lipstick is creamy and has a beautiful but not overdone shine to it so your lips look hydrated! Unfortunately, in the picture I took (shown above) you cannot see the actual color payoff because of the lighting. I tried taking the picture form multiple angles but this was the best I could take but, if it helps, IT IS TRUE TO THE COLOR SHOWN ON THE PACKAGING. This being said, if you're shopping around for a deep wine colored red, the Hestia you see on the packaging is exactly how it looks when you apply two nice coats.

I am really happy with the way this lipstick looks, especially against my skin! Give this a shot for sure, and if you aren't into this shade of red, try other lipsticks from NYX. Before I forget to mention, I got this from a Beauty Supply store for only $4.99! =)

5 BEAUTY PRODUCTS I'M DYING TO TRY!!

Hey y'all! Here I am with a list of beauty products that I really would like to try out! Nothing much to it, nothing too special here - just me and my wishlist =)

HERBAL ESSENCES HONEY I'M STRONG SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER: For the next year I will be working on repairing the damage to my hair that came as a result of dying my hair a lot. There are several things I'm looking for in a new shampoo and conditioner: First of all, it has to do it's job - in this case, strengthening my hair. Second, it has to make my hair feel soft. In middle school, I went through tons of products that left my hair dry, frizzy, and not in anyway touchable. I came out of those dark ages a long time ago and I don't intend to go back! Third, it has to cost under $10 because who doesn't love a quality product that fits the budget? Finally, it has to smell really nice because I am obsessed with products that smell really good and I want my hair to smell beautiful! I've used Herbal Essences products before and they smell divine! I've checked out some reviews on this product and I think that it will definitely work well for me so I can't wait to purchase this product!
L'OREAL PARIS FALL REPAIR HAIR MASK: Another product I'm hoping to get my hands on in my quest to improve the quality of my hair! I've used the L'oreal Oleo Therapy hair mask for about a year now and the product leaves my hair feeling soft, shiny, and smooth so I definitely have a liking towards L'oreal masks. In the last few months, however, I've been experiencing some crazy kind of hair fall that I'd like to reduce. I have extremely thick hair so it isn't noticeable at all but I'd like to stop the hair fall in its tracks before it becomes a big deal. I looked at a review for this product on YouTube and the woman doing the review used the product for a period of two months and it significantly reduced her hair fall! She actually had more hair fall than I am experiencing right now so I really have high hopes for this product! Keep in mind that she used the mask with its respective shampoo and conditioner, however, she believes that the mask was what diminished her hair fall so I will use the mask and write a review for you guys after a few months!
BURT'S BEES HERBAL DEODERANT: I've been using Secret deodorant for maybe two years now and it's great, it really is, however, I am suddenly on the lookout for a better drugstore deodorant. My concern with Secret is that after a while the yummy, fruity scent "mixes" with the odor from sweat and in my opinion it doesn't smell pleasant. I've never had anyone tell me that I stink or that I should change deodorants but since I am hauling products to take back to college with me I figured I might as well try to combat this before it turns into an issue. I have read reviews and I am very well aware that this deodorant does not stop you from perspiring!! I'm okay with that because first, sweat is a natural way to release toxins from the body and second, I've never had a big problem with sweat and I don't mind a small stain on my clothes under the armpit area.
MAYBELLINE PUMPED UP MASCARA: I am super excited for this one!! I know, I know, I raved about the Maybelline MegaPlush Mascara in one review and I am still in love with it but I'd really like to give this product a go! The Pumped Up Mascara promises volume which is what draws me to this product - that and the adorable pink packaging! I've seen reviews and watched demos and I'm pleased with what I've seen so I hope that this mascara can amp up the volume more than MegaPlush can! Don't be alarmed - I will use this product in combination with MegaPlush! Another reason why I am more likely to pick this product over another one of Maybelline's mascaras (just by looking at it) is the style of the brush. It's similar to that of MegaPlush, which I love, because it should be able to give me lashes in full bloom! Unlike many of the other brushes with very short and sometimes sparse bristles. Also, I saw this at my local target for only $5.99 so this is definitely a steal!
ELF STIPPLING BRUSH: I really would like a stippling brush, finally. I feel like, for me, they are difficult to come by and I hate those flat foundation brushes! I stipple my foundation into my face because I feel like it's quick and helps give me great coverage! Currently, I am using an Ecotools BB/CC Cream face brush that works better than any other foundation brush I've used thus far. Its bristles are somewhat stiff like those of a stippling brush, which I like, but I would really love to get an actual stippling brush! If I don't get the Elf brand brush then I would love the SOHO London brand, I'm sure!