Rainy Day Blues

The weather the past few days has been pretty wet and dreary and while I'm usually a sunshine kind of girl, I have enjoyed the cozy feeling of being warm and comfy inside, watching the rain through the windows. It has also inspired my nail polish color choice! While searching through my polish collection for something fun and fall-ish I came across my Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish in Grey by Grey. I have a few colors from this line but this one is my favorite. It's nice blue grey color that reminds me of rain clouds. It seemed perfect for this week. 

As an added bonus, the Salon Manicure polish dries fast and stays put very well. I applied two coats and a top coat ( it's formulated not to need a top coat but with darker colors I like to have a little extra shine). I feel like I'm eternally waging war against chipping nail polish but I'm on day three with this color and it still looks as nice as the day I applied.. yay!!
Now I think I might just curl up with a good book and some hot chocolate. Happy rainy Friday (=

Watch Your Mouth!!

It just might upstage your outfit!

(please forgive my lack of photography skills! These were taken with my cell phone, haha)

Survival Kit

I talk to people a lot about makeup. Probably more than many of them would like, hehe. In all this talking I have noticed that there are a lot of ladies out that who feel overwhelmed by the makeup world. Let's face it, there are tons of brands, each offering their own multitude of options on any conceivable product. With all these glorious choices it can be a little hard to narrow the focus and decide what products you really Need to have in your makeup bag and what can safely stay on the shelf. I decided it would be a fun challenge to come up with a Survival Kit if you will, for makeup. Maybe you are one of the aforementioned people who are not sure where to begin in your makeup endeavors or perhaps your makeup bag overflowith and you're having a hard time narrowing down you choices, or somewhere in the middle. No matter what, I'm going to give you a really simple list of products that will get you through anything; your first foray into the makeup world, a weekend away, or just your daily grind. Here's a shot of my Survival kit.

Please disregard the wear and tear on the products pictured, they're from my personal stash and they get used quite a bit! Okay, so here's what you'll need for your own Survival Kit:


1) A liquid foundation that matches your skin tone.
         I have found liquid foundation to be the easiest to work with on a day to day basis. It gives good coverage and you don't need any special brushes to apply it. Just dab a drop on your forehead, cheeks, nose and chin then blend it out with your fingers.  Be sure that the foundation you pick matches your skin tone! The last thing you want is an orange face. If your not sure you can make the match alone, take a friend with you the first time you buy a new brand. My hubby is my helper, he has a good eye for it :) Go with whatever brand you like and works best for you. If you don't know where to start I recommend CoverGirl's Clean foundation. It has a nice balance of good coverage without looking oily.   



2) Cream Blush
     I'm a major fan of cream blushes. They give a nice "glow from the inside" look. It's quite a bit harder to mess up with a cream blush because the color is more subtle and blends more thoroughly. You can apply this with your fingers as well. Dab some on the apples of your cheeks then blend in and up toward your temple. I like E.L.F's cream blush in Pink Lemonade.

3) An Eye shadow Trio
       If you don't know where to start with eyeshadow a trio is a great buy. I like Almay's Intense i-color pallettes. They are each made for a specific eye color and the three colors look great alone or seperate. If you want something casual a light wash in the medium shade looks nice or for something more dramatic blend the three colors. There is even a handy dandy diagram on the back of the compact to show you what color goes where!

4) A Waterproof Mascara
    Seriously, non-water proof mascara is just a pain. When shopping for a new brand, remember; the brush makes the mascara! Different shapes and textures make the mascara go on your lashes...differently (I'm not sure there's a better way to put that haha).  My current fave for everyday use is Maybelline Volum' Express One by One. The brush seperates the lashes so they don't look thick and clumpy and the formula stays put pretty well.

5) A Lipstick that you Love & a clear Gloss
    This one is fairly self explanatory. Lip colors are probably the most fun to shop for because it's really hard to go wrong. An easy rule of thumb is if you're going to wear dark eyeshadow, go for a more nude lip color and visca versa. Other than that, find a color that makes you feel pretty and rock it! A clear gloss is alway great to have on hand, you can spiff up  bare lips or wear it over your lipstick for more oompf.
My favorites are NYC clear gloss and Maybelline Color Sensational lipsticks.

These six products can get you through nearly any situation makeup is required and can provide a stress free introduction to figuring out makeup application for beginners. The best part is it won't break your bank. My six products cost me just around $26 and they can all be found at either WalMart of Target. Have fun putting your Survival Kit together :)

What about you? Do you have any Go-To products when you're in a hurry or packing for a trip? Share!

Fall Trend Spotting

Despite the fact that it still feels like a sauna outside, Fall is on it's way! As much as I love summer, Autum is my favorite season (unless Christmas counts as a season, hehe). I love playing with layers : cardigans, scarves, tights, the possibilites are endless! I also love the fun color pallettes that come with Fall makeup looks. I've been scouring fashion magazines to see what fun upcoming trends I can spot. Here are a few that I love:

1) Red!! Red lipstick, red nail polish, red dresses, red heels...you name it, it's going to be big this fall.  I've seen a major turn towards retro classic looks recently in fashion and beauty. Loads of pearls, curls and red lipstick. I love this look, it just shouts Marilyn Monroe to me and I think it's a glam that anyone can pull off. Stay posted, I may just have to do a red lipstick look soon!

2) Colorful Smokey Eyes. The obsession with smokey eyes continues but makeup artists are starting to play around with different palettes. If the black on black look is too bold for you, take heart! Greens, purples and browns can also be used to make a smouldering smokey eye that's a little more playful than it's predcessor.

3) Essie "Carry On" Fall collection.  Okay, I'm not sure this actually counts as a trend, but I seriously heart Essie's new nail polish colours for this fall. Inspired by handbags, there are some lovely neutral's that will play nice with any outfit. My favorite, "Power Clutch"

I'm a big fan of grey's and this one is perfect. It goes great with anything, but I really love it paired with jewel tones...especially reds!

So there you go, a few fun Fall looks to get excited about. What about you? What Fall looks do you love so far? Anything you can't wait to try for yourself?  Let me know!

Pool-Proof Your Peepers

Somehow it's already mid-July, summer is in full swing and the heat index is not playing around. I love the perks of summer: tank tops and shorts, long days, lots of swimming and hopefully a vacation thrown in there somewhere. One of the things I really don't enjoy is the constant struggle to find makeup that will actually stay on through the heat and humidity and not end up slding off my face 1.5 seconds after I step outside. As I was pondering this it occured to me that there are even fewer makeup options that can withstand swimming. So I decided to take a few of my fun new products on a test run.  Product number one: Hard Candy- Lash Ink.

I bought mine at Wal Mart. It claims to be lash stain that will last for 4 days, rain or shine, rub proof and water proof. 
Product number two: Nyx-Slide On Eyeliner Pencil

I picked up mine at Ulta. I chose Azure (the really bright blue shade in the middle) to go with my swim suit. This is also supposed to be long-wearing and water proof.
So after a long day of swimming and an unladylike amount of sweating...the result?
They worked!!
The Lash Ink was deffinately a runaway success. I was a bit doubtful when applying it. It goes on pretty cakey. The applicator brush is not my favorite. I used lash comb to spread the product evenly on my lashes and make sure I didn't look like I had trurantula eyes.  After swimming and plenty of eye rubbing I had no racoon circles under my eyes ( my personal favorite *sarcasm*) and no crumbly mascara bits anywhere to be seen. My lashes still looked fresh and pretty.
The eyeliner was not quite as impressive but still did pretty well. It was a little faded and a little smushed to the corners of my eyes (from the aforementioned eye rubbing). There was no slidey-all-over-my-face mess, however, and it still looked pretty darn cute.
So.. if you want to give your eyes a little extra somethin' somethin' this summer I deffinately recommend these two products. Wearing a swim suit can be a little intimidating sometimes, maybe knowing that your eye makeup looks perfect even in the pool will give you a little extra boost of confidence. It did for me!
Happy Swimming :)

Oh No! Zombies!!

One of my makeup related hobbies is playing around with costume makeup ideas. I have fun doing crazy makeup for myself and my friend's Halloween costumes as well as messing around with Lady Gagaesque looks on myself. 
A few days ago I had the brilliant idea to try my hand at zombie makeup. Only one problem...I needed a model. I get tired of doing all my looks on myself and it's way more fun to transform someone else once in while. So I used my wifely influence to convince my husband (read:pleaded with my best puppy dog eyes) to let me try it out on him. With much cringing on his part we go started. Here is the result:

I just used the makeup I had on hand. I don't have any actual costume makeup. I used a green concealer (usually used to camouflage redness) liberally all over, being careful not to make it too even. I then used matte white and brown eye shadow to give his skin a mottled look. To make the bruising under his eyes and around his "head wound" I mixed purple and burgundy eye shadows. His head wound and bloody mouth are just red lipstick and red lip gloss. 

It's not exactly Hollywood ready, but I had fun experimenting with outside of the box uses for  my everyday makeup.    ......And I think the hubby had fun modeling his postmortem look. :)

Confessions of a Makeup Addict

Remember when you were a little kid, watching your mom get ready to go out? I was always fascinated by my mom's getting ready routine; curling her hair, picking out the perfect accessories...and my favorite part...The Makeup.
I would watch intently as she dabbed and blotted and brushed. The colors were so pretty and I just longed to know to look so Grown Up.  I still remember the absolute bliss of buying my first makeup when I was thirteen. I was allowed to pick out my own eyeshadow and lipstick. I got bright blue shadow and banana scented purple lipstick.  Haha. My taste have changed a little since then but the little giddy feeling is still there whenever I pick out a new eye shadow palette or mascara.
I firmly believe that no woman Needs to wear makeup to look good and feel good about herself. It's more like icing on the cake. Really fun icing.
So this is going to be my outlet to share all my makeup related adventures. Experimenting with new products, trying to figure out new looks and anything else you might be interested in reading about. So here we go!