Skin Care Update & Personal Update!

I am feeling so very lucky! I ended up getting that job at that Pet Hospital! I am so excited because my first day is tomorrow! Also, my midterms are finally over! I’m not sure how I did on the yet, but right now I’m not concerned. 

I actually received a wonderful gift from my amazing parents in the form of a Clarisonic. :DDDDD First of all, I get that this is expensive & not everyone can afford it (I definitely couldn’t thats why I hadn’t bought it myself). If thats you then I definitely think that you should make it an investment because you’ll see amazing results.

Anyways, my skin has been very bad these past few months & has just really killed my confidence a bit. I’m not saying that its awful, because its not. Its manageable, but honestly any acne is unbearable. SO. They ordered off of Amazon & it was a bit discounted. I was gifted the Mia 2 in white with a sensitive brush head. I’ve used it six times so far and while I’m not seeing DRAMATIC changes, I do notices little ones. My hyper-pigmentation has started to look like my normal skin tone & I haven’t had any breakouts this week!  

I’m not going to blog-tutorial this because there are hundreds on YouTube. Basically this makes your skin feel absolutely amazing. I have never felt so clean & refreshed. It gets all the crap out of your face. And if you really love makeup like I do, then you really need to make sure that your face is well cleansed. 

Midterms Are Almost Over

Ugh. It has been such a tough week. I’m about to walk into my last midterm before Spring Break & am so happy to let you all know that I will be blogging tomorrow!!! Finally! I have so much to share with you ladies!


I have been waking up at 4:30am every morning to study, so if you guys know of any good under eye concealer/eye-bag corrector please let me know! Because I’m pretty sure I look like a freaking ghoul today. Thankfully, I’ll fit right in with my class mates!

Quick Update & Interview Makeup

So I haven’t posted this weekend because I’ve been super busy. My midterms are coming up & unfortunately they aren’t spread out well this year. I have a test this week and then four the week after. So I’m pretty sure I won’t be posting much until the first of March :( So much studying to do! 

Meanwhile, I have landed an interview for a receptionist at a Pet Hospital, so I’ve been preparing big time for that. I was supposed to have an interview today, but it got rescheduled to Friday from 12pm-4pm (it consists of a working interview & a formal interview). I was kind of bummed that it got rescheduled because I had gotten up early to look presentable & prepare my notes. But looking at the brighter side of things, it gave me a great opportunity to practice my interview makeup & take pictures to show you ladies what is appropriate!

So basically for an interview you don’t want to wear a lot of makeup at all. I used foundation & an HD setting powder for confidence, a TAD of blush (seriously its hardly recognizable), and a seriously neutral eye with very little eye liner. Since you’re going to be making a lot of eye contact you want your eyes to have depth to them & look their best. To do this takes a very light hand with your eye makeup.

I used the lighter shade of brown from an old maybelline quad called Chi Latte for the crease. & then the lightest sade in the palette for the overall lid color. 

A few other quick tips:

Limit accessories to two. I’m going to be wearing stud-faux-diamond earrings & a ring. Also, don’t wear perfume! Just shower, use good smelling shampoo & your deodorant. 

Q:Hey. Just randomly came across your blog, and I love it! I'll be passing these tips on to my sisters. Keep up the great blog, and DFTBA :-)

jackbkwiq

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You are much too sweet! Let me know if any of the tips help out your sisters / which ones they like the best! XOXO

Valentine’s Day Makeup: For the Forever Alone

So you’re Forever Alone. Don’t worry. Things will be okay. 


You’re just going to be spending Valentine’s Day curled up on the couch watching GLEE while holding a cup of unbaked brownie batter. No judging here. Or if you find yourself too stinkin’ hawt stay in & watch GLEE you’re probably going out and partying/drinking with your other Forever Alone girlfriends to try & forget/fix that you’re Forever Alone. Again, no judging! Of course you wanna look like a foxy-vixen-sexy-kitten while doing this so let’s get on with this Valentine’s Day / Party-Girl look:

HAWT HAWT HAWT

SMOKEY EYES!!!::::
You can seriously buy a palette of smokey eye make up ANYWHERE. I know E.L.F. even sells a quad for a dollar but I’m using my Coastal Scents WARM palette. Just make sure you have a black, a dark silver, a light sliver & a white color eyeshadow.  

Take some black eye liner & draw all over your outer corner until you get this shape


Don’t worry about how it looks right now because you’re going to be smudging it & blending it out

Use a matte black eye shadow & place it on the eye liner. The eye liner is going to act as a base & will make the shadow appear much more expensive then it actually is. 

Take the dark silver & apply it over the middle part of the lid & make sure to connect it to the black with a bit of blending. 

Using a clean brush take a lighter silver color & apply this to the inner half of the eyelid. This will make the light catch it & add a lot of dimension to your eyes. 

Lastly, take your white eye shadow & apply it to the corner of your eye.


Line your eyes & tightline. Want fuller looking lashes? Just smudge some black eyeshadow along your lash base. Go ahead & continue it along the bottom lashes. I am wearing 3 coats of mascara here. That’s why my lashes look like freaking amazing. No flash lashes needed!! Although if you want some, I know E.L.F. sells some for a buck. However, I hear ardell lashes are the best (I don’t honestly know because I’ve never used’em).



BLENDING:::
Blend the crap out of the outer corner of your eye. You do not want any harsh lines with this look because it makes the makeup look super cheap. If you blend too much of it away, you can always add more.

For the rest of the face choose very light makeup. The eyes are so bold that if you do bold cheek color & lip color you’re going to look clownish. Nude out your lips. Here I used Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brule. You want all the attention on your eyes! 

I hope you liked this look & know that you will not be forever alone! Just wait for the perfect guy. I promise that although life seems like it sucks without a special someone, you can still have fun & enjoy things without one…. And if you feel like you can’t, get cats :)  

Friday Night Outfit: All Sale Items OOTD!

Challenge: Put together an outfit that is completely made up of all sale items! 

Result: Easy. I hardly ever buy things at full price & if I do, I have a discount card that will ultimately make them less than their original price. Like Target RedCards that save you 5% off every purchase. 

T-Shirt:::
I got this from Urban Outfitters. And yeah, that store it half full with things that you could find at a goodwill for 1/3 of the price. But I actually found this shirt in a bargin bin of summer clothes that they had put outside the store a few years ago. It was $11 bucks & has an awesome picture of a wolf on it with some blue tones. Originally it was $24.

Jeans::: 
These are actually a pair of Sevens. A high end brand named “7 for all mankind.” 
Yeah, the price up there is highlight is red & they’re a whopping $189.00. But I got these for $40 freaking bucks at my local Plato’s Closet. They are seriously the best fitting jean in the whole entire world. Thanks to a lovely, dear friend of mine… I landed these awesome designer jeans that have NO FLAWS to them. They weren’t even frayed… not even a little bit. 


Jacket:::
My jacket I picked up at Target last winter & it originally ran about $40 bucks & I got this for $28 (30% off). It’s military green & hugs tightly at the waist. Not very warm, but cute. 

 

Shoes:::
I got my shoes at Target as well & I don’t remember their original price, but I know I got them on sale for $30 bucks two summers ago. I’m going to assume that they were 30% off because that’s where Target’s clearance starts at usually (I worked there over the summer). 

Scarf:::
This is an infinity scarf (or circle scarf) from Abercrombie & Finch that came in a gift set with a matching beanie. It originally retailed for $68 dollars & I got mine a couple weeks ago when they went on sale & got mine for a gorgeous price of $11!!! Its covered in moose & snow flakes! 




Enough of me posing super awkwardly!

Totals:::
Outfit before sale prices: $363

Outfirafter sale prices: $120

If you didn’t know… that up there ^^^ Spells awesome. NBD. 


Remember:::
Its okay to splurge sometimes & treat yourself. But always be responsible with your money & add up your purchases before you make it to the register. And if you’re at the register & the total is over your budget, always ask to remove something from your purchase. Its super easy for the cashier to do & isn’t as embarrassing as it seems! Sometimes it can be hard not to be able to get all of the clothes or makeup you want, but chances are you’ll forget about it all the next day. And if you don’t then save up as much as you can or put it on your gift list. Don’t get suckered into credit cards. They’re a complete bitch to maintain & remember when your due to pay charges off. Its really easy to get suckered into all that the card promises & even easier to get charged extra. If you do have to use credit cards to build up credit make sure you pay off everything the minute you can. That’s how good credit is established! Always look to see if there are better things on the sale racks before looking at the new lines of products. You never know what you’ll find. If you really want something on the new-line products just wait because stores are always changing what they thing is “in” & “fresh.”

Have a great Friday night & look forward to some more posts this weekend!! 

Coastal Scents Valentine’s Day Sale!!!!!

I wish I wasn’t broke!!!!! Coastal Scents is having a wonderful sale on some of their eyeshadow palettes! My sister has the Metal Mania & the Mirage palette & they have such beautiful, amazing, pigmented, gorgeous colors in those two! Click Here to go to the Coastal Scents Sale page & order yourself. They’re both 35% off and are now $16.22! Such a steal! Seriously! They have other sets & palettes on sale too, but these are the ones I know I really want & that I have seen in person & know they are freaking gorgeous. 


 

This is the Metal Mania Palette & can we just agree… WOW. Beautiful colors. The 3rd row from the right & bottom most color is PERFECT for nailing Kristen Stewart’s cranberry look. Holy crap I love this palette. Please go buy this for $16.22. I’d be sad if someone else didn’t benefit from Coastal Scents like I have in the past. They’re products are just shut-up-amazing for the lovely price. 

This is the Mirage Palette which is reminiscent of their WARM Palette (which I own) but it has a lot more greens. A lot of you may not know what to do with green, but its actually one of the most versatile colors available in our makeup. I love green on redheads, green eyed & brown eyed girls. Simply apply it in the outer corner of your eye & drag it into the crease & put a nice brown/gold color all over the lid. It’ll really make your eyes pop out of their pretty little sockets. 

For the record, I am not sponsored in any way. I am simply a very happy customer that was taken care of. With each purchase you get a free sample (mine were both loose eyeshadow pigments). The products ship out from Florida, so I don’t know if they do international. If you live farther out west it may take your product longer to get to you. I live in the Mid-South so mine always reached me before the 5-7 business days. Standard shipping is usually around $11 bucks on their site. Forewarning… their site kind of sucks when it comes to buying product from them, but be patient & you’ll get your confirmation. I ordered my stuff on Black Friday & their website was being Godzilla’d all the way back to Tokyo with the kind of traffic they had. I also received their 32 piece brush set for Christmas & my gift giver said that their website sucked big time because there was a huge sale going on that day. Its a little painful dealing with the website but its sooooo worth it! 

Let me know if any of you end up buying something from their sale items & when you receive them PLEASE tell me what you think of the products! 

Valentine’s Day Makeup: For Teenagers

When you’re doing your makeup you want to really be aware of your age. Sometimes makeup can give you a really young & fresh look, while other times it can make you look older, sophisticated, or even sexy. It’s always important to know what type of look you’re going for & to represent your age appropriately depending on what stage you’re in, in your life. Especially on Valentine’s Day. 

The truth is most guys like girls better when they aren’t wearing a lot of makeup. Although makeup can do wonders for us & transform us from an every day girl to a sexy-chica, we need to know when to go flirty & when to go sexy. 

So if you’re a teenager hoping to catch a guys attention I definitely suggest you go FLIRTY. Never go too sexy. Not only can this give you a bad rap around your school, but it puts you in a position where guys could expect more from you than you’re willing to give. Being flirty is so much fun & it allows us girls to catch guys attention without crossing any lines. 

EYES:::

For colors I’m used three from my Coastal Scents Warm Palette & one from my Ultra Shimmer Palette

 
Use this Pink for the outer corner of your eye so that it looks like this:


Make sure to blend it out & drag it a bit into the crease just a little. 


Take this light brown/golden color & apply it all over your lid. Bring it up into the pink a little. It goes on really light so it won’t cover up the Pink but instead give it a little shimmer to the color. 


Put this peachy/brown color over your lid, but don’t drag the color up into the pink or it’ll cover it up. You’re just giving a little more brown to that golden color you put on in the previous step. 

Add a little bit of white shimmery color to your inner color to make you look super awake & interested in ANYTHING your potential eye candy will be saying :) 

Apply your mascara & eyeliner! I used E.L.F’s liner & studio mascara. Because this look is for the teenage girl, don’t take your liner into the corner of your eyes. Not only does this create too sexy of a look (and one your parent may ask you to take off), but it also constricts the size of your eyes. And as they say, eyes are the windows to you soul & no matter your imperfections eyes are ALWAYS beautiful. Always. You can never go wrong with letting your eyes have the center attention. You don’t need to out play them with lid colors. Also,  if you have small eyes like me, you should limit the times you go all the way into the inner corners with liner. Instead you could use some white eyeliner on your water line to widen the eyes & make them look bigger. 

Here I put on a second coat of mascara & lined my tightline. This makes it look like you have fuller lashes without having to apply fake ones (which can be a mess for unskilled hands). You may not be able to tell the difference in the pictures, but I promise there is one! 

Rest of the Face:::

For blush I put on a light layer of my Candid Coral E.L.F. blush & a tad bit of highlighter. Remember, guys honestly don’t like it when girls where tons of makeup. And really if a guy doesn’t like you for a more natural look than he doesn’t deserve you in a hot&heavy makeup look.  

For lips there are many options. Younger girls typically wear lip gloss… but if you’re looking for that first kiss I would advise against a gloss. Boys don’t want your lip gloss & that is what they’ll be getting if they kiss you with it on! Plus gloss is sticky. You want you lips baby soft. Use a balm instead. I use EOS lip balm which you can pick up at Wal-Mart or Walgreens. But because I want some extra color to my lips I choose a few different things. 

The color on the left is a stain in Flirty Nude by CoverGirl. It’s the cheapest stain (about 5 bucks) & I love the lasting power it gives as well as the very kissable un-sticky lips it offers. This middle color is a nourishing lipstick from Rimmel in Airy Fairy. I actually love this both alone & over my lipstain mentioned previously. The one on the right is a lipstick from Wet & Wild that doesn’t have a name. But its a warm pinky color. All of these colors will look amazing on any skin tone because they are all nude based with just a hint of color in them! If you want to make your top lip look a little more plum, highlight your cupid’s bow (that dent in your upper lip) & then line the top V of your lip (make sure to blend it though!!!). 

And there you have it! A cute, flirty young look for the holiday! I’m wearing this even though I’m 21, but whatever, it’s makeup & you’re supposed to be having fun with it! So go ahead & wear it even if you aren’t a teenager! It’s super cute & subtle!

Had I really known about makeup when I was a teenager I would have worn this look on all my dates. Its so fresh & fun. Honestly, my boyfriend tells me all the time that I don’t need a lot of makeup & he isn’t just saying that because we’re in love or whatever. He’s saying that because he’s a guy & guys really don’t like tons of makeup. Don’t do you Valentine’s makeup like Jenna Marbles unless you’re going clubin’ because I promise you it will only entice troubled boys & not real romance. You want a love that will last & be magical. Believe it or not, makeup choices have an affect on that because the way you do your makeup alludes to your personality. Finding love is all about a connection of two personalities. Loud makeup could turn a guy off & judge you before he gets to know you & give love a chance! 

ATTENTION TWENTY SOMETHINGS!!! 
Don’t worry, a more sexy, age appropriate look is coming your way tomorrow!  

DIY Brush Guards!!

Got a lot of brushes but not a good way to store/dry them? Are you also dirt poor like me? If you answer yes to both those questions then you’re one lucky pucker! 

First of all. Why buy brushes? I have a lot of friends that apply their foundations or even eyeshadow with their fingers. This is fine, after all its personal preference, but using brushes will give you a better finish to your make up. For me, using brushes made my routine faster with such great coverage. Brushes give you a type of control that your fingers don’t possess. No finger/thumb could ever compare to my favorite brush (flat-top stippling brush for foundation). Invest in brushes. They will help you dramatically. Responsibility comes with brushes though, because they’re harder to maintain than your fingers. You need to wash them & help them keep in shape. Doing so will give longer life to your brushes & help stretch your dollars. That being said…

Brush guards… sometimes these will come with your brushes when you buy them. They came on only a few of my Coast Scents brushes & a few of the studio brushes from E.L.F. Brush guards are important because they help maintain the shape of your brush (either while traveling or just storing at home between uses) & help keep out bacteria or any other microbes that could be floating around your makeup area.

You can pick up a pack of four at Wal-Mart for roughly four bucks. However, they are all different sizes, so if you need multiple guards for one size brush you’ll end up having to buy multiple packs. Eff that. 

You know those little plastic pockets that things come in? I remember rulers coming in these things, but I mostly got them from E.L.F. brushes that my sister or I bought. (Basically it’s about 1-3 bucks a brush & guess what? You get like 4 eye-brush guards out of it… saving money!) These little pockets you can find anywhere, just browse around your department/drug store. Of if you’re a mini-hoarder like me, you’ll have kept these in some drawer that could probably be better utilized for more important things. 

So you want to start off with cutting the tip off of the plastic (the one with the flap that “secures” the package)

Go ahead & chop off the sealed end too. You’ll want it open so that the brush can dry & release excess moisture. I’ve seen some that have been “aerated” with a one hole punch & although I didn’t chose to do that, I’m sure it’d work!

Measure the brush you intend to use the guard for… I started out with my Coastal Scents foundation brush. Since this is a bigger brush I used most of the plastic packaging. Push the brush up against the sealed side of the packaging until it is snug enough to stay within the packaging on its own. Staple along the edge of where your fingers are to secure the brush. (You’ll understand once you try & manipulate the brush for a secure hold). 

The staples will only ruin your brush is you staple too closely or have a really crappy stapler. Careful not to staple you brush in the process and make sure you make the brush guard is long enough to cover the ferrel (the base the holds the bristles)  as well as about half an inch away from the tips of the bristles. Doing so will allow you place the brushes upside down (the best position for drying your brushes after a good wash). 

Now see… I got stingy with my plastic packaging & decided to fit multiple eye brushes into one guard. 

With two fitting in there perfectly I figured what the hell… why not three? 

PERFECT! 


Cleaning brushes?? Whattttt???:::

It’s super important to wash your brushes at least once a week with a deep clean & spot treat them after each use. Doing so will help your complexion a ton. Ever wonder why you were breaking out?? CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES.

To spot treat my synthetic brushes I use 70% rubbing alcohol (some gurus will tell you they use 91% or even a 100% but any biologist will be able to tell you that 70% is actually the optimum percentage for killing bacteria & the rest of the percentages are pretty much useless.) Do not use alcohols on your real-haired brushes. I have a goat-hair brush that is SUPER sensitive & needs proper conditioning. I’m sure the alcohol would kill it completely if it ever go in contact with it. Synthetic brushes are fine though. All the sonia kashuk brushes from Target are synthetic & same with E.L.F. Check the back of your packaging on your brush brand. If it says “cruelty free” or something like that its definitely synthetic. 

To deep clean I just gently swirl anti-bacteria soap & some of my “moisturizing” conditioner together & rise it under warm water. (Make sure you thoroughly rinse your brushes or they will never dry & you’ll have to rewash them). You don’t need all the special expensive brush cleaners & you definitely don’t have to buy into the “MAC” cleansing junk. Pretty much all the ingredients for that stuff is probably in your cupbord already. SCAM.

Because it does take a while for my brushes to dry I usually clean them on a sunday morning after I do my makeup & let my face have an off day on Monday (since I pretty much just stay indoors & do homework on Mondays). But if you have a second set of makeup brushes then that’s pretty awesome because you can cycle in & out with each set while your others dry naturally.

I like to dry my brushes in their guards upside for for the first 12 hours & then for the second I’ll band them together & string them up in from of a little fan (seen in the pictures) that I keep on my desk. This seems to keep my brushes in the best shape.  

Ask me anything if you have questions or suggestions!!!

GIANTS Makeup & Super Bowl OOTD!

Super Bowl party time! Let’s just clear things up here: Giants are going to win. So you’re going to want to be looking perfect when that time comes tonight! 

What am I wearing?:::

Shirt was purchased at Old Navy (online because they not carry NY stuff in TN). I think it was like $14 dollars because it’s actually the “boys” size. Skinny jeans are from Kohl’s & don’t hate on my socks, mmkay? 

What’s on my nails?::: 
Sally Hansen in Pacific Blue 



What’s on my eyes?:::

I used the Coastal Scents Ulta Shimmer Palette… To do this look start out with the red first & blend the absolute crap out of it because you don’t want to look like a clown… you want it to look subtle. It’s a very loud look but, hey, it’s the Super Bowl & it’s the Giants colors so obviously there nothing is wrong with it ;) Secondly, add the blue but leave the inner corner of the eye plain for now. Lightly blend the blue & the red together because if you do it too harshly it will turn purple. If you’re worried about fallout, just do your eyes first & your foundation second. Lastly, add the whitest-white shimmery color to your inner corner & spread it down to your tear duct. Top it off with some eye liner & mascara (I’m using E.L.F. for both)… Btw— I have no idea why my brows look different in this picture!!!! They look the same in my mirror… what??? 


FYI: I am no bandwagon Giants girl. My boyfriend & I have been true Giants blue fans for 5 years now (and he’s from New York so its legitimate) so lay off the hate, okay?  If you’re a Patriots fan… bring it ;)  XOXO *MUAH*

Don’t My Professors Know That I Have A Blog To Run?

I do promise to have a DIY & a review post within a week from now but I won’t be able to write them until next Thursday :( Following that I plan to do some Valentine’s Day stuff because even if you’re single that is not excuse not to look & feel fabulous!!! Anyways, I have two tests next week & I really need to study for them between now & then! Meanwhile I wanted to share with you what products I’ve been trying out.

On my search to find a skin care routine that does not test on animals I have turned to Mary Kay! All of their products are cruelty free! Hurray! 

I went to a MK party with my sister a few weeks ago & ordered their skin care line after testing a few of their products & after hearing some first hand experience with it. So far I like it, but I really want to give it a month before I do a true review. I’m still having problems with my acne & have found that it is common to be having acne issues in your twenties! This has seriously been the worst that my acne has ever been (albeit I still consider myself very fortunate). Any acne is bad acne, though. This line was expensive & I consider it my splurge. It cost a total of $45 dollars but definitely the things I already find un-dupe-able is the Velocity light weight moisturizer & the acne spot treatment. Nothing I’ve tried comes close to those two products. 

Continuing with that same goal for a better, healthier skin as well as getting longer hair (see my previous post) I have been taking Har, Skin & Nails for the past week now. Let me tell you… if you hate taking pills like me… this product will be the worst ever. It is the chalkiest pill I’ve ever taken & the smell rivals that of some of the smelliest antibiotics. THAT BEING SAID. I have noticed a different in the strength of my nails already & my skin is clearing up (and I honestly have no idea if that’s because I’ve been taking this vitamin or if its my MK skincare routine but whatevs). I take it as directed (3 times a day) with food & although its a struggle for me to take this giant pill… I feel so accomplished at the end of dinner when I take my last pill.  

I did experience some minor side effects from this supplement as my body adjusted to the new nutrients that it wasn’t used to receiving but just give it some time if you decide to take it & you should be fine… but I’m no doctor so you may want to clear it with him/her first. I know it can take up to four months before you see the effects of your vitamins so I’m not completely going to review it any time soon. I have no expectations to see changes in my hair yet either. This product will definitely test my patience! All in good time though! I bought this at Wal-Mart for about $7 bucks. 

On a side note… I’ve told my boyfriend that I will not by any makeup products until after Valentines in an effort to save up some money for an excellent date we’ve been planning. So pretty much my life story has been like this for the last two weeks:

Tip of the Week: Acquisition of Long Hair

It’s Friday & that means I have time to blog! 

My sister is getting married this September so I really want my hair to be able to do anything she wants when it comes to up-dos. I have pretty much always had shoulder length hair with lots of layers. The layers don’t really help when it comes to letting my hair grow because everything is at different lengths so there’s only so much I can do with it. Honestly, there is no way to make your hair grow “faster” but there are techniques you can do to help keep your hair healthy so it stops breaking. 

The tip I’ve been using this week is keeping my hair is braids while I sleep. I would totally wear my hair braided everyday if my layers didn’t make it look absolutely crazy, but since I’m just going to be sleeping on it that really doesn’t matter. 

Braiding your hair keeps it from getting tangled while you sleep. Since I’ve never been able to sleep in a pony tail because it just falls right out, braiding seems to hold my hair more securely. 

I’m actually sleeping more comfortably & when I wake up & jump in the shower my hair is devoid of tangles completely. Its not the shampoo/conditioner I’m using, its simply just the braids. 

I’ve been doing this all week & haven’t been treating my hair any different styling-wise. When I blow dry my hair its actually smoother & feels healthier than it ever has before. YAY. 

I plan to purchase Mane & Tail when I finally run out of my Aussie shampoo. I’ve seen the benefits of using Mane & Tail from friends & the results are truly amazing. 

Here’s what my hair looks like now. I haven’t had a hair cut since late August (my hair sat just above my shoulder then). And yeah, I’m completely aware that I have a giant cow-lick today, I’ve decided not to fight it. 

What’s on my face, you ask?

Hard Candy Primer
Nuetrogena liquid foundation 30 Buff
Rimmel Power 003 Natural
Candid Coral Blush by E.L.F. 

What’s on my eyes, you ask?

Tough As Taupe, Color Tattoo by Maybelline
Coastal Scents eye shadow (some taupe color) in their WARM Palette
E.L.F. Eyeliner in black
E.L.F. Studio Mascara in black  

How did I style my hair, you ask?

I seriously have no product in my hair. That’s probably why my cow-lick is freaking crazy today, but oh well. I left it up in a towel-twist for an hour and then brushed it upside down. Blow dried it upside down until the back-bottom hair was dry, then flipped it up and used my fingers to make it somewhat straight. I never took a brush to much hair while I was blow drying it, that seriously is just how my hair naturally lies. 

Review: Sally Girl Nail Polish / Nail Care Routine

What a lonnnng week of classes this has been! I am so lucky to be in all the classes I have & am so looking forward to this challenging semester ahead!

With that being said, I have a few classes where I will be getting down & dirty with animals. But especially because of that I want to make sure that I can girl things up in any way possible. One way I’ve chosen: FINGER NAIL POLISH. This is going to be excellent because I’m going to be working with my hands a lot this semester & doing so means that I really need to keep up with my hand/nail care regiment frequently.

To start you want to give your self a manicure. This can be quick & easy if you do it right. 

Step 1: FIle your nails down in one direction movements. Don’t file your nails like you’re cutting down a tree. I don’t recommend cutting your nails, because this cause breakage & splitting. 

Step 2: Remove your cuticles with cuticle remover. Do not cut them, this could cause infection & causes you to have tons of hangnails. Speaking as a person who has always had trouble with dry cuticles & hangnails, the secret I have found to stopping those pesky nuisances is to NOT CUT my cuticles, just push them back gently. What you want to do is apply a cuticle remover like this:

It cost about six bucks. I got mine from Target. Squeeze out enough to cover your cuticle & rub this in gently. Wait about 15 seconds & gently push back your cuticle with a cuticle pusher. You should see the excess cuticle coming off easily. Don’t forget to push back your side cuticles.

Step 3: Apply cuticle oil to your cuticles. This is to prevent them from drying out. E.L.F. actually makes a cuticle pen that sells for a dollar so you don’t have to splurge.  

Step 4: Scrape out any gunk underneath your nail. You can use the end of your cuticle pusher but I like to use this nail scoop:

This actually looks frightening in this picture but it should look like the worlds smallest spoon. 

Step 5: Wipe off any excess oil & wash your hands. 

Step 6: Optional —- buff your nails. I do this when I don’t plan to wear nail polish because it really puts a nice shine on your nails & helps them not look like man hands if you don’t like wearing nail varnish. 

Step 7: PAINT YOUR NAILS! Always make sure to use a base & top coat. This is important so that the color will not adhere to your actual nail & so that your give your nails a protection from chipping. This week I have used two different nail polishes both by Sally Girl (see my haul post from last week)

When you paint your nails you actually don’t want to get towards the cuticles. This may seem silly when you’re doing it, but when you paint your nails like this they turn out so much better looking & with less mistakes! You can see in the picture above that I could have pushed the polish a bit closer to the nail, but I didn’t want to risk it. (Look at my thumb). 

As you can tell I have no smudges or mistakes like I did when I tried to get the nail polish to cover my entire nail. (See the picture below) 

When you compare this red polish to the blue/gun-metal polished nails you can tell that I made a lot of mistakes with the red polish. I tried to fix it, but in the end my cuticles looked tortured from the staining of the polish. 

If you don’t know the correct steps to painting your nails here is a guide I found on pinterest:

I loveeeeeed the Sally Girl polish. It gilded on so easily & held its color so beautifully! Hands down one of the best polishes & more affordable than the higher in brands! 

Happy Painting!

HAUL: E.L.F & Sally Beauty

Friday means payday & you know what payday means…. EXTRA MONEY FOR BEAUTY ITEMS DAY! :D 

E.L.F is currently having a $1.50 shipping cost promotion right now which is incredible! (Ends the 15th) This really is great because I seriously needed backup of my elf products that were running low & because I wanted to try out some of the products elf makes but doesn’t sell at Target (like their HD translucent powder). I also got some brushes to take with me when I travel. My spring semester just started & since I commute it’s sometimes easier to stay in my college town overnight than it is to drive home (savin’ gas money!). This means I needed travel brushes. Thankfully I had most of my eye brushes already but I went ahead & orded some face brushes from elf’s studio line. 

Unfortunately, $1.50 shipping means that I won’t be getting these products until a week from now :( I’ll make sure to post some reviews of the new products I bought once I get a chance to use them. But I bought the “blushing, bronzing & blending” brush for a buck & the powder brush for three dollars (I intend to use this as a stippling brush instead since their actual stippling brush is too flimsy for my taste). 

I also went to Sally’s & picked up some 99 cent nail polish. I like these sizes because I don’t feel like I’m wasting my money committing to a color that ends up not paying off whenever I paint my nails. For instance, I have bought way too many OPI nail polishes because their colors are so beautiful but then ended up having to do 3 coats, plus a top & base coat …. I just don’t have the time for those shenanigans so I like a one coat color (at most two). That being said, Sally’s always has the cutest sample sized nail polish. So I ended up getting four different colors to try out. They don’t have the names on them (which I find irritating, but for 99 cents I shouldn’t be complaining). They are all by Sally Girl. The one next to the green is actually a purple color & is actually an exact dupe for Rumples Wiggin’ by OPI which came out with one of the Shrek movies (I’m hopping that the color pay off is better with Sally Girl). 

I also picked up a cute standard-skinny headband with tiny pearls on it. This is going to be great for days when I need to pull up my hair for class because I’m dissecting something or going to a farm (I’m an animal biology major) but I still want to look classy & put together. 

I also got some alligator clips for pinning up my hair when I curl / straighten it. 

Light haul, but I got my moneys worth & was able to spring a few coupons! Reviews to come

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