Prom/Formal Hair and Makeup

 

The prom season is upon us! My favorite little prom test subject has graduated but this year she happened to have a formal banquet the same night as prom so we got her very glammed up.

This look could work for a variety of different events, she even made the hairstyle last until the next day for 2 bridal showers she had to attend. It's classy and fun and most importantly, very easy to do.

I started with her hair. I took a 1 inch curling wand and curled her entire head. After I removed each curl from the wand I kept it wrapped and bobby pinned it to her head for it to cool. Once her whole head was in pins we started on the makeup.

We didn't want anything to dramatic or "sexy", her event was at a religious school and "modesty" was requested. This girl has lashes for days and we thought we'd do a lighter smoky eye and focus on those lashes. I used:

• Estee Lauder matte primer
• CoverGirl 3in1 Foundation
• Maybelline Fit Me Concealer (great dupe for the NARS creamy concealer)
• Rimmel Stay Matte powder on T zone
• NYC Sunny Bronzer
• Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Exposed
• BECCA highlighter in Moonstone 
• NYX Eyebrow pencil in Taupe
• MAC paint pot in Bare Study
• Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 palettes on eyes
• Urban Decay Perversion mascara on top lashes
• CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara on bottom lashes
• L'Oreal Pencil Perfect eyeliner in Carbon Black (not great for a precise line, but great for smoking out)
• NYX lip liner in Nude
• Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Precious
• Urban Decay setting spray

Then we moved onto the hair. I took all the pins out and was left with a stunning head of perfect curls. I finger brushed most of the curls loose and used Beyond the Zone texturizing powder at her roots for volume. Girl loves big hair and I was happy to oblige her :)

I then used a teasing brush for extra volume at the crown. I pulled all of her hair to one side, leaving a small section out which I fishtail braided. I worked that over to the side and began pinning sections of curls. I basically just pinned each curl to her head about half way down the length so that she had some volume but it still looked loose and "sexy messy". I finished it with John Frieda Luxurious Volume hairspray. It's very fine but SUPER STRONG HOLD without getting crispy. Kept her hair in place for 2 days but still looked soft. She has a ton of hair so this ended up being a gorgeous style on her.

Cavegirl Costume Hair and Makeup

Happy Monday!

We threw a Halloween party at our house again this year. We decided to go as a Caveman and Cavewoman. We've been dressing up for Halloween with our friends for years and it's getting harder and harder to come up with costumes that no one has done yet. Surprisingly no one ever went as a caveman before.

We kind of lucked out, my uncle had gone as a caveman before so my husband borrowed his awesome costume and I found this one premade and fitting like a glove at Goodwill for $5.99. SCORE!!!!!!!!!!

I ended up still buying one yard of fuzzy leopard from JoAnne's to make my belt and some bracelets for me. I think I got it on sale for $9. I also picked up a bag of bones from the Halloween store with holes predrilled in them and got some faux leather straps from JoAnne's. I made our own necklaces, anklets and my hair bone with those.

The hardest part of this costume for me was the hair. I kept googling for cavegirl hair tutorials and there's literally NONE. So I thought I'd share what I did in case it would be helpful to anyone. Ducklip kiss included :)

Basically I washed my hair but skipped conditioner. I didn't brush it out and let it air dry as much as possible. Then I applied some Pureology styling lotion and blow dried it, still without brushing.

I then took small sections and used my flat iron to get random bends in my hair. No pattern, just kind of bent it forward then bent it backwards until it had a good wave. I then took my 1/2 inch curling wand and curled random pieces but only in the midshaft of the hair. Nothing at the top and left the ends straight. That gave me lots of volume but wasn't "pretty", if that makes sense. Then I took Beyond the Zone volumizing powder and sprinkled it into my roots all around my head, got a good "dry" feeling from that and then put a little more powder in my hands and put it on the ends of my hair in different spots for more fuzzy texture.

I pulled the top section of my hair up into a high pony and wrapped a small section of my own hair around the band to hide it. I then took my backcombing brush and basically back combed the ever living life out of my hair, stuck a bone in the top (I wrapped a bobby pin to the bottom of the bone using the faux leather) and was left with some serious Cavegirl hair!

 

For my makeup, I did use my Tanwise self tanner for about a week before the party to get a little glow. I used my Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation in shade 200. I like this because there's no SPF so you get very little, if any flash back in photo's from it. I used my L'Oreal concealer pencil in the darkest shade to contour my forehead, down my nose and to carve out some serious cheekbones! I then used the Wet N Wild bronzer in Rosy Gold for an all over warm glow. ELF baked highlighter in Moonlit Pearls down my nose, on the top of my cheeks and cupids bow. Maybelline Bouncy blush in Hot Tamale. 

For my eyes I started with brows...of course. I wanted them a little more dramatic than my normal brows so I used my Maybelline eyebrow pencil in Medium Brown (perfect for a warmer eyebrow when you have red hair!). I then used my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Creamy Beige as a base. I then used Smog from my Naked palette all over my eyelid. I used Half Baked right in the middle of my eyelid and Sin in my inner corner. I then used L'Oreal Infallible in Eternal Sunshine to blend those out into my crease and used L'Oreal Infallible in Iced Latte on my browbone. Rimmel ScandalEyes in black as an eyeliner and I just did a smudgy flick, nothing too perfect. Same colors on my lower lashline. Then I used Maybelline The Falsies mascara in black on my top lashes and Jordana Best Volume Extreme mascara on my bottom lashes. I then used KISS Ever EZ lashes in number 11. These are human hair lashes so they look really real, you don't get the tell tale glossy texture of fake lashes.

On my lips I used Jordana lipliner in Bordeaux all over my lips as a base. I applied Wet n Wild Mega Last lipstick in Cherry Bomb, one of my favorite fall lipsticks and it lasted ALL NIGHT.

Now for my favorite part...the leopard spots! I just couldn't resist...It just had to be done you guys. So for these I used an old ELF eyeliner in pure white to mark out the spots. I then applied Half Baked from the Naked Palette over the white spots using a Q-Tip to get a really bright pop of true gold. Then I used my NYX liquid eyeliner in black to do little "c" patterns around the gold, making sure to leave 2 openings on each one and try not to make them too uniform in shape or size. I then put a few little black spots in between to even out the shape and ended up with this:

 

So there you have it! Cavewoman hair and makeup! It ended up being one of our favorite costumes we've ever done. Super comfy and fun.

Yabadabadoooooooooo!

Flat Iron Waves for Shorter Hair/Long Bob

I wanted to post a quick idea for shorter hairstyles. I always see TONS of tutorials and inspiration pictures for wavy longer hair, not so much for the shorter haired ladies. This is a great hairstyle for 2nd or even 3rd (I won't tell if you don't!) day hair. With this red hair, I need all the shampoo-less hairstyles I can come up with to make this gorge color last longer!

I will say, so far I have not had a *TON* of fading or bleeding of color, but definitely still am seeing orange tinted water when I shower.

Also, let's just be real here. This is my office. A girls gotta document a good hair day when it happens, real talk.

Anywhoo...this hairstyle. I basically washed and dried the first day and wore it straight. Woke up the next morning, showered but didn't wet my hair and then applied dry shampoo. Right now I'm loving Beyond the Zone Rock On dry shampoo from Sally's. I'm a hardcore fan of the Suave but am always up for something new and so far, really like this one!

I applied the dry shampoo to my roots all over my head and let it sit while I applied my makeup. Then I kind of work  it in with my fingertips to get rid of any whiteness. This also gives me a little bit of texture.

I pin the front section of my hair back to get it off my face. I can deal with unshampooed hair for a day or so but the less I have to "feel" it, the more tolerant I am.

Then I just took my 1 inch flat iron and waved random sections. Nothing too organized or tidy. Just grabbed whatever hair was grouping together, did a flat iron wave and let it cool. I then broke the waves up a little with my fingers and applied Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray. This lasts forever!

Colors of the Rainbow Tag!!

Sometimes I get jealous that YouTubers get to do all the fun tags...

I saw EleventhGorgeous do this tag and it looked like so much fun. I wasn't tagged, but I'm totally hopping on the tag train.

The Colors Of the Rainbow Tag!!



photo courtesy of weheartit.com

Red: Maybelline The Vivids Vivid Rose. I'm sneaking this one in because the color is completely pink, but the PACKAGING is red...so it counts, right?? It is my favorite lip product right now. Feels good on the lips and manages to stay a decent amount of time on the lips. Crazy intensely pigmented without getting milky or chalky. SOO PRETTY!

Orange: Clinique Happy perfume. That sweet little orange writing gets me every time...and the scent actually does make me happy! I don't typically love the color orange, but Happy is the happiest orange thing I own.

Yellow: Dickinsons Witchhazel Foaming Face Wash. This does not smell good...it smells like dandelions or weeds to me. But... and this is a major BUT...it works amazingly well. It's gentle but effective and has left my skin feeling and looking nicer than it has in months. It doesn't dry my skin at all but has somehow almost reduced my breakouts to non-existent. I've only been able to find it at Walgreens, but it is definitely worth picking up.



photo courtesy of dickinsons.com

Green: Origins Make A Difference + Rejuvenating Treatment. Kind of more of a teal...but hear me out! This greenish little jar is full of some amazing stuff. I use this at night and in the morning and see such great results with it. It feels luxurious and makes my skin feel supple and happy.


photo courtesy of origins.com

Blue: JulieG "Cabana Boy" nail polish. Oh man, do we have a little crush on this or what? It's been on my nails the last 3 times I've done them. Love love love this $3.99 little bottle of cobalt heaven.

Indigo: WTF is indigo and who owns an indigo beauty product?? I'm going to go with Navy...ok? Neutrogena Nourishing Eyeliner in Twilight Blue. It makes your eyes look whiter and definines your lashes without being super harsh like a black can be.




photo courtesy of neutrogena.com

Violet: Maybelline "The Falsies" Mascara. Not the flared version, the original version. This mascara replaced CoverGirl's Lash Blast when I got sick of purchasing new tubes that were already dried out. I have repurchased this mascara consistenly every 3 months for about a year and it is definitly great. Perfectly, lenthened, seperated and black black eyelashes that last all day without flaking or smudging. Why haven't you tried this yet??



photo courtesy of maybelline.com

Pink: Beyond The Zone Smooth Criminal Humidity Blocking Hairspray. I have used Tresemme Tres 2 hairspray for about 8 years. I love it. But...Sally's was having thier BTZ products 2 for $12 and I was out of hairspray and thought I'd give this a shot. WOW. It's the finest hairspray. It almost feels like a gentle mist coming out of the bottle but then you see the results and it's suprisingly good. Oregon does get humid and my hair tends to poof when it's humid. This stuff holds my style while still leaving it touchable and moveable. Really impressed with this hairspray.



photo courtesy of sallybeauty.com
 

Rainbow: I don't really own anything "rainbow" but I do own something with tons of colors that I love. The NYX Every Color Imaginable 78 color palette. This has literally one version of every color I can think of and they are pretty great quality as well.

Mermaid Hues

Not sure if it's the warmer weather, but I am obsessed with turquoise lately. The two main areas are my nails...and shockingly my hair. I have been wanting a fun, peekaboo streak in my hair for a long time and was wavering between pink and turquoise. I feel like pink is done, it's a little too girlie for me so turquoise was just a good choice with my blonde hair and my personality. It's SO PRETTY. I can't stop staring at it. I used Beyond the Zone's Color Jamz in Tripped up Turquoise.


photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com

First, I decided where I wanted it and how large of a section. As far as placement, I chose to do it behind the top of my ear. That way you can't see the roots when the bleach grows out and it appears more like a "peekaboo" strand than just a giant chunk of smurf hair. Then I bleached the hair using 40 vol. It took about 30 minutes to get the white blonde I wanted. I rinsed and blow dried it and then used gloves (IT STAINS EVERYTHING) and applied a thick coat to the entire strand. I placed it in a ziplock baggie, zipped it up and used a clip to secure the baggie to my head, ensuring it wouldn't bleed onto my blonde hair or on my face. I left it on for about an hour, applying heat from the blow dryer every 10 minutes or so to keep the strand warm and set the color. Rinsed in COLD water (no shampoo)and viola...Mermaid Streak! I didn't wash my hair the next day, I allowed 24 hours for the color to set before shampooing. Also, this stuff smells SO GOOD. There is no chemical stink with it at all, it's DEEP teal in the bottle and shimmery. It's pretty even in the bottle. I love it. It's semi permanent so it will totally fade, but this one bottle has enough product for weekly touchups, enough to get me and my Mermaid Streak through the summer.

The next thing I'm turquoise obsessed with is a nail polish from China Glaze called Turned Up Turquoise. It's literally a NEON turquoise, so saturated, has a nice shimmer to it and is opaque in only 2 coats. As with all neons, it dries matte/satin so I used Seche Vite to pop the gloss. The picture doesn't do it justice, I couldn't capture just how vivid this color is. It's not just bright, it's multifaceted and just so pretty and unique.



photo courtesy of SallyBeauty.com