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!

Girls Night Out

 

This past weekend a bunch of us girls went out to celebrate the upcoming wedding of one of my girlfriends. I was feeling daring and decided to do a gold and black smokey eye.

I don't usually like a black smokey eye. If I do one, it's typically a bronzey one as I just find it to be more wearable on me and not "too much". But, if you can't do a fun eye look with your girlfriends, when can you really? I used the black more toward the outer corners of my eye to keep it looking open and not too raccoony.

I didn't use false lashes, but you definitely could if you wanted to amp the look up.

For this look I'm wearing:

Face:
L'Oreal True Match Foundation mixed with Clinique Even Better
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Natural powder
Revlon PhotoReady Concealer
NYC Bronzer in Sunny
Revlon PhotoReady blush in Coral Reef

Lips:
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Precious

Eyes:
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded as a primer
Urban Decay Naked Palette:
1. Virgin on Inner corners and browbone
2. Half Baked on the middle of the eyelid and bottom lash line
3. Smog on outer 1/3 of eyelid
4. Hustle on outer V
5. Creep to intensify outer V
6. Naked to blend and on eyebrows
Maybelline black gel eyeliner on top and bottom lashes and also tightlined
Maybelline black The Falsies mascara on upper lashes
Maybelline black The Rocket mascara on bottom lashes

My hair was done using a 1 inch Hot Tools flat iron.

Mistletoe Makeup

 

 

Warning: This is NOT a tutorial. I was at home Saturday night organizing my makeup stash when I pulled out the Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette. An idea for smokey green eyes popped into my head so I tried it out. I ended up loving the look and wanted to pass it on. It's **almost** 100% drugstore and so festive, but still very wearable I think. I tried it with a nude lip but it didn't pop for me like I wanted it too. I tried a red lip and viola...Mistletoe Makeup!

 

 

 

 

Here is a list of the products I used:

 

1. Clinique Even Better Foundation

2. Revlon ColorStay Under Eye Concealer

3. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Powder

4. NYC Sunny Bronzer

5. Clinique "Cupid" Blush

6. Sephora Waterproof Eyeliner in Glitter Green

7. Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette (3 green shades)

8. Urban Decay Naked Palette (Virgin as a highlight, Naked as a brow powder and Buck in the crease)

9. Maybelline Blackest Black Gel Eyeliner

10. L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Black

11. Benefit Prrrowl Mascara Topcoat (you can see the shimmer in some pictures)

12. Clinique "Merlot' lipstick



Urban Decay Naked Palette

I am always pleasantly surprised when someone doesn't know about this little beauty. I love filling them on on all of it's magical powers. The name is a little saucy and the product is so impressive.

If you are one of the few who know zilch about this palette, be prepared to be amazed!

You get all of the greatness of Urban Decay eyeshadows all grouped together into a velvety, chocolate brown case with a mirror. You get 12 eyeshadows, a good karma brush and a small primer potion when you purchase this kit. It's sold for a little under $50, but when you think about how much you are getting it is definitely a worthy investment.

If you like neutral, nude, warm or earthtoned eyeshadows, this is for you. You can do very natural eye looks and can also do intense smoky eyes. You get nudes, golds, bronzes, blacks ans grays. The sky is truly the limit with all of these choices.

In order of appearance you get:

Virgin- Soft, iridescent highlight shade

Sin- Pale shimmery rose gold

Naked- Matte medium nude flesh tone

Sidecar- Sparkly, glittery taupe (has some fallout)

Buck- Matte dark nude flesh tone

Half Baked- Super pigmented gold

Smog- Medium bronze

Darkhorse- Dark brown with gold flecks

Toasted- Dark rose gold

Hustle- Cool toned shimmery brown

Creep- Black with multitonal shimmer

Gunmetal- Sparkly gunmetal gray

In my opinion, I feel like this is a must have item for any makeup collection. There are just so many eye look options, the quality and pigmentation is exceptional so it will last you forever and it is even cute sitting with your makeup. I highly recommend!

Do you have a Naked Palette? What do you think about it?