Archive for March, 2012

Nothing is sexier than a sultry, natural looking nude lip. The problem is many nude colors tend to wash skin out, making lips look pale and dull rather than fleshy and inviting. So I came up with my own version that’s semi-nude, with just a hint of pink and brown to bring out the warm undertones in my skin so I don’t look like a corpse. Don’t get me wrong, the corpse look works for a lot of people – mainly those playing extras on Law and Order SVU. But for normal girls such as myself, not so much =)

Products used:

Prestige Lip Pencil – Cameo
Revlon Lip Butter – Creme Brulee
Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lipgloss – Midnight Cowboy

Eyes: tutorial coming soon!

I’ve been obsessed with lipliner since my teenage years, using it for everything from making my lips look fuller to blending lipstick colors to perfection. It’s also a fool-proof way to prevent lipstick and lipglosses from feathering. As big a fan of this product as I am, I’ve amassed quite a collection of different brands and colors. And while I love having 100s of lipliners to choose from in my makeup cabinet (not an exaggeration!), these five seem to constantly find their way into my every day makeup bag.

What makes these five colors so fabulous, you ask? Read on to find out!

1. NYX Slim Lip Pencil – Currant
Everyone has that one color that suits their skin perfectly and for me this is it. I use this nearly every day because it works with all kinds of colors – browns, burgundies and with a little blending even hot pink. It looks particularly fabulous when paired with the right red however, as it adds just a hint of deep color to hues that may otherwise be too bright for my olive skin. And did I mention the price? At $3.50, this amazing product is a steal!

2. Prestige Classic Lipliner – Cameo
This neutral color is the perfect balance between nude, brown and pink. I wear this with nude lipstick as the hint of pink punches up the color so I don’t look washed out. It’s also super long wearing; I’ll usually apply it around 8am while getting ready for work and not have to touch up until near the end of my workday around 6 or 7. At $4.29 a piece, these are also a great deal.

3. NYX Slim Lip Pencil – Pumpkin
Since coral lipsticks and lipglosses came back in style, I had a horrible time finding a matching lipliner that didn’t look too jarring. After lots of trial and error I finally found this gorgeous coral/gold shade. It’s silky, it’s slightly shimmery and has the teeniest hint of gold sheen that warms up any skin tone. I like to line, then fill my lips in with this then add Urban Decay lipgloss in Runway on top for a vibrant yet sheer pop of coral.

4. Prestige Classic Lipliner – Love
Oh, where do I start with this one. It is hands down the most perfect, pretty pink shade I’ve ever seen. Not too bright, not too light – just right. The best part is it looks gorgeous with pretty much any shade of pink lipstick you can think of.

5. MAC Lip Pencil – Brick
This one is a little more pricey at $14, but in my opinion it’s well worth the money. This red hue is perfect under red pin-up style lip colors and the silky smooth texture glides on with ease. Richly pigmented, you could even wear this alone with a little clear gloss for a luscious, sheer look. I did just that for my birthday last year and as you can see from the picture below it worked out pretty well.

Those are the five lipliners I can’t live without, what are some of yours?

I’ve been dying my hair black for about two years and up until now I’ve been faithful to Perfect 10 hair-color by Nice n’ Easy. On a whim I decided to try out this one despite my bad experience with other foam hair-colors, only because my past experiences with John Frieda products have been great so I figured the hair dye would be no different. And I was right – this stuff is amazing!

The color on the box looks pretty true to how my hair color actually came out. I selected color 2A Luminous Blue Black, as I tend to go for the darkest, most intense black I can find. It makes my eye color pop, looks great in pictures and I can pretty much wear any makeup I want with it.

The box (which costs anywhere from $11.00-14.00) contains a bottle of developer, the color itself, a pump to use with the squeeze bottle (to dispense the foam), gloves and a tube of conditioning treatment.

In addition to being an awesome product, these are hands down the best gloves I’ve ever found in a box of hair-dye. Often times the latex is too thin or too porous so the dye seeps through and the gloves tear – but these are super sturdy. Which I particularly appreciated because I had just gotten my nails done.

While I still love my Perfect 10, this one wins out because the foam is so easy and mess-free to apply. I’ll update in a few weeks to see how the color has help up, but so far, so good!

Final Verdict: Love it.
Price: $11-14 depending on where you get it
Get it: Drugstores, but you’ll find it cheapest at Target and Ulta

To me, nothing sets off a glamorous look quite like big, bold lashes. So when choosing a mascara I always look for volume and lots of length, hence why I love fiber mascara so much. Imagine my excitement when I found out Maybelline release their own take on fiber mascara – and my disappointment when I tried it and realized it sucks.

Not that it makes a difference, but I really like the packaging. Why? It’s hot pink, fuchsia and black. Look around this page for a moment. Clearly it’s a color motif I can stand behind

I’m sure they were trying to accomplish something with this thin, spiral wand but whatever it was, it fell short. I also can’t help but notice that for a fiber mascara, there really aren’t a whole lot of fibers on this brush.

All-in-all, I’m pretty disappointed with this product – especially for the price. At $8.99 it costs about the same as L’Oreal’s Voluminous False Fiber mascara and isn’t nearly as good. Save your money on this one beauty lovers.

Final Verdict: Hated it.
Price: $8.99
Get it: Don’t. Get the L’Oreal version instead.

It’s that time again and this month I changed it up and talked about a wider variety of products. I figured you guys might be interested in hearing about some of the non-makeup items I picked up and judging by your YouTube comments I was right! Makeup related or otherwise though, one thing is for certain; the products I find always be smellin’ gooooood!

Products mentioned in this video:

Nuance Salma Hayek Oxygen Activated Foaming Facewash
Price: $12.99
Get it: Drugstores, CVS.com

Method Now in Season Foaming Hand Wash- Watermelon Patch
Price: $2.97
Get it: Target

Secret Scent Expressions Invisible Solid
Price: $4.99
Get it: Drugstores

L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara
Price: $8.99
Get it: Drugstores

Revlon Lip Butter – Creme Brulee, Red Velvet
Price: $6.00
Get it: Drugstores

Herbal Essences Smoothing Serum
Price: $4.99
Get it: Drugstores

Hello Kitty Cotton Candy Lip Butter
Price: Varies
Get it: Random places selling Hello Kitty merchandise

Schick Quatro Strawberry Tangerine Twist Razors
Price: $8.99
Get it: Target, CVS