Airbrushed Skin

I have a little lesson on faking perfect skin. The fact that people do not know this already always surprises me. The trick to flawless skin is powder. Or naturally perfect skin, if you are so blessed. First, put on your foundation. Personally I use Smashbox Photofinish Primer to smooth my skin so my foundation goes on better. Then I use an oily/combination skin foundation. I am still searching for the perfect one at this point. Then I dab on a little extra foundation as concealer over any zits or scars and blend the edges. Then, this is the important part, I sweep a loose powder all over my face. I typically use a translucent powder or a very light one. The powder diffuses the light and covers the face creating a pore-less smooth perfection. I then sweep blush on my cheek bones so I look a little more human, unless I am doing some high drama make up. A light coating of mascara and a little lip tint, and you look very natural, but your skin is perfect. I recommend either cornsilk, airspun, or a loose mineral powder. The first two are quite inexpensive and you get tons of powder. Mineral is more expensive but if you have sensitive breakout prone skin, it is the best. If you have dry flaky skin, use powder very lightly because it can highlight those flakes. I suggest a moisturizer on the dry areas and definitely use primer. This picture is from sephora and your skin might not look as smooth  because some of us have bumps or indentations. The powder will not hide that but it will give you perfectly even color and minimize your pores. Also, if you have wrinkles, be careful as powder can set in those wrinkles and look bad. I suggest spritzing your face with a makeup holder, hairspray or even water to help set your make up and give it a dewy note. I tend to use hairspray. Great hold and I already have tons of it. Good luck!

Smokey Eye

Last night I was at a party and all my friends wanted an explanation of my purple smokey eye. This is a lot harder to do with out a camera, but I will have one by next weekend, I promise. First, I take L'oreal H.I.P. cream shadow in the dark purple. I put it at the base of my lash line and blend up to the crease. Then I sweep a darker iridescent purple on top of that. I blend a light flesh tone that is almost white under my eyebrow to my crease then dot my brow bones with a white sparkly powder. I line my entire eye in black and smudge it, then put on 2 - 3 coats of mascara, preferably a volumizing one. This is a lot of look so I pair it with a fairly nude lip with a subtle sparkly lip gloss. The result is similar but a little darker to the picture on the left. Once I have the camera I'll post some step by step tutorials. Good Luck!

Argyle is Awesome.

Can I talk for a minute about how much I love the pattern argyle? It is so awesome. It can be preppy and punky simultaneously, which is always one of my goals. My boyfriend has an argyle sweater hoodie. It looks sort of like the one to the right but browns. It looks awesome under a sports jacket. As for girls, I love the look of an argyle sweater vest like the one below the hoodie maybe with a white button down underneath it. Pair it with a khaki mini skirt and some argyle knee highs and you will be fulfilling the catholic school girl/naughty librarian fantasy. About a year ago I found some argyle thigh highs which pair with Mary Jane pumps were traffic stopping. That is my wisdom for the day. You can't go wrong with argyle. Just limit your self to one piece of argyle at a time. You don't want to look like one massive piece of argyle. Also, neutral colors or pastels are the easiest to wear. You don't want to look like a Christmas tree or something.

Fashion Flower Power

So, I am all about big silly flower headbands and hair clips right now. The bigger the better! This about being goofy and fun and floral! Currently I am rocking the black on with a loose floral top and black super skinny jeans. For this  I made my hair big and wavy and a little messy. I've got the flower sitting right on my part. I've been getting compliments all day. Only downside is the elastic is a little tight so I have a compression headache. Beauty is pain. I also just got the pink one to the left and love it! This one is huge though as you can tell from the picture. My boyfriend hates it but he just doesn't understand that I am trying to be ridiculous here. It is seriously comfortable. They are both from Urban Outfitters and the pink on is on sale! Side note - I wish you could shop H&M online in English. I do it in Swedish but I realize not everyone wants to do that. I adore H&M. Its actually awesome for accessories because they are super cheap and tend to hold up very well. If you have sensitivity to metal though their jewelry is a no go. But their hair accessories are still fun! My neck hair goofiness is probably going to involve feathers. I nearly bought the super long feather earrings from Urban but they are definitely not worth 35 dollars to me specially when I could probably make them. If you want flower hair accessories and don't want to pay the obnoxious prices they sometimes charge for them, just go to a cvs and a dollar store. Pick up a head band or 4 that you like and some fabric glue. Then go to the dollar store and get some pretty silk flowers that you like. Take them of the stems and glue them to the head band. I'd suggest letting it dry for at least 24 hours. Viola! Cool hair accessory for about 5 dollars. Plus you know it will be completely unique. Nothing is worse than wearing a really striking hair piece and running into someone else on the street with the same one. xoxo.

Teeth Whitening Experiment

So I was stumbling around blogger as usual (using stumbleupon. Get it, love it.) and I found an interesting technique for teeth whitening using strawberries. I'm intrigued. I have had my teeth professionally whitened and I use a variety of whitening products such as toothpaste, both pharmacy and professional, mouth wash, and britesmile pens. I'm always looking for a re-up on my whiteness though, especially before I wear red lipstick. So, once I acquire some strawberries and get my camera working, I am going to show you exactly how well it works!
Here's the link to the blog I found it on - Pamper and Primp

Clear Skin

So I have an acne problem. I frequently use a prescription strength acne cream at night and a different one during the day. I switched a week ago to AcneFree Sensitive Skin and love the results! I haven't had a single new zit and all my preexisting ones have healed. Yay! My skin is a little dry since I switched but nothing that a good oil free moisturizer can't fix. I like Neutrogena intensified day moisture. It has spf 15 and never makes my pores clog.
Let see, what else. I tried the new herbal essence's Tousle Me Softly, and it is rather entertaining. It does make my naturally wavy hair very pretty and wavy and helps minimize frizz without being crunchy. I got the mouse and the fixatif hairspray. I'd love to get my hands on the creme but CVS is evil and doesn't carry half of the products of the brands they sell. Grrr. Also, I love herbal essences break's over leave-in cream but cannot get my hands on any at the moment. It gives awesome breakage repair but explodes at high altitude. Plus it works as an anti frizz cream in a pinch. To try and combat my breakage from all the flat ironing I do, I am trying out the John Frieda night creme serum. I'll update on the effect.
OK, I feel like I gave enough brand name shouts there haha. Hope everyone is happy and healthy and please post questions or comments!

Hair and Nail Trick

I am presently on a major health food kick and was thinking, since I've been eating all this super healthy food so my insides are beautiful, what can I do to my exterior? Current love - Flax Seed Oil. I have a whole jar full of the gel capsules. I puncture one and empty the contents into a small bowl. First I rub some into my cuticles which softens them and makes my nails super shiny. Then I take the remaining oil and coat my hands, then run it through my hair. Fizz? Poof! Disappears and I have really frizzy hair. This makes my hair smooth and shiny and makes it look just a tad darker which is awesome because i have dark hair that I periodically dye to maker it even darker. So this treatment has very immediate benefits, actually instant. Beautiful nails and smooth luscious hair. Yum!

Welcome to my Beauty Blog!

This is a blog with my tips and tricks for skin, hair, make-up, nails, life, diets, and probably my opinion on everything. Because I am super opinionated. I hope everyone enjoys it and please post comments with your tips and tricks or your results!