Pale Skin

Hello my pretties. So I love most thing things Japanese, especially fashion and beauty. (Obvi?) The Japanese have an entire section of their beauty industry devoted to skin lightening to create that sought after ivory tone. With my super sensitive skin though, I am frightened to partake....Has anyone had any experience with japanese skin lighteners?

For a really good article on faking or creating pale skin - http://www.mookychick.co.uk/body/how_to_get_pale_skin.php

Skin Allergies

Hello my lovelies. So I know I have been super absent recently, but I have a totally valid reason. I basically have not been able to wear make-up or jewelry for nearly two months. I apparently have extremely allergic skin. I have been getting a wretched rash on my face and neck and its just been disgusting. I know this totally what you want to hear about. So anyway, I am back and all that lovely jazz. My new love? Covergirl Lash Blast Luxe. I was really hesitant to buy this stuff because I just don't have a lot of luck with Covergirl, but this mascara has completely converted me. I have it in Cabernet which gives me the subtle look of brown mascara but still fiercely noticeable giving me a think luscious fringe of dark lashes. The brush gives me almost no clumps, even when wearing my glasses. Loves it.

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.