Sorry that it has been a while since I have posted. Busy time, but I finally did another look.

This look is a classic look done with browns, taupe and sand colors for the shadows, a winged eyeliner in black, a nude lip and a strong brow.


I have decided that I want to expand my skills to be a more well rounded makeup artist. So I am working on hairstyling in addition to makeup. I did this updo the other day.
It is a cross between 1920 with some Victorian thrown in. It actually inspired someone for how they want their hair for their wedding.

I am going to be doing some more work soon and will be posting it up. A few are actually for some guys. Also, Halloween is around the corner, so I will be putting up some looks for that!


Until next time.

Peace.

In addition to doing video post and different looks, I am going to be posting up looks that I have done on other people. This first one was done on Krista, and it is a smokey orange look.


For this look you will need:

Face-
CoverGirl foundation
Smashbox Fusion Lights in Soft Dusk
MUFE Sculpting kit #2
MUFE HD powder
MUFE camouflage concealer palette

Lips-
MAC lip liner in Subculture
Revlon Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude
NYX Sheer Gloss in Clear

Eyes-
UDPP
88 Color Palette (colors pictured to the right)
NYX e/s in Africa
MUFE Aqua eyeliner in Black
Stila Major Major Lash





I started off with the CoverGirl TruBlend foundations on her to even out her skin. I mixed 2 foundations colors to match her skin and blended it on the spots that needed it.

For under her eyes I used MUFEs camouflage concealer palette, patted the lightest color under her eyes and then added a little more foundation to blend it together.

Then I moved on to her eyes (I jump around a lot) and primed them with the UDPP. Then coated the lid, up to the brow bone with the white (1st color on the 88 palette) with a large e/s brush.

Next, I took the NYX Africa e/s and patted it on the lid up to the crease with a smaller e/s brush. Then take the golden brown color (3rd color marked on the 88 palette) and apply it the the outer part of the lid and bring it 3/4ths of the way in and blend it with the Africa color using a small e/s brush.

After that, take the purple brown (4th color on the palette) and apply it just on the outer part of the lid and bring it into the crease using a tapered blending brush. Depending on how dramatic you want to go, then you can drag it farther into the crease.

I added a little more Africa at the end because I wanted a little more of a pop. I also took the golden brown color (3rd on the 88 palette) and applied it with the angle brush under the lower lashes.

Line the eyes with black liner, curl the lashes and apply black mascara.

I also filled in her brows with a e/s and angled brush and set it with a clear mascara.

After I finished the eyes, I went back to the face and highlighted her cheekbones, used the NYX Africa e/s as a blush (use just a tiny bit, or they will look like a clown!) and added a little bit of bronzer.

For the lips, I filled in her lips with the lip liner and applied the lipstick and just a little bit of gloss in the center of her lips.

Finished the look by brushing the HD powder over her face to reduce some of the shine.


That is the final look for the eye.

Until next time.

Peace.

This is my first video post! The inspiration is from a post that makeup geek posted up with an arabic inspired makeup look. It involves orange, green and purple colors and gel liner. Here is the video, and below is listed the products and tools that I used.

CORRECTION: I say in the video that I used the 120 palette, but it is the 88 matte palette.






Here are the colors that were used in the palette.

You can click on the picture to see it larger to see the numbers for the shadows.
1st - the light colors used all over the lid and then up the brow bone
2nd - this is actually the NYX color, Africa, so it isn't on the picture
3rd - the green used on the middle of the lid
4th - the purple color used on the outer eye and crease
5th - the orange and brown used on the lower lid of the eye

Mascara:
Stila's Major Major Lash in black

Eye liner:
Stila's paint pot in black for the upper lashes and MUFE Aqua Eyes in black for the water line

Face:
MUFE sculpting Kit # 2
Smashbox Fusion Lights, Soft Dusk bronzer
MUFE Micro HD powder

Lips:
MAC lip pencil in Subculture
Revlon lipstick in Matte Nude Attitude (#001)
NYX sheer gloss in Bare

Brushes:
Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow and angled brushes
ELF "C" shadow brush
MAC 226
NYX eyeliner brush
Eco Tools powder brush





Until next time.

Peace.

As promised, I did a look using the new Stila 24k Gold palette. The colors are amazing and the texture is very smooth. I used the Rose, Blue and Purple shadows.



Start off with priming your eyes, I used UDPP (as usual), and take a color close to your skin tone and apply it on the inner part of your lid and up to the brow bone.

Pack on the blue shadow on your entire lid and once you are satisfied with the intensity, take some of the rose color and blend it into the crease and halfway on the lid. Depending on how much blue you want, you can bring the rose color farther in.

Then, using my blending brush, take some of the purple shadow and blend it into the crease and blend it on the outer corner of the eye.

If you want a more intense look, take a angled brush and put some of the blue shadow on the inner corner of the eye and line the bottom, along the lash line, with the rose color and blend it into the blue.

Then line your eyes with black eyeliner, curl your lashes and apply mascara. I used Makeup Forever's Aqua Eyes liner in black and Stila's Major major Lash mascara.





Until next time.

Peace.

This year I attended my first IMATS. I was so excited when I heard about it and found that it was in Pasadena, CA since I live just 15 minutes down the road from the convention center. I really wasn't sure what to expect, and I'm glad that I was able to go into it that way. It was very over whelming to see all of those vendors and these amazing artists in one place.

While I was there I was able to load up on some amazing products and learned a lot from the speakers.

Makeup Forever was one of the many companies that was there, and I have see a lot of their products at Sephora, but I never really bought any of their products. The artist that were there at the both were very helpful in explaining their products and helping me choose some items for my kit. Here is what I picked up:

HD Microfinish Powder

Camoflauge Palette #5

Sculpting Kit #2

Aqua Eyes Liner #0L

Next I headed over to the Naimies Beauty Center area and visited the Eve Pearl and Bobbi Brown area. I knew that I wanted to get the Black eyelash glue from Eve Pearl (which I did) and I just wanted to see some of the Bobbi Brown products. I wasn't really looking to get anything, but I wanted to check out the Shimmer Bricks at least. So I did and they were nice, but there wasn't anything that I was like "I need this for my kit now!" until she brought out the Rose shimmer brick and called it the perfect blush for a bride. AH! We tried it out and I instantly bought it. It is great. It has a little bit of a rosey color but isn't over powering. I cannot wait to use it for my brides!

Shimmer Brick


Then it was on to some seminars. There was everything from recreating icons in Hollywood to stories of Makeup Disasters to HD Makeup tips and tricks.

During some of these seminars they went over the new trends for fall. Here is what you should look for as far as makeup goes.

-Bare skin with blush being used more as a contouring agent, and only light contouring.

-Soft browns, moss greens and golden colors for the eyes.

-Straight liner, instead of winged.

-Red lip stain and no liner.

It is a very minimal look that is mostly focused on the eyes. I will be coming up with some looks that are good for work that can be easily turned into a night look with just a few products.

After some seminars it was back to the exhibit floor. I visited the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics booth and met Maxi from the Lifetime show Blush. I have heard a lot about the Lip Tars and was looking forward to checking them out. Maxi showed me what they could do, and I was very impressed. They are a stain and a gloss combined, they are pure color that isn't really sticky. So I bought 3 of them in red, blue and yellow. They are great for mixing colors, and the red was an amazing lip color for me. I also bought 2 pigments. One is a shimmer white and the other is a rusty color. i haven't worked with them very much yet, but there will be some looks coming up with them.




I also found the 88 matte eyeshadow palette at one of the booths, actually it was at like 5 of them, and I am very impressed with it. I have done several looks with it and the key to working with this palette is having a great primer. I recommend Urban Decay's Primer Potion.




I will leave you with some photos from the Trade Show.





Until next time.

Peace.

So sorry it has been a while since I have posted. It has been crazy around here. I thought that I would post up a little update for you about what is to come.

I have received my NYX order from the 10th anniversary sale and I am very impressed. Their eyeshadows are great and so I decided that I would try some of their lip products next. A review on those lip products and swatches are coming up!

I have also discovered that my local Nordstroms Rack has Smashbox and Stila products for $6-$10 for eyeshadows and lip products! I bought a dark blue Smashbox shadow and created a blue smokey eye look, which I will do a tutorial on.

Sephora is selling the Stila Charming 24K Gold quad palette for $10!! So of course I went out to the Glendale Galleria and bought mine. The colors are beautiful and a review and new look will be coming up with that.



Finally, the IMATS are this weekend in Pasadena. This will be my first trade show and I cannot wait!

I also have some news...I am now studying under the make-up artist Robyn Cosio (author of The Eyebrow and the make-up specialist at Sally Hershberger Los Angeles)

My first job with her is in July! So stories will be coming soon.

Until next time.

Peace

So I think that I have given a some time to test out the ELF products and see how they hold up over time. There are some products that are really worth getting, and some that you can pass on.

Here is what was purchased:
- Candy Shop Liptin
-Shimmering facial Whip in Toasted
-Wet Gloss Lash & Brown Clear Mascara
-Shine Eraser
-Dramatic Lash Kit
-Liquid Eye Liner in Plum (before they came out with the new formula)
-Individual Lash Kit
-French Nail Kit in Clear, White & Nude
-Basic Brown kit
*This kit included:
-Brown Mascara
-3 Eyeshadows in a nude, light brown and dark brown
-Natural Lashes
-Brown Eye Liner (coffee)
-Eye Shadow Brush

First off, these products overall are pretty good. There are just a few that didn't work that great and then others that exceeded my expectations.

I am going to start off with the ones that worked great and ones that I highly recommend.

1) The Shimmer Facial Whip is great for adding a little highlight to areas that you want to bring attention to. I used it on my cheek bones and on my lips. You only want to use a little bit when using this product because it goes a long way. If you use too much then it will look clownish.

2)Wet Gloss Clear Mascara is some thing that I use everyday. I don't use it for mascara just because I like my lashes to look long and that doesn't happen when you have blonde eyelashes. What I use it for is setting my eyebrows. It gives it that finished and polished look. Next time I order I will be getting several of them at a time.

3)Shine Eraser blotting sheets are great and gross. They pick up oil and take the shine away from your face. I have become addicted to them. This is something that is essential to my kit.

4)The ELF Nail Polish is great. The French Nail kit is the one that I purchased, and it lasted longer then any of my other nail polishes. The nice thing about the kit is that it came with the stickers to help guide you to make flawless white tips.

5)ELF eyeshadow brush is one of the highest rated product on the website. The brush came with the Basic Browns kit. I now understand why everyone likes it. It picks up color great, it is a smaller brush, and it is a great compliment brush to my larger Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow brush. This is another product that I am going to buy a few of next time so I can have a few back ups in my kit.

6)The natural lashes worked well for my eyes. I wore them to work one day and received a lot of compliments. The glue that comes with the lash kits us awful. It is pretty much a gross old milk looking liquid that is expected to hold these lashes on your eyes all day...WRONG. I recommend these lashes, but buy glue some where else.

7) Candy Shop Lip Tins are really cute and you get a lot of gloss in the tin. I received this as a free gift, but I would recommend getting it.

Next are the products that worked ok.

1) The Basic browns eyeshadows worked pretty well. I really liked them at first when I was trying everything out, but the reason that these fall into the "ok" category is because even with a good primer underneath, they ended up fading together. If it is a look that you are going to only be wearing for a few hours, then they are great, or if you are only going to be wearing one color, then it would be great. My suggestion, if you are looking for a new look, then go for the "get the looks" kits, it is worth it for the eyeshadow brush and the lashes, and everything else that comes in it is pretty good.

2)The Eyeliner in Coffee that came in the kit is ok as well. It was just a little too light for me and it wore off during the day. For a $1 or getting it in the kit is pretty good.

3) The Brown mascara falls into this category for one reason, when first applied it looks great, but as it dries the lashes start to stick together and they get really hard. Not really comfortable. I do, however, really like the wand. For a $1, it is good.

Finally, these are the products that I wouldn't get again.

1) The dramatic lashes look great, but I don't like that you can see the white fiber that the lashes are attached too. When I tried to cover the line with some of my smudge pot it looked awful. Then I tried to cover it with liquid liner, that didn't work either. It ended up just being too much trouble with these lashes. If you want a really dramatic look, I would recommend looking at the NYX Cosmetics website and purchasing some lashes from them.

2)The liquid eyeliner is awful. It wouldn't go on smoothly and it just ended up flaking off. They have come out with a new formula that I haven't tried yet, so hopefully it is better now.


Overall, it is a great website with some great products. I enjoy getting new products and trying them out. Sometimes you find somethings that you won't want to live with out, and some of them are just ok, but at only $1-$3 a product, you can't go wrong.

Here is a look that I did with the Basic Browns kit.


There are a few things that are coming up. NYX is having their 10th anniversary sale until May 15th, so I bought quite a few things and I will do a review on their products that I have and that I am getting. Also I have done a few new looks that will be posted up and I am working on some tutorial videos. If there is something that you want reviewed or a look that you would like me to do, let me know.

Until next time.

Peace.