Saturday, August 13, 2011

Shop therapy! MAC gingerly and Chanel Peridot

I've had a pretty rough week with work and stuff so I felt I deserved a little somethin somethin ...


I was supposed to be on a mission to find new work shoes... but that died quick and I ended up at MAC. I've had my eye on gingerly blush for a while now. You know... the infamous blush that Kim Kardashian has worn. I am such a sucker so I finally picked it up! Super excited for that.

I also wandered over to the Chanel counter and picked up a new nail polish from the fall 2011 collection. I got the ever anticipated Peridot. It is a gorgeous olive green gold duochrome metallic color. So pretty. But at 4 times the price point of OPI it better be haha. Definitely worth every penny because now I am a happy girl... gotta love shop therapy.



I can't wait to wear gingerly tomorrow to work! Maybe I'll snap a couple quick pics before I head out the door.

Here are more pics of the couple goodies I got

mac gingerly blush

above: MAC gingerly 
below: Chanel Peridot

chanel peridot fall collection nail polish

chanel nail polish peridot fall collection

What do you ladies do perk your mood when you have a bad week?
xxx

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

How to: style wavy hair without heat, using a curling spray...

tutorial how to wavy hair no heat curl spray beachy style


Yeah so I wish my hair was effortlessly pretty and wavy like above. Unfortunately I wake up most days with a frizzy animal on my head.

Cue pictures.


...excuse my grumpy face 

Anyway, I thought I'd share this little tutorial of how I transform my untamed mop of hair into a cute, beachy, more manageable style. It's super easy, doesn't involve heat and takes about 5 minutes to do!

All you need is a curling spray and bobby pins. I use the John Frieda Dream Curls Spray...super cheap from the drug store.

tutorial how to wavy hair no heat curl spray beachy style


Basically all you do mist all your hair with the spray. I use maybe 15 squirts.

Next, twist sections of hair into dread lock strands, then twist each strand into a spiral on your head and secure it with a bobby pin or clip or whatever you have. 

Do your whole head and it should look like this:

tutorial how to wavy hair no heat curl spray beachy style

 I call this my Scary Spice hair. 

tutorial how to wavy hair no heat curl spray beachy style

A couple tips: 

Secure each hair spiral with clips facing downward, because it's more likely to stay in place. Or else use more than 1 clip so that your hair doesn't fall out .

Also, the neater you are with your spirals the neater your hair will come out. and the smaller sections of hair you take the curlier your hair will be...obviously. Just for a reference I wasn't very neat and I took fairly large sections.

If you are lazy like me to twist up your whole head,  just do the face framing hair pieces, then with the back of your hair twist it all up in a bun like this :





Ok now let your hair sit for 10 minutes. Do your makeup ... or eat some food or listen to some jams...whatever, occupy yourself for 10 mins lol.


When you take your hair out it should look like this:



Finger comb your hair out, add a serum if you like ...et voila :D

tutorial how to wavy hair no heat curl spray beachy style




Super easy ! try it out and let me know if it works for you..

xxx

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

How I do a bright pink cheek...using NYX Pinky blush


I love wearing bright blushes...they are my favorite <3 

today I'm wearin NYX Pinky blush. It's a pinky fuchsia color. I felt inspired by Rihanna in Who's that chick...

But for a more wearable look I paired it with a pink lipstick and simple winged eyeliner. 


bright pink cheeks makeup look nyx

What I'm wearing: 

Face:
Chanel Vitalumiere foundation
makeup forever HD loose powder

Eyes:
Urban Decay Naked Palette e/s
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
L'Oreal telescopic  mascara

Cheeks:
NYX Pinky blush

Lips:
Rimmel Funtime Fuchsia lipstick
NYX Narcissus lipstick



bright pink cheeks makeup look nyx

I feel like a lot of ladies shy away from super bright blush in fear of looking clownish. Maybe that is true if you are very fair skinned, but for the medium or darker toned honeys out there don't be afraid!

the trick is to use a very light hand. A little product goes a long way. A duel fibre brush works great if you don't have good control. I use my MAC 187, I know it's on the larger side for a blush brush but meh!

I got bored after and decided to up the amp on the eyeliner and brightened up my lips using just the fuschia lipstick. 

bright pink  makeup look nyx rimmel

Rihanna Whos That Chick wearables makeup look nyx


My inspiration for this look... love her



I hope you like! tell me what you think.... and what bright blush do you love?
xxx

Monday, August 8, 2011

My favorite nude lip combo!

 mac nude lips chai myth olive skin

this is a lip combo i've totally been loving lately. 

I used:


 mac nude lips chai myth olive skin


Rimmel lipliner in Natural
MAC lipstick in Myth
MAC lipglass in Chai


 mac nude lips chai myth olive skin

Swatched top to bottom:   
Chai lipglass   |  Myth lipstick   |   Natural lipliner

I've had myth in my collection forever and I really regretted purchasing it because it's atrocious on its own, well on my skin tone anyway. It looks like a chalky disaster! But I finally figured if I just pat it on my lips followed by a neutral lipgloss the look really comes together. 

Chai is a greyish brown lipglass with slight shimmer that looks amazing on darker skin tones... but I think it's a pretty difficult shade to pull off, as all my friends hate it! I guess lucky me :D 

 mac nude lips chai myth olive skin



What are your fav nude lip combos?

OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender

Here's what's on my nails today... it's one of my favorite polishes!


lucky lucky lavender opi nail polish purple


lucky lucky lavender opi nail polish purple


lucky lucky lavender opi nail polish purple


Friday, August 5, 2011

How to: Remove Sparkle Nail Polish (aluminum foil method)...it really works!

Sooooo I've been obsessed with sparkle nail polish!!  Especially OPI's Sparkle icious...



Sparkles are so fun and pretty on your nails...


Except they are a biaatch to remove. We've probably all been there scrubbing at our nails with a mountain of cotton pads building up. Well I randomly came across a couple blogs that show you a fret free method of  taking off the thick coats of sparkly stuff on your nails.


It seemed too good to be true so I wanted to test it for myself....

So onto the tutorial ... these hideously chipped nails are ready for a fresh manicure!



What you'll need:

+ 3 cotton pads
+ scissors
+ strip of aluminum foil
+ nail polish remover

So what you do to prep is cut your strip of foil into ten rectangles. 


Now cut your cotton pads into quarters...I had a picture but I some how deleted it! If you have 3 cotton pads you will have half a pad left over to use for touching up. 


Now soak your cotton pad quarter in nail polish remover, place it on your nail and wrap it in the foil. The whole point of the foil is to secure the soaked cotton over the nail without any evaporation.




Once you have done one hand (or both if you have good hand eye coordination), listen to your favorite song, or do lunges or anything to occupy yourself for 5 minutes. Let those sparkles soak!

Ok, now that you've waited enough, you can remove the foil finger tips. You'll probably need a spare cotton pad to remove the residue of loose sparkles on the sides of your nail...that left over half cotton pad has come in handy! Is it just me, or is anyone else super stingy when it comes to cotton pads? I really hate wasting. 



Your nails should look like this. I massage the aluminum tips as I'm removing it off my nail so that the cotton pad picks up as much sparkles as possible.



All in all, this method really works! Pretty neat stuff :D 

Essie New Years/Holiday collection

I was just doing my daily browse through temptalia.com when I came across the up and coming fall and winter collections by Essie.

I am very excited for sparkles! I don't think I've ever seen Essie do any polishes like this...

 Luxeffects Collection essie nail polish


What collections are you lookin forward to for fall?