Whaaat? Where'd I go?

I was with out a computer for some time so I haven't really been able to post up on here in some time. My first post back is going to be showing off my contest entries for Regis Glam 2015. I entered into two different contests, Avante Garde and Womens Makeover.

 To win the contest we have to get into the finals, and to get there it is based off how many likes a photo receives. If you go to Regis Glam 2015 Womens Makeover  and 'like' my submission and then share it with your friends it brings me one step closer to winning for that portion of the competition! 

The second contest that I entered was an Avante Garde contest. What is Avante Garde? Avante Garde is about drama, it's high fashion, it's that feeling of 'what the fuck' when you watch a runway show. It was a team effort. Me and one of my coworkers entered this one and if you goto Regis Glam 2015 Avante Garde facebook page and 'like' my submission and share it with your friends it brings us that much closer.

I really think we have a good shot to win. So much effort was put into BOTH creations. It's my first year working for Regis and I just think that it would be amazing to make such an accomplishment.

A reunion and a new friend.

(Before and After)

I decided to repurchase an old favorite foundation, and to try out a new product. Revlon's Color stay foundation is fantastic. I use the whipped in the cooler months and the liquid in the Spring and a BB Cream that isn't at all related in the summer when it feels like Hell out. 

The whipped is a medium-full coverage foundation. I have oily/combination skin and it works wonderfully. I apply it with either a paddle brush or my fingers, generally my fingers I feel it blends it in better. It covers my redness, my acne scars, and my dark circles. I still wear a concealer with it just to humor myself. 

The foundation lasts all day with no problems. I do recommend pairing it with a powder if you have an oilier t-zone as it does have a "dewy" finish.. 

The NEW product that I tried was ELF's face primer. Just the regular one in the white tube. And it honestly surprised me. It's about $6 at Walmart and it did the things a primer is supposed to do. Filled in my fine lines, smoothed my skin etc. It allowed my already long lasting foundation to not budge. I recommend trying it! 

As sad as it is fall is right around the corner, and the hethans are going back to school. With this lovely 90 °F there is no signs of fall, except that lingering crispness in the air before bed. With fall comes the obligatory "Back To School" makeup looks, because I guess the beauty community feels everyone in the world is going back to school. Or maybe it's they assume the only people that watch makeup videos are people between the ages of 13-17. 

But what about the people who have graduated? Or have been out of school for years? Well I decided to create a look that may not be...office appropriate, and might be a bit bold for day to day use. For me it was about creating a darker, vampy look for fall that wasn't a back to school look. I wont say I'm not going to make a back to school look, because I may do just that. 

This eyes were very basic, and could be done easily for an everyday look. It was the lips that 'vamped' it up or made it a bit more daring. I was experimenting with brow shapes so ignore my less than perfect brows. But here's what I did.

 It was a lot of fun doing this look. My mom panicked when I purchased the black lipstick she even asked if I was going through a goth phase  I giggled because it was far from that. Teehee. Hope you enjoy.

Roasted Balsamic Vinegar Vegetables with Wild Rice

For lunch today I cooked up one of my favorite dishes, and for Food Friday I thought it was perfect that I share it.  

I had balsamic roasted vegetables and rice. Yum! I absolutely LOVE  roasted vegetables. I don't know why I didn't know about them sooner in life.

Crank up the oven to 400 degrees, roll vegetables in oil, salt, pepper and whatever flavoring throw in that hot oven for 15 minutes, and then toss them for another 15 minutes and serve it up hot with your favorite grains. And if you're me you ad some malt vinegar.

Recipe...ish. 

1lb of Brussels sprouts 

20 mushrooms

1 Zucchini 

1c of Wild Rice

2TBS of Balm Vinegar

Oil

Salt& Pepper 

Pin Curls--Old and New

Pin Curls are simple, beautiful and have found themselves back into the hearts of many people. The "vintage" style is after your bath is to roll your hair and pin them, covering them in a scarf and going to bed. When you wake, TADA curled hair. 

And it really is that simple, you can use a waving lotion or setting spray when you go to sleep to make a stronger curl, but they don't need it. Pin girls can either be done flat to the head for less volume or they can be done standing up for a much fuller (fluffier) appearance.



The vintage feel is very popular, from barrel rolls to finger waves (did they ever really go out of style?). It's very feminine. And the base of many of these looks is the pin curl.

There are videos that scatter the web showing different ways as how to set these but they all come down to the same thing. And I have to say from personal experience they make my mornings much quicker when I set my hair at night and wake up to my hair basically done! You have to style them but that isn't such a big deal.

Another ever growing popular way to do pin curls is with a hard set. Hard sets have been gracing runways for years because they last. They give volume and the curls are not going anywhere. A hard set is when you curl the hair with a hot iron (with waving lotion) and pin it to the head for them to cool. The cooling process allows the curl to set similar to if you were to use a hot rollers. 

The hard set does take much longer to do as you are curling and pinning each individual section but it is worth it in the end. I'll be doing a post in the coming days on how to do both of these in more detail. 

Just goes to prove, do styles really every go out of style? 

In a previous post I talked about the Blue Lip trend. And I'm pretty sure my interest of it was very obvious. I really like it, my parents on the other hand were anything but impressed.

The blue lipstick that I purchased was "Blue Velvet" from NYX Cosmetics, which I showed in my haul. I also used a blue lip liner because I was wearing the lip color all day and I felt that it needed the extra...support to keep it alive longer. The blue lasted for about 5 1/2 hours in 75+ degree weather while talking my ass off to a Guinea Breeder.  The pay off is nice.

But there might be a question, how do you wear it? It's such a strong color, it must be hard to wear. Nope! 

I felt a bold lip decided a smokey eye. It was a bit dramatic for everyday but, I was feeling a bit punk rock. 

I used the Coastal Scents 88 palette. (The original) which I hadn't used in a really long time, I forgot how much I really loved it. 

With a wing, and strong brow it was pulled off really well. I should have done a photo tutorial on the look but it really is a basic smokey eye.

I went light on the blush and I gave it a strong contour to bring out the cheekbones I don't have. Haha. 

Back to the 1928!

The revolution begins today with my first model. This was a fun one to do. She had to come on an earlier day because her mom had plans for her on the 16th, and she is leaving for college in England (wow!) soon. So it was now or never and I had a look specifically for her. So I HAD to have her face! 

It turned out lovely and I think that it will make an amazing first addition into my portfolio.

The look was meant to gear more towards the later 1920's it could easily cross into the 1930's even! With the deep lip and the extended brow and the...'lazier' finger wave. 

Products Used:

Eyes: 

BH Cosmetics 120 palette.

UD Naked 2

Brows: Buck

NYC Kohl Liner

CG Mascara

Lips:

NYX Cosmetics Pum and black berry liner

MAC Vivaglam Rihanna

Cheeks:

E.L.F Candied Coral

Face:

Dinair "Alabaster" 

The other day I ended up doing the first part of my photoshoot because my model is moving to Florida and she has an excellent face for an Edwardian hair style. I'm sad that we were crunched on time today because we were unable to get a quality photograph of her for my portfolio--bummer.  I still will put this in my portfolio but it doesn't show the hair well enough. The hair turned out wonderful.

The plan for this look was to bring the romance of the Edwardian Period and give it a modern twist. With lightly filled in eyebrows, and a bronzie pink smokey eye and relativity flawless face. Keeping to the classic Edwardian feel with a light pink blush, in a more upward pattern instead of the traditional circle and a deeper pink lip. The look complimented her face, and the framing of the Gordon Girl hair style really played well with her face. 

Products Used: 

Foundation: Dinair "Alabaster

Face Powder: Airspun Loose Powder "Naturally Neutral:

Concealer: Cover Girl "Illuminator"

Eye Primer:

Eye shadow: Naked 3 and Lorac Unzipped 

Eye liner: NYC Black Liner

Blush: Cover Girl Classic Color "Rose Silk"

Lip liner:

Lipstick: NYC "Haute Couture" 

NYX Haul--Swatches included!!

Just yesterday I was complaining about how long it was taking for my NYX order to ship. I was growing very frustrated, and then it came in today. I guess it was just all wonky on the website. I've never shopped on NYX's website, I have never owned a NYX product and I can't say I've really used one. I've swatched an eye shadow once at Ross or something. But I'm pretty much a virgin to it.

I've heard many good reviews about it and had to find out for myself, and they came out with their Macaron collection and it really impressed me. I loved the vibrant out there colors. So, I purchased a few from the Macaron collection as well as some other lipsticks, and lip liners (and one eye liner!) from their other collections.

Some of their lipsticks when I applied them I knew I would be in love with, and others I knew would take some...fun loving. Or some work to get them to be what I wanted them to be. 

BUT! Before I get into the lipsticks can we talk about the little bag it came in? It's the cutest little drawstring bag. It looks like it should hold highclass lingerie not lip products, and I got a free lip balm--which I didn't swatch as the color pay off is not exceptional. 

The lipstick that caused the...I MUST BUY LIPSTICK problem was when I saw a beautiful blue lipstick called "Blue Velvet" I've always been one for vibrant lipsticks, from hot pinks, to bright orange and so forth. And if you remember from a previous post I was noticing how popular blue lipsticks were becoming and I was very excited to get this one. And the pay off is awesome! Now I got an eyeliner to use as a lip liner to prevent any fading and to keep it crisp. But wow! It shocked me at how good of a pay off it had. 

Another lipstick from the Macaron collection, and one that--for me anyway--is not as shocking is "Orange Blossom" Now....the pay off of this color really sucks. Like super sucks. I took a picture of it with out the orange lip liner and it looked like a nude in the photograph and I didn't feel it was really worth sharing. But with NYX's orange lip liner it is a really nice orange. Not too bright, but bright enough that it will not be mistaken for coral. Haha. 

The last color that I purchased from the the Macaron line is "Chambord" which is just a classic black lipstick, again I purchased a liner that compliments it well to prevent feathering yadda yadda. The color pay off was okay. It was not as...black? As I thought it was going to be. Haha. i mean it is definitely black but I expected a higher pigmented black than what I got. But with the liner it does have that solid goth/punk rock black that I was looking for.

Now to get into the colors that aren't as crazy there has to be some balance somewhere. This one is a matte (as is the one to follow) lipstick in "Sweet Pink" the NYX website describes it as a violet-fuchsia. Which is what I thought it was going to be. But the color pay off is much more pink and less violet/fuchsia. I do quite enjoy the color and the pay off is very nice. It does have a slight blue undertone, which is nice to make my not so pearly whites look white. 

Probably my favorite of the lot is "Siren" (also matte). It is a very nice deep plum and I can see using it many ways. I have a few plums, and their color pay off is not as good. I purchased (shocker) a liner to go with it, and the liner really brightens it up. And I have a brown liner that deepens it nicely. It's very versatile. I will definitely be sharing some looks featuring this baby! 

And the last lipstick of this haul is from NYX's Round Lipsticks it is "Haute Couture".  Out of all of them it is the most sheer and I would almost say it's "Cream Sheen" (is that just a MAC thing?). It is a lovely color and I am sure it will get much use for those less daring days, and for a certain client tomorrow. 

Over all. I was very pleased with my NYX order. The amount of time it took for it to get here was a bit ridiculous, but that's alright. It was well wroth the wait. :) 

Shaaannxo recreation

As most people do I have this weird obsession with watching makeup videos on YouTube. It's how I've learned to do ALL the makeup that I know how to do for the most part, some things I have learned from tiral and error on myself. But for the most part they come from watching people on the internet and wanting to try what I've watched. And sometimes they turn out really well and sometimes they turn into a train wreck. This was one of the times that it turned out really well. And I needed a post for Monday. So here it is!

All the colors I used are from the BH Cosmetics 120 pallet, my blush is CG in Rose Silk, and my lipstick is MAC's Vivaglam Rhianna (which I have a post about that'll be up later!)

It's really simple, if you have white liner, and an angled brush it is super simple and it gives a nice twist to the usual 'PinUp' look. Twas fun, I hope someone finds inspiration in it and tries it on their own. :) 

First Arie, now Colbie is there hope?

About a year ago Arie sported that they were no longer going to photo shop. I called B.S on it for a while. Until I went to the mall and saw a woman with stretchmarks on her bum. It made me really excited. It's good to see that one big company is taking the stand to do such a wonderful thing. 

Everyone knows photoshop happens. And yet very little is happening to try and stop it. 

Colbie Caillat's new album features the song "Try" because she was tired of being photoshopped. The song may not find it's self at the top of my favorites but the message it sends is wonderful.

 I really love someone coming out and saying love yourself, and fuck the masses. 

Even John Legend has kind of a similar idea sprouting 

Asian inspired lunch

I was rummaging through Pinterest like any unprofessional chef does when they are in search of something for lunch. I kept seeing stir fry pop up and well...if you've ever made one stirfry is the easiest thing EVER to make. Take vegetables, add to pan with flavors, satay. Magic stir fry.

It was "Asian" inspired...sort of because to me "Asian" is anything with ginger, and soy sauce. I got super fancy and added rice wine vinegar to it. The nice thing about this lunch is I have lunch for the weekend, and for the first part of next week. Just warm it up and boil up some more quinoa and lunch! Yay. Putting on a pot of steel cut oats tonight for breakfast tomorrow. Yum yum!

Recipe: Ingredients
2 Carrots 
1/2 cup of green beans
1/2 cup peas
1 can of watercress'
1/2 can bamboo shoots
5 mushrooms
2 small broccoli heads
2c Vegetable broth
1c Quinioa
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp garlic
Splash of soy sauce
Splash of rice vinegar

Warm oil in a large pan and satay your vegetables. With ginger and garlic until soft and to your liking. And serve over Quinoa (add garlic and use veggie broth instead of water). 

Edwardian Styles

I've really been enjoying the elegant style of the Edwardian (or Victorian) time period. 

The Edwardian period or Era was the time following Queen Victoria's reign in 1900-1910 during the reign of Edward Vll of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, and of the British Dominions and Emperor or India. 

During the Victorian era wearing makeup was highly frowned upon, but just as today women had the want to appear younger than what they were. So women would find cosmetics in various beauty 
salons in a very...shameful manner. No one wanted to know that they needed the cosmetics. But coming into the Edwardian period Gordon Selfrige opened what would be closely similar to the modern day makeup counters! Cool, right? 

The Edwardian period kept some of the trends from the Victorian period and tossed out others. Pale skin was still very in. Women would use many forms to whiten their faces such as using white face paint--with lead, rice paper, or pear powder would also be applied to the skin. The blonde hair of the Victorian era however was out! And brunettes were in. A healthy glow from rouge was applied, and the lips would be stained with geranium and poppy petals. Eye makeup wasn't the big show, occasionally charcoal would be applied to the eyes to darken them. The eyebrows were the big thing, and they would even use belladonna drops to  dilate the pupils and brighten
 their eyes.

The soft, warm shadows and the almost child like lips and roughe. The large hair pulled up around the face and the eccentric hats. Granted this was also a time period when they mixed petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and charcoal together to create mascara and eyeliner. I find something very beautiful, and graceful about the look. The thought that women would go through back doors, and hide the fact they wore makeup amazed me. 

Flower Beards

Several months ago a gentleman named Pierce Thiot was attending a family party. And his whitty mother asked the grandkids to show off their talents. Mr. Thiot did not want to be excluded from the festivities so he began seeing how many pens he could fit in his beard. The kids thought it was funny, and I'm sure his mother was more than proud! 

But the idea of putting wacky things in his beard did not end there. He began a Tumblr (and later Instagram, Pinterest, etc) called "WillitBeard?" Where he put various things in his beards and his photographer wife would take pictures. You can even go onto his Tumblr and request him to put things in his beard. Interesting, right?

It is well known that I love a good beard. I find them to be one of the most attractive things on the right man. Adds a nice amount of ... ruggedness?  I don't know. 

Pierce Thiot's "WillItBeard" has what I assume started another trend the "Flower Beards" trend. Now I am not going to complain about it. I think that it is actually kind of neat. (Wish I had a friend with a beard, haha!). But these guys of varying beard stages, from stubble, to Santa Clause, and ZZ Top beards. 

I honestly really like this trend. I hope it sticks around. When I saw someone post about it I thought that it was maybe just an odd thing a few guys had done. But no! There are hundreds of photographs on Pinterest and Google of guys with Flower Beards. Huh.

And, I don't know about you but the guy on the top left, yum. His beard is very well groomed. I thought he deserved a cheesy heart.

Anyway, what's your thoughts on this flower beards? My mom wondered how many of them had gotten stung! Haha. Do you like it? Is it too weird? 

To wear the makeup, or to not wear the makeup.

I've noticed on the internet there has been this trend of either 

1. Wearing makeup makes you less of a person than someone who doesn't wear makeup
2. Women should stop 'tricking' men by wearing makeup 

To just begin with.  I am a licensed cosmetologist (as most know) and a free lance makeup artist. I am appalled at the idea that people think they are better than other people if they don't wear makeup. I'm not sure how a persons worth has to do with makeup. 

I think it is fantastic if a person feels comfortable in the skin she is given, and that she can feel confident like that. But there are girls who don't. And if they are able to find a smidgen of confidence in a jar of foundation, or a tube of lipstick whose to say they are less of a person? 

It irks me when a guy says that girls shouldn't wear makeup. Or that they like girl's 'natural' and that they would rather a girl wore 'leggings and a baggy sweat shirt'. But who made them so special that everything a woman does is for them? I'm not going to go all feminist in this because I probably could. But women aren't trying to trick men when they wear red lipstick, or a smokey eye. Women are being women, makeup is an expression of creativity no different than a guy who likes to fix cars. 

And for many women it is an art form. I'm a makeup artist because I love the art of it. Not because I want to 'fool' men. When I do a woman (or man)'s makeup what their SO thinks never crosses my mind. I think how can I make this person feel like a million bucks? How can I make them leave here with a smile. It's about a feeling in yourself, not about giving a feeling to someone else.

People are so stuck in deciding how people should and shouldn't be it's ridiculous. People have insecurities, man or woman. And if a bit of concealer makes them feel better. Good for them. If you feel wonderful with out it, good for them too. 

Blue Lipstick, maybe here to stay.

  

I've noticed a trend of blue lipstick and I took to the internet. Where did it start, and is it something that is going to gain popularity? Is it high fashion, or hypothermia?

During Louis Vuitton's spring fashion show of 2008 (6 years ago), he went quite "smurfy" (words of Marie Claire). With blue lipstick and many blue outfits. The funny thing about fashion shows, many people sit back and mock the wacky and outlandish looks that grace the runways but soon the mockers are expressing the same trends. Done down of course, but the trend is still expressed.

Two years following Ke$ha with her other eccentric looks was sporting blue body paint on her lips, and Rhiannon was pairing blue lips with her edgy fashion. Not many people seemed to enjoy the look at first. It was something that didn't appeal to anyone. I suppose looking like you had fallen off the Titanic wasn't a look everyone was digging. But. However, New York during fashion week (last year), showing off the latest spring fashions. With you guessed it blue (and orange) lips. Huh. So the blue lips where back. Cosmetic companies took this idea by storm. Blue lips. How fun! People like red, plum, and other stand out colors. Was blue really all that far away from that?

I suppose not! Some of the popular brands selling these blue lipsticks? OCC came out with a Matte blue liptar. NYX Cosmetics came out with a lighter blue lipstick in ther Macaroon line, and of course Lime Crime has a blue lipstick. This trend took a bit to find it's self in my heart. I thought like most it was odd. But I've always been one for a flashy lip. So I gave in, I ordered a blue lipstick.

So. If you're like me and are pondering on buying a blue lipstick, or maybe you have one hiding out in your drawer and you don't want to tell your friends about it in fear of appearing foolish. Remember some of the highest fashion models, and our favorite actresses, musicians, and artists are sporting these blue lips. Might warn your friends, so they don't think you're dying. 

Lipstick, Events, Updates.

Put ins to get  an order to NYX Cosmetics for some new lipsticks. Their Macaroon line is absolutely beautiful. The vibrant colors have struck my interest. I  haven't ordered from NYX before, I have little to no experience with their products. I've read their reviews, and they are all exceptional. I promise a review on  the lipsticks once I get them. I ordered a few from their other collections as well. I am more than excited, next thing I am ordering is some brushes and a new set of lashes.

 

I have planned my very first Lipstick Revolution event and I could not be more excited. The coming of the event has made it so I feel the growing need to purchase more products. I am more than equip to take on this first even but I am wanting to do more events in the future and to do that I am going to need to purchase more products. Also dance season is right around the corner and I need to get tinsel and a few other things to be ready for those. Money right now is short at the Homestead and I am currently unemployed except for the few clients here and there but I am fairly broke. But I will make it. And it is going to work out well.

More of the event. The theme of the event is the "Beauty Evolution". I'm taking looks from different time periods for the shoot. From a Victorian look to a Flapper, and a Punk Rocker and many more. This is the first time I have done anything like this and it is not what I would call all that fancy. I am not using a professional photographer--because I am not getting paid. I am not using professional studio--using my house. The first is never the best, that's supposed to be the last one but I have made it happen.

And to keep my blog active and to keep a nice flow to it  am going to start doing "themed" days to keep a daily post at least. I may post more than that just depending on the day/week. My ideas are as follows: 

• Makeup Mondays
• Tabloid Tuesdays / Tumblr Rant Tuesdays
• Wet Wednesday
• Throw Back Thursdays
• Food Friday
• Saturated Saturday 
• Sabbath (I'm not Jewish) Sunday

I'm working on keeping this blog flowing. I'll post more when my computer is not about to die. Haha. 

Black Bean Fiesta Quesadilla

I was looking for lunch ideas and found a recipe on Pinterest for Black Bean Quesadillas. Me being me I took it into my own little kitchen and gave it my own spin. It was delicious, had a nice spicy kick. Freshness from the cilantro and corn (wish I would of got a lime!) 

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup of frozen corn (thawed)
1/2 cup of Black Beans
Dash of Chili Powder
1 tbsp chunky salsa
Finley chopped cilantro
Red Bell Pepper
1/2 a Serrano pepper
1/2-1 cup of pepper jack cheese
Tortillas
Salt&Pepper
Tin Foil

I mixed everything together except the jack cheese, and obviously foil/tortillas. I spooned it onto the tortilla and sprinkled the cheese over the top. I took the top tortilla and set it on top like a little sandwich. Wrapped it up in foil and put it in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Until all melty and slightly crunchy.

It was awesome, with some ice tea and a bit of sour cream. Om Nom Nom. :)  

Planning, La da da.

I've been fishing around in my mind for the past couple of months the idea of doing a photo shoot obviously it wouldn't be a serious photo shoot because well, I don't know how to use a camera to save my ass. But, a photoshoot thing none the less because I want to build my portfolio. Because it's stale. It is full of photos from people in back alleys from Home coming but there isn't any fun photos. 

The problem is getting it together. I want each photo to feel very...to the time. I.e 1960's  (hippie esx) I'd want to do outside so it had that earthy feel, yadda yadda. And I have to slowly open my mother up to the idea. she is not a big fan of me having large amounts of people in the house at one time, especially with something like this because it would be a lot of people and a lot of kind of high stress (from my part). But I think that it would be so fun, and so worth it. 

Anyway the planning of it for me is fun, the who do I want there. What do I want to do, when do I want to do it. I would initially like to do it before everyone who is going away to college, leaves. Because uhum that'd be nice. But who knows what'll happen. 

Thai for dinner!

My parents enjoy complaining about how the places I like to eat are weird and sketchy like sorry I'm cheap. Anyway. They've decided to give my favorite Thai resturant a try and I am so pumped. If they don't like it, more for me. I'm excited. Om nom nom. I'm so hungry just thinking about it.

But like...did they downsize their portions? It looks like it.