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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Black Tango Palette

I am officially in love and once again it's with a Make Up Forever product.  The Black Tango Palette is AMAZING!!!  It's a special edition palette that consists of four Aqua Cream cream eye shadows.  They all work great together in creating the perfect smokey eye.  The colors are very dark and saturated....a little goes a long way.  I used it for the first time today at a photo shoot and the colors stayed on all day throughout the very hot California sun.  Everyone needs to run out and buy this palette.  Even if your makeup routine is the natural look...these colors will make you want to spice it up.
http://www.sephora.com/black-tango-palette-P374939

Monday, September 17, 2012

Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color

This week's review is on Urban Decay's Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color.  It's AMAZING!!!!  It looks like a fat lip pencil, but glides on smooth like a lipstick and is super concentrated.  It comes in great, fun colors that are perfect for everyday or a night out on the town.  I bought F-Bomb which is a great red color that stays on all day.  The color is so saturated that you don't need much....i put very little on (work day) and spread it out with my finger.  The color stayed on through 2 cups of tea, chap stick application, and a bottle of water.  I definitely recommend this product to everyone.

 http://www.sephora.com/super-saturated-high-gloss-lip-color-P292016

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Lorac's PRO Powder Cheek Stain Review

Hey there all of my fellow beauty fanatics I'm back with another review.  I know it's been a while but I was waiting for that perfect item to review and I've found it.

Blush is amazing and everyone should wear it!  It instantly brightens up your face and makes you look awake and ready to take on the day.  I've tried a lot of different blushes, Nars being my favorite, but this new blush may take its place.  Lorac introduced its PRO Powder Cheek Stain that is supposed to last 12 hours.  Most blushes I've tried are not as vibrant and basically come off by the end of the day, so I was skeptical about this blush.  I'm really into coral right now so I bought the blush in Coral Crush and I've worn it for the past 2 days and I'm in love with it.  It stayed on all day through work and a 3 mile run and looks as good as it did this morning.  The color is vibrant and rich and the great thing about the product is that it's so concentrated that it doesn't take much product to apply.  One swirl of the blush brush is all you need.  I recommend this blush for everyone.  You can find it at Ulta, Sephora and on Lorac's website.

Overall Grade: A+

  http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2247567&productId=xlsImpprod4500049&navAction=push&navCount=1#sku2247571

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Weddings! Weddings! Weddings!

My favorite type of makeup to do is wedding makeup.  I always offer a trial before the wedding to make sure the bride gets that perfect look she wants.  This is my favorite part because I get to hear the story of how the bride and her soon to be husband met.  I love love and relationships and I love to see how happy the bride gets to tell their story.  

Today I worked with such a fun bride and she gave me some great advice.  She is soo happy and in love it was great to hear her story.  The typical bridal makeup is very natural, but this bride was a fire cracker and wanted all of the glitz and glam.  I really enjoy working with brides like this because they really work with me and let me know exactly what they want rather than letting me do what I want.  It's important to be you on that day and have the exact look you want....all eyes will be on you.  The makeup should express your personality.

I decided to become a makeup artist because I love makeup of course, but because you meet so many different people and hear great stories.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Pilates!!!

My blogs are usually dedicated to makeup, but I thought I'd switch it up and write about the pilates class I took tonight.  My friend Jessica is a pilates instructor and has her own studio.  The class was amazing...I felt so great after it was done.  It's definitely intense and makes you work muscles you probably didn't know you had.  The sessions are one on one, which I think is way better than a packed class at the local gym.  This girl definitely knows what she is doing.  If you are ready to give pilates a try give Jessica a call:949-533-3473

Monday, July 2, 2012

Avon's Ideal Flawless Foundation

So it has been a minute since I reviewed a product...but I'm back.  This week's review is on  Avon's Ideal Flawless liquid foundation.  If you've read my other posts then you will know I am a fan of Avon products.  I hardly ever wear foundation, but I had a request from a reader to try Avon's and review it.  So here it is:

The coverage is great without being too heavy or cakey feeling.  It lasts literally all day even through my workouts.  It goes on easily and looks very natural...I'm all about natural beauty.  The other great thing about Avon is they offer a wide arrey of shades.  The only downside to the product is that it doesn't combat oilyness very well, so if you have really oily skin (like myself) and you want to use this product I would recommed using a matifying powder throughout the day. 

Overall Grade: A-



http://shop.avon.com/shop/product.aspx?pf_id=42448

Monday, June 25, 2012

Makeup Artist Trade Show

It was that time of the year again folks the International Makeup Artist Trade Show....I would consider this my heaven.  The show is 2 days and a single day ticket is $46, but definitely worth every penny.  It's held at the Pasadena Convention Center and vendors from all over the world are there selling amazing products at amazing prices (I'm a bargain shopper ;).  I would reccommend arriving early to avoid the long lines that form at the most popular booths like Make Up Forever and MAC.      

There's music and makeup...a great combo if I do say so myself.  Everywhere you turn there are demos taking place....watching all of the amazing talent really gets the creative juices flowing.  Since I was feeling all creative I decided to splurge and buy some fun products.  Below are a few of the items I picked up: 


Raising Eyebrowshigh beam

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Make Up Forever Workshop

Today's entry is going to be short and sweet....kinda like me lol.

On Sunday I took a workshop on Variations of the Smoky Eye.  The class was taught by Make Up Forever Pro Artist Brittany James.  OMG I loved this class....it really got the creative juices flowing.  I learned soooo much and I can't wait to create looks based on all of the info I received.  The workshop reminded me why I love makeup soooo much.

This is the nice palette I bought....you can create literally everything with it.

http://www.sephora.com/product/productDetail.jsp?skuId=1087972&productId=P219411&keyword=makeup%20forever%20flash%20palette&_requestid=104783

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Fun in the Sun!!!

Summer has officially started, which means beaches, pools and parties.  My go to summer style is a simple sun dress, sandals and minimal makeup. 

What is your summer style and what is your go to makeup look for those hot summer days??

Monday, May 28, 2012

Prom 2012

This weekend was full of fun with the fam bam and friends.  My niece Tierra went to her high school prom....this make me feel just a little old :).  Her and all of her friends looked soo beautiful and happy.  I have been waiting about 6 years for this day to do her makeup.  She was going for Hollywood glam/Kim Kardashian....I feel like most of the girls were going for that Kim K side swept hair.  I did Tierra's makeup as well as her friend Ali's.

For Tierra's makeup I used all MAC eye shadows and pigments.  I used a bright/sparkly pigment for the eyelid to make it pop and used maroons and dark burgundies for the crease.  Finished the look with thick eye liner on top and bottom as well as a strip of false lashes.  I filled in her eyebrows to create the thicker 1920s brow. 

For Ali's makeup I used pinks, golds, and browns.  I used a pin/gold shadow on her eyelid to make it pop and used a combo of golds and browns in the crease.  Lined top and bottom with black cream eye liner and played up her already long eye lashes.  Finished by using pink/peach blush and lip gloss as well as Make Up Forever's HD loose powder to set the makeup.


Here a pictures of the girls (Tierra is in black/white and Ali in Coral).

Sunday, May 20, 2012

If I could I would!!

Hey Everyone,
Hope your weekend was fantabulous.  Yesterday I held a makeup tutorial party.  It was a fun event where everyone brought their own makeup and beauty questions.  They wanted to learn how to use the makeup they owned and how to create certain looks, like a smokey eye.  Today's question:

If you could recreate one look what would it be???

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Shine On!!

Every day I fight the battle of the SHINE!!!!  Lately it seems as if I am 16 again and I can't seem to stop the oily shine from taking over my face.  If any of you ladies deal with this same battle then you too feel my pain.  So I set out to find THE shine stopper...this is the review of my first weapon.

Clinique used to carry an amazing mattefying lotion, but just as luck would have it they discontinued it.  Now they offer a stay-matte hydrator, so I thought heck why not.  I was very desperate, so I purchased the lotion.  I have been using it twice a day for about 3 weeks and I have seen little improvement.  I use this in addition to my primer and within two hours of applying my makeup the oil creeps through.  I wouldn't discourage others from trying it, you never know it could be your magic potion. 

Overall it gets a B-

http://www.sephora.com/product/productDetail.jsp?skuId=1426717&productId=P374115&keyword=CLINIQUE%20Pore%20Refining%20Solutions%20Stay-Matte%20Hydrator%20-%20P374115&_requestid=49287

Monday, May 14, 2012

The One and Only

Hey Everyone,
I have a few beauty items I can't live without, one of them being my eye liner.  Here's this week's question:

What is the 1 beauty item you always have to have in your makeup bag?

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Eye Liner....A Girl's Best Friend

If any of you are like me....eye liner is a must!!!!  I line above my lash line as well as the inner bottom rim.  I've tried numerous liners, but all seamed to smear and left me with crazy looking eyes at the end of the day.  Then one day magic landed in my hands......

I received a Too Faced makeup gift set for my birthday and their Perfect Eyes Waterproof eye liner was included.  It's the BEST eye liner I've tried so far.  The dark, rich black color stays all day and doesn't smudge or smear. 

If you are looking for a great eye liner look no further.  Check out the link below!!!

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2232964&productId=xlsImpprod3540027&navAction=push&navCount=1&subdoc=5toofacedcollectionwk2411&categoryId=cat80042

P.S. Ulta is one of my favorite cosmetics stores :)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Mom Knows Best!

In honor of Mother's Day I thought I'd start off the Makeup by Vanessa's weekly question for all of the moms.  I'm sure we've all been told over and over again that Mom knows best even if we don't believe it at that time :), but as we get older I'm sure we all realize that at some point they really did know best.

The one beauty tip that my mom gave me was to never keep using your compact once the metal started showing because for some reason it makes your face break out.  I never paid much attention until the day i decided to scrape every last bit of powder from my compact and guess what....my face broke out. 

So my question to all of you is what is the one beauty tip or secret your mother has given to you?

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Battle of the Mascaras

Christian Dior Black Out Waterproof Mascara vs. Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof Mascara. 

Maybelline mascara has always been a staple in women's makeup cases.  The pink tube with the lime green cap has become an American icon.  I've used this mascara throughout my makeup career, but I've never taken the time to really review it.  I received a request this week to compare it to an expensive mascara.  Here is what I noticed:

  • Coverage is acceptable
  • Slightly clumps when applying
  • Color is Very Black - the color wasn't very dramatic.  Good for daytime use.
  • Doesn't smudge throughout the day
  • Washes off easily

This was the first Christian Dior cosmetic purchase I've made.  The name is synonymous with quality, high fashion and status.  I was hoping it was a quality product and that I wasn't just paying for the name.  Here is what I noticed:

  • Coverage is amazing
  • Separates the eyelashes without clumping
  • Made eyes pop all day
  • Color was very dramatic and stood out.  Great for evening or a smokey eye
  • Didn't wash off very easily.  I would use an eye makeup remover.

After comparing the 2 I would say The Diorshow Black Out Mascara is this week's winner.  Visit the link below:  Remember to sign up for Sephora's VIB card. 

http://www.sephora.com/diorshow-black-out-waterproof-mascara-P212928?skuId=1078138
   

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Prime! Prime! Prime!

The golden rule of makeup is to PRIME!  This should be done before any makeup touches your face.  Primer is a girl's best friend and if you haven't become a fan it's time to do so. 

Just about every cosmetic line has their own primer, but there is 1 line that has made magic in a bottle.  Make Up Forever has an amazing primer that will allow makeup to stay put all night even after working up a sweat dancing for hours.  Their primer is called HD Microperfecting primer and creates the ultimate canvas to work on.  I use it on all of my clients as well as myself and have had nothing but great results.  Here are a few tips:

  • Wash face, use toner and moisturizer
  • Apply Primer all over the face
  • Apply Foundation, concealer, powder

Take a look at the link below....I suggest you waste no time and purchase immediately.

http://www.sephora.com/hd-microperfecting-primer-P217906?skuId=1097146