LOTD: Christmas Day Look using the Tartelette In Bloom Palette

A little late, but here's my Christmas Day look!









To get this look I first primed my lids, then applied Smarty Pants to my crease and brow bone area, pat Rocker on my lids, with Funny Girl as a highlight, and Leader and Activist in my outer third and crease, I've been going a little bolder with my eyeliner wing, but have still been using the Ulta Automatic eyeliner in Black/Brown. I also used my regular trio of mascaras. For my lips I used Kat Von D in Outlaw. I love the formula of Kat Von D's liquid lipsticks, so I've been buying more shades. What looks did you come up with for Christmas?

LOTD: Tartelette In Bloom Palette

I was immediately drawn to this palette because of Firecracker, so naturally, that was the first shade I couldn't wait to use! I used a primer and then in a windshield wiper motion I applied Sweetheart in my crease up to my brow bone. After that, I pat Firecracker on my lids and Rebel over Firecracker in the outer one-third of my eyes, I used Funny Girl as a highlight, and Leader to deepen Rebel. I love the way the shadows blend! I bought the Tarte neutralEYES palette back in 2013 and ended up returning it because I hated everything about the shadows. I was extremely hesitant to purchase this one because of that, but had heard nothing but good reviews and sure enough, I am in love! They must have changed something because this is a night and day difference. One of my complaints about the neutralEYES palette was that the shadows weren't pigmented enough, but the ones in this palette are and are true to how they appear in the palette on skin. I especially love this palette because there are so many combinations that I can't wait to try, so check back for more looks!

Christmas 2015 Beauty Haul

From Caitlyn, the girl knows the key to my heart!



What fun things did you get or plan to get with your gift cards?

Ulta Haul

The Sephora VIB Sale got me good, but there were some bareMinerals things I wasn't able to purchase through them, so I leaned on Ulta to get them, and I avoid paying for shipping like the plague, so I always throw stuff in until I reach the bare minimum for free shipping. I usually go way over it though ha! Here's what I got:

Sephora Haul

That dang VIB Rouge sale was far too tempting, so I got my staple items and then they sent me $20 off a $50 purchase, so I picked up a few more things! I'm excited to try all of these! I seriously have so many new lip products to try it's not even funny!

LOTD: Urban Decay NAKED Smoky Palette

I'm finally accepting that it's fall, so I've started using my NAKED Smoky palette and have come up with an easy, everyday look that I wanted to share. Here it is:









I have a little bit of beef with this palette—I don't like the transition shades! Maybe they're only too close to my natural skin color, but they just don't get the job done. I ended up using the Too Faced Natural Matte palette's Strapless on my brow bone before using the shadows from the NAKED Smoky palette. From that palette I used Dirtysweet on my lids, Password in the outer third and creases with Smolder over it to deepen it up. For a highlight I used High. I used my usual Ulta eyeliner and mascara trio. Since I was wearing turquoise and had a less dramatic eye look, I figured I could try out a pretty cranberry lipstick I recently got from my Sephora points. It's a Bite Beauty lipstick in Kir Royale. It also came with a lipgloss in the same shade (which I don't like at all!!!) I love the lipstick though! It's so smooth and hydrating, which I'm grateful for since my lips (and my skin for that matter!) haven't transitioned as well with the change in weather this year. What are some products you use this time of year either because of colors or to combat colder weather?

Halloween Look: Ladybug

I was out of town for Halloween this year, and knew ahead of time I would need a simple costume for an event at my Grandfather's VA Home, so I found some cheap ladybug wings and an antennae head band at Spirit and wore some black and red items I already owned. Halloween is NOT my favorite, so it's hard for me to get into it, but I started looking up makeup looks on Pinterest for some inspiration and enthusiasm. Keep in mind these pictures were taken hours after application and I smudged it a little because I kept forgetting I had it on. Here it is:

I first primed my lids with Urban Decay's Primer Potion banking on it preventing the dreaded creasing (it didn't fail me! :D) I didn't own any red eye shadow, and didn't get a chance/wasn't super motivated to buy any since I wouldn't use it again for a while-if ever, so I used my NYX waterproof lip liner in Red instead that I've used maybe twice on my lips. Ha! For the black I used Rimmel's Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl eyeliner in Black. For lashes I used Ardell Natural 120 Demi in Black. 'Cause you have to have fluttery lashes as a ladybug! I really didn't know what I was doing, hadn't practiced before, and didn't have any time to wipe it off and start over, so I am pretty pleased with how it turned out, all things considered. I think if I were to do it again I'd have the body of the ladybug connect with the wings and also do the spots differently/more random. Other than me forgetting I had the makeup on and rubbing my face/forehead/nose, I'd say it had great staying power. I was super worried about the lip liner creasing since it wasn't meant for eyelids, but it was extremely pigmented and held up all day. What looks did you come up with for Halloween?

Empties

Most of these products are tried and true, but a few are some staple items that I tried in new brands. The first one I can think of to mention is the makeup removing wipes. The Dollar Tree brand failed miserably. They aren't thick, moist or large enough to get the job done! The Swisspers brand of cotton rounds aren't my favorite either. I believe I bought a value pack of three sleeves from Walmart and I've gotten used to them but I think I'll spend a little more to get a thicker cotton round that will give me more bang for my buck. Are you familiar with the Yes To brand? I had heard a little but about it, and understood it was a pretty natural line of products. I picked up the Yes To Cucumbers facial wipes which are for normal to sensitive skin, and my skin would turn beat red afterwards. I didn't figure out what was causing it at first but eventually ruled out other things as this was really the only variable and new product I was using. I have never had a reaction to cucumbers so I don't know why I reacted the way that I did, but sure enough, I would react every time. Terrible! The Calgon body wash is to die for! I have stuck with Sweet Pea for a good 10+ years, but I was trying to use up products I've had forever, so I made myself stray from the usual and I really like it! The Victoria Secret perfume in Pure Seduction is also a favorite and became my summer scent. I've always loved the scent and it's perfect for summer, as it is so fresh and floral, so I finally used this bottle up that I've had forever. The last product I haven't reviewed yet is the floss. Random, I know! I got this from my dentist and it is the worst! It shreds and becomes useless after just a few teeth. Any suggestions for a good quality floss? :D

Thanks for reading!

LOTD: Urban Decay NAKED Smoky Palette

I'll admit, I held off on buying this palette for a while—even after going the day it came out and swatching it with the BFF. It just didn't do anything for me! I felt like the colors were too similar to the other 5 (!!!) Urban Decay palettes I own, let alone shades I have in other brands of palettes or singles. I ended up buying Too Faced palettes instead, and have loved them, yet I was still drawn to this palette. I ended up swatching it every time I went to Ulta or Sephora but couldn't justify buying it. Sephora ended up having a 3X the points at the beginning of August, so I purchased some staple items and the palette. I thought if I wasn't impressed, I could always return it. I left on a trip right after I received it so it did not make the cut for which palettes I was going to bring. (I only bring palettes I am familiar with and know quick looks to get me out the door fast.) So since getting back I have been wanting to try this new palette and I have to say, my hesitation was unwarranted. What I thought were your typical smoky shadows, were actually very diverse shadows! They might look similar to each other and similar to other shadows we all already have, but these really are a different kind of amazing. The pigmentation, blendability, quality, and intensity are one of a kind! I highly recommend this palette! Here is the first look I came up with:











Thanks for reading! Let me know if you try this look! :)

LOTD: Too Faced Natural Matte & Love Palettes

For this look I used both palettes that I recently purchased and this is what I came up with:

To get this look, I first applied Too Faced Natural Matte shades Strapless with a fluffy brush to my brow bone area, Honey Butter on my lids, and Chocolate Cookie in the outer third of my eyes. From the Love palette I used shades from the Pure Love square. I used Adore on my lids, Amorous on the outer thirds and crease, Dearest in a small triangle above my irises, and Cherish as a highlight. To finish the look, I applied Ulta's Automatic Eyeliner and Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara as well as Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara. Normally, with the color of shirt I'm wearing and the summer vibe I would use a coral lip color, but because Adore is so coppery, I decided to use a lip color that had blue undertones. I used the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in Barcelona Nights.

I hope you enjoy this look as much as I do and are enjoying your summer! :)

Haley's Hints & Hits

I was recently asked to teach a three 45-minute makeup classes to girls ages 12-17. It caused me to reflect on the basics, something I think I overlook a lot. I hope the information I gave the young women, as well as you, will help prevent mistakes that I made for years from being made.

Haley's Handout

"Make-up, if applied tastefully and in moderation, can enhance appearance. But no amount of eye shadow, lipstick, or mascara could possibly compete with the natural attractiveness of a genuine smile. It brightens the room. It cheers others. It communicates friendship, love, and optimism so much more than any cosmetic ever could. It puts people at ease and is welcoming. Truly in the world of glamour, there is no close second to a genuine smile.”
~Elder Lynn G. Robbins

Haley’s Hints:
-Don’t sleep in your makeup! Your eyelashes and skin will do so much better if you allow them time to breathe. Hygiene and skin care are so important! No amount of makeup can compensate for unclean or unhealthy skin. I highly recommend eye makeup remover to ensure all the eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara are off without excessive rubbing or scrubbing. Allow the moistened cotton pad to sit on your eye for a few seconds and then gently wipe off your lids. In the same way you applied your mascara, gently use the pad to get the mascara off of your lashes. You don’t want to cause premature wrinkles in the eye area from poor makeup removing techniques. Your makeup will apply easier if you’re working with a clean slate, so wash and hydrate your skin and then you won’t need as much makeup and it won’t take as long! Depending on your skin type, once or a couple times a week, use a face mask or cleansing brush to deep clean your pores so they don’t get clogged and cause breakouts that could have been prevented. Avoid scrubs, as they will cause mini tears in your skin which will only make things worse. Be sure to have the water just barely warm because if it’s too hot it will burst capillaries, which will cause redness and an older appearance.
-Hydrate and protect your skin—always! If you notice you are breaking out, don’t skip your moisturizer! Your skin may even be breaking out because it’s over-compensating from the lack of moisture and nourishment that can be found in face creams. Face creams and sunscreen will help keep you looking young! DNA is of course a huge factor, but control what you can and it will prolong the aging process! The sun provides us with Vitamin D, which is vital, but excessive exposure will cause your skin to become leathery and will wrinkle much sooner than it would have otherwise. It can also cause skin cancer, so be diligent in protecting your skin! If you do get too much sun, apply aloe vera without lidocaine (it’s alcohol based and will dry your skin out) to get your skin healing fast! You also need to hydrate yourself from the inside out, so drink lots of water and avoid greasy foods to help keep your skin clear and luminous. It will pay off in the long run, I promise!
~Makeup Application:
·Face
-Primers for eyeshadow and face may seem like a gimmick, but they truly help to create a smooth canvas for flawless application. Eyeshadow primers help the shadows appear in their truest shade, stay put, and keep them from creasing. Face primers make foundation application easier, allow you to use less, and will help with staying power.
-Mineral foundation/loose or pressed powders are great for everyday use because they’re light, easy to apply, and yet still provide coverage. They’re also great to use for setting foundation when it is worn for special occasions. If you do start using foundation for school dances or family pictures, make sure you have the right shade! Either mix two shades of foundation together or mix a foundation that is slightly too dark with a moisturizer to tone it down for your perfect shade. It’s very important to get as close to skin color as possible. Of course we always want to look tan or we feel like we have to cover up our flaws and blemishes so we want to go darker, but it's important not to go too dark. Always blend a little foundation down your neck and below your ear so there aren't any harsh lines. I like to use a foundation brush or beauty blender to make sure it’s even so it doesn’t look patchy or caked on.
-Cream blush can have better staying power and can be applied with a small stipple brush or your fingers. It’s best to apply blush slightly below or on your cheekbone, depending on your face shape, and from the colored part of your eye (iris) out because any closer can accentuate redness around your nose.
·Eyeshadow

-Blending is key! I like to use a shadow that is a shade or two darker than my skin tone (usually kind of a blush color) for blending on my brow bone so my highlight shade and my darker crease color transition more smoothly. There really aren’t any rules to how you apply shadows, but my go-to is using a medium shade on my eyelids, a darker shade in the outer one-third of my eye and crease, and a light color for a highlight below my eyebrows and in the inner corner of my eye. The darker the color, the smaller the brush.

·Mascaras
-I have yet to find the perfect mascara, but there are tons of great ones at the drugstore. You don’t want it to flake off on your face or make your eyelashes look like spider legs. A mascara that lengthens, thickens, separates, or keeps your eyelashes curled can be a fun way to switch up your look.

Hits with Haley:
-e.l.f brushes, primers, blush, eyelash curler, lip exfoliator, zit eraser, etc.
-Up & Up or Equate Eye Makeup Remover & Facial Cleanser (no different than Neutrogena)
-Ulta (drugstore & high-end products with a rewards program)
-Search YouTube for dupes of high-end products, reviews, and tutorials for palettes or products before buying

Remember, you’re already beautiful! Makeup should accentuate your natural beauty, not cover it up. :)

LOTD: Too Faced Love Palette

I used the True Love shadows (center square of the palette).



This is what it looked like:







I'm really liking my palettes! I highly recommend them!

LOTD: Too Faced Natural Matte Palette

I set out to use the Classic row on my eyes, but ended up using almost all of the shadows from the palette for one thing or another. I first used Honey Butter in my crease up to my brow bone, then I pat Strapless on my lids, Risqué in my crease, and Lace Teddy above Risqué. I deepened up my crease with Sexpresso and used Heaven as a highlight. I went back and pat Honey Butter in a concentrated area just above my iris to add some dimension and a little bit of emphasis to my eyes. Voilà! I usually don't go for matte eyeshadows but these colors were to die for and I knew I could use them for transition shades on my brow bone. I'm still partial to shimmery highlights, but I challenged myself today to only use this palette to create a look and I really like the way it turned out. The colors are super easy to blend and are buildable as well. I am excited to keep discovering looks using this palette!

Haul: Ulta & Sephora

I went to Ulta last week with the BFF to check out the UD Naked Smoky palette, which we didn't buy—long story—but I ended up buying these! Activated charcoal is a buzz phrase in beauty right now and I had to test it out too! The Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask is a repurchase. I bought a sample a while back and loved it! I'm so glad it comes in a nice container! The sample was hard to keep from drying out before I could use it because it was just in a pouch, so this should keep me stocked for quite some time! So far I have tried all three charcoal products and they weren't what I expected, but they worked so well! I expected the mask to be similar to the avocado one where it's easily smeared on, dries after a few minutes, and is then washed off, but it's not! It's chunky because of the sugar in it, making it more of a scrub, so it took some getting used to, but my pores seemed to have shrunk with just one use. The Biore scrub was just on my skin a minute or so before being washed off, so again, something I hadn't expected because I didn't read the packaging in the store. It worked really well though, as did their nose strips! They were way more effective than the normal strips. I'm excited to incorporate these into my skin care routine!

Yesterday I went to Ulta and bought the Too Faced Love Palette:

I'm excited to use it! I think it'll be very versatile because some shades can also be used as cheek highlights, blushes, or bronzer as well!

I also ran over to Sephora and bought the Too Faced Natural Matte Palette and I'm excited to use it for transition/brow bone shades because I'm going to run out of Nooner one of these days and I won't know what to do!

I love the packaging! The only let down is that there is a repeat shade, Sexpresso, from their Natural palette that was gifted to me a few years back. It's one of my favorite shades though so I can see why they did that, especially for those who don't have the other palette. I will have a LOTD using this palette tomorrow. :) Thanks for reading! What are some products you're loving this summer?

LOTD: Ballin' on a Budget

I'm planning on teaching a class for some girls ages 12-17 next week and picked some make up at Dollar Tree to use for a demo. I saw this palette and had to buy it for myself as well! I mean, it was only a dollar!

This is the look I came up with:

I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion and it stayed on great and didn't crease after working a 12 hour shift. I usually take the philosophy of quality over quantity but this palette proved that wrong! I will be checking out the dollar store for makeup more often now!