Follow up on velvet lip pencils from Nars

I just wrote about the Nars velvet lip pencil in Mexican rose and how well it stayed on. I was curious to see how well the other ones stayed on in the line so here we are at 10 a.m. With the Nars velvet matte lip liner in Bettina.


Geez, I still look like a cartoon but here's the color. It's a really nice, neutral, pearlized nude so it's not too noticeable but I'll keep you updated on the color stay!


Well, this is going to be a short blog because 2 hours later it was gone!! So maybe it's the bolder colors that stay on longer. I'm not sure...this color was beautiful and it was very light so that might have had something to do with it, I don't know. But I'll try another one tomorrow to see if the color stay has something to do with the intensity of color or if mattes stay on better than the glosses, I don't know but I will keep you updated on that!! One things for sure- the Mexican rose stayed on forever!!!

Also-something I cant wait to share with you! After waiting on their waiting list for over a month I finally got into birchbox!!! If you haven't heard about it then it is this awesome deal that you pay $10 a month and get a box of beauty products and tips and all sorts of beauty goodness every month! I am so excited and I'll keep you updated and great new products ive discovered and it the birchbox is worth it!

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Spring color

Hello! I wanted to write about a little gem I found! Now I know I'm supposed to be the thrifty makeup artist but let's be honest, sometimes there are some really great products out there that aren't cheap. With that, my job is to help you not waste your money buying an expensive product that sucks ( sorry for the choice of words, but that sounded more effective ) well here is one product that I tried and love that's not really cheap but I think it's worth it!
A few days ago at work, Valentine's day to be exact, I checked out the new spring collection in Nars. The colors are absolutely beautiful!!! Here is the Nars 2012 spring collection campaign.



Pretty stunning huh? So here's a first look on Nars' take on their predictions for the spring beauty look. Since it was Valentine's day I thought I would try out this beautiful velvet liner called Mexican rose. The nice thing about these lip liners are they are in the velvet line which means they are a very thick pencil and they are super creamy. The velvet liners come in mattes and glosses and I love them! Since they are a larger pencil and they are so soft and creamy, you can apply this pencil all over the lips so it doubles as a lip liner and a lip color!
Here is this little beauty



I first put it on at 2 here is the first picture of me just applying it








I look a little silly here, kinda like a cartoon but you know...what can you do?

Here is 5 hours later




And this is at 10 at night...I'm looking a little rough, just pay attention to the lips ;-)







I'm telling you- this stuff does not come off!!!! I woke up this morning and it was still around my lips and I washed my face and all that last night! This stuff stays on so if you want something that stays and has major color this is the one!! They are 24$ and range in all different colors!



There's a lot more than that but they are amazing and definitely worth the money!

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Valentine's Lips!

Hi and happy valentines! I wanted a write a blog on some affordable, beautiful, valentine lip colors. Wearing one of these lips colors will take your valentines day look to the next level!

First we will start off with the reds!
-Revlon just bitten lipstain and balm in gothic (great starter red lip color because it's not overwhelming)



CoverGirl lipstick in 430 (great red that's not too bold)




L'Oreal lipstick in British Red (thanks Rachel!)



the next grouping will be frosty nudes

CoverGirl Lipslicks in Cutie (love these!!)



Wet 'n Wild Megaslicks in 563B (good one to wear by itself or layer to lighten up whatever color you put on)



CoverGirl Lipslicks in Starlet (I love these!! Any of these colors are amazing!)




Next up is that color that is just a shade or 2 darker than your natural color

Both by Revlon Just Bitten
Mystical (really great natural color to just add an extra pop to your lips)



And Revlon Just Bitten in Victorian (this one isn't super-bold but it has a little more of a pop of bright pink)




Last but not least- pinks!
Here are some frosty pinks

Wet 'n Wild Megaslicks in 564A (just a nice frosty light pink-don't go too heavy with it though!)



N.Y.C. Lipstick in Flirty (not the best picture but it's the best I could find to show the bolder pink look) this is still frosty but it definitely has a brighter pink hue to it



N.Y.C. Lipstick in Blossom (a pretty pop of pink but slightly a shimmer to it to help lessen the bold look)


Here are some true pinks- no pearlized frost sheen to them

CoverGirl NatureLuxe Gloss Balm in Sandstone (this is a really natural pink)



Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Pop (this is a bolder pink but it's a gloss so it still isn't too much)



Revlon Just Bitten in Passion (this is a beautiful bright pink and all these stay on so well!!)




Now every single one of these are from my own personal collection and I love them all!! No matter which one you choose this will add an extra bit of romance to your Valentine's Day!

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Hard As Nails!

Hi! I have written about my bad habit of nail biting and I have had this bad habit for years! And when I say years I'm saying over 20 years! I couldn't kick this habit! I tried the hot sauce trick, tried to get my nails done, put a rubber band on my wrist and snapped it when I caught myself biting them, I even bought this expensive nail polish that tasted AWFUL when you bit your nails. That last one actually worked for a while until I ran out of it and didn't want to pay for another bottle. Not to mention who knows what was in that to make it taste that awful and put such a disgusting taste in your mouth (yikes!!!). Not only do I bite my nails but I also pick at the skin around my nails so not only do I need to keep my nasty little finger nails out of my mouth but I also need to keep my nails, cuticles and hands hydrated so I don't get dry skin and pick at my nails.
People have this idea that since I'm an aesthetician I have amazing soft hands since I'm always diving into amazing beauty products and all sorts of hydrating stuff...and I get to do that but to cancel out all those amazing beauty products I get to hydrate my hands with I also wash them CONSTANTLY to stay sanitary at work and during facials I use hand sanitizer and 70% alcohol to spray my hands with to sanitize so that seriously dries them out! If I don't put some sort of cuticle oil on or lotion on my hands after every time I wash them my hands get super dry and then I start picking at them again and there goes that vicious cycle of me biting and picking my nails again. I would use the Neosporin at night, if you're wondering what that's about look back at my previous blog posts it's a little cheap trick I do. That little trick works wonders but I just got tired of being in pain with every move of my hands and fingers. Biting your nails and picking at your cuticles can be painful! So I just got so tired of painful fingers I decided to do something about it!

This is the first part of my solution. This product here is by Naturally European. It's their Milk hand lotion. We sell it at my work, The Cosmetic Market, and it's only $9!!! Naturally European also has a Sage, Lavender and Verbena scent if Milk is not your thing. I like the Milk scent because it's really light and I am really particular about scents and this one does it for me, I love it!!! It's definitely a must on a road trip especially during the winter!! The second beauty to helping me kick my bad habit is this!!

This is by Essie. We actually sell Essie products at our store but we do not carry this product. I got this from Target and it was only about $7. This is an amazing cuticle oil! The one major selling point is the applicator tip of this cuticle oil. It's really easy to apply and mess-free! Sometimes you get a cuticle oil in a nail polish-like bottle and then the bottle gets all greasy and it's just a mess, I don't have this with this product. The full name of this little gem is Essie Smooth Trick, and like I said I got this one at Target and it's amazing!!! I use both the hand lotion and the cuticle oil together and it has gotten me to completely stop biting and picking at my nails!! That is HUGE!! Now my nails are so long I don't even know what to do with them!! I have never in my life had to clip my nails and I hate filing them! Actually filing gives me the chills and I can't stand it, and hearing people clipping their nails almost makes me nauseous. Those two things are two of my biggest peeves! I hope you try these two out, it's a like a manicure in a bottle these two beauties!!

A lipstick for non-lipstick lovers!

I love a great bold lip, but for some reason I don't wear a bold lip often. I look at people that wear a bold lip and most of the time I like it. I don't like certain bold lip looks, and this is just a personal opinion. If you feel like you have a big nose, then don't wear a dark, bold lip. Look at this picture of Sarah Jessica Parker with a dark lip and a light lip and see how pronounced her nose looks when she has a darker lip.







See what I mean? I couldn't get a good up-close picture of her from the wedding on the movie, but you get the picture. So, if you feel like you have a bigger nose, or you don't want to draw attention to it-don't go for a dark lip. You can go for a shade or two darker than natural lip color but I wouldn't go crazy.
Now back on personal opinion for a darker lip, I don't really like a dark lip with a dark smoky eye. I know that's such an old school rule-either chose one, dark lip or dark eye. I usually don't go for a lot of makeup rules but I do get this one. I actually like a dark, bold lip only when most of my makeup has kind of run off and I don't look as made us. So if I'm going out after work or something and most of my makeup is still on and I don't have a lot of time to touch up, I will just throw on a bold lip and I think it looks good.





This is my opinion of the best way to rock a bold lip. See how they don't have much makeup on so they don't look too made up but they still look beautiful and put together? I love it!! I don't love this-



Kim is a BEAUTIFUL woman but I hope you can see how different a bold, dark lip can make you look. I just think you have to lighten up on certain areas when you do a really bold lip.
I love wearing a beautiful color lipstick but sometimes it's hard to get used wearing a bright lip so this lipstick will be a perfect intro to wearing lipstick:


This is Revlon's new Lip Butter. They are beautiful and feel great!!! I bold a really light color called Creme Brulee which is a beautiful, light every day color. It's something that looks really good and light and would be a great color to wear when you do want to wear a really bold, dark eye color. The other one I got was a little brighter and it was called Pink Truffle and I love it!! These two are awesome and I want to buy every single one of them! The next blog I'll write about will be a good lipstick for the bold lips, I'm loving the bright pink lip! Also-if you're still wanting to ease into a bold lip try out those Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stains, I love those too!!

Intensify the Eyes

I just wanted to write a blog about my favorite liquid eye liner. Liquid eye liner can be really tricky and I have found very few that I truly like and that are easy to apply. I work in a cosmetics store and I have very few there that I like. Most of the pricier brands tend to have a brush-like applicator and those are really hard to use. The brush tip is really soft and I just have a really hard time applying a nice, clean line and liquid liner is tricky enough! My favorite is Revlon Liquid Liner. The applicator is like a sharpie pen so it's a stiffer and easier to get a really clean line. It's the only one I will use!! Even if I'm doing makeup at the store I work at or other places, I always bring that with me, it's a must!!

The way I apply liquid liner is this:
First I use a black eye shadow or powder liner on the lash line where I want the liquid liner to go.
Next I apply a pencil liner exactly where I applied the powder liner. This will help fill in the tiny areas between the lash and the skin that sometimes gets missed when applying liquid liner alone. There are a few things that drive me crazy with makeup and having uneven lined eyes drives me nuts!! Doing the powder liner and pencil liner will cover all the areas that need to be lined and it makes your application much easier. I know adding more steps seems annoying but doing these 2 steps before applying liquid liner will help you not have to touch up or fix anything after. I usually line the inner rims of my eyes with the pencil as well. I always line the upper rim if you want drama then line the bottom rim as well.
After using the pencil I apply the liquid liner. I'll make a video on how to apply the liquid liner as well! I line my eyes in sections. Instead of trying to do one swift sweep of liner it's easier to really focus on inner, middle and ends of the eye and just connect the lines together.

I hope this suggestion of liquid liner will suit you and I hope my pointers on getting the perfect lined eyes helps!!!

Quick, Cheap Nail Tip!

So, I have a major bad habit. I bite my nails and pick at the skin around them, I know that is so gross and such a bad habit but I have done it since I was 5. I am continually trying new ways to stop biting and picking at my nails but the only thing that helps is getting my nails done and I just don't do that. I don't have time and when I'm going to spend money I'm going to buy some Lululemon clothing or something like that. So, I have come to deal with pretty unsightly nails with really dry cuticles and just all around ugly fingernails...I've come to deal with it. But-I have a little, cheap trick for your nails that I love and it has really helped!!



Yep. It's that little baby right there, Neosproin. I keep it in my nightstand and I put it on my cuticles and all the skin around my nails. Even if I have picked them like crazy and they are sore and look ungodly, by the time I wake up my nails have already healed greatly! I was really impressed at the HUGE results and how cheap it is!! I use it every night and it really does help hydrate and heal your nails! Go buy some and try it out!! You'll love it!