Product Warning!!!

 Yesterday I was at Shopper's, and I needed to pick up some new mascara. I saw the new CoverGirl Lashblast 24 hour wear, and decided to try it even against my better judgement. I always use the purple CG mascara and have tried new ones when they came out. Always a disaster. First of all I didn't like the brush as it's too thick--one of the reasons I shouldn't have gotten it in the first place. It's too hard to get the smaller ones and lower lashes properly and fully with the thick brush. But I thought why not?
To begin with it's super thick, but not in a good way. Almost globby. And it smells funny. Must be all the glue they put in it. Went on alright. Taking it off is my biggest problem. Last night I went to go take off my make-up and had to use my make-up remover TWICE. I thought that was ridiculous enough. Then I washed my face and it STILL didn't come off!

 

After 2 rounds of make-up remover and a wash.

To give you an understanding of the above picture--I have BLOND eyelashes!!!! Plus, you can still see how much mascara was left. Unfortunately, I had to go bed like this. My eyes get super irritated if all my make-up isn't off, and I don't like to ruin my sheets.
I figured in the morning it will have flaked off and it would be fine. It barely came off.

Next morning.

I then tried make-up remover again and hopped in the shower and scrubbed it the best I could....

It's still there. I get that it says 24 hour mascara, but in saying that I figured it was like a waterproof. Still eventually washable. I honestly think this mascara has glue in it. It will NOT come off! Not only was it bad for my eyes to continuously scrub and rub at them, but now I have left over mascara which I imagine will ruin my new fresh mascara that I'll put on today. Good thing I always keep my old ones just in case. And good thing shopper's does exchanges!

Ho Ho Holidays!

The holidays are finally here!! Good food, drinks and most important--the parties!
This is the time girls everywhere are pulling out all the stops with the glitter dresses, the extravagant hairdo's and the beautiful make-up. This is truly the most wonderful time of the year!
It's the best time to go big. Be daring. This is the time of year where red lipstick is the norm. Lots of people love the look, but can't pull it off for many reasons--they don't have the right shade, they don't have the right preparation, and they don't have the right tools.
It's a process. If you 're going to do a dramatic lip you want it to be the center of attention. It has to look perfect. Here's what I've found to be the best way:

Step 1 begins in the shower. Exfoliate your skin and most importantly exfoliate your lips. You can do this easily with your toothbrush or a homemade scrub consisting of honey and brown sugar.

Step 2 is to do your make-up flawlessly. Every year for the holidays I try to do an old Hollywood look. If you recall, their skin is immaculate. I also have a bit of rosacea and my overall skin tone is pinkish so I make sure it looks faultless. I start with a primer to even my skin before I use foundation, powder, then bronzer. Around my lips I use an eyeshadow primer. It's like foundation, but it's thicker and adheres better. It dries wonderfully. Not everyone has that skin color to use that, so use more foundation around your lips, and slightly on them as well.

Step 3: Always use a lip liner!!! This stops the lipstick from feathering out onto your skin. This is your chance to also make your lips slightly bigger than what nature intended. Only on the bottom lip, and if you're comfortable doing it, outline just right outside the lip line. Anymore will look silly. Fill in liner halfway into lip.

The tools to use: Primer, eyeshadow primer and lip liners in nude and red.

Step 4 is to apply your desired color. I have many reds before I found the perfect one. If you don't have an idea what your skin tone is think of it this way: if you have blueish/purple skin you are a cool tone. If it's yellow, it's warm. Cool tones should go for blue reds, and warm tones are better with the orange hues. If all else fails, go to a MAC or Sephora to find your perfect shade.

 

All my red lipsticks!

It took me a while, but I found a red lipstick that I LOVE! It's the Kat Von D make-up line exclusive to Sephora. It's called "foil" lipstick. The packaging is beautiful, and the color is gorgeous--a beautiful red with pink tones. It's called a foil lipstick because it goes on sparkly and shimmery but is a matte. So this ensures that once it's on, it stays on. I hardly have to reapply.

The most beautiful color, rightly named Adora.

This year I'll be rocking the vibrant pink at my holiday parties. All of the above steps apply, but instead of using the red lip liner you'll use the "nude"--which is the liner closest to my natural lip color. Again, I have many pinks :)

What if you wanted to do some striking eye looks? Eyelashes are always a great way to go. You can still have the expressive lip with a pair of doe eyes. It really completes the classic old Hollywood look. One of my friends, Erika, recently went to a holiday party and had some really amazing eyelashes. They are called Paperself, and the lashes are made out of paper. Yes, paper! It's a very cool look.

You can find them at Sephora in a couple different styles as well. They are re-usable if treated with care. They look gorgeous!

What look will you be doing this holiday season?

Curly Sue-Hot Curlers!

 From grade 8 all until the end of high school I would faithfully get up every morning before school and curl my hair. Hot curlers are the easiest way to achieve a done up glamorous look in little time.
Wash hair and dry completely. If any part of your hair is even damp it'll throw off the whole look. All the curls will be a shorter length and the damp one will be the long curl. Make sure curlers are really hot (I usually plug them in before I get in the shower).
Spray the top area with hairspray, and every layer after. Just like the velcro curlers, start at the top with the bigger curlers. If you want a curl do the regular roll. I wave my hair with a curling iron and realized you can do it with hot curlers as well! Simply wrap hair around roller and make sure you have enough room to roll curler under to fasten and curl/wave away from your face.

 Once all curlers are in, spray hairspray all over head and leave to set. Try to leave in until curlers are cool. That way you know your curls will stay longer.

Once out, use your fingers to place the curls/waves the direction you'd like. Once you have the look right spray again with the hairspray. Curls will stay in all day/night!

As you can see I do have that one longer curl...simply use a curling iron to curl it up!

I Care Deeply About You!

With cold winter here we need to take as much care with our hair as our skin. Static hair is a common occurrence in the colder months because there isn't enough moisture in the air to hydrate it.
There's a whole whack load of home remedies to fix this (dryer sheets, lotion, etc) but the easiest and the best is probably something you already do.
You condition your hair everyday, but do you leave it in the appropriate amount of time? Does it have enough moisturizers?
I bleach my hair so it gets stripped and damaged. In order to keep hair silky and in good condition I have 3 different conditioners. The normal one is an everyday use, a deep conditioner to use every other day, and a deep treatment conditioner used once a week overnight.
When using the regular everyday conditioner, try to leave it in for at least a minute.
The deep conditioner I use is just the Dove Intensive Care brand. It's cheap and it's amazing! Use every third day for 5 minutes.     

 Usually Sundays are my at home spa days. I take a bath, do a 5 step facial, then after washing my hair apply the conditioning mask. I do leave it in overnight so use a plastic shower cap to cover hair and a terry cloth turban over top of that to keep in all the moisture. In the morning simply wash it out (shampoo and normal conditioner) and style hair as normal. The mask I use is a higher end salon product; it's L'anza Trauma Treatment.

 

 You don't need a lot and it's worth it, your hair will definitely notice the difference!

The Pink Hue

You voted and said yes to the pink! Here's how I did it:

I first washed and dried it thoroughly, then I put half my hair up and used a comb to make the part. I did it in a "V" shape so that it would peek-a-boo at the bottom. I didn't lighten my hair beforehand because when it grows out, I still want to have my natural highlights. If you have darker hair, you'll obviously have to lighten it.

I had to mix a couple of the colors, because they didn't have the one I really wanted (Hot Hot Pink). I ended up going with Red Passion and Cotton Candy Pink. After mixing them together, my husband Dallas applied it with a paintbrush. Just like at the salon, do not apply at the root or touch your scalp. After it's applied, wrap up in saran wrap or tinfoil and let sit. It takes 15 minutes to completely set in, but you can do it at a longer time so that the color stays well.
When you're washing your hair after in the following weeks try not to bunch up your hair. The color will bleed a bit. After about 2 weeks I just do whatever, and the bottom tips (the regular ones) will go a really nice soft pink.
I didn't take an after picture but I will be doing more hair tutorials, and you can see it then! :)