Eyebrows ; )

Eyebrows! Y'know, the things above your eyes.... You aren't paying attention to them? Well you really should be. Having nicely groomed eyebrows is just as important as having clean/clear skin or almost as important as having your eyeshadow flawlessly blended. 


So, let's talk eyebrows...! 


Everyone has them, right? If not you should really fill them in (which I'll talk about) and if you only have one (as in a unibrow) you should think about plucking them. No one likes a caterpillar above their face (unless you do, then power to you!) people usually start plucking their eyebrows around 12-13-ish, it really depends how thick/untamed they are, or how much you care. You're first eyebrow shape should be close to your natural shape because (hopefully!!!) your mom(or someone wise and mature in this department) is plucking them for you. It is the fist time and all. Once you have a shape down you can just follow that through the time of plucking. Then usually people realize that they want something a little more glamourous. Something thinner with an arch. That's great. But DO NOT OVER PLUCK. It's really the worst thing you can do! It takes eyebrows a long time to grow back. Super annoying. But everyone will find their shape. Whether it's thin, arched, full, dark, curved, sharp or bold. You should go along with the shape your eyebrow naturally has. Also, if you have a round face you may want to think about going sharper and more angled with your brow. If you have a sharp angled face shape you may want to go for a rounder brow to soften your features. Just a little thing to keep in mind. 


Now personally...I have weird eyebrows. One of my natural arches is much more arched than the other one! One of them is longer than the other. One is basically just better than the other...haha


I like my eyebrows to be a little more noticeable. So I like to fill mine in. Plus they are a little bit sparse, or I guess there just isn't a ton of hair. So I like mine to look darker and bolder than they naturally are. It's just my thing ; )




First of all, you need a good pair of tweezers! That's really really going to help you, whether you are plucking a lot of hair or just cleaning up a couple stray hairs. 

TWEEZERMAN

My favorite tweezers are the TWEEZERMAN tweezers. They are super great! I know a lot of people rave about them too. 
Quick tip in plucking or shaping your brows is to put a hot washcloth over your brows before plucking, that way the pores have opened up making it much easier to pull the little hairs out. You could also do it after getting out of the shower. 


If you fill your eyebrows in(which I do and a lot of people do) you need to find a shadow, pencil, eyebrow powder that matches really well. 
It would look really silly if you had blonde hair and eyebrows and used a black eyeshadow! Do not do that!! It's not a cute look! Same thing goes for someone with darker skin and dark hair. Using a light shadow would be silly, it wouldn't even show up. Now, you can fill in your brows a couple ways. First decide the reason you want to fill them in... Are they super sparse? Did you over pluck? Is one side different than the other? Are you just touching up little spots that don't have much hair growing in? Do you want them to be bold? Sharper? Dyed your hair darker and want your eyebrows to match? These are all really great reasons! Once you figure out what you need and find your shade, go for it. 
Don't go too heavy because that wont look very natural. 

Espresso, Brun, Buck.

I personally like to use an eyeshadow. Pencil sometimes comes off too sharp and funky.
The orignal color I used for my eyebrows was Espresso by Mac. But I realized that was a little too warm in color (Looked a bit orange on my eyebrows) 

Espresso and Brun

So I switched to Brun (also by Mac) which is a cool brown. Much closer to my hair and eyebrows. It's perfect actually. But that's really dark for some people. So you just need to find what color is right for you. 
My favorite colors are Brun(Mac), Espresso(Mac) and Buck(Urban Decay).
Any shade will work, you just have to keep your eye open (no pun intended)!

Angled Brush and Spooly

So, once you have a shadow that is perfect for you- You'll need a brush to apply it. I think the best thing to use is an angled eyeliner/eyebrow brush. If it has a spooly on the other end, even better(a spooly is a mascara wand)! 
After you've done you're eyebrows, comb them through. This will make it look more natural and less harsh or sharp. 

Make up Forever eyebrow pencil in N5

If you are looking for a pencil, sometimes just an eyeliner will do. As long as it's not too creamy. The eyebrow pencil I have is from Make Up Forever. The thing I don't like about pencil is sometimes it comes off too harsh, sometimes even a little waxy. Using shadow is my favorite, but everyone is different so try around!!
Pencil may be better for you if you are just filling in little bald spots.

Buck, Espresso, Brun and MUF eyebrow pencil in N5  








Hope you learned a little something about eyebrows!!!






XOXOXOX

The weekend that flew by...

This weekend flew by like the leaves in autumn! Which are all totally gone now...When did that happen?!


I worked on Thursday, Friday I had a group follow up get-together and my family came into town! Saturday was our big christmas party, which is always so much fun!! I love my family, we're all like really great friends. It's awesome.
Stayed up super late and had work at 11:00 today! Exhausted!! Luckily they didn't need me after about 2 hours and I got to go home...All my family has left, (Miss them!) so now I can write some more posts on here again!!


I bought my aunt the Mineral Fusion powder we all have and she really liked it I think! We bought her Neutral number 2. While I was in New Seasons I also bought the bronzer they carry. I love love love it! 1. it's all natural like the other powders
2. it's a beautiful color 3. it comes with a dark side and a shimmery highlighter (although I would never recommend someone with very fair skin to use the "highlighter" it's pretty dark and on the golden/orange side. It says you can mix them together for a more summery glow. I use the dark side to contour and darken my complexion then use the shimmery gold side as a blush!)




My skin has been doing really well with all these new products! The MyChelle and the Mineral Fusion (I hear they have a great setting spray!)
Also, some of my family said they have been using the Vitamin E oil and love it! yay!! I get so happy to hear people are reading and trying new products i've mentioned! So many great products people don't know about yet!!


I'll be writing more very soon...Just a quick update!


XOXOX

Hair goop and pumpkin face!

Ahhh my hair.... ( : Cutting hair really does do wonders! Especially when you sleep with a leave in treatment on your hair! 


Last night I had a little spa day, if you will. I washed my face with the MyChelle facial enzyme cleanser and did the pumpkin peel. It said the pumpkin peel may "Tingle" so I put it on expecting a stinging sensation all over my face- Nope, nothing. It really felt like it didn't do anything, until I washed it off. My face felt very smooth! But it burned like crazy on my mom's face and same with my sister's. So go figure! I was a little disappointed my experience was so boring haha!


I wore the leave in treatment in my hair all night and while I was sleeping. 
I just put a big bun on the top of my head. When I washed it out this morning my hair felt super duper soft!! I was very glad I decided to leave it in while I dreamed away! 


Over all it was a good spa night! 


The powder I recently bought by Mineral Fusion is AWESOME!!! I totally love it!
It lasted all day, hasn't made me break out (so far), matches me perfectly, covers nicely, buildable coverage, smooth, non-cakey....I could probably go on and on! Did I mention it lasted ALL day!! Looked just as nice when I washed it off as I did when I applied it! Major plus!




In other news (astrology news), Mercury Retrograde is OVER!!! Whoohoo






XOXOX

Hair, Hair, Hair, Hair, Hair....

Ok, the goop is in. In my hair that is! Hahaha


First I put the Burt's Bee's avocado goop in my hair...It was way goopier than I thought it would be! I thought it would feel like avocado. It didn't. It felt like slime. Which I wasn't apposed to hahaha! It seemed like it would be pretty nourishing. 
I got the bottom of my hair wet and rubbed that slime in! I decided it wasn't goopy enough in my hair and decided to add more oils to it. So I put some Redkin hair oil stuff in that my hairstylist gave me to sample along with Vitamin E oil. 
I only put this at the ends because there isn't a reason to put it at the roots. I produce enough oils there if I don't wash it! No need to add more! 

So, now my hair is all piled up on the top of my head! 

Hair-do when you don't know what to do to your hair!

My hair today....




I got my hair cut, which I am so happy about! (I hadn't had it cut in so long!) I had my hairstylist straighten it because I haven't seen it straight in forever! But it just proved that I like my hair curly best. 


So, today I did a normal side braid than turned it into a bun on the side of my head and pinned it down. Super easy! Very old fashioned look. 

New skin care, powder and hair treatments!

I love buying new products- You may call me a "new-product-junkie" ; )


I find something I love, use it, then find something new again! I still love the "old" products, but I just can't help but think maybe there is a product that is even better! 


So...Today after my sisters and I got our hair cut/beautified we decided to go to the New Seasons next-door! We stumbled upon the beauty/health/skin care section. My favorite section! Of course! My sister was looking for new skin care and I was checking out Mineral Fusion, (Super great make up brand. All natural, paraben free, artificial color free, fragrance free, talc free, gluten free, hand crafted, hypo allergenic, non-comedogenic, never tested on animals! YAY for all those things!) something that really pulled me over was the fact that their shades in face make up were really cool. I noticed they had an Olive shade. I totally have an olive skin tone, so it's really hard to find a matching powder usually. The skin tones/shades/colors ranged from Cool(1,2,3) Neutral(1,2,3) Warm(1,2,3) Olive(1,2,3) Deep(1,3).
Really beautiful natural looking shades. We found one to match each of us girls (me, my two sisters and my mom. We were Olive2 Neutral2 Warm1 and Warm2)
I think that almost everyone would be able to find a shade- It's super fun! You kinda learn a thing or two about coloring and skin tone while picking out your make up! Hahaha


We each(except my youngest sister)bought the pressed powder foundation in our according shades. I love this powder! it covered well and best of all it matched me perfectly! Like perfect, perfect, perfect! I thought the Benefit powder matched me really well but it's actually a bit too pinky-orange on me(which I didn't realize until I found this amazing match! I just have a weird skin-tone...). I am more yellow, hence the olive. (But I still love that powder...) 


Now, the skin care we found! It's by MyChelle.
We bought the Fruit Enzyme Cleanser for All/Combination skin. 
This says " Always free of harmful ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, ureas, petroleum-based chemicals and artificial colors.


Gentle deep cleanser uncovers remarkable fresh, smooth skin. A special blend of natural multi-fruit  Alpha-Hydroxy Acids unclog and purify pores and increase cellular turnover for a more youthfully refined look. Strengthening and antioxidant turmeric keeps skin calm and eases signs of irritation, while fructooligosaccharides from sugar promote and protect skin's health." Sheesh, that was a lot of big words! ; )


-Cruelty-Free
-Gluten-Free
-Vegan Friendly
-100% post consumer paper 


We also bought a little facial mask! 
"Incredible Pumpkin Peel". I can't wait to try it out! My mom and I have been jonesing for a good mask/peel! 


I also have something from Burt's Bees! I love Burt's Bees...
I bought the "Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment 
with Nettles and Rosemary" 
I'm super excited to try this hair mask out! I know my mom has used it before, but I've never gotten a chance to put it on my brittle ends! Which are extra brittle right now... My hair needs a little extra tending to! Hahaha
Will be definitely trying this avocado mask tomorrow!


I haven't tried any of these products (except the powder) so once I have I will do another blog post on them! ( :




XOXOX

Hellooooo Flawless!!!

My favorite powder and bronzer!


I normally never wear liquid foundation, it usually just makes me break out. Ugh, don't you hate breaking out!? 
So, i've always used powders! Sometimes I just throw on a little bronzer. But when I want a more flawless look I go for powder too! 
My favorite powder is the "Hello Flawless" by Benefit. Benefit is an awesome brand by the way, the have lots of neat and clever make up things. I'll do another post about that sometime. The color I wear is Honey. On every shade they have a cute little rhyme to go with your shade! "I'm cute as a bunny. Honey" Isn't that funny!? I love it. I really love this powder because the shade Honey is perfect for me in the winter! Like, perfect! It has really nice coverage but doesn't ever look cakey or splotchy. (My mom and my sister love it too!) the compact is nice as well, it has a little mirror, a sponge and a small brush! Kinda nice for on the go or throwing it in your purse! But mostly the actual product is why I love it!


-Great coverage(Covers spots, pimples, and REDNESS!)  
-Great shades
-Smooth in texture
-Has never made me break out


So next time you're in Sephora or wherever they sell Benefit- Check out "Hello Flawless" powder! It's a really beautiful product.




My next powder is my bronzer! I sure love me some good bronzer! 
My face always tends to be a lot lighter than the rest of my body (due to scrubbing my face all the time) so sometimes after just throwing on some bronzer I look all evened up! (Plus I naturally have a deeper skin tone) 


So, my lovely bronzer is Casino by Nars. You hear everyone raving about Laguna by Nars and that's a great bronzer if you have light skin. I know a lot of people with super pale skin use it lightly and love it! But if you have more of an olive complextion or are just naturally brown- Casino is awesome. I've been using it a little over a year and just recently hit pan on it! It's not entirely matte- it has some shimmer on it, but honestly I don't notice it on my skin. 


These two products are really great and have been a favorite of mine for a long time now! Check them out next time you are looking for some new make up!

XOXOXOX

Brighten Your Skin!

Who doesn't want bright skin? Especially in the winter time when our skin tends 
to be....Less radiant, shall we say? 


Instead of piling on shimmery products, highlighters, bronzers, trying to get that look of "Glowing within" we can use something pretty simple. Maybe even homemade! And honestly, the only way we can actually get the look of "glowing within" is by actually having radiating skin. But sometimes our skin doesn't look very radiant. So we can use some skin products to help with that!
Like, my very favorite Toner. I didn't use to use a toner, and it's not really something you use when you're like 10, y'know? Toner helps improve the texture and tone (theres that word again) of our skin. I'm already sold! ; )
It also helps wash away any last traces of cleanser, make up and (bad)oils. And we don't really want to sleep with those things on our skin... 
So, that's where a toner comes in handy! 

The Toner I use is the Skin Brightening Toner (Creative name, right? Haha) by Botanics. You can buy Botanics from Target in the "Boots" section.
I actually use a lot of products by this brand. Everything is natural. Natural always works better on my skin. 


It says under the name "Refresh and tone for radiant skin.
Plant extracts at levels that really work, combined and formulated for outstanding product performance. Naturally.
Even after cleansing, skin can look a little dull. This gentle toner sweeps away every last trace of cleanser and brightens your complexion while also 


working to refine pores and minimise excess oil." 


My sister, my mom and I all use this toner. We have similar skin but different variations. It works well for all of us! I think it's pretty cool when you find a product that works for lots of people ( : 
I know some people just use rose water or witch hazel. There are lots of natural things you can use to make toners of your own! Lemon is pretty cool too. It is also known to lighten dark spots. Toner is pretty awesome, but definitely an extra step and not for everyone. I really like it- I feel like it's a perfect last step before I put my moisturizer on! 


I've noticed my skin does look brighter, I break out less, I don't get oily in my T-zone at the end of the day like I use to. Sometimes I have noticed some make up left on my cotton bud! Which means I didn't get it off after scrubbing...Oh that's a terrible sign. That is the biggest reason I use toner. My skin does so much better in the summer because I don't wear any face make up. So it's really important to get it all off at the end of the night! But we all know that. Some people are more sensitive to make up than others. 


So! Point is, Toner is pretty awesome. Just find the right one for you! 
You could buy one or make one - whatever you want ( : 
The Skin Brightening Toner by Botanics is my favorite. Also easy to find because it's just at target ( : 


Hope you learned something about Toners!


XOXOX

Take your vitamins!

We've all had the healthy person in our lives telling us to take our vitamins. I know I have! In my case it's my Mom. Maybe that's because I'm young or maybe it's because she's so health conscious...Probably both. But i'm grateful for it! 
I am here to tell you; you can take vitamins topically too.
This is my favorite thing ever! Vitamin E Oil. This stuff is great. For so many reasons. I'll tell you the things I use it for and I'll tell you the things you can use it for! 
Here we go...!




I use vitamin E oil under my eyes as an eye cream(or in this case, oil).
Using an eye cream/oil is super duper important. 
The skin under our eyes is very delicate and thin. That's why we see wrinkles there first, along with darkness (which is caused by many things). When we look tired it's typically our eyes that give it away. Looking swollen, dark, saggy all those fun words that we never want to describe our eyes with! Therefore, using an eye cream/oil is important. We need to take extra care of our eyes! We can't scrub away the skin there, it's too thin and delicate. It's not like the rest of our skin. 
So, pay extra attention to it! ( :


After I wash my face I drop a drop of vitamin E oil on my fingers and pat on each eye (under eye and eyelid) I do this in the morning too under my concealer(Just let it dry a bit before you do that). 


These are the benefits of using vitamin E oil...
1.Vitamin E oil is super super great for fading acne scars, sun spots and hyper-pigmentation.
2. It's obviously very moisturizing, it's an oil after all! ( : We need extra moisturizing products there because we are not producing a natural oil like the rest of our face.
3.Vitamin E oil also influences the production of collagen, a structural protein partially responsible for the strength and elasticity of skin. As we get older we start  reducing our bodies collagen. (Unfortunately) This is why our skin starts to sag and wrinkle... But, by using oils like vitamin E which help produce these things we are more likely to have tight, strong eye skin. Hahaha, it sounds funny but it's a good thing! 


Since I have been using the oil i've noticed that my my eyes aren't nearly as dark as they use to be, the skin under my eyes feels less thin. (About a year ago I felt like my eyes were looking really weird... Super dark, thin and every morning I had little lines on the side of my eyes. Not good signs for only being 16 at the time!) Also the texture of my eye lids and under eyes feels so much smoother. My concealer goes on a lot better. Not to mention I hardly wear concealer now because it's not very dark anymore! I've always had issues with dark circles under my eyes. But they look so much better these days! 


This all sounds really great, right?! So check it out! You can find vitamin E oil almost anywhere. You get a lot, so you don't have to worry about running out. 




Hope you learned something about vitamin E oil!! 


XOXOX

Chapped lips!? Oh no!

Winter is full of christmas trees, candy canes, pumpkin pie, frost on the grass, rosy cheeks and chapped lips...Wait a minute! 


Yes, we all know that! Who DOESN'T hate chapped lips? They are they worst! And if they are really bad, like mine, they may even bleed. Yuck. It's not pretty and doesn't feel good either.


So! I'm going to talk a little (Ha!) about my favorite things to keep lips nice...


A new product I recently bought is the Mint Julips Lip Scrub from Lush. 
(We finally have a lush in our mall! Yay!)
This scrub worked wonders...I know a lot of people say that about random things, but I'm being serious! It's all natural(which is a reason to love it on it's own) and totally edible. Which is cool because you are scrubbing this all over your lips! It's bound to get in your mouth. And it sure is yummy! 
So, what you do is tap your finger on the sugar scrub and rub onto your lips- It's that easy. On the side of the cute little jar it says 


"Gently rub a little peppermint and chocolate sugar onto your lips and scrub them soft and smooth"

After that I liked to use my favorite lip balm/chap-stick which is the "Burt's Bees REPLENISHING LIP BALM with POMEGRANATE OIL" It really is written out like that... 
They have lots of flavors, but the pomegranate is my favorite! It's the most moisturizing, well, as the name says "REPLENISHING". Smear that sucker on if you are just going to bed. A little extra step I take when my lips are crazy dry- I like to  also smear Vaseline on top of my Burt's Bees lip balm (<-- which is now on my smooth lips) That really seals everything in! When I wake up in the morning my lips still feel a little moist and they are no longer dry! It's really great! But it always takes me awhile to remember these kinds of routines- So i'm stuck for a month with terribly cracked lips that I just want to pick at (Sorry, sorry!! Too much info, Yuck!) 


If you do not have a Lush near you- or do not have a lip scrub, you can always make one! It's super easy!!
Just take a little sugar and scrub it on your lips. Yeah, super easy. 
And then pick your very favorite lip balm!


(My lil, my lil, my lil, lil lip balm. My lil lip balllllm 
http://youtu.be/gtkU2ch0sRI ) My sister showed me this....You'll be quoting it forever.


Happy lip lovin'!


XOXOXOX

Scrub, Scrub, Scrub...

My mom and I have always said that scrubbing is one of the very best things you can do for your skin. Although we never do it in the Summer because we're so tan and don't want to scrub it away. But when winter rolls around (which is always too soon for me!) I just want to exfoliate and scrub all the dead skin cells away! (Doesn't that sound Lovely!?)
Your face will feel so smooth, soft and even in skin-tone. Scrubbing keeps acne away too, Y'know!                                   
You can do many things to keep your skin fresh by exfoliating! 
Use a wash cloth with your normal cleanser in the morning and night (Because we're washing our face morning AND before we go to bed, right? Well you should be!).
You can also use something scrubby! Like baking soda mixed with a little water. It makes a nice little paste you can massage into your skin. You could also mix baking soda with your normal cleanser. Or use a good ol' fashion facial scrub! Which is what I have been doing as of late! 


Right now I am using( and LOVING ) Bert's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub. 
I have wanted to try out this scrub for AGES now! But I just never picked it up...
One day I was watching Kandee Johson on YouTube-
http://youtu.be/Kw9ubGOhJi8


 (who I also LOVE ). She was doing her night time make up removing routine. There she was, using the Bert's Bees scrub! I could tell it would be exactly what I wanted, so as soon as I could go to target- I bought it! 
I've been using it every morning and night since! Seriously, my skin has never been better!!! 
My skin-tone has improved loads, my skin is so soft, my skin isn't dry like it usually is in the winter. It's just such an awesome product for me! I am so in love with it! 
I remembered then how important it is so scrub and exfoliate! 




So, to make a very long story short- Bert's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub is perfect. 
It is so important to scrub and get all the dirt, oil, dead skin cells and everything yucky off your face BEFORE you go to bed and before you start your day!
Your make up will glide on better and your skin will look more radiant! Who doesn't want that!?




XOXOX

Very first blog....Ever.

My very first blog ever! Just as the title of the post reads haha ; )


I haven't written in quite some time; so this is kinda fun!


Here I will be talking about all things beauty related. Make up, Hair(care, style, cut, color), Health, Fashion and maybe a couple little random things I am interested in! How fun is this!?! 


Well...Here I go...


XOXOX