Try this at home.

Hello my lovelies... Today I'am feeling a little down, maybe not down but, stressed, stressed is a better word. Anyways. I decided to keep moving ahead and get straight into chapter 3! This chapter is called...
"Try this at home"
The introduction to this chapter made me laugh because it describes the type of person I've always wanted to be... "We've all seen her. You know the type. Her hair is never out of place-or, if it is, then it's artfully tousled just so. Her brows have that sleek arch to them. Her eye makeup is always sultry, feminine, and chic. She's Ms. Perfect. We kind of hate her, but even more than that, we want to know exactly how she does it."
I've always felt like I was never quite pulled together enough. It's always bothered me, but now as I get older (22 haha) I feel like I'm coming into my own and feeling more comfortable in my own skin. It's a great feeling and I want everyone to experience it. I think that's why I love makeup and fashion so much is because whether people want to admit it or not, when you look good you feel good!
If I had to choose one person that I really look up to and who I feel always looks put together I would choose Kim Kardashian. Her style is one I really admire and her hair and makeup are always on point!
Anyways this chapter tells different ways you can achieve "daunting beauty feats and classic makeup looks you've always wanted to try." You will learn how to wear red lipstick and keep it on, how to give yourself a salon-style blowout, how to achieve the perfect smokey eye, and the always scary, how to apply fake eyelashes! In addition to the above the book will tell you how to shape your eyebrows. This to me is the most important thing on a face. Eyebrows anchor the face and if they are groomed it will make your whole look go down the drain. The book suggests using an eyebrow stencil, but, to be honest... all of the eyebrow stencils I have ever bought were terrible and extremely hard to work with, so I use my own method which I will tell you about below...
Although shaping your eyebrows might seem really scary, the good thing about it is usually, once you do it the first time, (as long as you keep up with them) then you won't have to do it again.

What you need:
Eyebrows
Tweezers
Stick (ie-end of makeup brush, thin and long)
White eye pencil
eyebrow brush/comb
scissors (small)
First, you need to sit infront of a mirror in a well lit environment, preferrably a mirror where you can see your face up close. Basically the trick to finding your shape is playing connect the dots. What you are going to do is get your "stick" and put it on the side of your nose, keep it straight up and mark with your white eye pencil where that line falls, if you have hair outside of that line, you will need to tweeze that away (not yet) and if the hair is on the inside of that line then you may need to consider letting that hair grow back. Next get that pencil and from that same point on your nose, look straight ahead and tilt it to where it is on the outside of the colored part of your eye, (that is the arch) mark that point with your pencil. Next, from that same point on your nose tilt the pencil to where it is on the outer corner of your eye, mark that point (this is the end of your brow) Next you will connect the 3 dots drawing a line from dot 1 to dot 2 to dot 3. This will be your eye brow shape, any hair below that white line should be tweezed away. After you are done tweezing next you will get you brow brush or comb and brush your eyebrows up away from your eye, trim away excess hair. Trimming your brows is essential to getting that polished look, just be careful to not trim anything other than what is sticking above your eyebrows.
Good luck, you're gonna love your new brows!!!
(Sorry there are no pictures for this blog, the picture function was not working for some reason!)

Faking It

So on to chapter 2 we go...
I was going to wait a week to do this chapter but I needed a break from school work and nothing relaxes me more than talking about beauty! Lol.
So anyways, this chapter is called "Faking It"

As one would probably guess, this chapter covers various ways you can fake an attribute that you may not have (and who doesnt love that?!) It talks about how to fake long legs, fake 8 hours of amazing sleep, fake a gorgeous glow, and even how to fake plump lips! We could all use a little help in these areas but my favorite is faking high cheek bones. Right now I'm totally obsessed with contouring and this definetly helped me in my quest for a more defined face.

The books version of creating high cheek bones is pretty much exactly the same as mine, so I will tell you how to do it below!

The first thing to know when it comes to contouring is that "lightness brings out and darkness draws in." That means the areas on your face that you want more prominent you want to highlight, such as the top of your cheek bones and on the brow bone, by highlighting "light will reflect off that area and lift it up."

When I'm countouring my face I use MAC Blunt, you should use a powder that is a couple shades darker than your skin tone (I know in the picture it seems a little dark but it goes on beautifully.) I don't reccomend using a blush or bronzer with any sort of shimmer in it because when contouring it is supposed to look as natural as possible and having shiny cheeks in NOT natural, so use a matte color (in addition shimmer enhances pores, and we don't want that!)

You are applying the powder to the hallows of your cheek so to apply you want to suck in your cheeks. Next you'll sweep the powder from the ear down toward the mouth, don't go all the way to the mouth, you should end below the apples of the cheeks.

Next, I pick a blush, (whatever color I'm feeling like that day) depending on your skin tone will determine what blush you should use, right now I use Coralista from Benefit. The book suggests a baby pink blush, but baby pink won't show up on my skin all that well, it shows up more white than pink, so you be the judge of that. This blush should be applied to the apples of your cheeks. One point that the book stresses and that I stress is BLENDING! You want this to look very natural and as if you are truly blessed with the wonderful cheek bones, so blend blend blend!

Last but not least, I highlight. I use a highlighter that has no color just shine (if that makes any sense.) I sweep this color right above the apples of my cheeks, over my brow bone, down my nose, and on my cupids bow (right above my top lip.)

The amazing thing about contouring is that you can contour anything! It's basically pain free plastic surgery and much much cheaper. In additon to my cheek bones I like to countour my nose to make it appear smaller and my chin to make it more prominent.

The picture to the right is NOT how face contouring should look, haha, the colors on this face are more intense to show you exactly where the darker colors should go and where the lighter colors should go, If you need to contour all of the parts on your face then feel free, but don't feel obligated to do so if there is no need. The number one rule to mastering face contouring is practice. Once you contour your face once you will wonder how you ever lived with out it before! While contouring you can go as simple or dramatic as you want, so have fun and contour away!!

The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin, and Hair...

About a week ago I was on fashionface.tv and noticed there was a link to reccomended books if you want to become a makeup artist, there were many amazing books but being a beginner I decided to start off slow, so I decided to buy the Sephora:The Ultimate guide to makeup, skin and hair from the Beauty Authority. The book is about 200 pages long so it's not something I can read in one sitting but I thought it would be fun if I gave an overview of the chapter and my take on what the "beauty authority" had to say...

Today we are starting off with...

Chapter 1: "What is Beauty?"

I feel this topic is a wonderful way to start off this book, beauty is something that is not easily defined but in this chapter some of the most well know names in the industry give their take on what they think beauty is. Two of my favorites quotes are from Cristina Carlino, founder of Philosophy (my favorite skin care brand) and Jean Ford, co-founder of Benefit (an amazing cosmetics brand.)

"Beauty is as beauty does. We're remembered not by what we looked like, but how we behaved and changed the lives of others."


-Cristina Carlino Founder of Philosophy

"Beauty is a state of mind. What's beautiful to one person isn't necessarily to another. Beauty stops you in your tracks. Engages your eyes. Away from the ordinary to the extraordinary."
-Jean Ford Co-Founder of Benefit Cosmetics





I agree with both of these women because I believe that everyone has their own idea of beauty, whether it be a beautiful face or a beautiful soul, or both. I find that individuality and confidence are 2 things that make a person beautiful. The only catch for me is that the 2 must work together in harmony because their are plenty of confident people who are not individual, yet I have yet to find a person who is individual that lacks confidence, because it takes confidence to stand out from the rest.

Makeup for me is away to not only feel beautiful but a way for me to help others feel beautiful.

What is your idea of beauty?...
Next Chapter: Faking it.

I hate acne!

I'm not exactly sure of the time that I developed acne, or even the reason why the annoying little guys would randomly pop up on my face. What I do know was that it was after I turned 20 and that I have NEVER had acne before. I never even had to wear makeup before because my skin was flawless, and then all of a sudden I started breaking out all on my cheeks, forehead, and chin. I can sort of pin point it down to the time that I became a vegetarian, I dont even think it was the not eating meat that caused the acne, I think it was the sudden and drastic change in diet that caused the acne. Either way, I, like many other people struggling with acne have tried EVERYTHING! I have tried proactiv, cosmedicine, clinique, regular drug store brands and nothing worked. I was so discouraged because I was not used to seeing all these blemishes and I litterally did not want to be seen by anyone.

In a last ditch effort I tried the Philosophy brand, and I was so impressed! Within a week the majority of my acne had cleared up, and not only that, the scars my acne had caused had been lightened or erased completely! I used 2 different kinds of Philosophy kits, the first one I used was the kit specifically for acne called "On a clear day."

This kit was great, it comes with the oil free foaming acne wash, an all over acne treatment, a spot treatment, and a retinol lotion. I loved this kit but It was a little much for my skin, and my acne wasn't severe so it was a little harsh and it dried out my skin. But it did get rid of the pimples, and if you have moderate to sever acne, I would suggest this kit for you. After I ran out of this kit I did a little research and found the advanced makeup optional kit.

I preffered this kit over the othe because it comes with an exfoliant wash and a moisturizer, which the other kit was lacking. In addition it comes with the Purity face wash, the "Help Me" retinol night treatment and the "When hope is not enough" lifting serum (because it's never to early for anti-aging). These 5 products combined will do amazing things for your skin!
To get an in depth explanation of each of these products and their purposes or to order either of these 2 kits please
GO HERE.
Hope this has helped in your hunt for beautiful skin! If you have any questions please ask in the comment box below.

Daniela