Hard Candy Satisfies That Craving For Good Coverage

I very rarely ever walk out of the house without a drop of make up on my face. I don't do natural. Natural for me is wearing very light coverage foundation with limited amounts of concealer only on the really dark spots. A quick fill in of my eyebrows. A light layer of mascara. A light layer of lip gloss. A quick pat of blush. Oh how I wish I could be one of those women that could just shower and walk out the door fresh faced to run errands or go to work just wearing mascara & gloss. My complexion is ravaged by dark spots, acne scars, and very dark under eye circles. I'm constantly searching for products that have the ulimate coverage- long wear liquids, cream foundations, and every type of concealer imaginable. I've tried Revlon Colorstay, Sephora, MAC, Smashbox, Cover FX, and Make Up Forever. All good products and applied with the right balance of foundation, concealer, and powder can create a flawless appearing complexion. And I do stress that you have to have the right balance of products otherwise you risk having blotchy, spotty, mask-like looking foundation- *raises hand-GUILTY!! But I digress... I read on Pinterest that Wal-Mart had  products with outstanding coverage, so of course I had to try it. Wal-Mart! That's just my price range! I purchased Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer in Tan and Hard Candy CC Cream in Dark. I am completely obsessed with trying to master the art of contouring and highlighting hence the purchase of a concealer that is at least two shades lighter and a foundation that is at least two shades darker. Glamoflauge is amazing! It is true to its name and is most definitely heavy duty. My dark spots completely disappeared and my most difficult flaw, the dark under eye circles looked significantly brighter. Thank goodness!! I love this product! A little bit goes a long way. It also comes with a concealing pencil for for even more coverage for scars, dark spots, and it claims to be able to cover tattoos. Now, I don't have any tattoos to actually try that out so i'm basing my review solely on flaw coverage. It's not super thick. It's not oily and it's not drying. At a whopping $6 a pop, you can't beat it!! The CC Cream is very light and blends in easily and smoothly. It's product description states it will balance your skin, neutralize skin tones, corrects skin tone and brightens complexion, evens skin texture, and is oil free. I would never normally wear a cc cream but because the concealer packs so much power I can wear a light coverage cream like the CC cream and still end up with a smooth bright complexion. It's also SPF 15 which for me is an added bonus. Now that I'm in my 30's I'm very concious about protecting my skin. This product will run you around $8. Score!! All in all both were amazing finds. Great coverage, good selection of tones, light, blendable, and a phenominal price that just about anyone can afford. Below I included a picture of me with out make up (CRINGE) so you could some what see what I'm working with. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the lighting in my bathroom reduced the appearance of the very dark spots on my cheeks and forehead but you can still clearly see my freckles and dark undereye circles. The other pictures are the final looks wearing both products in my bathroom and in my bedroom with natural light (no filters).

In this look I'm wearing Smashbox Jetset waterproof liner in dark brown on my brows, Naked 2 eyshadows (YDK and Busted on the crease, Bootycall on the lid & brow bone) on my eyes, Sephora liquid liner and mascara, Mac blush in Breezy, Mac liner in Soar, Mac lipstick Sequin, Ben Nye Banana Powder,and Milani Multitasker face powder in medium tan 06.

Sephora Palette is a keeper!

I am very pleased with last weeks eye shadow find. I went to my local Sephora and discovered the Natural Instincts Eyeshadow Palette from the Sephora Collection. Palettes are always a great choice when it comes to eyeshadow choices. It gives you a variety of colors and finishes in one convenient package allowing you the freedom to play with a multitude of looks. You can build your collection of colors at a fraction of the price it would cost to purchase each shade individually. My normal eyeshadow routine is very subtle, natural looking colors during the week. I like to keep it simple and quick since my work day starts at 6:30 AM. I am NOT a morning person so I try to stay in bed as long as possible. When I finally drag myself out of bed I lose track of time in the shower leaving me very little time to do my make-up so i choose colors that are light and don't take much skill to slap on. On the weekends however, I choose my colors according to outfit and mood. I love experimenting with my looks from bright bold pops of color, dark rich smokey finishes, to romantic soft blended colors with smooth shimmers. The Natural Instincts Palette is perfect for any occasion. It comes with fourteen different beautiful shades. Four natural matte shades, eight matte and shimmery fashion shades, and two smokey shades. Each color is very wearable for all skin tones. The colors go on smooth and vibrant and are easy to blend and build for what ever look you desire. The colors can be worn wet or dry depending on how dramatic of a look you want to achieve. What I also love about this palette is inside they include a clear cover sheet the groups together 2-3 shades and identifies which shade to use as a base, in the crease, and on the lid. I know many women who are lost when it comes to deciding which colors to pair up and where to put them. If you haven't evolved from wearing a single shade across your entire lid this palette is a great start for you. The purchase price was $28.00. Other palettes like Urban Decay's Naked will run you $54.00. Single eye shadow's can cost anywhere from $7.00 to $16.00 so this palette is a fabulous deal. Along with Natural Instincts Sephora has a second palette of colors called Primal Instincts so if you wanted you could purchase both palettes and it would run you about the same as one Urban Decay Naked palette.

You can slightly see the clear film over the shadows on the photo of the palette to the right grouping colors together and labeling where they are applied.

The photos of look 1 I am wearing "Wood" and "Sandy Brown" in the crease with "Sea Green" on the lid. In photos of look 2 I'm wearing "Sandy Brown" in the crease, "Desert" on the lid, and "Pearl" on the brow bone.

Application tips:

• Use a good eye primer before applying your shadow. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Mary Kay Signature Eye Primer, or Mac's Paint Pot in Painterly (which I use the most) are a few of my favorites. For more vibrant looks apply Nyx jumbo pencil in Milk for your shadow to appear extremely pigmented.
• Invest in good brushes. You don't have to spend a fortune. Sephora, Target, and many online cosmetic companies sell brushes as low as $1 that work great. The key to achieving a beautiful look is using the right brush for the job. If your using the same generic eyeshadow brush for each color you apply they wont blend as smoothly and will look very harsh. A good brush can be the difference from looking like a hooker or a Hollywood starlet. Even if your like me and don't have any formal make up training you can easily recreate all the looks you love because the brush really does all the work for you. For years I was trying to layer colors in my crease using a regular shadow brush and could never get that super soft blended look. When i upgraded to an actual blending brush BAM! It was so simple and looked amazing. I currently use a brush set from the Sephora Collection. They can run from $18.00 to $125.00.
• Apply your eye make up first. It's easier to clean up any eyeshadow powder that has fallen onto your cheeks, eyeliner smudges,or uneven application. Use baby oil or make-up remover on a Q-tip, cotton ball, or cotton pad to remove excess product or to fix any mistakes. Then apply your foundation. You won't have to worry about being precise in your application or patching up areas of your foundation that were removed when you were fixing a mistake.
• Play with your colors! Layering and blending can create new and glamorous looks. You never have to do the same look twice. Blending soft mattes into a smokey eye or shimmery shades combined and layered can reveal endless multi-dimensional effects.

Wet N Wild: An Oldie But A Goodie

Let's go back circa 1995. I was in junior high. TLC's "Waterfalls" was all over the radio. That awkward time in my youth when transitioning from a tween to a teenager. Boys are now a major factor and hair & make up now require some effort. When your 13 going on 14 it's vital that your individual style be as close to everyone else as much as possible. Make up usually consisted of thick black eyeliner, mascara, and good old Wet n Wild lipstick #408 outlined with dark brown eyeliner. This was the look. It didn't matter if you were White, Black, Hispanic, pale, tan, whatever- all the girls wore Wet n Wild #408. It was dark and cool and only 99 cents! Available at any local drugstore. As I got older and got a part time job I left my Wet n Wild days behind me and graduated to Revlon, Covergirl, and eventually on to a variety of products from the cosmetic counters in the mall. It wasn't until recently that I rekindled my love affair with Wet n Wild lipsticks. Take a look at the picture posted of me happily adorned in my 49er gear with my friend DaShauna. It's Super Bowl Sunday in San Francisco. I had the best time, wearing my favorite lipstick Mac Russian Red. It's the perfect shade of red. Beautiful on every skin tone. Goes on smooth, is vibrant, and has staying power. I love it! And I lost it. It was either on the street waiting in line to get into Pete's Tavern to watch the game or some where at the bar in between ordering pitchers of Stella during the game. I had intended on immediately heading to Mac the next day to replace it until I came across a pin on Pinterest. Wet n Wild's Stop Light Red was a dupe for Mac's Russian Red. Say What?! On to the drugstore. I went to CVS which is a great place to get drugstore cosmetics. They always have lots of sales and clearance mark downs. This particular day Wet n Wild products were buy one get one 50% off, score!! I purchased 5 lipsticks and one lip gloss. The Stop Light Red is an absolute winner! The color is impressively close to the Mac, wears well, and cost me $1.99 where as the Mac runs about $15. A definite keeper! I found a new favorite, Bare It All. A gorgeous nude color that is very popular among many of the make up artists I follow on Instagram. I've found that the matte lipsticks are the closest to the Mac colors. The colors are rich and wear very well. A must try! The sheer colors are also a good alternative, not as pigmented as the matte colors but still a great buy for 99 cents with a variety of colors. The gloss I purchased was from the Megalast line. A long lasting creamy lip gloss. This I did not care for at all. It went on smooth but becomes very tacky in texture and instantly becomes very dry. I attempted to counteract the dryness by adding a second gloss on top which only made the gloss become crumbly and clumpy. As soon as I pressed my lips together or licked them they became a thick mess. Negative on the Megalast gloss. So, today's lesson: Don't be fooled by the price. Quality products can be found in low price packages. Don't limit yourself to only going with the big popular name brands. It is possible to achieve a high end look at a fraction of the price. You can have your cake and afford to eat it too.

1)Bare It All  2)Stop Light Red  3)Nouveau Pink  4)Cashmere 5)Smokin Hot Pink

Just A Quick Note

Hello Pretties! I'm now on to my third post as an official blogger and I have to admit, I'm starting to feel bloggerish! At any moment of the day I'll get an inspiration for something to post about. I'm constantly making mental notes on what I want to share with you. First off, please bear with me as I'm learning just how this whole blog thing works. I'll be the first to admit that I'm completely inexperienced in writing to an audience (as you can clearly see in all of the many grammatical and spelling errors in my first two posts) and in giving step by step instructions on how to use the products and techniques I blog about. Let me make myself very clear, I am in no way a professional in the field of beauty. I'm not even an amateur. But I am a fanatic. I am inspired and in awe of the amazing looks that beauty professionals create. I pin like crazy on Pinterest. I watch YouTube tutorials until my eyes are crossed. I scan and study all over Instagram and "like" my way through Facebook. Thanks to my iPhone I have all the latest trends, tips, & techniques ready and waiting at my fingertips. No longer do you have to enroll in courses, sit in a crowded classroom, or pay large sums of money to learn the secrets of the trade. So now your probably asking yourself "What the heck makes her qualified to write about beauty trends then?" Well, to be honest, nothing. LOL! But in my defense, most of the posts on YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc...are geared for the average person to be able to duplicate the looks they see at home. Some are easier than others. Some products and techniques definitely take some prior experience to pull off. It's as if the make up artists in the tutorials are speaking to other fellow artists. Here's where I come in. I try the products, attempt the techniques, and report if its actually do-able for the average girl with no experience or training. And more importantly, if a product is worth your hard earned money. Oh how I would love to be able to indulge in those coveted super size beauty haul's and fill my bathroom with endless products in every color but the reality is I am one broke cookie! Okay, I'm not broke but I definitely don't have the kind of funds to just be throwing whatever item I want or even need into a basket and purchasing willy-nilly. So the items I do spend my precious money on better be worth it and if it's not I will be sure to let you know so you don't make the same wasted purchase. If a technique I try is complicated or doesn't look as trendy or as glamorous as it appeared online I'll be sure to report that as well. Are you following? Hope that gives you a little clearer insight into where I'm coming from and what I hope to achieve with these posts. Thanks for taking the time to read and as I learn more about the blog world and hone my beautification skills I'm sure my posts will evolve in quality and content as well. So thank you for your patience and your support. Cheers to learning and getting pretty together!

Ben Nye Banana Powder: Is it worth all the hype?

We have all seen YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest flooded with rave reviews of the Ben Nye Banana powder. Anything that Kim Kardashian or her make up artist endorses is going to get the attention of females near and far, myself included. I had to get my hands on this must-have powder. Its most commonly used as a highlighter and setting powder for concealer. It's soft finish and warm yellow tone is supposed to give your complexion a soft bright finish without caking up or looking ashy. All very important things! From what I've seen it's best used when highlighting and contouring the forehead, bridge of the nose, cupids bow, chin, and heavily under the eyes. So I set out to make my purchase. A lot of people were reporting the banana powder, because of the high demand, was difficult to find. I don't know if my timing was right or if I missed the banana powder craze but I had no problem locating some for a very reasonable price. Ben Nye products can easily be found on a number of costume make up websites. I purchased a 3oz banana powder for $13.99 as well as a 2 oz Ben Nye Final Seal Matte Sealer for $7.50 from @CameraReadyCosmetics.com. I was very intimidated when first applying the powder. To start, I'm still pretty new at highlighting and contouring. Figuring out the best way to apply and blend still takes me some practice. The first phase always looks very scary to me! The contrast of the super light concealer and the dark contouring streaks makes me very afraid I'm going to end up looking like a character from the broadway version of The Lion King. But I always follow my social media tutorials like I'm supposed to and somehow I come out looking decent. So if your new to the contouring game, trust the tutorials. They know what they're doing. Back to the powder! So I've always used a powder that pretty much matched the foundation I use. The banana powder is no where near my skin tone but many tutorials by other women of color have shown a successful application of the powder so I again I learned to trust the tutorial and copied what I saw. I will say, the powder is growing on me! I usually don't like putting powder under my eyes because I have very heavy bags and fine lines. Most pwders cake up and settle and end up up exaggerating my flaws especially in a lighter shade, but I find the powder does soften the lines and mask the circles. Its not a magic powder so my lines are still visible but significantly less. In pictures however, my under eyes look flawless! A major plus! It goes on light, easy to blend, but is very messy! I am not a loose powder kind of girl so I get powder every where! Ultimately, I like the powder. The price is great. The finish is awesome. My other purchase the Final Seal finishing spray I am in love with! Love! Love! Love! I usually finish my looks with Urban Decay All Nighter until I read about Final Seal Matte Sealer. It's used onstage to seal in performers make up and keeps Disney Princess' make up on all day. Guarenteeing to stay on through sweat, water, and tears. It feels very fresh, not sticky or stiff. It has a refreshing minty fragrance and light tingle when you spray it on. My make up looks just as fresh 10 hrs later as it did when I first applied it. Awesome product, I can't stop raving about it! A must buy!

Is Monostat a prime candidate for a primer? Get's my vote!

Hey Pretties! For my first official post I'm going to refer to a fellow blogger newbie, one of my bestie's lovefairy99's post about how Monostat Soothing Care Chafing Powder Relief-Gel compares to Smashbox Photo Finish Primer which I will put the link to at the end of this post. I 100% agree the Monostat is an awesome alternative to the Smashbox Primer. There are several products in my make up box that are definitely worth spending the big bucks for. A good quality primer is one I value and am willing to dish out cash for. Now for me, anything over $10 I have to ask myself "Do I really need this?" I often suffer from what I call "Shopper's Guilt." I mindlessly purchase something then when I get home I run a mental list of all the bills I could have paid down with the money I spent on something I wanted rather than needed. So if I'm going to spend my hard earned money on something it better be worth it. Smashbox Photo Finish has been just that. It wears beautifully with all day lasting power. It goes on light and glides on like silk. A small amount goes a long way so for me you get a a lot of bang for your buck. According to all the social media sites that you & I are obsessed with checking on the daily Monostat Chafing gel is the same ingredients as the Smashbox. Smashbox PFP retails at $36 while the Monostat will cost you $5.99. I'm a baller on a budget, that got my attention! On to the purchase! If you're like me and have this immature fear of running into a guy from high school when your cruising the feminine products aisle in Wal-Mart, get over it because this stuff is worth it! Slap that Monostat in your basket, purchase it with lightening speed in the self check out line, and add that baby to your beautification routine. It works just as well, feels just as light, and lasts just as long. We have a winner people, ding! ding! ding! Seriously, you can not go wrong with this dupe and with the money you save on the primer you afford to splurge on something bright, fun, & sparkly adorn over that fantastic money saving primer.

check out lovefairy99 http://lovefairy99.blogspot.com/2013/03/smash-box-photo-finish-vs-monistat.html