A Clean Sweep

I ran out of makeup remover towelettes, and desperate for something cheaper and more efficient I ran to the drug store to see what I could find. I came across a bottle of Wet and Wild's liquid Eye Makeup Remover. I was a little off-put by the smell at first, but it works ten times better than my old towelettes and there's no risk of drying out and no waste. You only squeeze out as much as you need and you can use any type of cotton ball type applicator you choose. I use the flattened pads that you use for nail polish for big areas, but I have used Q-tips for just fixing a smudged line or a mascara mistake. I've used a lot of weird products when in a pinch to get my makeup off, some I will never tell anyone else about. But this will always be my first choice from now on.

One Big Color-Changing Mess

I recently dyed my best friends hair with a bright red dye. She chose to use Feria by Loreal. We used the Rich Auburn color. This was one of the brands I told myself I would never use based on my feeling that it was too good to be true. Turns out, I was right.

First thing, the dye is in three parts, one of which is a little tube of bright red stain. Upon opening it, it immediately stained my hands and dripped onto a table which is now stained as well. Next, the bottle tip clogged and when I finally got it to come out of the bottle it shot everywhere. My carpet now has bright red dye in it. Finally, her color faded almost completely out in about a week. I don't know if this was due to improper care or if the dye did not take to her hair, but it seems a bit messed up that if faded that fast as it says on the box it is a permanent color.

If I had to make a recommendation I would say to stay away from this brand, and I would also say that my hair has never gone wrong with the Garnier Nutrisse line. I've used a wide array of these colors over the years and have never been happier. The colors are true to the box, are easy to put in and as mess free as possible.

If you decide to go the bleaching route, which is rough on your hair so I don't recommend it, you should use the Clairol Born Blonde bleach. I have also used this many times, and have successfully bleached brown hair to platinum blonde in about an hour. Don't be afraid of the purple color in the dye, your hair will not be purple at the end.

Review: Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer

I love this stuff!

Every blemish on my face disappears beneath this stuff. I bought the sand color, and even though it's a bit lighter than my skin my powder foundation does an amazing job of evening it out for me. I have never been happier with a liquid concealer. It still takes more of an artistic hand than blending my stick concealer, but with the breakout problems I have been having lately a lady cannot be too picky. I not only use this for my face, I also use it to cover my tattoo when I wish to hide it from people but still want to wear a specific outfit.

Definitley worth the price!

Sorry for the Delay in Updating

I've been hitting a delay in updating my page due to travels over the summer and a back up of work needing to get done. I will be continuing to update as close to daily as possible from now on. Now that I have gathered my materials for the rest of this year and decided what to give feedback on I will be more frequently posting reviews of products and hopefully posting more looks.
By tomorrow I will have another review up for a product, and I will also be posting a new look later this weekend.

Classic Cat Eye

Created this look in about 20 minutes with no prior experience or practice. Perfect for a chic night out look, or casual day time wear.

1. Use a black liner to draw in the wings. Start from about 1/3 of the way in from your outer corners. You can make them by following your crease some of the way down to create a slight curve on the top where it will meet your bottom line, or you can simply draw a straight line from one end to the other creating a triangle. Your wing points should be about even with the end of your eyebrow and your eyesocket, and the bottom portion of your wing should start just barely into your lower lashline.
2. Line your top lashes with black liner. Don't worry if it's not perfect, you'll need to touch it up some after you finish your makeup anyway. Make the line thicker as it gets closer to the outer corner.
3. Take a small eyeshadow brush, I use a round crease brush, and fill in the black wing starting from the outer tip and working in to get a good gradient. Make sure that your color curves from the start of the top line to the 1/3 mark of your lid line, creating either a 'C' or a backwards 'C' depending on which side you are working on.
4. Using a flat brush, preferably a different one than the first to avoid mixing colors, brush on a brown eyeshadow that is a shade or two darker than your skintone. From the crease to the black wing, trying not to overlap the two too much.
5. Using a clean brush, smudge the rough edge of the gradient into the center portion of your eye over the brown. to that it blends.
6. Touch up your liner, and smudge the bottom line of the wing underneath of your eye to the 1/3 mark.
7. Line your waterline, and extend it up into your upper portion of your waterline for a more dramatic look.
8. Apply false lashes if you wish. (I did for this look.)
9. Apply 1-2 coats of mascara to your upper lashes, and a coat to the outer corner of your lower lashes, concentrating on where the liner is the darkest.
10. Pick out a muted tone of lipstick or lipgloss to avoid dual attention grabbing. (I chose a peach lipgloss from Avon that I've ranted about in past posts, rather than my typical fire red lipstick.)

**Always remember to remove any fallout of your eyeshadow from your face before putting on any foundation or primers.

Makeup Tips: Part Two

Blush and Bronzer:
1. Buying a contouring blush kit not only gives you the option to experiment with contouring, but it also gives you three shades of blush to mix and match for your ideal look.
2. Using a bronzer should be a daily addition to your foundation in the summer, and if you need that "just off the beach" tan use it every day of the year.
3. Your bronzer should be applied to your temples, underneath your cheek bones, and across the crease of your chin blending out into your jawline.

Eyeliner
1. Use a liquid or gel liner on your upper lid. It allows for more control of the thickness and dries on to avoid smudging on your crease and eyelid.
2. When buying a liquid eyeliner, buy one with a brush, not a foam or felt tip applicator. The brush type does not dry out as you begin to run out of liner, as I have found that the foam and felt tips do.
3. Lining your upper waterline is a challenging feat, but it makes your lashes look darker and may give you the option not to wear mascara during the day. Or you can add the mascara with the liner to get an even bolder look.
4. Line the outside edge of your lower waterline and smudge it into the edge of your lower lashes, try to keep from lining too far back, as it will just simply end up in your tear duct after you blink a few times.
5. Using a red liner around your eyes, just peeking out between your eye and your actual liner, attracts attention to your eyes, and makes the color of your iris stand out.
6. Using a white eyeliner in the inside corner of your eye around the edge of your tear duct and lightly swept below your eye will counteract dark circles and make you appear more awake.

Eyeshadow
1. Always use a gradient of shadows, never just one solid color all over. A gradient adds dimension to your eyes.
2. Extending  your shadow beyond the crease of your eye elongates the shape of your eyes.
3. Use the brightest/lightest shade of eyeshadow on the inner third of your eyelid. Cover the last two thirds with a medium shade, and shade the outer corner and crease in with the darkest shade of your color palette.

FAQ: Stick concealer brand

I received some questions recently about what type of stick concealer I recommend. Sorry it took me so long to answer!

Generally for my concealer I stick to mainstream brands like Loreal or Maybelline. However recently I went on an emergency concealer purchase spree. Not wanting to shell out a bunch of money to get a concealer I decided I was going to go for the cheapest one I could find. I  went for the Wet 'N Wild concealer, which under any other circumstances I would have walked right past, and I was infinetly happier with it than I thought I would be.

I recommend buying this concealer if you can't bring yourself to shell out five bucks for that little tiny stick of concealer, but my favorite concealer will forever remain Rimmel London's Hide The Blemish.

Thanks for the question!