Archive for November, 2010
Fabulous Party Makeup
Written by Kimberly in: Makeup
30 Nov 2010
It’s party time! I hope you have many evenings filled with cocktails and glamorous attire… now we just has to make sure your makeup matches your dress. Party time is the perfect time to go all out and glam it up! Don’t hold anything back… there are no rules, anything goes!
If you’re a makeup diva, (like me!) then this is your moment to bring it on! Let it sparkle and shine! If you’re not, then that’s okay too. I’m here to help you with a few tips to help you become the Belle of the Ball.
Of course you want your makeup to be more dramatic than your daytime look. That means deep shades, darker colors and adding shimmer and sparkle. If you’re not used to wearing a lot of makeup, then I would pick either your eyes or your lips and play them up. The easiest of the two is going to be your lips. Here’s a quick how to:
- Do your foundation, concealer and powder as usual.
- Keep the eyes simple with soft, shimmering eye shadows (something with a little glitter would be fun!) in either gold or silver tones.
- Add a liquid or gel eyeliner on your upper lash line and wing it out slightly at the ends.
- Add at least two coats of black mascara.
- Apply your blush next, but add a little but more then you would for daytime and follow with a highlighter (again, something a bit glittery would be fabulous) along the tops of your cheek bones as well as your brow bone.
- Line your lips with a nude lip liner and feather in your entire lip.
- Now apply a deep red, burgundy, or plum lipstick to your lips.
- Finish with a little lipgloss on top.
Classic, elegant and gorgeous!
Now let’s talk about how to play up your eyes… in this case, a smokey eye is a must! Here’s how:
- Do your foundation as usual and then apply an eyeshadow base and let it set before you put on your eyeshadow.
- Apply a neutral, champagne color all over your lid and up to your brow.
- Next apply a medium toned color (in gray, plum, or brown) in your crease and blend.
- Then use a black eyeliner pencil to line the outer corner of your eye.
- Now apply a very dark shade (It could be black, charcoal, deep plum or brown. Whatever you want!) in the outer corner of your eye in a “V” shape and blend.
- To make your eyes smokey, apply the dark eyeshadow right on top of your pencil liner with a small brush, Q-tip, or even the sponge applicator and blend, or “smoke” it out so you don’t see where it stops and starts. I also like to add a little of the lightest color on the inner corner of my eye to help brighten and open up my eyes.
- Next, add several generous coats of mascara. Again, apply your blush a little darker than you do for everyday.
- Add some highlighter to the tops of your cheeks as well as your brow bone.
- Apply a nude lip liner on your lips and feather them in all the way and follow with a lovely, nude gloss. Smoldering and sexy!
Since this is evening makeup we’re talking about, you absolutely could play up both your eyes and your lips (you know I would!) This is just some pointers on what you could do, but I hope you make it your own and most of all, have fun!
Hot Tips for Hot Lips
Written by Kimberly in: Makeup
29 Nov 2010
Old Man Winter has arrived for many of us, and our normally hot lips are getting cold and chapped from the freezing weather. The cold temperatures can cause a multitude of problems for your face, but your lips are especially vulnerable to this change in the climate.
If you’re bundling up and need help with your lips, I’ve got 5 great tips to keep your hot lips hot during the cold Winter months.
- Be a softy
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it’s so important to exfoliate the dry, dead skin off your lips! You can’t have sexy lips when they’re rough and scaly. You can remove the dry skin by gently rubbing a washcloth, towel, or soft toothbrush over your lips in the shower. You can also use something like Brown Sugar Lip Polish by Fresh
. It uses brown sugar along with other natural ingredients to gently buff away dry flakes and also helps to nourish and moisturize your lips.
- Sleep tight
Sleep with your lip moisturizer at night will make a major difference in how your lips look and feel in the morning. It helps to replace the moisture lost during the day as well as prevent chapping, cracking and peeling. Any lip moisturizer will do, even if it’s just Carmex or Chapstick, just as long as you have something on your lips! Trust me, you won’t regret adding this to your bedtime routine.
- Treat it
There are many lip treatment creams that will give you immediate and long term results that can help to reduce fine lines and wrinkles around the lips as well as firm, smooth and hydrate. These are usually applied before your lip color and/or before bed. Clinique’s All About Lips
is a really great one. It’s light weight and you can feel it working right away.
- Keep them wet
You need to make sure you’re drinking your water! A lot of people don’t realize how much dehydration effects not only your skin, especially your lips. It’s always important to make sure you’re drinking enough water, but during the cold season when you’re out in the harsh elements and running your heating devices more, you really should make it a top priority. You’ll feel better and look better.
- Balm it up
You really should keep something on your lips all the time to keep them protected. During the day, if you’re not wearing lipstick or a gloss, try using a tinted lip balm to add moisture and protect as well as add a little color. I love the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Lip Tints with SPF 15 because they’re super hydrating and lightweight with just a hint of color (Plum is my favorite!). It’s nice to wear just around the house, or sometimes if I’m running out to the store or something, I’ll throw a gloss on top of it.
The key to having hot lips (in Winter any other season) is to maintain them. Find and keep up a good lip care routine before your lips turn into a dry, cracked, chapped and ouchy mess.
Now that you know how to keep those hot lips of yours kissably soft, you can go out there and show the world. Or just stay at home and show that someone special… just don’t forget your lip balm! 
Makeup Bargains for the Holidays
Written by Kimberly in: Makeup
26 Nov 2010
Well, it’s official! The holiday shopping season is now upon us! As you head out to get those bargains on this Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, I thought I’d give you a little help navigating through the cosmetic department.
First of all, you need to know that most cosmetic companies don’t usually have sales or mark downs. However, they compensate for that in other ways such as gift sets, gift with purchases and purchase with purchases. The gift sets they create, especially those for the holiday season, are definitely the very best makeup value you’ll find. You get much more value in a gift set (rather then purchasing the single item) because for a few dollars more, or sometimes for the same price as the product alone, you get several free bonus pieces.
Tip To really get the most bang for your buck, you can buy a gift set and then break it up and give the separate pieces as gifts themselves. They make great stocking stuffers, or a hostess gift, or a nice little something extra for a friend, or even as a Secret Santa gift!
There are all different kinds of gift sets including fragrance/bath products, skincare and makeup. Here are a few of my favorite gift sets of the season so far available at Sephora:
- Fresh Sugar Rush Set
This is such a yummy scent and it’s so soft and well, fresh, that anyone would love it! I think any girl would be thrilled to get this. (Unless, of course she has allergies.) The set includes the Brown Sugar Eau de Parfum, Brown Sugar Body Cream and a Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 all housed in a sleek, plum makeup bag all for the bargain price of $28.00 on Sephora.com.
- Sephora By OPI Eighteen Piece Mini Nail Colour set
This is a great gift set that’s perfect as not only a present all by itself, but you can also break it apart and give the polishes out separately, too! These fabulous OPI nail polishes make great stocking stuffers or a nice little token gift for the girls at work. I love that this set is so versatile in the set of colors it has, and as an added bonus the little mini bottles are so cute!
- Sephora Favorites Collector’s Edition Fragrance Sampler For Her
This is the perfect gift for the woman who has everything! It holds nine sample sizes of Sephora’s best-selling designer fragrances with a voucher for a full size version of the one you love the best. Talk about a great bargain! The fragrances range from sweet and floral to sexy spicy, so there’s certain to be something in this gift set to please anyone.
- Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip
For a lip gloss-a-holic like myself this is best gift set ever!! This gift set includes 10 of Sephora’s top selling glosses in a wide range of colors and textures. I absolutely love it and recommend it! This is a great gift for not only gloss lovers, but also for those who want to experiment with a bunch of different glosses, too.
- Sephora Collection Endless Color Blockbuster
This is such an amazing value! You get so much makeup for the price! This is the perfect gift for a “tween” just starting out with makeup or for someone that loves makeup and wants lots and lots of variety. It’s loaded with eyeshadows, lip color, blush, eyeliner and mascara. And it comes in a surprisingly compact case so it will travel easily. You’ll be playing with this set for a long, long time.
- Philosophy Share the Joy Set
This is an eight piece set of three in one shower gel, shampoo, and bubble bath coupled with yummy flavored, high shine glosses in their deliciously famous holiday scents. I really like this set because of the value and because it will work for anyone since the scents are neutral.
So get out there today and go for the bargains! Don’t be afraid to ask the girls behind the counters what special deals they have going on for the holiday season. And remember that a gift set is always going to be your best value. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box (so to speak) and think about maybe piecing out the gift sets to make them go further. Make me proud! Happy shopping!
4 Fab Holiday Party Makeup Ideas
Written by Kimberly in: Makeup
25 Nov 2010
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! With this special holiday upon us, it got me thinking… I talk a lot about “going out” makeup, but I have yet to discuss what kind of makeup to wear for home entertaining and other party makeup ideas. (Christmas &/or Holiday parties, etc. at home with friends and family) Here are a few tips to stay elegant yet comfortable while playing the hostess.
- Be a shining star
Start with a radiant, dewy face by mixing a little bit of liquid highlighter (like the highlighter/luminizer “High Beam” by Benefit Cosmetics
) with your tinted moisturizer or liquid foundation for an extra glow.
- A soft, sparkling cheek
Keep up the radiant theme by swirling a sparkling pink blush in the apples of your cheeks. As I have mentioned earlier this week, the Chanel Tweed Effect Blush Duo
is my new favorite pink blush.
- Keep the eyes minimal
You want to keep things simple and fresh for the eyes. Sweep a lovely nude, shimmering eyeshadow all the way up to your brow. (I love Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow
in Champagne.) Add a coat or two of mascara onto curled lashes and that’s it for the eyes.
- A subtle lip
You’ll want to have a little something on your lips and I recommend either a lip balm or lipgloss in a soft, sheer, natural color. Lancome’s Juicy Tubes Smoothie – Ultra Shiny Lip Gloss (in Fruity Pop)
is the perfect mix of color and shine without over-doing it.
And that’s it! You want to be polished and sophisticated, but it’s not necessary to go over the top. It’s important to keep things effortless and easy and comfortable (you’re going to have your hands full enough with party stuff). You should let your natural beauty speak for itself!
5 Travel Makeup Must-Haves
Written by Kimberly in: Makeup
24 Nov 2010
Thanksgiving is almost here and that means spending precious moments with friends and family, delicious food and for some of you, that also means traveling. I know what to bring can seem overwhelming. (If you’re like me you feel a need to bring everything “just in case”) Well relax, as always, I’m here to help! Here are my top five travel makeup must-haves.
- Cleansing Sheets
These are such a great way to cleanse your skin and remove your makeup. It also removes the need to bring an eye makeup remover and a cleanser and a toner since a cleansing sheet will do all three! I love Shiseido’s Pureness Gentle Cleansing Sheets
. They gently cleanse without drying out my skin or making it feel oily. They even remove waterproof mascara, which is great if your travel makeup bag is geared toward pool-side resorts or wet weather!
- Travel Manicure Set
You want to make sure you at least have a nail file, nail clippers and tweezers in your travels. The last thing you want is to have a broken nail and be without clippers or a file, or to see a huge unsightly hair and not be able to tweeze it! I really like the Sephora Collection Manicure Kit
. It includes nail clippers, cuticle nippers, metal file, nail scoop, nail cleaner, tweezers and manicure scissors all in a sleek, black travel case. Everything you need to stay well groomed when traveling.
- Eyeshadow Palette (3+ colors)
The reason for this in your travel makeup bag is because you can have countless looks with the same eyeshadow palette (including eyeliner) and you save room at the same time. Yay! I adore the Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Mystic Smokys
. It has all my favorite colors in one compact and I can make my eyes as dramatic or as neutral as I want and I only need to bring one compact. Love it!
- Tinted Moisturizer
As you well know, I’m a huge advocate for tinted moisturizer because of its convenience and ease, so you shouldn’t be surprised that I recommend you travel with it! You can use it as your foundation, moisturizer (unless you’re super dry, then you may need to add a day cream underneath) and your sunscreen all in one, fabulous product. Woohoo! My all time favorite is Elizabeth Arden’s Pure Finish Tinted Moisturizer in Fair. It blends seamlessly into my skin and evens out any discolorations without being greasy or heavy… just flawless.
- Lip Balm
Tinted or un-tinted, it’s very important to keep those lips hydrated! Traveling can be really take it out of you… especially the moisture in your lips. So you really need to keep a lip balm on them at all times so they don’t get dry and chapped. Check out Benefit Cosmetics Benetint Lip Balm SPF 15
. It moisturizes and softens lips while also giving a soft, natural rosy color. You can even use it on your cheeks as a clear blush look.
So those are a few products that will make perfect travel companions whether you’re traveling to the desert, or the mountains! Notice the theme of multi-purpose… you should always try to bring products that can so more then one thing so you can pack less and have a much lighter suitcase. Happy trails and safe journey!
- Kimberly: Hi Alyssa!I don't think the undertone of red matters as much as the hue. What I mean is a darker r [...]
- Kimberly: Annabel,First of all, thank you for your comment. Yes, I do see where you're coming from, but I t [...]
- Alyssa: I have narrow lips, so I'm not sure if I can pull off a bright red lipstick (with a more blue under [...]
- Victoria: I think Jennifer should continue doing exactly what she's doing, and I'm really glad she shared her [...]
- Annabel: From the age of about sixteen until quite recently, I wore makeup every day. Concealer, foundation, [...]
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