Where have I been... Finally back!

I know I have been so MIA for a while and excuses are like butt holes everyone has one. LOL So I truly apologize for the lengthy break. I think I returned back for a short time right after I lost my Aunt. Shortly after we lost my aunt my husband lost his grandmother. So it has been quite the year this year. So I thought it was time to come back with a whole new outlook on life. I can't wait to bring you more blogs and more beauty blog posts. I have a bunch of new product I am dying to share with all of you. I am going to be bringing more hauls to the blog because who doesn't like hearing about what people get when they have been out shopping. I know I love hearing about what people have bought especially YouTubers. 

There are a few new features I am going to be adding some new features to the blog like a portfolio of my make-up clients. Many of you always ask to see what I do when I am working with clients. I would love to share my work with you. Also, I am going to be adding reviews for those of you who are looking to book a make-up artist in the North Bay Area and surrounding areas. 

Then I am going to be talking more about this journey I have recently started. Other then my make-up passion I haven't been so passionate about something until I found this one product which is one of the first blogs I am going to post about. I can't wait to share it with all of you. I hope you all can join me on this journey . Please leave your comments and subscribe to my blog. I would love to hear of any request you might have for future blog posts. 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Monday night. Nighty Night!

My Favorite Lip Gloss/Lip Sticks

Hey Guys, how is everyone doing this fine evening. I wasn't sure how I was going to post this particular blog and or how I wanted to do this. I go on youtube a lot and see a bunch of these bloggers/vloggers do lip stick swatches and executing the task isn't the easiest when it comes to doing a blog. This is what I came up with. 

Then I just kept staring at this... and thats all I could do... stare at this craptastic (Yup! Sure did just make that word up)lip stick swatch. The only excuse I have for this is that I have never done a lip swatch before. So I will better my skills with better executing lip swatches... or swatches in general. If you have any suggestions on bettering my skills on swatches please leave your ideas below. 

As for now, well... sorry that it's not perfect this is whatcha get! 

So, as you can tell I am a bit of a nude girl. I tend to be attracted to nude colors. I recently purchase some matte lippie sticks from colour pop. They are a bit darker and pigmented. I can't wait to try them out for you guys! I saw so many reviews on them. 

I don't know how much of a blog this is going to be cause I seriously doubt you want me to go over each color considering they are all nudes and most of them are lip glosses. LOL 

What I will say, is that one of my hands down holy grail lip glosses that I have repurchased for years is my Mac lip gloss in Ample Pink. I love that lip stick I actually just repurchased again this past week. I just love the way that it goes on and I love the color of the lip gloss. 

These lip glosses and lip sticks are some of my favorites. I love the way each of these look. They are all for the most part very nude and natural looking. I personally tend to steer clear of dark colors on my lips. However, I am a make-up artist and I have started to purchase more color lip colors. Many of the women that I have done their make-up recently have wanted lip color that isn't a gloss. So I figured it was time to start purchasing some more color friendly lip glosses and lip sticks. YAY for me for venturing out! 

I am so sorry that this blog is a little all over the place. I really didn't know what to do with this blog as far as how to execute a swatch blog. Again if you have any brilliant ideas as to make this look or run a little smoother please leave your comments below. I am always interested in new ideas and new ways of doing things for the better. 

Well hope you all have a wonderful evening! Talk to you all soon! 

5 Minute Make-Up ...

We all have those morning where we just want to keep hitting the snooze button. Then before you know it, you're waking up a half hour later then you would like. Maybe, you're a mommy who wakes up with the kiddos and has to get them ready for school leaving you with little time to get your self ready for the day. 

This is going to be the perfect quick get up for those pesky days you just need an extra 15-20 minutes of sleep or for those mommies out there who just don't have the time to spend on them selves in the morning. 

This is my 5 minute make-up routine when I am short on time but want to be presentable. Lets get started. 

First I always prep my face with my favorite moisturizer. I am not going to photograph this part because I have shot this a dozen times and you guys know that my holy grail moisturizer is my arbonne moisturizer. 

I set my time on my phone for five minutes. 

L'OREAL True Match Lumi

After I applied my trusty moisturizer we are going to get right in to our 5 minute make up and apply my foundation all over my face with a foundation brush. I will say this, I found applying my foundation with a beauty blender or a foundation brush makes the application process go a little quicker then just applying it on with my fingers. 

Kat Von D- Lock-It Tattoo Concealer

I don't know about you, but when I have lacked sleep and have woken up late. I know my under eyes are going to most definitely need some concealer. I apply this to my under eye in a triangle shape under my eyes. Then blend it in quickly with my beauty blender. 

Tarte- Loose Powder

This is one of my new found loves. I was in need of a new face powder and I have heard wonderful reviews on the tarte loose powder. Boy was I not disappointed. This has become one of my go to products in the morning when I am doing my make-up.

Common guys, we only have 5 minutes... no more dilly dallying!

MAC- Minerlized Skin Finish

Now, I need to add a little color to my face after applying my foundation,concealer, and powder.  I am going use this bronzer to add a little color to my face to warm it up a bit. To my temples, to   the contours of my cheeks and the outlines of my jaw line. 

NYX Blush

Now, time to put some girly pink back in to my cheeks. I throw a little bit on the apples of my cheeks. MOVING ON! WORK FAST!!!

NYX Wonder Pencil- Light

I quickly line my water line with NYX wonder pencil. Which is just a nude eye liner for your water line. This really opens my eyes up and makes me look even more awake!

Buxom Mascara

Now, we are nearing the end of our five minutes... I slap a little mascara on so my lashes are somewhat defined. 

Ulta- Browgel

I throw a bit of brow gel through my eyebrows. Just to contain them so they are not looking like I just rolled out of bed. UHGG I got seconds left.... HURRY HURRY! 

L'Occitane- Lip Balm

No time for lip stick or lip gloss. I am running out the house and applying my favorite lip balm on my lips. 

So you see, you can still look put together even when running low on time. here is my final look with my 5 minute make-up! I hope you all enjoyed this. Please let me know what you would like to see next in the comments below!

Here you have it... my five minute make-up! I hope you enjoy this guys! 5 minute make-up is completely obtainable. When you pressured under time... Things CAN be done! :) Enjoy! 

Feeling Gross...Sappy Magical Love

Hey Guys, 

Bit of a different blog this evening. I thought tonight we could just chop it up some. I have been super busy this afternoon because I had to go and take my car to the shop. It was quite a all day ordeal. I ended up spending the afternoon with my Daddio. We had to run some errands this afternoon. I didn't really get a chance to get new content for todays blog like I would have liked to. So I thought tonight I could just write to you guys and talk about what is all going on and what not. 

I ended up getting home this afternoon and once I took a shower I started feeling a little bit queazy. So I laid down and watched a couple of my shows. I really apologize for the lack of this blog tonight. Kinda Lame! 

Anyways... What's everyone's plans for the Thanksgiving holiday? This is my favorite time of the year. I love it! Everything about it. I wish this time of the year could last all year. I just think people are so much nicer and more appreciative this time of the year. What sucks, is that people shouldn't just be thankful and grateful this time of the year but all year round. I can't wait to stuff my self full of turkey and then be in a food coma for two days. HAHA Yah, that happens around these neck of the woods. 

The day after Thanksgiving Josh and I have a tradition of pulling down all out fall decorations and start putting up our Christmas decoration. We put up the Christmas tree. Yes, I said put up! I can't have Christmas tree's because I am allergic to them. Like really bad. I end up getting like a season long cold and its absolutely ridiculous. We just go with the good ol' fake ones. Yah, so we put up our Christmas tree and our Christmas lights. We listen to Christmas music around the house. Its a wonderful day! We always have left overs for dinner that night. 

We have made this a tradition for 6 years now. Before that I did the same with my parents when I lived with them. When I was a kid, we would have the most magical Christmas' ever. I remember I would have to be told to get back in my bed like a bunch of times before I actually fell asleep because I was so excited for Santa to get here. My parents would wait till I was good and asleep to put the gifts out under the tree. When I would wake up in the morning, I would wonder out to the living room and find what seemed like gifts galore. I had the best childhood a kid could ask for. I have the best parents a girl could ask for. My parents always went out of there way to make Christmas the best holiday for my brother and I. 

When I met Josh, he came from such a different life style then I did. When I had him stay for Christmas the first year we were together he was over whelmed with all the magic that went on in the house even when I was 24 years old. My parents had bought Josh some gifts and so had I. When he woke up Christmas morning he walked out to living room just as I had when I was a kid and saw gifts galore from Santa just like I had. When we were finished opening gifts from my parents and "Santa" he went back to the bed room and just had this look on his face like did all this just really happen. He had wells of water built up in his eyes as he said to me "This is the best Christmas I have ever had." I could feel the pain and the joy in him all at the same time. It was the most beautiful but bitter sweet moment I have shared with him aside of our wedding day. He told me give all these gifts back to my parents that it was too much. I will tell you this, I have never met a man more worthy of the best most magical Christmas. I am so blessed that I was able to give that to him.

So now that you know my sap story... HAHA one of the many reasons I fell in love with the most humble beautiful man. I only hope that when we have children that we are able to give them the same magical Christmas' that I was able to share with Josh. 

Tell me about your Holidays! What are your traditions? Happy Holidays Guys! 

My Jamicure

Hey Guys, Tonight's Make-Up Monday I have decided to show you step by step how to give your self an awesome Jamicure. Yes I said Jamicure. It's like a manicure but with Jamberry nail wraps instead of nail polish.

Few things you will need:

• Nail File
• Jamberry Heater Or Blow Dryer
• manicure scissors
• Orange wood stick
• Cuticle Nail pusher with rubber head (can be found at sally's)
• nail glue
• Jamberry Nail Wrap

Now, with further a due let's make it do what it do. 

Third times a charm... I have had to rewrite this part like 4 times already. I hate trying to get photo's from my phone on to blogger. It never saves my stuff that I have written. Anyways, thats neither here nor there. Not the point we are talking about tonight. 

First you want to pick the nail wrap that you choose to use. I have decided to use Orchid Tip from Jamberry's Collection. If you are interested in purchasing this wrap for your personal collection you can find this wrap on my Jamberry website on the shop section of the blog. 

The first thing I always suggest is that you clip your nails to your desired liking and file those bad boys so that they look the way you wish. I have pretty short nails so my nails didn't really need any clipping this time but I did file them to clean them up a bit. 

After cutting your nails and filing them you want to buff your nails with a buffer to get all those pesky ridges and oils on your nail bed off. 

• Once you have finished cutting,filing, and buffing you want to take an alcohol swab and wipe your fingers of the nail particles and oils left over. They have to be dust and oil free to obtain the best and long lasting stick of these wraps. 
• Once you have your nail wrap picked out either you will have a solid decorated wrap or you will have a tip. Which is what I am using in my photo's. Which will essentially give you the french manicure look. You will notice if you are using the tips that they are two sided. You only have to use one side on one of your nails. Unless you have one or more nails that are the same size. Which is fine. My ring finger and my pointer finger are the same size. (won't be a problem) You will want to cut the nail wrap the length of the desired nail. 
• This is when your orange wood stick and your manicure scissors will come in handy. You will use your manicure scissors to cut your wrap to desired length and then you will place the very tip of it on the orange wood stick and stick it directly in front of your heater or your blow dryer. Just like the picture below. You will want to hold it there just until the nail wrap starts to curl. That means the wrap is hot enough to place on your finger nail.

Here comes the tedious part. Now you want to place the nail wrap on your finger and use your rubber cuticle pusher and push it all around your finger nail until the wrap is even and bubble free. Essentially, you want to push it from top to bottom of your nail bed so that all the air bubbles leave out the bottom.

• You will want to put your finger back in front of the heater and continue to smooth your nail out. And... continue so forth and so on with all your other fingers. 
• then once you think that your nail is smoothed over the entire nail bed and you probably will have some excess nail wrap and you will be thinking what the hell am I supposed to do now. Grab your nail file and in an up and down motion on the tip of your nail, use the file to clear your nail of the excess nail wrap. 

Then, you want to take a small short break for a Milano Peppermint Cookie because HELLO... they are all things wonderful and Christmas at this time of the year. Gotta love those things! YUMMY! PS I may or may not have had at least 4 or 5 of these cookies since doing my nails. SHHHHH! 

Once you have completed your Jamicure, they should look something like that. Your first Jamicure might be a little time consuming but once you get the hang of doing them the easier it will get. I honestly do my Jamicures faster then I do a regular manicure now. 

The last and final step to me is essential. Not everyone does this but I find this helps a  whole lot with lifting on the tips of the nails. I will use a little bit of nail glue and just brush the tiniest bit on the tip of my nail only. This will ensure that the tips won't lift. I don't usually have a problem with them lifting but I do wash a lot of dishes and am constantly cleaning and typing. So I am a bit harder on my nails then the average person. So I find that the nail glue helps with keeping them intact longer. 

I posted this picture because I thought you guys might be interested in what the Jamberry heater looks like. It's small and compact but essentially works just like a blow dryer but about 1,000 times quieter. Gets pretty darn hot as well. These are also on my Jamberry Website in the shop on the blog if you are interested in purchasing one for your self. 

Well hope that you all enjoyed this tutorial. Enjoy your Jamicure! 

Skin & Make-Up Questionnaire

Hey Guys, Sorry there was no Make-Up Monday post this week. I had a lot going on this week. Anyways, I am making up for it right now. Hope you guys enjoy this one. I decided to do a questionnaire about my skin care and make-up. Thought you guys might be interested in what I use and what some of my favorite things to use. So I hope you enjoyed this half as much as I did... So with out further a due... Lets get tooooo it! 

SKINCARE

-How many times do you wash your face daily?

I usually wash my face once a day and its usually when I shower at night. Washing your face too many times during the day can actually make your face dry.

-What skin type do you have? (dry,oily,combo)

I have very dry skin.

 -What is your current facial wash?

Fresh Scents Bead Me Up exfoliating cleanser.

 -Do you exfoliate?

Yes, I do. I usually use my exfoliating cleanser nightly but it is not a harsh exfoliate. I usually use a more abrasive one about twice a week.

-What brand do you use?

Arbonne FC5 Cleansing Mask

-What moisturizer do you use?

Arbonne RE9 Advanced Moisturizer Restorative Day Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 20 

That is such  long freaking name for a product :) 

-Do you have freckles?

I have a few on my nose but other then that, no not really... 

-Do you use eye cream?

I do use eye cream. I use Arbonne FC5 hydrating eye cream.

-Do you or did you have acne prone skin?

I don't have acne prone skin really, I mean I get the occasional break out here and there due to monthly hormones but other then that, thats about it. 

-Did you ever have to use Pro-activ?

Yes, I have used pro-active before and it actually really works good. I don't use it anymore.

MAKE-UP

-What foundation do you use?

It Cosmetics CC+ Cream

-How about concealer?

Kat Von D Concealer.

-Do you know your undertone color?

Yes, yellow. 

-What do you think of fake eyelashes?

They are fun for the right occasions, and but I don't usually use them. I have pretty long eye lashes as is. 

-Did you know that you are supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?

Yes, I did... I don't though. Thats a lot of mascara to go through.

-What brand of mascara do you use?

I use Buxom Mascara

-Sephora or MAC?

If you are a real make-up guru then you know you shop at both. :)

-Do you have a MAC Pro-card?

Sure Do! 

-What makeup tools do you use in make up application?

Beauty Blender, Make-Up Brushes, and eye lash curler 

-Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes?

I don't typically use one but if I am going to use one its going to be the urban decay primer potion. 

-For the face?

I use Baby Skin instant pore eraser by Maybelline

-What is your favorite eyeshadow (color or shade)?

I stay tried and true to my mac eye shadows. My favorite two eye shadows that I use on a regular basis are Rule and Red Brick

-Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?

Depends on the look that I am going for. Usually I just use liquid eye liner and occasionally I will use pencil when I am lining my water line. 

-How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?

LOL what kind of question is there... I guess occasionally. I am a pro though so I would just say accidents happen.. LOL 

-What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?

They are awesome but they are kind of messy. I love to play with all kinds of colors as fas as eye shadow and pigments go. 

-Do you use mineral makeup?

Meh... its alright. I am thinking about trying some make-up from Arbonne because its all natural and organic.

-What is your favorite lipstick?

Mac Twig Lip Stick

-How about lipgloss?

Mac Lip Gloss Ample Pink

-What is your favorite blush to use?

Mac Blush Baby

-Do you buy your makeup on ebay?

HELL NO! 

-Do you like drugstore makeup?

Yah, there are so good stuff... Some of my favorite cosmetics are drug store brands.

-Do you go to CCO's? (cosmetic company outlets)

I honestly don't think I have ever been to one. 

-Did you ever consider taking make-up classes?

Yeah I have before and I will FOREVER... Love Make-Up!

-Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?

NO WAY! 

-Name a makeup crime that you hate?

Over drawn eyebrows, wrong foundation color, and not blending your make-up well enough. 

-Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick,eyeshadow) or neutral ones?

yeah I like colorful eye shadows. I am a neutrals girl when it comes to lip stick and lip gloss though.

-Which celebrity always has great make up?

 Carry Underwood

-If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item,what would you use?

My Mac Ample Pink lip gloss

-Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on?

Of Course... I am not ashamed :)

-Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?

I don't look horrible or anything. I mean I don't look as put together I guess you can say. 

-In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?

Mac, Nars, Kat Von D, Make-Up Forever, and Urban Decay

-What do you think of Makeup??

Umm.... Well I have this blog... and its my passion. I love make-up and I have been obsessed with make-up since my parents FINALLY let me wear it and have some of my own. 

Younique Mascara- My Personal Review

Have you been on the search for the perfect mascara? I can tell you right now that as a make-up artist I have gone through my share of mascara's. I have found some wonderful mascara's and I have come across some flops as well. I have to admit I was not the fence about trying this mascara. I started noticing that a lot of my friends starting buy it and having parties...

I decided to take the plunge and try some for my self. Honestly, I don't think I have ever used a mascara that has changed my life in such a way. First let me just say this. I don't have unforgivably super long eye lashes. I also am not a huge fan of wearing fake eye lashes if I don't have to.  This product has completely changed my mascara life in ways you don't even understand.

This is what I am talking about. Younique Mascara. You may be wondering why there are two mascara wands in this.... First of all let me just address the fact they come in this cute container?? HELLO! #winning! I have never seen mascara packaged like this. So creative. Enough about the packaging... On with the product. One of the "mascara's" is a transplanting gel and the other one is actually little fibers. 

As you can see, the transplanting gel is just a gel that you apply to your lashes (after you have applied a light coat of your go to mascara.) Yes you just read that right... None of these are not actually "mascara" per say. The other one is exactly what it looks like... A bunch of little fibers attached to a mascara wand. I know I know, this looks crazy weird but I promise the outcome is incredible. 

Here's another picture showing you exactly what these little fibers look like that are attached to this brush.

What To Do:

• First apply a coat of your favorite mascara. Mine is the Buxom in blackest black.
• Then give your lashes a good coat of the transplanting gel
• Immediately fallowing apply the moonstruck natural fibers to your lashes. (Its going to feel and look a bit weird at this point but I promise you... they will come together.)
• After you have done both of your eyes with the fibers, do another coat of the transplanting gel over the fibers and repeat until you get the desired length and volume that you want.

When you are done... This is what you will see...

This is the transformation that this gave my lashes just after ONE coat. I could hardly believe my eyes. I had no make up one BTW and this stuff made my lashes look like I have super long lashes.  I was completely shocked and fell in love immediately. Love at first sight with this mascara. AMAZING! 

This is my best friends lashes. She did a few more coats on her lashes. They look incredible. I couldn't believe it. This stuff works incredible. Her and I use two different mascara's. I think she may have used a maybelline mascara to do her first coat with and as I stated before I used my Buxom one. Just goes to show you doesn't matter which mascara you use the result is incredible. 

This will forever be a staple in my make-up. Please check Younique for their awesome products. I can't say enough good things about this mascara. Get one... you WILL NOT be disappointed!