Sparkling Summer Makeup and Summer Makeup Tips!

Hello everyone! Just wanted to get it out there now, our school had finals last week, so we didn't have a lot of time to manage studying, other school work, and the blog! Summer  is here for most of y'all, so I figured I would do a makeup tutorial that was perfect for going out in the summer day or night! This look is minimal, but the ending result is gorgeous! Keep on reading to find out how you can achieve this gorgeous look. By the way, I apologize in advanced for the pictures....they're not the best!


When it's 87 degrees out, it feels absolutely disgusting to be wearing a high coverage foundation. I personally do not reccomend it at all (as it can clog your pores!!!) and if you really feel that you need some kind of coverage, go with a tinted moisturizer. If you don't want to spend a lot, the Covergirl AquaSmoother Tinted Moisturizer is fantastic! Anyway, back to the tutorial (: .  I am going to apply my Laura Mercier secret Concealer under my eyes, and on any other problematic areas. After my concealer has been applied, I am going to put a dusting of my Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. As I have mentioned before, I tend to have super oily skin during the summer months, so this powder keeps me matte and evens out my skin tone.


Whether you are super tan or not, it's always great to add some bronzer to give a bit of a glow. I am using my FAVORITE Nars Laguna Bronzer and applying it to my face using the 3-E trick. Also, I am going to contour my face by making a fish face and putting the bronzer in the hollows of my cheeks. Now for blush- if you have dry skin I would go ahead and put on your favorite cream blush. This gives you a much more radiant glow to your skin, and make it seem like your skin isn't as dry as it is!  If you have oily skin like me, I would play it safe using a powder blush. Powder blush is not going to slide off of your face unlike the cream blush. Use your favorite setting spray or setting powder, and your face is good to go! Make sure you are using a blush that goes nicely with your skin tone.


I love a simple, sparkly eye in the summer! Eyeshadows that are neutral toned look great on your skin in the summer, and won't give the effect of wearing cakey products. I am going to start off by applying an eye primer. I use benefit's "Stay Don't Stray", but use which ever one works best for you! Blend the product from your lid to your browbone, and any extra on your lashline/inner corner with your finger. Using your finger helps melt the product into your skin so it blends beautifully! Next, I am going to take Mac's paintpot in "Bare Study". I absolutely LOVE this product and it's perfect for the summer. Blend that all over your lid using your index finger. Keep in mind that any champagne cream shadow will work for this. Then, taking a pencil brush put a shadow that is one shade lighter than your cream shadow. I am using Lancome's "Honeymoon" for this step. Apply the shadow in your inner corner and on your lower lashline. Using the same brush dip it into a matte brown. I love Lancome's "Mochaccino", and you are going to apply the brown color on your outer half of the lower lashline.


Curl your lashes and apply your favorite waterproof mascara. If you want to amp this up for a summer night out, take Maybelline's Line Stiletto or your favorite liquid liner and create a thick line with a wing. This turns this into a night look but still allows the "summer simplicity" look we are going for.


Finish off with a pink gloss and you are good to go!

Write in the comments below what type of blog you guys would like to see next! Hope you guys are having a great summer, and don't forget...stay classy!


-Landon

Get Naked....2

Hi Ladies!


I am SO sorry it has taken me so long to put up another blog post. Like Audrey had said, we have all been busy with school work and such, but it is summer now, and I have a lot more spare time to blog it up for you all! ;) YAY! Happy summer everyone!

So today I wanted to give a review on one of my palettes I have been LOVING so far this year. (If you couldn't tell by the title YES I am talking about the one, the only, Naked 2 palette from Urban Decay). I bought this baby probably about 3 or 4 months ago and have used it almost every single day! It comes with 12 gorgeous colors that allow you to make countless looks with never ending color combinations. I am not one to wear a green smoke eye to school or a blue eyeshadow on my lid, I tend to lean more towards neutrals *and maybe purples on occasion* because I am not as daring as some other guru's out there. :) But a neutral eye is something I love because it's easy to layer, and it allows you to feel like you have makeup on, without over-doing it.

The colors in this palette like I mentioned above are simply GORGEOUS. From left to right the color names are: Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted and Blackout. All colors are highly pigmented, and are very easy to work with. Every shade accept Foxy, Tease and Blackout have a shimmer to them, which is nice but limits when and where you can wear those specific shadows. I am a glitter person so I don't have a problem wearing Half Baked on my lid and Tease in my crease. I personally enjoy a little sparkle...which is why I enjoy this palette so much because a lot of the colors have a special glimmer to them. But to balance it out, these few matte colors allow you to combine and mix different colors for various looks. 

My favorite combination of colors is Bootycall on my lid, with suspect and tease in my crease. I blend it so it gives a little bit of an ombre affect into my outer corner and creates a natural smoke eye. If i want to accentuate it even more for evening, I blend a little bit of blackout into the crease to intensify it! But with 12 different beautiful colors, your combinations are endless! Each color seems to compliment each other and I love how smoothly they are applied to my eye. The shadows don't crumble, the formula is nice and you only need to use a tiny little bit to get the color payoff you are looking for! 

The best part about this palette? It's only $50! Which may sound like a lot, BUT when you think about it, you are getting 12 different colors, which divided by 50 is $4.16 for each shadow...FOR A HIGH END URBAN DECAY SHADOW...THAT'S SUCH A STEAL PEOPLE. Like go get you some...RIGHT NOW.They're great colors, with great pigmentation, that look great on ALL SKIN TONES! 

Overall I think this palette is a perfect go-to collection of colors that are great for either a subtle look for school, or a classy look for a fun night out!

Let me know in the comments below if you have this palette, and what your favorite color combinations are! 

xoxo,

Kristin

How to Wash your Makeup Brushes!

Hey girls! I want to start off by saying I am making no excuses for not posting in a while and I take full blame. I have been so busy with end of the year cramming and finals, but summer is right around the corner and I will have all the time in the world for blogging! So without further ado, today's post is a tutorial on how to clean makeup brushes!

The brushes that I own are the Sigma Essential Kit. These brushes are amazing and they are a bit on the pricey side, but they're a steal when you compare them to some other high end companies. I also use Mac Brush Cleanser which I put a spray cap on to make it easier to use. (For the deep cleaning pictures I had not yet changed the caps so it still has the original pour cap!)

Spot Cleaning: I recommend spot cleaning your brushes about every other day, especially foundation and concealer brushes! Because daily dirt and germs can easily make their way to your brushes, you don't want to be putting that onto your face.

What You'll Need: A paper towel or hand towel, brush cleanser and your brushes!



Step 1: On the paper towel or directly on the brush, put a little bit of cleanser, so that it is damp, but not soaked.





 Step 2: Wipe your brush back and forth (for shaped brushes) or in a circle (for circular brushes). You will see product coming off and the brush getting cleaner. Some brushes will require this more than one time depending on the usage and how much product is on it.





Step 3: When you can wipe the brush on the paper towel and no product comes off you are finished! Discard the dirty paper towels (Ew!)







Now your brushes will be squeaky clean...but make sure you let them dry out before using them again!







Deep Cleaning: I deep clean my brushes about every week. I hate using dirty brushes and really like my brushes to be fresh on my face. It's important to deep clean as well as spot cleaning to make sure you are really getting everything off.

What You'll Need: A few paper towels, brush cleanser, sink, and brushes!

Step 1: Turn on the water!

Step 2: Put your brush under the running water to get it wet, but be very careful! You do not want to get the ferrule (the metal part) wet because it will loosen the glue and make your brushes fall apart!

Step 3: Put a small amount of cleanser either directly on your brush or in your hand, whichever you prefer, then swirl around in your hand rinsing in between to get off the dirt coming off!

Step 4: Rinse the brush when no more product is coming off.

Step 5: Wipe off any excess dripping water on a paper towel.

Step 6: When drying your brushes you want them to be upside down so no water drips into the ferrule and loosens it. I tape mine hanging onto the side of an old nightstand or the wall.

In the morning remove them and they should be totally dry. Thanks for reading and comment below with any questions. Love you all!

Xoxo, Audrey

"She tucked her coral lipstick away and floated back to the party." -Kate Spade <3

May Favorites!

Hey Beauties!
It is that time of the month where one of the four of us talk about our favorite items we have been loving lately! This month actually seemed to fly by so fast. It's getting really warm where we live....abnormally warm and the thought of that leads me to summer. It seems like it can't come fast enough! School is coming to a close in less than a month, and we have been so busy lately with all of our end-of-the-year schoolwork that we haven't been able to post as much as we would have liked to. BUT NEVER FEAR. We are back and have tons of secrets to share with you all. :) Now on to the good stuff....

My first favorite is one that every beauty guru seemed to be obsessed with when it was first released: The Naked 2. I will have a full review out very soon so stay tuned for that, but basically it is my go-to eye palette for any neutral look. All of the colors are absolutely gorgeous and I love how pigmented they are. I could ramble on forever about my love for this palette but I will save that for the full review! In the beginning this was supposed to be a limited edition palette, but there was such a high demand for it that they decided to make it a permanent palette for all Urban Decay lovers. It can be found here!

My next favorite is a necessity for myself when applying makeup. My skin-like I have said before- is a very weird texture. In some places it gets oily, in some places it's very dry...it changes constantly *I know annoying right?* This dramatically different lotion from Clinique helps fix that. I put this on before anything else in the morning, as well as right before I go to sleep. It moisturizes the dry parts of skin on my face and allows the foundation to blend into my skin much easier. I LOVE this product and DEFINITELY will be re-purchasing it. :)

One thing that I always try to reach for is a nice blush. From natural colors *like mac's warm soul* to bright pinks and corals, I think a pinch of color on the cheeks really completes a look. (And since I have such fair skin, it keeps me from looking like a ghost). The blush you see on your right is called Mata Hari from Nars and I have been loving it! It looks a little bit more muddy in the picture, but in real life its a gorgeous pink color which works very well with my skin tone. If I apply a sheer amount, it gives me a nice tint of color, but if I pack it on, its a bright pink which would be a fun pop of color to add to a subtle look. Nars is on the more expensive side *I know...* but, I totally think it's worth the money in the end.

Ah, foundation. Either your worst nightmare, or your best friend. Some people have trouble finding the right shade for their skin tone, or aren't able to apply it correctly, but if done right, a good foundation can give your face a flawless looking finish. Personally, I don't think it's worth spending a lot of money on foundations, I haven't really experimented much in the high end brands of foundation, but I have really been enjoying the Cover Girl Clean foundation for this month. I am in the color 105 Ivory and the smell is amazing. It smells very...well...clean! :) I only need about the size of a  nickel to cover my whole face evenly and it has full coverage which is nice for all of the blemishes and freckles I tend to cover up. This foundation has lasted me about one and a half months and for the price *between $8 and $10 I forget to be honest with you...* it's definitely worth giving it a try. With 12 different color options, there is bound to be one that is close to your skin tone! I will definitely re-purchase this one in the future because I love the way it feels on my skin!

Moving right along to lips...Babylips chapstick has been the ONLY chapstick I have been reaching for lately. Especially the one on the right called Quenched. I put red one (Cherry Me) next to it to show how much of quenched I have used! I literally always have it on me! It is THE most moisturizing chapstick I have ever used. I re-apply like a madwoman and I LOVE the way it smells! I love the colored ones too, but I don't reach for them as much as the clear one. The colored ones have a lot of pigmentation in them which is nice, but it's more like a sheer lipstick than a chapstick. I can't throw on the colored ones without a mirror! I will re-purchase this over and over again and if you haven't tried these yet I would DEFINITELY recommend checking them out. They're less than $5 too!

A few more lip products that I have been loving are bright pinks. *Don't worry girls...I don't rock a bright lip with a bright cheek in the same look ;)* But these three lip products are all fun pinks that bring life to my lips, and the clinique chubby stick in Curvy Candy is especially nice because it's super moisturizing! The lipstick on the left is Maybelline number 160 in 5th Ave. Fuchsia which is a BRIGHT fuchsia color which I love and if I decide to wear that I normally top it with a Nars gloss in Coeur Sucre. These three staples are perfect for a pop of color to any spring--or now summer---outfit!

This is kind of just a random one, but I just got a pair of toms -my first of many hopefully ;) - and I love how comfortable they are! I also love how each pair someone buys, a pair is sent to a child who needs them. It's nice to know that my money is going towards some sort of nice cause. I couldn't decide between navy and black, but ended up going with navy because I don't really have any shoes in that color. I love being able to slip these on and walk out the door and not have to worry about keeping them in mint condition. These are definitely going to be a staple for me this summer and I hope to add more to my collection in the future! 

Now this last favorite I cannot take credit for. Both myself and Audrey have been doing our research about Lilly Pulitzer and found out that she makes limited edition boxes of Barnum's Animal crackers. When I was little they were my absolute FAVORITE food. I could eat them all day long! We began to go on a hunt for them and Audrey found them and picked one up for me! There are only 2 million made each year and all the proceeds go to OprationSmile which I love, so of course this was a win-win situation for me. Plus the box is just absolutely adorable! So I had to give it a special spot in my favorites, how could I not?!




Ok girls, so this is everything that I have been loving this month. How about you? What are some of your favorite things you have been loving this month? Leave a comment down in the comments below! Especially beauty products, I am always looking to try new products!
Love you all and have a great weekend!


xoxo,
Kristin