FOTD

Today's face of the day will be Beautiful Iris! I just got this shadow a couple of days ago and I agree with Erin, it's a beautiful color. When I went to the MAC store yesturday to exchange my studio fix fluids, I actually walked out of the store without picking up more shadows!!! Ahh, I'm so proud of myself...we'll see how long that lasts.... ;)
Face:
MUFE Matt Velvet foundation in 80
MAC mineralize skin finish natural in deep dark
Eyes:
Groundwork paint pot
Beautiful Iris(lid)
Folie(crease)
Arena(highlight)

My e/s wishlist for permanent shadows are:
Goldmine
Cranberry
Hepcat/passionate(not sure which)
Bronze
Contrast(a must)/Deep Truth
Now, I saw a preview of the upcomming collections in the month of July and I'm getting really excited, so we'll see what happens with that.
Until next time....

6/25/09 Update!

Hello beauties. A lot has happened since my last post. When it comes to my skin, I have "acne prone" skin and currently have mild acne. I've been trying a few things and adding Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Serum(a sample from Sephora) to my skin care regimen and let me tell you....it has really helped. Now, I started thinking ok, if something is all natural and improves my skin, why not get an all natural regimen? Well, honestly, I wasn't too enthusiastic about the juice beauty moisturizer and the face wash didn't seem to "do it" for me. So, I went to sephora with the mind set that I was going to buy RX for Brown Skin. I've used it before and it worked and thought, what the heck, let's do it again. The skin care specialist actually talked me into another product that's specifically for "blemish" skin. So it was an exfoliant and a moisturizer. After the 2nd day, I couldn't take the burning feeling anymore, so I took it back to sephora. I actually lost the receipt, so they only gave me store credit.(I will talk about what I got in a minute.)
I bought the Coal Face bar soap from Lush a few weeks ago and liked it, so I decided to give Lush another try. After all, it's also all natural and the products are more varied than Juice Beauty. So, I spent maybe 20-30 min with the worker going back and forth on products and samples until we came up with a regimen just for me.
Here it is:
Morning
1)Wash with Coal Face bar soap
2)Spray cotton ball with Tea Tree Water Toner and wipe face down.
3)Spray face with the toner so face is moist to "receive" the moisturizer.
4)Finish with the Vanishing Cream Moisturizer.
Night
Same as above, but wash with Ocean Sea Salt instead of Coal Face.
2-3 times a week
1)lightly wash with coal face bar soap
2)put cupcake facial mask all over face and sit back for about 15 min for it to dry
3)wipe with warm water and put moisturizer on
Its only been a few days and my skin feels like buttah!!! Wow, after just the first day, my skin felt alive, smooth, calmed, etc...I really recommend checking Lush out and go when you really have time to talk with a worker and figure out what you are looking for.
Back to Sephora and what I got!!!
So, because of the store credit, I couldn't get my money back, so why not use this as an opportunity to get a few things that I wouldn't have otherwise? Ok, I got the Urban Decay 24/7 cream eyeliner pencil in zero(it's the blackest black),Bare Essentials Buxom lipgloss in Jessica, a sephora nail polish and MUFE Mat Velvet + in 80. I'm not sure I'll keep #80, when I put it on, it's great,but has a little "darker" tone to it. I'll have to play around with it again to see if I need #75.
MAC!!! Yall already know that I am slowly becoming an addict of MAC. I bought MAC studio fix in the cream to powder in NW45 a few weeks ago. After a couple of days, I realized it was making my skin look ashy. So, I exchanged it for Studio Fix Fluid in NW50. Yesturday, I went to the MAC store in Harlem and this girl color matched me to be NW47!!! I didn't know they had a color between 45 and 50!!! YAaay for mac! So I will be exchanging mine today!
Until next time....

FOTD

Today's face of the day was a pretty smokey eye. This was a look that was inspired by two people: Missbutterfli and azucurmorena. So, I was playing around with Vibrant Grape before I went to work(cuz u know I couldn't wear it to work) and really liked the look I came up with. I hope you like the youtube tutorial...

Items used:
Eyes:
1)Loreal Hip Cream Eyeliner in eggplant as my base
2)Mac Vibrant Grape E/S with a small e/s brush from Sephora
3)E.L.F. e/s quad in Drama(the dark grey and black e/s were used) with the short handled 275 brush; blended with Sonia Kashik blending brush
4)Maybelline e/s
5)Loreal Hip duo in Brazen(the pink to finish the look)
6)Wet N Wild H2O Liquid Eyeliner
7)Mac Smolder Eye Kohl
8)Mineral mascara(message me if interested in where I got it)

Face:
1)Maybeline Liquid Mousse in Coco Dark 3 with 109 brush
2)Loreal Hip e/s duo in Brazen, the pink color for cheeks
3)Mac Lipglass in Beaux

Until next time...

FOTD

Yesturday's face of the day was a pretty soft smokey green eye. I hope you like the youtube tutorial....
Until next time...

Update!

6/19/09
Ok beauties. I'm sorry for being M.I.A....but here are a few things that have happened. Recently, I went to the Mac store in Harlem and tried out the studio tec foundation in NW 45. I thought it looked great in the store, so I got it along with the studio fix concealer in the pot in NW45. I also bought the Vibrant Grape eyeshadow and Mercenary nail polish from the Style Warrior collection, as well as fresh water eyeshadow. When I got home and looked at my face in the bathroom lights, my face had like a greyish undertone.Then I went to work and it also had a greyish undertone.(I liked the purple nail polish,but I can't wear "colored nails" to work) So after a few days, I went to the mac store in the city and the makeup artist was soo cool! He took out the time with me and we tried out different shades of studio tec and studio fix fluid. I ended up exchanging for studio fix fluid because I feel like it can be a little more versitle(wearing it both wet or dry for different effects). Also, when he put on a shade that he liked in the studio fix fluid(NW50), he put on NC 45 or 50 and then he gave me a hand mirror and we walked outside and saw it in the natural light. It was like night and day. My skin is inbetween shades. I could wear the NC but it makes my skin flat because I have BOTH red and yellow undertones. So the NW 50 not only warmed up my skin, but it also didn't make me look flat. Ok, so I just couldn't pass up getting an eyeshadow and the MUA suggested I start with satin toupe eyeshadow and I could always come back for bronze(that will be on my "to buy" list). Lastly, they still had some Hello Kitty stuff left, so I bought the purple lipglass with the blue flecks in it. It's really beautiful on the lips because its very sheer, almost clear, and as you turn, you see the blue shimmers.
When I got home, I decided to do inventory and what better way than to give away what I don't wear anymore to my little play sister.(She just graduated from high school...)
Things I don't have anymore:
1)My Loreal Hip duos: I'm gonna miss these, I only had a few, but since I have vibrant grape and am going to buy Goldmine next, it didn't make sense to have dupes.Also, Satin Toupe is going to be my "neutral eye" eyeshadow for work, so I don't need the other one with the green in it. However, I kept my duo in Brazen. That's a must have for all brown girls!!!
2)Coastal Scents 88 palettes, shimmer and satin:Ahh, I'm so over these palettes. It's nice to have a lot of colors to work with at your disposal. I guess I'd be more excited if I could come to work with colorful eyes, but seriously, I only pulled them out a couple of times within the past few months and can live without them. So my sis will have fun in college with those.
3)Coastal Scents Hot Pots: Ok, again, I'm so over these. I actually bought a 12 e/s palette with these...no, I didn't get 12 hot pots, I believe I got like 5 or 6 and the other shadows were Mac pigment samples that I pressed. Again, didn't really pull these out since I bought them a few months ago. So yes, I can live without them too.
4)Some lipglosses I no longer wear and some cheap eye shadow brushes that my Mac replaced so she can start getting into makeup.
So there you have it beauties. I highly suggest that when you do a makeup haul to figure out what those items are replacing(if they are) and give away those unwanted items. Let's continue to make this a more beautiful world! :)
Until next time....

My favorite blushes

Scandalous beauty just did a youtube video on her favorite blushes. So I thought I'd share my favorite ones at the moment.

1)(cheap) NYC bronze mist duo. This is a duo blush/highlight in the same tin. I love this and it's also easy on the pockets. The darker color gives just a hint of color to warm up the face. It's beautiful, especially for darker skin tones. To spice up my look for a night out on the town, I'll add the highlight just on top of the cheek bone for a nice effect. Available at your local Walgreens, Duane Reade, Rite-Aid

2)(cheap) NYX eyeshadow in copper. I saw a blogger yesturday talking about using NYX eyeshadows as blushes and I thought I'd experiment with the ones that I have. The first one was the eyeshadow in Copper and I LOVE IT!!! This eyeshadow doesn't really deposit color, just adds a gorgeous glow to the cheeks. If you are my complexion, a little lighter, or a little darker, I recommend trying this eyeshadow. It was $3 at a local beauty supply store, but NYX.com has a better selection. (That's why this is number 2; not as accessable as the NYC)

3)Mac Mineralized Skin finish blush in Peticoat. This is a go to blush for a night out on the town. This is more of a pinky bronze color and is also amazing when applied wet or onto wet skin. This is a little more expensive than the others mentioned, but it's at least worth the try at the Mac counter.
Take care everybody! Until next time....

New Day, new finds

Hello beautties. Well, let me first say that I love SEPHORA!!! I love that store like a 5 year old loves the tri-level Toys R Us in Times Square. Ahh, the tons and tons of makeup....ok, with that said, I'd love to work in Sephora. Just being a cashier would be a dream to be able to "play" in makeup everyday! I am by no means a self proclaimed makeup artist, but I do like the challenge of finding new and interesting eye makeup looks that compliments darker skin tones. So, today(and for the past few weeks), I've been on a job hunt now that Sephora is hiring in NYC. Today was the day to hit up Times Square and upper west side. The one on the upper west side sounded most promising. The manager said that they're in the middle of interviews right now and I should get a call either tomorrow or next week. So please keep your fingers crossed for me beauties.
Ok, on to what I saw. So, there's this new line from Bare Essentials called Buxom. It's their lipgloss line. I purchased one a while back, maybe over the summer or fall, but their selection of colors was limited then. Now, they have expanded this line and there's a color that has caught my eye. It's called Jessica. When you look at it in the tube, it looks like a light beige,but when you turn it in the light, it has a pink irridesence to it. Of course your girl tried it on and it was gorgeous! It looked like a sheer pink gloss. So, you know your girl is making that purchase next week on payday.(It would be even better if I were hired to take advantage of the employee discount.) Also, the Sephora brand of lipglosses look interesting too. They've come out with a few new colors that I can't wait to try. There's like a sheer blue lipgloss and a green one that looks similar to Mac's green lipglass. Lastly, since I had to wait to speak with the manager at the upper west side store, I hung out at the Sephora nail color stand. So you know I had to try on some colors and I have to say that I was impressed with the selection this summer. I would love to buy at least one, but I can't wear "colored" nails at my current job. I'd have to wait until I get a job like Sephora so I can bust it out!
Well, that's it for now. Until next time...

What are your essential makeup products?

I decided the other day to do a utube video on what my favorite makeup products were. If I were stranded on a dessert island and could only bring my makeup bag, what would those products be? Well, they are listed in my youtube video, but I'll list them anyway.
Foundation: Maybelline Liquid Mousse in Coco Dark 3
Powder: HD powder or Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in Medium Deep
Blush: NYC bronze mist duo
Mascara: Maybelline mini brush mascara
Eyeshadow: 1)(cheap) NYX e/s in copper
2)(a few more bucks) Loreal Hip Eyeshadow duo in ?
or
3)(most expensive) Nars eyeshadow in Lola Lola
Eyeliner: Coastal Scents gel eyeliner in True Black or Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack
Lips: Coastal Scents Lip Smacks in Monroe a Go, Loreal Sheer Juicy Lipgloss in Strawberrie Smoothie, or Mac Ample Pink Plush Gloss.
Let me know what your favorite products are or if you have any that I listed.
Until next time....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5-2w3PFjag

I work in a coorporate environment where it's expected that you wear makeup. With that said, there are a lot of "rules" that come along with it...just basically that it's as "natural" as possible. I took this as a challenge to find eyeshadows that are neutral. Here are my favorites:
1)Mac Groundwork paint pot as my base. This is my "go to" eyeshadow base and it does keep the shadows on all day. Before I was using Urban Decay Primer Potion and after a while, it started feeling funny on my lids.
2)Loreal Hip Eyeshadow Duo in ?. This is a light beige with a deep green duo that's really pretty. I find myself wearing this when I don't want a whole lot going on on my lid. I will put a vid on youtube tomorrow so you can see it.
3)Nars eyeshadow in Lola Lola. I really like this eyeshadow. I have been using this most of the time for work. It's a great neutral shadow with a little shimmer. So it's not too much on the lid and it's definately work appropriate.
4) Cover Girl Queen Eyeshadow Quad. The name has worn off, but I'll take a pic of it. Anyway, I find myself using this quad when I don't use the Nars and it's just as beautiful as well as more affordable... ;)
Eventually, I may get Mac Satin Toupe or maybe not. I'm pretty satisfied with these options listed above. What are your favorite Neutral eye looks?

Here's my youtube tutorial on my "work" look. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdjIhVr5gHg

Introduction!

Hello beauties. I am a true makeup addict....I'm addicted to youtube tutorials and watch them on the train in NYC. Anyway, I wanted to use this space as a time to discuss makeup and new makeup finds, post tutorials from my youtube channel and get inspiration from other beautiful ladies out there. I am a musician and have to do my own makeup, so this is truly a time for learning. I want to give a shout out to azucurmorena for inspiring me and encouraging me to have more faith in my own work, scandalousbeauty for just challenging both MUA as well as everyday people like myself to think outside the box, makeupgeek for breaking makeup down so regular people can recreate her creations, and missbutterfli's world for creating wearable looks on us brown girls. I love you ladies and hope to meet all of you soon. In the meantime, I hope to gain new friendships through beauties that share the same passion for makeup as I do. Take care and God bless!

Peace.