Vanity

The hubby and I took a quick road trip to Atlantic City this past weekend for a friends birthday party/masquerade ball at the Revel.  I had a little bit of a tough time finding a dress that I was comfortable with wearing as I have gained a little bit of weight lately.  But I found this super cute black lace and cream dress in the juniors section in Macys.  I was a little self conscious as the dress was a body con dress...but I put on my spanks and paired it with some plain mary jane type patent leather pumps and thought I looked pretty hot for my date night!  

Because we checked into the hotel a little early and had some time to relax I was able to take a little more time with my makeup.  I went back and forth in my mind as to what look I wanted...black smoky eye...or a nice neutral eye.  So I mixed the two and I love how this neutral yet smoky look turned out.  I used my Wet N' Wild vanity palette for this look and paired it with a nude lip.  I was kind of feeling myself a bit this night lol.  Below is a list of everything I used.  

On the eyes:

NYX brow pencil in dark brown

Kevyn Aucoin sensual skin enhancer to clean up brow area and to conceal under eyes

Wet n' Wild Vanity 6 shadow eyeshadow palette

ELF 6 pan palette (the black in the smoky palette to deepen the outer-v)

Wet n' Wild gel liner in black

Rimmel London day to night mascara

Red Cherry Lashes #43

On the face:

MAC studio fix powder foundation NC43

Ruby Kisses mineral powder in Cognac to contour

Milani blush in Mai-Tai

ELF Healthy glow bronzing powder in Warm Tan

On the lips:

Wet n' Wild lipstick in Bare it All (#902C)

NYX Lipliner in Natural

NK Lipshine gloss in Taupe

Petal Pusher

I've been challenged to make use of some of the palettes in my stash that rarely get used.  So, today I decided to break out my Wet N' Wild Petal Pusher 8 pan palette.  I will do one more look this week using this same palette.  Probably a nice purple smoky eye...ya'll know I love a good smoky eye :) Below is a list of all the products I used to achieve this look.  Do you have any palettes in your stash that hardly get used?  If so, then join me in this challenge.  Dust them off and create some looks.  

On the eyes:

NYX brow pencil in dark brown

Kevyn Aucoin sensual skin enhancer to clean up brow area and to conceal under eyes

Wet n' Wild Petal Pusher 8 pan eyeshadow palette

Wet n' Wild gel liner in black

Rimmel London day to night mascara

Red Cherry Lashes #415

On the face:

MAC studio fix powder foundation NC43

Ruby Kisses mineral powder in Cognac to contour

Milani blush in Mai-Tai

On the lips:

Wet n' Wild lipstick in Just Peachy (#903C)

ELF lip liner in Bitter

Wet n' Wild clear gloss

Lovely Lilac

At the advice of my mentor, I have decided to branch out and try some new makeup products. (Review on them later.) I tried out the Revlon Colorstay foundation in Golden Caramel, LA Girls pro concealer in Medium Beige, and MACs invisible setting powder. I also picked up a lilac lipgloss at the beauty supply store and thought I might as well do a lilac look. So here it is.  Below is a list of all the products I used to achieve this look. Enjoy!

On the eyes:

Kevyn Aucoin brow pencil in Brunette

Revlon Lilac Shimmer eyeshadow on the lid 

MAC Mystery on the outer corner

Rimmel London day to night mascara

Wet n' Wild gel liner in black

On the face:

LA Girl pro concealer in Medium Beige

Revlon colorstay foundation in Golden Caramel 

MAC invisible setting powder

Milani blush in Sweet Rose

Ruby Kisses mineral powder in Cognac for the contour

On the lips:

LA Colors lipstick in Frosted Lilac

IrisColors lipgloss in Lilac

Classic Smoky Eye

Last night I had a business/pleasure meeting with my partners in crime...not crime as in facing jail time but the two ladies that I get my good time laughs in with lol. I started to do my makeup for the night and thought...hmmm, I haven't done a classic smoky eye in a while. So that's just what I did. And since I was wearing black and white I just knew a pop of color on the lip was needed. Below is a list of what I used to achieve this look. Enjoy!

On the face:
Kevyn Aucoin brow pencil in Brunette
Kevyn Aucoin skin enhancer for concealer
MAC studio fix powder foundation in NC 43
Milani blush in Mai Tai
Ruby Kisses mineral powder in Cognac as a contour

On the eyes:
Wet n' Wild Vanity palette light brown above crease, medium brown in crease
MAC Mystery slightly below the crease
ELF natural palette very dark brown on the lid
Rimmel London day to night mascara (both lengthening and volume sides)

On the lips:
MAC Heroine lipstick

Smoked Peach

Today I was feeling some type of way and decided to play in makeup as a little therapy lol. What I did was this smoky peach look using yet another unopened Wet n' Wild palette. I wanted to focus on the eyes because I used a different pencil to fill in my brows today (click here for that blog post) so I opted for a very nude lip to accompany the smoky eye. Below is everything I used to achieve this look. Hope you enjoy and Happy Saturday!

On the face:
Kevyn Aucoin Skin Enhancer as a concealer
MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC 43
Ruby Kisses Mineral Powder in Cognac as a contour
Milani blush in luminous

On the eyes:
Wet n Wild Greed palette
NYX light brown and taupe pencils to fill in brows
Rimmel London Day to Night mascara (lengthening side)
Maybelline great lash mascara
Wet n Wild gel eyeliner

On the lips:
Wet n Wild just peachy lipstick
NYX currant lipliner
NK taupe lipgloss

Brows Brows Brows...

I got a question on Instagram last week about a possible dupe for MAC Spiked brow pencil, which is described as a Rich Brunette color.  I needed to do some research as I don't own the pencil myself (I know...bad me) however, I do plan on getting it when I make my next MAC run.  Now what I found is this...NYX Slim Eye Pencil in Light Brown which is described as well, light brown and Taupe which is a soft medium brown.  (See swatches of both pencils below.)  I also had Milani's EasyBrow pencil in Dark Brown, but I gave it away to my niece who has very dark brows as it was way too dark for me.  And I also had slight difficulty using it because I had too heavy a hand when trying to apply it to my brows.  While I believe MAC's Spiked is slightly darker, I think NYX's Light Brown would be a great alternative (not necessarily a dead on dupe).  

Prom look #3: Purple Smoke

So here is the last look of my prom makeup series. I decided to do a slightly bolder eye look with a glossy lip. I chose purple because I had this blackened violet pigment sample from The Body Needs and have been dying to use it. I didn't want the lip to overpower the eye so I kept it simple with my favorite lipliner (MAC Chestnut) with a peachy gloss. I hope you have enjoyed this series and let me know if you tried any of these looks for prom or any special occasion.

On the eyes:

Wet N' Wild Idol Eyes creme shadow pencil in Techno used as a base

ELF Mineral Shadow in Girly on the lid

The Body Needs pigment in Blackened Violet

Almay 1 Coat Dial-up mascara

Maybelline Big Lash Mascara

Milani liquifeye eyeliner in black

On the face:

Cover Girl True BlendFoundation in #460

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer as a concealer

MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC43 all over

Ruby Kisses mineral powder in Cognac for the contour

Ben Nye powder rouge in cool pink

ELF Healthy Glow bronzer in Sun Kissed as the highlight

On the lips:

MAC Chestnut lipliner

Victoria's Secret lipgloss in lotta colada

Prom look #2: Neutral Look (Two lip options)

So I'm back with prom look number 2. I thought some girls may not want to wear a whole lot of makeup and go for a more natural/neutral look. I was reminded of this when two of my nieces went to their "Spring Fling" last month. They are just starting to experiment with makeup and to be honest...neither one of them need it. Plus their mom and dad are not going for the "beat" face look for them. Here is the look what I came up with. This look is my everyday/go-to look. I decided to show you how you can easily change up this look with two different lip options. Enjoy!

On the eyes:
Wet N' Wild Vanity palette
E.L.F liquid liner
Maybelline great lash mascara

On the face:
MAC Studio Fix powder foundation in NC 43
Tarte Matte waterproof bronzer in Park Avenue Princess for the contour
Milani blush in Mai Tai

On the lips:
NYX round lipgloss in Pinky Natural
NYX round lipstick in Femme

Partners in Pretty/Girl Talk Favorite Drug Store Products

Partners In Pretty is teaming up with Girl Talk:A Conference for Young Ladies for their health and beauty week.  You can join in on the conversation via Facebook www.facebook.com/girltalkdc and https://www.facebook.com/PartnersinPretty, Twitter #girltalk2013 and #partnersinpretty  and Instagram @PartnersInPretty. 

So in celebration of health and beauty week, I decided to share with all of you my favorite drug store beauty products.  These products are very reasonably priced and also offer good quality.  Many of these products are also known for having great dupes for some of the higher end lines.  So here are my favorite drugstore beauty products...what are some of your favorite drugstore beauty products?

Wet n' Wild MegaLast lipsticks.  This collection has a great array of colors...they're super inexpensive ($1.99 @ CVS)  And the possibilities are endless!  Take a look at how some of us rocked Stoplight Red (919D)  Click here for my previous post on these lippies.

Another one of my favorite drugstore beauty products are the Milani blushes.  My all-time favorite Milani blushe is Mai Tai. It gives my cheek just the right amount of rosey-ness (if that's a word lol) 

My next beauty products are three mascaras that I am totally in love with.  I'm all for mascaras that give the appearance of false lashes...becuase I haven't quite gotten the hang of applying lashes yet.  First is Rimmel London's Day 2 Night mascara.  The lengthening side...love it...and the volume side gives the right amount of oomph to your lashes. 

The second mascara is Maybelline's Great Lash Waterproof Mascara.  Although I use this mascara with the volumizing side of the Rimmel London one...the way this mascara separates and makes your lashes look natural is awesome!

The last mascara is one that I found at my local Dollar Tree.  (Check out your stores to see if you can get this mascara for a really reasonable price.)  Almay's 1 Coat Dial-up Mascara.  Now this is my mascara of choice when I am headed out on the town.  I love how this mascara gives you the option of a lot or a little bit of volume.  I love how the brush allows you to lengthen your lashes to almost falsie status. 

Please do not judge me for this one...and I do not recommend using them on clients...but...

Baby wipes are great for removing makeup!  And even great to use for cleaning your brushes!  I prefer Pampers Baby wipes.  They are a little thicker than some others and a little more durable.  But yes...baby wipes :)

Speaking of brushes...be sure to check sites like Coastal Scents and BH Cosmetics for their sales!

I got this brush set on sale on time from Coastal Scents for $17.50!  And they are some really nice brushes.  I was shocked when I started using them and they have yet to fail me. 

Another inexpensive company to get brushes from is ELF (Eyes Lips Face).  Their Studio Brushes are great for everyday use and you can find them in Target!

Check out my Partner in Pretty Naima's video showing you more great drug store beauty products.

Work ready FOTD 15 min. or less...Day 2

Alright...it's day 2 of my work ready FOTD in under 15 minutes. Here are the products I used. Feel free to join me in this challenge. I'd love to see your looks!

Eyes:
Elf primer, elf 100 color palette pinky shimmer shadow on the lid and a brown for the outer corner, milani liquifeye liner, almay one coat dial up mascara

Face:
MAC studio fix powder foundation and milani blush in luminous

Lips:
Maybelline baby lips in pink punch, MAC chestnut lipliner and NYX lipgloss in pinky natural

Work ready FOTD in less than 15 minutes

Hey hey. So I'm always rushing in the morning to get out the door and to work. I rarely have time to "beat my face". So I was given a challenge this week to do a full face of makeup every day in under 15 minutes. And here is today's face...

Eyes:
Elf primer, elf 100 color palette pinky/natural shimmer shadow on the lid and a brown for the outer corner, milani liquifeye liner, maybelline big lash mascara

Face:
MAC studio fix powder foundation and milani blush in luminous

Lips:
Maybelline baby lips in pink punch, wet n wild lipstick in sugar plum fairy

 

Why don't you do this challenge with me?  I'd love to see your 15 minute makeup looks!

Discounts for Drugstore Beauty Club Members

Have you signed up for CVS' beauty club? NO??? Well what are you waiting for??? For every $50 you spend...you get $5.00 extra care bucks. And being as though we do makeup and drugstore products are of a better quality these days...it's easy to spend that $50! Plus have you seen some of their sale items that are 50% - 75% off??? Milani...Revlon...Wet n' Wild...Physicians Formula....Sally Hansen...if you haven't checked them out yet, surely you must! What I do (got this tip from my girl Naima) is pick up what I want and then go to the price checker scanner thing to see if they are on sale...that's if they aren't marked with a sticker. You'll be surprised at the savings. Check out my recent CVS haul video to see what I got on sale :)  And don't forget to check out your local drug store to see if they too have a beauty club :)

Besos,
Mickey