**UPDATING**

Good things coming - all to get followers, and post counts up!!! If I get good responses I can start doing blog giveaways!!! =)

I think I will be doing NOTD!!! "Nails of the day"....I mean, I do my nails enough to do this, honestly. I could do one every week...two times a week?? What are your thoughts???

My BH Cosmetics order should be here tomorrow, so I will HOPEFULLY (I say hopefully, if my camera cooperates) have swatches and pictures! I may be needing to order a new camera here soon!

I also have new nail polishes coming - YAY!!!! Nubars - Purple Rain and 188, CND's Effects in Sapphire Sparkle and Copper Pearl, and I also splurged and bought Nfu.Oh's Flakies #60 and Glitters #14 which ended up being the VERY LAST BOTTLE!!!! haha Sorry ladies. =( So, reviews on those ASAP! They've already shipped!!! Love this company. =)

Also, as I said I am still working on the Naked Palette tutorial - with the camera situation. We'll see if I can do it with the old camera!!!!

Just thought I'd update everyone. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a good review on some polishes and cosmetics. =)

*QUICKIE* Curly hair tips!

Surprise! I'm not all about makeup, but I won't claim I am "skilled" with hair. I will say.....I think I can do MY own hair fairly well. So, what may work for me - may not work for you, can we keep that in mind? My suggestions do not work on my own mother, so please....I try to give numerous products for you to take a look at, go out and find the best one for your type of hair and give it a try!

Best tip - for natural wavers, buy a blow-dryer with a diffuser, it will pay for itself!!! Trust me. =)

Products I would recommend, and have tested.
1) To curl my hair I MUST have Sea Salt Texturizing Spray, this is great for achieving messy-beach waves or loose curls. My favie - Aquage - Click! I am not sure if you can find a cheaper dupe for this or not, but....I would love to know! GOT2B has some great products in their line, so it would be worth it to check out some of their items. I have also used and enjoy Tiji Catwalk Curls Rock! line as well. KMS is a line that is sold at Trade Secrets, and can be found online at Amazon.

2) For gel-lovers, try and find one with a de-frizzer. Or use a mousse. I am not a fan of gel, due to the crunchy feeling. Yuck-o.

3) Spray product, spray hair spray, diffuse, spray product, scrunch, spray hair spray. That's my routine!

Okay - that was my quickie tip!!! Thinking I'll make that like a little mini-series or something, got any ideas for quick tips??? =)

BACK - with REVIEWS!!!

So, it's been a hard time between figuring out personal time and work again that I haven't written much. =( But, I'm back!!! And, I have reviews of products! Yay! Some are old news but new to me.

First up is Coastal Scents, a lot of hype around these palettes and I've had one for a long time....and I do enjoy it a lot! I bought the camoflauge palette click here! and the contour and blush palette click here! and also the 28 neutral palette click here! . I know they are out of stock on coastal scents I ordered mine on amazon.

I find the camo and the contour and blush palette to be great. The versatility of both is great! It can be used by anyone. The C&B is not as scary as it looks, that dark contour color does not come off as dark as it is and the blushes are really great. I'm not thrilled with the highlight colors, as I prefer more of a shimmer highlight but - that's me...sometimes I like matte. But, for the price of the two ($16.95 and $18.95 respectively) a winner!!!

The 28 neutral palette, gets an "Okay" in my book - I was expecting to be wow'ed so I guess that's my downfall. Maybe, anticipating too much? Looking for a Naked palette dupe? - Anyway....not great color payoff. Eh, there are good colors and bad colors. I wouldn't suggest this for someone who doesn't do neutrals on a daily basis but for someone who does browns a lot this is a good palette. I am just not impressed with some of the darker shades, I expected a better pigmentation on some and it just wasn't there. Still pretty, just not what I expected.

Another awesome haulage thing I got while in VA - NYX Pinched Blush - LOVE THIS!!!! It's a great dupe for NARS orgasm, and hello - a fraction of the price. Those of you that want that beautiful gold shimmer and pretty pink glow from Orgasm and don't want to spend $27, this is a good dupe! I like it.

I also picked up the Benefit Get Cheeky Mini's while I was at Sephora and got my birthday gift. Really like those, I would recommend High Beam to anyone. I really like Posi-Tint more than I thought I would. I like Beni-tint but I hate the smell and flavor. Eh, it's okay. Nice color payoff and they last a long time but the flavor and smell is lacking. I know it's rose infused...but, eh I hate roses.

Onto the final haul product - Philosophy's Hope in a Tinted Moisturizer. I am not really sure what I want to say about this product. It is a GOOD product, I felt that it evened out my skin, and my face seemed softer and doing better, but I think it started breaking me out??? I don't know, I had planned on using it again to test run 2nd time but, never got around to it. Maybe I will start that this week. I like it, do I think it is worth the price. No. Would I buy it again, probably not. Am I disappointed - not really. I also think the colors are a little difficult to match, as there are only 8 and even the extra light is almost not a match for me. Odd.

Sooooo, I've got some requests for a tutorial for the Naked Palette - not exactly sure how I am going to do this - if I will film it or if I will take pictures or what just yet but look for that coming up!!! Look for a nail polish haul/review in the future and a few more how-to's. VOTE FOR YOUR NEXT ONE!!!

OUT OF TOWN - updating soon!

Sorry!!!! Went out of town for the weekend and I didn't even really touch my computer. This is the first time I've been on it long enough to do anything. Will have a new topic ASAP. Went to Ulta - picked up a few things.

-NYX Powder Blush in Pinched which is supposed to be a good dupe for NARS Orgasm Blush
-NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (mine was slowly dying, plus buy one get one 50% off)
-China Glaze Re-fresh Mint Nail Polish OMG so excited!
-My normal foundation (Neutrogena Healthy Skin Natural Ivory 20)
-Philosophy Hope in a Tinted Moisturizer in Extra Light

So look for a review coming soon.....I plan on using these products for at least this week to get a good feel for them (the nyx blush and Hope...). =)

Tricks of the Trade: Eyeliner

I've always wore eyeliner....even before I was heavy into makeup. I always felt like I looked dead without it on. Just my personal opinion a lot of others don't wear it at all. I think it makes my eyes more blue. Again, that's just me. =)

Sooo - how do you keep it from running, where do you put it, what's the best liquid liner, what's the best pencil liner, wheres the best application for the most dramatic/subtle??? Guess what girlies, hold on to your undies... I'm gonna TELL ya!!! ha

The first thing I want to say is....it's all about personal preference - many people like the ease of a pencil...so this is where I will start, as this is what I use the most. I have many favorites, at varied prices. Here are a few brands I always go back to:

Rimmel Special Eyes $4
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil $4
Covergirl  Liquiline Eyeliner $7.99 (Just discovered this LOVE it)
Urban Decay 24/4 Cream eye liner $18
MAC Eye Kohl $20
Stila Smudgestick $20

Most of these tried-and-true will last throughout the day, are very easy to smudge, blend and can be used with sensitive eyes. The next category is gel - not many recommendations on this (as I've only tried a few products and don't "like" gel) so I'll just go two: Maybelline Eye Studio's Gel Liner and MAC Fluidline in blacktrack, they are very similar and if your looking for a good duplicate to Fluidline Maybelline would be it!

Finally, liquid liners, these are more tricky. I wouldn't suggest these to a makeup newb just for the simple fact that anyone has a hard time controlling these. Here's my favs!

ELF Waterproof Liquid Liner $1 (I have used this in every color EXCEPT plum, LOVE this stuff!)
Wet and Wild Liquid Pen Liner $4
NYX Slim Liner $8
Kat Von D Tattoo and Autograph Liner $18 and $16

Now, applications:
There are many places eyeliner can go - lower lash line, lower waterline, upper waterline (also known as tightlining), and the upper lash line. There are a few techniques you can use to keep your liners from running all day when you apply them in the morning.

First of all - on the waterline, use a q-tip to wipe away the moisture before you apply your liner. This will help the liner stick more to your eyes. Gel liners stay better as they are already water based. Once youve placed your eyeliner, dab a matte black shadow over top to set the liner. You can also use this technique (dabbing the shadow) on the upper lash line to help it last and create a fuller effect with your lashes. For a more dramatic look, apply your gel/liquid liner OVER your pencil liner and wing the end out by your eyes.

That's all for eyeliner folks! Let me know if you have any other ideas, questions, comments! =)

HOW TO: Make your eyeshadow last all day long!!!

I have found that through my makeup endevors, there are many factors that come into play when making your make-up last all day. Almost all of them tie-back to a good base, and I've used many shadows with these bases - the shadows don't need to be high-end MAC....I've used dollar store LA COLORS, just the same.....

A base doesn't have to be anything expensive...but expensive works just as good too! My favorite happens to be Urban Decay's primer potion. I will throw out a list of my favorites and you will see that not everything I use is exactly expensive but it helps to set my make-up and it lasts much longer because of that. Examples:

E.L.F. Eyelid Primer $1
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk $4
MAC Bare Study Paint Pot $16
Too Faced Shadow Insurance $16
Urban Decay Primer Potion $18
My basic make-up routine involves foundation primer all over the face, liquid foundation on the lid, and then my primer potion on the lid. My lids tend to get a little oily so I can say before I had trouble with creasing. Using this technique I have not had ANY problems.

Using a base before you apply your make-up helps set the natural oils in your lid, it also helps the shadows you are getting ready to place on your lid have something to grab onto. Basically what your doing is giving the shadow something tangible to grab....something creamy to latch onto, which gives them a little more "staying power" once you get everything down. So, there is one more thing I can suggest - a make-up setting spray (Make Up For Ever Mist and Fix, Urban Decay All Nighter) they work well for no-budge!!!

Try it out, I can say that starting out with a base instead of just merely applying your shadows will surely surprise you in the long run!!! =)



Let me know if you have anymore ideas, reviews, anything you'd like to see on the page in the future in the comments plz... =)