Alcohol Saves the Day

Some people use alcohol to drink their sorrows away... or some people use it to go from "Rachel, the desk assistant" to "Rachel, life of the party".

I use it... for MY MAKE UP... and OH MY GOD did it help me out so so so much!

1) I use it every time I sanitize make up items that I've swapped for. I put the alcohol (I got the cheap one 50% isopropyl acohol) in a spray bottle and spray what ever item I want to disinfect. It works on any powder and lipsticks (which are the ones I always get anyways).

2) I use it to mend my stuff. So I bought a Victoria Secret baked eyeshadow and we all know that baked items are EXTREMELY fragile... and of course it came broken. No need to fear I thought, I just need my alcohol and I'm all set!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

* I just crushed the shadows that were loose w/ a spoon
* Then I used a quarter and wrapped it around a napkin - sprayed that w/ alcohol
* I sprayed a bunch of alcohol on that shadow and PRESSED!
* Ta da - of course, there was no way I can actually make it back into the cute dome shape that it was but heck, it is still usable and doesn't make a mess everytime I take it out.
* Now, I have no idea how the alcohol actually make the product stayed together like that... if you have a clue, let me know :D I'm curious!

TOOLS:


* This method does get messy. I think I lost about 10% of product but that's okay. It was totally worth it.
* I think the paper is extremely important in this method! (Disclaimer: I'm not trying to promote Albertson in anyway...)

3) Finally, I use alcohol to wash my brushes! I know that brushes get a tremendous amount of bacteria build up. Your skin has tons of bacteria living on it and think of a brush just taking up some of that everytime it touches your face. With the oil that comes from your face... bacteria can form colonies and it is just a disgusting mess!

So alcohol is ESSENTIAL! Now, I know 50% ispropanol is probably not the best (I was CHEAP!) but some is better than none.

I followed EnkoreMakeup Brush cleanser recipe and it works great. 40% approxmiately is alcohol!



So I think that alcohol, no no, not talking about the stuff you drink (ethanol... and such) but ISOPROPANOL is very important as a disinfecting agent and also... powder mender.

I hope this helps someone out there :D

See ya! Thanks for reading and stopping by.

Golden tip

For the holidays, why not juice up your traditional red lipstick look w/ GOLD gloss??


I got this Victoria's Secret gloss a long time ago but it is so awesome b/c it is FULL of golden shimmers! Really great to place on top of your lips!




I dunno, I thought that would be really fun!

OR, if you want a more dramatic look, use some gold shadow and place it in the middle of your lips to create a voluptuous look.

How To Be Nude - Lesson 1

First, you clean, moisturize, apply, and gloss!

What am I talking about - ha ha - silly me! I mean nude lips~ Thing is a have a big old problem of having really pigmented lips so its kinda hard to wear lipstick - in general. It always makes the color look different - in some cases - BAD!

But I've found two ways to achieve a decent nude-lips look w/out killing my wallet.

My star products:



NYX's Circe - it is like a lip pigment erasing tool! Don't need a lot of it because it is REALLY pigmented(but you do need to blend this out w/ your finger or it'll look cakey and fake). It is creamy but not so much moisturizing so do major moisturizing underneath first. It is matte so make sure you wear a gloss over it or else you'll look DEAD. But this is a good nude lipstick just because it will make your lips a skin color or really light. But I really should reinstate that you should wear it w/ a gloss - preferably a darker gloss!


Lips w/ Circe and NYX's l/g in Beige (pictured below on the left)

Again, I like to use the gloss to manipulate what kind of nude lip I'll have - a peachy tone, a golden/bronzy tone, or a pink tone (like the one above). These are glosses that I would generally choose.

Rimmel's Birthday Suit - one of my first lipsticks. That's why it's lost it's shape at the top :) Even starting out, I was working for a nude lip. This doesn't have the same pigmentation as Circe but I like that I can just wear this for an everyday subtle nude lips. It gives me a glossy glow and lightens up my lips just a bit so that it looks natural. I don't know, I just like that it does for my lips. Also, it is moisturizing and no need for gloss. It's already pretty the way it is (I feel though this has been re-formulated since I last purchased it).



** Doesn't do the lipstick justice! -_-;

** The real nude lips ;p


EEK, so many pictures of lips! YECH. I really thought this was gonna be short post... eh well.

HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY~

Lazy Sunday

On lazy days or days where I am sooo tired that I want to remove my make up quickly and easily I just use my Pond Face Moisturizer. It works! Here are some pictures to show you:


BLAH face~


Dip some cotton in there...


Wipe it on my face


Final show down! Love it.

Then I'd just wash my face w/ a cleanser or even just water. Everything gone!

*NOTE: Haven't tested this on water proof mascaras; Doesn't get rid of liquid or gel liners easily; Don't get this in your eye (goes for all make up remover really)

Easy shadow - more tips

I know I'm not a big make up expert or anything but I do use make up and I've found somethings that really work for me. And I thought I'd share!

I've done other tips that are mostly used for making make up application faster. Especially for school when you have early classes and you just want to have more time sleeping than doing make up.

Today, I have tips for EYE SHADOWS! When you are running late, use one color! Just a nice application all over the lid and you're done! What is so great about some of the colors I choose is that you can use them both for lid shade and crease shade! So when in doubt, grab the color that can do anything you want it to do :)



Mark's minx and Maybelline's Beach Blush are amazing at doing that. Gives such natural contour. Work it w/ the NYX Champagne and voila! Easy eye color and it looks so nice too.

Hope this helps someone.

Let the confetti fall!

It's the 4th of July tomorrow! I don't really celebrate it big or anything but it is a holiday :D!

Another quick tip for the summer. For summer, foundation can look very cakey and heavy for the face. For the summer, we want nice flawless looks right. Let our true skin glow or whatever.

Here's what I do, I combine my foundation and moisturizer in one to make my own tinted foundation. It is not heavy, it blends easily and it even gives you a dewy finish.



NOTE:: It gives me a light coverage so use concealer! If you're concealer is lighter than your skin tone for your black circles - mix your concealer and your foundation a little bit for redness and blemishes on your face. Work w/ the colors that already you have.

Hope this helps~

Don't stop blushing - a tip

This is just a little tip for faster application of blushes. If you have a really pretty blush but the color is a bit sheer and you don't want to waste time building up the color to the right opaque, use a cream blush underneath.


A good cream blush is the Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush because those things are not pigmented themselves. So just a blend a little bit of that on the cheek bones, putting a powder blush on will work so much better.

**NOTE: The mousse blush shown above has golden shimmer to it.

a quickie before bed

Why does my title sound dirty?? Bet you didn't think of it that way until now that I've mentioned it... ha ha ha... I'm evil.

ANYWAYS - it's late and I guess I'm just ready to sleep now - and dream of sweet make up!

But, this post is about my foundation routine. So during the winter time, I didn't really notice any problems w/ my skin (besides a pimple here and there). But now it is summer time (and it gets HOT here!) and I notice some problems....

AHHH MY PORES ARE GINORMOUS!! During the winter time, I have dry skin but now during the summer time, I have dry-combination skin. DISGUSTING!!! So, now my biggest thing is to cover up my pores and make my skin look more smooth and nice.

Big pores just makes your skin oozy w/ oil and also blushes really exemplify them - and let me tell you, I LOVE BLUSHES! I'd put blushes on before I put on eye shadows or liners (I would put on mascara before it).

So, the points of this post is what I've been doing to cover up my pores and "mattify" my t-zone.


First, moisturize!!
Second, I put on the Rimmel primer (I'll talk more about this later... it's too late!)
Third, I conceal my under eye circles w/ the Maybelline concealer. I actually really like this concealer.
Fourth - THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS! I use the Revlon Mousse Foundation and YES! It minimizes my pores (instead of making them look bigger!) and really pretty matte finish! WHEE!! I adore this foundation but BEWARE - this is not a foundation for dry skin people. I can only use this during the summer now but I wouldn't dare put this on in the winter time. I actually did that for a little bit and it really magnifies dry spots. So be careful w/ this. But I've been really satisfied w/ this little baby! It doesn't feel cakey at all but it gives beautiful coverage.
Fifth, I just put some sort of powder on it. I think I mostly used my Wet n Wild pressed powder really lightly to set.

NOTE: I only put these things on my t-zone where I need it the most. I don't do my whole face.

Here are some pics... I don't know if this helps but I didn't edit anything at all on these pics. Trust me though, it really helps w/ the pore problems.


- Flash makes me so much tanner than I am... but I am pretty tan right now - one reason why I don't use Bronzers during the summer.


Hope this helps some of you!

It's a DIY, baby!

So, I've been watching a bunch of videos regarding making your own palettes. Now, why would I care to make my own since E.L.F has a really cool quad palette for $1 already?? Why go through the trouble??

Well my friends, it is because
1) I LOVE DIY!!! I love being creative like that and making things on my own is F.U.N!
2) Because I've been eyeing the mark shadows and they are square and so you can't fit them into a normal E.L.F or any make up palette - same idea if I want to depot my NYX shadows.
3) B/c it's so FUN!!!... Oops, I already said that. Now onto the pics...


This is what it looks like.


This is what it looks like inside... COOL eh??


Magnets are found at any craft store - Micheal's or Joanne's. I got mine at Joanne's for ~$1.50


Genius I tell you, genius (PS. Ironically, I couldn't spell genius... had to use the dictionary).

So you're wondering, what is that BOX?? And how did I get it??

Chances are: You used to have it but you probably threw a bunch of it away. Okay, I'll get to the point. Do you remember when AOL used to be this huge new internet service thing and it kept sending free CD's to try out... YUP, that's the box!

*pic from Google. Mine is obviously bigger ^__^

I was lucky enough to find one because I remember throwing away a bunch of them when I was cleaning the house months ago.

I just glued a bunch of magazine cut outs to decorate it. Glued on some magnets and TAH DAH!!

Next stop - pressing some pigments to add to my new palette

Thank for reading! Toodles~

It's My Red Lips

So, as you girlies know... you all need some form or another a good red lipstick. Why?? Red lipstick just makes you look so much more glamorous. Trick people into thinking that you put so much effort into looking hot while you did barely anything at all. Red lipstick looks great on special events, dates, night outs. Also, red lipstick looks awesome w/ a barely there eye look. So, here are my top picks for red lipsticks that I think are GREAT!


- What I love most about these is that they are not bright red. They are red w/ a hint of brown or warmer tone. They are not the cooler tones that some skin tones can't pull off. These colors warm up your face - which makes it suitable for anyone - pale to tan to dark.



- Maybe the swatches will help explain what I mean. As you can see, the Revlon one is more bold while the others are, still red, but less dramatic.

My absolute favorite is the Lancome one b/c not only does it have the "warming" ability but it also has golden sparkle undertone which is AWESOME! Red and gold go very well together.
Also, my mom got this w/ a free gift w/ purchase... so I wouldn't know how to repurchase this love piece. I don't think I ever let it out of the make up bag. It's too precious :D!

However, Apollo from NYX is really close to a dupe... close but not exactly. I switch off between the two sometimes.

The Maybelline one I use for nude looks. If I use it lightly, it gives me a nice "your-lips-but-better" color :D.

The Revlon one I haven't tried on my lips yet... I'm too scared. It's so red! And the staying power is amazing.

That's all for now! I hope you had fun reading!


BYE BYE.

NYX Jumbo Pencils

As you guys know, I am pretty new to make up. I've only started experimenting w/ stuff a year ago and I still don't know a lot. One thing I've picked up is how important bases are for eye shadows! Bases are wet so they have a sticky surface to powder to stick to, which makes it more vibrant in color, less fall out, and much less creasing and fading. For example:



As you can see, the eye shadow is so much lighter and less pigmented than when it is on the bases. Also, the color of the bases plays a bit of a role when it comes to color.
When playing w/ colors, I find that darker colors (like Root Beer) doesn't get affected as easily by the color of the base as a lighter color would. Rust is a deep maroon shade but it still turns out pretty dark brown when Root Beer goes on. As you can see though, Yogurt is a lighter shade which makes Root Beer a lot lighter than the other bases.

Pretty much - just experiment and see which color selections you like the most.

Because eye shadow bases are so important, I took advantage of the NYX sales and got 4!



With bases though - little goes a long way! Expect creasing w/ these if you use them alone.


TOODLES!

Bath TIME!

OMG, I don't know why my internet has been so slow lately!! It took forever to load this page. Anyways, now that my busy week is over, I now I have to post a little bit. I had to wash my brushes the other day and I wanted to make a post about it just because... I dunno. Well, this is how I clean my brushes and it's worked out well for me thus far.



This is what I use. The bottle of "water" is the cleaning mixture that I learned from Enkore's Channel. I love using it b/c after wards, my brushes smell nice and they're clean and just really awesome!

Then also, I was watching Pursebuzz talking about using a facial scrub that she doesn't like to deep clean her brushes and I realized I also have a scrub that I don't like. So that's what the Neutrogena face scrub in there is for.



So, I first pour some of my brush cleanser mixture in a little bowl. Enough to dip my brushes in but not a lot! Then I would take it and wipe it on a piece of paper towel. Then I would put some of my scrubs on there and just get into the bristles and scrub! Then rinse w/ water and hang them either upside down or on the side. Never dry them just standing straight up b/c that might ruin the brushes.


My foundation brush is always the dirtiest!


See how my skunk brush from Coastal Scents has the dyes coming out. This is the 2nd time I've washed it.


Here is one of my favorites E.L.F eyeshadow brushes. It is the eye defining brush and it is so awesome b/c it is slanted. It is multipurpose. You can do so much with it.


Let them layout to dry... this is an old pic. I have a bit more brushes (the coastal scents ones) since then.