Naughty Nautical Series

Hey guys!

So it's been awhile....

This post isn't on a specific product as it is more or so about a specific theme. I've been playing with the idea for a couple weeks now that the "it" color for summer has got to be blue.

Now, granted I've been working in a retail environment where we heavily promote nautical home décor i.e. a seahorse jewelry rack, an anchor on your dining room wall, or a errr....fishie serving plate.

You get the idea.

In this case when I'm using the term nautical I am thinking of coral and big blue waves.

Some recent beauty finds I've found would be, for the sake of this blog post:

Espionage Cosmetics' Knight Watch

NYX Aqua Shimmer

 

 

 

 

 

Happy summer adventures!

More Make-up Adventures: Lip Stain

Lipstain. How does it compare to lip gloss or lip stick? Note: prepare for selfies.

 

Pro:

 

Well, it stains. This is probably the best feature of No. 7's Ruby. It stains so well that even after exchanged kisses and meals, the stain still wears on. If you have a long day ahead of you--awesome. If you have somewhere to be the next morning, maybe lip stick is more your thing. I had patches of the stain remaining on my lips at 6 a.m. the next morning that I could NOT get off no matter what I tried. Despite the awesome stain presented in the picture above, uneven coverage is still possible...

 

I don't know how obvious it is in this photo, but as you can see, my bottom lip soaked up the stain more than my top lip. Even after re-application, it still appeared uneven. There could be some tricks to this I just don't know yet.

 

Here are some more pictures of this lip stain:

 

 

 

Lip stain @ work/retail.

 

 







Con: It should be noted that probably the worst feature of a lip stain is the dryness factor. Without applying prior moisture you could end up having dry, cakey lips all through out the day. No. 7's Ruby comes with a moisturizer that you can apply before you use the actual marker, however, I found that even when I used the moisturizer, my lips still dried relatively quick.

 

 

Conclusion: This lip stain, and in my opinion, lip stains in general, are good for when you're in a creative rut as a make-up artist and need to spice up this part of your life. Too much lip gloss can make you feel like you're 13 again, and lip stick can provide too much drama (and lots of used tissue, messy kisses!). Would I wear lip stain every day? Personally, no. I just can't get over the dryness factor and the at times uneven coverage.

 

XXOXOXX

 



Today's Look

My allergies are giving me a run for my money today. Nevertheless, here's a look that's simple, but still infallible.

 

Were working with 3 products only. A prominent purple gloss by Sephora.

 

 

Illuminator for underneath the eyes, by Bare Minerals

 

 

Eyebrow definer by NYX

 

 

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Red Lips

Every girl's got a focal point to her look. What do I mean? Well...





 

Oh, hello nostril.

I'll let you guys guess what my focal point is.

When people look at you, what do you want them to see?

That's what I'm here to talk about today. Whether the largest/most striking and/or awesomest part of your face is your lips or your eyes or your cheek bones or your Spock eyebrows, you need to know how to work with what you got.

I've had big lips for as long as I can remember. Here are some pictures of me on a regular day with my staple--red lipstick. This is a "nothing special" look. No illuminators or concealers or eyebrow definer is used.



 

For inquiring minds, the lipstick I'm using is Bordeaux by Rimmel.

 

 

The lip liner I'm using is Ulta brand in the color Beet.

 

 

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Let's Talk About NARS

Today were talking about....

you guessed it...

NARS products. Now, while I have yet to try their Orgasm blush which they're practically famous for and I will definitely get around to doing so and this sentence is getting rather long....

I have been dabbling with their lipsticks and eyeshadows for a bit now. In this blog post I will be featuring NARS Short Circuit lipstick, as well as the Marie - Galante palette. Here are some tips before moving on:

1. As always, don't forget to use a primer before you apply these pretty hues of orchid and blue. I use NYX. A primer is a must if you want to wear this stuff through the night with your sweat AND everyone else's.

2. Originally I thought about returning the lipstick (yes...I'm one of THOSE customers) after wearing it once because it is such a bold color and when I first put it on I wasn't wearing lip liner. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Lipliner is a must for this look. I typically get my lip pencils from Ulta, and I'm partial to the darker reds. I cover both my top and bottom lip with the pencil and then I apply Short Circuit. Now, onward to the peektures!!

 

What were working with!

 

 

These colors are by Pacifica and the color at the top I used as a highlighter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual I began with my lighter color (orchid) and worked my way out to my darker color (blue).

That's all for now guys :)

Skin Care

Now before I go on a skin rant I want to make it clear (pun intended) that this...

is as good as it gets for me.

Please keep in mind that I am a single, white female. I go out frequently, drink, regularly avoid my veggies--I know I'm on the eve of destruction--and struggle with staying hydrated on a daily basis. With that being said, I truly feel this product gives me a good glow that I *don't* need to fight for.

I'm not one for mud masks, cleansers, black head reducers, exfoliators, serums...none of that. However, No. 7 has most definitely got it going on with this cleanser.

It's just awesome. I use it about every other day, switching back and forth between this one and the No. 7 foaming cleanser. However, I am partial to this one. It feels like jelly in my finger tips (oh la la) and it makes my skin soft and shiny--in a non gross way!

Keep in mind this is me at the beginning of the day without having worn any prior makeup, without having had any prior coffee (yikes), and very au natural.

So where can you get this lovely product? Check your local Target or go to us.boots.com to see more of what I'm yapping about.

-Furthermore-

I wouldn't use this product every day *if* you live in a moist climate like I do. I live near the beach. Since the melting gel cleanser is a bit of moisturizer I wouldn't use it every day *unless* you live in the desert, because then over-moisturizing wouldn't be as big of a deal, you know?

-Annie

Perfecting the Smoky Eye

Yay! First Entry!

Ok so today I'm working on perfecting the smoky eye (ahem, hence the title....)

I'll be using ELF's Jetsetter palette, a whopping $6 from your local Target.

Forgive my cheap camera shots...ok, here we go:

 Behold, the smoky eye! We are playing with three colors here. Blackish, white-ish, and purplish.

 

   But Annie! How do I do a smoky eye without not looking like a raccoon? Well I'm glad you asked, dear reader....

                                                             

For a beloved smoky eye we do NOT want to use solely black, although black is a great color. Instead we want to use a white highlighter on top of our black. Here, I added a dash of white in my creases. You can kind of see where my black ends and my white begins.

 

Start with black, work it into the middle of your eye with your brush. Brush to the left...brush to the right. Stop! Add white into the crease from the corner of your eye then back towards the direction of your nose.

 

...that's it

 

 

 

  for real! that's all I got :)

 

Tips for using the Jetsetter palette:

Less is more. Use a little bit of color at a time. You can always add color (it's harder to take it away).

While the colors provided in this palette are lovely, I can't stress the importance of using a primer on your eyes. I like to use NYX.

And a little bit about me: I saved it for the end of the post because I hate annoying intros on blogs (just show me the goods already!)

My name is Annie...I like to look fabulous...

affordably!....

with little to no effort....

and that's all you need to know :)'

XOXOXOXXXX

Annie