Some of my Color favorites from the past year!

I love color transformations and some of my clients have been really brave this year and have changed up their look. That's the great thing about color. It's not a forever commitment! You can change it with the seasons to keep it fun. If you always wear your hair up, that's a sign it's time for a change! I love a good bun, but if you only wear a bun....girl.. it's time to change it up. Hair is a woman's greatest accessory. Step out of the box and try a new look! If your hair looks great, you Feel great. Life's too short to have bad hair! :)

Here's some of my favorites and a couple before and afters of my dear clients!
Have a great weekend!

P.s. - I can't wait to see Catching Fire today! Eeeeeeeeeee

Fall smokey Eye

Every woman needs to try a smokey eye once in her life! It can seem a little on the heavy side, so you can always do browns and coppers instead of black to soften the look. It's really stayed popular and has become more of a natural look than, "I'm going to the club any minute" look. It's fun to change it up! I never wear the same eye makeup everyday. Change up your color pallete and keep it fresh.

I would say always go back and reapply your eyeliner to really ground the look. Whether you use brown or black a liquid liner will set off your smokey eye. Have fun!

I used Virgin from the Urban Decay NAKED palette on the entire lid, and then packed on creep in the outer corners and blend it into your crease really well. I then pressed NYX walnut onto the lid to warm up the deep brown. Then I lined with Elf waterproof liquid liner and Revlon grow luscious mascara! 

NYX Walnut 

I should of curled my lashes ;) 

Have a great day! 

My favorite skincare products-Pharmagel

This year I have been Loving the Pharmagel products! They are awesome. I had previously been using the Peter Thomas Roth line which is great, but a little on the expensive side. My skin has been so much better and is smoother and clearer. Don't get me wrong I'll still have a monthly breakout, but it's not near as bad as it used to be. I also didn't have bad skin for weeks before it gets used to new products, which is super nice. Try this line out!

Pharma Clear Antibacterial cleanser - am. and p.m.

This medically proven, fast healing antibacterial cleanser quickly breaks down oils, residue, and excess sebum on the skin and hair follicle as it deeply cleanses pores. Powerful antiseptic Tea Tree Oil targets acne producing bacteria and combats bacteria all day. This exclusive formula lifts away dead skin cells and encourages healthy skin renewal as it calms irritation and redness.

I use this after my cleanser a.m. and p.m. I may need something a little heavier for the winter months.

Pharmagel Hydr0xy-10 - I can't say enough great things about this moisturizer. It's really helped even out my skin. If I have a breakout it's gone in the morning. The Glycolic Acid really brightens your skin and has anti-aging properties. It's never too early to start fighting wrinkles!

A lifting, firming and moisturizing lotion concentrate for the face and body, contains 10% Glycolic Acid and Salicylic Acid (BHA). BHA works at deeper levels in the skin for longer lasting exfoliation and cellular renewal benefits. Glycolic Acid offers gentle, all natural exfoliation and cellular renewal. HYDRO2XY-10 also contains stabilized oxygen for rapid penetration, providing increased cellular renewal with lifting and firming benefits. HYDRO2XY-10 revitalizes, firms and rejuvenates. Wrinkles, fine lines and sagging skin are diminished.

Enzyme Ex-Cell exfoliating facial scrub- once a week 

This is an awesome exfoliating scrub that has a nice grittiness to it. You don't want to exfoliate too often because your skin would get dried out. This polishes and brightens and gets heavier makeup off. Love! 

Gentle micronized polishing grains from walnuts combine with the revitalizing, anti-aging benefits of papaya enzymes to slough off dry, dull skin layers and stimulate cellular renewal. Just one treatment refines pores, firms skin tone, smoothes surface texture and makes dull, discolored skin appear brighter and clearer. Allantoin calms freshly exfoliated skin so that even sensitive skin will benefit from regular use. Excellent pre-shave treatment for a smooth, close shave.

I will say I think my skin is generally sensitive and these products are really calming and do not cause irritation. Having a great regime is important and makes you more confident! 

Winter Color inspiration - VS Angels

Morning lovelies! The Victoria's Secret fashion show is coming up, so pictures are everywhere and I can't help but swoon over their amazing hair! The Angels are known for their shiny long length, rich color, and signature wave. It would be strange if they had straight flat hair right? Here's some of my favorite hair colors from this years show! 

Alessandra's golden medium brunette with warm dark blonde Balayage highlights keeps her skin glowing.

http://www.beautyheaven.com.au/beauty-blog

Lilly is famous for her beautiful balayage. It's more of a deeper caramel tone this season with a darker base so it creates this pretty depth perfect for colder months.

http://designyoutrust.com

Doutzen's hair is a great winter blonde since it's a sandy dark blonde with shimmers of a buttery blonde so it has some depth to it. 

http://beautyeditor.ca

Candice has a multidimensional blonde with golden undertones to keep it rich. How gorgeous right? 

http://www.becomegorgeous.com

Adriana has a glossy deep brunette with tons of shine. It's neutral at the base with a little gold through the ends so it doesn't appear drab.

http://news.instyle.com/

The day Finally came: the 20/20 tour had arrived

Can I just start out by saying how much I LOVE Justin Timberlake. I mean being a Memphis born girl I have an extra special place in my heart for J.T. He is hands down one of the best performer's of all time. I was a crazed NSYNC teenage fan so he's been a favorite of mine for around 13 years. That's a Long time for an artist to still be relevant these days. He continues to be an all around artist and not to mention the best Saturday Night Live host. My best friends and I have been counting down the days until this show. We sat two and two so since we switched seats at intermission we had the best of both worlds to enjoy the show. I am seriously depressed its over! If there was a clinical post J.T. show sadness, I have it. It was unreal how good he is in concert. We didn't want it to end, and he didn't let anyone down singing all his newer hits and singing his old album too. Come on, You know you'll always love "Cry me a river."

If you can see the 20/20 tour, GO. You won't regret it.

For the show I wanted to do a luminous highlight and cranberry smokey eye. The berry colors are really great for this time of year. It really warms up the eyes and looks great on all eye colors!
Here was my makeup for the night!


- A J.T. Fan Forever!!!! :)

These MAC pigments were from an older Dazzlesphere Smoky Berry holiday set. These last forever since the pigment is so strong. I layered spicy smoke and rose light to create a warm smokey eye. 

I used the Magic Lumi highlighter in Light to really brighten the under eyes and cheekbones. 

I love this highlighter! It really pops without being too strong.

Stay inspired! 

Have a great week! 

Highlighting and Contouring

Hello Lovelies! I thought I would post something about makeup that I LOVE to do. A lot of professionals rely on highlighting and contouring to make Hollywood faces look their best. The dark areas create depth and the highlighting "pulls" those areas forward. You want to accent the places you want brighter and darken the areas you want to minimize or sculpt. I think this artistic side of makeup  has become more popular for the everyday woman. It can be a soft or strong look depending on what intensity you are wanting to achieve. For some it may be heavier than their everyday look, but I can't go without a good bronzer year round! Bronzer lovers unite!

One famous face that adores a heavy contour/highlight is Kim K. That girl loves bright under eye concealer! While sometimes it's a little heavy, she pulls it off!

My favorite bronzer to contour with: NYX matte bronzer in Light or Medium
Make sure it's Matte, ones with sparkles will just look like a giant sparkle in photos. :)


My favorite highlighting concealer: Dream Lumi touch in ivory and MagicLumi in Light

Also here's some beauties that have some great H/C information:

http://www.maskcara.com/2012/11/10/hac-yourself-flawless/

http://www.kissablecomplexions.com

Here's an example of where to highlight and where to contour!
P.s. - I look like I have a beard :)


             

Making a triangle shape under your eyes helps cover dark circles and opens up your face 

These are the areas you contour with darker foundation or matte bronzer

The most important thing is to make it believable and blend, blend, blend! You don't want any harsh lines. 

The brushes you use are super important too and make it easy to do it quickly.

Kim's is a strong H/C while mine is a softer version 

 This is a great example of where to highlight and where to darken.

Have fun lovelies! 

Makeup of the Day

I was inspired by the glamorous evening eye makeup look from Amanda's Ensing's youtube channel for today's eye makeup! She has some beautiful looks!

Amanda Ensing youtube channel 


For the eye shadows I used the Urban Decay Naked palette
- smog on entire lid
- half baked under eyes
- darkhorse for the crease

- MAC  glitter in antique gold pressed on eyelid - LOVE.

- NYX lipstick I'm strawberry milk

Happy Friday!

Clip in Extensions, yes please.

Everyone knows getting extensions can be pretty expensive. If a salon does them for cheap, Run. I say this because this is one area you don't want to go cheap on. Poorly done professional extensions can even make your hair fall out when done improperly. Whether it's fusion or micro link a reputable salon will charge normally around $700-1,000 + for the installation and hair used. Tape in extensions are great and usually more affordable, but they don't last as long. (Usually 6 weeks.) It takes hours to install extensions and requires high maintenance care to keep them healthy. Usually you get them tightened or reinstalled every 3 months. For some this is their beauty splurge and can afford the upkeep of extensions, which there is nothing wrong with that! But if you want some temporary added length and don't have the budget, clip in's are a girls best friend. They are awesome for special occasions, but if you would want to wear them daily you would need to shampoo them often and style them to keep them in good shape. They are very affordable and with good care will last years. You can find great clip in's with many different shades for $100-$300. Sally's even has good clip in's for getting started. There are some great ones even on Etsy. A lot of youtube beauty guru's rave about Bellami extensions. I haven't ever seen them in person, but they appear to be good quality hair.

The Most important thing is to make sure they are human hair extensions and can be heat styled and even colored to perfectly match your color. These will last much longer and you can style them just like your natural hair. The ones with a mix of Synthetic hair will melt immediately with heat and look unnatural with an almost too shiny effect. You can even take them along with you if you want your stylist to layer your clip in's to blend in better with your cut. I had made some extensions in the past so getting a large weft of hair to cut down and sew didn't scare me, but most likely you'll want the ones with clips already sewn to the hair. I bought mine from Sally's and made them last night just for fun! I can't wait to try them out. I colored them ombre to better match my color and they turned out pretty cool! Most importantly just have fun and try new looks for a temporary beautiful change!

P.S. These do not come with clips- virgin Remy human hair extensions 24"

With the hand sewn extension clips installed

After with the ombre coloring done!

Fall Lipsticks

I'm always up for trying a new lip color and lately I've wanted to try darker tones for November. It's hard to think about straying away from pink, but let's be daring this season. One I'm really wanting to get is MAC rebel. That is a super popular fall/ winter dark shade. Most skintones can do dark reds, but I am not one those people. If red suits you, go for it! More cool colors with undertones of plum and blue work well with neutral skin tones. Be brave and let go of pink!

This is NYX black label lipstick in Amethyst. It's got more shimmer in it than I would prefer, but it's a fun change!

Paul Mitchell Neuro Curling Wand

Curling wands have been a really popular styling tool the past couple years since wavy messy hair became more desired. The tight curls aka "winter formal 1998" has had it's moment. It's more of a look that you just woke up, rolled out of bed and it was just lovely. Victorias Secret girls have this look down. Let's be honest, it takes work for that look. Products like hair powders and dry shampoos help give you some texture and build up volume so it's not flat against your scalp.

I was in the market for a fun new styling tool and came across the new Neuro Paul Mitchell line at my local supply. I'll try to find a link to where they would be sold at. It's a 3 in 1 detachable curling wand. It has three different attachments for different looks. You get a 1" styling rod for loose curls, 1.25" styling cone for waves, and a mini .75 styling cone for tighter waves. I think it's really practical for stylist who do bridal styling so you don't have to carry all these tools and for the everyday woman it's nice to have 1 styling tool instead of buying three different wands. I love it! It heats up really fast and shows the temperature digitally. I can't wait to try different looks mixing the wands!

Here's what the 1.25" styling cone achieves. It gives you a messy wave when wrapped around the wand.

Cheers for waves!