Haulin': Sally Beauty Supply and Sephora

Seeing as how yesterday was payday, I spent my Saturday like any other normal college kid would.

I went shopping! And I picked up some super-cool things to share with you all =)

My first stop was Sally Beauty Supply. This awesome chain offers beauty and cosmetic products that are somewhat equal to their salon counterparts at a fraction of the price because there are no super-fancy names stamped on them. Recently, I spent the $5 it costs to join their Beauty Club which is a special rewards program that actually saves you about 10-15% on each item you buy at the store. I originally only went into Sally today to find a good damage repair shampoo as my hairstylist told me that with my constant bleaching and coloring, my hair was becoming dry and brittle. I was totally fine with that, until she tried to sell me a $24, 7 oz. bottle of name-brand shampoo. Umm... I don't think so!

So I went to Sally's and found this awesome product:
In all honesty, this product wasn't THAT new (I already had bought and fell in love with the brand's 2 Minute Repairing Mask). Since I loved it so much, I figure the shampoo must be awesome too. Aphogee's Shampoo for Damaged Hair cost $7.39. I'll try it out tonight and let you know how it goes.

I then walked down the nail polish aisle and these two products caught my eye:
Beauty Secrets' Base Coat (left) and Top Coat (right) came highly recommended from numerous Youtube makeup gurus and nail salons, so I knew they were the real deal. Each bottle cost $2.79. I just tried them out this evening (as I painted my nails with OPI's Teal We Meet Again) and they worked like magic! I especially impressed with the top coat, which helped my nails dry in thirty seconds.

Recently, I really needed a new pencil sharpener for my eye pencils. So, I picked this one up at the check-out counter:
I really like that it has an attached piece for all of your pencil shavings. At $2.99, it was slightly pricey, but it looks like it will work much better than my current sharpener.

I also got a strange impulse to buy this:
It's a 'Lip Crayon', which basically means it doubles as a pencil and lipstick. I bought one in the shade Coral Shimmer for $1.89 and so far, I really like it! It's a peachy-nude, slightly on the orange side, but still very wearable. I'll probably layer lipstick on top of it to ensure that it stays on for longer and doesn't make my lips look dry.

After Sally's, I drove over to Sephora. I originally intended to only buy this:
When I got my Urban Decay Naked Palette, it came with a mini Primer Potion and I fell in love with it. So, I went back to Sephora today and shelled out the $18 to buy a full-sized one. I think it's a smart buy, though, because it works so incredibly well and really holds my eyeshadow in place all day.

I also grabbed this in Sephora:
Though I have been cleaning my brushes weekly, I've been scared to clean them daily because the formula could dry them out and destroy the quality of the brush hairs. This brush cleanser ($6), however, is mild enough to use every day, so I will test it tomorrow and let you know how it goes!

And then my FABULOUS boyfriend bought me the COOLEST Valentine's Day gift ever:
Uh-huh. That would be the Nars Orgasm blush/Laguna Bronzer ($40). I AM SO EXCITED! For those who don't know, this duo is famous for being suitable for practically ANY skin tone (okay, maybe not Laguna. It can be a bit too dark for some skin tones. But Orgasm is definitely appropriate for everyone). I've been lusting after it forever and my darling boyfriend knew it would be the perfect Valentine's Day gift for me. How cute is that?!

So that's my haul! I did do some other shopping, but it was for clothes, so that doesn't really fit on this blog. Have you bought anything super cool lately? Share it in the comments!

Rainy Day Makeup

If you're a serious BB, you probably don't leave your house without makeup. Ever. Right? Because no matter how tired you are, or how short on time you are, or what the weather is like, you want to make sure you look your best!

But a look that might work on a normal basis for you may not look as flattering if it's very overcast or raining outside because the natural lighting changes (from sunny to cloudy, of course) and shadows and lines that aren't typically visible become a lot more visible when rainstorms approach. This is especially true for olive skin tones, that often have to deal with dark under-eye circles.

So to look like a bombshell when the weather is blah, you need to adapt a new makeup routine! Here are a few tips I've discovered that will help you shine in bleak weather:

1) Do a warm or neutral eye. When it's cloudy outside, it's best to use neutral to warm tones on your face so that your makeup doesn't look dark and bruise-like. With the recent rainstorms we've been having on my campus, I've been rocking a lot of pinky-gold eye shadows that brighten my eyes instead of making them look garish or hollow.

2) Avoid heavy liner. If you're like me, you probably won't leave the house without eyeliner because without it, your eyes don't stand out as much. But if you're going to rock eyeliner on a rainy day, keep it as close to the lashline and as thin as possible. I'd also recommend using a brown liner because it doesn't look as harsh in low lighting.

3) Use a waterproof mascara. So you walk out of your first lecture of the day and into a torrential down-pour. Oh, no! You forgot your umbrella! It's only a quick run to your next class, but you're definitely going to get wet. While your hair might be 'ruined' and your clothes are going to be soaked, there is absolutely nothing worse than mascara unintentionally running down your face in thick, black streaks. To save yourself the embarrassment, use waterproof mascara especially on days when there's a high chance of rain.

4) Rock the ballerina bun. No matter how much product you use in your hair, no blow-out or hot tool-styled hair can survive the slightest hint of humidity, let alone a rainstorm. To keep your look as polished as possible, simply pull your hair back into a ponytail and then wrap the ponytail around itself to create a bun (which you can secure with a hair tie or bobby pins). To frame your face better, give a little volume to your bangs before you pin them back.

5) Use a setting spray. Overcast days often bring humidity and heavy mists. To prevent your makeup from sliding all over your face, spray one to two pumps of a setting spray over your makeup before you leave the house. This will not only make your makeup look a little more natural (it helps blend it into your skin), but it'll also keep it from running in the fog.

In case all else fails and the weather ruins your makeup, carry makeup wipes with you so that you clean up whatever makeup is left on your face. Do you have any tips for rainy day makeup? If so, leave them in a comment!

Masterclass Mondays: The "Everyday Gorgeous" look for Olive Tones

Whoot! Welcome to Masterclass Mondays, a new weekly series that will feature a look from Jemma Kidd's Makeup Masterclass book. Today, I tried out her everyday look that features colors that specifically flatter olive skin tones. Fret not if you aren't olive, though! I will do more of her looks each week!

According to Kidd, every day looks should be neutral and not highly noticeable. The more natural they look, the better. Therefore, this particular look involves almost-skin tone shadows and colors.

I apologize for the poor photo quality. For some reason, these pictures came out super blurry =/

Eyes: As per Kidd's instructions, I left my brows natural and applied a gold-beige shadow (UD's Naked from the Naked palette) all over the lids. This shadow is slightly darker than my natural skin color. To "intensify the color at the socket and outer corner of the eye", I applied a cocoa-brown color (Buck from the Naked Palette) and blended it up into the crease. Lastly, I curled my lashes and applied a black mascara.

Face: I applied a liquid concealer on my under-eye circles and around the corners of my nose which tend to get red. Then, I applied a light-weight liquid moisturizer and a little translucent powder from Clinique to blot up any excess shine. To add a little bit of color to my face, I lightly applied a peach-toned blush that wouldn't look too made-up.

Lips: I used a rose-toned SPF infused moisturizing lipstick (Kidd recommends a rose tinted lip balm, but I didn't have any) to round out the look.

My opinion: I think this is a great look for everyday usage, especially for high schoolers who are just starting to dabble in makeup or women who like to stick with a naturally beautiful look. I did add a brown eyeliner once I was done because I felt that my eyes sunk into my face otherwise, but overall it's definitely a look I could wear every day. Plus, to make it even more appealing, it only took me 7 minutes to do! How awesome is that?!

Super Bowl Sunday: Go STEELERS!

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of matching my makeup to my clothing because it just looks too matchy-matchy to me. But when you're a die-hard fan* of any sports team, it's natural to want to show your colors in any and all ways possible (even if it means matching your eyeshadow, lipstick, and team jersey) right?

Well, sort of.

For example, in this year's Super Bowl (the biggest, most important American football game for all of my foreign readers), I favored the Pittsburgh Steelers. But instead of wearing a look that was centered around black and yellow, I wanted to do a more unique, wearable look that would look good for a football game or any other fun event.

So, since I was avoiding black and yellow, I did a look based around my team's name and made a "steely" gray look!



Eyes: First, I primed my eyes with Urban Decay's Primer Potion because I wanted this look to not have fall-out or flake off as the day progressed. Then, with a thick, flat brush I patted UD's gray Gunmetal shade (from the Naked palette) all over the lid. It's REALLY important to use patting motions because there is so much glitter in this shade that if you try to brush it on, you'll wind up with glitter all over your face! I then blended the shade at the edges, into the sockets, so that it didn't look like a harsh gray blob on my eyes.

Next, I took a smudging -- or pencil -- brush and ran the black Creep shade (also from the Naked palette) just above my upper lash line. This also has glitter, so be careful!! After I applied it, I blended it upwards, creating a silvery, smokey eye. To balance out the dark lids, I then used my clean blending brush to lightly apply the shimmery, light beige tone from the same palette, called Virgin, just underneath my brows and down into the inner corner of my eyes. I also highlighted the brow bone with just a little bit of Sin -- a very light, shimmery pink shadow.

I lined my eyes with a thin line of black gel liner on the top lashes and then used an angled brush to apply the Gunmetal shade on the outer two thirds of my lower lash line. Lastly, I curled my lashes and applied a lengthening mascara.

Face: Because the eyes are so dark for this look, it's really important to use a good concealer under the eyes. Apply it with patting motions using your ring or middle finger so that the concealer blends into the skin but isn't rubbed off. Then, I used a tinted moisturizer since I didn't want my makeup to look too over-done (after all, this was just for a football and food party). To lock in the concealer and moisturizer, I applied a mineralized face powder all over my face with a fluffy brush. I then used bronzer to sculpt my jaw line and a very light, raspberry-toned blush on the cheeks.

Lips: I went really simple, and just applied a sheer gloss. The idea of this look is to have the eyes really pop!

How to Clean your Makeup Brushes

Second only to washing your face on a regular basis, the most important step you should take to ensure your skin's health and easy makeup application is making sure that you clean your makeup brushes on a regular basis. Like anything you use or touch often, makeup brushes can collect bacteria over time. However, since those brushes are going to rub against your skin (especially your sensitive facial skin), you should really be sure that your brushes are as clean as possible to reduce chances of acne or irritation! Also, think about dragging dirty brushes through your makeup every day. Each time you swipe your unclean blush brush across your blush, your basically infusing it with dirt and bacteria. GROSS!!

Keeping your brushes clean also preserves the quality of your brushes. Makeup can cake up on brushes and if left unclean, the brush hairs can begin to degrade and your brushes will fall apart. I don't know about you, but the less often I have to spend anywhere from $20.00 to well over $100.00 for a new brush set, the better!

So, for the good of your skin, your makeup, and your brushes (*cough* wallet *cough*), you should clean your brushes anywhere from once a week to once a month, depending on how often you use them. For example, if you apply makeup at least twice a day, every day, you need to clean your brushes once a week. And of course, if you use makeup less often, you can wait up to a month to clean them. But no matter how thoroughly you clean them or how often, you should consider replacing your brushes every 10 months to a year.

Here's what you'll need to clean your makeup brushes:
1) Dirty makeup brushes
2) A bowl. I'd recommend using one that you don't constantly use for cooking.
3) A clean towel.
4) Brush cleaner. A good brush cleaner will also have a built-in conditioner that will keep your brushes from loosing their natural oils, or softness.

First, pour about 40 ml of brush cleaner into your bowl. I bought FaceSecrets' Professional Brush Cleaner from Sally's Beauty Supply. WARNING: It smells very strongly from rubbing alcohol. Do not do this in a tight space that isn't well-ventilated.

Once you have your cleaner poured, swirl each brush through the cleaner for no more than 10 seconds. If you leave a brush in for too long, the hairs can become dried out at will be damaged.


Bigger brushes like this kabuki will soak up most of your cleanser. To squeeze it out, lightly press the brush against the side of your bowl. You can technically do this with all of your brushes to release the excess liquid. It is important to ONLY dip the hairs into the cleanser, not the whole brush. If you go past the metal part, there's a good chance the glue holding the brush together will begin to disintegrate.

After swirling each brush in the cleaner, wipe it back and forth gently on the towel until all of the makeup and alcohol is out of the hairs. It's going to look a bit gross, but that's good because then you know your brushes are 100% clean!

Look at all the old foundation and bronzer. EWWWW!!!!! This should wash right out of your towel, but if you're worried about staining, use an old towel that you don't use frequently.

The liquid left in the bowl will also resemble mud:

Gross! Empty the bowl immediately and wash it out to prevent staining or the smell from 'sticking' to the bowl.

Your brushes should look gorgeously clean, now!

To allow your brushes to dry properly, stand them upright in a cup or mug for at least 8 hours (I normally give mine 14).

Here, I put my face brushes in one mug and my eye brushes in another to allow more air to circulate. You'll know your brushes are fully dry when they are 1) no longer slippery to the touch and 2) do not smell from rubbing alcohol.

Return of Beauty on the Brain!

Hello my lovely BB's! I'm back and certainly did not forget about you. I'm so sorry I haven't posted in ages. Unfortunately, with school and my job, blogging fell to the wayside and I often did not have time to create the meaningful, informative blogs and reviews you all come here for.

That being said, I certainly did not run out of time for cosmetics and beauty products! Here's just a glance at what I've been up to:

That's a heck of a lot, no? The beauty brain never sleeps, no matter how many exams or work-related meetings come up!

Over the past couple of months, I've accumulated a TON of products to review and incorporate into tutorials for you BBs. Some have been awesome; others were less than stellar. Nevertheless, I'm still look forward to telling you all about my beauty exploits.

There were some incredible stand-out products that I came across. First up are the deep conditioning treatments I've been using in my hair:

Both were purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply and while they both are nice, one definitely works better than the other. So, look for an upcoming Battle of the Brands between these two!

Next, I tested the urban legend of using artist brushes (sold at Michael's Craft Store for painting) to apply my makeup.

Please pardon my dirty brushes! I was just getting ready to do a brush cleaning tutorial!

Did they work? Find out soon in an Ultimate Brush Smack Down!

What else? Oh, yes! I tested a new brush cleanser, so look for a review on it soon.

Also got a new boar bristle brush, which is supposed to smooth frizzy hair and keep the natural oils from building up.


So far, I'm loving it! My hair has never, ever, EVER felt so soft and manageable. If you have coarse, frizzy hair, I would definitely recommend investing in one. I got mine at Sally's Beauty Supply for under $6.00.

Another awesome cosmetic acquisition was this package of facial/makeup remover wipes that I bought at XXI Forever of all places.


They smell sooo nice and I love using them to clean up makeup through out the day or to totally get rid of makeup at night. They are soothing, refreshing, and leave my skin smelling sweet. Great price, too (only $2.80)!

Oh, yes. The holiday season AND my birthday also came and went. Thanks to my amazing family and fantastic friends, I got some super sweet goodies to share with you! First up is this nail polish set from my dad:

Isn't it CUTE?! I love the teal one and the silver glittery one the most, but it's such a great mini set of OPI's most popular colors.

My fantabulous boyfriend somehow managed to get a hold of an Urban Decay Naked palette for me for my birthday. It's my latest makeup addiction:


It's incredible. He's incredible. Be jealous =) HAHA! But in all seriousness, this is an amazing palette, so expect a review and tutorials based around it.

Then, since my mom is pretty much the coolest person ever, she totally out-did herself and managed to snag a bottle of MAC's Mean and Green nail polish from the sold-out Venomous Villains collection for my birthday. The duo-chrome shade didn't photograph perfectly, but here's a quick peek:


I've been wearing it for almost a week straight and have gotten dozens of compliments on it. I will do a post soon with better photography and easier-t0-see color swatches.

And lastly, my good friend Morgan (who's blog you should check out over here if you are interested in writing techniques) got me the makeup Bible for my birthday:


It's so... pretty! All of the looks are beautiful and Jemma is a brilliant makeup artist. So, in honor of this fabulous book, I will be starting a new series called Masterclass Mondays, where I will do one look from the book each week. Look for it soon!

OH! And I just realized I forgot to photograph this with the rest of the group of items, but I got this super-awesome nail polish at Disney World in December:


It's from OPI's Alice in Wonderland collection and is called "Off With Her Red" (Get it? Get it?!). It's a lovely color, so look for a review on it soon.

Honestly, I'm so glad to be back to blogging again. I have so many fantastic blogs planned and I'm really excited to post them for you. Thanks for sticking around with me!

Quick Update!

Hey BBs!! Just wanted to give you guys a quick update on my life. I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been extremely busy with school (it being near the end of the semester and all), but I PROMISE to be back very shortly with some cool new blogs, tutorials, and reviews.

If you have any requests or suggestions for posts, leave them in the comment box, please!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, readers!