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!

Happy (Belated) Halloween! My Makeup Look for Halloween

To celebrate Halloween (and kick off homecoming) this year, my boyfriend and I attended Ludacris's FREE concert at our university with thousands of other students. We had a blast getting into the school spirit, but because it was on Halloween, we decided to attend in our costumes. My lovely boyfriend and I were Musketeers. Here is my costume and makeup design with instructions for anyone who might want to recreate it for another holiday or costume party. Enjoy!

Eyes: For this look, I basically did the same eyeshadow I did for the Rocky Horror makeup tutorial, but instead of black shadow in the center, I used purple. This made the eye softer and more feminine, which complimented the flirty black dress. I lined both my upper and lower waterlines to make the eyes more sultry and then added a volumizing mascara. I didn't wing my eyeliner out, but you can to make the eyes more dramatic.

Face: Definitely do concealer after you do your eyeshadow because it'll keep fallout bits from collecting and making your undereyes look dark and heavy. I used a dark bronzer (again) to contour the face and a rosy blush to give my cheeks a natural flush.

Lips: I chose to do my lips in a pinky-berry color to make it look more flirty and natural. You could do a red lip for an evening look, but since the concert festivities started in the afternoon, I wanted my makeup to be appropriate for day time. Once again, I used the same techniques from the Rocky Horror tutorial.

Hair: I separated my bangs out and then French braided my hair to keep it nice with my hat on. After finishing the braid, I straightened my bangs and tucked them behind my ears, securing longer strands with a small bobby pin. Lots of hairspray was used to prevent fly-aways!!

Tag, you're it! This or That

So here is a popular tag that is currently going around Youtube, and I thought I'd answer it here. Enjoy! And post your own answers!

MAKEUP:
blush or bronzer
Bronzer because I like to contour my face with it.

lip gloss or lipstick
Lipstick. It tends to be less messy for me.

eye liner or mascara
Eyeliner. I kind of feel like my eyes disappear into my face without it.

foundation or concealer
Concealer! I have pretty decent skin, but terrible under-eye circles that NEED to be covered up.

neutral or color eye shadow
It really depends on my mood or what I'm doing. I normally do a neutral eye for day time with some browns or nudes, but I've really been into blue and green eyeshadows recently.

pressed or loose eye shadows
Pressed. Again, less messy =)

brushes or sponges
Brushes because they're easier to clean.

NAILS:
OPI or china glaze
OPI, but I'm not really a fan of either of them.

Long or short
I love long nails, but I have a bad habit of biting or picking at my nails, so I never really can grow them out.

Acrylic or natural
Natural because they're easier to upkeep, but I've been thinking of going back to acrylics.

Brights or darks
Brights, usually. But right now, I'm so digging this color!

Flower or no flower
Haha.. No flower, please =)

BODY:
perfume or body splash
Both? I usually apply perfume in the morning and freshen up with body splash by mid-day or early evening.

lotion or body butter
Lotion. Body butter feels to thick to me.

body wash or soap
Body wash! I love using my loofah!!

lush or other bath company
While I love Lush, I do not have a bath tub at school so I cannot use most of their products up here. Also, they're kinda pricey. I do love the Daddy-O shampoo, though! Still, I'd probably go with Bath and Body Works because they have killer scents and deals 24/7.

FASHION:
jeans or sweat pants
Jeans. I never go out in public while wearing sweat pants unless 1) I'm going to the gym or 2) I was napping and you woke me up.

long sleeve of short
Short! I live in the south... we almost never get cold weather!

dresses or skirts
Probably dresses? I think skirts can shift around during the day and look strange.

stripes or plaid
Stripes! Plaid is not my thing!!

flip flops or sandals
Sandals, but flip flops are rather comfortable.

scarves or hats
Bahaha! Scarves, for sure. I own like a billion.

studs or dangly earrings
I wear my Mikimoto pearl studs almost every day, but I like dangly earrings for going out on the weekends.

necklaces or bracelets
Probably necklaces, but I do wear my papa's bracelet all the time.

heels or flats
Love my heels, but I'm just more comfy in flats.

cowboy boots or riding boots
Riding boots!! So much sexier.

jacket or hoodie
I think jackets just look more polished.

forever 21 or charlotte russe
Forever 21! It's one of my all-time favorite stores.

abercombie or Hollister
Neither. I don't like their prices, their discrimination against anyone who's not a skinny white girl, nor their ugly clothing.

saks 5th or nordstrom
Probably Nordstrom unless it's the actual Saks on 5th Avenue in NYC =)

HAIR:
curly or straight
I love loose, big curls.

bun or ponytail
Bun. But I normally rock a ponytail if my hair is straightened.

bobby pins or butterfly clips
Bobby pins.

hair spray or gel
I mix and match? Lol. I usually use a gel on wet hair with some deep conditioner to help support the curl. But I apply hairspray to any finished look.

long or short
My hair use to be super long, then I cut it all off, and now it's slowly growing back. I'm probably going to keep it around my shoulder blade length for a while.

light or dark
I LOVE being a blonde =)

side sweep bangs or full bangs
Side swept bangs. I'm too lazy to style my bangs every day, so I can just pin those suckers back easily if they're the side-swept ones.

up or down
Mostly up and out of my face unless I'm going out.

RANDOM:
Rain or shine
SHINE! I'm such a sun bunny! But I absolutely love it when it's raining and I'm all curled up in my bed.

Summer or winter
Summer! I love going to the beach, wearing fun sundresses, and getting a tan.

Fall or spring
It used to be spring, but this year it is totally fall. I love all of my new fall wardrobe additions and the weather has been spectacular.

Chocolate or vanilla
I'm all about dark, semi-sweet chocolate!

East coast or west coast
East coast, baby!