First of All, let me just go ahead and apologize off the bat for that post title.....I could not resist for realz
I also really quickly wanted to apologize for my absence here on the blog. I've been super busy in my other life as a Human Resource person
But even though I love my job, and all the people I work with...we all know that whenever I get a great deal on makeup I'm still all
Summertime brings about some unexpected challenges for makeup here in sunny Florida. You want to look pretty and sun-kissed. However, most of us end up looking more like this
As a result, I designed this summertime appropriate look for going out with your friends. It..cannot..fail. This shiny-lids, whipped foundation, light blush look is PERFECT for even the warmest of summer nights. And even better yet, all the products I used are super cheap!!!
Enjoy the video below, which legit-style walks you through each and every step I took on to complete the look.
I hope you like the title of this post, as I take the Thrift Shop song as my own, personal anthem.
Every Saturday morning, I wake up, grab my laptop, and ever-so-quietly (in a usually failed attempt to allow my husband valuable sleeping time.) From this point forward, I peruse Pinterest for about an hour or so...or up until the point my husband asks me to move locations in order to provide him said slumber.
As hard as it must be to believe, I'm fairly pidgeon-holed in my searches on Pinterest. Typically, I can spend houuurrrsss on end in JUST examining budget friendly cosmetic products online and STILL be all:
Typically this online quest will result in me venturing out to wherever I have to go a drug store or Wal Mart to seek out one inexpensive product I've found in my valiant morning investigation. Hey, weekends are all about this right??
As a result of my weekend splurges very important beauty blog research, I have been able to compile a list of awesome products that won't cost you a dollar more than five bucks.
"That's crazy!" you might say. "Impossible" might say others..."you get what you pay for and five dollars just isn't enough to attain great beauty products." To those readers I say...dream the impossible dream!!! Fight the impossible fight!! There REALLY ARE amazing offerings out there that cost just one little fiver. It's TRUE!! I mean come on guys...would I lie about the bill that honest Abe if litrally ONNN??
So here are the proud, the few, the incredible products flying in under the five dollar mark. Just kidding, there are actually a ton of products I found. Hece, the thirty minute video (ugh I know I'm SORRY..stop where you want :) Please enjoy the post and remember to subscribe to my channel and the blog. OH! And let me know what you want to see next. I'm always listening to my vivacious viewers and rivetting readers. Thank you guys so much for all the views and hits on the blog!!
If any of you ladies are as active as I am in the you(tube)uverse, you know that nude eye pallets are seriously EVERYWHERE. All it took was one little Naked makeup invention from Urban Decay, and suddenly women from across the world are all
anytime a neutral eyeshadow is anywhere within a 50 yard proximity.
And I have to admit I'm nowhere near above the fray. If I could easily plunk down $50.00 for anything, let alone an eyeshadow box, I would've most likely been the first lady in line down at the local Ulta--Urban Decay's Naked pallete happily in-hand.
But alas, that's not where I am in life. So, instead, I've experimented with lesser expensive eyeshadows over time--picking and choosing which ones ROCK and which ones to KNOCK. An awesome play on words no?? **As a side note, I'm thinking about doing a Youtube segment like this, so let me know what you think!!**
I was walking through my CVS one morning, and came across a Maybelline eye pallete called "The Nudes," and was (obviously) instantly interested. I spent around $10.00 on it, and am really pleased overall. My review is provided below.
TEXTURE: Overall, the shadows are really nice texture. Specifically, the non-matte shades are wonderfully creamy and pigmented. They are the BOMB!! Dare I say they remind me, texture-wise of Wet N Wild? The matte shades are a little less creamy, but not overly dry or chalky.
COLOR RANGE: There are some truly great colors here. Dark sparkly brown, taupe, light and dark gold, and a beautiful charcoal black are just a few of what you will receive in this pallet. The only thing I noticed missing, that in my opinion would make it better, is a matte warm color for blending purposes.
I don't know about the rest of you, but when the cold air hits all I'm thinking is: "ohhh crap I live in Florida and my makeup isn't prepared for this!!"
Seriously. When you look through my stash of makeups, you see a fairly nice collections of bright pinks, corals, reds, etc that all pretty much say: "hi I'm from Florida and I'm ready for warm weather."
So this Winter, I got prepared and put together this nice, spice-toned look that can be done in a hurry. Enjoy!!
Hi guys!! I'm so excited to be back here after a (ridiculously long) break :) I wanted to post a video for you guys (my favorite type) where I basically just show myself getting ready. As per usual on these type of videos, I like to break down the products I liked the best on the blog rather than the video. Please ignore the video duration, as I haven't quite figured out my new vid program first.
In the video above, I obviously had some super hit products that I L-O-V-E. Without a doubt, all the products I used are super el-cheapo but only a few are sooo amazingly wonderful that I have to single them out. The truly spectacular ones in a you-need-them-in-your-life kinda way are listed below. Enjoy!!!
NYC PENCILS
I know everyone busts NYC Cosmetic Company chops about the quality of their pencils quite a bit in YouTube videos world-wide. So I'm here to take a different stand on these pencils, and state it loud and proud: I LOVE EM'. I love them so much, I actually get upset when something happens and my 94 cents get flushed down the toilet. And then, you know what?? I go and buy another one.
Specifically, the Taupe color I find to be soo natural. It's probably the favorite product I've found out of all the brown eye pencils I've used. Even though my hair is dark, using a dark brown pencil never fails to make me look like I'm trying WAY to hard ala' Groucho Marx.
Believe it or not...this is NOT the look I'm striving for when getting ready.
MAYBELLINE MASTER PRECISE LIQUID EYELINER
This is probably the best eyeliner I...have..ever...tried. That includes the super fancy dancy ones I've purchased from Ulta for at least 3x the cost.
You just have soo much control of this eyeliner. It combines the control of any other eyeliner pen on the market, but also gives you the amazing fluidity of eyeliners with those flexible, flimsy brushes. The eyeliner just glides on with nary a fuss! I can't get ENOUGH, and I know I'll re-purchase from here on out. One word: incredible!!
JORDANA BLUSH
For those of you who follow my blogging/vlogging, you probably already know how much I LOVE these products. I'm talking, I can't get ENOUGH. So it makes my heart saddened that the Jordana brand dosnt offer their blushes out as regularly as their other products. You have to venture out to places like KMart in order to get them, but it's totally worth it once you do. The blushes come in a range of colors, are usually offered at a price tag of under $3.00 and are pretty fantastic quality. I love mine in touch of pink, which is a soft pinky color that looks gorgeous just on the apples or your cheeks, and is super pigmented.
I hope this video helps you ladies in finding your perfect products providing penny-pinching prettiness!!
I don't know about all of you out there reading this, but for some reason this particular weekend really got me alllllll stoked for the fun and festivities on weekendry. Y'know like sleeping in, laying out by the pool, taking leisurely walks, and enjoying a few adult beverages with just the tinnnieest garnish of lime.
Okay so maybe that last part is just me, but hey.....And seriously though, you should try the lime it makes all the difference.
MOVING ON. So there I am on Saturday after several quick dips in the pool. My husband opens the cupboards and we realize something is terribly, horribly awry.
We're out of snack foods!!! Now, as we all know, that is just completely unacceptable. So five minutes later I'm in my car on the hunt for snack foods.
I guess the quest for food really had gotten me all fired up because I hadn't taken any time to actually LOOK at my reflection at any point during the whole "getting ready" process. By the time I finally did flip my mirror open, I was quite literally in my vehicle parked at a red light. I....can't....even.....tell you....how....bad....it....was.
I had huge red bags under my eyes from the chlorine, my eyebrows were pointing in every direction, and to top it all off there was some old lip product bleeding every which way around my mouth. I kinda resembled this.
Thank goodness I always have a makeup emergency kit on hand that helps me out in a pinch like this one. I was able to remedy the situation fairly quickly and move along about my mission for eats.
Anyways it got me thinking about how often we've all been there. Not enough time to stop by the house but have somewhere to be NOW. So I compiled a video for you viewers out there, going over what I have in my emergency kit. Since I only carry five products, I know that it keeps the cost very low. However, these low-cost items pack big-time results as evidenced at the very end of the video, so stay tuned till the bitter end.
OOOO and also I should warn you guys in advance that next weekend I probably won't be posting anything at all. That is because I am on my anniversary trip with my man. Yep, we got married on St. Pattys day. LOL. So I'll be back to resume my duties in posting the following weekend. Thank you guys sooooooo much for continuing to read (I just saw the blog count is up to 2900!!!!). I think I may actually do a dance when we hit 3,0000. Oh!! And let me know how you are liking the videos too. Are they helpful?! Do you have requests? We want to hear from you guys!!
I hope all you awesome readers out there are having a perfectly fannntastic Sunday funday :)
For me, as a twenty-something married lady with groceries to buy and bills to pay, most of my Sunday adventures typically consist of LOTS of laundry, dishes, and mayyybbee (if I'm feeling extra luxurious) a rented redbox movie. Being on a budget, and being a beauty lover can be SOOO hard. I have to physically restrain myself from entering places like Ulta on the weekends...or else this would surely result
And let's be honest, it doesn't help to have Pinterest telling you how this or that product will channnggee your freaking life if you just plonk down the $54.00 purchase price. Holy cow man!!
The best feeling in the world to me is spending a teennnyy bit of money and ending up with a product that I would honestly stack against the high-enders, quality-wise. I've actually had lots of luck at places like Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar when buying beauty. I won't tell you that the purchases don't make me feel a litttllleee like this
Not to mention, there are sooo many brands being offered at those types of stores now!! It's truly incredible. Check out me video below, and I'll tell (and show) you my faves :)
Today I just wanted to do a quick lil post on a trend I've seen pretty much EVERYWHERE in the makeup world lately. It seems like every place I turn, models/actresses/slash(ctresses) are wearing BLACK EYESHADOW!!!!
Now I know what you're thinking...."Ummmmm yah no. Not for me. No way, no how. That would look awful on me."
Wanna know how I guessed your immediate reaction so accurately my dear readers??!! Because mine was exactly the same when I first spotted the trend. I just quickly decided it wasn't for me because A) it required such perfection in application and B) I thought it would look waayyyyy too heavy for my usually-subtle makeup style.
But finally, my curiosity and an idle Saturday with nothing to do got the better of me. Then, before I knew it I was whipping out the black eyeshadow faster than I could say "holy bad idea batman!"
As you could've probably guessed by the tone of this story, the first attempt and the ninty five attempts after the first one turned out pretty flippin' disastrously.
The goal, initially, was to get some kind of a makeup look that resembled this:
And, instead, at the end of all my efforts, I always ended up looking more like this
It was seriously horrific. But, as with every good experiment, you just have to keep going until you get the right recipe. Finally, I came up with this makeup look using black eyeshadow. I'm pretty pleased with it!!
I figured I'd share the way I achieved this look with all you readers out there. Here is the video instruction
Let me know what looks you guys want to see next!! Until next time, beautiful black eyeshadow buzzing!!
Hey girlies!!! I hope that each and every one of you is taking some much-needed, quality time away from work and enjoying your p & q (peace and quiet.) I know I have been!!!!
As most of you readers already know, I'm a HUGE fan of eyeshadow. I mean, I seriously LOVE it!!!! It, in my opinion, is the one element of a woman's makeup that can COMPLETELY translate the look she's going for.
EXAMPLE:
Want a daytime look? Stick to neutrals, browns, and taupe colors and you can't miss.
Eyeshadow just takes a woman's makeup from here to there so easily. It's...dare I say...magical?!
Eyeshadow is probably my WORST Achilles heel in the makeup aisle too. I'm such a sucker for all the beautiful colors and palettes. Whenever I go to the makeup aisle, and start browsing around the new colors companies are launching, I MIIIGGGHHHTTTlook a little something like this
And then when I get home, experimenting with all those shadows and seeing what I think, I MIGGGHHTTT feel a little something like this:
I had written some time ago about how disappointed I am with MANY of my drugstore eyeshadow purchases. Here is a compilation of several compaints I've had, over the years, with verying drugstore eyeshadow palettes:
COMPLAINTS:
*Too powdery/chalky
*Not pigmented
*Color from palette does not translate
*Too expensive for a drugstore purchase and NO performance for the money
*Cute packaging/awful performance
*Not long-lasting at ALL!!
*No color range offered
This inspired me to do a video using eyeshadow palettes I DO enjoy that I bought from drugstore makeup brands. Now, to be fair, several of these palettes I got at Big Lots...but they are ELF and Profusions brands which can be purchased at any drugstore/Target. And besides...I kind of consider Big Lots a drugstore (ish) kind of place :)
Anyways, here is the video about the palettes that I love and I hope that it helps you guys out so you can avoid the same eyeshadow mistakes of MY past!!!
I'm really hoping your Valentines day was super awesome this year!!!! If you don't choose to celebrate this holiday, than hopefully your lovely selves were just enjoying the weekend and loving being off work!!
I, myself, was rushing around like a chicken with it's head cut off to get ready for Valentines dinner with my someone special. I realized afterward that several of you were probably doing the same.
I filmed this video of my easy-to-do and as always budget friendly makeup look and I hope you guys enjoy!!
Thank you guys so much for continuing to support our blog, and the YouTube channel. We can't possibly tell you how much it means. As always, please let us know how we can help Y-O-U out with any beauty questions/requests!!
P.S. Thinking of doing an underrated drugstore makeup video. Thoughts???!!
This should explain everything pretty clearly for you all.
Not to make mention of the fact that every single time I go to a makeup aisle and hit some crazy sale I'm all like:
It's pretty much the best...thing...ever. I am definitely going to talk about ALL my February favorites soooonnn (I'm thinking as early as next weekend) but for right now I wanted to talk about a look I've been wanting to create forever.
Here is a photo I've been obsession over for months.
Does this girl look fantastic or WHAT??!! I mean seriously she looks amazing!! I love it how they just accentuated her features and didn't make the makeup look so cultivated and slaved-over. She just looks natural and gorgeous and beautiful :) I love it!! I also can't stop thinking about that tiny little pop of color they put right near the outer v to make the look have a little something-something.
So I've kinda been trying to find products I thought would help me achieve a similar look and here is what I found!!
Brulee--Wet N Wild--.99
Just as the model did, I used a light creamy shadow to put all along the eyelid. The one I chose was LESS THAN A DOLLAR and is super pigmented (as you can see here)
Panther--Wet N Wild---.99
This is the shade I used to define the outer-V of my eye and make everything really pop. It's an absolutely amazng matte black color for only .99!!!! Seriously will use again and again and again...
Sun Safari Quad--Rimmel---$2.50
I found this adorable quad with that perfect peachy coral-tinted, bronze look it looks the model was sporting here in a Rimmel quad called sun safari. I love this quad and I'm sure it will come in very handy in spring and summer. Not to mention....coppers are IN baby :)
#17 Rimmel Lipstick---Kate Line----$3.50
After much looking (and I do mean MUCH) I finally found that perfect blush color lipstick it looks like the model is sporting iin the photo. This lipstick has the perfect amount of pink and rose---not too little and not too much!!
I think I had pretty good success with my own look after all was said and done:
Sorry the lighting is terrible :(
I actually had an epiphany when doing this nice, light makeup that it would be super perfect for prom looks for younger girls too! So I made this youtube video to coincide!! Hope you guys enjoy!!
Hey you guys!!! I swear I didn't fall off the face of the earth :) I've been so cerazy busy lately with a million and one things but I could not WAIITT to get home and share my big news with you.
So...as you all know...I friggin LOVE bargain hunting. I mean, seriously, what better way is there to spend your Saturday than finding yourself with a ginormous STEAL on your hands??!!
BARGAINS:
WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE TO NORMAL PEOPLE:
WHAT THEY FEEL LIKE TO ME:
So anyways, there I was at Big Lots on a Saturday. To answer all your unspoken questions: YES it is worth every oddball situation I have incurred there during my loyal, long-standing patronage. I LOVE ME SOME BIGLOTS and I don't care who knows it!!!
I wandered over to the cosmetics aisle because....because why the heck not that's why?!
I was fumbling through some "loveeelllyy" beauties (insert cynical laughter here).....
When I saw something lurking at the bottom of the shelf literally forgotten about and abandoned in a corner.
That's when I spotted this lovely eye pallet. First of all can we just stop to appreciate the adorable packaging??!!! I bought a Hard Candy pallet quite some time ago for similar reasons...and...yahhhh...disappointment ensued. I should really stop doing that (insert me laughing silently at realizing this will never ever happen)
So yah...already there is no way in HECK this thing isn't coming home with me. But the four dollar price tag didn't hurt either.
However, when you look inside it's all
Pallet is upside down from swatches...sorry!
ZOMG!!!! I didn't get near that color range in my Hard Candy Pallet!!! Seriously this has to be one of my new faves!!!! I'm thinking about doing a blog post about pallets I have loved for less than $5.00 and would recommend to all our readers out there. Thoughts?!!
Anyways, moving on, when I got home I instantly had to try out the quality. I have to say that they are...not...too..shabby.
I mean, as opposed to many other eyeshadows I've tried for a lesser price (ahem almost every other brand out there...boo on you) these ones are pretty creamy and apply pretty easily. They are also pigmented nicely once you swatch a few times. I mean...just check out these swatches of the first two rows
And then we have the bottom, green/blue colors which just BLUE my mind. Oh..gosh..I"m sorry I can't turn off the bad puns :)
As far as full disclosure goes, there are definitely a few duds in the pallete. I mean, as you can see there are three colors that barely even show up. However, when you consider there are 11 others that are MIND BLOWINGLY pigmented for that $4.00 price tag, I mean c'mon!!! That's less than you typically pay for just one color :)
Here is my youtube vid on the look I created with this pallete. I'm pretty darned proud of it and hope it helps you guys! Please, as always, don't hesitate to request what you want to see next!!
First of all, let me begin by saying, thank you so much for stopping by on your sacred weekend!! I mean seriously!! I know you guys have such limited, practically non-existent down-time in your busy lives and it means the world to us that you visit our blog in what little relaxation window you have :)
This weekend, I was really thinking about our wonderful readers and wondering what kind of post I could do that would really help you guys out! I must have thought of a million and one diy ideas that MIGHT have been helpful to our readers before I realized..."WAITADARNMINUTE!!!!! I know what every woman could use!!!!"
I can't even tell you guys how many lovely ladies I've conversed with, in previous conversations, who have at one time or another encountered the same awful situation I have: forgetting your makeup bag on a trip OR losing some important, key items. Murphy's law must actually state that it's your MOST EXPENSIVE makeup items that will, inevitably, get lost or destroyed somehow--especially traveling.
So it was with this new epiphany that I decided to challenge myself dear readers. And challenge myself I did. I completed this makeup look...entire face full of beauty products using just (gasp) ten dollars worth of beauty products.
I'll repeat that so that you can let it really sink in. Ten dollars only....for every...single.... makeup product on mah face people. The only thing I didn't calculate in were my brushes, but I made sure to keep those super cheap too so that if you were truly in a bind the entire thing would cost you LESS than twenty bucks.
If you awesome ladies ever doubt how much I love you, just know that I spent most of my Saturday scouring every budget store in the most dangerous areas of town for this challenge. This was me most of the afternoon.
But seriously it was worth it and I hope you guys love the finished look!!!!
Here is my new, snazzy youtube video (with me having wayyyy too much fun with the soundboard/musical loops) to walk you through the process and the products :) Enjoy!!!
