Valentine’s Day Ideas and Events for Singles in LA

Pre-Vday event: Will you be my Haut Valentine? By Living Wholly has the chocolate specialists at Vosges coming to talk about the story behind every chocolate as well as a Love Coach coming to speak on ways to attract more love into your life. Oh and a chocolate tasting and gift bag. It’s before Valentines Day on Thursday 2/12/15 from 7pm-9pm in Beverly Hills. Hey, maybe the Love Coach will be so good you’ll find a date before Saturday? Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Ideas and Events for Singles in LA”

Creative Valentine’s Day Ideas

Ok we’re getting down to the wire here gentlemen it’s very important that you plan and make a reservation/buy tickets to whatever you have decided will be your Valentines Day 2015 activity du jour. I think it’s great that Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday this year because that means we have an entire day to primp (and smell sexy), and can also go out on Friday or Sunday if necessary to avoid crowds. This list includes unique and creative ideas at a variety of price points with most events in Los Angeles, but you can (try) to find something similar wherever you are this Valentine’s day. Here’s some ideas if the thought of a $200 prix fixe menu at a stuffy place with white tablecloths is not your thing:

1. Movie – Ok while not the most creative idea in the world, a movie is always nice. You can of course see 50 Shades of Grey which premiers Valentine’s Day weekend or go for something more innocent like seeing Lady and the Tramp at El Capitan (Tickets $9+). Or stay in and borrow some Oscar screeners from a friend in SAG. Get lots of chocolate/popcorn/snacks and have a snuggly little slumber party. Be sure to light some candles and have flowers (check out my Make Your Home Sexy post) around and don’t just go bare faced in sweats- you want to keep some of the romance alive! Continue reading “Creative Valentine’s Day Ideas”

How I Clean My Makeup Brushes

Today’s post and video are about everyone’s least favorite part about makeup- cleaning your brushes! In this video I show you 3 different ways that I clean mine. They are:

1. The Solid Beauty Blendercleanser retails for $16 so I recommend getting it in a value package with a beauty blender. For example you can get 1 beauty blender (typically $20) plus a full sized Solid Blendercleanser for $25.

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Original Beautyblender with Solid Blendercleanser

Is the Solid Blendercleanser just an overpriced tiny bar of soap? Probably, but I used to rub my first beauty blender on a bar of Dove soap thinking it was the same thing and I tore it up VERY quickly which is why I purchased the Blendercleanser this time.

I also discovered how useful it was when I was traveling. I feel like vacation is the only time I have the opportunity to go ALL OUT with my makeup. Cleaning smokey jade eye shadow and glitter out of brushes is a must! It also won’t leak in your bag and you don’t have to worry about the TSA limits on carry-on liquids. Continue reading “How I Clean My Makeup Brushes”

Quickie Beauty Tip – Shaving Without Gel or Cream

Today I wanted to share a quick tip I learned this month from my good friend Jenna about shaving. Now Jenna, like me, is a product junkie. So when I asked her to borrow some shaving cream I was shocked when she told me SHE DIDN’T USE ANY. What!? She told me she just shaves in the shower with water and a razor! What about razor burn? Doesn’t she get more cuts? What about shaving gel’s moisturizing properties!? Nope she said, she doesn’t have any issues. I have been doing this method ever since she told me about it and I can echo that I don’t get razor burn from it or more cuts or anything! We’ve all heard in a pinch or to make your products multi-task you can use conditioner or body wash to shave with, but wouldn’t it be nice to eliminate a product?? It saves a little money, saves time, you don’t have that annoying thing happening where the shower gel keeps rinsing off before you use it, and I have yet to see negative effects. Plus it’s a few less chemicals on your skin!

Here’s some tips if you want to try it: Continue reading “Quickie Beauty Tip – Shaving Without Gel or Cream”

Get Ready with Me for a First Date Video

Today I have another new video for you! I filmed this a couple weeks ago while I was getting ready for a first date. It shows me going from my work clothes to first date ready. I thought it would be fun to combine the beauty + dating info. I hope you like it! Please don’t forget to subscribe, like, comment, share etc. so I can reach more people 🙂

Some of my first date essentials:

Continue reading “Get Ready with Me for a First Date Video”

What is a CCO?

Last month when I was in Florida for the holidays I hit up the incredibly epic Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise (near Miami). If you’ve never been to Sawgrass Mills it’s an enormous super high end mall PLUS outlet mall with stores like Tory Burch, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth, etc. etc. It’s always swamped with people from all over the world all brought together by the shared love of finding a great deal. I was at Sawgrass for HOURS in a trance-like zombie shopping state when all of a sudden I realized “holy shit…I’m in a CCO.”

So what the hell is a CCO anyway? CCO stands for Cosmetic Company Outlet or it’s also known as CCS which is The Cosmetics Company Store. A CCO is the one magical, mystical place that you can find MAC ON SALE. And not just MAC, but Origins, Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Smashbox, Urban Decay, and more. They have current and past/discontinued products, limited edition products, gift sets, and products that are in the older packaging and therefore are no longer sold at the store. The products are authentic and usually sold at 30% off retail price. The stores are open to the public so you don’t have to be a makeup artist or in the industry to go to one. How is this possible? Continue reading “What is a CCO?”

Jade Smokey Eye Tutorial Using Lorac Pro Palette 2 & Simplehuman 5X Sensor Vanity Mirror

I received the Lorac Pro Palette 2 for Christmas and have been loving it! Right on Christmas day I even used it to create this Jade Smokey Eye look that I wore for the festivities as well as family portraits that I took for my dad’s present with my new Canon Rebel t3i. This palette is super versatile, can create day or night looks, and has both matte and shimmer shades. I would say the biggest downfall is you can get some serious fall out (when they eyeshadow gets on your cheeks while applying), but that can be avoided by applying dark or dramatic looks before doing your foundation routine like I did during this tutorial.

Continue reading “Jade Smokey Eye Tutorial Using Lorac Pro Palette 2 & Simplehuman 5X Sensor Vanity Mirror”

How to Take off Makeup in Front of a Boy

Lauren Curtis, a makeup artist and YouTube beauty guru, recently posted a video this week about how to remove makeup in front of boys that turned out to be a bit controversial:

 

 

To summarize the tips are:

1. Take off foundation using a makeup wipe leaving your brows intact. Continue reading “How to Take off Makeup in Front of a Boy”

Use Science to Trick Someone into Falling in Love with You

The NY Times article “To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This” has been making the rounds on social media with the “Do This” referring to asking each other increasingly deeper more personal questions and then staring into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes. It’s based on a psychology study where researchers were trying to come up with a closeness-generating paradigm. Here’s a list of the questions (from here):

Set I

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

4. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you? Continue reading “Use Science to Trick Someone into Falling in Love with You”

Beauty Trends – Liquid Lipstick

Today marks the release of another Anastasia Beverly Hills product that I think is going to be super hot- her liquid lipsticks. Liquid lipsticks have gained in popularity over the past few months and the formulas are just getting better and better. Liquid lipsticks are great because they can be easily painted onto the lips sans liner like a gloss and then dry to a nice matte finish and are usually super long lasting. They can also be layered with lipsticks or glosses to help the lips stay more moisturized. I have 2 of the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipsticks  and have been loving them:

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Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso

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Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Bellissima

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Here’s the 20 brand new Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipsticks:

Continue reading “Beauty Trends – Liquid Lipstick”