Today I have a fun new video for you and in it I teamed up with one of my good friends Rachel who is better known as the porn star and feminist extraordinaire Tasha Reign. Tasha Reign has been in the adult film business for over 4 years now and one of the things we first bonded about when we met at a dinner party was our love of makeup! I love me some HEAVY glam. You better believe I have told a MAC artist before to make me look like a porn star! When I said that I meant bronzed, smoked out, contoured for the gods, a frosty highlight, and a baby pink lip, but from talking with Tasha Reign I have realized that now there is no such thing as “porn star makeup.” The industry has changed and they have really dialed down the glam and want more natural looking girls and a wider range of looks now. Rachel is still a glam girl at heart so her day to day makeup is pretty, girly, and definitely “made up.” In this video she teaches me (and anyone else who wants to learn!) her usual makeup routine when she’s going for “Natural Glam” step-by-step. She talks about her favorite products as well as tips and tricks she has learned from working with so many professional makeup artists over the years. There’s also tons of cameos by her 6 month old chihuahua poodle mix named Cinderella. Part of Tasha Reign’s job is to interact with her fans via social media so she posts lots of fun selfies daily (follow her on Instagram @mytashareign and on Twitter (NSFW)@tashareign). This also means that she knows how to make makeup look great on camera.
I have talked before about how I contour and highlight using powders, but right now what’s really hot is cream contour palettes. I recently got the 06CF Cream Foundation/Highlight Palette from Morphe Brushes ($18.99) and I can’t believe that no one has been talking about this palette!! I can’t find many reviews or YouTube videos talking about it AT ALL! This palette contains 6 huge cream pans 5 are foundation/highlight for very light people like myself and 1 is a contouring shade. The contouring shade is still somewhat warm and very intimidating in the palette, but it looks nice blended out. What I did was I took the contouring shade and mixed it with a lighter shade on the back of my hand before applying it. I also used the foundation/creams as concealer as well to really put this palette to the test and while it could definitely cover up darkness and discoloration, it was too creamy to wear under the eyes and would crease up super quickly. I started with a bare face, mapped out where I was going to put my highlight and contour, then blended out the highlight first then the contour using my damp BeautyBlender. After that I applied Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. I set the contour with Bahama Mama by The Balm which is a powder bronzer/contour color and set the highlighted areas with my Ben Nye Luxury Powder in Cameo. I have talked about the Ben Nye Luxury Powder in Banana before as it is super popular because of Kim Kardashian, but Cameo is a great shade for us fair girls so we don’t look like we have jaundice.
Left- Me with the Morphe Cream Contour Palette mapped out Right- Everything blended in
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 🙂
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.
I’m so proud to announce that I FINALLY have created my first ever HD makeup tutorial! I have been wanting to make YouTube videos since before I started the blog so I’m ecstatic that I finally have all of the equipment and was able to do this. It took about 6 hours to make in total and I had a blast editing it and adding all of the music. I hope you guys like it!
Products Used/Mentioned:
Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 4.5
Loreal True Match Lumi Foundation
Beauty Blender
NYX HD Concealer in CW02
Benefit Highbeam
Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Taupe
Ben Nye Luxury Powder in Cameo
Airspun Loose Face Powder in Luminous Translucent
NYX Matte Bronzer in Light
NARS Guy Bourdin Palette (LE)- Laguna bronzer, Deep Throat blush, Devottee highlighter [similar]
Real Techniques Blush Brush
ELF Fan Brush
Mally Beauty Voluminous Mascara
MAC Vanilla Pigment
MAC Creme Cup Lipstick
So now that I’ve had a chance to use my purchases from the 2014 Sephora VIB sale I wanted to give a quick review on them and let you know what I think. I especially wanted to get this up because Sephora sent out another perk for VIB members which is $20 off your purchase of $50 or more and the holidays are coming up so I’m sure you want to know what gifts are worth it.
1. Smashbox Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Foundation Primer ($39) – So far I’m happy with this little guy. The product is a little thick so you have to warm it up on your finger tips before you apply it. You then want to kind of push and roll your fingers into your skin to best cover your pores. When I’ve applied it and look in the mirror there’s no huge “WOW where have my pores gone!?” reaction, but it feels silicon-ey and smooth and blurs your face a tiny bit. The main thing I like about it is that I think it controls my oily skin without making my face too dry which is a delicate balance. My foundation maybe looks slightly better on top of this vs. without it, but it’s not anything that a slower more intentional application of the foundation couldn’t replicate or beat. It maybe keeps my makeup on a tiny bit longer as well, but again no huge day and night transformation. It’s supposed to last for up to eight hours, but I usually have my makeup on for about 12-14 hours per day. Overall I’d recommend this if you’re oily, if you’ve liked Smashbox primers in the past, and if you aren’t counting on it to change your life. It would also be good if you’re sweating or somewhere that’s humid because it’s supposed to be resistant to those things.
2. Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 07 Dark Berry ($13) – I got this because I want to be Samantha aka ssssamanthaa on Instagram from Batalash (see video below), but instead I look like I’m failing miserably at trying to look like Lorde. I’ve only worn this around the house to try it because it is BOLD as hale. It smells really nice like the Stila Stay All Day Lip Colors a nice cake scent. It stayed pretty well and I don’t remember my lips feeling too dry and crispy. I hope I’m brave enough to wear it out into the world one day, but we’ll see. The color is really cool and I’d recommend it if you want to try something new and fun I just don’t know if I’m cool enough to rock it yet.
3. L’Occitane Voyage En Provence Set ($39) – Ugh I haven’t used all of the products in this set so far, but so far I’m super disappointed. I had very high expectations for this especially for the famous She Butter Ultra Rich Body Lotion and it was nothing special. The scent was whatever and it’s not super thick or long lasting or curative to very dry skin or anything like I was expecting. I would not recommend this and I’m wary of buying more products from L’Occitane now even though so many people are obsessed! I’d recommend this to no one because I hate it and I’m pissed. The more I think about it and write about it the more I think wow why am I not returning this to Sephora I don’t need products to travel with so desperately that I need to keep this $39 set!
4. Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup in color 2.0 ($39) – I knew this guy was not going to be the perfect fit because it’s a luminous light weight virtually invisible foundation and deep down I’m a full coverage kind of girl. It’s very thin and fluid-like and reminds me of the bareMinerals bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation in that it’s luminous and nice for a day that you want to look natural and take a break from full cake face mode. This would probably work better for me at night because when I wear these luminous foundations during the day I get oily and then they’re a mess, but the problem is that I want full coverage when I go out at night. This does have build able coverage though which is good. I need to experiment with it a bit more to figure out how it can work best for me. I wish it had sunscreen in it. I’d recommend this to someone that wants to look younger (a more sheer, luminous foundation will make you look younger than a matte full coverage one), someone that already has pretty good skin and doesn’t need a ton of coverage, and someone with dry, normal, or combo skin.
5. Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush ($25) – This is a vegan brush that was developed to work with the Naked Skin foundation and overall I like it a lot. It blends out the makeup quickly and evenly. I have used it with both the super thin Naked Skin foundation and the super thick BECCA foundation. I’m back to using my tried and true Beauty Blender, but when I mix it up I love using this guy. I’d recommend it to someone looking for a good foundation brush to use with liquid foundation. I think the price point on this is great and very reasonable for the quality.
6. BECCA Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme in Buff ($44) – YASSSSSSS hunny. I am absolutely loving this foundation and I’m using it everyday and at night for going out as well. It is super full coverage and gives you a very flawless finish. I normally use a generous amount of foundation so when I accidentally put two whole pumps on my beauty blender and then went to blend it out and I was wearing a serious mask (which was fine for that day, but meant I don’t need to use as much in the future because it’s so pigmented). This foundation is easy to blend but the only thing you have to look out for is once it dries (relatively quickly in 1-3 minutes) it is DRY and SET so don’t try to blend it out again because you will just mess it up. This foundation lasts me all day and/or night long and keeps me relatively matte without drying me out too much. Once it’s on it doesn’t feel super heavy or cakey which is nice for how full coverage and pigmented it is. I spent at least an hour trying to figure out online which color to get in this and while I like to think I picked the best match I do definitely have to blend it very well down my neck and blend very very well if I’m wearing my hair up. This foundation color is also super yellow which I like because I think it balances out my redness, but I know not everyone likes super yellow foundation. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a full coverage foundation with great coverage and staying power who has normal to oily skin. This is my favorite thing I bought. This price tag is a little high, but I’m hoping that since it’s so pigmented that I will use less and it will last me longer (fingers crossed!) Here’s a pic of me wearing it:
Pic I posted on Insty of me wearing BECCA Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme www.blushinginhollywood.com
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… the time where Sephora sends those of us who have spent way too much (aka Sephora VIB) at their stores a 20% off all purchases coupon. I spend hours researching, reading reviews, watching YouTube videos, adding products to my “loves” list then to my shopping cart then take them out again. I deliberate over what I “really need” and then finally make some decisions and spend a bunch of money. Let’s back-up if you’re not familiar with Sephora VIB program.
Sephora VIB Rewards Levels:
1. Beauty Insider – Free to join, no minimum purchase, you get a free gift during your birthday month, and a few other perks. You do not get the 20% off coupon in the mail every November, but you can use a friend’s coupon in store or they actually have AMAZING gift with $25 purchase options. Honestly I’m pissed that these aren’t available to VIBs because I really want all of them. You can sign up to be a Beauty Insider and shop immediately. Even though you won’t get the 20% off these gifts alone are worth a purchase. (Edit: These gifts were available at the Sephora VIB Sale in Fall 2014)
Sephora free gift with $25 purchase for Beauty Insiders
Kat Von D liquid lipstick, Pharrell’s new fragrance, UD eyeliner, MJ lip lacquer, like are you kidding me??
I had so much fun getting vampy for Halloween this year that I wanted to share the details on my hair, makeup, costume, and accessories on the blog for you all.
Makeup:
I started off my costume hunt at the LA area beauty mecca Naimie’s Beauty Center. If you don’t know, Naimie’s is a two-story warehouse filled with wigs, drugstore and high end makeup (MAC, Makeup Forever, Lime Crime, Ben Nye, Red Cherry Lashes), hair products, special FX makeup, and more. It is an awesome place for beauty lovers. I bought the Ben Nye Vampire Kit for $18 that looks like this:
Ben Nye Vampire Kit
One of the guys there recommended I check out Halloween Town in Burbank because they had a surprisingly small selection of fangs at Naimie’s. The products I ended up using from this kit on the night of Halloween were the Vampire Character Base (which I was worried might be the color of my actual skin, but luckily it was lighter) and the mint flavored fake blood. I did use the other cream colors when practicing for my look a few nights beforehand, but didn’t end up using them in the end because they were harder to blend than the powder products I ended up using. If I was doing it over again I think I would just buy the blood and possibly the base. Here’s the video that inspired my practice run:
And here’s what the practice one looked like:
Vampire makeup trial run
For the makeup I ended up doing, I used Shaanxo’s video as inspiration:
It’s monthly favorites time and this month I’m talking about some amazing life-changing skin care products, the perfect red lip, how to look airbrushed, and more.
Hey y’all I’m back! I hope you’re recovering from Halloween nicely. I had a really awesome time and I’m going to do a post with details about my costume pretty soon. Although I’ve been a little lighter on the posting this month I’ve definitely had a LOT of ideas for upcoming posts and I’m always buying new products and testing them out “for research for the blog” wink wink. Seriously though, sometimes I do sit at my computer with Laneige BB Cushion foundation on the left half of my face only to see how long it lasts and if it stays dewy or becomes even more wet looking with time. The answer is that stuff never dried so if you want the dewiest face in the universe check it out at Target. I also spent a LOT of time reading reviews on one of the best sites out there MakeupAlley to find out what people thought about different products I was thinking about buying and to check out the products on the Best Value list. This website is a phenomenal resource if you’re ever on the fence about purchasing a product or want more information on it. Ok now let’s move on to MY favorites/reviews/recommendations for the month of October!
Before I even get to the beauty products I will let you know that the middle sparkly pumpkin was from Home Goods I believe and the two minis are real pumpkins from Trader Joes. The one on the left is painted gold with a really cool product called Rub and Buff and the right one is just painted white. Both of the stems are coated in gold glitter. My very crafty roommate made these and they looked great.
1. House of Lashes False Lashes in Iconic ($12 or 3 for $30) pictured with the House of Lashes Eyelash Adhesive ($8) – I have already talked about how much I love this lash adhesive back in my February favorites, but for a re-cap it’s latex-free and I think that’s why my eyes no longer water non-stop when I wear falsies. It’s easy to work with and apply with the brush, it dries quickly and invisibly, and it’s strong and long lasting. I bought the Iconic lashes during a Labor Day sale on the HoL website and finally got around to wearing them this past month and I love them! These are very bold, dense synthetic lashes that add nice drama. I’ve already re-used a pair with no issues. The only problem with these lashes is because they are the Premium Luxe line and have a multi-layered design they have to have a thicker band in order to hold all of those lashes together. This means that you pretty much have to wear black eyeliner on your top lid in order to hide the band, but that’s not a huge issue for my because chances are if I want this much drama I’m already rocking a big old wing up top. Here’s me getting pouty with them last weekend:
This is part 3 of Lilly Ghalichi’s makeup tips and tricks and includes eye makeup finishing touches, how to glow, and getting a perfect nude lip.
On 8/15/14 Lilly Ghalichi streamed a live makeup demo with her makeup artist Bria Valencia. This is part three of the tutorial. Be sure to check out part one and part two – they are FULL of amazing tips! In this post we will get into Lilly Ghalichi’s highlight as well as her gorgeous nude lip.
