Transforming Your Makeup from Day to Night

When I was in middle school I read a lot of women’s magazines- Cosmo, Allure, Glamour, etc. and they would often times have features on how to transform your makeup from day to night or how to take your look from the office to happy hour drinks. I used to think these articles were so dumb. Who couldn’t figure out this very simple task!? Put on more eye makeup- eyeliner, shadow, extra mascara, etc., a bold lip, a little perfume and bam you’re done.

Now that I’m a grown up and actually have to do this task I realize it can be very difficult. Most YouTube gurus and makeup artists will tell you to just wash your face and start all over again. Who has time for that!? Especially if you’re going on dates during the week you need to take your 6am makeup and transform it into date-ready 8pm makeup and FAST. I have yet to see a YouTube tutorial on how to do this (there are many where they do one makeup look and then immediately change the lip color and say now it’s a night look! But that leaves out the whole your foundation is coming off and everything is patchy problem).

I know my friends do this because we all joke about throwing on a “second coat of paint” which is to say we just put foundation on top of what we’re already wearing and start all over again. Sometimes this works great for me, other times it looks insanely heavy or patchy or accentuates my wrinkles. Here’s an example:

Friday nights call for a quick second coat of paint
Friday nights call for a quick second coat of paint

Do I look terrible? No. Are all of the lines on my forehead and everywhere else accentuated? Yes. My face also turned out super white which made my blush and lips look all that much more intense. I still went out like this, but I didn’t feel great.

A few weeks ago I went to the Nordstrom Fall Beauty Event and asked my artist if he had any tips for me and he gave me a great one: use a different type of foundation than the one you used the first time. OMG brilliant!! This totally makes sense too! In the AM I tend to use a matte foundation so if I put another coat of that on top with powder it’s going to totally age me! Now I give my face a quick spritz of Mac Fix+ or the Boots Rosewater Spray I mentioned in my September favorites and then apply a luminous foundation like my Armani Luminous Silk right on top of the makeup I was previously wearing. From there I will apply concealer, bronzer, blush, more mascara, and a little powder to set everything. This has been an awesome little trick and I feel like it has really helped me.

Try it out and let me know what you think! 

September Favorites

Check out my favorite things from September!

It is monthly favorites time again and this time I managed to pick more than 5 things woo hoo! I try a lot of new products (but also tend to do the same makeup for work daily), but I’m so picky that it’s hard for me to choose which ones really stand out to show you all.

My favorite products this month
My favorite products this month

1. Versace Bright Crystal eau de toilette ($52 for 1oz. at Sephora, but I bought mine at Nordstrom Rack in San Francisco for $29.99) – This month I traveled to San Francisco for the weekend and had some time to kill so I went shopping. I love getting new stuff on vacation because it reminds me of the good times that I had on my trip. This perfume is light, feminine, and clean smelling to me, but let’s see what the pros say: “Bright Crystal is a fresh, sensual blend of refreshing chilled yuzu and pomegranate mingled with soothing blossoms of peony, magnolia, and lotus flower, warmed with notes of musk and amber.” Ok so I was pretty close. My only gripe with this perfume is that it does not last!! A quick glimpse on the reviews at Sephora.com confirmed that I’m not the only one that feels this way. That is why I bought this perfume 3 weeks ago and about 1/4 of it is gone already and I didn’t even wear it everyday! I do always apply it very liberally and I also like to spray myself and my sheets before I go to bed because it smells awesome. If I hadn’t gotten this one for under $30 I definitely would not be spraying it so much.

2. Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz ($9 at Target) – I love a face mist. I really love MAC Fix Plus which I lovingly refer to as “Gypsy Water” but at $22 a pop I can’t generously douse myself in it everyday like I would like to. I will make a whole separate post on MAC Fix Plus spray to explain what the hell it is and how I use it in the future. This toning spritz smells exactly like roses and feels super refreshing and luxurious. I spray it on after washing my face or before I apply moisturizer. I also will spray some on my face before applying “a second layer of paint” aka another coat of makeup for night time when I’m in a rush. It’s supposed to “visibly tighten pores and remove the last traces of makeup” and claims that “Skin feels smoother, fresher, and prepared for moisturizing”. I only mist it on my face not on a cotton pad to remove makeup so I have no clue if it removes makeup well. Are my pores visibly tightened? Meh. Does my skin feel smoother, fresher, and prepared for moisturizing? Sure. I feel like this has been nice in the 90+ degree weather lately and will probably be nice and moisturizing when it gets colder.

3. Proclaim Professional Care Argan Oil Intense Hydrating Masque ($2 at Sally Beauty Supply) – This is just a nice moisturizing mask that’s ultra conditioning and it’s supposed to nourish hair making it soft, silky and manageable. I think it definitely did those things and my hair looked a little healthier after I used it. You can see that this one is opened because I’ve already used it twice and will probably be able to get 2 more uses out of it. Not bad for $2.

4. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Taupe ($18 at Sephora) – I have talked about this product before on my How To Fill In Your Brows post. I got this for my birthday back in July, but have honestly been a bit intimidated at the thought of using it. When I’m getting ready in the AM my brows are one of the last things I do and I don’t want to be late because I’m trying to paint on the perfect eyebrows with basically a gel eyeliner for your brows. I thought this was going to be hard to apply or time-consuming, but it honestly has been way faster and easier than I thought. The other great thing about this is you need so little product that it will last forever unlike their pricey Brow Wiz pencils that I also love. The only problem I have with this is that it’s easy to go overboard and it gives you pretty seriously defined brows so you have to be careful or else it will look like you drew on brows with a Sharpie. Continue reading “September Favorites”

How I Apply Blush Quick Video Tutorial

Quick video tutorial on how I apply blush!

Ok guys I made my first mini video tutorial! It’s showing you how I apply blush all over my face. Enjoy! Let me know what you think 🙂

Where To Apply Blush

Here at Blushing in Hollywood I’m finally tackling how and where to apply blush!

This post was requested many weeks ago and I’ve watched tons of videos and tutorials to try to find just the right answer as to WHERE ARE WE “SUPPOSED” TO PUT BLUSH!? The answer was similar to the way I feel about many things in my life- wherever the fuck I want. Another question that came up when I started working on this post was am I actually better at applying blush now than I was a few years ago? Or do I just only get photographed with iPhones now (compared to digital cameras a few years ago) and all of the color is washed out of the pics making my heavy blush look normal? The world may never know. Let’s take a trip back to a few years ago:

My brother and I about 5 years ago. Also, a rare glimpse at my teeth.
My brother and I about 5 years ago. Also, a rare glimpse at my teeth.

Ah, Florida Lindsay. This was 5 years ago before I lived in LA and before I stopped tanning and bleaching my hair. Here I’m rocking a ton of bronzer on my cheeks (and all over my face for a nice natural Christmas Eve glow) and an intense blush. While I still apply my blush heavily and on the apples of my cheeks back all the way to my hair line, I noticed that I now do it in a different angle:

This arrow is showing the angle that I was applying my blush- more horizontal and only at a slight angle.
This arrow is showing the angle that I was applying my blush- more horizontal and only at a slight angle.

Continue reading “Where To Apply Blush”

How to Gently Remove Makeup and Stop Ruining Your Towels

Find out how to remove every last bit of your makeup gently and efficiently and how to prevent staining towels with your makeup.

Ok I’m about to share some tips that I know first hand about 90% of my girlfriends don’t know because whenever they’re at my place and wash their faces all of a sudden I have two eyeball-sized black marks on my pink towels. I find taking my makeup off incredibly annoying and I think I lose about 30 minutes of sleep every night because I procrastinate getting ready for bed just because I dread it so much, but I ALWAYS do it. Here’s how I remove my makeup:

1. Remove foundation from face and neck with a nice soothing gentle makeup remover wipe. I will wipe my eyeshadow off with the wipe as well, but if some is left over that is fine. The wipes I use (and I mentioned in my August Favorites) are Boots No7 Quick Thinking Wipes and definitely get the value pack. These have a nice snap closure to keep them from drying out. I try to gently and slowly pull of my falsies if I’m wearing them and you can also put liquid eye makeup remover onto a cotton round and hold it on top of the falsies to loosen them up before removing them. These Boots No7 wipes say they will remove waterproof eye makeup, but I wear about 10 coats of mascara and if I try to remove it with these wipes I’d be in my bathroom all night scrubbing and when I was done I wouldn’t have any lashes left. Luckily I do know of a product that will do this for you in the next step!

2. I’ve tried many products that have burned the bee-jesus out of my eyeballs and it turns out the best makeup remover was in your grandma’s beauty cabinet this whole time:

Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser is a super gentle eyemakeup remover
Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser is a super gentle eyemakeup remover

Continue reading “How to Gently Remove Makeup and Stop Ruining Your Towels”

Fall Beauty Trends

Check out the Fall 2014 Beauty Trends!

Today I went to the Nordstrom Fall Beauty Trends event and had such a fun time! I learned a ton and had a full face of high end makeup put on me and got lots of tips to share with you all. I will do a thorough re-cap of that very soon. Tonight I wanted to put up a quick post of the fall beauty trends for 2014:

1. Berry lips

Berry lips. Picture from Nordstrom's website.
Berry lips. Picture from Nordstrom’s website.

Some examples:

Nars Audacious Lipstick
Nars Audacious Lipstick

Nars Audacious Lipstick in “Charlotte” $32: Whew this is a pricy one I know, but the new NARS lipsticks are supposed to feel amazing on the lips and be long lasting.

MAC Lipstick in "Rebel"
MAC Lipstick in “Rebel”

MAC Lipstick in Rebel $16: I love this color I think I might snag it soon or get it through Back 2 MAC. I just really want to spice up my lips with something a little bit different. Continue reading “Fall Beauty Trends”

NYXFACEAWARDS 2014

Like most people I never win anything, but I was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets to the NYXFACEAWARDS 2014 on Twitter! I brought my good friend and fellow beauty blogger Molly aka Girl Get Glamorous. You have to check out her blog it’s really amazing and I learn tons from it. Molly came super glammed up with a classic black winged eyeliner and red lip (MAC Riri Woo which she swears by) for the event and looked amazing:

Molly aka Girl Get Glamorous
Molly aka Girl Get Glamorous

 

This event was a blast and the planners really did an excellent job making sure it was fun and that there wasn’t any boring down time. The only down time we really had was before we were let into the event which saws fine because Molly and I can gab about makeup and hair and boys for hours. The event was held at the Nokia Club at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles on August 22, 2014. The point of the contest is to find The National Beauty Vlogger on YouTube of the Year and the prize is $25,000. The contestants had made it through the four challenges and went from top 30 to top 6 and they were flown into LA to create their final video entry which premiered at the awards show. The contest was open to any beauty blogger 15 and older and 3 of the finalists were teenagers! Here’s a picture of the finalists: Continue reading “NYXFACEAWARDS 2014”

Mermaid Makeup and Tips for Glowing

I was playing around with my makeup and decided to try out a Halloween idea. I did this mermaid makeup and wanted to share some of the hits and misses product and application-wise to help inspire you for your own Halloween makeup!

I realized today that I hadn’t posted an Instagram picture of my makeup in a while and I had nothing else to do for the rest of the day so I decided to play with my makeup. I’ve been thinking about being a mermaid for Halloween for a few weeks now and in the back of my mind I was also thinking about how my LA Splash Cosmetics Crystallized Glitters would finally be put to good use with a mermaid look. This look could also be a fairy or a fancy alien. I think that playing around with makeup is a fun way to get creative and a good way to remind yourself of all the products you have but aren’t using on a regular basis. I wanted to share how I did it because it might give you some ideas for your Halloween makeup:

 

Here's me with a full on beating of mermaid inspired makeup.
Here’s me with a full on beating of mermaid inspired makeup.

Continue reading “Mermaid Makeup and Tips for Glowing”

How to Fill in Your Brows

I recently went to the Sephora Perfect Brows event and they showed me how to use a bunch of different Anastasia Beverly Hills products to get my perfect brows.

After I went to the NYX Face Awards recently I knew I wanted to attend more beauty events ASAP. I hit the internet and found a few. If you want to attend beauty events you can find them on websites for departments stores such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, Sephora, and MAC. The events are typically free and sometimes there’s champagne or gifts which is always fun!

Continue reading “How to Fill in Your Brows”

August Favorites

These are my favorite products for August 2014! They are some great deals and hidden gems. I also included my mini room and office makeover. Enjoy!

Here’s my August 2014 favorites! If you want to see last month’s click here. I wish they were flashier looking, but at least you know I’m posting them because they do WERK hunny!

Continue reading “August Favorites”