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 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
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”
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!
So in case you haven’t noticed, I have started posting on a schedule with new posts every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday so today’s is a little bonus post! I was on the hunt for some awesome statement necklaces at a really great price and I looked at so many sites before finding Fabuluxe Jewels. The reason I wanted some big gaudy jewelry is because a) I’m tacky and b) it really frames your face, hair, and makeup in photos. Plus I just like sparkly things! Here’s some examples: Continue reading “Fabuluxe Jewels Haul”
When I first heard about the concept of Grouper I was intrigued, but instantly was turned off by it. Grouper is a social club that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends: 3 guys and 3 girls. I immediately thought, but what if the guy I like likes one of my friends? That always sucks when that happens! You also get no choice as to who you are set up with so it’s a totally blind group date (except you know what your 2 friends look like because you invite them). You also have to pay for Grouper and I have never used a dating site I had to pay for. Grouper costs $20 per person plus a 10% tip for your server which covers their introduction and concierge service and a free first round of drinks at the bar they select for you (the concierge part).
Grouper is actually not claiming to be setting you up on a date and people who sign up don’t have to be single (but God would I be annoyed to go out with a group of guys who were all in relationships wtf). They are planning a night for you with the perfect girl to guy ratio and giving you ideas on how to make it fun. These ideas include preparing “two truths and a lie” before the date for a fun discussion or playing the iPhone game “Phrase Party”. I will say that going on a Grouper definitely takes a lot of the pressure off of the conversations you’re having and you feel less like you’re on a job interview and more like you’re hanging out with friends which is nice. Going out with friends also forces you to be a more authentic version of yourself because your friends might call your ass out or tell the embarrassing stories you might have tried to avoid which does help you get to know each other much faster. It also forces you to actually make a plan instead of getting stuck in chatting or messaging back and forth purgatory.
Last Saturday I went to BeautyConLA and holy crap it was overwhelming. Since 99.9% of the population doesn’t understand what a beauty convention is or why one would exist, let me explain. According to the website “BEAUTYCON IS A FASHION AND BEAUTY COMMUNITY + CONFERENCE FOR THE INTERNET’S MOST INFLUENTIAL BEAUTY AND FASHION ICONS AND THEIR EVER-GROWING NUMBER OF FANS. BEAUTYCON HAS ALREADY TAKEN OVER LA, LONDON + NEW YORK AND NOW, WE’RE HEADING BACK HOME, TO BEAUTIFUL LOS ANGELES! #BEAUTYCONLA” It consisted of a bunch of booths for makeup, hair, and skincare (mostly) products, and had panels of internet/youtube/instagram famous beauty gurus and the like as well as some quickie classes/makeup demonstrations. I had actually planned on seeing some of the panels, but it was so insanely busy and confusing in the convention I never actually made it into one.
Here’s some tips for a glam, but comfortable look to wear to a concert.
If you know me, then you know that I am head over heels in love with my queen Bey, Mrs. Beyonce Knowles-Carter. Last weekend I had the absolute privilege of seeing her live in concert and it was everything I dreamed it was going to be and so much more. Although there are only a few dates left, I thought I’d post about what I wore and my tips since they can be generalized to other tours such as the beautiful Rihanna who is coming to LA this weekend. I also want to post this because let’s get real, I googled this very question before the concert.
The pressure I felt to look amazing and up to Beyonce standards for the concert can only be compared to disarming a bomb with a gun pointed to my head. This is why I procrastinated until the last minute. Like every event in my life, I spent 2+ hours on my makeup, and 20 minutes each on my hair and outfit.
I live 5 minutes from Ulta, Target, Sephora, Mac, CVS, and Rite Aid. I would call this both a perk and a danger of living in a big city. Today I ventured to the first 2 and here’s what I came out with:
