Springtime?

Over the past few weeks here in Utah, it's been a wide variety of seasons. We started with winter, had a blast of spring, and now seem to be back in that limbo between autumn and the holiday season! It really shouldn't surprise anyone, I think March is like this every year, isn't it? But each time, it seems a little more eclectic than the year before. Anyway, because of Mother Nature's mood swings, I've been a little all over with my style choices this month too. From soft lips and bright eyes, to harsh liner paired with a red lip, to an all neutral pallette, I've thoroughly enjoyed mixing things up. Here are a few everyday looks and the basics of what was used to make them happen.

Look 1-
Eyes: Urban Decay Naked Pallette, Benefit Watts Up highlight, ELF marker liner, Dior 'Diorshow' mascara
Lips: Sephora lip crayon in Light Pink
Face: Mary Kay foundation, MAC contour/blush

Look 2-
Eyes: Various MAC eyeshadows, ELF marker liner, Dior 'Diorshow' mascara
Lips: Lancome 'Rouge in Love' lipstick
Face: Mary Kay foundation, MAC contour/blush

Look 3-
Eyes: Mary Kay and MAC eyeshadows, Benefit 'They're Real' mascara
Lips: MAC lip liner pencil in Spice
Face: MAC face and body foundation, MAC contour/blush

Christmastime is Here

My sister-in-law is such a beauty, and always so great about letting me play with different styles of makeup on her pretty face (thanks, sugar!). Recently, I wanted to try out a few ideas that would be fun for the holidays - Christmas and New Years' parties are great places to play it up with styles you wouldn't wear every day! So we started with a classic red lip, and a long cat eye that was highlighted with silver. The second look really focused on her dark features, such a stunning contast to her snow white skin, with a smokey eye and maroon lip color. I'm excited to find as many excuses as possible to use these and other festive looks this season! Feel free to contact me for your holiday parties and we'll find the perfect look for you!

Happy Holidays everyone!

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Witchy Woman

I get a little tired of dressing up in the same costume for every event during the weeks leading up to Halloween, and my husband gets sick of dressing up at all after one round, so I decided to have a little fun on the 31st this year. I got to spend the evening watching my young nephews gather candy and be just as cute as they could so it was a great night!
Growing up, I obviously dressed up as a witch many times, but I can't recall ever actually being the wicked witch. So here's a little step by step of my take on Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

1. Prep the face with moisturizer, primer, etc. - whatever you would use for your normal routine.

2. Start with a dark smokey eye. I used a beautiful MAC eyeshadow over a black kohl to make this green shade that fades into a more neutral brown. Make sure to put a little bit of green in the lighter shade by your brows if you do a look like this or it will look a little silly once the rest of your complexion changes color.

3. Cover your face in green. I used Army Green creme color by Ben Nye because I know I love their products. I started with a sponge and evened out the skin tone with a foundation brush.

4. Contour, highlight, and add blush. Just because you're green doesn't mean you can't have a little more color in there too! This is really when it starts coming together.


5. Add extras like long black lashes (I love these ones because they actually have a little bit of green in them, too), black or deep red lipstick, and your costume.

I had such a blast creating this makeup and am sure I'll revisit it in years to come!

 

Red Lip Classic

Red lips and cat eyes are a staple, like mac and cheese or pecan pie in the south. I love doing a sleek winged liner, but also have a soft spot for all different variations of it. For this look, I chose a darker red lip that I got from a friend years ago by OPI called Suzi Loves Sydney. Instead of regular eyeliner, I chose to use an angled brush and sweep some black MAC eyeshadow on to keep it really dark and soft. For shadow, I used light, natural colors without much shimmer (also by MAC) because I wanted the liner and lips to do most of the work. Pair it with a cozy sweater, and this is the perfect fall look!

When Black Cats Prowl and Pumpkins Gleam...

My husband and I are lucky enough to go to an extremely fun Halloween party hosted by his cousin every year. The costumes are always really intense so we have to be sure to put on our A-game for it. This year he won the prize for Scariest Costume (2 years in a row, thank you very much). Last year we were a skeleton couple, and I loved it so much that you get to see another picture of it below.
This year we decided to dress up as an angel and demon. I wish I could say that I made his horns from my own latex, but I was a slacker and ordered them. I used mostly Ben Nye products for his makeup. I was introduced to Ben Nye during a stage makeup course, and have loved it ever since. It is amazing at lasting all night, which is exactly what you need on Halloween! A great little detail that I loved was some Decay tooth color by Ben Nye for his teeth. They looked utterly disgusting. I unfortunately didn't get many good quality pictures of our faces close up, but I used golds and purples around my eyes and made sure to highlight excessively and top everything off with oodles of glitter for myself. If you know me, you know that eyelashes are one of my favorite things, and these white lashes made me so giddy to wear.
... May luck be yours this Halloween!

2014 Halloween costumes - winners of Scariest Costume

2014 Halloween costume - winner of Scariest Costume

2014 Halloween costumes - winners of Scariest Costume

Bryan's costume - winner of 2015 Scariest Costume