Giddy about Gold!

So, today I came across a color that I bought a couple of years ago, wore once and then never wore it again.  It's MAC's Goldmine...and here is what it looks like.

I bought it around the holidays and I thought that it would be PERFECT for holiday parties and pictures.  And it was Great.  I didn't regret the purchase at all.  It was very pigmented and showed up well in pictures without making me look like a blind drag queen.  Here is a swatch of it on my finger.

Anyhoo, I came across it and I thought, "What a shame that my Goldmine has to sit in my makeup box until the holidays."  Then I thought, "Why does it have to be this way?"  It doesn't!  I started thinking about all the great looks that I've seen with the color Goldmine.  Here is one of my favorite makeup icons, Kim Kardashian.

This color looks absolutely flawless on her.  She is wearing Goldmine on the lid with a Vanilla highlight under the brow with a thick line of black liquid or cake eyeliner.  It's gorgeous.  However, You might be thinking that it looks great on her because she has an olive tone to her skin, but it couldn't possibly look that good on you because you are pale, am I right?  WRONG, Girlfriend!!!  This color can look just as nice on you regardless of your skin tone. 

Here are some looks that are on women that have pale skin.  The first one is called Gold Raspberries.  This look can be accomplished by using MAC's Goldmine along with Jess in the outer V.  It's beautiful. 

However, you might be thinking that this look might be Too Much look to pull off on a regular day.  So, here is an alternative.  The next picture is a look that combines MAC's Goldmine and Carbon.  Gold and black blend perfectly together to form a look that is classy and sophisticated, yet distinctive enough to separate itself from the neutral everyday looks.

I wore this look today and it was great.  I was in attendance at a few weddings today. (Long Story... lol) I wore mostly black with a Kelly Green sweater with gold buttons and gold shoes.  My eyes pulled the whole look together.  It was awesome.  The color stayed vibrant and pigmented all day long, but there is a crucial key to this look.  You must put on an eyeshadow primer on your lids before attempting this look.  It will lock the color in and allow you to wear the color in confidence without it, God forbid, SLIDING OFF OF YOUR FACE!  To prime my eyes for this look, I used MAC's paint pot in the color of Indian Wood. 

But honestly, any eye shadow base/primer will do.  So, I hope that you ladies attempt to experiment with this beautiful color that I love, MAC's Goldmine.  I think that it will be totally worth it.  You are going to LOVE all the different looks that this eye shadow will give you.  Have fun, Ladies!  =)

Melty Face Problems? Join the club, Girlfriend! lol

Do you ever feel like this?  Well, join the club.  I even experience makeup melt in the winter.  Living in Ohio, winter lasts about 11 months out of the year.  So, Frustrating.  Anyhoo...I have combination skin and in the spots that are oily they are REALLY OILY!  Which means that, after I put on a fresh coat of makeup, I look great.  However, 2 hours later, my makeup is sliding off of my face.  I usually feel a little like this woman below.

UNFORTUNATE!

It's a creepy photo, but I swear that is how I feel sometimes.  Well, after much experimentation and frustration I stumbled upon MAC's Fix+.  It's a spritzing formula that you spray on onto your skin after applying your makeup and it sets the makeup so that it won't rub off or even melt off.  It's great.  It feels like a little facial in a bottle.  Just a spritz or two on the face will work.  I like to spray it on the end of a stippling brush and dab it on my face so that the Fix+ gets into every nook and cranny.  This stuff is awesome.

Another thing that I use to keep my makeup from melting off of my face, is I use an eye shadow primer so that the color that I put on the lids of my eyes, STAYS on the lids of my eyes.  There are many products out there.  You can find things at your local department store, but with these items, you truly get what you pay for.  I personally love MAC's Paint Pot in the color Painterly.  It's a nude color and it applies flawlessly onto my lids.  It's like having a completely clean canvas when you paint.  The Painterly Paint Pot allows the true pigment to show up on your eye lids.  It's great.  It doesn't run or melt.  It doesn't crease or look bad after a few hours.  This product is worth it's weight in gold.  The price is $16.50 and I know that it sounds like it's a lot, but you have know idea how much you use you can get out of one little jar.  It's amazing.  I've had mine for almost 2 years.  And I am just now getting to the point where I need another one.  They are great. 

There are other good things out there to use as a base for your eye shadow.  For you Sephora fans out there, I'm sure that you guys are familiar with Urban Decay.  They have a similar product that works well.  It's called Urban Decay's Primer Potion.  It comes in a different container, similar to a wand of mascara. 

You just simply brush it onto your eye lids.  Work it in with your finger.  Let it dry with your finger and then "WA-LA"...Your eye lid is ready for some major color.  I hope that you ladies out there enjoy these tips.  I know that these tips have saved me a lot of time, money and frustration.  Enjoy!  =)

Don't be Scurrred of Black Eye Shadow!

So, when I first started experimenting with makeup, every magazine that I read and every tutorial that I watched on YouTube used black eyeshadow.  I was like, "What am I? Elvira?"  I thought that it was too intense for me.  I mean, I'm not a rock star or a celebrity by any means.  The only thing that I do is clean my house (barely), go to church, hang out with my friends, and sometimes get a bite to eat and a movie with my husband.  My life is so basic that I thought that I could NEVER rock black eyeshadow and get away with it. 

Well, after much consideration, I broke down and I bought it.  I thought that I would just try it out.  And believe it or not...It looked half-way decent on me.  However, there is a huge key to pulling off black eye shadow.  It's BLENDING!  And I have news for you ladies...You cannot blend black eye shadow with those lame-o soft sponge tip applicators that come with department store brands.  Those things, my friends, are just plain useless.  They are nothing but a waste of time.  What a person needs is an actual makeup brush.  Despite what you might think, they are not that expensive and you can pick them up at any drug store.  I sometimes use the Essence of Beauty: Crease Brush Duo.

It's a really good, yet inexpensive brand.  The price on these, depending on the store, can run anywhere from $9-$12.  They are a good investment and a staple in your makeup kit. 

The next thing to keep in mind when applying black eye shadow is that depending on the brand that you are using, the shade of black will vary.  And when I say "shade," I mean the pigment.  A brand like MAC is more expensive however it will last a lot longer in the long run because their shadows are so pigmented, you don't really use that much in a single application.  On the flip side, a regular department store brand like covergirl may look black, but once you apply it you realize that it's actually a gray color unless you pile on the eye shadow.  I personally use MAC's Carbon.  It's a true black with no shimmer or sparkle.  I prefer a matte black on my eyes for everyday purposes.

So, there ya have it.  Don't be afraid to try new things and to explore.  Make sure that you use good lighting when trying new colors and techniques.  This will ensure that what you are seeing is what everybody else will see when they see the finished product.  No trick mirrors or funky makeup...Just awesome makeup!  Good luck, Girls!  =)

Have you EVER felt like this?

I have been a grown woman for quite sometime now.  And I have been wearing makeup for even longer.  I started wearing makeup around the age of 13/14ish.  I wasn't really that interested in it.  I thought that makeup was supposed to be a tool to enhance your beauty, not to stifle it.  I was in beauty pageants for years and I was used to getting all dolled up.  However, doing my makeup EVERYDAY seemed a little overkill.  Some of the older girls that I went to school with wore a "mask" of makeup with a clear orange ring around there face which showed that...#1 There foundation/powder was TOO DARK and #2 They didn't have a clue about make-up's biggest rule, BLENDING! 

As I got older I realized that I wanted to wear makeup, but every time I wanted to put it on, I felt like a little girl playing in her mommy's makeup.  I have a picture of a little girl playing in makeup, but she is far too cute.  I usually ended up looking like this. (The unfortunate lady in the picture below.)  I would try to experiment with new colors or techniques that I would see in a magazine or on TV.  But Nothing seemed to give me the confidence that I so desired when it came to being a woman wearing makeup. 

Have you ever felt this way?  Shouldn't there have been a class in school about this stuff?  I believe that this is Basic Woman 101, am I right?  I had a drawer filled with makeup that I had acquired over the years...Old lipsticks that were totally wrong for my skin tone/hair color/age that I couldn't return...3 or 4 old mascara tubes...And countless eye shadows that were worn only once to try a new color technique. 

We don't have to put with this.  We are WOMEN for Pete's sake!  We should KNOW how to put on makeup.  We should feel comfortable wearing a new color without being so paranoid that everybody is looking at us because we think our eyes may look "droopy" or that you look like a 40-year-old posing as a wanna be teenager.  Things are about to change, ladies...For the best!  ;)