&*(Nail Tutorial -- Pretty in Purples)*&

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back on here to post again. I've been really busy with work and with stuff coming up this weekend. I promise the other reviews I have for ELF cosmetics will be up on Sunday!! Anyways, until then I decided to try to do a tutorial on here for nails since I am big into nail design. I just did a simple french tip but with bold colors! Keep reading for tips and tricks!! =) Hope you enjoy! Thank you again to everyone who has read my blog and such! =) The feedback has been great. =)

Here we go!!

I will list the products I use first then a picture of my nails as I was doing them.

So first I ABSOLUTELY love AVON nail products. I couldn't grow my nails out before for the life of me but started using Nail Experts -- length & strength complex and now I have long nails!! Now this product is supposed to be used alone without nail polish but I always use it as like a primer for my nails. I do have ALOT of AVON makeup/Nail stuff, etc because I do sell AVON but I'm not on here to promote myself, I'm on here to promote products that I really like and to give reviews on things I've tried. =) This is one of those products I use ALOT. =)

Now, I can not stress enough when doing nails that you should use a good base coat. If not, you end up with a situation like I have in this picture. haha I had painted my nails a bright pinky coral color without a base coat since I couldn't find one and it dyed my nails. I'm working on getting the tint off of my nails using another AVON product but it takes a little bit.. so PLEASE use a base coat.

Trick: If you don't want to spend a lot on getting a nice base coat, keep white nail polish on hand! I use white when I can't find a base coat or if I just want the colors to be true to the bottle and more vibrant. I totally goofed and didn't take a picture of the white coat I did, but I did take a picture of the product I used! lol




Product I used was Sally Hansens Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear nail color in White On



I am a huge fan of Sally Hansen nail polish, the Xtreme wear especially. You'll find that you don't have to spend $6.00 dollars on a single nail polish just to get good quality. Now I love china glaze, sephora brand, etc just as much as these but these cost $2.00 versus $6.00 so I can get more colors and still have a great quality product. You'll find most of my nail tutorials will be done with this brand, AVON, Sinful Colors, or Pure Ice.. All cost about $2.00 at your local walmart, drugstore, kmart, or on avon.com etc. You can find them pretty much anywhere that nail polish is sold! haha

Next color I used was Black on Black by Sinful Colors.. I love the formula of these and how they don't chip easily. I also love that this is a true black so you don't need 5 coats to get the color. =)

Now one of my biggest tips about doing nails, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT BEING MESSY! haha You will see in most of my tutorials, that I'm not worried about making sure not to get any nail polish on my skin.. Either take a Q-Tip dipped in nail polish remover to clean them up OR wait till your nails are COMPLETELY dry and take a shower. The nail polish on your skin will come right off in the shower. If you don't want to take a shower, soak your fingers for a bit in warm water for about 15 minutes then carefully peel the nail polish off your skin!

Nails art is supposed to be fun so give yourself time to relax, watch your favorite TV show, just be prepared to let them dry fully then clean them up. =)

After letting the black nail polish dry, I put a coat of this polish over the entire nail. This is such an amazing color, one of my favorites at the moment. This is by Pure Ice in the color Cheatin. I have almost all the colors of Pure Ice from my local Walmart just because I love the price and the wearablity of this nail polish. Plus, I'm a sucker for color names and theirs are adorable! haha

With the color Cheatin, add as much or as little glitter as you want. Make sure if you build the amount of glitter like I did, to make thin coats and let them dry inbetween. Or use a nail dryer product such as ONYX Professional 3-2-1 Dry! Salon Nail Dryer.. It's a product you spray over your nails to help dry them faster. Personally with these colors though being so pigmented, I found you really need to rush the drying time. =)

For the french tip color, I used this purple color by Pure Ice called No Means No. This color goes well with the glitter colors in Cheatin. I like how this color has a blue undertone so it compliments the purple and teal colored glitter.

Remember, be creative! You don't have to use the same colors I did!! =) Nail art is about your style, the color combinations YOU come up with! Don't be afraid to be bold or if you want, soften the colors! As I always say BEAUTY IS DEFINED BY YOU! =)

Alright, the best tip I can give about doing a french tip is 2 things:

1.) Seriously, don't be afraid to be messy and get nail polish on your skin. It comes off. =)

2.) Start on one side of the nail and instead of dragging the brush across your nail,... rotate your finger to apply the polish. It'll give a cleaner line and gives you more control.

 To add the pin stripe under the No Means No color and to just clean up the look of the line, I used Kiss Nail Art Paint in Black.. This is a GREAT item to have in your nail collection. The brush in very thin so you can make fine lines instead of the bigger lines you make with a regular nail polish brush.

 And here is the finished look!!

I didn't take a picture of it all cleaned up but literally after this dried, I just took a shower and it cleaned it up for me! =)

I hope you enjoyed my tips/tricks/ and this look!! I will next be doing a cheetah print next week so keep a look out for that!!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Remember, be creative & just be you!!

XoXoXo,

LB

&*(ELF Cosmetics Haul/Review -- Misc. Eye Products)*&

This will be Part 2 of a very large ELF cosmetics Haul/Review.

I found out about ELF by viewing some YouTube videos and everyone raved about these products. On top of that, they are cheap! They have their regular line which is all.. wait for it.. $1.00. The studio line is usually $3.00 or $5.00 plus they have a mineral line which I think is amazing!

You can find ELF cosmetics at http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ or sometimes at your local dollar stores or Target!
*Just a tip, if you have facebook, like their page http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/elfcosmetics to keep up to date on sales that they have going on!! I got most of my items 50% off!!*
I will explain each product as I post pictures since this is just random products I bought from ELF!

NOTE: I BOUGHT THESE PRODUCTS WITH MY OWN MONEY AND AM NOT PAID TO DO REVIEWS ON THESE PRODUCTS!!*

1.) Eye Widener in Pearl White
2.) Shimmer Eye Liner Pencil in Black Bandit
3.) Shimmer Eye Liner Pencil in Precious Pink
4.) Shimmer Eye Liner Pencil in Blissful Blush

*My opinion -- Okay... I don't like these at all. The product is alright but it does smudge easily. The lids are a great idea to have a built in sharpener in the lid but the caps fall off super easy and they make a huge mess. I will not be keeping these in my makeup collection since they are not practical*

Beauty Encyclopedia, Sparkle Eye Edition
*My opinion -- OMG I LOVE THIS PALETTE! It comes with 12 eyeshadows, two cream eyeshadows, an eyeliner pencil, and a small brush. I love all of the colors and they are extremely pigmented. This palette is $5.00 on the website and so worth the money. I'll be buying the other edtions they have as well!!!*

Same palette as above, just with some swatches as well! I even like the cream eyeshadows as well! All very pretty colors and you can do lots of looks with this including everyday neutral looks!

ELF Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette -- Limited Edition (100 eyeshadow palette)
*My opinion -- I LOVE THIS PALETTE! haha The colors are amazing and for the price, $10.00, you can't go wrong. Now, a few of them are not as pigmented as I'd like but for the amount of colors you get and such, such a great buy! I have a few coastal scents palettes that were like double this price for 88 colors!! Grab one of these while you can!! Only Con -- The packaging is cheap plastic and can easily break... but for the price I'm not going to complain*

Just some random swatches of colors out of this palette! :)

ELF Eye Transformer -- $3.00
*My Opinion -- This is a really interesting product. Basically this is to transform the eyeshadows you already have to make new colors such as I took a black eyeshadow from the 100 palette above and layered the eye transformer colors on top. This is basically so you don't have to buy every color out there. Example: You could take a dark purple and layer this on part of the eyelid to make a lighter purple to make a smokey look. Really great product in my opinion, especially if you are just starting out with makeup!*

Top swatch -- Elf Liquid Eyeshadow in Sultry Satin
Left Swatch -- Duo Eyeshadow in Blueberry
Right Swatch -- Berry Mix
Bottom Swatch -- Olive
*My Opinion -- I love the liquid eyeshadow especially as a base to make eyeshadow a bit shimmery. The duo eyeshadows are really great for on the go. I am not really excited about the packaging,.. cheap screw tops but great product. The duo eyeshadows are not extremely pigmented but are buildable!*

Elf Cream Eyeshadow in Eggplant
*My opinion -- These are great as bases!! I am ordering the other two colors that I don't have just because their stay power is pretty amazing and I like the formula of these. I also have this in Candlelight, pictured below! They are really shimmery though, so if you don't like that, I recommend a different product.*

         ELF Cream eyeshadow in Candlelight
         *My Opinion -- Really great product for the price. $3.00*

Left - Single Eyeshadow in Pebble
Right - Single Eyeshadow in Coffee Bean
*My Opinion -- $3.00. Good pigmentation although I've found with these single eyeshadows that they are a hit or miss. These two colors are a hit, I personally love coffee bean. Its a shimmery chocolate brown. Pebble is more a taupe/brown color, a good color for your crease to add a bit of depth to your eye look.*

Left -- Single Eyeshadow in Amethyst
Right -- Single Eyeshadow in Raspberry Truffle
*My Opinion -- Both of these eyeshadows are shimmery although Raspberry Truffle is a little more intense shimmer. Both colors are buildable and I love that these have a little clear opening in the lid so you can see the colors. Makes it easy to find colors in my makeup storage*

Just a random look I did with all elf eyeshadow products! =)

I hope you enjoyed my random eye product review of ELF cosmetics. I do have more products that I'm reviewing now and more in another shipment on its way!! If you would like more info, please feel free to contact me! I'm really wanting feedback to see what people think of my reviews or what I should do differently. =) Thank you!

Look forward to my review on lip products coming soon!!

XoXoXo,

LB

Remember if you want to try out any of these great products, go to: www.eyeslipsface.com

=)



&*(ELF Cosmetics Haul/Review -- e.l.f. Essentials Brightening Eye Color)*&

This will be Part 1 of a very large ELF cosmetics Haul/Review.

I found out about ELF by viewing some YouTube videos and everyone raved about these products. On top of that, they are cheap! They have their regular line which is all.. wait for it.. $1.00. The studio line is usually $3.00 or $5.00 plus they have a mineral line which I think is amazing!

You can find ELF cosmetics at http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ or sometimes at your local dollar stores or Target!
*Just a tip, if you have facebook, like their page http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/elfcosmetics to keep up to date on sales that they have going on!! I got most of my items 50% off!!*

So in this section of my blog, I'm going to show swatches of the quads that ELF sells for a dollar each. First of all, did you catch that? A dollar for 4 colors. That's amazing to start out with. I was worried they would be really chalky or just really cheaply made since it is for a dollar but I LOVE THESE!! I really like using these for everyday since I can just throw the quad in my purse and go. I like that behind where the applicator sits, there is a mirror for on the go as well. Now, I will say that I'm not impressed with ALL of these quads. I was really excited about the neutral quads for just an everyday look but they were so light. As you will see in my photos, I'm fair skinned and they didn't even show on me. So my opinion go darker than you would normally. Also, I think these are a great way for you to try out different colors and just experiment! They are only a dollar after all and they can be applied wet or dry. Now, I would recommend that you have a fan brush or something to help sweep away fall out under your eyes because a lot of these are glittery and have fallout but for a dollar, who can really complain?! I like that their are lots of color combinations and the bright colors I sometimes use for eyeliner on the bottom lashline just to give a pop of color if I'm in a hurry.

Here are the photos and the name of the quads. Note: I did not use a base and they are applied dry.

Nymph Dreams
*My opinion -- these would be great wet and with a base! I find that the gold champagne color that comes with a lot of these would make for great camera makeup.. doesn't show as much with natural lighting.*

Matte Mauve
*My opinion -- These are true to what they say. They are all matte colors but sadly didn't show on me other than the dark pinky tone. This quad would work better for someone with darker skin tone than me!*

Silver Lining
*My opinion -- One of my favorite quads, just because I love purple eyeshadow! haha But the color pay off is great and I like that these are lighter colors. Would make a great during the day look!*

Ethereal
*My opinion -- Okay the first color in this quad is AMAZING as a highlight. I love the shimmer in it and it makes for a great color on my skin tone, but the rest of the quad.. I really didn't like. As you can see, they don't show well on my skin and I'm just not a fan of the darkest color. To each their own on that one though!*

Ivy
*My opinion -- Personally, I don't wear a lot of green eyeshadow since it washes out my already greenish hazel eyes. I think the first two would make a great green smokey eye though! They are really pigmented.*

Teal Dream
*My opinion -- I love this quad! I personally use teal on my lower lash line for just a pop of color. I'm not afraid of color though! haha The first color in the quad is another favorite highlight color!*

Glam
*My personal opinion -- The black color is amazing! I love the sparkle in it and its not like anything I have in my already good size makeup collection. The soft pink is a really pretty color too for any skin tones*

Butternut
*My opinion -- I believe this is another camera makeup quad.. The two lighter colors look amazing with my camera flash but looks like just glitter without the light. The two darker colors are amazing though. Its a chocolate brown and the other is a true like copper color! They would look amazing wet*

Day 2 Night
*My opinion -- This is my favorite quad!! The gold color is so pretty on and this can truly make a day or night looks! They are very buildable colors and I use this a lot during the week for just a bit of color*

Hazy Hazel
*My opinion -- My favorite quad with a purple tone. This is a very wearable everyday quad. I like that it has the pop of color in the quad but it has neutral tones as well so you could do a day or night look in my opinion*

Drama
*My opinion -- PERFECT smokey eye palette! I did my friend's makeup for a night out and I have wore this quite a few times. I like how the black is a buildable black and it gets really dark!*

Punk Funk
*My opinion -- Okay don't be afraid of the colors in this quad haha 1. they are not as bright as they are in the quad, 2. they make great eyeliners for that pop of color. I think this is a great quad since it was a good way to try out using some more vibrant colors without them being completely out there*

Rocker
*My opinion -- Okay, I really don't like this quad. The lightest color doesn't build at all and its really flakey. I couldn't get it on a brush even without having to like scrap the top of the color.. The rest of the colors are okay but in this quad I'd rather all the colors be usable.*






I hope you all like my reviews on this product. My next post will be just random eye products that I ordered from ELF. Please give feedback!! I really want to hear what others think of my reviews, the layout, if too much info, wanting more info, etc.

Thanks again for viewing!!

XoXoXo,
LB

NOTE: I BOUGHT ALL OF THESE PRODUCTS WITH MY OWN MONEY. I AM NOT PAID TO REVIEW THESE PRODUCTS!!

&*(Who I Am.. What Beauty is too Me)*&

Hello everyone --

I've decided before I do my first swatches and reviews on my ELF cosmetic haul that I recieved this week, I'd write just a little about me and just what beauty is too me. So here we go!!

Instead of giving my life story *yet* haha I thought I'd start just a few years ago, when I really got into makeup. 2 years ago, I got married to my amazing husband, Jonathan, who is in the Air Force and stationed in New Mexico. I was living in Ohio and we moved me here to New Mexico after the wedding. I thought I was ready for change but let's just say I  didn't have a whole lot of change in my life by now. I stayed close with friends after high school, I wanted to stay in Ohio even but my life wasn't meant to stay there. I moved here to New Mexico and I had a really hard time meeting people and making new friends. I sort of locked myself away afraid of being judged, of starting new. My life had a lot of drama in it in Ohio so moving here it was strange too me because it was a clean slate, exactly what I needed. My husband would go to work and I'd stay at home all day since we only have one vehicle and I just really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life here.. So, I was told to watch a YouTube channel because the person was hilarious... so that's where I started. Simply watching videos of just random stuff till I came across a nail tutorial by JulieG713. I was immediately hooked! I went out and bought similar colors and found I was able to do my first nail design. I'd went to college for awhile for multimedia and found that I could use my creative side with nails.. then went to makeup after seeing makeup tutorials. I watched videos all the time and then ended up starting up selling Avon and doing home daycare. I was able to do everything I loved. I saw videos of all these amazing things these women on YouTube were able to accomplish and all I could think was... I want to do that! I'd be good at that. 

So I started getting makeup here and there, practicing all the time, till I found I had a real passion for makeup and nail design. I realized I actually wanted to pursue doing YouTube videos and a beauty blog. Now, I'll admit now that I've started all of this I have a TRUE RESPECT for the people on YouTube!! It's a lot of work to do everything from creating my beauty blog, to editing pictures, to swatches, to lighting/location, to actually recording yourself.. but I just want to inspire others like I was inspired.

I always said that beauty is an art.. defined by you. The great thing is you can make it your own! I don't follow certain trends or what's in. I just am who I am and feel that that's good enough. I decided to start this blog to help others to get an idea of how products work, to not waste money lol, and to just share my thoughts. I decided to do all of this for a bigger reason though... It challenges me. I am doing something out of my element by putting myself out there but it's exciting at the same time! I'm going to take you all on this journey with me. I was afraid of what my family and friends would think when I said, hey I'm going to be on YouTube but I realized that it doesn't matter... I have a passion for this and want to inspire others and help teach them how with a little time and their creativity, they can do anything! I am, you can too!

Remember always believe in yourself and follow your dreams! It'll take you far!

XoXoXo,
LB