&*♡New phone, New hair, New job, New blog♡*&

Hello lovelies!!!! I know, I know. It's been awhile but I've returned, better than ever! I went through a lot of changes recently and still not 100% on how my schedule will be with blogging but with a better camera, I can blog much faster now without all the edit time. So yay for that!! I am working a very hectic job that I love regardless but until recently, my schedule was crazy trying to learn everything. Now that I'm getting my bearings with work, I've returned! I am planning to start blogging more from my phone now so be ready to be beauty blog post punched in the face often. lol Thank you to my returning fans for sticking with me through life changes. I am still here, bolder and stronger than ever... Not to mention just an even better outlook on life!!

I plan to have a favorites post up by Friday so I hope you all stay tuned for that!! Hope everyone is doing well and until next time, stay smiling beautifuls! !!!

♡♡♡♡,
LB

&*(Foundation && Concealer)*&

Hello beautifuls! If you have kept up with my facebook page, you'd see I posted a sneak peek pic of what this post is about! =) Kudos if you could name the brand I'm trying out now! This is a review post of what I'm using for concealer and foundation.

I went to Ulta the other day looking for a new foundation because I'm finding that my BareMinerals foundation is feeling a bit heavy for the coverage I needed. It is a fantastic foundation but for my skin type and coverage I wanted, I decided it was time to venture out of my comfort zone to try something new.

Now, if you are like me, you might have issues with finding the right shade of foundation so I urge you to have someone help you at a makeup counter or makeup store like Ulta. I walked in and this wonderful woman came up to me, saw my completely lost look, and took pity on me with helping me find the perfect shade. I just happen to be standing by the Urban Decay display and the lady had suggested this foundation too me.

To be honest, I wasn't completely impressed with a lot of the eye shadows I've tried from this company so I was worried a bit about trying the foundation but after playing with the testers and her helping me find the right shade, I ended up picking up my shade and tried it immediately the next day! haha

I kept pointing out I wanted something that was didn't feel heavy on my skin and something that would hold up to my oily skin. Here was the perfect answer!

So here are my products!

Concealer: Benefit Stay Don't Stray primer in Light/Medium
Foundation: Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Foundation in Shade 2.0

Concealer review: I have posted about this product so many times. It is a holy grail product in my makeup bag. I've been loyal to this product for several years now and have no intention of changing any time soon. This is a primer for concealers and eye shadows but it is so pigmented that it works as a full coverage concealer. I wish the company hadn't switched to the new applicator instead of the pump that it used to be. I feel like there was more product available with the pump concealer instead of this type. You lose the ability to get all of the product off the sides of the tube, BUT it's still a great product that I use to cover acne marks, under eye area, and as a primer for eye shadow.

Here is a quick pic of the applicator in case you were wondering. Some stores still offer the old packaging which I've continued to keep an eye out for! =)

Now to foundation!

As I mentioned, I am a shade 2.0. I love the varied shades this foundation line offers. While it is more expensive than my Bare Minerals, I have found it to be so much better on my skin and worth it for the properties it has. I love that it is paraben free and doesn't have a lot of the fillers a lot of other makeup has. It is a liquid formula which is what I wanted to make foundation process faster but I wanted it to have a liquid to powder formula because liquid tends to not be a good choice for my oily skin.

I LOVE this product! First day wearing it, I had compliments that my skin looked healthy and fresh. I was shocked that it was so noticeable to change my skin appearance from what I used before.

Now, let's be real for a minute here. I have acne prone skin. It isn't perfect by any means!! I have edited some of my pictures I've posted of makeup looks because I didn't want to take away from my eye shadow tutorials.

I have told you all over and over again that I'm just a normal woman with skin issues, flaws, and just imperfections that I've learned to accept over the years. So to prove that this makeup is not perfect and either am I, here is an unedited pic of me wearing this foundation/concealer combination. (I only added a frame around the picture..

Makeup is not perfect and either am I. This combination just covers a lot better for me and I love that it makes me feel more put together. I do use blotting sheets because of my oily skin but love that the foundation stays put.

I figured I'd do a review on these because I just started using this new product as well as want to make sure that I never give the illusion that I'm perfect or have no skin problems. I'm very much not perfect! =)

My blog is not just meant for beauty but to continue the belief I have that each of us are unique and beautiful, no matter what imperfections we might have. I truly believe that imperfections are what makes us beautiful because we are all not the same and reminded we are human. It's okay to be exactly who you are! There was a time I used to hide who I was behind trying to fit in, makeup as a mask, and hid behind what others thought I should be like. I was a follower, someone who blended in because I was afraid to stand out. I liked what others liked, followed trends of friends, even changed hobbies for others.. but let me tell you now, that was the loneliest I ever felt.

I have found that true happiness comes from being true to ourselves. I have been told it's stupid to have a beauty blog, that it's a silly thing to want to reach out to others about makeup, but I truly believe my blog can help me reach those who need just a friend who understands. I make sure I prove every time I post that there is no perfection in any one and that if you truly want to see beauty and perfection, it starts in a person's heart, not outer appearance.

I've learned from many hurtful experiences, being told when I was younger that I wasn't skinny enough, pretty enough, my hair was the wrong color, that I needed to dress better, etc. that those people who judge on such superficial things are the ones that have ugliness in their lives. I am beautiful.

Each of you are beautiful. Never let others tell you who you should be!! I stopped hiding in the shadows and embraced the things I love and what makes me who I am!

So I want to know.. What makes you who you are? What makes you beautiful? I want to know my audience! If you've read this far, please.. Share your life with me. I want you each to know I appreciate your views on my blog and you sticking with me through this journey!

Until next time beautifuls, stay smiling and NEVER let the world take away your shine!

Simply a girl,
LB

&*(Walgreens Haul && Swatches)*&

Hello lovelies! I have returned a day late, but returned none the less! haha I am still getting into the swing of things with blogging again and working on the facebook fan page so thank you all for support and sticking with me! I appreciate each of you who take the time to look at my blog or keep up with me on facebook! Now it's time to get to the good stuff! =)

So I do not have a large haul but I wanted to do swatches of some products I'd heard great reviews on and if you are a nail art lover such as myself, I found some great finds at Walgreens that I had to share! So let's get to it!

First off, I have been wanting to try Wet n Wild products for awhile now after so many reviews I've seen through YouTube and the blogger world. There was a hit and a miss in what I picked up. Let's start with miss.

 

 

So I used to use my BFTE cosmetics eye shadows wet as eyeliner and with the company being shut down for an undetermined amount of time, I figured it was time to venture out into actual color eyeliner pencils. Well, unfortunately I do not see me using these in the future.

 

 

 

While the colors might swatch well and have an okay color payoff, I could tell instantly these would not be long wearing, especially for waterline. It claims to 1: Be rich in color. This is true. The colors are beautiful. I give them kudos for that. 2, they claim they apply smoothly. I agree, they were smooth to apply. 3, they are creamy to be able to be used in different ways. While they are creamy, they 4th claim fails completely. They are not long lasting. At all.

 

 







The top smudge line is with the slightest pressure which still shows that it smeared even with the slightest touch. The middle smudge line was with medium pressure, swiped once. These are fun colors but I do not feel they would last very long actually on the eyes. For me, I have dry eyes which makes me have to use eye drops throughout the day. This no doubt would fade any liner off my water line. So for me personally, I call this a miss.

 

Next up are a hit! The Wet n Wild coloricon palettes! I picked up the famed The Naked Truth palette and for fun and a future project, the Spoiled Brat palette.

 

 

 

So let's start with what is a personal hit for me, the Spoiled Brat palette.

 

(Left is a dry swatch, right is wet)

 

These palettes are so buildable which is by far the best quality about them! Not only are they buildable, but the colors are so soft and pigmented. I own a lot of different eye shadows from different companies, but I do not own anything close to this silver. It has a high powered shine to it and is like melted silver. If you are a fan of silver eye shadows, pick this palette up! It's worth it! The black color is VERY sparkly which in my case, I love. It blends well and can be built easily to a seriously strong black. The pink shade is pretty and able to start out as a soft pink or buildable to give a powerful punch of color!

 

Next is The Naked Truth palette.

 

 

I wish these palettes had names for the colors so I could better describe them. I'll start with the lightest color. As you can tell, it's my skin tone which is why Spoiled Brat palette is better in my opinion. For me personally, the colors of this palette just do not work as well for my light complexion. The second lightest shade still doesn't show much and honestly the flash I think is the only reason you see it on my skin. Without the bright lighting, it's hard to see on me as well. The last colors though are beautiful and I love for a smoky eye. The darkest color is such a great smoke out color and could be paired with so many color combinations. It looks shiny but this color is actually matte. Lighting issues caused it to look slightly different. The next color is a frosty finish but a beautiful color for an everyday neutral look. The last color is a copper color that has glitter in it but it is still a very wearable color for any day. All of these colors are creamy and easy to apply, just some didn't show on my lighter skin.

 

The last items I picked up were found at the end of an isle and I picked up every style of them that I found in my store! They are nail art decals. I was shocked to find these gem wheels for $2! What a steal! Here are the styles I picked up! The first one I think is my favorite and I can't wait till after Valentine's Day to play with!

 

 

 

I will be playing with these more over the next few days and plan on using the Spoiled Brat palette this weekend so hopefully I'll have a new look tutorial for you all soon. I'm also working on doing my nails tomorrow for a new nail tutorial so stick with me! I really am returning to the blogging scene!

 

If you would like to keep up to date on new posts, please follow my facebook fan page by clicking like:

 

https://www.facebook.com/skindeepunique

 

I try to post on there of upcoming posts and such! I hope you all are doing wonderful and as always..

 

Until next time, stay smiling!

LB











Long hours = New blog

Hello lovelies! So I am so excited I had to post right this second! haha

It is now close to 5 AM where I am currently living and I'm still up working on new changes for this blog. I really struggled with doing the blog while in college but now that that goal is accomplished, it's time to focus on other passions, such as my blog again!

If you followed the blog before, you might have noticed the name of the blog has changed. It was BeautysMagic but after finding that someone else has been using this name for a beauty blog, I respected that and decided it's time for a face lift of my blog, entirely!

After a long night of collaborating with my sister and best friend, Michelle, I have decided to change the name to.. *drum roll please*

SkinDeepUnique.

This new name represents each of us being unique and beautiful. When speaking with my sister who has a very different style than my own, I found it important to encourage followers to be true to who they are and to not judge those who might be very different than ourselves. I want this blog to be a diverse place for people to share ideas and creativity in this very diverse world. My goal for this blog is not just to share swatches and makeup reviews, but to encourage others to feel confident in their own skin and unique styles. Each of us are different but that's the beautiful thing! We are all unique and see beauty differently. This is my take on beauty.

I have this passion of reaching out to people and being someone they can look up too, not just in how to apply mascara or eyeshadow. I'm no one special. I go through the same things you do. I do not have perfect skin. I'm make mistakes and have flaws. I am not perfect by any means, but I am beautiful just as each of you are.

So my goal is to embrace all these parts of myself and to help others embrace who they are too!

Thank you for stopping by my blog and I hope that you will enjoy the new changes coming soon! The design of the blog will be changing in the next week or two. My sister is designing a background and such for the blog! I'm so excited to have her on board with me to help design such a beautiful blog website!

So Michelle, thank you! I appreciate your support and help in this goal of mine! We will be doing a collaborative project in a couple months when I go to visit her in Ohio! Expect diverse looks for a diverse audience! :) I'm looking forward to sharing my love of color with all of you!

If you love what you have read, please subscribe or follow me on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/skindeepunique

The facebook fan page is going to be a place where everyone is welcome to share looks, answer questions of the day, interact with me, and so much more. I want to create a place that everyone can have a voice, not just my own!

I look forward to you all joining me on this journey!

Until next time, stay smiling beautifuls!
LB

Update && BFTE Cosmetics last Day to Purchase!!!

Hello my lovelies! I AM BACK! Finally, I know! My last courses in college kept me away a little longer but as of Wednesday, I am officially a college graduate! I now have my degree in business and all the hard work and having to put off my passions has paid off! This last semester was crazy stressful with trying to visit family and do college. I just didn't have enough time to really put into giving you all the best posts I could make so I waited till I graduated to return.

I will be working on new posts and possibly re-amping my blog over the next few days so thank you all for sticking with me through this last year and the lack of posting! I really do appreciate those who have viewed this blog! It really is a passion of mine but I wanted to pursue a higher education as well.

Who knows what the future holds for me but I think that's the exciting part about life! I'm finding what I'd like to do in the future and love having my creative outlet here with all of you but also love having this business degree to see what doors it can open for me! I have a real eye for business so this is exciting to me to see what happens next!

Anyways, enough about me! Back to the huge point to this post!

As you all may know, I'm a huge fan of BFTE cosmetics. Huge as in own probably 300+ colors now. I was blown away by the quality of this company and the company's owner. Crystal was a huge inspiration to me to start sharing my looks to lead to the confidence of throwing myself out there in the blogging world. I was so amazed by the amount of talent posted on the fan page on facebook that I started gaining confidence in my own abilities, not to mention have found my own style through this adventure!

Crystal has decided to close the doors for an undetermined amount of time to take a break and find what she would like to do next. As we all go through phases in our lives to find what we want to accomplish in our lives, I respect her loyalty to herself as well as fans in this time she is taking to figure out what is next.

Just as I am doing with finding what is a best fit in my life, she is as well! I wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors and do hope that BFTE cosmetics reopens again! The BFTE cosmetics fanpage on facebook has been my go to for inspiration, encouragement, and friendship.

If you are wanting to purchase today, please visit:

www.bftecosmetics.com

or to get inspired like I was by Crystal and the talent on the fanpage:
Please search BFTE Cosmetics on facebook!

They are doing giveaways today as well! Check them out!!

So to end this post, thank you to this wonderful company for opening my eyes to this world of beauty and teaching me to be true to myself and what I want to accomplish in my life, no matter what the size of the goal is!




Keep dreaming lovelies! Aim for the stars! Study, learn from others, ask questions, be creative, and most importantly, ALWAYS be true to who you are.

Stay beautiful lovelies,
LB

&*(Wow.. One year has Passed)*&

Hello lovelys. I apologize I pretty much fell off the face of the earth for... a year. lol Worst blogger award goes to.... LB! haha I apologize that I didn't keep up with this blog but I was humbled by the almost 10,000 views I had when I logged back in after so long of not posting! I appreciate the followers who didn't delete me a year ago haha and held hope for a new post! :) They say that sometimes life just gets the best of you and that is what has happened too me. It's no excuse and completely my fault but I'm going to try to bring this blog back to life.

After all of the views even though I was away, it inspired me to start blogging again because it really was something I enjoyed doing. My husband was deployed for a year and during that time, I started college to work on a business degree which has ended up starting to take up more of my time than I expected. With all of the unexpected bumps in the road so to speak, I've been so busy and literally life took me over and I lost a lot of the things I loved doing in the process.

So as we are starting to get closer to the New Year and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I want to say I'm thankful for each of my readers as well as plan on making this New Year something special for this blog!

I plan to do quite a few looks over the next week or so to celebrate bringing this blog back to life! I'm heading to Ulta later today so will probably do a haul post as well coming up soon! Hang tight everyone. I am back and looking forward to chatting with you all. <3

To any readers out there, leave me a post of things you look for in a blogger? Do you like entries that are left with questions to answer? Lots of pictures? A place to leave requests? Giveaways/contests? I plan to relaunch this blog with a bang and want your input! :) Leave me a comment below!

I'd love to hear from you all! Take care everyone!

Until then, stay smiling beautifuls!

XoXo,
LB

&*(216 BFTE Cosmetics Swatches -- Part 2)*&

Hello again! Here is the continued swatch post of all the colors that I have!

Please note that me showing all of these colors is NOT me showing off my collection, but showing a part of my passion with the rest of you. I have no connection to this company other than having respect for the quality of products that they have to offer.

If you would like to purchase any of these colors, please check out www.bftecosmetics.com

Remember I have done three swatches of each color. First is dry, second is done wet, and third is on Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. Enjoy!!

Top Row L-R:
107.) Moonwalk
108.) Kou
109.) Misquoted
110.) Avoid the Mistletoe

Bottom Row L-R:
111.) Canyon
112.) Heat
113.) Lemon
114.) Beam

Top Row L-R:
115.) Courage
116.) Oak
117.) Spring Fever
118.) By Golly

Bottom Row L-R:
119.) Chocolate
120.) Truffle
121.) $10 Pineapple
122.) Autumn

Top Row L-R:
123.) Curiosity
124.) Orchid
125.) Mistress
126.) Cotton Candy

Bottom Row L-R:
127.) Rome
128.) Simply Me
129.) Passion
130.) Country Blue

Top Row L-R:
131.) Oasis
132.) Victoria
133.) Hollywood Secrets
134.) Boutique Babe

Bottom Row LR:
135.) Karma
136.) Purple Iris
137.) Calypso
138.) Paris

Top Row L-R:
139.) Promises
140.) Lilac
141.) Sugar Plum
142.) Carnation

Bottom Row L-R:
143.) Spider Venom
144.) Wasted Time
145.) Classy
146.) Boysenberry (Part of the Bring on the Berries collection)

Top Row L-R:
147.) Romp
148.) Stunning
149.) Grace
150.) Insomnia

Bottom Row L-R:
151.) Panurple
152.) Thistle
153.) Aloha
154.) Risky Business

Top Row L-R:
155.) Aphrodite
156.) End of Times
157.) Embrace
158.) Last Dance

Bottom Row L-R:
159.) Laura
160.) Class Act (Not available anymore.. this was just glitter and hard to keep on)
161.) Raspberry
162.) Bliss

Top Row L-R:
163.) Eggplant Light
164.) Triple Berry
165.) A la Rose (Part of the Bed of Roses Collection)
166.) Swift

Bottom Row L-R:
167.) Runway
168.) Melon
169.) Belle of the Ball
170.) Ever After

Top Row L-R:
171.) Iris
172.) Iced Violets
173.) Candy Shop
174.) Twister

Bottom Row L-R:
175.) Meteor Shower
176.) Girl Next Door
177.) Grape
178.) Mi Amour

179.) Lovestruct
180.) Whisper
181.) High Maintenance
182.) Tuscany

First Row L-R:
183.) Riddle
184.) High Strung
185.) Appletini
186.) Spring Moss

Second Row L-R:
187.) Gable
188.) Moonwalk (Accidently swatched twice haha)
189.) Blue Me Over
190.) Wicked

Third Row:
191.) Chenille

Top Row L-R:
192.) Seafoam
193.) Gooseberry (Part of the Bring on the Berries collection)
194.) Bali
195.) 4 Leaf Clover

Bottom Row L-R:
196.) Grassy
197.) Green Apple
198.) Secret Garden (Not available on the site at the moment)
199.) Blue Pacific

Top Row L-R:
200.) Fawn
201.) Bat Wing
202.) 24K
203.) Beach House

Bottom Row L-R:
204.) Chili Pepper
205.) Very Vanilla
206.) Blueberry
207.) Pumped

First Row L-R:
208.) Treason
209.) Main Stage
210.) TGIF
211.) Halo

Second Row L-R:
212.) Addicted
213.) Babycakes (Part of the Valentines collection)
214.) Purple Haze
215.) Suede

Last Row:
216.) Orangesicle



Well this concludes my swatches of my BFTE cosmetics colors! Thank you all for being supportive. I hope you enjoyed this blog! I have some new reviews to post as well. Since it's 5:30 AM, I'm going to call it a night haha and will post them tomorrow!

Until next time..

Remember to stay smiling!

XoXoXo,
LB

&*(Smokey Eye Tutorial w/ Too Faced Smokey Eyeshadow Collection)*&

Hello lovelys! Sorry for the day delay! Due to bad lighting, bad camera, and my phone just not taking good pictures, I've done this tutorial three times now and I apologize for not the best pictures! I'm in the process of looking for a better camera but until then, I just have my phone so bear with me! haha ANYWAYS...

So this was a request from one of my closest friends, Michelle, who I adore and of course had to make sure I did this tutorial for her! I decided since it's so overdue, that I'd try to deal with the bad pictures! So Michelle, I'm sorry but I hope this will help!

Her request was a tutorial on how I do a simple smokey eye! This is my first makeup picture tutorial so please be kind! haha I promise next time I'll use flash (like in the below picture haha) with an actual camera to get better pics!

So here we go!

So here are the products I used:

Benefit Stay Don't Stray primer for concealers & eyeshadows
Too Faced Smokey Eye shadow Collection
Sephora brand Brushes from their recent brush collection for the holidays
Maybelline Lash Stiletto waterproof mascara (Its in black, although the sticker is missing so not sure what the name exactly might be for the black)
Avon dual ended eye liner in Black-Silver

So the colors I used in order are:

White Lie as the highlight
In a Flash as the second color on the lid
Up in Smoke for defining the crease
Smokin Hot to darken outer V

I used these two brushes for the look. A flat detailing brush and a fluffy blending brush.

Now, time to start the step by step tutorial!

First, I used an eyeshadow primer. I usually use Urban Decay's primer potion but I just got this primer from Sephora and I'm in love! Benefit Stay Don't Stray primer for concealers & eyeshadows is fantastic! I love that it's extremely close to my skin tone and it helps also to keep your concealer in place!

Primers are great at making sure your eyeshadows last a long time without creasing through out the day. I recommend using a primer but it isn't needed!! For this primer, I just used a pump of the primer on my finger and blended it in over my whole eye, corner of my eye, and under eye area.

So this is an awful picture, I'm sorry!! I will explain all the lines to make this easy! hehe Adding a highlight color can help to brighten the eye area and bring emphasis to your eyes. For my simple smokey eye, I start by highlighting right under my eyebrow. This will instantly add light to your eye area.

Next, always add a little of that light highlight color to the inner corner of your eye. This will also bring light to your eye. Now to start the smokey eye, keep in mind start from your lightest color and work your way darker going towards your outer corner of your eye.

In this case, I used White Lie on the inner 1/4 of my eye. I like using light colors on the inner part of my eye to just add more light to the eye. I know it sounds strange to add "light" to a smokey eye but stick with me! I promise it works out! haha Now, I usually make my highlight under my eyebrow kind of bold and then blend it down to my crease. This step you don't have to really do but I like how it looks in the end.

Again picture quality is horrible. =( My camera was just not working with me.. Sigh.. Anyways, next I took the color In a Flash and blended it into the rest of the lid.

Tip: So you don't end up with it going straight from white to gray, use this trick! I used the flat brush for these two colors. I used one side for the white, and the other for the gray. When you get done putting the gray on your lid and need to blend that line inbetween the two colors, load up each side of the brush with white on one side and gray on the other. Start packing on the white over that line inbetween the two colors, then use the gray over that part you just added the white too. As you go back and forth between the two colors, slowly dragging the brush over that line, it'll blend flawlessly! Easy right?!



The next step is to start defining your crease. This is where the fluffy brush comes in. This step isn't really "needed," but I like using this technique when doing a smokey eye. Taking a darker color than your eye shadows on your lid, but not your final darkest color, helps you to slowly mark where you want your smokey crease to be. For me, I like a larger crease because you can see that your makeup is smokey when your eye is open. So, to do this, you take your fluffy brush and darken just the outer corner of your lid and then slowly drag the brush over your crease.

Keep in mind for my smokey eye, I keep the 3/4 rule. 3/4 up to my eyebrow, 3/4 of the way to my inner corner of my eye. I like to keep that inner 1/4 of my eye light so I don't drag the crease all the way to the corner.

Now it's time to add the really smokey effect by adding your darkest shade to your eye. For my smokey eye, I just darken my outer V and blend.. blend.. blend.

Your outer V is the corner of your eye lid and about half of the crease. I put in a V on the image to kind of help you to figure out where it is located! =) Easy right?

A blending brush is really essential here! Now I'm not saying you have to use expensive brushes from Sephora to get a great look like this. You can easily use brushes from ELF (www.eyeslipsface.com) cosmetics or something that are like a $1.00. To be completely honest, my go to brushes are from ELF! haha Just decided to treat myself to some different brushes! =) You can even find flat detail brushes or fluffy brushes like this at your local craft store! They don't have to be "makeup" brushes.

Last but not least, just add your eye liner and mascara. =) I used the silver on the inner half of my bottom lash line and black liner on the outer half. Add mascara, and bam! You have a dramatic look that is really wearable! I wore this look to a Christmas Benefit Concert. =)

Final tips for this look:

Remember, light colors on the inner part of your lid and under eyebrows!
Blend, Blend, Blend. It's your hero in a look like this!
Choose any color scheme and just start with the lightest color on the inner eye and go darker on the outer eye.
To balance out the look, if I go with a strong bold or dark eye, I make my lips a neutral color like a light pink of champagne nude shade.

I hope this helps, Michelle! Let me know if this broke it down for you and show me a look you do! =)

Thanks for all the support everyone and stick around! I'll be doing more things in this upcoming week! =)


If you enjoyed this photo tutorial, let me know! Maybe I'll start doing more of these! =)

Until next time,... Remember, Stay smiling!

XoXoXo,
LB

&*(New BFTE Makeup Looks)*&

Hello loves! I am back again after a very busy week of work and college work. I swear when I stop having to write papers, I'll be super excited! haha In the mean time, I just finished school work and it's 3:30 AM and what's a girl to do to unwind? Post her looks she did this week of course! haha

So as you may have saw if you looked at my last post, I've been seriously becoming addicted with BFTE Cosmetics! I had ordered two more 16 sample tins and have been only wearing their eye makeup anywhere I go! haha After trying some new colors, I definitely have my wish list building for their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales! haha I plan to be on their website, www.bftecosmetics.com as soon as the sales are posted! =) If you haven't tried their products and want too, this would be the perfect time since they will definitely be having sales since this has actually already been discussed on their facebook fan page! Anyways.. back to what I was saying hehe I know I promised this sooner but of course, life got in the way and my computer broke so I haven't been able to get on here yet other than for school work pretty much. Stick with me, my computer is supposed to be back in a couple weeks, hopefully sooner though, and I'll be back to posting again. It's just been really bad timing! And I lost my camera as well so that isn't helping either. Thank goodness for my phone! =)

So enough about my mishaps lately lol Here we go!!

Look #1 -- Winter Blues

Inner corner && highlight: Butt Naked
Middle of Eye: Winter Blues
Outer Corner && a little into the Crease: Bondage

My thoughts: First of all, yes that is me! haha Secondly oh buddy, this doesn't show how sparkly winter blues is. I blame bad lighting.. sigh. Even flash on my phone just didn't help. But it's such a beautiful color and definitely on my list to buy a full size of. I have been into adding some sparkle too my looks and this was the perfect color to do so! Butt Naked is by far my favorite highlight for myself and bondage is the perfect color to smoke out any look! It's actually not as blue as the picture looks. Once I find my camera or during the day, I will recreate this look to show you the colors better! But such amazing colors together!

Look #2 -- Whisper too Me

Inner corner && highlight: Butt Naked **See a pattern lol*
Middle of Eye: Whisper
Outer corner: Aphrodite
Liner: Bondage applied wet **Another pattern hehe*

My thoughts: OMG I am in love with Whisper! It is such a pretty duochrome (color that looks one color in the jar, different color completely on your eyes). This seriously is a look I do quite often just because I love the classic look too it. The thicker black liner, lighter eyeshadow, and warm lip color is timeless! When I started my job, this was my go to look. Now I'm branching out to adding colors and such! haha =) I work in a store that has a Sephora so I get to be adventurous with my makeup which I won't complain about!! =) Anyways, back to the eyeshadows! Aphrodite is not given justice here! It's such a pretty color and also one of those colors I keep in my makeup bag all the time. I carry about 15 eyeshadows from BFTE with me at all times! hehe After I lost my tins back awhile ago, I keep my favorites that I couldn't stand to lose in my makeup bag in my purse. It goes with me everywhere. <3

Look #3 -- Pretty in Pink

Inner Corner && inner lower Lashline: Aloha
Highlight: Butt Naked
Middle of Eye: Orchid
Outer Corner: Wasted Time
Lower outer Lashline: Aphrodite

My thoughts: So I wanted to play with color! This is sparkly and the colors are so fun! I didn't get around to doing my bright yellow/green look or my peacock look yet! I will as soon as I find my camera, hopefully in the next day or two. I wanted to really showcase their colors but my camera on my phone just wasn't working well. The pics I'm posting are the ones that I thought turned out much better. Anyways, these colors blend so well and I love Orchid, another color on my wish list! lol I think these colors are compliment each other well and is actually really wearable. =) I have found brights and such are actually really wearable when you blend them well and with good complimenting colors. =)

Look #4 -- Ocean Calls

Inner Corner && highlight: Butt Naked **It is actually really light on the inner half of the eye but I couldn't get the camera to work with me.. Sigh**
Middle of Eye: Stonewashed
Lashline && Blended into Outer Corner: Bermuda
Outer Corner: Atomic Teal and Steel

My thoughts: So this look kept changing as I was doing it before work. haha The outer corner I wanted to be a smoked out blue but I just wanted to use a little different than just one color so I combined several colors with ALOT, and I do mean ALOT, of blending! =) I like the effect it had and I had a lot of compliments. Now this is again one of those pictures that doesn't give the sparkles justice. Sigh.. Stonewashed is really sparkly and I liked how it looked professional but still fun for work! I never really liked the sparkle but I'm loving it now for sure! Stonewashed && Atomic Teal are also on my wishlist! hehe I've been really into blues lately.

Look #5 -- Doll Me Up

Inner 3/4 of Eye && highlight: Butt Naked
Outer Corner: Celtic Charms
Over Black eyeliner: Oak

My thoughts: I feel like this look makes me look like a doll. haha But I love the thick black liner. Seems to be my go to look lately and I used to not feel comfortable with it but now that I'm getting so used to liquid eyeliner, I like it. lol I wanted to add a little twist to this so I put Oak over the black liner. If you have seen Oak, it is EXTREMELY sparkly brown and it looked great over the liner. I already had such strong eyes with the black liner that I kept the rest light other than smoking out the outer corner just a little bit and extending the wing liner with a little of Oak && Celtic Charms. People loved it at work and kept asking me if I got my makeup done at Sephora before work. hehe Nope!


Anyways, these are the looks I have to show for now. I'll have more once I find my camera. hehe I can't believe I lost it. Sigh. I promise to have more up soon, even if it means buying a new camera which I need to do anyways. Wonder which camera works best for close up pics!? Hmmmm... Any other bloggers out there want to share good cameras for me to look into? I really do want a better camera but need to figure out which ones work best for close ups. Hmmm... Well until then, remember to stay smiling and will talk with you all again soon!


Love,
LB

&*(Sephora Haul!)*&

Hello loves, as promised, even though its 5 AM where I live and I haven't been to sleep yet.. I'm posting like I said I would! haha I am determined to keep my promises so here we go!

I went to Sephora because I went tanning while I was in Ohio.. I know, I know! It's not good for you! I just went to even out my horrible tan lines I had on my legs and from many summer days with different strappy dresses and tank tops! lol Anyways, I went because my Bare Escentuals bareMinerals foundation was way too white for me all the sudden. So I took a trip to the local Sephora when I got home in need of finding my right shade again! Who better than the ladies at the Sephora in the mall! As always they were helpful and found I'm not golden fair anymore, I'm medium beige (matte formula for my oily skin). lol As you probably know, I couldn't leave the store with just that so I looked around and this is what I got PLUS the face makeup not pictured. Totally forgot to add it! lol

Left to Right:

Smashbox Limitless Liquid Liner Pen in Jet Black (waterproof formula)

Murad Get Clear Live Clear Acne Complex Starter Kit (one month supply)

Sephora Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover


So the Smashbox Liquid Liner Pen -- This was the last pick up of the day. lol I love liquid eyeliner but I always feel like the brands I try fall flat when it comes to its staying power. So I asked the lady who helped me if I could use it on my hand and then remove it with their remover.. She of course gave me the tester and I wrote thick lines, thin lines, soft lines, and bold lines on my hand! haha I looked a mess. haha Sure enough it dries really quickly for a pen which I usually do not prefer and I started rubbing across the swatches and sure enough they didn't budge! Win-Win!

Sephora Waterproof eye Makeup Remover -- So I tried the remover and fell in love with their formula. I tend to be one of those girls who loves mascara to look like false lashes haha so I use a couple coats of it. It's hard to remove without having raccoon eyes or scrubbing forever. I like this product because it was super easy to remove it and you don't end up with red skin from scrubbing or losing lashes!

Murad Get Clear. Live Clear. Acne Complex Starter Kit -- Okay, I ended up not being super impressed with the Philosophy kit that I had got. I loved certain products out of it but not the kit as a whole was not worth the price! So I decided in my venture for clearer skin, to try this brand. I will try it for a month to see how it works out for me. I've tried so many now it's hard to keep track! haha I think the price wasn't too bad although its supposedly only a month kit. I think it'll last longer than a month. Anyways, my initial reaction.. I tried it out and love the cleanser! It has menthol in it so it has a cooling effect! If you don't like that effect, don't try this one! I personally love it and I like the smell of it. I hate how some cleansers are so strong it burns your eyes to use it. lol This has a pleasant smell and it continues in their other products in this kit. I have used the spot treatment for two days now and the wash, toner, exfoliating gel, and lotion only once. I like the spot treatment at least so far. It has helped with some of the redness! Let's hope it continues.. Only downfall, finding it isn't very helpful with controlling the oil.. hmmm We will see.

Oh yah! I got this too!

Sephora by O.P.I -- The Garden of Good & Evil mini collection

Completely Fern-ished (green color.. It's a little lighter than this in real life.. camera was not working with colors today!)
Eve-y on the Eyes (Purple color)
Tempted by Teal (Teal color)
Frankly, I Don't Give A-dam (gray color)

So I haven't tried them out but I'm a sucker for packaging and I love the colors! I'm feeling a peacock nail design coming on with these colors together! hahaha The box is adorable, the brand is famous so we will try them out! lol

Well I hope you all enjoyed this post! Note my adorable owl backdrop for the pictures! lol I'm not sure if it's what messed up the colors in the next post, but hopefully not. Will test it out more since I really want to use it! Thank you all for sticking by me and understanding my crazy schedule! I will make more time to post in coming weeks. Promise!

Until then, remember to stay smiling!

XoXoXo,
LB

&*(Nail Design -- Mix Matched)*&

Hello again lovelys!

I've been super busy getting up some new posts on here. I know I've been MIA for a bit but I've been enjoying time with my family and been super busy lately! So I'm trying to make up for it and get you all some new blogs! =)

So here is another nail design. Now usually all my nails are the same, other than maybe some of the decals or whatever.. So I wanted to bring something a bit different and super trendy this summer.

You may have been out and seen people who will do two different colors as their base colors on different nails.. On top of that, you may see people who have done different designs on different nails! Well I brought the same idea in these nails!

Now this is not a tutorial (although if requested for colors of the products and a tutorial I will break it down for each nail!), this is just a design idea. :)

I have a few pictures as I did this design, but not of the products and such, again unless requested. This is meant to be an open design, you make it how you want too. I took five designs such as writing love on my thumb nails, hearts on another, stripes, dots, etc. and then did the same 5 on my other hand just different fingers other than the love being written on both thumb nails.

I took two different nails for each hand and painted them green, the other nails are a bright blue.

I went back over the green with a sparkling green color to make it stand out against the blue color.

To do the designs, I took a green striping polish the same color as the green nails and did the designs on the blue. I did the same thing for the green, putting blue designs on those nails.

After I did the designs, I added some almost clear pink gem stones that popped against the colors. =)

This is up too your imagination!! You can do whatever you feel looks good. That's the beauty of mixing patterns and colors! They are up too you! I posted this to show that you can be creative and not have to match all your nails the same way. I will be showing more nail designs like these coming up in the next few weeks. I'll be posting roughly once a week for the next few weeks showing how to make your nails all different and not have to keep them all one color or one pattern! Including stormy nails, beach scenes, etc! =) Keep a look out of them!

I will again post the colors I used and such if you are interested. Main reason I didn't post on these is some of the striping polishes I used, are not available everywhere.. I will probably put together another nail design like this with striping tools you can get at WalMart or where ever so you can all find the products I used!

Until next time, stay smiling and remember you are beautiful just the way you are! =)

XoXoXo,
LB

&*(Reivew -- Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips)*&

Hello lovely's, thank you for being patient and sticking with me through this move and getting set up. I'm still not set up with my own computer here yet but my family has let me play with their Apple computer and I'm in love! Took a bit to figure out since it's been awhile since I used one but FINALLY got it figured out and am getting to post again! I have missed you all and thank you again for all the support!

Today I have a review of the new Sally Hansen Salon Effects, real nail polish strips. I was at first not going to even try these because of the fact that at my Wal-Mart they are being sold for $7.50 and I thought for something I get to use one time, that's not really worth the price. I WAS WRONG! haha I wanted something new to show you all since I'd been doing a lot of designs with decals I got at a not really widely known store so here is something you can pick up at your Wal-Mart or drug stores! Definitely worth the price if you want a quick nail look that doesn't have a lot of wait time for all the layers to dry! haha Keep reading if you want to know how they apply, what they look like on, the wear time, my review, etc.

So here is how these strips work!

Step one: Clean your nails, shape them, and leave them dry with no polish underneath. 

Step two: Find the right strip that fits your nails.

Step three: Remove plastic backing.

Step four: Stick the strip to your nail and smooth with the smooth end of the file that comes with it.

Step five: Fold end of nail polish strip over the end of the nail and file it up against the end of your nail.

You're done, or so they say.. haha

MY REVIEW.

First I was kind of surprised when it smelled like nail polish when I pulled the backing off. I know it said it was real nail polish strips but it wasn't what I expected. To place them was super easy!! I'm serious from start to finish, it took me 10 minutes with even filing the extra polish strip off. When I first pulled the strip over my nail I was kind of confused how to file it off but it actually is really easy. :) I was pretty happy with these. Now, the wearability.. No, it wouldn't last more than 5 minutes without a top coat. THAT IS A LIE! You can not just apply these and leave it like that. They peel at the edges of the nail. Now, EVEN with that, I'm still impressed! If you have a fast drying top coat, it still dries quickly and it still is faster than trying to do detailing on your nails. They come in a variety of looks. I picked the lace/fishnet one. It is black design with my skin tone color underneath. I did this design three days ago and still is going strong! 

So for the price, yes I will buy these again! Just remember to keep a fast drying top coat with you when you do these! Definitely check these out! They are fun, have lots of styles, and easy to do!

Hope this helps you find other alternatives to having to wait forever for nail polish to dry! If you can place a sticker, you can place these! I even had a nail that I didn't like how it lined up and just carefully pulled it off and placed it again! :) Easy right?!

Have fun with these! Here is a pic of my finished nails!

I was going to post a review on the philosophy acne line but I want to try it for a full month so I can give a good review on it. I haven't been able to use it everyday when I was packing and moving so I will start that today! :) 

Anyways, until next time (which should be soon I promise haha), stay smiling and remember you are beautiful just the way you are!!

XoXoXo,

LB