A New Home for Your Brushes

Hey there! So here I am with another post for you guys. This time I want to show you how I organize my brushes. I have about 6 different brands of brushes and I know...gasp! but seriously I love me some brushes! I have NARS, MAC, Stila, Sephora, Everyday Minerals, and Kirkland. Now, although most of them came in sets and the prices for each brand varied, I find that my top go to brushes are mostly MAC.
Although the Sephora brushes were in a set, sadly not all of the brushes get love from me. A few of them actually became defective after much use.

Anyways, today it's not really about the brushes, but more about where I store them. As you can see from the picture above, I use to store my brushes in these metal pencil holders that I purchased from Marshals. These containers are actually good but because they have holes on the sides, sometimes the smaller, thinner handled brushes would poke out of those holes or slip out. This didn't really bother me that much so by all means, if you like these type of containers then kudos to you, but today I found this. . . .

It's a spinning container! It was around $14 at Office Depot. It houses both my face and eye brushes perfectly. I also like the fact that it matches my vanity table because it has glass on the front of each triangular divide. Another cool thing about this baby is that it spins, so you can easily pick out which ever brush you want to use.

Here it is with my everyday brushes in it. 

On another note. . . .

This is nail polish is my love at the moment. I adore this color! It's a metallic gray color with a purple-pink iridescence to it.

It's from the OPI gLEE collection at Sephora.

 This is my nail 2 weeks after application. I know I need to redo my nails right. What's interesting about this color is that although it appears to have tiny green glitters, it actually gives off this purple-pink sheen at certain angles of lighting.

I will be celebrating my 26th Birthday this Saturday so that should be fun. I can't wait! My older sisters are going to come and celebrate with me. 

Now I leave you with my pink domo. . .meet Lil' Rawr

 Study, study, study

What the??!....Eh????! MATH?!

Whyyyyyyyyyyy 

Well hello there Mr. Calculator....I like yer green color...so sexaaay! XOXO 

Have a great rest of the week! ^_~

FOTD Sexy for Spring! Chyeaah

Hi there! So I decided to play with some cool toned colors today. I love the color pink but it can be a challenge to use it as eye makeup especially if you mix it with blues and purples. It's a "black eye" waiting to happen!

I decided to play it "cool" and just give it a try! I mean why be intimidated by these colors. The outcome is simply GORGEOUS!

I used purple, pink and teal on the lids. The outer corner highlight is a matte white eye shadow and the brow bone highlighter is a white eye shadow with blue-violet iridescence.

MAC Eye shadows: Gesso (tear duct area), Sunset B (middle of lid), Sushi Flower (outer third of lid), Climate Blue (outer V & crease), Cool Heat (outer half of lower lash lines), and Vellum (brow bone highlighter and inner half of lower lash lines).

Line eyes with Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Zero.

Mascara is Cover Girl Lash Blast

FACE: NARS primer, MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation, Graftobian HD powder

CHEEKS: MAC MSF Soft & Gentle, MAC blush in Pink Swoon and Shy Beauty (mixed)

LIPS: MAC lipsticks in Angel and Win Win 

 Hope you guys like this look. I'm organizing my makeup at the moment so I will soon be posting my collection pictures and how I organize everything. 

What do you see as the perfect Spring makeup?

FOTDs

I use to shy away from wearing red lipsticks because I thought it made me look overdone, but with a boost in confidence and curiosity, I began my journey to find the right red. I had a chance to do Back 2 MAC, which is a MAC recycling program. You need to have 6 empty MAC containers and each 6 containers can be traded in at either a MAC freestanding store or a MAC department store location. If you go to the MAC department store counter, you will get a lipstick and if you go to the freestanding store, you have a choice between an eye shadow, a lip gloss, or a lipstick (if I'm not mistaken).
I am wearing MAC Red and it's gorgeous!

I've been practicing (or experimenting) with colors lately, especially since getting the Flirt! palette from the Cosmetic Company Outlet store. It's great because I get to use it as much as I can without as oppose to using my more high end brands. I have 4 Coastal Scents palettes, but they are sadly collecting dust within my makeup stash. I broke out pretty badly when I started using one of the palettes. Plus the texture of those eye shadows are sometimes chalky to me.

If you will look closely...yes I did forget to put mascara on that is why my real lashes are not blending with the faux ones. Haha. Silly me. I'm wearing Darkness eye lashes that I got from H-Mart.

I wore this look today while I was out with my hubby and our daughter Mia.

We stopped by a few dress stores to drop off my business card. I have a few gigs lined up so I am super excited!

I used my Urban Decay Book of Shadows NYC palette to get this look but you can definitely substitute with a different brand. The colors I used were a shimmery purple, a matte black, a shimmery brown, and a satin finish light pink to high light.

I lined my water lines with black eye liner and lined the bottom lash lines with a purple eye liner.

Hope you guys like these looks! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Have a great weekend!

Awesome Finds!

Don't you just love it when you have time to actually shop. No, I don't mean browsing...I mean really looking through the items and displays. I had about an hour of free time at the outlet today and of course I went straight to the Cosmetic Company Outlet.

I purchased a MAC Upstarts: Flawless pack. It had a MAC MSF in Soft and Gentle, a Cleanse Off Oil 1 fl oz., and a Revitalizing Energy Charge Water 1 fl oz. for $21.50. I also got another one of the MAC lip gloss in Frankly Fresh because I lost the one that I previously purchased when the collection came out. I love this lip gloss because it's such a nice neutral color. Last but definitely not least, I purchased a 40 eye shadow palette by this brand called Flirt!...actually you can purchase this brand at Kohls but it is also from Estee Lauder, the same company that makes MAC, Clinique, and many other cosmetic brands.

Soft and Gentle MSF

swatched

Flirt! 40 eye shadow palette. The packaging was pink and it had a magnetic closure on the side.

The quality of these eye shadows are AMAZING! The palette is Limited Edition and each eye shadow is the same size as the MAC eye shadow so it can fit the MAC eye shadow palettes perfectly!

The palette retails for $30 but was available at the CCO for $21. Although I liked the outside packaging, the actual container that the eye shadow pans were glued on was pretty cheap looking so I decided to depot them...

I transferred the eye shadows onto my Z. palettes and they look fab!

The eye shadows are very creamy and highly pigmented. The quality is definitely comparable to MAC. There are a few matte colors but mostly satin and shimmery colors.

I didn't have time to really look through the eye shadows but right away I found a close dupe!

The left eye shadow is from Flirt! and the other right eye shadow (Amber Lights) is from MAC.

I love this Flirt! palette and I paid $21 for 40 eye shadows which is about the price of two MAC eye shadows in pan form. It wasn't difficult to pry each eye shadow out of the plastic (flimsy) container either. I did, however, had to place a magnet on the back of each eye shadow. I bought these magnet sheets from Walmert for $2 for a pack containing 2 sheets and then I just cut them accordingly.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week.

MAC Wonder Woman MSF

A lot has happened these past few days. Most of the things I went through recently are more personal so I'd prefer not to divulge into it. On a lighter note, I have finally succumb into purchasing at least one thing from the latest but not the greatest collection from MAC. The Wonder Woman collection that was released some time this month was had some okay colors, that in my opinion, can easily be duped given the effort.

What really caught my attention is the gigantosorous sized packages. So yes MAC you did do your thang in that perspective!

I purchased the MAC Wonder Woman MSF in Pink Power. It is $35 for 20 grams of product. Compared to the norm msf, this has twice as much product for $7 more than you would usually pay for. Sweet deal!
Now for the not so sweet aspect of it...

The powders inside the compact are a trio that are meant to be applied separately. I can understand packaging them this way if the trio can be applied all together, but they can't. As you can see from the picture, the powders are all right next to each other which means the colors can easily get mixed together even when you are only just trying to use one of the colors. Also, can you imagine how the powder will look as a whole if you end up hitting pan on one color?

Another down side to the packaging is the lack of a nice mirror. The compact is big enough, so why not add a mirror?

Aside from those two things, the colors are very NICE. I love this trio. I mean the blush and the highlighter are gorgeous. I love that they are not made of chunky glitter, but instead it has fine shimmer. The bronzer is also beautiful and does not look muddy.

The powders are actually creamy and not chalky at all. They stick right onto the skin very smoothly.
If I could get another product from this collection it would most likely be the MAC blush in Mighty Aphrodite because the color pay off is great and it's not too over the top looking.

I can't wait for MAC's Quite Cute collection to come out on April 7th! It's my birthday month so I'm very excited to get some stuff from the collection. I particularly like the blushes, the quad, and a couple of lippies!
If you want more info on the Quite Cute collection go to Temptalia.

EOTD: Smokey Eyes

What do you picture when you think about the perfect smokey eyes makeup look? Intense liner, browns, blacks, and gray eye shadows, muted lip colors, dewy skin, bronzy cheeks, and subtle highlights.
Well that's what I did for this look. I was actually inspired by my cousin Carrie. I will be visiting her soon and she wants to know how to do a smokey eyes look.
If you want to go for the quick and simple route, you can simply apply black or dark brown kohl liner on your top and bottom lash lines and then smudge it out with a pencil brush. Instead of using eye shadow to seal the smudged out liners, use a little bit of blot or translucent powder. Doing so will make your eye makeup last longer. As for foundation, go with a tinted moisturizer and dust on a bit of bronzer. For the lips, you can use a concealer and/or a nude lip gloss.

To achieve this look. . .

• Apply a brown base. I used MAC paint pot in Quite Natural. 
• Apply a brown eye shadow on your crease. I used MAC eye shadow in Soft Brown.
• Sweep a dark grey eye shadow with a brownish undertone on your lids. I used MAC eye shadow in Smoke & Diamonds. Using a pencil brush, apply this on the lower lash lines as well.
• To add depth, I used MAC eye shadow in Show Stopper and applied it on the outer corner & outer crease of the eyes. This is a great dark brown eye shadow.
• Highlight the brow bones by sweeping a light beige eye shadow. I used MAC eye shadow in Chamomile. It has a satin finish, but you can definitely opt for a matte highlighter too.

• Line both your water lines and lash lines with a black kohl liner and then smudge it out. Top it off with a dark brown eye shadow so that your eye liner doesn't melt off through out the day.

For the brows, just lightly fill it in with your favorite brow powder. I use MAC eye shadow in Espresso.

For my face I used . . .

• Sally Hansen Inspired by Carmindy Face Primer (this has shimmer and you only need a tiny bit)
• MAC Studio Fix Foundation NC 37 (applied it with a wet sponge and then using another clean wet sponge, I blotted off any excess foundation. It gives a nice airbrush finish)
• Sephora Concealer/Corrector quad (for under eyes and to conceal any redness)
• Graftobian HD powder palette (for setting the foundation and for contouring)

Lips - MAC Viva Glam Gaga 2 lipstick and lipgloss.

Hope you guys liked it!

Upcoming posts. . .
Sephora Brush Belt
Makeup Collection
Makeupforever VS Sephora Concealer/Corrector palette
Graftobian HD Foundation Palette Review