Mini Brush Haul!

I just found out that we're not going down to Glouster until Saturday due to my mom and I being sick. My grandmother is very ill, and we really can't be around her or she might die. :/

Anyways...
We stopped at Meijers on our way home from Lancaster last night. I've been wanting to go to Odd Lots, err Big Lots, but Meijers is a good second I guess. Before we left, I ran back to the make-up isle, and grabbed me a few brushes. For 25$, I got 6 brushes (they were on sale!!) and a white jumbo eyeshadow pencil. The brushes were more of the Studio M Eco ones.... but the lip brush that I've so desperately needed, was Studio M Professional. You just got to LOVE getting things on sale. I would have spent over 70$ on all that if they weren't. Good buy? I think so. :)

On another note, I ordered my 88 palette from bhcosmetics last night as well. :) I can't wait for it to get here. :D

Here are my new brushes! They are from the Eco-Tools line...
well, the store brand of their brushes anyway.
I find them to actually have better quality. :D

They came in this VERY cute and handy pouch/bag.

I'm so looking forward to decorating this. :)

Brush #1: Just a basic powder brush.

Brush #2: A large shading brush.

Brush #3: An angle shadow brush.  

(which I would consider an eyeliner brush)

Brush #4: Just a basic eyeshadow brush.

Brush #5: A very nice eyebrow comb & groomer brush.

(sorry the photo looks like that. it was blurry & I tried to sharpen it)

I also picked my up a cute little lip stick brush to replace the one my cat ran off with! :D

(closed)

(open)

Beautiful Black & Pink Night Look

This is the look I'm got to try to attempt. I will be making it a more 'wearable' look. The way it looks in the photo is just way to bold & if anyone were to wear that in public would definitely get stared at... though it would't be because it's 'pretty'. The way it looks in the photo is more alone the lines of runway shadow... which belongs on the runway, not out in public. Here's my rendition of the look.

I'll go ahead and say that this look is not appropriate for work or school. You'd think that'd be a given, but some people will surprise you. 

Make sure you start with a clean eye before doing any eye make up.

1. Apply your primer or base to the eyelid and up the the eyebrow. Also just below the eye.

2. Apply white using either a jumbo eyeshadow pencil, or white eyeshadow.

I used MAC Gesso for the white & applied a sealer on top of it so any color I put on top of would not blend with it.

3. Apply a BRIGHT pink eyeshadow to the center of the eye extending towards the outer edge.

Let me first apologize for the poorly done pink. It doesn't mess with the look any, but it's just plain horrid looking. 

4. Add black to either side of the pink.

Do NOT put any black in the inner corner or you won't be able to put any white there later.

5 & 6. Add black in the crease of your eye and blend.

Add more pink as needed. Sometimes the pink will rub off.

It should look like this when your eye is open. See how you can just barely see the black?

7 - 9.  Blend the black outward and up towards the outer corner. Take white eye shadow and sweep it across the lower lash line & inner corner of the eye.

10a. line your lower water line & squint so it transfers to the upper.

10b. take the pink eyeshadow and draw a thin line right at the top of the black. (start about half way across your eye)

10c. Apply a white eyeshadow as a highlight on your brow.

10d. Add a hint of the pink eyeshadow in the area right before your pupil on your lower lash line.

10e. Apply mascara on upper and lower lashes.

I apologize for there being so many steps in this one. By the time I noticed I didn't take any photos of those steps, they were already complete.

^Finished Look^

False lashes are NOT recommended for this look unless they are very natural looking. They will only overpower the eyes.

What I used.

- LA Colors Hot Pink (Pictured)

- LA Colors Black (Pictured)

- MAC Gesso Matte Eyeshadow

- NW20 Foundation (as a primer)

- NYC Eyeshadow Sealer

- Maybelline 'the Colossal Volume Express' Mascara

- L'oreal Paris 'Carbon Black' Pencil Perfect Self-Advancing eyeliner

White & Blue Smokey Eye

I just found out that I'm going to be going down to Glouster for my cousins 13th birthday on Thursday, and I won't have any access to the internet what so ever... so I'm going to go ahead and post this today.

I've got VERY low eyebrows, so doing make-up on myself is a little difficult. But anyways, here we go!

1. Start with a clean eye.

Make sure that your eyes are not overly greasy, or the eyeshadow will crease. I suggest washing your eyes prior to this to make sure they are as clean as you can possibly get them.

2. Apply eye primer or base.

Now unfortunately... I don't have an eye primer, so I used my MAC NW20 concealer. Works almost as well. I'd still recommended a primer or base though. The colors will be much more vivid with one.

3. Apply white eyeshadow

I used MAC Gesso for this. It's just a matte white. Any matte white should do the job just fine.

4. Apply a bright blue at the outside corner.

I used a blue from my LA Colors homemade palette.

(The blue that is circled)

5. Blend.

6 & 7. Apply a darker blue in the crease & blend.

8. Continue blending & 'spread' it out past the eye & above the brow bone. Add more if needed.

9 - 11. Apply shadow on lower lash line.

a. first dark blue

b. then bright blue

c. finally light blue

Then blend.

12. Apply mascara on the upper & lower lashes.

13. Apply a little bit of eyeliner on the lower water line & squint so it spreads to the upper water line.

14a. Take your eyeliner brush and add some black powder liner the the upper lash line. (use either this or liquid liner)

14b. Apply liquid eyeliner to upper lash line & extend outward for a winged look. (use either this or the powder liner)

I find it soooo hard to use liquid liner. My hands are extremely shaky  and I can't get them to stay still long enough to do it.

^FINISHED LOOK^

With Lashes!!

Eyelashes are optional.

Don't forget to use a highlight on your brow. I completely forgot to mention that. That's extremely important!

WHAT I USED:

- MAC NW20 Concealer

- MAC Gesso eyeshadow

- LA Colors 'bright blue' (shown in photo above)

- Rimmel London 'dark blue' (shown in photo above)

- LA Colors 'light blue' (shown in photo above)

- LA Colors 'black carbon' shadow liner (shown in photo above)

- Maybelline 'the Colossal Volume Express' Mascara

- L'oreal Paris 'Carbon Black' Pencil Perfect Self-Advancing eyeliner

- L'oreal Paris 'Carbon Black' Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid eyeliner

I hope you guys liked the tutorial! I'll be doing them every Friday. :D

Leave your comments on the look below. 

Oh... and I SWEAR my eyebrows don't usually look that unruly.  I've been extremely sick & lazy.

DIY Simple Eyeshadow Palettes!

I know we all love eyeshadow palettes, but it's so hard to find palettes with colors we use. Well, what if you could completely make your own personal eyeshadow palettes with colors only you use?

I was watching some videos on youtube earlier today, and I came across a video showing how to make your own eyeshadow palette using a DVD case/ or CD case. I prefer the DVD case because it's much larger and looks more like a real eyeshadow palette.

Palette #1

Palette #2

Well... that is, until you open them up...

Palette #1

palette #2

Just a heads up when doing this... you will want to use a lighter or candle to carefully heat up the underneath to melt the glue. I did not... therefore a lot of the eyeshadow's broke when trying to get them out, and a lot of the pots are bent and mangled.

Step 1: Get a blank CD or DVD case.


Step 2: Pull out the paper on the front and back.


Step 3: Get your eyeshadow's out.


Step 4: Gently warm up the bottom of the eyeshadow cases with your lighter or candle. 
Careful not to catch it on fire. Also, make sure you hold it so only the tip of the flame is touching the plastic.

Step 5: Pop out the eyeshadow pots from the case.
Be very careful, and very slow so you don't bend or brake the eyeshadow or the pots.

Step 6: Place eyeshadows in CD or DVD case & arrange them the way you want them.


Step 7: Put glue on the bottom of the eyeshadow pot, or in the DVD case, and carefully place the eyeshadow in its place.
You can use basically any kind of glue, but hot glue works the best. Super glue works as well.

Step 8: Leave the case open to dry.


Step 9: Decorate!


Step 10: ENJOY YOUR NEW HOME MADE PALETTE!


I hope this helped you with your DIY palette. There are tutorials all over youtube on how to make these... some much better than others. There are even tuts on how to make them look like real professional palettes. I suggest checking them out! :D

Potentially Bad News... & My Brushes!!

Recently, I've come down with strep which feels like it's killing me, and on top of that my sinuses are acting up. I've felt TERRIBLE. I don't really know if I'm going to be able to post my first tutorial on Friday or not. We'll just have to see if I feel better by then. Right now, it's not looking to great. It took 3 days to get antibiotics and each day I felt like I was getting 600x worse. Now I've been on the antibiotics for 3 days, and I'm still progressively getting worse. Maybe it'll get worse before it get's better? Oh God I hope so. 

And now onto the brushes!!

All of my brushes except for 1 is by 'Studio M Professional'.

The other brush is by 'Studio M Eco'.

I must say that these are FANTASTIC brushes.

But... as with any brand of brushes... have their up's and down's.

Both of these brush lines from Studio M are fantastic...

They have high end as well as low end brushes.

I advise you to stay away from their low end 'plastic' brushes.

They fall to pieces almost instantly.

However, the 'professional' and 'eco' brushes do not.

The professional prices vary from 8$ to 25$... & the eco prices vary from 3$ to 10$.

VERY CHEAP PRICES FOR HIGH QUALITY BRUSHES!!!

I picked up these brushes from my local Meijers. I'm not exactly sure where else has these, but I'll look around.

The closes brushes I've been able to find to these are 'POSH'.

They are literally the EXACT same brushes with different names... and better quality... also a little bit more pricey.

Here's the website.

http://poshbrushes.com/

Posh is also selling lip stains as well.

They cost around 20$ a piece. 

The Studio M Eco brushes are exactly the same as the Eco-Tools brushes.
I'm starting to think 'Studio M' is just Meijers brand for their brushes & make-up.
here's a link to Eco-tools website.
http://www.ecotools.com/

Anyways... getting back to the brushes I use...

they're mainly all double tipped brushes because they were cheaper than a standard brush.

The first brushes will be the face brushes:

1.Studio M Professional Powder & Blush Duo Brush

2. Studio M Professional Foundation & Conceal Duo Brush

3. Studio M Professional Conceal & Touch Up Duo Brush

The next set of brushes will be for the eyes, and eyebrows.

4. Studio M Professional Angle Shadow & Eyeliner Duo Brush

5. Studio M Professional Brow & Smudge Duo Brush

6. Studio M Professional Comb & Brow Brush

7. Posh/Studio M Professional Crease Shadow Brush

8. Studio M Eco (Bamboo) Eyeshadow Brush

9. Studio M Professional Eyelash Curler

Some of my brushes, as you can see, are starting to get a little wear... but that's because I've had most of them for about 3+ years. Once I get a little money, I'm going back to meijers and getting me some more brushes. Preferably a lip brush and a Kabuki brush, ect.

To people who have used these brushes...

What do you think of them?

Would you recomend them to someone else? I know I would. :)