How to make shiny lipstick matte! 
This tutorial was born out of necessity. When doing matte lips, I prefer to just use a great lipliner…they are automatically matte and they stay on soooooo long–but you don’t always have the color you need in pencil form. Many times I found myself with the perfect color of lipstick but the shine or gloss of it just wasn’t right for the overall look we were going for…so I started doing this:
Products Used:
Ben Nye Neutral Set Face Powder and NYX Lipstick in “Chaos”
Step 1 :
Apply your lipstick…..look at it and realize it would look better matte.
Step 2:
Apply translucent powder to your lips using a fluffy brush–you will see the shine disappear and your lips will be matte! ….Please know that some lipstick may transfer from your lips to your brush but should wash out. I would recommend using a darker brush if concerned.
Ta da!!! Easy as pie!
Erin
Pretty in Plum (and some pink) tutorial
This tutorial just happened the other day when I was trying to find a look that wasn’t brown…but wasn’t purple or some other shocking color. I just wanted something pretty and romantic….but with a little “kick” of color….and then this look happened. I used MAC’s “Naked Lunch” for the all over color and “Deep Damson” for the crease color. “Naked Lunch” is a MAC cult favorite and I would recommend everyone have it in their kit. It is a really great shimmery color that has juuuust a touch of pink in it and makes a good highlight color for tan skin because it won’t show up super white and the bit of pink adds some warmth. “Deep Damson” is a MAC Pro Color…but you can still get your hands on it on Ebay and Amazon. It is such a lovely color to have because it isn’t too purple, too brown or too burgundy….it is just right and the ultimate plum color. If you can get your hands on it-do it! It will enhance many of your looks. Anyway-I personally think that this would make a beautiful wedding day look and I can’t wait to try it on a client!
Products Used:
MAC Eyeshadows in “Naked Lunch”, “Quarry” and “Deep Damson”, Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner in “Blackest Black”, MAC Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre”, Revlon Lipstick in “Stormy Pink”.
PREP:
Conceal the eyelid up to the brow, all around the eye and underneath the eye. Set with powder. Apply your eyeshadow primer to the entire lid up to the brow, I used MAC’s Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre”.
Step 1:
Using a big fluffy, apply “Naked Lunch” all over the eyelid up to the brow bone. Using a big fluffy, apply “Quarry” to the crease and outer half of the eye. “Quarry” is pretty light and will not be that dramatic…it is just meant as an in between color to help things blend. It should look something like this:
Step 2:
Using a bullet brush or a stiff flat brush, apply “Deep Damson” to the outer half of the eye. Using a bullet brush, drag the color down to the lower lash line. You will see in the picture that I extended “Deep Damson” past the natural end of my lid….I did this so that it would meet up in the corner with the thick line on the lower lashline. It should look something like this:
Step 3:
Using your big fluffy, blend your “Deep Damson” into your “Quarry” and “Naked Lunch” taking care not to drag any dark color over toward the inner corner…..We want this area to remain light. Apply your highlight shade to the brow bone and the inner corner. Apply your gel liner to the lower waterline…you can smudge some into the lower lashline with your bullet brush if you want additional darkness. Apply your fake eyelashes and go over any excess glue with gel liner. Apply a coat of mascara to blend your real lashes into your fake lashes. Your final product should look something like this:
And this:
I decided to throw on some of my trusty “Stormy Pink” lipstick from Revlon…..I just love this color and the pink adds a little “kick” to play off the pink in the “Naked Lunch”! I hope y’all enjoyed this shimmery plum look and I hope you can get your hands on some “Deep Damson”!
Erin
Essie Mirror Metallics -Product Review
Let me start from the beginning on this one….Essie and I go waaaaay back. I never ever appreciated painting my nails until we met….I could have cared less how they looked…and then I started working for a boutique that sold the line and I fell in love. You see-Essie just recently started selling in places like Walgreens and CVS. Before that, it was strictly a salon brand and you had to go on the hunt for it which almost made it all the more special to find (not that I don’t appreciate being able to pop in and find it anywhere now). The line’s colors have just always been so perfect and unique that they make you want to paint your nails….at least for me they did. This will not be my last post on my favorite Essie colors. In fact, I had a whole other post lined up, pictures done and everything about my two favorite colors….. then I was minding my own business in Rite Aid when the new “Mirror Metallics” collection stopped me in my tracks and then I had to change this weeks post. ***Disclaimer: I am not a manicurist….I am not even really a nail blogger so pardon my messy nails…I never claimed to be a pro in this category 
The full collection:
The color I chose “Nothing Else Metals”:
So then I was sitting here….staring at my new nails and I just thought “this could get better…” And then this happened:
I added some of my favorite “Luxe Effects” polish in “A Cut Above” over it…..Ladies and Gentlemen- I may not be a fan of glitter on the face…but I sure do love it on my nails. Love the polish…but next time I am going to go for that great copper color! Happy Friday y’all!
Erin
Turn Loose Eyeshadow into Solid and Fix Broken Compacts
This is an exciting “how-to” that is going to make you say “why didn’t I ever do that before?”. If you are like me….you have all different kinds of makeup stuffed in your bathroom drawers. Sadly, not all of it has equal amounts of “face time” …so to speak. Some of my favorite colors are loose pigments but I find myself rarely using them because they can just be so darn messy!!! For this reason, I hardly ever apply them on clients because I spend most of my time on clean up duty or worried about spilling them on someone’s nice floor or not tapping enough off of my brush and having a lot of fallout under the eye. So, if you are indeed like me, the picture below of the before and after will result in a big sigh of relief:
Ahhhhh…nice huh? Clean, durable, no mess…such a nice change. Now on to how to do it.
Products Needed:
Step 1:
You are going to need an empty eyeshadow pan like the one pictured below. You can find them over at Stars Makeup Haven…which is also where I get my empty palettes to put the pans in.
Step 2:
Take your loose shadow and dump it into a small container where you can mix it….You can use the lid of your loose shadow container or you can go ahead and put it in the empty palette to mix—whatever is easiest for you. Now carefully pour some alcohol in to mix with the eyeshadow…start off slow, you can always add more later. You can’t really mess this up-the more you add, the longer it takes to dry…that is the only consequence that awaits. You just want it to be damp enough where you can stir it together, put it in the pan and smooth it out. Use a Q-tip to stir it….if you take the cotton off of the end, you have the perfect thing to stir with that you are guaranteed to have at home. Let it dry for about an hour (or until it is dry enough so that when you run your finger across it you get powder) and then lay a piece of tissue over it and stack some quarters on it to weigh or “press” it down. Leave it overnight and you will have your pressed shadow!
You can also do this with any other powders such as blush or bronzer! While you have these tools out, why not fix some broken shadows or compacts using the same method?
Fixing Broken Compacts:
Step 1:
Locate all of those broken shadows and powders you have stuffed in your drawers!
Step 2:
Cover your broken compact with saran wrap. Take the end of a spoon, or a stick or a makeup brush or whatever you have laying around and break up your compact into small pieces. Carefully uncover it. Soak up some alcohol with a Q-tip and “drip” it into your broken compact. You may have to do this a few times to get it damp enough….you could also pour some into the alcohol cap and then pour it into your broken compact…a small amount at a time.
Step 3:
Take your Q-tip and mash/mix it all together until it is damp enough to press back into the pan and smooth out. You have now fixed your broken compact!
How easy is that? If my compact only has a small “chip” or “crack” in it…I forgo breaking it all up and just dip a Q-tip in some alcohol and seal the crack or chip up. -Easy as pie and it dries in a heartbeat. I hope y’all find this tutorial as useful as I have to bring your loose powders and broken compacts back to life! Don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest posts!
Erin
Peachy Gold and Black Eyeshadow Tutorial
I just think gold is beautiful. I love gold jewelry, gold hardware details on shoes, jackets and purses and I even love gilded glassware…..gold is making a comeback and I love it. I especially love gold on the eyes because it will bring out those baby blues and it will play off the flecks of gold that are found in many brown and green eyes. This look is another way to get some peachy gold colored eyes with a touch of bright gold. It is a quick look that involves three colors …but you only HAVE to have two…the third one I threw in for flare. The three colors that I used were a gold that had some peach to it, a very matte and dark black and a bright warm gold…..you can easily find dupes for each of these colors at the drugstore.
Products Used:
MAC Eyeshadows in “Expensive Pink”, “Carbon” and “Amber Lights”, MAC Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre”, Maybelline Eyestudio Gel liner in “Blackest Black”. NARS Lipstick in “Niagara”
PREP:
Conceal all over the eyelid up to the brow, all around the eye and underneath the eye. Set with powder. Apply your eyeshadow primer, I used MAC’s Paint Pot.
Step 1:
Using your big fluffy, apply “Expensive Pink” all over the eyelid…stopping when you hit the brow bone…It will look something like this:
Step 2:
Using your bullet brush, apply “Carbon” to the outer V and the crease (less than halfway in). Using what is left on your brush, start from the outer V and drag that “Carbon” down to the outer half of the lower lash line. It’s messy…we don’t care…we will blend it later. It will look something like this:
Step 3:
Apply your highlight shade from the brow bone down into the inner corner. Using your large fluffy, blend your crease colors and then your “Expensive Pink” and highlight color. Apply your false lashes and go over any excess glue with your gel liner. Using an angled brush, apply your gel liner to the lower waterline. Pick up some “Expensive Pink” on your bullet brush and apply it to the outer corner of the lower lash line. ****You can either do this next part with “Expensive Pink” or if you happen to have a bright gold on hand do it with that. Apply your “Amber Lights” to the inner part of the lower lashline. Your final product should look something like this:
and this:
Quick right? You can also easily switch out the “peachy gold” for the “gold gold” in this look. To finish, I applied some coral blush and added some NARS Lipstick in “Niagara” that always complements golds and corals well.
Erin
