HELPFUL HINT: Long Lasting Lip Gloss

Achieving long lasting lip gloss out normal wear lip glosses isn't as hard as it may seem and is only two steps. After you put on your lip liner, lip stick, or even if you are just wearing lip gloss alone this trick will help it last better through out the day/night!


Step one: Once you have applied a good coat of it onto your lips take a tissue and fold it up and press it onto your lips. You can do this by puckering up and almost kissing the tissue or by slightly opening your mouth and putting the tissue between your lips and pressing down. Either method will work just fine.


Step two: Apply another liberal amount of gloss back onto your lips and you are good to go!


After you try this, you'll never wear lip gloss any other way again. Promise. :)

COMING SOON: MAC Surf Baby

US Release Date: May 26, 2011

Picture Credits: princessebeudy

DUPE: MAC - Mischievous Mint

MAC's Mischievous Mint ($14):

Sally Hansen's Mint Sorbet ($2):

I have just been getting my pictures from Google since I can never find good lighting in my house. The picture I found of the Sally Hansen polish seems very washed out. When you swatch these two polishes they are actually very similar on the nail.

DUPE: MAC - Shadowy Lady

L'Oreal HiP Duo "Wicked" ($6.99):

MAC's Shadowy Lady ($14.50):

MAC's Shadowy Lady is a bit darker than the HiP duo. They still are a close match though. I'll keep looking around for a better one, but for now, I think this will due! Enjoy!

DUPE: MAC - Shale

Milani's Icy Plum ($6):

 

 

 

MAC's Shale ($14.50):

DUPE: MAC - Naked Lunch

Wet n Wild Fine Wink ($1 - $3):

MAC's Naked Lunch ($14.50):

How can you go wrong with this?! Wet n Wild's eye shadows are getting such better quality! I was so shocked to see big makeup gurus buying Wet n Wild palettes, so I decided to try them for myself. Oh wow they are sooo much better than we all remember them as. Of course, as with all eye shadow brands, there are a few duds. However, they're so cheap you aren't losing hardly any money by giving it a shot!

DUPE: MAC - Vanilla

With this dupe it is an amazing price to get Covergirl's single pan eye shadows for around two to three dollars instead of MAC's shadows for around fifteen dollars! This color, once again, isn't completely perfect but very very similar! Having a nice simple off white color is a staple in anyone's makeup collection and helps make your eyes brighten up and look more awake.

MAC's Vanilla: $14.50

Covergirl's French Vanilla: (approx) $2-3

DUPE: MAC - Woodwinked

MAC's Woodwinked: $14.50
L'Oreal HiP Duo "Wicked": $6.99

This color isn't an exact dupe, but it's fairly close!

Woodwinked is a beautiful antique gold color that leans more on the warm side. If you have a darker skin tone and it can really brighten up the eye with it's shimmer reflects in it. For lighter skin tones I find you have to have a warm based skin tone for it to not look off on your eyes. For warm skin tones it is thee perfect gold color! On me, for instance, it makes my eyes look kind of sickly and yellow. I have very cool toned skin.

MAC's Woodwinked:

In this duo the color is a bit darker than Woodwinked but has the same general color to it. The brown/gold color in the Wicked duo is a bit more chocolaty brown with gold in it. I have found the HiP Duos to have a very similar and comparable texture to MAC shadows. 

L'Oreal HiP Duo "Wicked":

DUPE: MAC - Wedge

Another dupe! Here we go!


MAC's Wedge:

L'Oreal HiP Dup in Shady (Left side):

MAC's Wedge: $14.50
L'Oreal HiP Duo "Shady": $6.99

These HiP Duos are absolutely astonishing! They are so smooth and easy to blend. They also are very pigmented. (Which is what HiP stands for - high intensity pigments.)

HELPFUL HINT: Face Shapes

Face shapes are extremely important in determining your haircut and style. Wilshire Wigs explains face shapes very well. I thought I'd share what I found on their page explaining face shapes and different hair styles that you should and shouldn't do. Enjoy!

As its name implies, the Oval Shaped Face is longer than wide, with a jaw that's narrower than the cheekbones. Because the oval shaped face has no dominant areas and is so proportional, this face looks good with just about any hairstyle, length or texture.

The Diamond Shaped Face is characterized by a narrow chin and forehead with wide cheekbones. Diamond shaped faces need narrow sides and fullness at the chin. Bobs work very well for this shape. Avoid wearing height on top or volume on the sides. Use some fringe or bangs to cover narrow forehead.

The Heart Shaped Face is characterized by a wider forehead and a narrower chin. Bring some hair onto the forehead to disguise its width. Keep hair close to the head at the eyes, but make it slightly full around the jaw, and below and in front of the earlobes.

The Oblong Shaped Face is characterized by a very long and narrow bone structure. The woman with an oblong facial shape often has a long, thin neck. Use a fringe or half-bang across the forehead by creating soft waves or curls in the crown and nape areas. This helps to create the illusion of an oval.

The Pear Shaped Face is characterized by a small or narrow forehead and a rather large pouchy-appearling jawline. Comb hair to add width from the eye level through the crown of the head. Set and comb hair close to the head on the sides and at the nape.

The Round Shaped Face is characterized by a wide hairline and fullness below the cheekbones. The woman may be overweight and the neck may appear short. These faces look very good with a geometric or linear style. Add height, when possible, and long, wispy side areas to make the cheeks look narrow. Comb hair close to the head on the sides and at the nape.

The Square Shaped Face is characterized by a wide hairline and jaw. Square shaped faces need height on top and narrowness at the sides. Comb the hair off the forehead to add height to the face. Cury texture and wisps of hair around the face break the wide, straight lines common to the square face.

Credits: www.wilshirewigs.com 

HELPFUL HINT: Eye Shapes

Everyone has different eyes. Therefore one makeup look can look beautiful on one person, and then on another it accentuates all the wrong parts of your eye. It's very important you understand your eye shape and how to accentuate all of the right parts.

What eye shape are you? You can use this chart to help you out.




Next we have another chart with tips on doing your eyeshadow the correct way for your eye shape!

 

I'm sure many of you have seen these circulating through the beauty community, but I found them very informative and helpful so I thought I'd share! 

Good luck on finding new beauty techniques to individualize your eyes!

DUPE: MAC - Satin Taupe, Tempting, Brule, Night Manoeuvres

I know, I know. Four dupes in one post?! CRAZINESS! Maybelline has some amazing quads. One of them being the Stylish Smokes in Natural Smokes. This quad is absolutely beautiful!

Maybelline Stylish Smokes (Natural Smokes) quad:

Now time for the fun part, the dupes! Match the numbers to the numbers in the picture for the MAC dupe in this quad

1: MAC - Satin Taupe
2: MAC - Tempting
3: MAC - Brule
4: MAC - Night Manoeuvres

The only major difference I see in these is that Tempting is a bit more bronze than the color in the quad. Also, MAC's Satin Taupe is a bit more pigmented... but that is to be expected considering it is high quality compared to drugstore. Everything else is almost spot on!

DUPE: MAC - All That Glitters

Here I am with another DUPE guys! I'm on a roll lately finding some really good drugstore eye shadows! Everyone knows and loves MAC's All That Glitters. It's a beautiful champagne pinky shimmer that looks absolutely gorgeous.

MAC - All That Glitters:

The dupe I found is in a Cover Girl quad called Country Woods. The dupe is in the pan that's second from the left. This color is a little darker than All That Glitters, but it's not hardly anything. They are crazy close!

Cover Girl - Country Woods (quad):

DUPE: MAC - Satin Taupe

Satin Taupe by MAC is one of my all time favorite colors and is insanely popular. However not everyone can afford to buy MAC shadows, or anything from MAC for that matter. I've been on the hunt for some good dupes and I found one that is extremely close!

The picture below is MAC's Satin Taupe:

L'Oreal HiP Duo "Sassy" is crazy close! Not only in color but in texture. I was so shocked that the HiP duos were of such good quality! I heard they were, but until I got them for myself I was a major skeptic. It is very finely milled and goes on and blends nice and smoothly.

The picture below is L'Oreal HiP Duo in "Sassy":

Satin Taupe's shimmer is a bit more silver than HiP Duo "Sassy". The HiP color is a bit warmer. The pigment in the HiP color isn't as strong as Satin Taupe, however it's not bad at all!


All in all I think you could definitely use HiP in place of Satin Taupe and you wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. Except for the fact that you spent half as much on it! :)


Satin Taupe: $14.50
L'Oreal HiP Duo "Sassy": $6.99


Amazing amazing dupe! 

HELPFUL HINT: Water Marbling

For those of you who have tried water marbling you know it makes an amazing design on your nails and is very simple to do! I've had people ask me why their nail polish doesn't spread once they drop it into the water though.

Most of the time I have found out that people are using warm water or cold water. Don't do that! It absolutely has to be room temperature or the colors won't spread correctly. It's a very simple change that needs to be made.

Hopefully that'll help some people that get confused by that and think they need to use a certain brand of nail polish or something very complicated.


Remember: ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER.


<3

REVIEW: ELF Studio Endless Eyes Pro Eyeshadow Palette

This product was featured in December 2010's "The O List: Holiday Edition" of O' The Oprah Magazine. I bought this product around that time without knowing about that. I hadn't heard anything about it but it was only $10! Of course I had to try it.



So what are my feelings about it? It's just kinda... eh. Some of the colors are really pigmented, others are just a flop. There are no mattes in this at all, just some with very subtle shimmer. Others are super shimmery and sparkly. This is a large variety of colors which is awesome and it would be great to expand your collection and to try out new colors. However, if you already have a lot of eye shadows and are very knowledgeable about good pigmentation and are expecting an amazing outcome, I wouldn't waste your money. Instead I would go to Coastal Scents and get the 88 palettes. They have fewer colors and cost about $18 but are a thousand times better in quality.



Anyways, this isn't a bad buy, it's great if you are just starting out as I said or if you want to try some new bright colors. It's just not the best cheap palette out there.




Would I buy this again? Probably not.

DUPE: MAC - Little Girl Type

This dupe is a little more blue toned than Little Girl Type, but is still very similar! I found it at my local Walmart for $2! That is a much cheaper price than ordering from the MAC website or getting it from a counter.

The dupe I found is called Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Hardwear in Lacey Lilac.

They both are beautiful spring time colors and go amazingly with the muted color trend. Enjoy!

DUPE: OPI Katy Perry - Not Like The Movies

I've got a second Katy Perry OPI dupe! This time it's for the color Not Like The Movies. It's a silver color with green/pink shine and subtle glitter. It's a really unique, new color that I was instantly in love with.

 

The dupe I found is by Wet 'n' Wild and cost me less than two dollars! It's their new fast dry line and is called Gray's anatomy. They are EXACTLY the same except the Wet 'n' Wild doesn't seem to have the few little sparkles in it. You can hardly tell once you paint your nails with it though. 

This is definitely a cheaper alternative and easier to get a hold of!

REVIEW: China Glaze Celtic Sun (NEON)

This is a very beautiful color. It's so neon and bright. It looks like a bottle of highlighter ink. The problem is though, no matter how many coats you use it's still completely see through leaving your nails a sickly yellow color. If you want to use this you need to use a white polish first as a base. Don't put it on thinking you can use a few layers and it'll be fine because I got to eight layers and it never got anymore opaque. You just have to know how to use it correctly.


Would I buy this product again? Yep.

HELPFUL HINT: Mascara smears

Okay, I don't know about the rest of you but sometimes I get very lazy and sloppy by the time it comes to put mascara on after doing a makeup look. Or, if I'm in a hurry and only use some mascara I'm even worse and smear it all over my lid, under the bottom lashes, or sometimes even smack myself in the face with the brush somewhere. It is insanely annoying especially after doing a complex makeup look to have to go back in with some make remover and redo that whole section over.

A trick to remove that is to just not worry about it for a couple of minutes and give it all a chance to dry. So while you go finish getting dressed or doing your hair just let your face look messy. Then at the very end of you getting ready take a dry q-tip and gently wipe where the mascara has smeared and smudged to.


It instantly just wipes it off clean without removing the makeup underneath! Then it's all perfect and ready to go out!

It seems too simple but you would be amazed at the people that don't this simple little trick. I know I was late in stumbling upon this info. Hopefully I can help someone else out with this frustration!

REVIEW: Maybelline Line Stiletto

This definitely is my absolute favorite liquid eye liner! It is a very intense dark black and has incredible staying power!

PROS:

• Dark intense black
• Does not smudge
• Easy to control
• Goes on smoothly
• Flexible brush (but not too flimsy)
• Smells nice

CONS:

• Takes a while to dry
• Transfers to the crease when you blink while drying

I've tried many different liquid eye liners and never liked any of them. I never could get them to work right and look very well done. This definitely changed that for me! Now I can't get enough of the gorgeous liquid liner look. This glides on so beautifully and easily that it makes any type of look you can think of. The color is very opaque and intense unlike other black liquid liners I've tried. Also, it leaves kind of a satiny finish when it dries making it look very sleek and classy.

This product does have a scent to it. It's very rosy and strong which some may love and some may hate. I'm kinda torn between it. There will be some days that I love it and others it almost gags me. I guess I have to be in the right mood for it. The scent isn't enough to keep me from using it though. When it dries you can't smell it anymore. It's not like you have your eye lids giving off a odd rose smell all day.



Would you buy this product again? Yes I would.

REVIEW: Revlon ColorStay Foundation

Oh... My... Gosh... That is all I can say. I am completely IN LOVE with this foundation. I can't believe it's been out on the shelves for so long and I just passed it up. This will be my main go-to foundation forever, I believe. It is just flawless.

PROS:

• Tons of different shades
• You can choose between Combination/Oily Skin or Normal/Dry Skin
• Medium to full build-able coverage
• Stays on allllll day
• Light feeling on skin
• Affordable
• Easy to find in any drugstore
• SPF

CONS:

• Nothing!

First off, I just want to say I'm ashamed at myself for not finding this sooner than I did. I cannot believe how perfect it is for me! My skin has a lot of redness so I need a medium coverage foundation that I can build up in certain spots. I always had problems finding this with drugstore foundations because it either looked cakey or it didn't change my skin at all. This product is amazingggg! I can't say enough good things about it. I am completely head over heels for it. I'm the lightest shade they have (110 Ivory) and I have never had a foundation match my skin tone so perfectly. I've heard in many other reviews people just ranting and raving over the color selection. They have every color for every person.

I'm not too sure how it does with breaking people out because my face rarely breaks out, thank goodness. I have read loads and loads of reviews though and have never heard of it breaking anyone out.

Another thing I really liked was that they have a line for normal to dry skin and a line for combination to oily skin. I didn't realize this at first because I was in a hurry and I just picked up my color in the first place I saw it. I picked up the foundation for normal to dry skin which did not work for me at all. I was very discouraged at first, then went back and looked and realized it was my fault and picked up my color in combination to oily skin and voila! Perfection! Thankfully they let me exchange the bottles and I didn't have to just throw away ten dollars on something I could never use. So learn from my mistake and READ before you buy. Make sure you're picking up the right formula for your skin! It'll help. ;)


This foundation is on the cheaper to average side priced drugstore foundations. It always will vary from place to place depending on where you buy it from and where you live. The most I've heard someone paying for it was around $12. I paid $10. Just watch for sales and price it at a few different places to get the best deal you can!

All in all, I can't say enough good things about this foundation. It is my new absolute favorite and probably always will be. It makes my face look flawless. This is a definite two thumbs up and I say go out and try this as soon as you possibly can if you haven't!




Would you buy this product again? Yes!!! I will forever buy this.

REVIEW: ELF Flawless Finish Foundation

I absolutely love almost everything I have tried from ELF. Even if it hasn't been the best thing I own, it has never been just straight up awful to the point I can't use it in some way. Well, this product just ruined that good streak I was on. This is just crap, horrible, awful stuff.

PROS:

• Nice packaging
• Low price ($6)

CONS:

• Everything!!
• Rubbery texture
• Does not blend/spread nicely
• Makes you look very fake

I have a problem with the whole "don't judge a book by it's cover" theory. This has such cute packaging I just had to try it. Plus it claims to leave a flawless finish. Who doesn't want that? Well when I put it on my hand to start dipping the brush into it, it was like rubbery and already almost dried into a big glob. So I was like hm, maybe I should just apply with my fingers to heat up the product a little bit to help it smooth out easier. I wiped my hand off of the first attempt with the product. Then squirted a half of a pump onto my fingers and instantly started rubbing the product onto my cheeks. It was still just awful. The product was still rubbery and stuck instantly to where I put it on my face and wouldn't budge. I tried kinda putting it all over my face like that thinking you just may need to use a lot of product to get a nice even coverage, but nope. I looked like I dipped my face into a bucket of cheap foundation and put about five pounds on. 


I tried this foundation with a primer, without a primer, with different brushes, with my fingers, with sponges, and everything to no avail. If this product works for you, let me know how you apply it and any other interesting details. I can't get it to look good for the life of me. It was probably the worst $6 I've ever spent, sadly. I had such high hopes for this.


Would I buy this again? Heck no.

REVIEW: Maybelline Falsies Mascara

PROS:

• Very volumising and lengthening
• Gives a dramatic look
• Takes only one to two layers
• True to color

CONS:

• Flakes easily after a few hours
• Does not hold curl
• Takes a long time to dry

When I first bought this mascara I was expecting wonders instantly. I was extremely disappointed. It is a very very very wet mascara, which some may like and swear by, but I can't stand it. After I would apply it I wouldn't be able to blink or open my eyes all the way for quite a while until it dried enough not to transfer to my lid. It does give you nice dramatic lashes however and is very beautiful if you can apply it the right way. It's a very dark black, thick consistency. It does flake a bit after wearing it for a few hours which sucks, but most mascaras do and you just have to work around that some. It's not bad enough to be a determining factor for this mascara. Anyway, after I first bought it and tried it out I kind of put it to the side for a few weeks from not enjoying using it. Then one day I decided I would give it another shot and I fell in love. It seemed to have dried out a bit over the few weeks I had let it sit to a better consistency and worked fabulously on my lashes. So it's kind of a weird mascara to me. I'm absolutely in love with it now, but hated it when I first bought it. I've heard others say the same thing as well. I believe it's a love it or hate it item for most. I don't think you should have to wait to use a product though. I think you should be able to use it right when you open it.

Would I buy this item again? Ehhh, maybe.

DUPE: OPI Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Katy Perry came out with an OPI line this January that has been flying off the shelves. All of the colors caught my attention, especially the glitters. OPIs glitters are one of the best to get full on glitter nails from in my opinion.

One salon I go to had this collection for a few days and sold out instantly. They can't get their hands on any more to sell. I've been trying to recreate some dupes for these beautiful colors.

The first one I found to recreate was the light pink glitter named Teenage Dream.

Step 1.) OPI Nail Envy Base Coat
Step 2.) Petites - Sand Dune (One coat)
Step 3.) Pure Ice - Spit Fire (Two to three coats)
Step 4.) Seche Vite - Top Coat

And voila! You'll have beautiful nails that resemble Katy Perry's Teenage Dream nail polish. Perfect if you can't afford the expensive nail polishes or simply can't find them to purchase.

Petites and Pure Ice were purchased at Walmart. Petites are $1.50 per bottle and Pure Ice are $2.00 per bottle. Feel free to use whatever top and base coat you prefer and have at hand. Nail Envy and Seche Vite were purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply.

 
Keep watching to see if I come up with anymore!