Lazy/Sick Day MakeUp

Hi Everyone,

I've been under the weather for a couple of weeks now but I'm finally starting to recover a little bit to bring you this quick makeup tutorial. This will be a short one, but this look was designed in mind as an alternative  to the everyday process. It's quick (took me about 5-7 minutes) to complete the look from start to finish. Normally if I'm sick and I'm just home, I'm not putting on any makeup, but I've been very sick for the past few days so I've gone w/ very little makeup and/or like yesterday, absolutely nothing. But today, I actually had to get out of the house. I had to go to the doctor and then to Target to fill my prescription. I wanted a look to brighten me up and I figured, if I put on makeup to look "fresh" and "awake", I might feel it too...I didn't want to use a lot of products and drag out all my brushes and color choices, so I went with just a couple of products and the best tools EVER that are free. MY FINGERS! Yes, I did not use any brushes or cotton swabs or pads...just my lovely ten fingers...but make sure yours is clean (I washed my hands before and after the application and had a makeup remover towel I used to wipe my hands in between). So let's proceed.

Face:

Since I have SUPER GINORMOUS pores, I always have to use a primer AT LEAST to conceal them. I just so happened to grab the first one I saw today because I was still in such a haze and it happened to be the Rimmel Fix & Perfect. Now that I think about it, this one was a good choice because it has a peachy tint to it so it helped add a little more coverage and color. Next, I opted for the e.l.f. Tinted Moisturizer...I LOVE tinted moisturizers because not only they eliminate the foundation AND provide moisturizer, IT'S SUPER QUICK! Anyway, I just used my fingers to blend it all over to avoid streaks and provide coverage. While I waited for that to dry and sink in, I did my hair. Very simple, take a look:

I'm sure everyone knows how to do this look but all it is is just a low bun with some volume up top with a headband to secure the front fringe/bangs. Very simple. I used the set of Goody Spin Pins for the bun, and then bobby pinned the hanging strands to the back. Surprisingly, I didn't have to tease the crown either. To complete the crown part, I gathered my bangs and some front part of my hair (like if you were going to do a pouf) and clipped it with a claw at the top of my head. Next, I slid the headband on and then I did my bun After the bun is secured, I just release the claw clip and then pin the strands down to help create the volume. Easy right? Yuppers.

Next onto the rest of the face makeup...the cheeks. :D I used the Sally Creme Blush (don't remember the color, it's in one of my blogs from the CVS Haul) dotted some color to help contour my face and then using my fore and middle finger, just blended it up and out...That's the best way to blend. Now if you're sick like me, you don't want to use too much. You should already have some natural redness in your face already so you just want to use a light dots and strokes and away from the nose area.

Next, onto my eye makeup. Instead of using a eyeshadow primer, I opted for a paint pot instead. I used my favorite: MAC's Rubenesque. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the peachy shimmer it has. It sparkles through and that is why I use it so often. And on days like this, it makes it so much easier and faster. Next, I used the cream shadow palette from Wet 'nWild. I don't know if they make these anymore but I think they're called Custom Creations. As you can see, it comes with four cream eyeshadows and then a creme blush on the left. To start off my look, I dipped one of my fingers into the green (bottom right) and dabbed it along my "crease" (I have monoids, so I hardly have a crease) and blended, you guessed it, "up and out". Next, I take the darker purply-gray (above from the green, or upper right) and set it just above the green to blend the two colors. However, with this color, I'm not going to take from outter corner to inner corner. This is more like the crease shade. So, in a windshield wiper motion, blend this along the outter corner of your eye and create a small outter "V". Next, I take the bronzy color (upper left) and use it just lightly enough to blend the two colors together, and finally the light, shimmery cream color on the bottom left as my eyebrow highlight. To color in my eyebrows, I used the e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Duo. I love this one and for $3, it's GREAT! Next, I grabbed my UD 27/7 Liner in Zero (came with Naked Palette), although any kohl black liner will do and lined my upper lid. I did this thicker than normal because I'm going to smudge it to increase the smokiness of this look. Afterwards, line your lower water line and then LIGHTLY go over the bottom lash line focusing more on the outer corner and tapering it as you get closer to the inner corner. Next, apply mascara, let that dry and then use a finishing spray to set your makeup and voila! You're done! Now, I did skip the lips because my lips feel very dry and irritated, so I've just been using that vaseline chapstick for the lips, but if I wasn't sick, I'd go with a nude or light pink lip color because you want the focus to be on the eyes in this look. Anyway, here is the completed look, hope you like!

Click on the picture for a full size photo which will show more color on the eyes.

A Couple of FIrsts

So...this weekend was quite interesting...while on a trip with some friends (read more about it here, we stopped by Ulta since there's not a super close one in the Monterey area...well, I'll do a haul for all my new Benefit stuff later but I needed to show you guys this...

First...the confessions. I've never been waxed before. I've never done it before because I always thought it was uber expensive and even more painful. I discovered eyebrow threading and went with that since it was cheaper and less expensive. Well, this weekend while at Ulta, I finally noticed Benefit's waxing costs and it wasn't much more than threading so I decided bravely to give it a try. Kim (one of the friends with me) was nice enough to "document" this for me.

My before picture....uggh...gross and my brows are already small and yucky. BTW, I have a very very difficult time growing and shaping my brows because my hairs there don't grow a lot together but as the lady at the Benefit counter said, I had a lot of peach fuzz. It's not visible in this picture (I'm sure you've noticed in my other pictures) but I had a lot of straggly hairs.
 Here she is shaping my brows...

And I guess this is the finishing of shaping? If only my brows were that full :( BTW, if anyone has any suggestions on how to make your brows grow in thicker and fuller, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Next came the actual waxing, which did not hurt that bad at all! It tingled for a bit but Benefit uses a cream wax and it was quite soothing..Not as bad as I thought.

Gosh I look so weird in these pictures...hahaha

And now...be prepared to be grossed out...here's what the strips pulled out:

Hahaha...well there is a first time for everything right? And now...onto something less disgusting:

After I got my wax done, I got a free face makeover. So I let the Benefit gal put makeup on me and I decided, since I'm getting this for free, I should go for something that I hardly ever do. BRIGHT RED, FUCHSIA-ISH looking lipstick. She also used the Bad Gal eye liner (which was perty cool) and the POREfessional and the Playstick on me which I absolutely loved. (Oh, and see the eyebrows now? More defined and shaped and even looks longer and a little more fuller than it was) I also really liked the way how she applied it on me, which I will be doing in a upcoming tutorial very soon. But for the rest of the day, I was getting compliments on my uber red lips. Which I loved! So I think I'll be doing red lips more often. Yay! 

Z Palette

Hello all!

I recently got my Z palettes in and finally had some time to depot some old eyeshadows that were just taking up space. I also had some single pan refil shadows from MAC that I needed to store, so I decided to put it all together. I have to say, I am quite surprised at how well It's holding up. I love that it already comes magnetized and also how durable it is.

One of my main concerns was that the shadows will fall through the clear top. The cover is quite durable and once you have it in your hands, it's easier to tell that all your precious eyeshadows will be safe. So just throwing mine together, this is what it looks like:

What I did was, I basically used the eyeshadow singles whose lids had broken off. As you can tell, they have dents in them from both me depotting them and from other corners and ends digging into them. I'm going to be taking this with me on a trip real soon and I think I have a pretty good array of color choices here. I have Carbon by MAC (upper left corner), a gorgeous blue from Revlon, Cranberry by MAC (underneath Carbon) and some neutrals Cork (Right of Carbon) and Wedge (underneath Cork). Both are from MAC and then I have the CG Drama Eyes Palette underneath my Ulta eyeshadows (the small rectangles) and of course the large Ulta eyeshadows I've had forever. The copper one (large orange circle) doesn't come out as beautiful in picture, but it's really a gorgeous copper and not so orange. It looks GREAT with warm undertones and the pink is absolutely gorgeous as well as a highlighter or even on the innercorners. I think my favorite would definitely be Shamrock (the large green one by Ulta). I did a makeup look with it awhile back but will do another one just because I love that shadow so much. Okay, well, that was a look at my Z palette. I will be filling up the other one soon. I gotta go to sleep because I have to work tomorrow! Thanks for checking in! Good night!

SO SORRY!!!

Hello and thank  you for reading this...so if you can see from my dates, I've been MIA for about almost a month and really lagged on my last couple of looks. And for that I apologize. Let me explain what's been going on...

The move was HORRENDOUS!!! The place that we thought we were going to get...well it turns out that it was going to take much longer than what the managers originally thought. Plus the old apartment place wasn't being too understanding or nice, so I thought I was going to be homeless for awhile. Thankfully, the new apartment place had another apartment vacant, albeit, smaller that we could move into while we waited. Well, the thought of moving twice just about keeled me over. I had no idea how we would orchestrate that and where in the world I would find time to move AGAIN...so we decided to just stay put in the smaller apartment. It is cheaper and I kind of like it better anyway. So now we're into about two weeks into March and just when I thought things were about to slow down, I get a several phone calls (very early in the morning too) and text messages about there being a tsunami warning. Well, I'm sure you've all heard about the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami's that followed after.

Well, I live in Marina, CA (which is about 5-10 minutes north of Monterey) and literally, all that separates my apartment and the beach is a medium mountain and a couple of houses. It takes me about a 2 minute drive probably or 10 minute walk to get to the beach from where I live, so of course, I had all sorts of family and friends from out of state and city calling my husband and I. Just in case there was a real danger, we decided not to unpack (in case it all went to waste anyway or in case we'd have to pick up and move again). So, after the scare of the tsunami, we started unpacking lightly and finished yesterday! Yay! Right??? Well....things always happen for a reason...

My hubby noticed his office chair was wet and when he looked up, there was water dripping from the ceiling. He just about had a heart attack. It was BARELY missing his prized computer (he's an IT Geek). Of course, this was about 11PM so I had to call the emergency maintenance line and put a bucket there to catch all the water while my hubby quickly took apart his computer in fear of the slooooowwwww drip maybe hitting his prized possession. Anyway, maintenance guy said that he'd be in in the morning to check it out as long as it wasn't a waterfall gushing down. So that brings us to today....he came and said that he had to let the water drain out and yada yada yada before he could fix it. To be honest, I wasn't really listening. I was still super sleepy but my hubby was there to take in everything. All I know now is that it will be fixed tomorrow morning. So today, I decided to unpack my makeup goodies that have been stored away for about two months now and was going to do a makeup look....but decided to rest my eyes first since I woke up super early...and of course the few moments of rest turned out into 4 hours. So sorry...but there will be more activity from me again. Promise. :D

Makeup Challenge...Day Four

Hello everyone,

Okay, I know I skipped yesterday but I had a VERY good reason...I couldn't see. LOL...well, I couldn't see anything up close. I got my eyes dialated but I was able to drive home because I could still see large things from far away. Also since I was up at 5 AM, I was more tired than I thought. I forgot to take a picture after I got ready and then last night fell asleep at 7PM. My husband was supposed to wake me up when he got home from work from my mini-nap but he didn't. LOL...

So anyway, moving onto today, here is my look:

Excuse the shine, I just took it when I got home. I forgot this morning again, well, I was rushing this morning but the makeup still looks the same :D

Anyway, the face is the same as everyday (see day one) and I literally had my hair in a bun all day today. For the eye makeup, I used my primer potion, then layered on my paint pot from MAC, rubenesque, and then topped it off with Half Baked all over my lid and then used Smog on top of that. Taking a large fluffy brush, I blended it up and out (like I always do!) and then use Toasted along the lash line and then used Naked in the middle between eyelid and eyebrow to make it look more natural. You may not be able to tell but I used Sin as my eyebrow highlight underneath the arches.

Forgive the shininess, but as I've ran out of my oil absorbing sheets, and packed my shine powder, and promised this to be real, this is what I have to offer. LOL. Anyway, lets see what tomorrow offers :D Thanks for checkin' in!

Makeup Challenge...Day Two

Hola Mi Amigos Y Amigas.

Como estas? Okay, that's all I know. I'm trying to learn Spanish at work. :D Anyway, continuing on my challenge to use just what I left out of packing. If you have no idea what I'm talking about. Click here to go back to my post to explain why I'm doing this. And you can click here for yesterday's look.

Today, I was in a bit more of a rush so for hair, I threw it up in a ponytail. Now, keep in mind, I DID NOT USE HAIRSPRAY. I don't have any out. LOL. What I did use were some bobby pins I found in my car :D So I basically split my bangs from my hair to the side, tied it with a hair tie at the nape of my neck, leaving it a little looser at the top but not completely loose. It also helps that my hair has a lot of layers at the top, so it is a little easier for me to create that illusion. But it's not all just bobby pins, you do have to do a little creative work here too. Anyway, before I put in bobby pins, I take both my hands and lay it on the back of my hair (I know, I should've taken a picture of this, sorry) with your thumbs touching the top of your ears and point your fingers towards each other. GENTLY tug it and push it up. Do not do it so much that all your hair falls out of the hair tie. You only want to create the illusion. If you wanted to, you can also tease the bottom to help fill it up. Mine looks like it, but underneath it, it's nothing, it's "hollow". LOL. Use the bobby pins to pin down any loose strands and curve it so it creates the roundness some more. Anyway, hopefully this is easy enough to understand and follow. Let me know if I need to do more descriptive pictures. Here's a picture of what it looked like when I was done. I know this sounds complicated but once you've done this over and over like me, it'll take you five minutes tops!

Next onto the makeup...

I took some step by step photos but they were NOT flattering on me at all, so I am not going to post them. LOL. I never realized the faces I made while putting on my makeup but trust me, IT WAS NOT ATTRACTIVE! It's funny because I read in Cosmo and all those other woman magazines all the time to allow your boyfriend/husband watch you get ready because it's so sexy....LOL...yeah, no. Hehehe..anyway, moving on, the look I did today kinda looks similar to the one yesterday, but it's not. Yesterday, I used brown shades with a cranberry-ish tint towards the top. Today, I used "gunmetal" which is a dark, silvery gray and pat a LOT of it onto my lid. Don't bother trying to blend it right now, just pat it on! You're trying to get a smoky look! Anyway, once you have all that color patted on, take a large CLEAN fluffy brush and BLEND, BLEND, BLEND! And don't forget to blend up and out! The gunmetal color finishes off a smooth clean, shimmery sparkle as you blend up and out but still dark enough to create spectacular color at the bottom. Next, I took the shade "buck" which almost matches my skin tone and swept it across the middle between my lash line and eye brow. This helps even out the shade and makes it blend in more. Buck is a matte shade so it helps the natural look even more. Next I flip my smoky duo brush around and pick up some color from "Creep" and brush it along my lash line. Because I have monolids, it's more flattering on me to do this because it helps INCREASE the depth of the color I am aiming for. I use the eyeliner duo that comes with the palette to help the intensity. I line top and bottom water lines and my upper lash line. Once again, I take my smudge brush and dip it into Creep and draw it along my bottom lash line to make my liner look less harsh. Top it off with blush and lipstick, define the eyebrows, spritz on some perfume and then haul a$$ out the door. LOL. At least that's what I did this morning.

So today, I got my bottle of Model In A Bottle makeup setting spray. I've been contemplating SO long on whether or not I wanted to try this product. I've tried different setting sprays and although I liked them, they can get pricey. I've seen Model in a Bottle all over, and finally decided to purchase it last week. I totally forgot about it and it arrived in the mail today. So I will try it out (including tomorrow) and will also do a review in the near future.

Tomorrow, I have to be at work EARLIER than usual so I will be up at 5 AM instead. I will try my bestest to create a nice and different look. Wish me luck!

And just cuz I wanted to show off, heres the above picture edited:

http://dayabrandini.blogspot.com/2011/02/moving-challenge.html

Makeup Challenge...Day One

Okay peeps, here goes. Please don't be scared. Keep in mind that I wake up at 6 AM and usually don't go to bed till about 12-1 in the morning. So, you can really tell in my pics and you'll also see how not perfect my skin is. However, after looking at the after pictures, I realized that my makeup does a really good job of hiding my pores. Take a look! But beware....

Ok...here's me at 6 am after getting dressed and ready to do my hair. I always do my hair first just because if I run late, I can finish my makeup in the car or do light dabs of makeup at work, or on the way to work in the car, but I can't exactly plug in my irons in the car (or heaven forbid at work) and start curling away, so I do my hair first. Because I am trying to grow my hair out and I have layers, I separate them and just start at the bottom. I don't have a certain style I do, just curling my hair b/c on it's own, it's an ugly wave :(

All done. Not bad for just a couple of minutes. Normally, I'd add hairspray at this point, but since I don't have any, I just left it alone. Next, it's time to start applying makeup. First I use the Mary Kay Oil Mattifier and dab and rub it into my face. This helps control the oil and shine throughout the day. 

Next, use a brush, (I use my favorite, the SigMax High Def Round Top F82 by Sigma) and work the foundation onto your face. I don't have the foundation on in the picture above yet, I just wanted to show the foundation. I have Revlon's PhotoReady foundation and OMG it works excellently! I think even better than MAC's Studio Fix liquid foundation. Now that I think about it, I'm glad that I left out the PhotoReady foundation instead because I hate those streaks that regular foundation leaves in photos with flash. Yech...anyway, after working in the foundation, I use primer on my lids and concealer on my problematic areas and then top off with a light powder. I use MAC's Studio Fix Powder to help absorb and set the foundation.

Next, I use my favorite eyeshadow palette, NAKED by Urban Decay and pat the color "Hustle" all over my lid, and use a large fluffy brush (the one in the picture in fact, and it's the smoky eye duo brush from Wal-Mart) and blend it up and out. Next, I turn the brush around and dip the top of it into "Dark Horse" and blend along the inner corner to the outer corner. Since I have monolids, I have to create a very unique blend. Although this is a light look, I use the darker shadow closer to the white to create an illusion to make my eyes look bigger. This is the reason to blend out the first lighter shadow up and out so that you don't lose that color. Next, I take a crease brush (the one from ELF is the one I use) and dab it into "Creep" and pat it on the outer corners about 1/4 of the way in. Now when I say dab, I mean DAB! You do not want it to be all black because the pigmentation is so strong that if you use too much, you will not get the effect that you are looking for. Next, I take the fluffy brush again and blend up and out to create an outer V. Remember that you want it to look more intense as it gets closer to your eye, but lighter as it gets closer to your eyebrows.

Next, I take my Sonia Kashuk bent eyeliner brush and dip it into the cream eyeliner by Maybelline and line my eyes from top to bottom. On the bottom, I try to keep the line closest to my waterline. To make it pop, but not have such a sharp line, I use Sonia Kashuk's smudge brush and dip into "Crease" again and lightly dab it along the lines I just created. This helps the "smoky" effect really come into play and will make your lower eyeliner look a lot less harsh. 

Next, add blush/bronzer (I had to really dig into what I had left in my duo compact) to highlight and contour your face, define your eyebrows (if you haven't done so yet) and add lipstick and you're all done! So far, day one wasn't too bad. What do you think? 

*Sorry, I had taken pictures of the process but then when I looked at the clock, I realized I was running really late so I stopped. I will try tomorrow. :D But please remember that I love my sleep and it's hard for me to get up earlier than I need to. LOL. See u tomorrow!