How To Do Acrylic Nail Sets at Home

Hiya dolls!

We all know my obsession with makeup but did you know that I love all things fingernail related too? In fact, my first certification was as a nail tech. My most requested tutorials here are nail related and while I have focused mainly on cosmetics, I've decided to bring my first love here!

I'm going to cover everything from a basic manicure to nail art. I've decided to start the series with acrylic nails because not only is that my favorite type of nail set to do at home & not only is it the top requested tutorial but I don't believe anyone has broken it down & made it as simple as possible for beginners. That's what I intend to do!

I've watched hundreds of tutorials...I've read tons of articles. I've seen many, many different techniques used. Many YouTube videos show step by step techniques but I'm always left wondering if they think that is "easy"? They use terms without defining them. They do close up of the steps without giving the how behind them. Now, I plan to break it down into six parts.

Part 1: Gathering needed supplies and preparing the nail for an acrylic set.

Part 2: This will include both of my simple techniques to creating the length of an acrylic nail:
             Technique 1: Nail tips.
             Technique 2: Nail forms.

Part 3: Applying acrylic for nail tips.

Part 4: Applying acrylic for nail forms.

Part 5: Filing, smoothing & shaping the acrylic nails.

Part 6: Finishing the acrylic nail set.

Let's get it started!

XoXoXo
-Missie-

Welcome back!!!

Hi beauty dolls!

It has been awhile. Thank you for the sweet emails inquiring about my absence. I have had a run of bad health lately. As I've stated before, I am a diabetic & developed COPD as well as CKD. After many month of sickness, I am feeling much better & plan to dive back into the beauty blogging world full force!

While I may not have been posting here, I have made it a point to keep up with the beauty world. I have tons of new products to review, lots of tutorials for hair & makeup including original looks, celebrity inspired looks & more, continuations of my "favorite" beauty products series, an entire series on nails: how to acrylics, gels, nail art, manicures, pedicures, etc. & much more!

I can't wait to get started! Despite the entire notebook of planned articles for Infallible Beauty, I would love to do any specific tutorials or reviews that you guys want to see so shoot me a comment down below or send me an email at divaliciousmomma@gmail.com and I'll be glad to get to work on what YOU want to see. Because I write all of my articles/posts for YOU!

XoXoXo
-Missie-

Concealer Series Part 5: My Top 5 Affordable Drug Store Concealers That is Worth it!

Hi guys!

Are y'all ready for part five of the concealer series- my favorite drug store concealers that are really worth it? If you missed my other posts in the concealer series, here is a run down of what you will find:

Part 1: the best concealer brush I have ever laid eyes on (at one point in time I owned 133 brushes from high-end to drug store to $1 brushes, 41 of the concealer brushes alone so I know what I am talking about!) 

Part 2: Why using your fingers to apply concealer and foundation is NOT a good idea, especially if you have terrible under eye bags like me! I call them my motherhood bags of glory but even that a fancy name like that still makes them dreadful!

Part 3: My everyday, go to concealer application method.

Part 4: Ever hear or read anyone mention the triangle method for concealing under eye circles? Here is where I tell you how to do it & why it works!

Part 5: You are already reading it!

Now, that we have backtracked through blogging time, let's get started on the what, how, when, why of drugstore concealers. Oh yeah, I have decided to count down to my number 1!

Number Five Drug Store Concealer: Revlon PhotoReady Concealer (stick)

Here is my full review & first impression of this concealer. However, I have used this product a lot, as well as many other concealers, & I have found that there are a good amount of affordable concealers, around the same price, that are just as good is the Revlon PhotoReady Concealer but come in cream type form, which is what I refer. But if you don't mind using a concealer in stick form, then I highly recommend this one! It glides on easy & blends out quickly, when is unusual for a stick concealer but the main reason I originally liked this one. It offers a medium to full coverage if applied with a good concealer brush but coeverage is diminshed when using your fingers, especially with stick foundations like this one, because your body heat thins the product out.

Number Four Drug Store Concealer: Hard Candy Perfect Coverup

The Hard Candy Perfect Coverup concealer comes in a roll up stick type form but has a super creamy formula that allows this product to be applied with a brush. But definitely not the brush that is on the other end of the stick...it is described as being a concealer blending brush but trust me, it doesn't work. Or maybe it will work but I don't have the time to spend hours blending in a concealer just because it comes with a brush.

Now, for under eye bags this concealer didn't do very much for my own awful bags but it worked great on those with only lightly discolored under eye areas with no dryness or fine lines. My daughter loves this concealer. When trying to conceal blemishes, this Hard Candy Perfect Coverup really is perfect! It hides redness, reduces the appearance of swelling & completely hid even my worst blemishes. The blemish itself was still raised but other than that, you could not tell there was even a blemish there!! I now swear by this concealer for breakouts! It lasts all day too, as long as you set it with a powder!

Number Three Drug Store Concealer: Hard Candy Nobody's Perfect Concealer Palette

I know that I raved about this palette (aside from the disasterous dark shade) in several of these concealer series posts and used it to describe how I applied my concealer here. This must make you guys wonder, why isn't it number one? Because frankly, there are tons of affordable concealers that are better than this one. Because this Hard Candy Concealer Palette is one of my current favorites, doesn't mean it is the best. Remember, I said here that many, many people found this palette couldn't work for them? BUT because of a recent lack of sleep due to pneumonia, a teething toddler & writing deadlines, my under eye area looks like I got punched in the eye a few times. This means I need some serious color correction.

The green, purple & yellow based shades in this palette are the perfect formula. 1-They are really, really pigmented! There are tons of color correcting concealers that have no pigmentation at all or lose their pigmentation when you start to blend it in. Not the case with this little booger right here! They are so pigmented that if you apply to much, your under eye area will be bright green or purple or yellow! 2-They are super hydrating! The formula of the color correcting colors in the palette are very 'wet', for lack of a better term. They do not feel oily & it does not sweat once on the skin. They are seriously moisturizing and when your under eye area tends to look like a dried prune, you definitely need a moisturizing concealer!

Number Two Drug Store Concealer: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles

Ohhhh, How I love this concealer! I love everything about it so much that I will even forgive Maybelline for the little sponge on the end that doesn't blend in the product & isn't removable so I can clean & disinfect it! The product creators at Maybelline are geniuses when it come to their Age Rewind products (their foundation is amazingggg)! This concealer contains a concealer + treatment. The treatment aspect contains Haloxyl, which reduces swelling. Maybelline also claims Haloxyl reduces the under eye bags completely but I haven't seen a change in them, aside from them being less puffy. But that doesn't really matter as long as you have a concealing product that will hide those boogers, right? And this is the product!

There is also a brighter & a nuetralizer shades. The brightener brightens (duh) the under eye area, eliminating the shadow effect that make dark circles appear darker. But the brightener is too pink for me! It shows up as a baby pink when I use it, even if I apply the very smallest amounts. The Age Rewind Neutralizer for extremely dark eye circles is awesome! It does reduce the heavy discoloration under my eye & brightens it up a lot...but I still have to use a concealer on top to get a complete coverage. But the  Age Rewind concealer itself it great: smooth formula, non drying, long lasting when set with a powder, easily blended and most importantly, it really does hide those nasty bags!

Number ONE Drug Store Concealer: CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless Concealer

                   

Girls, this is one amazing concealer. By far my favorite drug store concealer of all time. Not only does it conceal these awful circles but it moisturizes the area, too. With super dry undereyes, I have to be careful- especially in the winter months- about what products I put under my eyes or my dried prune appearance returns with avengence. A lot of my favorite concealers for spring & summer can't come close to my under eye area without it beginning to shrivel up. But this Covergirl & Olay combo concealer leaves my under eye area absolutely flawless...no discoloration, no puffiness, no dryness. It is smooth & creamy, super easy to blend & is a full coverage concealer.

Most of all, it doesn't dry to under eye area out at all & I don't even need to use a setting powder with it, unless I need some extra coverage for things like fine lines. Love, love, love this! It also has a corrector formula that is equally amazing! I do a layer of each, corrector first then concealer & I am good to go. Somedays I just use those two products & a little BB cream on my face and I am out the door with flawless looking skin & nobody can even tell I am wearing concealer at all!

Tell me below in the comments what your top 5 concealers are! Would you like to see a new review & how to use tutorial over any of these concealers?

Have a great day!

<3 Missie <3

Concealer Series Part 4: Upside Down/Reversed Triangle Method For Concealing Under Eye Circles

Hi beauties!

Here is part four in the concealer series: concealing under eye bags with the upside down triangle method.

I have basically told you everything there is to know about concealers so I am just going to jump straight into this concealer method.

The benefits to this triangle method is all about illusions. Kinda like reverse contouring. When contouring the face, you add a dark color to the areas of your face that naturally 'shadow' to give you the illusion of prominent cheekbones, slimmer nose, slimmer face, etc. But when the areas of the face that do not naturally shadow are discolored, the give the skin in that area a darker look that is not natural. For these areas, we use a light product to create the illusion of natural brightness and to draw the area away from darkness.

Here is the brush I use to apply my concealer, especially for the reverse triangle method because the flat, thin, semi-domed brush (end one at the top of photo) is perfect for holding a larger amount of product needed for the method & for drawing the lines of the triangle. This is honestly the best concealer brush ever. Click here to see why I love it! The opposite end (lower end of the picture) is a medium sized, semi-domed, fluffy blending brush similar to an eye shadow blending brush but larger. It is PERFECT for blending out concealers in the under eye area!

                                    

 

 

 

 

This is my current favorite affordable concealer. This is the Hard Candy Nobody's Perfect Concealer Palette. But it has to be used a certain way to reach good results. Now, notice that dark color in the right lower corner? That color is a thick, gooey, unusable concealer. I have emailed Hard Candy for an explanation, after several readers emailed me to say that their palette had the exact same problem. But all of the other shades are great, if you know how to use them. Click here for a quick run down of  how I use the palette & click here to see a full review & tutorial. 

 

                    

Now, for the reversed triangle method to sending those under eye bags into oblivion! It is super quick & easy. One thing I would like to clarify before we start is that if your under eye area has very severe discoloration, you may want to skip the triangle method and chose instead color correcting method, using the color wheel.

1- Apply moisturizer to a freshly cleaned face. For a beautiful makeup application, your skin should be clean, free of makeup & dry patches. And it should be HYDRATED! Even if your skin isn't prone to dryness, moisturizing your skin will give your foundation & concealer a smoother, more even
appearance. Allow your moisturizer to completely dry to ensure your skin has absorbed it completely.

2- If you use a primer, apply it now. Make sure to wait several minutes between your primer & foundation. If you add your foundation before your primer has had time to set, when you blend in your foundation, you will rub off the primer.

3-Apply your foundation. I apply my foundation to my face & my eyes separately. This allows me to control how much foundation is applied under the eyes, which should be thinner than the rest of your face because heavy foundation, topped with concealer  & set with powder will leave the thin skin under the eyes appearing thick, caked & cracked.  But you can apply your foundation whichever way works best for you.

4- Now to create the upside down triangle. Dip your concealer brush into your chosen concealer. Depending on how much concealing you need & the type of concealer you use will determine how much product you need. Because the triangle covers a larger area than just the under eye bags, you may need more than you normally use.

Photo courtesy of http://www.shefinds.com

 

5- Create the reverse triangle, which will look similar to the above photo with a few differences. You will drag the brush across your lower lash line, getting a little closer to the lashes than the photo shows & dragging it up toward the inner corner of the eye, again just a little further up than the photo example.

6- From the inner corner of the eye, drag your concealer downward, following along beside your nose. The photo shows the line running downward to a point that runs parallel to the end of the nose. You do not need to go this far. Instead, as you reach the crevice that signifies the start of your nostril, bring the concealer inwards toward your cheek for about a quarter of an inch.

7- Now, move up to the end of your first concealer line that is at the outer corner. Starting at the point, draw your concealer line diagonally until it reaches the end point of the second line that ran parallel with your nose. You have now created your reversed triangle.

8-For the final step, you have two options. For light concealer coverage, use you ring finger or your concealer brush (I don't use my fingers, it thins the product out too much & prevents a good coverage. Click here to see why!) add pat the triangle lines inward, blending them in to fill in the center of the triangle. For a fuller coverage, pat on a light coat of concealer into the entire center of the triangle & blend in completely.

*Here's a tip. Because this triangle method uses a large amount of concealer because of the large area it is covering, you may need to pat on a very light layer of foundation to avoid looking 'too light' in this area.**

You are all done! Give it a try. Let me know how you like this method & if you saw any difference between this triangle method & your normal method.

Have a great day!

<3 Missie <3

Concealer Series Part 3: How to Apply Under Eye Concealer

Hey beauties!

Here is part three in my concealer series: my every day concealer tutorial! Yep, here is my tried & true method to apply concealer to the under eye area aka my bags of motherhood glory! As I have said before, heavy & dark blue under eye circles are my biggest perfect imperfection. I am proud of these bags as the signify the many hours of sleep lost taking care of my four angels, staying up late to work because I spent my usually daytime work hours spending time with those four precious people! But to avoid scaring the daylights out of the world, I do like to hide these little boogers and that means I need a full coverage method.

Part one that covers the best concealer brush I have ever laid my hands on, followed by  part two which covers why fingertips ARE NOT the best method to applying concealer ! This "my go to" concealer application tutorial is part three, part four is the triangle concealer method for the under eye area, part five is concealing blemishes, scars, large pores, fine lines and other imperfections and part six is all affordable drug store concealers. Whew! I think that covers everything! Just click the blue to go to any of the other parts in my concealer series!

Let's jump right in, as I am trying to eliminate the rambling that appears to be bothering some of my readers. But hey....I am from the south & we loooovvvveeee to talk! I want to give all every possible detail & info that I have so that when you finish reading, you have all of the knowledge you needed!

Step One: Ditch The Eye Makeup
 

 

The first step in achieving a perfectly hidden imperfection is moisturize! I use the Mary Kay Eye Makeup Remover each night & again in the morning as part of my skin care routine. This ensures the eyes are completely free of all makeup products for a clean slate to start your concealer routine.

Step Two: Wet, Lather, Rinse & Sometimes Scrub!
 

 

Wash your face! Make sure you have removed every bit of makeup & then use your favorite face wash to clean the skin, especially those pores, because bacteria, dead skin & other foreign bodies build up in your pores and cause blackheads, pimples & acne. The easiest way to conceal blemishes is to stop them before they start by washing your face each morning & each night. Plus, washing your face removes dead skin and any other build up on the face which gives a smoother makeup application.

Yep, my face cleanser comes from the Dollar General for $2.25 and believe me when I say, it is the best drug store cleanser I have ever used. Blackheads are my skin's blemish of choice so I purchase this formula of Dollar General facial cleanser, although they have formulas for every skin care need imaginable & they are all amazing. This cleanser has tiny microbeads for a mini exfoliating session to remove dead skin & really scrubs those pores clean while removing the gunk behind blackheads. During the fall & winter months, I use this cleanser twice a day: pouring & night, because my skin is so dry that it requires a cleanser formula that also mildly exfoliates because if I buy a normal cleanser without the microbeads, I am literally just washing dead skin that gives my face its dry appearance. I need to remove those dead suckers, not wash them! 

My skin is harsh, dry & actually flakes off AND this cleanser is very mild so I have no redness, soreness, burning, swelling or any of the other side effects of exfoliation. If you have sensitive skin, moderate acne or have very strong side effects from exfoliation in the past, you may not want to use this product as a daily cleanser. But the Dollar General also offers different formulas & they are amazing, too: sensitive skin, acne, normal, dry, oily, combination & aging.

It is important to do a deep exfoliate your skin once a week as well but that is another post; click here to see my skin care routine. Although my face cleanser of choice contains microbeads & claims it acts as a mild exfoliator, it actually doesn't exfoliate the skin completely. It pretty much just removes the top layer of dead skin that gives my face that dry, flaky appearance & soaks into the pores to remove & prevent breakouts, specifically blackheads.

 

For my deep exfoliating product of choice, I go for the Olay Skin Smoothing Scrub. This product is amazing! It is affordable and gets the job done, without being too rough on the skin & leaving me blotchy. It is a similar formula to the Dollar General scrub that I use everyday but the Olay Skin Smoothing Scrub is much harsher and when it comes to exfoliating the skin, especially if you have dry skin AND are addicted to makeup products which face it ladies makeup is literally packed, patted, rubbed, blended and forced into our pores which can only increase those pesky blemishes if we don't keep our skin well taken care of!

Step Three: Hydrate That Skin Gurls!!

 

Moisturize those bags, girls! Use clean fingers, a beauty sponge or a cotton ball (I use my finger tips because the body heat warms up the skin, opening the pores to allow the moisturizer to seep into the skin and hydrate the deeper tissue!) Apply your favorite moisturizer liberally to the entire face & neck, adding a little extra to your under eye area and massaging it in very gently. Let your moisturizer dry, usually at least ten minutes.

Here's some great advice to live by: Your skin will age (read: wrinkle) at a 50% slower rate if you start moisturizing early & make it part of your daily skin care routine from here on out. Statistically, you will look 5 years younger if you start moisturizing at puberty- or 13 years old- whichever comes first. Girls, don't forget to hit the neck, too, with a little moisturizer, working it up toward the face to avoid tugging the skin downward & causing premature wrinkles and sagginess! What good is a smooth, 5 years younger looking face if your neck looks like a wrinkled shirt that's been wadded up in the laundry basket for a year??

I use two moisturizing products: one specifically for the under eye area & one for all over my face and neck.

The Burt Bee's Intense Hydration Eye Cream is great for putting on right before your makeup. It hydrates the under eye area to minimize dry patches, fine lines and leaves the area smooth so your foundation & concealer doesn't look patchy. It also tightens up this area over time to reduce wrinkles and other oh-my-goodness-I-am-getting-old skin imperfections. I place 2 teeny tiny drops (combined, they would be about half of a pea in size) and dot it across my glory bag from the inner corner to the other corner then continue to pat back & forth across the area until blended. Even this small amount really makes a tremendous difference between a rough, patchy makeup application to the under eye area & a smooth, flawless makeup application. Using too much of any moisturizing product on your face, especially the under eye area because it has 3 types of 'base' type products (foundation, concealer & powder, sometimes primer too) applied to its thin skin. The area will become greasy & your makeup won't be able to adhere correctly, leaving you with damp, runny makeup. I also use this product at night, too. Click here to see my current nighttime routine!!

Step Four: Try a Primer, What Can it Hurt?

 

Use a primer! Primers, no matter which kind you use, smooth the skin for a smoother foundation application & act as a base for foundation so that it lasts longer and gives better coverage.

If you have large pores & fine lines, use a pore filling primer that contains silicone such as my personal favorite The NYX Pore Filler. This primer also works great to hide fine lines. I use this NYX primer during the summer because the heat and sweat causes my pores to enlarge. Take a small amount & using the tips of your fingers to warm up the product & the skin, gently press it into the areas where are pores are visible larger. Do not rub it into the skin because this causes it to just lie on top of the skin & will allow those large pores to shine through your makeup. By patting it directly into your pores, it uses its silicone base to fill up those pores, giving your skin a smooth, even look.

 

When my pores are behaving, I use the Covergirl BB cream in 810 light to medium coverage. BB & CC creams both are excellent primers for the face and the increase your foundations coverage as well. I dab a little on my cheeks, forehead, nose & chin and blend in well with my fingers.

For photos, wedding, pageants, etc, I use Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer. This primer is applied all over the face and down the neck to help aid in creating an airbrushed foundation & concealer look for  those days when you have to go heavy on the makeup so it shows through in photos. Anytime you will be taking photos, you need to go much heavier than usual on the makeup to make sure your features don't fade out in the photograph. This Revlon primer is perfect as a base for this, allowing the heavier makeup to stay smooth instead of looking thick & unnatural, making sure your makeup lasts hours and hours!

Now, if you prefer not to use a primer or you have very oily skin, don't use one. However, to make your concealer reach its maximum potential and make sure it doesn't wear off, always use a primer under the eyes at least. There are primers made specifically for hiding under eye circles but they cost a pretty penny. I have found most drug store primers are great (skip the Cleo primer...it is a greasy, slick mess, even for those of us with dry skin!) for using just under the eyes. Of course, teenage girls probably don't have these issues. Just wash your face well & moisturize then jump into your foundation.

Whichever primer you chose to use, take a pea sized amount and dot it under each eye from the inner corner to the outer corner, coming down about 1/4 of an inch below your under eye circle. Use your fingers to pat into the skin under the eyes. Let sit for several minutes before moving on. Adding another product on top of a primer before it has had time to dry will only rub your primer off!

Step Five: Foundation Time!

 

My current favorite foundation is Loreal Visible Lift Smooth Absolute Instant Age-Reversing Foundation with a Hydra Collagen Complex. Wow, what a name! I have seen a lot of reviews that aren't very favorable with this foundation & the powder, too. But I love the line. It gives my skin a dewy look which is hard to do in the cool seasons because my skin is so dry. I will say the powder takes some practice as far as application goes but after getting the hang of it, its amazing. It tightens my skin up & reduces wrinkles and fine lines, plus the whole dewy instead of matte aspect, gives me a super smooth, even skin tone.

Apply your foundation!. You can click here to see my fall foundation routine but you can simply apply your foundation the way that works best for you. Choose a concealer based on your greatest need first; ask yourself which is the most noticeable about your under eye circles-dark discoloration based on color (usually blue, green, red or purple), fine lines, deep/large pores, puffiness, sinking in, etc.

Top: full view of dual ended Essential Tools concealer brush

Left: small, thin, flat domed end concealer applicator

Right: medium-sized, domed blending brush

If you took my suggestion & purchased the best concealer brush EVER (see picture above), (actually you'll need two of this brush) one for under eye foundation & the other for concealer, then you already have the only two tools you need to complete your under eye concealer routine. Or maybe you have found another great concealer tool you love to use. Maybe you are simply trying out different tools & methods to find one that suits you. Either way, here is my application method for applying foundation to the under eye area.

The foundation in the under eye area should be thinner than on the rest of your face. That is why I don't prefer to do a full face foundation all at once but to do my face, skipping the under eye area so I can control exactly how much foundation goes here. If it is too thick, especially when using a full coverage foundation, adding concealer on top will give it a cakey look and you definitely can't add powder. I know a lot of women prefer no powder under the eyes, especially those prone to dryness & fine lines, but I feel you need some sort of setting powder to lock in your concealer or it will be gone in just a few hours, with your true bags shining through.

A pea sized amount of foundation is enough to do both of your under eye areas as well as blending up across your eye lid to even out the lid, as the lid is very thin and even with an eye lid primer, your veins can show through without foundation on the lid, which will change the intended look of your eyeshadow. For example, if your lid has visible blue veins & you attempt to use a goldish eyeshadow, the eyeshadow will take on a greenish hue: gold (which is yellow based) and blue equal green, see?

Dot foundation across your under eye area. I use my ring finger & make four small dots from below the inner corner across the bag area to the outer corner. With one of the two concealer brushes I recommended above, use the medium sized blending brush end (not the thin, flat brush on the opposite end) to make small circular motions across the under eye area blending in your foundation. Make sure to hit the edge several times to blend it into your previously applied face foundation to avoid lines.

Step Six: Send Those Bag into Hiding!!!

 

Now, you gotta hide those under eye bags!!! If you are using a standard concealer, such as the normal, common method of using a concealer one shade lighter than your skin tone, here is what you do! Using the flat side of the concealer brush (lower left picture above), dot concealer across from the inner corner to the outer corner & down 1/4 inch below the eye bag. Using  very gentle patting motions, pat the concealer into the under eye area until completed blended. For concealers that offer only a light coverage but you need more of a medium to full coverage for serious bags of glories like mine, let this first layer of concealer sit for about 5 minutes then apply a second layer using the same brush and method described above. Let this layer sit for an additional five minutes. 

My current favorite concealer (above) is the Hard Candy Nobody's Perfect Concealer Palette. First, take a look at the last concealer on the right. This is the 'dark' shade of the 3 skin toned concealers & when I say it is a hot mess, I mean scorching!! It is thick & sticky & completely unusable. I have seen many reviews over this palette & many of them didn't have this sticky disaster for a dark toned concealer...but many of them did, too. I have contacted Hard Candy & so far no response. But the rest of the concealers in the palette are great, the shades are described at the top of the photo because I could not get my photo to be true to the correct shades.

A large portions of the reviews on this concealer palette were negative. However, as I have always say, tools & technique can make any product work! I give a full review of this product & my tutorial on the best technique to maximizing the potential of these concealers here but my application instructions below give a shorter version.

I use the flat side of my brush & tap it in the green concealer (top left of photo) twice. I pat this shade from the inner corner where my bag is most pigmented and about 1/2 of the way along the curved line that runs under the eye, giving this area the 'bag' shape. I dip the same side of the brush into the purple shade (left center of photo) twice and add it right to the top of the green, but bringing it further out to the end of the curved line. Then, I did the brush into the yellow based concealer (bottom left) once and apply this directly above the purple and green, running it down the length of this line. This leaves the entire 'bag' part without any concealer, aside from the yellow based shade that runs atop the green and purple.

Still using the fluffy side of the brush that was not used for foundation (this is why I say having two of this brush is best), I move it back & forth across all of the concealer colors in small circles until they are completely blended in. This brush is amazing & does not take long to blend in!

Once blended, I did the flat side of the same brush into the medium shade (right center of photo) and pat it into the 'bag' area above the curved line, making sure not to place any of the skin toned shade on top of the colored shades. With the fluffy side again, I continue making small circles across the under eye area from inner corner to outer corner into well blended. Now, taking the fluffy side of the brush you used to apply foundation to the under eye area, lightly swirl it across the entire bag area from the curved line up to the lower lash line and from the inner corner to the outer corner. This takes the foundation residue and adds a very, very, very light coat to the concealer making sure it matches the rest of the face, but leaving it a little lighter for a brightening effect. (You will have to read my review & tutorial with this palette here to see what the benefits are to applying the concealers this way!)

Step Seven: Seal That Baby In!!

 

 

Maybe it is my beauty school days, but I am a firm believer if you have applied a liquid or cream based product or any other product that can smear then you need to apply a powder based product to lock it in to get the maximum wear time! I used a powder based product to lock in everything from eyeliner to concealer to cream blush. Or maybe you are one of us older, sleep deprived gals, then you will want to use a setting powder to ensure a complete coverage concealer for those bags of glory. I use my own combination of several different products I mixed together to meet my specific under eye needs which you can find here. It is amazing, does not make the under eye area appear cakey or dry like most setting powders & it gives that airbrushed, perfectly concealed under eye bags look we all love! But you will have to go read that post to learn to mix it up yourself!

Chose a setting powder that meets your needs. If I didn't love my mixture of products for under eyes so much, I would use e.l.f. Studio Hi-Def Under Eye Setting Powder (pictured above) or Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder hands down. The e.l.f. product is great, especially for $3! It doesn't leave my eyes dried out so they look cracked & cakey. But my problem is that it doesn't last long. An hour or two later, it is gone which means my concealer starts to wear off too because there is nothing locking it in & protecting it from sweat, weather, etc.
The Laura Mercier powder is great for the hotter months, when my skin is normal. But during fall & winter, I can't use it at all because my skin is super dry during this time and the Laura Mercier product really adds to the dryness, leaving my under eye area looking worse than it did before the concealer. But here is a little hint to my perfect under eye setting combo: it contains the Secret Brightening Powder! I have more needs than brightening, though, which is why I made a combo of products, each one hitting a specific need my glory bags required!

I use the second best concealer brush ever (yes, I use two of these brushes for hiding my under eye bags) and swirl it in the setting powder twice. Then, I tap off the excess on the side of the container and make once swift movement across the under eye area from the inner corner to the outer corner and down 1/4 inch below the eye bag. Do not go back & forth. Do not apply more than one layer. Those two things will cause the area to drying out, crack and cake.

There ya go!
 I hope this helped you get an idea for creating those smooth, flawless, what-eye-bag? look we all knew years ago & wished we had back!

If you have any requests for makeup tips & tricks, product reviews, love or leave it, tutorials or any other kind of post, email me your requests at missienicole1231@aol.com!

<3 Missie <3

Have a great day beauties! Come back tomorrow for Part Four!

Concealer Series Part Two: Why Your SHOULD'T Use Your Fingers to Apply Concealer/Foundation

Hi beauties!

I have had many requests for a tutorial on applying concealer to under eye circles/bags. Whenever I have a request for something, I don't just grab a popular concealer & bang out a quick tutorial on how to use it. If you take a look around the beauty blog world & of course, at the beauty videos on YouTube, many of them have excellent advice but they all have one thing in common: their method of applicationis sworn by. Many of them also seem to promote fancy, top of the line, too rich for my blood concealers....when there are many, many affordable, drug store concealers that work just as well. 

You guys know my philosophy: Why purchase high-end, break the bank makeup products when many, many affordable drug store brands work just as well, if not better? Any product can work for you, with the right tools & the right techniques!

I LOVE many of my fellow beauty bloggers/vloggers across the web but I am the odd ball when it comes to applying concealer, especially when you require full coverage like myself. I will admit that as a 30-something year old mom of 4, my under eye area looks like a puffy, so-blue-it-is-almost-black, dry, wrinkly hot mess. Hey, don't judge....that is what happens when you work all day from home, while taking care of 4 kids ranging from a very hormonal 12 year old to an ADHD 9 year old to a super smart, nothing gets by me 5 year old to a toddling, into everything & everything goes into the mouth 1 year old! Even though my job is to hide these type pf perfect imperfections, using makeup to give clients & to teach you how to achieve that perfect look we all desire, it doesn't leave a lot of time to use those makeup tricks on myself!

I want to give you a little backstory on why this post came into creation. A few months back, I was asked to participate, along with several other beauty bloggers/vloggers, for a series of joint tutorials on 'the best methods for a flawless makeup application.' I was assigned to write tips & tricks to concealing under eye circles, which is my best makeup technique because of my own need to conceal terrible eye bags. I wrote out my tips & tricks article, mentioning that if you had severe discoloration, puffiness or a lot of laugh lines, then you did not need to use your finger to apply concealer because it thinned out the product too much for a decent coverage. I was asked by the website host to remove that statement because she swore that using your finger was the best method & that by me opposing her view, I would discredit her to her readers.

However, I refused to do so...she asked me to write the article, instructed me to post my most accurate concealing method & insisted that it should be my 'tried & true" method...not to mention, I was not paid to contribute & I have never and will never write anything that is not the truth, proven by trial and error. My contribution has since been removed & that is ok. I don't agree with all of the tips & tricks of the other beauty writers and I do not expect them to believe in all of mine. That is what is great about makeup...it is all about creativity. What I create is different than anyone else's creations; even if the same results are created, the methods are always different!

But I will say this: I stand by my original concealer tips & tricks article & my convictions that beauty bloggers should never create fictional reviews or tutorials to please another beauty blogger, receive compensation or receive free products. And you will never see me do it here on Your Infallible Beauty!

Why do I say NOT to use your finger to apply & blend concealer? Body heat!!! 98.6 degrees combined with a patting or rubbing motion that increases the temperature by 2-4 additional degrees will melt any concealer you attempt to use, unless the product is super thick. But I don't recommend going the thicker concealers either...because the result starts to look cakey & cracked with thicker concealers, even top dollar concealers, because of the constant twitching of the muscles located under the eye with blinking, the weather, the length of time that passes after applying it & the drying that comes with every liquid type product. That is, unless you can refrain from blinking or stop the passing of time. LOL Have you ever noticed that some concealers are full coverage for your sister but give you no coverage at all? Yeah, 75% of the time, it is application method! After explaining my first experiment, make sure you read my latest experiment that any of you can do in just a few months to substantiate my claim that full coverage concealing of the under eye area should never use the finger application technique

Let me state that one concealer may work great on you & not work at all on other people, depending on skin tone, skin type, type of problem that needs concealing & the extent of problem. If your eye bags are more blue than green, more puffy than sunk in, thinner skin, fine lines, etc. is all taken into consideration in concealer comparisons. However, by learning the proper technique & with the right tools, you can get the natural, complete coverage you want!

I have already shared the results of my concealer experiment, comparing type of concealer (stick, liquid, cream, mousse, powder, etc), concealer brands from high end to drugstore and my experiment of which concealer application method was best. I used brush, finger, sponge and concealer applicator that come with the product. I used a different one for an entire week, on 3 different people: myself who required full coverage, my friend who required medium coverage and my preteen daughter who required light to no coverage.


Without rehashing all of those results, I will say the ONLY one of us who the finger application method gave decent coverage results to was my preteen daughter, who didn't need much concealer at all except to hide some slight puffiness & a light green-purple discoloration on some days- with 3 exceptions (Makeup Forever Camouflage Cream Palette, Benefit Erase Paste & Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer) because these three more expensive concealers have a thicker, very heavy coverage, they are able to be spread out before your body heat thins them too much to get a good coverage. However, these concealers needed a lot of blending to give a smooth appearance which lowered their coverage some. Because of the thickness of the coverage, a setting powder....every one we used, even with the smallest & lightest applications...immediately made the concealer cake. On me & my bestie, we needed the setting powder to fill in any lines not hidden with the concealer & to ensure our constant running around between work & mothering didn't wear the concealer off, leaving us with our bags of glory exposed. On my preteen, we could skip the powder but within minutes, the area began to look sweaty, almost damp in appearance...leaving the under eye area very artificial looking. These thicker concealers began to crack at the 2 hour & 15 minute mark after applying and each one of these thicker, more expensive concealers were completely gone by the 4 hour mark. The high temperature body heat doesn't actually thin out the thick cream or stick concealers BUT it actually sets them, making them clump up on top of the skin. Even though the price is higher & you could use your finger to apply, what good are they if they are gone half way through your day & even though they hid the discoloration well, you could tell their was a heavy, artificial product under the eye... isn't the point of makeup to hide the imperfections & enhance our God given beauty, without making it obvious we were wearing makeup?

Here is what I want you beauties to try: Grab your favorite concealer & apply the normal amount you use under your eyes to the tip of your finger, without blending it in. Set a timer for 10 minutes & press your thumb against the concealer on your finger firmly. Hold it in place for the full ten minutes & then observe the product in a bright light. Notice how thin, slightly runny the concealer product is? Now, try to use it to pat into your under eye area. How much coverage did you get? If you chose a thicker cream or stick concealer, do you notice how thick the product looks when placed under your eye. Regular concealers thin considerably with body heat which lowers your coverage terribly, requiring many, many coats to cover the under eye circles which in turn causes a cakey, dry, fake appearance. The exact opposite happens with thick, heavy concealers. This type of concealer actually starts to harden & set with your body heat, leaving it clumpy, hard to blend & very obvious that you are wearing something under your eye.

Why not skip all of that & find a concealer brush or beauty sponge that gives you the look & coverage you desire?? Trust me, with a great tool and the right technique, you can get the exact amount of coverage you want while keeping it natural looking. Trust me, there is a tool out there that will work perfect for you. Don't try to buy ever single one that MIGHT work...instead Google is your best friend. Read concealer brush reviews...read different techniques for using brushes & sponges to apply technique. Make comparisons. Just make sure that when you are doing your research, you are making these comparisons using women who have the same skin type & problem areas, including the correct color of eye bags, as you do! Then, purchase the one that is within your price range, created for your skin type & needs & meets every one of your coverage requirements!

I am sure there are thousands of you who are thinking "I always use my fingers & it works great" or, like many of the comments on my tutorial before it was deleted, "but so & so has this many readers or this many subscribers and her makeup always looks flawless & she says the ring finger is best". Its okay if you prefer to use your finger. It is ok if you want to disagree with me because of another makeup artist's method. But for those of you who need a full coverage & want to skip all the extra layers, cakiness, clumpiness, etc, then just give it a try! Try out my finger experiment above then try out this concealer brush with my concealer application tutorial. Come back & tell me how your results are!

WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, WITH DIFFERENT MAKEUP METHODS. I LOVE & SUPPORT EVERY ONE OF MY FELLOW BEAUTY BLOGGERS/VLOGGERS. BUT WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, WITH DIFFERENT LIKES & DISLIKES & DIFFERENT MAKEUP PREFERENCES. THOSE DIFFERENCES DO NOT MAKE ANY OF US WRONG...THEY MAKE US UNIQUE!! UNIQUENESS IS AWESOME!!

This post ran a little long so my concealer tutorial will be a part two post. Click here to read it!

<3 Missie <3

The Concealer Series Part One: The Best Under Eye Concealer Brush Ever!!!!

Hi beauties!

Here is part 1 in my concealer series. Part 2 is all about why NOT to use your finger to apply concealer, part 3 is my 'every day' concealer tutorial, part 4 is the reverse triangle method for concealing under eye bags and part 5 is a run down of my favorite concealers from light to full coverage: every single one of them drug store! I am just going to skip the rambling, give a little background for new readers & then jump right into discussing the best under eye concealer brush I have ever used! I tend to get excited, rambling on & on to make sure I have covered every single detail about a product or tutorial to ensure you guys have no questions at the end but recently, I received an email stating that I talked too much. I'll try not to do that this time, to see if it is better for you guys!

You all should know my theory by now....THERE IS NO REASON TO BREAK THE BANK TO BUY BEAUTY PRODUCTS & TOOLS BECAUSE ANY PRODUCT CAN WORK FOR YOU WITH THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE AND TOOLS. Affordable makeup & tools are much better because not only are many, many drug store products high quality but with the money you save by not purchasing a high end product because of the name or because someone , you can build your collection quicker & try several products for the price of someone you admire mentions or endorses the product.

For example, MAC's Toxic Tale lipstick runs about $16.50. Did you know Maybelline Coral Tonic is an exact dupe for the MAC color, including being heavily pigmented & very long lasting? By purchasing the Maybelline product for $6.99, you can get an additional lipstick for the price of the one MAC!!

Shop wisely, beauties....I own high & low end brands, but for the last year, I have purchased nothing but drug store products for an experiment I did. I created a 12 month spreadsheet, including very accurate drugstore dupes for hundreds of high end products, including every product I have ever loved that was high end, that at purchasing time I thought was worth the money (wrong) & calculated the money saved! Click here to see the results and details of ALLLLL the great dupes I found! (The link won't actually work until tomorrow morning, as I am just writing my post describing my experiment & the results!)


Let's get started....after you hear all of these amazing pros to this Essential Tools brush, you will want to run right out and get it....best part is that it is super affordable! You'll get a set of 3 dual ended makeup brushes, which is 6 brushes total, for a total of $9. Trust me, every one of these brushes are amazing! I have recently been loving the Sedona Lace brushes but haven't touched them once since discovering the Essential Tools line. I have used every brand of brush from MAC to e.l.f. and not one of them have come close to the awesomeness of these Essential Tools brushes, especially the one discussed in this review. They are marketed as Hi-Def eye brushes, as you can see below. Here is what you get:

Picture courtesy of walmart.com

Brush 1: The first end is flat, semi-domed thin brush for packing on color or applying concealer with a medium sized semi-domed blending brush on the opposite end.

Brush 2: End one is a small pencil brush formed with bristles (many of the pencil brushes lately look & feel like a tiny sponge but I believe this new type of pencil brush is actually a smudge brush, some say smudge brush while others say pencil brush...think old school pencil eyeliners with the small sponge tip on one end) & the second end is standard blending brush, slightly larger than the normal eyeshadow blending brushes.

Brush 3- The first end is a a thin angled brush with a mascara wand at the opposite end.

There were no specific instructions regarding what each brush was created to be used for but all were listed as eye brushes & there was a description on the packaging that spoke about vibrant eye shadows, packing on the color, applying eyeliner with ease, etc. I don't follow instructions but instead I play around with brushes to find out what makeup product they work best for. After some trial & error, here are the ways I discovered to get the best usage out of each brush.

Brush 1: under eye concealer & setting powder
Brush 2: packing on, detailing & blending eyeshadow
Brush 3: eyeliner, eyebrow filling & eyebrow grooming/brushing

Now, for the very best concealer brush on the market (brush 1):

Concealers are hands down my favorite makeup product on the market. If I only had the option of owning & using one makeup product (that would be a sad, sad day to only own ONE makeup product for makeup lovers like myself), concealers would be my product of choice. Dab a little concealer on under eye circles, blemishes or redness & your face looks as smooth as a baby's bottom. (ugh what a bad expression!)

Boy, does this brush make applying concealer...any brand of concealer...a breeze, giving perfect coverage every single time. It gives a smooth, even application, blends in the concealer quickly & easily without rubbing it off and the coverage is much better than with my fingers or other brushes. Every single day for 2 weeks, I used this brush with a different concealer-both drug store & high end- to ensure that it was the brush itself giving these amazing results, not the concealer product, and the results were exactly the same with every concealer I tried....even light coverage concealers became medium coverage with this Hi-Def Essential Tools brush!

The small, flat end of this Essential Tools brush (lower left corner) is great for patting concealer on to the on top of blemishes, on any discoloration around the lips and into the crevices of the nostrils where women are prone to redness from hormones. But it is more than amazing for the under eye area. Soft bristles ensure a gentle touch to avoid damaging the delicate under eye area. The small, flat shape is perfect for patting the concealer on top of the discoloration under the eyes. It holds a lot of product so one pat into the concealer is more than enough to do the job, no matter what concealer you use. The angled tip of the brush is perfect for placing concealer into the small crevice underneath the inner corner of the eye & patting concealer in a downward triangle for complete coverage of severe under eye bags. Click here for my concealer tutorial using the triangle method (part 3 in the concealer series)

Because your finger tips are very warm with an average 98.6 body temperature, the heat warms the product to quickly. What happens to liquid based products, even those marketed as cream, stick or mousse are all simply different forms of a liquid base? Liquid based products melt when exposed to heat!! Although that can be a good thing for blending it out, the heat actually thins out the product extremely which significantly reduces the coverage you get. It is very simple ladies: the thinner the product, the less it will adhere to your skin & cover up that imperfection! Click HERE to see my entire post dedicated to applying concealer. (Part 1 in the concealer series)...but before you read the concealer tutorial (part 2 in my concealer line up), read about the experiment that discredits every single beauty guru online that swears using your ring finger to apply & blend concealer under the eye is the best method (part 1). WRONG!

Go grab this brush, if you are like me & steadily climbing that 30-something ladder with children & sleep loss that gives you wrinkled, dry, so-blue-its-almost-black under eye bags. The other side of the brush is a fluffy blending brush (lower right corner). Because of the severity of my under eye circles, I need a setting powder that finishes the job. Foundation smooths out your skin tone, concealer hides discoloration & puffiness and once you find the right one for your skin, a setting powder lies lightly over the skin, filling in fine lines and leaving the skin smooth and free of under eye circles plus locking in the concealer for coverage that lasts all day.

Most of you know I have started a love it or leave it series here on Your Infallible Beauty. If you don't absolutely love a product or tool & its results, why keep it? I have a fairly large makeup collection but every item gets used between tutorials for this blog, tutorials for the other to magazines (one online) that I contribute to, all my freelance makeup work & makeup on my kids for things like Halloween, pageants, etc. This brush is definitely a LOVE it...especially for us 30-something, mothers who spend more time bouncing teething babies at night than we do sleeping! Even though I work hard to cover my under eye circles so I don't frighten the world, I am still proud of these eye bags because they mean I was the one taking care of my own babies!!

Did I say I wouldn't ramble on, talking forever? Oops I forgot! Have an awesome day beauties!

<3 Missie <3

 
**I am not affiliated with Essential Tools. Essential Tools did not request this review. Essential Tools did not send me these products; the brushes were purchased with my own money. Every single word of this review is my own opinion, typed solely by me & is my honest thoughts on these products.**