Vitamin E Oil for Those Perfect Imperfections

Hiya guys! I wanted to share with you guy my favorite inexpensive beauty product: vitamin E oil. I use a very inexpensive version of straight vitamin E oil and it only costs around $2.  But I use it for everything. Originally, I purchased it to use as a natural moisturizer for the winter months because I have really, really dry skin. I applied a little oil to my face and neck each night before bed and loved it.

It is now my favorite moisturizer...I don't use anything else.  But I noticed after about two weeks of use that my terribly dark eye bags and laugh lines had improved 100%. So....that got me thinking about the additional uses of vitamin E oil and I decided to try it out for some of these other problem areas, too.

I worked as a facial technician for about 2 years in Originally Organic, a small day spa in my area that used only au naturale products. I had a folder full of natural product info, benefits and things like that. I dug out my folder, found the vitamin E oil section and jumped straight into trying it out...I never really tried out many of the products before.  (Yeah, I know I am crazy for working in an organic spa and still spending tons on skin products that were anything but natural!) I have even wrote several beauty articles about the effects of vitamin E oil on the skin but never really tried it out on myself.

Here is the perfectly imperfect beauty areas that I have seen the most impact on from using vitamin E oil.

• Dry Skin: And I mean dry skin anywhere! Elbows, knees, face, neck...The skin absorbs the oil quickly and it acts as a supplement for sebum, the skin's natural oil. Its amazing!
• Stretch Marks: The effect of vitamin E oil on stretch marks is debatable but I think it all depends on your personal skin type, elasticity and the stretch mark intensity. Let me make it clear, I do not have deep, discolored stretch marks and never have. I have the thin, light stretch marks on my lower abdomen and my hips. Keep in mind, these stretch marks are years old! But after around three weeks of using vitamin E oil, I noticed that I actually had to search for the marks whereas before they were fairly obvious before. I took before and after pics but didn't include them in this post. If anyone would like to see, I'll add them to the post later...I wasn't sure if it would be too weird or not.
• Scarring: This one I didn't try out on myself but instead on my 7 year old daughter. She has a large, triangular shaped scar at the crown of her head where another child hit her with a rock and she had to have stitches. The scar was both discolored and bulging...and it would not grow a single hair. Because of its location, it could be spotted a mile away. I applied the vitamin E oil to the scar each night before bed with a Q-tip and massaged it in for several minutes. Today is day 16 and the scar had lightened significantly. Although it hasn't reduced much in size, the biggest benefit came when I noticed the scar was sprouting out little hairs like crazy. This was the most exciting part because if the scar grows hair, then the hair will hide the scar. Yay!
• Eye Bags and Fine Lines: I already mentioned the change in the eye bags and fine lines but I wanted to touch on it again. The vitamin E oil didn't really effect the color of the eye bags BUT it completely changed the size and shape of the bags. My eye bags are somewhat blueish but the bigger problem is they are deep set and swollen most of the time. Nothing has worked and ever with color corrector, concealer and foundation, their appearance was still rather obvious. However, after the vitamin E oil, the bags are sooooooo much less noticeable. They no longer appear swollen or heavy. The color is still there but it is now much easily hidden with beauty products. As for fine lines, they, too, have reduced in size and heaviness. Vitamin E oil increases the skin's elasticity and therefore, making it much less affected by aging. If the vitamin E oil did absolutely nothing else, I would still use it daily for the effect on my eyes.

There is lots of information out there on vitamin E oil as a beauty product. It has benefits from hair growth to dandruff control and even acne fighting benefits but I can't give an opinion on these benefits because I did not personally try it out for these areas. If I haven't personally used a beauty product.....you won't see it reviewed or suggested on my blog. I was in no way, shape or form paid or endorsed for sharing my thoughts on vitamin E oil with you guys. I just loved the product and its very, very cheap price and wanted to let y'all in on this little beauty secret!

Til next time.... <3 Missie <3

Make Those Lips Kissably RED!

Hi guys! Today's post will be all about red, sexy siren lips. As I stated in one of my Thursday Confessions, I don't really like do the whole bright red lipstick.  (Which reminds me, I missed last weeks confession so this Thursday will have 6 fun facts about me!) I never felt it complemented my face. I have rather large lips, a total jumbo sized cupid's bow. When I use bright, deep colors, all of the focus goes on my plump mouth. It overpowers the rest of my makeup as well as giving my skin a paler appearance and deepening the color of my girl next door freckles. Plus, red lipstick fades quickly and if you don't constantly reapply, your lips take on a orangey, faded old school teacher look. YuCk! Maybe all of that is in my imagination but not anymore. I have found the absolute perfect way to achieve a sexy, kissable siren red lip without it taking over my entire face.

Remember Pinky & the Brain? Everyday they were trying to take over the world. Except in this case, red lipstick was trying to take over my face! But I kept experimenting with different type of red lipsticks, gloss, stain, pigment, matt, shimmer, cream, etc. All gave the same overpowering, Pinky & the Brain effect. Then, I decided to do just a little more playing around to see if I could find a way to pull off this amazingly sexy lip style. If you have issues wearing a red lip but really want to sport this trendy, divalicious look, follow the steps below for a more wearable look.

* Remember, this is a list of products I used. As with any makeup style, use what you have! *

• e.l.f. Corrective Concealer Quad: (Dark Neutral color 4 & Pink color 3)
• e.l.f. Eyelid Primer: Sheer
• e.l.f. Studio Translucent Powder with large powder brush (I used a really fluffy kabuki, purchased from Ulta although I can no longer see the brand or number)
• Cranky Girlz Red Blush lip liner
• Juicy Lips: Red with a lipstick brush (this is a cream lipstick)
• e.l.f. Hypershine Gloss: Vixen

Create a wearable, siren red lip!

1. Use your finger when apply the Dark Neutral shade of the Corrective Concealer because the warmth will soften the concealer for a smoother application. If you are not using the e.l.f. quad, chose a concealer that matches your skin tone. Any type will work.
2. Apply the neutral colored concealer all over your lips and extend out 1/4 of an inch around your lips. Be sure to very gently blend out any visible lines by patting the edges around the concealer.
3. Brush on a very light coat of translucent powder to the area where you placed the concealer. This will lock in the concealer and fill in any lines around your mouth. Now your mouth should resemble a pale, skin toned palette.
4. Apply a few dots of the eyelid primer to your lips and with your index finger, pat it into the area. I wanted a more neutral lip to start the application with as well as trying to maximize the length of time my siren red lipstick stayed in place without touch-ups. Hey, if an eyelid primer can give a lasting eyeshadow application without smearing or creasing and brighten up the pigments of the color, just think what it can do to your lips!
5. Line your lips with a red lip liner. If you have full lips like me, line a little on the inside of your actual lip edge to give your lips a smaller appearance. The concealer and powder will hide the part of your lips you do not line and color.
6. Once again using your finger (I hope you are wiping off your finger after each use and not combining a bunch of products), to fill in the area below your lip liner with the pink corrective concealer like you would a cream gloss or lipstick! There are 2 reasons I added this step but you can skip it if you feel it is too much product. The pink color gives a similar background color to the red and will not alter the shade you are applying. The primer plus powder will lighten your vibrant red. Also, this pink concealer only adds to the stay factor and reduces reapplying time.
7. With a lipstick brush, apply your bright red lip color all over, beginning at the lip liner edge. Do not add a little and then rub your lips together. Instead, use the brush to apply the color and blot once on a tissue.
8. Top your lips with a shiny long-lasting red lip gloss. I used a shiny red from e.l.f in Hypershine Gloss Vixen.

Now you have a perfect, lasting red lip. Instead of taking both the liner, lipstick and gloss in my purse, I only carried around the gloss. Because of the concealers, powders & primers we used, the actual red lipstick will have very little fading. But for touch ups, the red gloss will bring back the brilliant red.

Keep in mind eating and kissing will rub off almost any lipstick application. But don't let that stop you, glossy red lips are meant to be kissed! Til next time....<3 Missie <3

Sculp Those Cheekbones: Contouring How To

Who doesn't want those sexy, sculpted, prominent modelesque cheekbones like Ms. Tyra Banks?

Khloe Kardashian Makeup Tutorial: Dramatic Eyes

Hi guys. I've said it before and I'll say it again.....I love the Kardashian girls! I am watching Kim's Fairytale Wedding-Part Two and realized I hadn't posted my take on a beautiful eye look worn by Khloe Kardashian Odom. Aren't these eyes the sexiest? Khloe is absolutely gorgeous in this photo but when isn't she a knockout? The best thing about this Khloe eye look is that its perfect for day and night.

Instead of using top of the line makeup products, I recreated these sultry eyes with inexpensive eye products so that everyone can capture these dramatic brown eyes. (see below the tutorial for the list of products I used) We know Khloe rocks the best cosmetic products, but who wouldn't if they had the means to do so? Most any look can be recreated with inexpensive products, as long as the colors are similar and the technique is right. Let's get to it!

What you need:

• eye primer (if you don't have a primer, see Step 1 for using what you do have as a substitute)
• white eyeshadow (with just a little shimmer to truly capture the look)
• pale brown eyeshadow
• medium brown eyeshadow
• dark brown eyeshadow
• black eyeliner
• black mascara
• blending eyeshadow brush
• pencil eyeshadow brush
• medium eyeshadow brush
• eyelash curler

Get to work:

1. If you don't have an eye primer, blend in concealer from your upper lash line to your brow and run a small amount under you lower lash line. Top it off with a face powder or translucent powder to seal in the concealer.
2. From upper lash line to eyebrow (especially at your brow's arch), brush on the white eyeshadow with a medium eyeshadow brush to highlight your brow.
3. Choose your matte light brown color; think coffee with cream. With a medium eyeshadow brush, brush this color on from your upper lash line to just below your crease, more specifically in the 1/3 section of your eyelid nearest the inner corner. Also, add a little of this color to your eye's inner corner to open the eye up.
4. Time for the drama! Add a small amount of the dark eyeshadow to your pencil eyeshadow brush. Start in the outside corner, creating a triangle shape covering 1/3 of the lid with a point even with your outer corner. Work the color all the way across the crease. Now, take the blending brush and blend the color in, to avoid harsh lines. Now do the same with the medium brown, blending it up above the crease to the lower part of your brow bone.
5. Take turns adding the darker brown and the medium brown to the outside corner.  Layering colors works to do two things: for a dramatic effect and to give depth to not only your eyes but the colors themselves . Each person is different; each makeup product is different. To capture Khloe's eyes, I layered and blending the colors on top of each other 5 times. It may take you more or less. You'll know when it looks right.
6. Take the pencil brush and run a little of the medium brown color under your lower lash line to bring the eye together.
7. Line your top and bottom lash lines thickly with blackest black eyeliner, even your water line. Curl your lashes and apply several coats of black mascara. All done :-)

It's a pretty simple process. I'll admit blending and layering techniques require practice but if you are an everyday makeup girl like me, you'll have it down pat in no time.

Here's the products I used:

• e.l.f. eye primer

• e.l.f. Professional 100 eyeshadow palette: column 1, color 1 (highlight), column 8, color 1 (light brown), column 9, color 1 (medium brown), column 9, color 10 (dark brown)

• Covergirl Exact Eyelights- black eyeliner

• e.l.f. Lengthening & Defining black mascara

Rocking a Khloe eye til next time.... <3 Missie <3

MAC 2011 Holiday Collection Glitter and Ice

Hi guys! Have any of you purchased MAC's holiday collections this year? I am really loving Glitter and Ice; I can't decide which is my favorite color/piece! Currently, this holiday collection is sold out on the MAC website but  is still available in some MAC store locations. I love the cooler colors, they really compliment my skin tone. Here is a run down of the colors, including a few swatches, descriptions and pictures. For price info on the 2011 Glitter and Ice holiday collection pieces, I have included links for you guys, too.

Glitter and Ice

Glitter and Ice contains 34 pieces, including several of MAC's more popular products like Paint Pots, Dazzleglasses and Mineralized Eyeshadows and much more. The colors are like sleek, marbled glass...just beautiful!!!

Mineralized Eyeshadows

• Snow Season: swirls of pale pink, taupe and hints of bronze
• Hold That Pose!: marbled gray, light pink and mauve
• Fresh Ice: silver sparkle
• Winterized: swirls of multiple colors- beige, taupe, silver, bronze and black
• Frozen Blue: silver and gray with hints of black swirls
• Shimmermint: pale green

 

Paint Pots

• Let's Skate: shimmery pinkish peach, very faint with applied
• For Effect: champagne shimmer
• Morning Frost: black with pearl shimmer

Lipsticks

• Such Flare: matte deep red
• What Joy!: shimmery raspberry (satin)
• Double Spin: pale mauve (cream)
• Soft Sable: taupe (frost)
• Eloquent Air: sheer, shimmery silver (glaze)
• Whirls and Twirls: sheer pink with gold shimmer (glaze)

Dazzleglass

• Spanking Rich: deep reddish pink with silver and fuchsia sparkle
• Pleasure Principle: palest yellow (almost clear with applied) with lots of bright, multicolored sparkle
• Dressed to Dazzle: pale pink with silver sparkle
• Love Alert:  magenta with fuchsia sparkle
• She-Zam: clear gloss with silver sparkle
• Glitter and Ice: nude gloss with silver sparkle

Technakohl Liner

• Practice Makes Perfect: shimmery navy blue
• Going for Gold: gold shimmer
• Silver Skates: shimmery silver
• Smooth Maneuver: black with faint hints of silver
• Seasonally Spicey: brown shimmer
• Fancy Moves: shimmery purple

Nail Polish

• Get Noticed!: matte traditional red
• Unconditionally Fabulous: palest pink (dries almost clear) with multicolor sparkle
• Festive Finery: deep purple/gray with faint glitter

Opulash Mascara

• Bad, Bad Black: standard black mascara

Beauty Powder

• Snowglobe: frosted pink (shimmer)
• How Beautiful!: bronze (shimmer)

*This MAC holiday collection also has a gorgeous pair of false eyelashes!

These are beautiful colors for this fall/winter season. Remember, these items are for a limited time only! As always, for every high end makeup product available, there is a much more affordable, duplicate color out there. If you want to find similar colors to the MAC holiday collection at a more reasonable cost, print out the photos and hit your local drug store or beauty supply store.  Many of these products are just as high quality but cost HALF the price of the MAC line.

Til next time....<3 Missie <3

Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV

Hi guys! Ahhhh! Urban Decay has the new released Book of Shadows IV. The packaging  is butterfly themed which excited to no end because I LOVE butterflies, even have a rainbow butterfly tattooed on my lower back. Butterflies represent beauty & freedom and Urban Decay captured that perfectly. Isn't this cover beautiful? It makes me think of a fantasy world.

The most exciting part is that 10 new eyeshadow colors debuted in this Book of Shadows. And the colors are gorgeous! Plus, it is absolutely loaded with extras. This palette has 16 eyeshadows total. All the colors are full of either shimmer, sparkle or glitter, in true fantasy fashion.

• Baked: copper shimmer
• Bender: dark green shimmer
  
• Blue Bus: vibrant blue with purple shimmer undertones
• Bust: taupe brown with pale gray shimmer
• Cobra:black with shimmery gold
• Crystal: light blue/silver with multidimensional shimmer tones
• Gravity: deep purple with multidimensional glitter
• Gunmetal:dark metallic silver, lighter silver shimmer
• Hijack:gray/green with green and blue shimmer
• Lost:dark brown shimmer
• Midnight Cowgirl: shimmery gold with gold sparkle
• Midnight Rodeo:medium brown with gold and silver glitter
• Missionary: pale taupe with a hint of pink  shimmer
• Sin:champagne shimmer
• Skimp:shimmer nude/natural
• Zephyr: off-white shimmer

Plus, you get Supercurl Curling Mascara (black-travel size), Primer Potion (original formula, travel size) and 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (carbon black-full size). You also get the purple Urban Decay portable speaker. I have mine attached to my iPhone but it works with most smart phones and MP3 players. You also get a card with info on 5 different looks using the Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV palette, with links to 5 different videos showing you how to do capture these looks.

This Book of Shadows is my favorite yet! Do you agree or do you like one of the previous versions better?

Loving the new UD colors til next time.... <3 Missie <3

Kim Kardashian Wedding Makeup Tutorial

Kim Kardashian is my favorite reality star...I never miss a show. As soon as I saw her beautiful wedding makeup, I knew I was going to figure out how to do it & post a tutorial for you guys. I wanted to create a tutorial that ANYBODY can do so I will not list specific products on this tutorial...colors only. That way everybody can create this gorgeous, simple look without thinking they must have top of the line products to create it. Here ya go, my fellow Kim Kardashian fans!

DIY: Quick, Basic Feather Earring

Hi guys! I wanted to share a quick do it yourself project for some seriously cute earrings...or earring rather because its super trendy to rock just one earring at a time!

(This isn't my finished earring. This is just an example of the finished project, minus the beads I added to give it more character. My feather earring is captured below the DIY steps!)

What ya need! Click the links to see the exact supplies I used to create my peacock feather earring!

• Large craft feathers in any color, style or size
• hook earrings any size and style: craft stores carry these inexpensive hook type earrings in a many different colors and sizes
• beads
• hot glue gun: the force behind all DIY projects

This is how we do it!

1. Place a thin line of glue of glue down the spine that extends out the bottom of the feather. Make sure you place the glue on the backside of the feather...you want the glue and earring to be hidden by the feather.
2. Press the earring to the glue, making sure the hook part that goes through your ear is glue and feather free.
3. Hide the gluey spine! Add as many beads as you want just make sure you slide them onto the feather through the hook part of the earring. Running the beads up the feather will cause some major feather damage. If your beads were already attached to a wire or string (mine were), just use some scissors to cut them free and slide them onto your hook.
4. Add just a little glue to the last bead to hold them in place.

This is just a simple feather earring. You can add more feathers, leather strings, sparkly glitter or whatever you want to create your own style. Slide the dried earring into your pierced ear and you have a stylish, inexpensive earring to rock Kandee Johnson style!

 Til next time <3 Missie <3

Nail Designs

Hi divas! I took a two-hour nail art and design class today, to hone in on my skills. I haven't taken any nail classes since 2009. I had a lot of fun and bet some great people. Our assignment was to create 5 different nail designs in 10 minutes on our own hands. Here's my designs! Sorry it's a little blurry, it was taken with my phone. I wasn't very happy with the results, but with only 10 minutes to work, I think they are fairly good!

1.  Burgundy background with silver flowers and purple centers
2. Peacock Design: Turquoise background, yellow, red and white peacock spots
3. Rainbow Paint Splash: yellow, blue, red and green with silver glitter
4. Fade Design. White streak with silver glitter down the center, fading into red and ending with black around the edges
5. Strawberry: self-explanatory

My favorite is my middle finger, with the four corners splashed in different colors, with some serious glitter. I love doing nails and realized I hadn't added any nail art tutorials here at all. If any of you, would like for me to give you the step by step tutorials, just send me an email at divaliciousmomma@aol.com or leave a comment on this post.

Sporting only one painted hand with each finger a different design til next time....<3 Missie <3

Daytime Traditional Smokey Eye

Traditional smokey eyes, using blacks and grays, are my favorite eyeshadow look. I have very socketed eyes, which means my crease is very deep and visible. The traditional smokey eye really opens and lifts my eye shape, accentuating my deep crease, instead of working against.  It's not the method of smoking out because hey, smoking out your eyeshadow basically means blending and I blend every eyeshadow color I use (and so should you!). I have dark, heavy bags under my eyes. The concealing method I use contrasts under the eye with the dark, smoked out colors on my lid completely smooth and hide those pesky bags. But during the day, a dark smokey eye doesn't necessary work. But I found a way to pull it off! Here is my sexy, daytime traditional smokey eye, toned down for the beautiful sunshine. What do you guys think? Would you wear this look during the day?

 

 

I wore this out several times and always get a huge amount of compliments. And you will, too! Listed in n no particular order, here are the colors you will need and the specific products I used.

• eye primer/concealer: e.l.f. Complete Coverage Concealer-color 3
• Black, sparkle eyeshadow (elf-Pro 100 Palette, Column 10, Color 10)
• Shimmer Silver (elf-Pro 100 Palette Column 10, Color 6)
• Pale shimmer silver (elf Pro 100 palette Column 10, Color 3)
• Flesh-toned highlight (elf Pro Palette Column 1, Color 5)
• Brushes: blending brush, defining eye/angled eyeshadow brush, pencil brush & flat eyeshadow brush; angled eyeliner brush
• Black mascara: L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes-Black
• black eyeliner: e.l.f Cream Eyeliner-black

1. Complete your normal foundation/powder routine but hold off on concealing the under eye area til later. This will help with any particles of eyeshadow that may fleck off.
2. Cover your entire lid from the lash line to the brow with neutral toned eye primer or concealer. Pat in to blend; never rub your eye area or you risk damaging the fragile skin, which can cause broken blood vessels, fine lines and increase the risk of developing deep-set wrinkles.
3. With the flat eyeshadow brush, apply the flesh-toned eyeshadow from your lash line to your brow. This works as both a powder and a highlight. By priming and powdering your eye lid, your eyeshadow will last longer and crease less.
4. Begin with the black eyeshadow and the angled/defining eye brush. Create a "V" on your eyes outer corner. Remember to always tap your brush to remove the excess and prevent excessive eyeshadow particles around the eye. The "V's" point should line up perfectly with the outer corner, with one line angling up to your crease and the other line following the lash line about 1/4 of the way in. Fill in this outer "V" by patting on the black shade.
5. Before beginning Step 5, there are a few things you should know. You will not actually be applying the darker silver color enough for it to show but will only be using it to blend out the black eyeshadow & soften it for a day time look. Because this is a daytime smokey eye, most of the black color shall remain in the outer corner and inside your crease, with just a hint of color resting on the outer, lower part of the brow bone. Focus all blending into the crease, avoiding 1/4 of the crease at the inner corner. With the blending brush, dip it into the darker silver color and begin blending the black outer "V" into the crease and across about 1/3 of the lid.
6. Use the pencil brush to add more black eyeshadow into your and outer crease, remembering the information from Step 5. This will really define the eye. Repeat Step 5 for blending. By building layers of color, your eye will have a lot of depth. Make sure all harsh lines are blended out. Continue to add black shadow and blending it out with the silver shadow until you reach your desired color.
7. From the outer corner, extend the black shadow under your eye using the pencil brush.
8. With the flat eyeshadow brush, pat on the paler silver color to your inner corner and the inner part of the eye lid that doesn't have color. This color will meet with the black eyeshadow. Use the blending brush to blend out the harsh line where the light silver color and the dark black meet.
9. Line your upper lash line with the black eyeliner. Use a q-tip or your finger to smudge the eyeliner line. Top this line off with a little of the black eyeshadow to lock it in and prevent smearing, streaks or wearing off.
10. Apply several layers of mascara to top and bottom lashes. Use a fan or powder makeup brush to dust off any flakes of eyeshadow and complete your normal under eye concealer and powder routine.

*TIP* If the eyeshadow seems too dark, blend it out with the lighter silver color until you reach your desired shade.

I love this look! It is my new fave. Another cute twist on this is a less traditional smokey eye, using a dark shimmer brown, a matte tan for blending, and a honey shimmer bronze for lid color. Both versions are beautiful & sexy...but still toned down enough for every day wear. Oh, over look the scar below my eyebrow...nothing I do seems to hide my perfectly imperfect pierced eyebrow scar. LOL

Rocking a smokey eye as I head to the grocery store...til next time <3 Missie <3

Cleaning Your Makeup Brushes & Mini Naturale Beauty Brush Review

Hi guys!  I decided to share with you how I clean my most used makeup brushes.  I also wanted to share my thoughts on the brand Naturale Beauty, a mineralized formula of makeup. Yes, I know that my method for cleaning makeup brushes doesn't involve some expensive cleanser or an even more expensive drying system but instead, offers an inexpensive method for achieving the exact same results as the more costly products and tools.

 

Cleaning your makeup brushes is essential for a few reasons. The most important part is to avoid any dirt and bacteria found in the dirty brushes to your face, which can cause breakouts, inflammations and infections. Another reason to clean your brushes weekly is to avoid mixing up makeup products which alters the colors when you apply them. Grab a bowl of warm water, Mane N" Tail shampoo (I use this shampoo & conditioner daily...it aids in moisturizing, strengthening and healthy hair growth..luv it), a wash cloth, a dry towel and your blow dryer and get to work! Here goes!

1. Soak all of your brushes in the warm water for about ten minutes. For sanitizing, add about 1/2 of a cup of rubbing alcohol to the water before soaking your brushes.
2. Add a little Mane N' Tail Shampoo to the wash cloth. Never add it directly to your makeup brushes; this makes it very hard to get out. Mane N' Tail, also known as horse shampoo, is gentle enough to cleanse your brushes without damaging them and drying them out.
3. With the wash cloth, work the shampoo into your brush. Start at the base of the bristles and work your way down, moving the soapy wash cloth in the shape of your brush. Never work against the bristles or you will damage the shape. Instead, soap of the brush by working WITH the bristles, keeping their shape as much as possible.
4. Rinse the brushes with luke warm water from the sink until the water runs clean. Move your fingers down, starting at the base of the bristles, working the shampoo and makeup out of the brush. Through out the entire cleansing process, try to keep the brush's shape as much as possible.
5. Use the dry towel to remove the excess water.
6. Keep your blow dryer on low and pointed in a downward angle throughout the entire drying process. And keep it at least eight inches away from the brush or you may melt your bristles. You can skip this all together if you are worried about messing up your brushes. While drying, use your thumb and index finger to work the makeup brush's into shape. For large powder brushes, place a rubber band around the bristles while blow drying. If you prefer, you can let your brushes air dry but this takes awhile.Make sure you shape your brushes first before laying them out on a flat surface to dry.

Now about Naturale Beauty. I recently purchased their mineralized face set which included a powder concealer, foundation and booster as well as an eyeshadow and 2 makeup brushes: a small face brush and a small fan brush. These brushes were described as soft, natural bristles but they were actually extremely rough. It felt as if I was being poked repeatedly both times I tried to use these brushes. The makeup is good, however. The foundation and concealer offer medium coverage and the eyeshadow, a golden bronze, is very heavily pigmented. As far as mineralized makeups go, Naturale Beauty is worth every penny.  But the brushes just aren't up to par.

Today, when I washed my makeup brushes, I decided to go ahead and wash the two Naturale Beauty makeup brushes as well. I hoped using the horse shampoo would soften the bristles some. As I gently worked the shampoo into the brushes, the bristles continued to fall out. Even more came out during rinsing and blotting on the towel so I decided to skip blow drying all together. After the brushes dried, I could tell that over half the bristles had fallen out and there were literally bald spots in the brush. These brushes get TWO BIG THUMBS DOWN! I had to trash them. Because my other brushes held so well during the many, many times I had washed them, rarely loosing any bristles, I knew it was the quality of this specific brand and not the technique used to cleanse them that causes extreme hair, um bristle, loss. 

Off to do some grocery shopping and cut my cousin's hair...til next time <3 Missie <3

Catch The Rainbow...Rainbow Eyeshadow, That Is!!

Everywhere you look, brilliant, vibrant colors are used to make a popping eye. Known around the makeup world as a rainbow eye, bright, colorful eyeshadows are placed in vertical lines from light to dark. This is one of the most simple makeup styles because you just choose your colors and layer them on...no blending required. Here's my favorite Rainbow Eye, using products from the BH Cosmetics 88 Matte Color Palette and the e.l.f. Endless Eyes Pro 100 Eyeshadow Palette. Remember, I identify colors by columns, left to right, because these two palette do not have the colors labeled with names.

My Rainbow Colors, applied with three the Sonia Kashuk Crease Shadow brushes.

• e.l.f: Pro Eyeshadow Palette: Shimmer Beige (Column 1, Color 4), Bright Green (Column 3, Color 3), Shimmer Blue (Column 4, Color 8)
• Bh Cosmetics: Bright Yellow (Column 2, color 2), Pale Turquoise (Column 5, Color 1), Purple (Column 6, Color 9)

Things I also used to complete the look:

• Concealer
• e.l.f.: Burnt, Shimmer Orange (Column 8, Color 4)
• Sonia Kashuk Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Eyeliner
• Sonia Kashuk Bent Eyeliner Brush
• Black Mascara

1. Apply an eye primer or concealer to your entire lid. I used a Covergirl stick concealer and applied it thickly so the bright colors would adhere better and increase their brightness.
2. From the crease to the eyebrow, apply a layer of the Shimmer Beige as a highlight.
3. Working at the inner corner, add the Bright Yellow color to this corner only. This lighter, shimmering shade, when added to the inner corner, brightens and opens the eyes.
4. Now you will layer on your colors, back to back. Create vertical lines from the lash line to the crease from the inner corner to the outer corner of each eye, from lightest color to darkest. These lines of vibrant colors average about 1/4-1/2 an inch thick depending upon the amount of colors you use. My eye went as followed Bright Yellow, Bright Green, Pale Turquoise, Blue and Purple ending in the outer corner with Purple. Do not blend. Pat the colors in a vertical line, continuously adding more until the you are satisfied.
5. For a more carefree, bolder rainbow eye, create these lines of color, working up past the crease until the colors rest on the lower part of the brow bone.
6. Line your upper and lower lashes with the gel eyeliner and angled eyeliner brush. On top of the eyeliner, pat on the Burnt Orange to really make your eye pop.
7. Apply several layers of mascara.

You don't have to create an exact replica of my version of the rainbow eye. I wanted a lot of different colors but you can use as little or as many as you prefer. For an added pop, add a little glitter to each line for some truly awesome detail!

Til next time.... <3 Missie <3

Have You Tried Birchbox?

Have you guys heard of Birchbox? If not click the link and check it out! It gets the Divalicious seal of approval. Here's a rundown of how it works and why I love it! And you beauty fanatics will totally find it awesome, too!

For $10 per month, including shipping, you get a package from Birchbox containing 4-5 samples of different beauty products including makeup, tools, skin care, hair care and much more! It's not those lame, tiny bag-type sample with enough product to do like 1/4 of your face but a larger trial sample, enough to discover if you will love, hate or just mildly tolerate the product or tool. The products are top of the line, like Stila and Smashbox.

Your Birchbox will ship the first week of every month, without fail, unless you miss a payment. For $10, this is a great deal. With each month's paid subscription, you receive points toward product discounts. If you love a specific sample product, your can purchase it directly on Birchbox's website. For every paid monthly subscription and every full-sized product purchase, you receive points toward discounts and other freebies.
You simply sign up at the Birchbox site, complete the order and payment information then set up your beauty profile. Your beauty profile asks questions about your beauty preferences, skin tone, hair color, etc so your monthly samples match your specific needs. I absolutely love this!

Honestly, the quantities contained in each sample gives you several uses so it's well worth the money. Sign up and try it out!

If you are already a Birchbox subscriber, comment on what you thought about the August Birchbox.

I'm loving Birchbox and can't wait til next month!

Til next time.... <3 Missie <3

Back In the Blogger World

As many of you know, I moved my original beauty and makeup blog to Wordpress because I heard so much about the amazing benefits of it. However, I decided it wasn't for me. LOL So, once again, I am bringing my beauty blog back to Blogger and am soooo excited.

It's going to be a long process to transfer all of my tutorials and pictures here but I'll have it done in no time. I just wanted to right a quick post explaining what was going on.

Til next time..... <3 Missie <3