All About Eyeliner!

Picture perfect eyeliner? Yes please!

When it has come to doing a bold lip or bold eyes, I've definitely been focusing on the eyes lately! And I've learned some great trips and tricks soooo here we go!

First off, I don't curl my eyelashes until my liner is done. This will ensure your lashes don't get in the view of your eye lid. If you have not yet invested in a makeup mirror, go get one! Right now! Mine is normal on one side and 7x magnified on the other. It cost me all of $15 I think. A small mirror to look down into is crucial for perfect liner. And, while applying the liner, your eyes stay down and don't transfer indestructible black liner onto your eyelids. 

I prefer liquid and gel liners. I feel like I have a lot more control using them. I use mainly an angled eyeliner brush but you can use a fine liner brush as well. There are also felt tip liner pens that are soooo easy to use. Revlon Colorstay is what I've used and I like it, and it will be mentioned again in the blog. 

Start small, you can always add more, it's much harder to take away. I always start in my inner corner, making a very thin line and I take this thin line across my lash line, get as close to the lashes as possible the entire length across. Gradually make the line thicker as you get to the outer corner. 

Now, you can either end here or you can flick it out. One trick I love doing is taking my light brown felt tip brow pen and drawing guide lines for my winged liner. This way I can look straight ahead in my big mirror and make sure the angles of the flicks are symmetric. If they're not, no biggie, it's so easy to remove this product and redraw the line. Once this is in place, just trace over it slowly and carefully with your liner. You cannot go too slow in this process, keep double checking straight ahead in the mirror to ensure symmetry. 

When I use my angled brush, I simply touch the length of the brush on the guide line. Now all that is left is connecting the tip of the flick with the rest of your liner. I usually pull the corner of my eyelid taute and slowly drag my brush from the tip to my original line. Just imagine your completing a triangle at the end of your eye. 

Now that the majority of the liner is done, I like to go back with my Revlon Colorstay felt liner pen and smooth out any imperfections, making sure the thickness of the eyeliner is the same for both eyes at the inner corner, the middle and the outer corner. Also, make sure all the space between your lash line and eye liner is completely filled in. 

When it comes to lining your bottom lashes, you can definitely do a thin line with your eyeliner. I prefer using a dark shadow and a pencil brush (any brush that comes to a fine tip will do) and defining my bottom lashes. Or, sometimes depending on the day, I'll just slap some mascara on those suckers and that's it. 

Honestly, this has been challenging to write a blog about! I will be making tutorials sometime in the near future. And a guide to picture perfect eyeliner will definitely be one of the first videos to record!

You Can Do: French tip Pedi!

If you told me I'd be doing my own French tip pedicures 5 years ago, I probably would have LOLed. I started taking a stab at them two years ago. I had some success, I remember struggling a lot and having to redo toes all the time. But, after finding the perfect tool, they are so much more easy to do, and do well!

First off, you will need the elf concealer brush. It is $1 at Target. Perfect.  Or a brush similar. I love this one because of the flatter tip and it's bristles are very dense, which makes it a breeze to control a French tip. 

I put down my favorite basecoat: Orly Bonder- Rubberized Basecoat. Once this dries, it has the perfect amount of stickiness to control the placement of my white tip. Take the brush and dip it slightly in white nail polish (I used the white polish from my Revlon Nail Art in Night & Degas). Take it and start to make short little vertical strokes on the end of your nail. You can either keep making little strokes across the nail, or you can hold the brush the same way and draw the thin guide line, horizontal to the nail bed. Don't expect it to look perfect at this point, you will need a second coat. 

If you happen to mess the line up on any given toe (it happens to me all the time!), take a second brush (any small dense brush will work), and dip it in nail polish remover and smooth out the line, correcting your mistake. You can also do this for any white polish that accidentally goes onto your skin. (Cutex and OPI make a polish remover pen that can be used for getting polish off skin as well)

For the second layer, I use my long thin brush that comes with my white nail polish. I love that Revlon made this tiny brush in their nail art sets. It's so easy to make lines or polka dots or hearts. In this case, I just smooth it over the line I already created. If you mess up at all, do the exact same step with the brush in polish remover. 

Now it's time for the topcoat! As already mentioned in this blog, I'm obsessed with Seche Vite. It's by far the shiniest topcoat I've ever used and it dries so quickly and rock hard! There's been plenty of times I thought I screwed up my mani or pedi by knocking my nail against something, and this topcoat is resilient so quickly!

By the way, I find my French tip pedis look way better when I have a tiny bit of toenail grown out. It also makes finishing the line on either side much easier. 

Check out my previous tutorial with all my nail polish tricks and tips. You can apply that blog to toenails as well! 

My Nail Polish Tips and Tricks!

So there is no doubt that I am addicted to nail polish. Now, I've always loved doing my nails but in the past oh, 3 months or so I really started learning and trying and experimenting. I have picked up so many helpful tips and found products that work better than I ever imagined! And, my self manicures explained in this blog don't chip or fade for FIVE days! That's right, 5! Considering my polish used to chip or fade off the end of my nail within 2 or 3 days (if I was lucky), I'm pretty pumped about these products and routines!

First of all, I try to never pay full price for nail polish. You can find a sale, somewhere, almost all the time. If you're on a site and spot a good nail polish selection, google that websites coupon codes. Sometimes you'll find nothing, but I find most of the time, I can find 10-20% off. Or websites like Ulta and drugstore.com have specials on nail polish, like buy 2 get 1 free, or I know drugstore.com has occasional 20% off of their beauty department. Even though no one likes meaningless emails, sign up for emails at some sites you find good nail polish and you will most likely get a coupon or an email about a sale within a few weeks.

Okay, now let's get down to business.

I will start off with nail prep. I make sure I take off every spot of my old nail polish. If there's still bits of it near the cuticle, I push my cuticles back and that process usually takes care of the leftover polish. Even if your nails are completely clean, always push back or remove your cuticles or buy a cuticle remover gel. This will ensure you get a very professional manicure and it will be so much easier to get a beautiful, even coat of polish that doesn't get stuck on your cuticles. The other prep steps are taking a buffing nail file and smoothing out the ridges on my nail bed. This will ensure that the polish adheres to your nail better, meaning less chips. I then wash my hands thoroughly and to get every bit of oil off of my nails, I quickly swipe just the nail bed with a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol on it. This will also ensure the polish stays on longer.

Okay, finally onto base coat! Now, I used to be hooked with the OPI Ridge Filler. I liked it because it dried super fast, left your nail completely smooth, and it's a whitish color so it made my nail color much more vibrant, and helped lighter colors show up better. But, I recently found a gem. If you do your nails even semi regularly, this is well worth the money! It's the Orly Bonder- Rubberized Base Coat. I never dreamt of a base coat that works as well as this one. It's literally rubberized so it's hard to tell when it's completely dry so I tend to wait about 4 or 5 minutes. It drags the first coat of nail polish off the brush and onto your nail so beautifully and evenly. My first coats of polish never looked so even, so smooth, and so pigmented because it's so so easy to get the perfect thickness. This makes the second coat so easy and immediately looks very professional.

Now, when it comes to brands, I almost exclusively buy Essie, OPI, and recently Orly. I've tried China Glaze. It seems to chip sometimes within the first couple hours of being on my nail. Also, a pastel coral color (Peachy Keen) I got from China Glaze ended up drying much brighter than the original color, which disappointed me. I've found basically every other brand around the same price point or cheaper just aren't worth your money. They tend to chip and fade so much more easily. 

Here are some of my current favorite colors: Orly Frolic, Orly Cotton Candy, Orly Lollipop, Orly Mirror Mirror, Orly Artificial Sweetener, Essie Limo-scene, Essie Beyond Crazy (great ring finger only color, the sparkle covers all color underneath in one swipe), and China Glaze Re-fresh Mint (this is one China Glaze color I'm obsessed with).

For nail art, I've been loving the Revlon Nail Art Expressionist. The brush is super skinny so it's very easy to do polka dots or hearts (for hearts I just do a thick V shape). I also just tried out a trick that works like a dream. Take a piece of parchment paper and nail polish that you'd like to make shapes out of for your nails (I get the cute shaped paper punchers in the heart and star shape). Put down a good sized layer of the polish and wait for about 5 hours (it's takes a long time to dry for some reason). When I did this, I put down several patches of nail color so I just keep the piece or parchment paper in a place where it can lay flat, or you can cut the each patch out for an organized swatch layout. Most nail polishes will need a second coat to get a good even color. Wait another 5 hours (patience!) and all you have to do is punch out the shape of your choice. Now, once you punch it out, the parchment paper almost always separates from the polish shape. Now, the dried nail polish is very fragile, so handle carefully. I just wet my finger a bit and your fingertip can lift off the nail polish shape. I place it carefully on my nails soon after my second coat (I punch out the shape before I start my nails or after my first coat so it's ready when the step comes). The shape will stick right on your nail, so once it's on, it's on. After the second coat dries completely, it's time for topcoat!

Orly Mirror Mirror with China Glaze Re-fresh Mint star

I've used several topcoats until they were basically empty and never knew that there were fast drying, high shine topcoats that were actually fast drying and high shine! I've gotten good results with the OPI RapiDry TopCoat, until I heard about Seche-Vite topcoat. Oh my goodness, the Seche Vite one dries sooo quickly and gives me the best shine and 4-5 days of no chipping, very little to no fading at the tips. I will definitely be sticking with this amazing topcoat for a looong time. It really does work wonders. 

By the way, you will get more days out of your nail polish by cleaning your painted nails with soap and water the day after you paint them. This removers oil and allows you to apply a second coat of topcoat. This helps protect from the color fading off your nail tips. 

Orly Frolic, day 4

Let me know some of your favorite colors, or any tips or products you can't live without! 

Get Your Glow On!

Summertime is almost here and who doesn't want glowing, healthy, luminous skin? I've found that skin is in much better condition when it's warm, of course. But I've found these tips work in the winter, when I discovered them!

Now, first of all, basic skincare will play a big role in the condition of your skin. No matter if your skin is oily or acne prone, DO NOT use a cleanser that has soap, or foams. This will strip your skin of essential oils and nutrients and in turn, will make you produce more oil. I know, because I have oily skin, and now oil is not even close to being an issue like it used to be. 

Some great cleansers that get my stamp of approval, are Philosophy Purity, Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Lotion, and Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser. Even though some of these products are targeted towards drier skin, use them if you're oily. You'll notice a difference, and your skin will thank you. There are plenty of other ways to control oil, like setting spray, choosing the right formulation of foundation and lotions, etc. 

In order to keep your skin in good condition, you have to be very vigilant about cleansing. I do not use face wipes, even though some nights I'm so tired I can't see straight. Going to bed without washing your face, or god forbid you sleep in your makeup, is a very bad move for your skin. Make sure you cleanse!! 

When I take off makeup, I follow up my first cleanse with Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water. I love love love this product. It does it's job so well. I also use it on a cotton round in the morning, to cleanse my face of oil and dirt. It's an easy gentle way of morning cleansing. I really could not be happier with this product. It will get more dirt off, no matter how well you cleansed. 

I have not been fortunate enough to try out a lot of moisturizers, but I do use them every morning and night. I use Boots No7, they have moisturizers for every skin type and I highly recommend them. 

Exfoliation is a must for glowing skin and I have become obsessed with Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant. Lisa Eldridge recommended this product in her skincare videos and it has changed my life. It's great for any and every skin type. It has faded so many marks and spots on my face that I've carried around for years in some cases. I use this mask about every 4-5 days, and I cannot recommend this enough. It is amazing. I'm all about masks, I try to stay away from masks with alcohol and I'm not a fan of clay masks. I just don't like how my skin feels afterwards, clay can be very drying. I love masks that nourish your skin with minerals and nutrients. 

So, other than skincare, what can you do? 

One magical makeup product is Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector. Lisa Eldridge loves this product and says she has used it on every celebrity she's worked on. It's a highlighter that works in synergy with your skin and doesn't leave visible pieces of shimmer, it melts into skin very well. Apply this to the tops of you pr cheek bones, blending the edges so it's not an obvious line, just glowing skin. Now, if the price of this product is a bit much, Boots No7 has a great illuminator  as well.

I am more careful about the use of shimmer on sunny days, it can look like too much in the sun. But on cloudy days, I love using proper amounts of shimmer to make my skin look radiant.

Another tip, which I love, is to not powder the tops of your cheek bones. I only powder my T-zone and the apples of my cheeks. Leaving the rest of your face unpowered will give you the look of dewy, luminous skin without having to worry about oily skin throughout the day since most people deal with oil down the center of the face and the apple of the cheeks.

Last tip is to drink plenty of water and eat colorful fruits and veggies. This has been proven to improve skin's texture and coloring.

If you have any questions or want some help picking out products for your skin, let me know! My email is beautyandbodybybeth@gmail.com, or just leave a comment below. I love helping people find the right product, so you don't waste money trying several drugstore brands that never quite work.

Take care and go get your glow on!

Your Guide to Great Eyebrows

Put down the tweezers and back away slowly.

No but really, I’ve found the secret to great brows, and it rarely involves tweezing, threading, waxing or plucking. When I watch professional makeup artists’ tutorials, I always hear the words beautiful and gorgeous with the words full and thick when it comes to brows. I never, NEVER hear beautiful, thin, sculpted brows.. ever. In fact, thin, overly plucked eyebrows can add years on your face and can completely fail at their number one job: to frame your eyes and face.

I’ve spent well over a decade in front of a mirror for waaaay too much time, plucking here, plucking there.. plucking more and more and more. I had to tweeze my brows at least once a week because I was plucking way too much of my natural brows.

After becoming obsessed with Lisa Eldridge (www.lisaeldridge.com, well worth your time!), and hearing of her years of campaigning to put down the tweezers, I finally grew my brows out.

And thank. the. lord.

Oh my goodness, what a difference. Not only did I let them grow free, I also started using an eyelash serum (Boots No. 7 Fanomenal Lash Serum) not only on my lashes, but also on my brows. And wow, did it work miracles.

I pluck an eyebrow hair here and there, only the ones that are dark and far far away from my natural brow shape. But, if you are growing out your brows, I suggest you do your best to not pluck at first. I never realized my natural brow shape, because I never allowed them to grow in. Do not, DO NOT touch your eyebrow hairs underneath your brows for at least a couple weeks. It’s okay to touch up here and there afterwards, but allow yourself to wait and see what shape you are working with first. Trust me, you will like the difference. And if you don’t, watch every tutorial Lisa Eldridge has on eyebrows!

I see way too many thin brows these days; on girls that I imagine have amazing eyebrow potential. So what about you, are you ready to find out that you can have beautiful, thick, coveted brows? 

  Overplucked             Full and lovely!