Easy fix for your Broken Shadows!

There's nothing I hate more than my shadows breaking!

Especially if those shadow's are $18 each and you just got them!!

Now with this foolproof process you will be saving yourself a whole lot of $$$

 What you will need:

• Rubbing Alcohol Preferably 70% or higher.
  You can use 50%, it will just take longer to dry
• Something to break up the shadow. I used the end
  of the tweezers but you can use a butter knife or metal spatula.
• Eye dropper. If you dont have one lying around
  improvise and use a straw.
• A Quarter.
• Plastic baggy or Paper towel.

 Here I have two shadows

On the left is Urban Decay in Twice Baked ($18)

On the right is an Elf Shadow That came in a palette ($5)

 Using the back of my tweezers I crushed the shadows up more finely.

Breaking the shadow up will help everything mix evenly.

 Now with your dropper, carefully drop the alcohol (a little at a time) into the eye shadow.
Be careful not to overfill it, not only will it make a mess but it will take longer to dry.

Using your tweezers (or what ever you have chosen to use) mix the alcohol and shadow.

 

 Once it is evenly mixed carefully pick up the shadow pan a couple inches from your surface
and drop it. This will help all the bubbles that have formed, escape! It also helps smooth out your mixture. If its not smooth enough you can use your finger or a butter knife to smooth the mixture out

if it isn't smoothing out perfectly DON'T WORRY! You can fix it later.

Make sure you let your mixture dry for at least 30 minutes before you do this process

Now is where your quarter comes in handy.

Place your quarter inside the plastic baggy or paper towel. 

Gently apply the quarter on top of the shadow and apply pressure. Your shadow should be somewhat firm.

Meaning, when you touch it no product isn't coming off onto your finger in a clumpy mess.

Pressing the shadow down with the quarter, insures you have packed it tightly enough that it won't have any more pockets or air bubbles.

This is the final result and what your shadows should look like.

I wait a full day to use the shadows again, just to insure that they are fully dry.

Although they may not look as pretty as they once where, this free
(considering you already have rubbing alcohol)
easy fix saves you all the money you would have spent to get another one.

~

Send me request on what you'd like to learn next!

you can email me @ michiesepeda@yahoo.com

or just leave a comment

:)  

Thanks for reading<3

 

August Favorites

I really like reading and watching all the monthly favorites everyone has.

Its a great way to discover new and exciting products.

As well as see how they've worked for the other person.

Sooo... I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share with

you, MY favorites and most used items for August. :)

Brushes: 

Real Techniques Buffing Brush is probably my all time favorite brush ever.

I picked this bad boy up a couple of months ago and haven't found (well, looked) any better.

if you don't know...the Buffing brush is used to apply your foundation in a flawless manner.

This one in particular is made out of synthetic Taklon bristles and feels oh so soft against your skin.

This brush retails for $ 9.00

  

Foundation:

 I did purchase a few different foundations

this month but the one I picked up the most has to be 

Revlon Photo Ready (my color is 008 Golden Beige.)

To me this is the best " Drugstore" foundation. It has a medium coverage.

This foundation retails for $10.48

 

Eye Shadow Palette:

My go-to palette for this month is hands down the Nude on Nude palette 

from NYX. It has the perfect shades for every day use,

and could almost resemble the Naked Palette.

This retails for $25.00 

Mascara:

Not so unfortunate for me.... I had Cry Baby Mascara applied a week into August and

haven't had to use any what so ever. So i don't really have a mascara to share this month.  

If your not familiar with the procedure, its a Semi-Permanent Mascara that takes 

about 30 minutes to apply and last 2 weeks or longer. Its completely 100% water proof and smudge proof.

It has no side affects what so ever and doesn't leave me "lash-less" after being removed unlike some eyelash extensions. I don't recommend getting this procedure done EVERY month but its great for the on the go girl who can use the saved time in the morning when getting ready.

 

Blush:

This month instead of a "normal" blush I used a Cream/Rouge blush

This one called GLOW by NYX has to be one of my favorite cream blushes of all time.

Did i mention you could use this as a lip color as well ;D

This retails for $6.75

 

Lips: 

This Cream Sheen MAC lipstick in Innocence, Beware is 

definitely my most warn lipstick this month.

Its the perfect pinky-nude color with a subtle glossy shine.

Unfortunately this go-to nude color was a limited addition, in the Shop Mac and Villian collections.

Hopefully they will bring it back in another collection since its a color everyone should have.

This retailed for $15.00

Nail Polish:

Last but not least Nail Polish. 

So this month I've been trying to pick up a new nail polish a week,

just to expand my collection.Out of all the others I have, 

I kept going for this lovely blue by China Glaze called Frostbite.

Thanks for reading, till next time beauties...

 

Purple Smokey Eye

 

 

A smokey eye is a popular look especially on those romantic date nights.

Traditionally browns and blacks are used to create such a look, but today I'm going for a more sultry look using rich purples.

  

If  your on a budget (like I always am) than this palette from E.L.F is ideal.

It gives you a variety of purples to use as well as other colors for you to create almost any look you'd like.

This exact palette is $20 but is on sale right now for $10 

 

 

The key to an awesome smokey eye is proper blending.

Without blending the colors together flawlessly you will come out looking like you just lost a fight.

In order to achieve this look it is crucial that you have a blending brush

 

 

 

 

In this look I was kind of all over the place as far as products go.

I used a variety of drugstore as well as high end brands. 

I will list below the products I used, in the order I used them.

•  LORAC - Behind the scenes eye primer.
  This is an important step especially when using darker colors. It provides a sticky base for your shadows to cling onto and last all night.
• Two Faced In the Buff eye shadow.
  White eye shadow is a great starting color for the look i was going for.
  If your going for a regular smokey eye its best to
  use a shadow that is 1 shade lighter than your skin tone.
• NYX Mauve color in there Nude on Nude Palette
  This is my transition color. Applying this color in my crease will help me when it comes time to blend. With a smokey eye you always want to start with your light colors first and move up in Hue till you reach the darkest color. In this case it was Black.
• Two Faced Cut the Cake eye shadow.
  Again to help my transition of colors i applied this in my crease as well as a little above in to give it a softer look when I apply my darker colors.
• Rich Grape purple in the Jenni Rivera Palette
  This is my main color. I placed this Directly into my crease using my Pencil brush first.
• Two Faced Cut the Cake eye shadow.
  Once again i used this color, this time with a fluffy blending brush to smooth out the edges from the color before. 
• Two Faced First dance mixed with a Matte black eye shadow.
  To define my crease a bit more i placed this color mainly on my
  outer V and worked it slightly up into my crease.
• Two Faced Party Girl eye shadow.
  I placed this color on the center of my lid to bring a brighter purple affect to my eye.
• White shimmery color in the Jenni Rivera Palette
  I placed the final color on the inner lid as well as the inner corner of my lid to make my eyes appear bigger and brighter. Which is very important when having such dark colors on the rest of your lid
• NYX false lashes in Nirvana 101
• E.L.F black Gel linerTight lined my eye as well as winging my liner out just a bit.
  
• Maybellines Mega Plush Mascara in Very Black.
• NYX Jumbo eye shadow stick in Milk
  I applied this on my water line using an angled brush.

For the rest of my face I used:

• Cetaphils Daily Moisturizer
• NYX Studio Perfect Face Primer
• Revlon Color Stay Whipped in 370 Natural Tan
• Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer in 30 Medium
• E.L.F Tone correcting Powder
• NYX Cream Blush in Glow (applied on cheeks as well as Lips)

Hope you all enjoyed <3

Everyday Natural eye for Beginners

Neutrals are your best bet when just starting out with makeup. 

This 28 neutral eye shadow palette (which I used) by Morphe is awesome and a great still for just $10

Neutrals not only go with any outfit but are a great starting point to

 almost every look you are trying to achieve .

Like always your going to want to apply a primer it provides a 

sticky base on which your eye shadows will lay on top of and last all night long.

In this particular look i used Two Faced Shadow Insurance

but E.L.F's $1 eye primer is ideal for starters and people on a budget.

 Believe it our not you only need two colors to achieve this simple look

Using your flat shader brush your going to want to chose a color that is about a shade lighter 

than your  natural skin tone this not only brightens up the look a bit but covers

 up all imperfections for your lid such as veins and any redness.

Make sure to apply this color from your lash line all the way up to your brow bone.

This brush is from Sonia Kashuks 5-piece set retailing at about $14.99

Now using a tapered blending brush your going to want to create some depth.

Try to chose a brown shadow, preferably two shades darker than your natural skin tone.

You want to concentrate this color on your crease or socket of the eye to create more dimension.

Since were going for a more natural look its best to keep the look soft and not add to much color.

I did however add just a tiny bit more to the outer V of my eye. Once you've blended the colors together your done! Simple enough?

(excuse my haggard eyebrows)

I feel that this look is beyond easy and simple.

Its perfect for those lazy days when you really don't want to spend forever and a day getting ready.

but you know you have to do SOMETHING so you don't scare your friends and coworkers away

Hope you all enjoyed!

let me know if there's anything else you'd like see or have questions about!

XOXO

How to: WATER MARBLE!

I've got to be honest, water marbling isn't the easiest thing in the world, actually it can be quite frustrating and time consuming but if you have the right tools, patience, and positivity

you will be sure to get compliments left and right!! :)

Everything you will need:

• Base color (preferably white)
• Nail polish (any colors your want but at least 2)
• A small disposable cup
• Distilled or filtered ROOM TEMP water.
• Tape and/or Petroleum Jelly
• Toothpicks/Orange-wood sticks
• 100% pure acetone (which i have in the bottle in the picture)
• Q-tips 
• Cotton pads 
• Fast drying top coat
• Patience ;)

First things fist! In order to get the most vibrant and colorful effect you must use a base color.

Preferably white, especially when using bright neon colors like I did :)

In this picture i used

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in

300 White On

Next your going to want to choose your colors and unscrew the 

caps completely for easy access once you start!

You need to pick the polishes that ARE NOT dried out one bit, if so it can cause the polish to dry too quickly once it hits the water and they will not spread at all.

In my opinion bright neon colors are great especially now that it's summer.

The colors i used in this particular picture are brand new so they worked best.

From left to right I used the Sinful Colors in:

920 24/7

56 Neon Melon

951 Why Not

& 198 Irish Green

(not my first choice but like I said they are brand new)

 

Once your base color is COMPLETELY dry, you can start covering your cuticles as well as the sides of your nails with tape. (another alternative is using petroleum jelly which i actually did on the other hand it's less time consuming and is defiantly easier when cleaning up). I know it sounds crazy but you'll be thanking little baby Jesus once your finished because I know you don't want to clean up all this that is left over on your finger--->

Now you can begin! With your cup filled with your

Room Temperature water. Drop one drop of each color, one at a time into your cup until you get a pattern that looks something like this kinda like a bullseye! You want to drop the nail polish as close to the surface as possible. If you drop it to far away from the surface it will form into ball and sink to the bottom. Now you can gently break the surface and drag your toothpick from one side to the other creating a pattern. You will also want to work fast enough so the outside color doesn't dry up before you draw your pattern with your toothpick.

Now this is the most crucial step.You MUST dunk your finger slowly into the water at an angle in order to

 catch that flawless pattern. If you don't you will form air bubbles within your pattern and it will turn out like this

See those unsightly little dots? Yuck!! :P

Once your finger is submereged make sure to leave it there for a few seconds so that the nail polish on the surface is dry. ( you can also gently blow on the water to make it dry more quickly.) Now, with out removing your finger from the water, quickly swirl your toothpick, or Q-tip around your finger to gather the excess polish from the water. ( if this isn't done,once you pull your finger out the excess comes up with it ruining your design.)

This is MY end result, very bright and unique.

 Each one is extremely different and is a perfect look for this summer! I know this is a long tedious process but the end results makeup for it every bit. (and of course practice makes perfect.)

I really hope these tips and tricks help you out .Good luck and have fun

:)

Summer color!

With all these new color blocking trends this summer it's very important to make sure your makeup doesn't clash or over due your outfit. This neutral eye look with a bit of color on your lower lash line is not only simple but will make your eyes pop. It is absolutely perfect for everyday and is definitely the way to go when wearing your bright colors this summer!

BHcosmetics Palette!

I recently went to I.M.A.T.S which is the International Makeup- Artist Trade show in Pasadena,CA.

While I was there i picked up some pretty awesome things, one of them being this Jenni Rivera Eyeshadow and Blush Palette from BHCOSMETICS.

 

This palette comes with a mix of 30 shimmery, matte, and glittery 

highly pigmented eye shadows as well as 6 creamy blushes

 The first row in this palette consist of the more intense colors its a mix of 

matte, glittery,  and shimmery colors.

 The second row has the lighter neutral colors. Some of them are great for the inner corner of your eye for the more wide awake look, or to just make your eyes appear bigger.

The third row has the more smokey, sultry colors that are perfect for

 the every day/night smokey eye!

  

And last but not least the fourth row has 6 amazing highly pigmented

 blushes all shades GREAT for the summer.

I got this palette for $20 even. The original retail price is 24.95 (making each eyeshadow .69 cents)

 which isn't bad at all and to make it even better it's on sale right now for $22.46 at bhcosmetics.com

Another AWESOME thing about this palette is that it has great dupes for a few MAC eyeshadows such as 

Beauty Marked, Deep Truth, and Sketch.

(which retail at $15each)  hmmmm...   ;)

All in all I believe this is definitely worth purchasing. 

It's  absolutely perfect for the summer and is fantastic quality for a palette under $30.