February Favorites

 

       Hey everyone! Hope you all have had a great week so far. Tomorrow is Friday, yay!!! Haha, anyway, today I have my February Favorites for you all. I love these kinds of posts. I love being able to share products with you all, and give my honest reviews and opinions. Because this is a favorites post, they're all obviously going to have good reviews, haha. Side note, I apologize for showing you all dirty brushes. I just cleaned them recently and didn't feel like washing them all again just for pictures. So, please don't think I'm gross, haha. Now, let's get started!All opinions are my own, and they will be listed in the caption below each photo. Enjoy!

First up are my Sigma eye brushes. I got these as a Christmas present from my mom and sister this past year, and my mouth dropped when I opened the gift and saw these. I may have screamed a bit, too. I am OBSESSED with these. I use them in every tutorial. When you see the pictures of me doing anything with my eyes, I'm almost always using these brushes. These came in the Sigma "Basic Eyes" kit. However, I believe they do sell these separately. They are incredibly soft, and make a huge difference in the application of your makeup. I really do believe that the tools you have are more important than the makeup itself. If you have good tools, you can make the worst products look amazing. I've washed these brushes multiple times, and they have little to no shedding. They're just really good quality brushes, and they're affordable! I want them all!! Here's where you can check them out: http://www.sigmabeauty.com/Basic_Eyes_Kit_p/ek001.htm

Next up is a hair product: Redken Guts 10 - a root targeted volumizing foam spray. Can I just say, I have THE flattest, finest hair on the planet, but when I use this stuff, I have amaaaaaazing volume! I have tried SOOOOO many volumizing hair products, from shampoo and conditioner to high end root lifting sprays, and none compare to this. I just spray this on my roots after I've towel dried my hair, then I blow dry. The results are awesome. And it actually lasts all day on me. I expected to lose my volume after a couple hours. But no, I have nice lift all day. It can feel a little crunchy once your hair is dry, but I just comb through it, and I'm good to go. Also, having fine/oily hair, I was worried that this stuff would be super heavy, and leave my hair feeling greasy. Again, I was wrong. It doesn't make my hair oily, and it's very light weight! Such a good product for all of you who need some volume in your life.

Moving on, I have the Milani Baked Blushes. If you've been following my blog at all, you know I'm absolutely in love with these blushes. They are, hands down, the best drugstore blushes on the market. They are so soft, so pigmented, easily blendable, give off an amazing natural glow, come in amazing colors... I mean, need I say more? Stop what you're doing, and go get these. Just kidding. Keep reading, THEN go get these blushes, haha. You can get these at CVS.

Now, for awkward swatches, from left to right: Bella Rosa, Delizioso Pink, Luminoso, & Berry Amore.

For nails, I have been craving bright colors. I think I'm just ready for spring and summer to be here already. This is Zoya - Lola. This polish is AMAZING. It's a bright neon pink, with a blue/purple iridescence. Perfect summer color. Perfect all the time color. I just love it. The formula is a little sheer, but it's easily build-able and easy to apply. I love Zoya polishes. I am pretty fair right now, and it looks great against my fair skin. But, if you have a tan, this color is going to look awesome on you! If you're in the market for a pink nail polish, look no further. Zoya polishes are sold at Ulta, and on www.zoya.com.

Next up is a Holy Grail product for me. This is the Smith's Minted Rose Lip Balm. This stuff is THE BEST lip balm. EVER. I have tried what seems like hundreds of lip balms over the years, and all of them seemed to work okay, but my lips would still be chapped after a bit. Not with this stuff. I wear it to bed every night, and it keeps my lips so soft and smooth. They haven't been chapped at all since I started using this. No joke. I'm not crazy about rose scented anything, but this is not overwhelming. And mixed with the mint, I actually like the smell. It goes on really smooth, and a little goes a long way. You can get this lip balm at Sephora for $5-7. It's seriously the best stuff ever. A definite must-have product.

Last up are Real Techniques brushes. These are why I put the note at the beginning apologizing for showing dirty brushes. But, hey... I use them every single day. The orange handled brush is the Buffing brush. Seriously, the best brush ever to apply liquid and cream foundations with. It doesn't soak up all the product, and blends and buffs the foundation in beautifully and gives you a flawless finish. Such a great brush. The pink handled one is the setting brush. I use this to set all the places I use concealer. It is so soft, and is small enough to get right into the areas that a bigger brush might miss. I love this brush. I actually heard of Real Techniques from the "Pixiwoo" sisters on YouTube. If you've never heard of them, they are AMAZING makeup artists, and sisters, from the UK. They have tons of awesome makeup tutorials. One of the sisters, Samantha, actually started this Real Techniques line, and they're so, so nice. These brushes are also super affordable, and you can get them at Ulta, Target, and www.realtechniques.com. And if you haven't seen them before, you should check out their makeup tutorials here: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjEPwaev8_zrpafISAPhruA.

       So, that's it for my February favorites. I hope you all enjoyed seeing some of my most used products of the month. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, or on my Facebook page: "Beautymark." Thank you all sooooo much for reading and have a great rest of the week!!


                                          XOXO - Tabitha

Copper and Cobalt

        Hey everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was really good! I had to return some things to Sephora... So, while we were out, I stopped at the MAC counter and picked up a few things. When I was checking out, the girl told me they were having two classes coming up, and that it was being taught by a really awesome MAC trainer who trains the girls who are first starting out there. Well, I got really excited and signed up for both! Aghhhh!!! So excited!! From what I've heard, MAC has a pretty intense training period before the employees get to be on the floor. So, to learn techniques and different looks by actual MAC employees is really, really exciting for me!! The classes are in March, so I definitely have something to look forward to. 

       Anyway, back to the blog post... Today's look is a copper and cobalt look. I was inspired to create this look by a picture I saw on Instagram. It was a lot like this, but hers was WAYYYY better than my interpretation, haha. Nevertheless, I wanted to give you all a little inspiration to throw some color in your routine. I am a hard core neutrals kinda girl, but throwing a pop of color into the look is really nice and refreshing. So, let's get started. All tips will be in the captions below each picture. Enjoy!

I started out with my base. I primed the face using Benefit's The POREfessional mixed with the L'Oreal Miracle Blur. Then, for foundation I used the Covergirl Outlast foundation in the color "842."

After my base was done, I moved straight on to the eyes. To prime them, I used the Lorac Behind the Scenes.

To start, I applied the color "Cream" from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette from the lash line to brow bone.

Then, I went in with Sienna and put that into the crease.

Like so.

Then, I took the color "Rum Cake" and applied that over the lid from lash line to just under the crease.

Like so. This is a blurry picture, but this color is sooooo pretty!

To create some depth, I took "Truffle" and blended it into the outer crease.

After tons of blending, this is what you should have at this point.

To line the eyes, I used the L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense.

For concealer, I used the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind in the color "Light/Pale."

As always, I applied in in an upside down triangle shape under the eyes, around the nose and along the chin. For more highlight, I took the concealer onto the forehead, as shown above.

Once I blended all that out, I used the MAC Prep + Prime Translucent Setting Powder everywhere I put concealer just to set it all in place.

For the rest of the face, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte powder.

All set!

For contour, I used the Benefit Hoola bronzer.

And for blush, I wanted it to be a warmer tone, so I chose to use "Luminoso" from Milani.

All bronzed and contoured!

To line my waterline, I used this Wet-n-Wild Idol Eyes liner. Just an FYI, don't bother getting this liner. It is awful and doesn't stay on for even 5 minutes. I only got it because it was really close to the blue color I will be using here in a moment. It's a pretty color, but very sheer and doesn't stick...

Here it is when I first put it on... You'll see it's pretty much non-existent by the end of this tutorial.

Next, I took the bright blue from this Maybelline Quad called "Electric Blue," and applied it straight to my lower lash line. Now, I did have to do this step over and over and over to get the color intensity I wanted. So, this took a while. If you try this look, don't get frustrated. It will take a while to build up the color. Just keep blending :)

Blending...

More blending...

To get some color right up next to the lower lash line, I used this Wet-n-Wild liquid eyeliner in the color "Indigo Blue." This stuff actually DOES stay put. I actually really like this one! And they have tons of other colors too.

I applied the liquid liner as close to the lash line as I could, then blended it out with the same brush I used for the blue eyeshadow.

For brows I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in the color "Medium Ash."

Brows are done!

Next, I applied a thin coat of the Jordana Best Lash Extreme volumizing mascara to JUST the top lashes. I wanted to keep the blue on the bottom lashes really vibrant, so I didn't apply mascara on the bottom at all.

For lashes, I used my favorite ones from Ardell, the Demi Wispies.

Lashes done!

Lastly for lips, I used the Rimmel Show Off liquid lipstick in the color "Nude Eclipse."

And here's the final look super close up, haha.

Excuse the crazy hair...

       And there you have it! Hope you all liked this tutorial! Sorry for so many pictures of the final look. I just wanted to show you all each side close up. Let me know if you liked it in the comments below, or on my Facebook page "Beautymark." Let me know if there are any looks you want to see a tutorial for, and I'll get them up for you all as soon as I can. Thank you so much for reading, and have a great week!!


                                          XOXO - Tabitha

How to: The 20's

       Hey everyone! Hope your week is going well! Today's look was requested by a sweet girl I met in college. She has a 20's themed party to go to this weekend, and wanted some tips. I asked her if I could do a tutorial on it, and she said yes! So, here it is! I actually created two different looks for this. I filmed an historically accurate look last night that turned out AWFUL. It didn't turn out the way I wanted, and the pictures I got were not good. Just not good. It was accurate, and definitely a 20's look. But it just wasn't flattering at all and it had too many steps. So, I decided to re-film this look and come up with something much easier and not so literal. So, this version is more of a party look. Sam, I hope you like it! As always, tips will be listed in the captions beneath each photo. Enjoy! 

So, I started out priming my face with the Benefit POREfessional and the L'Oreal Revitalift Miracle Blur. Then I did my foundation using the Covergirl Outlast in color "842." If you have one, use a foundation that is too light for you. The 20's was all about the super fair skin tone. If I had one, I would've used the lighter foundation. But, I used what I had :)

Foundation done.

I went ahead and did concealer, using the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind.

I placed it under the eyes, around the nose and along the chin. Basically, you want to place your concealer wherever you have any redness on your face. Again, we want to be pale.

Concealer blended!

To set the places I used concealer, I used the MAC Prep + Prime Translucent setting powder.

Then, to set the rest of the face, I used the Rimmel Stay Matte powder.

Base is done!

To start the eyes, I took Makeup Geek eyeshadow in the color "Hipster" and started blending that right into the crease, focusing on the inner corner near the brow.

Like so. The look then was very dark. They wore mostly cooler toned browns and greys and blacks. Prior to the 1920's, it was frowned upon for women to wear makeup. So, once the roaring 20's came along, there was a carefree, women's lib type attitude going on, and that brought short hair and heavy makeup into play. Women started expressing themselves more freely, and one of those ways was by wearing makeup. Very heavy makeup.

See how I made the inner corners, right under the brow so dark? That's the shape you need. We'll continue to make this darker as we go along.

Next, I took Makeup Geek "Latte" and blended that into the first color we put on, just to darken it up.

This is what you should have so far. It's okay if it goes all the way up to your brow, and if it's messy. The eyeshadow then had a tendency to make it look quite like you got punched in the eye.

I mixed the two colors I used on the upper lid together, and applied them to my lower lid. You want to take this down quite far.

Like so. We'll keep darkening this up as we go.

Next I took a matte, black shadow and smudged it along the upper and lower lash lines. It doesn't have to be neat.

Like so.

I dragged the black out a bit. I did not want to create a a wing that uplifted the eye. So, I brought the black straight out to the sides of the eye to elongate it a bit, but nothing drastic.

Again, here's what you should have so far. Flattering, huh?

Moving on to the brows, I did something a little different. The 1920's brow shape was a key part to the look. They were very black, and very thin and rounded. Now, I did the historically accurate brow last night... not cute. So, I decided to do a more modern brow, but still incorporate the black. You can choose to do this kind of brow, or the thin, rounded brow. Whatever you'd like. To outline the brows, I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in "Medium Ash."

I made them very large and box-y looking. Also, you want to extend the tail of your brows out really far. Like, abnormally far.

 

After outlining the brow, I took a matte black shade and a small angled brush, and filled those bad boys in.

Like so. Pretty dramatic.

Like I mentioned earlier, extend the tail of your brow out pretty far.

This is both the brows done. It's very dramatic, and you'll probably hate it, but it's a party look. Go for it, girl!

After the brows are done, you want to dip your brush into the black eyeshadow again, and blend it into the inner corners of the eye like we did earlier. Again, we want this area to be very dark and almost blend into the brows.

Like so.

Now, for blush I used this Wet-n-Wild blush in "Heather Silk." This is VERY pigmented, so use a light hand with it. We want a lot of blush, but still... this stuff will turn your face hot pink. I know this from experience, hahaha.

Blush is done. Be sure to apply this from the apples of the cheeks, all the way back to the ears. They tended to go heavy with everything.

Next, I applied false lashes. I forgot to take a picture of the ones I used, but they were the Ardell Demi Black lashes. That's all it said on the package. You can use whatever lashes you have though. Sorry, I took the picture when the glue was still wet.

After applying the false lashes, I used the Jordana Best Lash Extreme volumizing mascara on both top and bottom lashes.

Eyes are done!

For lips, I first lined them with the NYX lip liner in "804 Cabaret."

Then I used the Kate Moss for Rimmel London lipstick in the color "09."

The lips were another key feature to the 1920's makeup look. Actress Clara Bow started the iconic rounded lip. I did this lip better last night in the first look I created. I went a little overboard with the liner tonight, but I think you get the idea. You want the top lip, at the cupids bow, to be very rounded. Then the bottom lip needs to have that same, drawn on, rounded look. Also, when you draw the outline of this lip, you want to make the mouth appear to be smaller in width.

I filled the rest of the lips in with the Rimmel lipstick, fixed my hair, and here's the final look!

Sorry... the lash glue took FOREVER to dry.

        So, there it is! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It was so much fun doing a look like this. I think I'm going to do blog posts on looks from every decade from the 20's to now. I was really inspired by this look to do more "period" type looks. I love the history of makeup and learning the techniques and specific looks they did. Let me know if you liked this tutorial, and if you learned something! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, or on my Facebook page "Beautymark." Thank you all sooooooo much for reading, and have a great rest of the week! 


                                       XOXO - Tabitha

P.S. Here is a peak at the first go-round of this look. These were the best pictures I could get. The rest were not good at all. Sorry guys :/