Nail Biters Anonymous

Say it with me now...ouuuuuchhhhhhh!! This is what a typical week of school and work stress does to me. I have always been a HUGE nail-biter, honestly since I can remember. When I was very little I sucked my thumb, and then transitioned to nail-biting. I am in a constant state of pain and besides that...it just isn't professional looking to be sucking and biting your nails. As a makeup artist, I work with my hands everyday and the condition of my nails makes me insecure. I don't always have the $$$ to get my nails done professionally, and even when I do...I usually end up ripping them off (I am very particular about the way my nails are done). When I first discovered DIY acrylic nails I thought, "never would I ever..." but I found myself in a pinch a few months ago where I needed my nails done for an event and didn't have time to make it to the salon. I glued these puppies on and low and behold...the PERFECT manicure LITERALLY at your fingertips! I was blown away.

There is definitely a learning curve to applying nails yourself, but once you get it down, your wallet will thank you. At about $7 a box (and I can usually get one set to last me two applications) it is extremely affordable, and well worth it. I like having natural nails, but can never give my nails enough of a breather to grow out. These nails last about one week, giving my nails just enough time to grow so that when the fake nails pop off, my natural nails underneath are ready for a fresh coat of polish!

I can't believe I ever snuffed my head to the idea of DIY because I'm a DIY-obsessive. I have tried applying clear coats of polish, the bitter biter polish, and will power...nothing availed until I found these CVS approved nails!

Here is how I apply the fake nails myself:

1. Wash hands to get rid of any oils present on my nails
2. Clip cuticles (optional)
3. Lightly file the top of the nail to get rid any shine so that the nails will glue down easily.
4. I start off by laying the right sized nails out in front of me so I can move quickly.
5. I apply a SMALL drop of the included nail glue give it a few seconds to get tacky, line up the nail and press it down for about 5 seconds.
6. Once all the nails are applied, I usually like to apply polish on top.

Sometimes I leave the french manicure and don't apply polish, but I am really really into grey nail polish right now so I will usually apply that. and BOOM. nails on fleek.

Bleached Hair Done Right

Naturally I am a dark brunette. In highschool I decided to go blonde. This was roughly one of the worst decisions of my life because I did it at home by myself. My hair turned to a bright orange mush. I went and got it fixed, but my hair was never the same. About a year ago, I decided to go BRIGHT red (I know, I know...) which meant I had to bleach my hair again. When I went to the salon and explained what I wanted to do, my hair stylist literally laughed in my face. She knew my past habits and told me if I didn't bleach my hair properly, it would snap off because it was STILL so brittle (this was high school haunting me). Enter Olaplex.

Andy G, a professional hair stylist says, "Olaplex is a bond multiplier. It reverses hair damage and brings it back to its natural state before being colored. "An Olaplex treatment can be done at most local salons. My favorite is the take home weekly treatment. I apply this light perfector (#3) at home before jumping into the shower. The take home product is essentially a diluted version of the in-salon treatment, so it really helps keep the hair shaft strong and healthy. This product is essentially the first of its kind and can cut a clients hair coloring transition time in HALF. I was able to go bright red from black in 2 sessions with this stuff!

6 Steps to a Simple Smokey Eye (with a twist!)

I know a dark grey and black smokey eye can seem a little intimidating to some beauties out there, but I am here to make your beauty routine a breeze! Personally, I prefer a colorful smokey eye to the standard black and grey. Even when I'm trying to go with a neutral smokey eye, I will opt for taupe and grey shades versus the standard black look. Also, how cool is this simple step by step diagram I made for you guys!!?!

Okay lets get to it. For this look you will need a base eyeshadow (something 1-2 shades darker than your skin color), A light, medium, and dark eyeshadow shade in the same color range, and some loose glitter (optional)!

Steps 1-6:

1. Apply base shade to entire lid- from a little above the crease to the base of the lid. Flick the color out towards the edge of your eyebrow.

2. Apply the light shade to the crease down (flick out slightly in the same way)

3. Apply medium shade to the outer v of the lid- bring it only as far as the middle of the lid

4. Apply dark shade to the crease of the lid (flick it out slightly)

5. Apply loose glitter to the center of the lid

6. Apply eyeliner and mascara as usual!

Voila! And scene.

Liquid Lipstick to the Rescue!

I have upwards of 50 liquid lipsticks in my lip collection. Its a little excessive, but when I hear of a product known for its wearability and beauty, I have to binge buy every formulation out there! Liquid lipsticks apply like a lipgloss and then dry to a beautiful matte finish. They are smooth and velvety, never tacky and will hold up well when eating, smooching, or drinking.

Nicole, Sephora makeup artist, says, "liquid lipsticks are amazing because they are only one step, they have great wear, and the pigmentation is ideal!" When Nicole says that these lipsticks are only one step, she means that usually, if you want a lipstick to last all day, you have to prime the lips with a lip primer, line the lips with a lip liner, and then blot the lipstick once applied with a fine milled powder. Even then, there is no promise that the lipstick will hold up all day. When it comes to liquid lipsticks, all you do is apply to your lips as they are they the color DOES. NOT. BUDGE. This is a true miracle to all the lipstick-loving beauties out there!

Besides the fact that they stay all day, the matte finish is devine. Matte lip-finishes happen to be #trending right now (thank you Kylie Jenner) but I still wonder why it took as long as it did to hit the market! I will say that a matte finish does not look as good on my mom as it does on me. It has the sad ability to set into fine lines and make lips appear shriveled, so it is not for everyone, but if you want a liquid lipstick for wearability, you can apply a gloss over it to hydrate the lips a bit more!

Pro Tip: If your lips get too dried out from liquid lipstick, try applying a light lip balm underneath the liquid lipstick. This will keep the lips hydrated and plump them up a bit!

Slay that Contour, Queen... SLAYYYY

"When in doubt, contour it out." That's my motto and I'm sticking to it. When I first discovered contouring and highlighting, my life was changed for the better. There are SO many contour/highlight kits out now because it is so trendy. I do think that gals and guys these days are going just a littttllleeee over-board with the contouring, leaning closer and closer to drag-wear by the day, but a little face chiseling never hurt anyone! I love contouring because it slims down my round face and helps it match my perfectly defined hot bod (lololol...). But for real, contouring is the perfect thing to take your makeup to the next level and it doesn't have to look over the top. Start out with a bronzer and work your way up to the ashy brown powder that is contouring.

As far as highlighting is concerned, I love adding a light shimmer to my brow bone, cheek bone, chin, and nose. Highlighting draws things closer to you, thus making the face appear slimmer and more defined. As you can see from the image above, I have a disturbing amount of highlighting and contouring products. Most of these products can be found at Sephora, but surprisingly enough, my favorite contour/highlight palette comes from Nyx. It is somewhere around $25 and comes with 4 contouring shades and 4 highlighting shades...so if you are ballin' on a budget reach for this palette first as a beginners guide! Speaking of beginner's guides, the Nyx palette comes with instructions. If you already have the colors you need, you just don't know how to use them...refer to a face chart to help you place the colors in the right places!

Pssssst...You Look Like a Grease Ball...

So you know that struggle of deciding...do I go to the gym...do I not go to the gym...you know you don't have time to shower before you have to meet your girls for dinner, but if you don't go to the gym, you can't eat the queso (but you are probably going to eat the queso anyway)...enter DRY SHAMPOO. In your sweaty, stressed state you can just spray the oil away and fashion that grease ball into a fashion pony!

Okay so besides that specific scenario, there are so many life changing reasons why you should invest in dry shampoo. Some examples (if you are anything like me) might include: those “unexpected” sleepovers, the gym, and for all over hair health. I keep a bottle in my car just incase I decide to sleep out and have something to do the next morning. I keep a bottle in my gym bag just in case I don’t have time to shower before heading off to my next adventure and I keep a bottle on my vanity for hair health. I have BRIGHT red hair, which means I can not wash my hair more than 2-3 times a week. I love to straighten my hair which means that if it isn’t clean it turns into a stringy, clumpy mess! When I wake up on day 2/3 of unwashed hair I spray my hair down, go make a cup of coffee and when I return I brush it out and Voila!... clean fresh smelling hair.

So I know you are asking, “Ok, ok…but what exactly is dry shampoo?!” Well friends, The Beauty Department says that dry shampoo is essentially an ultra fine powder in spray form (think baby powder). They relate it to oil blotters for the face! Although I don't have bangs, dry shampoo can be HUGE for gals and guys with bangs. Because bangs sit on the forehead all day, they are more likely to get greasy from touching the face all day. You want to apply dry shampoo to DRY hair. It won't work on wet hair.

All this being said, dry shampoo isn't necessary for people with dry scalps or for people who don't really produce all that much oil. Also, you really don't want to apply too much or you will have a dry tangly mess on your hands. You only want to target the spray at your scalp, not on your ends. My friend Casey says, "As a blonde, I use dry shampoo to make my hair look more ashy. I know this isn't for everyone, but I like my hair to look greyed out and mattified." As far as recommendations go, there are some high-end brands at Sephora but I get mine at Ulta for 7 dollhairs! Because I know it is essentially baby powder, I really just don't see the point in spending upwards of $30 on it. The cheap stuff works just fine! Go get you some!

The Prime of Your Life!

Primers galore! If you haven’t used a primer before, you are missing out! Sephora artist Nicole G says, “Personally, I am all about wear. It is important to take the necessary measures to make my foundation and powders last as long as possible; primer does that for me.” Primers come in all sorts of formulations. I use a mattifying, oil free primer on days when I know I am going to be getting a little sweaty or on hot summer days. In the wintertime, I use a hydrating primer to infuse my skin with oxygen and moisture. A hydrating primer keeps my skin from getting dried out. You can even use a primer to smooth out your pores and create a smooth surface for your makeup application. 

When explaining why primer is important, I use the metaphor of painting a wall in your house. When you begin painting a wall in your home, you apply primer first. If you don’t, the wall will soak up all the color, forcing you to apply more coats, which can eventually cause cracking and flaking over time. Applying a primer to your wall first ensures that you will use less paint, and the paint will also show up for evenly. This applies to makeup primer as well! 

After I wash my face, apply my moisturizer and let it dry, I apply primer. My daily go to is Make Up For Ever Hydrating Step 1 Equalizer (pictured above). It wakes up my face, depuffs and primes the skin for cake-face! Yaaaasss Queen! Yas! On days when I don’t feel like applying my usual “cake-face” I will use a priming water, something like Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water. It comes in a spray water and feels like I am infusing my skin as it soaks in! OBSESSED. 

If I think back to my high school days (aging myself here…) I always wondered why when I got home from school almost all my makeup was wiped off of my chin and cheeks. My bronzer was separated and splotchy. I would carefully and methodically apply my makeup every morning and look perfect and flawless before leaving the house…then flash forward through 8 hours of mind-numbing classes…tick, tick, tick…no matter what I did, it still continued to happen. When I was introduced to makeup primers in college, my life was changed! No more melted makeup or cracked off foundation- I could look like Kim Kardashian on any day of the week! So whether you want smaller pores, hydrated skin, matte skin, anti-aging benefits, there is a primer made for you out there! So go out and get it, girl (or boy!).

Pro Tip: before you apply your primer, blot a damp washcloth all over your face. When you apply your primer, it will seal in all the moisture and keep you looking bright and awake all day! After applying your makeup apply a setting spray (like the one from Urban Decay)…your makeup won’t budge!