Let's talk about the face!

Ok, I consider myself a pretty average girl. Some days I wear makeup, some days I don't. Today we're going to talk about the days I do. Sometimes I just throw on eyeshadow or something from a travel palette, but occasionally I love to look like a pinup, with a close-to-flawless complexion, and classy eyes and lips.

To Start, moisturizing is very important. Not only does it keep your skin healthier, it helps the makeup stay on. I use:

 Olay Active Hydrating cream. It's scentless, light, and non-oily.

Followed by Clinique's redness solutions tinted green moisturizer. I have some very pink rosacea on my cheeks that is hard to cover up with just foundation. The green tint cancels out the red, and minimizes how much red shows through.

Finally, my new best friend, e.l.f's mineral face primer. It doesn't make me break out, and it lets my liquid foundation stick on evenly and smoothly.

On a day like today when I decide to wear foundation, My regimen could include any or all of the following items.

e.l.f's high definition powder in translucent, cover girl's light liquid concealer, neutrogena's healthy skin liquid foundation (with and without salicylic acid)on 10 Classic Ivory, wet and wild's solid stick concealer, and neutrogena's mineral sheers loose powder foundation.

to apply liquid foundation I use this brush. Unknown brand, natural fibers, bought on ebay. It's smooth and silky, and I love ow it erases any lines and applies smoothly over all areas of my skin. It's easily cleanable with baking soda or shampoo. I apply the liquid foundation with salicylic acid in my T-zone (forehead and nose area) while using the regular healthy skin formula on the rest of my face.

Next I can either use the translucent powder or the mineral powder depending on the look I am going for. Today I used the mineral foundation , which provides a smooth, matte look over the whole face. applied with this brand-less brush from ebay.

finally, for a summery look, I used a contouring brush to apply e.l.f's warm bronzer, focusing on the cheek bones. I don't use bronzer in the winter, but it helps you look fresher and not-washed-out in the summer months.

All that's left is to apply eyeshadow, this is coastal scent's 88 palette in original. I also used a small brush in one of the browns o use this as eyeliner. I used Covergirl's lash blast mascara in brown today.

And Lip stick. I always apply a moisturizing chapstick before applying lipstick to avoid the dry feeling. Today I used lip Vitamin's Almond chapstick. Topped off with Clinique's lipstick in Ginger Flower.

THERE! A classy, every day, yet oh-so-sophisticated look that can easily be worn on a regular day, or for a special event. Granted it's a little high maintenance, but if you want the look, I'd say this is the way to do it!

All done! There is no editing on this picture. Just makeup. And with my hair styled from TBD's tutorial HERE, I feel amazingly cool and classy

Natural Hair

I don't use shampoo or conditioner. OK! Before you click away from my blog forever because "ew gross..." Let me tell you about how I take care of my hair, without product, and save money while doing so.

Think about the last bottle of shampoo or conditioner you bought. How much did it cost? Probably somewhere in the range of 12-30 dollars. Which is quite a bit of money. What if I told you that your shampoo is stripping your hair of the natural oils and protectants it provides for itself? I use a mix of baking soda and water in place of shampoo, and apple cider vinegar with water for conditioner. My hair has never felt healthier, or stronger, looked shinier, or been easier to style. It's a cheap and natural alternative. I use approximately one tablespoon of baking soda to one cup of water, and two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to one cup of water. Scrub, let sit, and rinse just as you would traditional products.

On the note of hair, I was so pleased with how mine turned out today! Styling my hair is one of my favorite ways to amp up an otherwise simple look. I was inspired by the intricate braiding in "Game of Thrones", both on the Kahleesi and the noble women. Amazing styles like

this

And

I decided to combine the two, and came up with a style I was VERY happy with. Right here!

The back!

The side! And my little dragon, also in line
with the Game of Thrones theme here!

Over all the braids work as a sort of cage for my hair, keeping it up and out of the way, while still long and lovely. I may do the braids thicker next time, but for now I feel like a Kahleesi!

WOOPS

Guess who sprained their foot at rehearsal? Me! This means I'm stuck on the couch, so expect some good posts over the next couple of days. In the meantime, I'm watching "Game of Thrones". Bloody addicting. Ciao!

night post uno

This is what happens when I post at night. Or am on the internet at night, or whatever. I made eggless cookie dough with the help of THIS wonderful blogger. delicious. Oh my gosh it has a whole stick of butter but hey, sometimes I don't care. And it's natural right? Right!

Also, I have uploaded a video to youtube. I'm quite proud of it, best I've ever done.

Outfit of The Day: tutu time

My status on Facebook today: Give me one good reason I shouldn't wear a tutu today.

No one gave me a good reason. So here we are, hanging out in part of my costume left over from the nutcracker ballet a few years ago, perfect to feel fun and crazy on a summer day.

Im wearing a shirt from forever 21, thrifted belt, diy necklace, diy cutoff yoga shorts

fun with sepia. ignore me and my bad photo editing skills

I love when the light hits this skirt!

here's my necklace

and this is my hair, all done up, I also braided my headband today, but you can't really see it. 

Off to rehearsal now, have a lovely day!

Body Positivity

Last night I spent about four hours reading the Body Positivity section of Tumblr blogs. I couldn't be happier right now! This is just a reminder to all of you reading out there, that no matter what you look like, or how and if you choose to alter your appearance with makeup, clothes, whatever, you are beautiful! I highly recommend spending a while reading this blog. It is good for the soul.

Today is a cleaning day, and I'm packing for college, so no outfit of the day since I'm spending it in soffe shorts and a sesame street T-shirt, I'll write more later, Ciao!

An Orange Affair

Today was nice. I went to my aunt and uncle's house with the family, and my uncle happens to be pretty good at working with wood. And with his help, I now have the wood pieces to make my own diablo! I just need to bolt it together and get some strings.

Anyway, we always have a good time with two smith families together. And this is the outfit I wore.

high low!

 I'm wearing an old navy dress that was on sale for $15, with a crop top from the clearance rack at kohls for $2.60. It makes it look completely different! My belt is something I've had forever, and the necklace was my moms.

 These earrings I bought from a friend who was cleaning out her old jewelry, $2.

 And this headband I got from a tap dance in our recital.

We finished up the night with some belated fourth of July fireworks in the backyard!

Also, My uncle has a huge black lab named Chester,

And this is an accurate representation of a good time with the Smiths....oh family gatherings....