School of Beauty

In an attempt to get this blog up and running, I have been doing some major research. Now, the word "research" may sound silly to people who are not into makeup, but its a lot of work to get to know your skin, coloring, and the type of products that lend themselves to your type. I'm very happy to say that I have become a student of beauty, and I am getting great grades!

STEP ONE

My first step was a makeup purge. I got rid of years and years of products. I dumped every sample, hair product, eyeshadow, brush, etc., that I wasn't using regularly (so basically everything). I realized that although I was throwing away probably $1000 worth of products, if I wasn't using them, what was the point? I gave two of my friends so many Bare Escentuals eyeshadows that it made me sick to my stomach, but I knew it was for the greater good of my beauty journey. 

STEP TWO

That's my favorite. I bought all new make up. And I'm not talking running to the drugstore and buying Maybelline. I'm talking about $30 Benefit bronzers, $18 lipsticks, $25 concealers, the list goes on. Luckily I got a lot of gift cards for my birthday and the wedding that helped out. Before I bought everything I did my research on MakeupAlley.com, my favorite place for beauty reviews. Every product you can think of has hundreds and hundreds of reviews letting you know whether or not you should bother buying the product. That being said, it's not as easy as it sounds. A lot of the people reviewing are those beauty bloggers who have flawless skin- after pounds of makeup, or naturally darker skin tones. Everyone skin and coloring is different so I needed to find the ones that were perfect for me. 

Once I reviewed all of the products online, I would go into the store and try them. I've been making regular trips to Macy's because our Macy's has my favorites, Benefit and Clinique. I also go to Mac for things like powder and highlighter because I just can't seem to find them in the right color anywhere else.

STEP THREE

Try them out on myself. That's the hardest part. Because I've always been a very natural makeup girl, using brushes to blend all these crazy product does not come naturally to me, and neither does wearing so much makeup! But I made this promise to myself that I would learn to use fun new products this year, so it was time to suck it up and try it. My favorite Instagrams helped me find a lot of the products and how to use them. Pinterest helped me with photo tutorials, but YouTube has been my favorite. My favorite vlogger is Nicole Guerriero who happens to be drop dead gorgeous with the most amazing makeup tutorials.

STEP FOUR

The real life trial. When I flew down to LA last weekend, I had an hour to do my make up on the plane and I took full advantage. I really went for it using the natural light coming in through the window and my makeup looked flawless. 

Here's a photo taken on my iPhone, I couldn't get any good shots of the contouring/highlighting :(

Products used: 

Clinique foundation in Champagne

Mac Prep and Prime Highlighing Stick in Luminous Rose

Benefit Hoola Bronzer

Benefit Brow-zings kit in medium brown

Clinique pencil liner in black

Clinique High Lengths mascara (two coats for those crazy lashes!)

Mac lip liner and retro matte lipstick (I returned both, the color was cool but it creased easily and I wasn't a fan of the super matte finish- I like a more satin lip)

Bare Minerals eyeshadows

The next day I tried it again using all of my brushes and a full-size mirror. In person my makeup looked like a million bucks. I don't think I've ever felt prettier aside from my wedding day. But, my friends android phone has a very unforgiving flash which caused this photo to happen:

I used the same products but with a Mac lip liner in Auburn and Mac satin lipstick in Dubonnet (my wedding lip, very dramatic and also great for evening).

BUT You can see all of the different products just sitting on top of my skin! My iPhone flash made my face look just fine, but that damn android really brought out the worst of it. I blame the phone. Whatever. So my next goal is to figure out how to have my face looks flawless both in person and in photos. Challenge accepted!

Today I went to go get my eyebrows done at the benefit brow bar, which is my new favorite place! It's $20 but they do a job that is SO worth it. I decided, since I'm attending a rehearsal dinner tonight, to just have them do my face as well. The girl didn't do a great job of blending so I dusted my face with my Mac NW20 studio fix and voila! 

STEP FIVE

Learn how to photograph my makeup! These #basicbitch iPhone shots are not cutting it!

Benefit HOOLA Bronzer Review

When I was a freshman in college, I had just discovered name brand cosmetics- before then I was all about Cover Girl- if I even wore makeup. A MAC eyeshadow was like the holy grail... especially in electric blue (we were so clueless back in the day)! 

When we would get ready for college parties, I started noticing the girls around me had good makeup- expensive makeup. I had no idea that girls spent $25 on a foundation, but the quality, department store makeup truly made such a difference in how pretty I felt on a night out.

One girl's makeup inparticular stood out to me- she wore Benefit blush and bronzer in Hoola or Dallas. It came in this super cute box and the color was perfect. She always had awesome cheek color, and here I am, seven years later, and I still remember!

This weekend I decided to suck it up and spend the $28 on Benefit's HOOLA. It's a matte bronzer/blush that you can use just on your cheeks or as an all over face color.

I love it. With my fair skin I have to be really careful not to over-bronze, but this powder is soft, matte and very blendable. It gives me a great cheekbone and I use it on my hairline and jawline to contour. I also love it on minimal makeup days; just a sweep across my cheekbones makes such a huge difference! Since I bought Hoola, I have worn it every single day.

I would definitely give this product 5 stars!