Tip-Full Tuesday: Makeup for Monolid Eyes

I love asian eyes - I think they are absolutely beautiful and so much fun to make up, however, I get a lot of girls asking how to apply makeup to asian/monolid eyes. 

So here we go:

• You always want to apply primer to your lids like MAC's Prep & Prime Eye or TooFaced's Shadow Insurance. (Both are phenomenal products)
•  Using a flat stiff brush, sweep a dark shadow over the entire lid, creating a round shape up to the crease (I prefer to use something with a little shimmer to it like MAC's "Smut" or "Twinks")
• Blend out with a champagney or peachy pink color (MACs "Dazzle Light" & "Honey Lust" are favorites as well as Bare Escentuals "Trust") - making an upside down "u" shape...and blend blend blend
• Go back with the darker color and blend
• Highlight the brow bone with a highlighter color - (MAC's Vanilla, Brule, Dazzlelight)
• To "round" the eye, take a lighter shimmery color and apply to the middle of the lid. 
• Using an angled liner brush, smudge black shadow (MAC's Carbon or Tuxedo) along the lash line, blending it out to soften the line.
• Using the angled liner brush, take the dark shadow you used on the lid and smudge on the outer half of the lower lash line - this will open up the eyes. 
•  If you would like, use a lighter shimmery color and apply to the inner half of the lower lash line.

Tip-full Tuesday: Faux Bob

I'm currently trying to grow my hair out - I've been trying since before we got married in 2010, but I keep asking to chop it off then decide within a week that I should have continued to let it grow it out. Now that temperatures are pretty consistently in the 3 digits (I may not be fully ok with that), the thought of chopping everything off again is sounding attractive - but so is having long hair.

Enter the Faux-Bob. You've seen celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Kristen Stewart, Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift and Amy Adams rock the faux-bob on the red carpet countless times. You may have even been fooled thinking that they had chopped off their gorgeous locks (I know I was a few times)! The faux-bob is a great way to get your hair off your next without having to resort to a pony tail, or a bun and it's pretty simple to do too!

 All you will need is:

• A brush
• A rat-tail comb
• Bobby pins
• Clips
• Shine spray (optional)
• Hair spray (optional)

Step One:
Brush your hair and make sure you have any and all tangles out.

 


Step Two:
Using the rat-tail comb, separate your hair into two sections - one upper and one lower. I suggest starting at one ear and drawing a line with the comb up and over to your other ear.

Clip it out of the way using an alligator Clip.

Step Three:
Section out the hair you did not clip out of the way into 2 sections, making sure that the section you will not be working on first is slightly larger. (it doesn't have to be perfect)

Step Four:
Taking the first section (I used the section near my left ear), roll your hair under about 2 inches (More of less depending on your hair length and how short of a bob you are going for. Secure at the nape of your neck with a bobby pin. For added security, add 1-2 more pins to make sure it stays in place.

Tuck

 & Pin

 Step Five:
With the remaining hair, separate it out, this time make sure the next section you will be working with (I used the section near my right ear) is slightly larger, leaving about a 2 inch section in the between the two sections. Repeat Step Four.




Step Six:Now take the last section (the middle section) and smooth out gently with the rat-tail comb. Tuck and pin. This will ensure that your hair looks uniform and not separated out.



Step Seven:

Before releasing the top section

Release the hair you clipped up. If your hair is layered and shorter on top you may not need to do anything except finish up the style.


 

I just teased the hair at the crown of my head and let it fall onto the back.

    However, the hair that frames my face is significantly longer and needed to be tucked and pinned. Again, depending on the length, you may not need to do this - you may be able to pull of the A-line bob. I felt like my hair was a little too long in the front to make it look like a good A-line, so I tucked and pinned.










Step Eight:This is entirely optional:
Finish off with a slight misting of shine spray (I use Unite Eurotherapy's Shina Mist) or hair spray (I use Unite Eurotheraphy's MaxControl).


Enjoy!

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     Before

Tip-full Tuesday: Fixing Broken Powder Cosmetics

You woke up yesterday morning and pulled out your favorite eyeshadow, blush, powder compact, etc. only to find that it is smashed to pieces from being jostled around in your makeup bag or purse, or maybe it was just some random, unfair, freak accident. Is your first response to toss it and go out and buy another one?

I recently ran into this problem - I had just bought a bunch of neutral shadows to put into one of my wonderful Z-Palettes (go check them out! I love them!), but I dropped my Z in a weird way and it cracked and smashed a few of my new shadows.  [This is not a normal characteristic of the Z-Palette; I have accidentally dropped all of my Z's many times and they have never broken anything before; and I have dropped the same palette since and it hasn't broken anything else.]
This is what I was left with:

 

This is just 1 of the 4 shadows that were smashed. Since they were brand new, I did not want to go and replace them immediately, so I began to research how to fix broken powder cosmetics - and since everything I found seemed to be rather messy - I altered it slightly and am very happy with the results.

All you need is:

-70% Rubbing Alcohol

- a couple of tissues

- a syringe or dropper of some sort

- a quarter (for MAC/round eye shadows) or something of a similar size and shape of what is being fixed

The first thing I did was lay out a tissue on the table - since the shadow was broken and I had to transfer it out of the Z-Palette, I didn't want to get black shadow all over the table. 

Next, take your dropper or syringe and fill it with rubbing alcohol. Then add enough drops to the broken eyeshadow, blush, bronzer, setting powder, etc. to create a goopy-like substance.

Take a clean tissue, fold it to give it a little more thickness and place over the top of the powder. Now take a quarter, your fingers or whatever is similar to the size and shape of the container and press down on it firmly. 

Remove the tissue and your makeup is as good as new! 

 
**The "cracks" that appear aren't cracks at all - they are just creases left from how the tissue was folded.

I hope this helps you to fix any broken cosmetics you may have!

Lipstick & Loves,
Sara

Tip-full Tuesday!

Hello Lovelies!
Congratulations - you made it through Monday! To reward such, I have decided to start up "Tip-full Tuesday" - you're reward for making it through the dreaded Monday after a fun filled weekend.

To kick it off, I'm going to let you in on a few tips to prevent eyeshadow and eye liner fall out. I have received this particular question many times over the past few months; from brides, high school girls, models and designers. With the warm weather fast approaching, I anticipate the question being asked even more.

To prevent shadow fall out -
*Prep your eyelid with a base - primer is best (TooFaced Shadow Insurance, MAC Prep & Prime Eye, Sephora Eye Primer....) If you don't have a primer, foundation works as well
*Using a sponge, dab powder under your eyes - but do not blend in
*When picking up shadow with your brush, give it a  little shake to get rid of excess shadow before applying to your lid. This will help drastically with preventing shadow from falling beneath your eyes!

To prevent liner from falling or melting -
*After applying liner, use a powder eyeshadow to match the color of your liner to set it - especially important  if using a gel or pencil liner. Use an eyeliner (bent liner or angled liner) brush and retrace the liner. This will set it, making it less likely to move, fall, or "melt" throughout the day.

Finish off with a spritz of MAC Fix+ or Urban Decay's All Nighter (if you don't have either, and can handle the smell - hair spray will have the same effect...just don't use a max hold or you'll feel as if your face is glued in place).


Click here for more tips, information on new products, and special offers!

Nuetral Everyday Makeup Tutorial

Alright Lovelies - here's the look that I have received multiple requests for tutorials on and the one I tried to film this morning and failed miserably at - definitely can't wait to find the other camera!
To get this look:
Face:

1. Before anything else, apply moisturizer to a clean face and let it soak in for a few minutes.
2. Apply a face primer - like MAC's Prep & Prime. Primer is a multitasker - it will help even out redness, blot out excess oil, and smooth out the skin so your foundation goes on more smoothly. It also helps your makeup last all day!
3. Apply a small amount of foundation. Either dot it on your face with your fingers or use a foundation brush - but be careful; a little goes a long way - too much and you're face will get cakey. Using a stippling brush, stipple the foundation on being sure to blend well into your jawline, neck and hairline. 
4. Set your powder with a setting powder. 
5. Using a small blush/contour brush, contour cheeks with a powder that is 1-2 shades darker than your skin tone
6. Using a small blush brush, apply a pinky blush - start with less then add more if you would like -
7. Using a fan brush, apply a highlighter (I use Dazzlelight Eyeshadow) to the top of your cheek bones and done the center of your nose.

Eyes:

1. First things first, use an eye primer to ensure your shadow will last all day and not crease. My personal favorite at the moment is TooFaced Shadow Insurance. MAC has a good one called Prep & Prime Eye, Sephora carries a cheaper one as well. 
2. Next, using Large Shader Brush, sweep Dazzlelight (a shimmery vanilla color) across your entire eyelid and up to your browbone. This will create a base for the rest of the shadows if you didn't use an eye primer. If you did use a primer, you only need to sweep Dazzlelight eyeshadow along your browbone.
3. Using a small shader brush (you can use the large shader brush, I just like to use a smaller one for this step because my eyes are small.) sweep All That Glitters (a shimmery, honey color) from the tear duct to about 2/3 of the way across your eyelid. 
4. Then using a medium shader brush, you're going to take MAC's Smut (a dark, smokey, plum-y color) lightly define the outer V. Smut is dark, so use a little and build up to the darkness you would like. 
5. Using a blending brush blend out and up the dark color
6. Using the same blending brush, pick up a little bit of Twinks and sweep it from the outer corner of your eye to a little bit over where All The Glitter ends and blend. 
7. Using the same blending brush, use Shale and sweep just above the crease and below the browbone. This will add a little bit of coolness and will also get rid of any harsh lines from the darker color.
8. Using a bent liner brush and MAC's fluid line in blacktrack, line the top lash line and wing out and line the lower water line. 
9. Curl your lashes and apply a coat of black mascara.
10. Apply false lashes. I used Duo's black lash glue and Ardell's Demi lashes, but you can use whatever you would like or none. 
11. Curl real and false lashes together.
12. Seal lashes down with a thin line of MAC's fluid line; set liner upper lashline and lower water line with black eyeshadow (Carbon).
13. Eyebrows: Using an angled brow brush, fill in your eyebrows with a powder. I use a warm light brown to fill mine in due to the fact that I currently have reddish hair; but a general rule of thumb: if you have light hair, use a color 2 shades darker, if you have dark hair use a color that is 2 shades lighter. 

Lips:

1. Line with a flesh tones lipliner
2. Apply a medium pink lipstick
3. Finish with a clear or pink lipgloss

Finish off the look with a few spritz of finishing spray - my personal favorites are MAC's Fix+ Setting Spray and Urban Decay's Up All Nighter.

List of ALL Products used:
Brushes/Tools:
Foundation Brush (MAC 190 OR Sephora Professional Platinum Foundation Brush #47)
Stippling Brush (MAC 187 OR Sephora Pro #44)
Large Powder Brush (MAC 134)
Small Blush Brush (Sephora Pro Blush Brush #49)
Small Contour Brush (MAC 168)
Fan Brush (Sephora Pro Fan brush #43)
Large Shader Brush (MAC 252)
Small Shader Brush (MAC 242)
Blending Brush  (MAC 224 OR Sephora Pro #10)
Bent Liner Brush (Sonia Kashuk)
Angled Liner Brush (Sephora Pro #22)
Lash Curler (Sephora)

Products:
CVS Moisturizer
MAC's Prep & Prime Face
Face Atelier Foundation in Porcelein
MAC's Mineralize Skin Finish Powder in Light
La Femme Blush/Bronzer Pallette - 3rd lightest bronzer, 1st and 3rd lightest blush
MAC Eyeshadow Dazzlelight
MAC Eyeshadow All That Glitters
MAC Eyeshadow Smut
MAC Eyeshadow Shale
MAC Eyeshadow Carbon
Benefit BadGal Lash Mascara
Duo Lash Adhesive in Black
Ardell Demi Lashes
Flesh colored lipliner (I can't read what brand or the exact color...it wore off)
NYC Lilac Dream Lipstick
Paula Dorf Light Pink Lipgloss
Urban Decay's Up All Nighter Setting Spray

Enjoy! Feel free to send me photos of your finished look & keep sending questions and tutorial requests to: MakeupbySaraC@gmail.com !

Lipstick & Loves,
Sara

*Photos by Dave Kelley @ Studio Seventy3
**Disclaimer: I was not asked by any of the companies/products mentioned above - these just happen to be the products I like to work with at the moment.

Tutorials!?!

Hey lovelies!
I know you have been submitting questions asking for tutorials and I tried SO hard this morning to get one done, but my camera kept saying it was recording when it wasn't. So, I will post a tutorial either this evening or tomorrow with a photo of the look and a step-by-step instructions. Hopefully, I will find the other video camera soon and be able to record a video for you, but until then - keep your questions and tutorial suggestions coming!
E-mail them to: MakeupbySaraC@gmail.com

I look forward to reading about what you want to see!!

Lipstick & Loves,
Sara