FAQ: How I Do My Eyebrows & What Products I Use For Them

Hi guys! =] It's another pictureless post, but an informative one, so that should somewhat compensate. XP

The reason I decided to do this post was because I get these specific questions asked quite frequently, so I figured making a post about it would be more convenient for me & future readers/viewers, should they want to know the same thing. =]

So the questions that I get asked frequently are...

1.) How do you shape/do your eyebrows?

I pluck my eye brows & then trim the droopy hairs. =] I don't have a special technique when it comes to shaping them or anything like that. I just follow the natural arch of my brows... which I guess happen to be pretty arched. Ha! =P I do this all free hand too, I don't stencil in my brows & then pluck outside of the line or anything like that. BUT, this was all learned by YEARS of f@#%ing up my eyebrows. LOL. There were periods of times I had no eyebrows... or different shape eyebrows... or no eyebrow ends. LOL. Trust me... it was all through trial & error. LOL. If you're interested in a detailed picture tut of how I do my brows you can find it here: Eyebrow Tut


2.) What pencil and/or products do you use on your eyebrows?

I don't use pencil, I use eyebrow powder. =] To be more specific I use Ardell's Brow Defining Powder in "Soft Black" & that's it. =] BUT, in a pinch when I can't manage to find my brow powder I'll just use a black matte eyeshadow with a VERY light hand. Works the same way, just gotta change up the technique a bit. I don't use a brow gel or anything like that. Gel is unnecessary for me since I trim my droopy eyebrow hairs... I don't usually have hairs that need to be held in place. :P I also prefer powder to pencil because I just personally prefer it. =] Some people prefer pencil because they say it's easier for them, I prefer powder because it's easier for me. I also prefer powder over pencil because it's easier for me to make powder look more natural than pencil, but like I say... that's just personally. Oh YEAH, and pencil melts on me... & let's face it... melting eyebrows are not sexy. Haha.

3.) What tools do you recommend for brows?

EVERY girl should have a pair of Tweezerman tweezers! They're known as the best & believe it or not, all the hype is true. =] Tweezerman tweezers work for people with tiny/thin eyebrow hairs that most tweezers won't grab (i.e. me) or people who have thicker strands who end up grabbing too much (the precision of these tweezers are impeccable). A clean spoolie because whether you use pencil or powder that tool will def help soften either up. A q-tip to fix boo boos. Eyebrow Scissors (they sell these at Target & many beauty specific stores as well) because trimmed eyebrows have such a CLEAN & tamed look to them. Maybe it's just me, but I HATE droopy eyebrow hairs... it REALLY bothers me. LOL. I don't think you need to spend obscene amounts of money to get decent brows... the ONLY thing I recommend you splurge on if anything is your tweezers... but that's it. You can get pretty much get all of the other stuff for inexpensive prices... but I do recommend getting some Tweezerman Tweezers... that's the only eyebrow splurge I'd condone. LOL. XP

4.) How do you fill in your eyebrows?


I apologize. I always screw up in tutorials. LOL. =X. I definitely went back over and fixed it right after I finished the vid. This was just a sort of rushed not so perfect tutorial of how I do my brows. I DO, do them this way, I'm just usually more focused and usually more of a perfectionist. LOL. =]

And that's that. If you think I missed a question please feel free to ask about it on here so that I can add it to this post as a reference! Oh, & this is an eyebrow specific post so if you have a specific eyebrow question, let me know! =D I hope this helps some of you!

My MAC StudioFix Foundation Match Is...

NC30. LOL. Ya'll already knew that but I finally got to actually WEAR the MAC foundation this week. LOL.

When Jackie & I hung out a while ago, she scooped me up a sample of MAC's StudioFix Foundation in NC30. I've been using it this week & I loved it! It covered well and was a MUCH better match than my Revlon Colorstay Foundation since it has MUCH MORE of a yellow undertone to it.

The one thing I noticed about my Revlon Colorstay Foundation was that it stayed on MUCH longer than MAC's Studiofix AND it controlled my oilies much better. This is an observation involving using NO PRIMERS with both foundations. =P

They BOTH cause a white cast in pictures with flash BUT the MAC one is less noticeable than the Revlon one... I think this has ALOT to do with the undertones matching MUCH better. All three of these pictures were taken with flash, so if you want to see how the MAC StudioFix Fluid looks on me in natural lighting WITHOUT flash check out my Maybelline Lash Stilleto Giveaway video, because I was wearing the MAC foundation in that vid. =]

Now... there's ONE reason I WON'T be buying MAC's StudioFix Foundation even though I did like it alot... it BROKE ME OUT. My Revlon one doesn't break me out at all... unfortunately the MAC one did. =( Sigh. After two days of using the foundation... I had TWO BIG pimples on my cheek & and on my chin. =/ So even though I liked it alot... looks like I'll have to skip it. Too bad... I really wish that it DIDN'T break me out.

Lame... Anywho here are some pics of me wearing the MAC foundie in NC30!

Sidenote: Here is a list of the items that I used in these pictures, more specifically the very first picture:
FACE:
MAC StudioFix Fluid Foundation in "NC30"
MAC StudioFinish Concealer in "NC30" (concealer for blemishes)
MAC StudioFinish Concealer in "NW25" (concealer for under eyes)

CHEEKS:
MAC Hello Kitty Beauty Powder in "Fun & Games"
Ben Nye Powder Rouge in "Contour No. 1" (contour for entire face)

EYES:
MAC Paint Pot in "Painterly" (base)
TKB Trading Pressed Pigment in "Oriental Beige" (on inner 2/3 of upper lid)
TKB Trading Pressed Pigment in "Swiss Chocolate" (in crease, outer v, and above crease)
NYX Single Eyeshadow in "Black" (in outer 1/3 of upper lid, below the crease line)
Milani Wet/Dry Shadow in "Coffee Brown" (in the crease and on outer 2/3 of bottom lash line)
Golden Beige color from Jesse's Girl Bejeweled Palette #2 (on inner v/tear duct)

LIPS:
NYX Round Lipstick in "Circe"
NYX Lip Pencil in "Natural"
NYX Lipgloss in "Natural"

Whatta shame. But I was honestly surprised that the Revlon had better lasting power and oil control! To be honest, my PERFECT liquid foundation would have MAC's coloring, Revlon's oil control, Revlon's lasting power, and a mixture of MAC and Revlon's textures. In terms of texture, Revlon's gives better coverage (IMHO) while MAC's blends out a bit nicer so if you took those two properties and put them together it would be THEE best.

Revlon, damn you... go to a MAC counter and take a look at their NC colors... THAT's what your golden and/or warm shades should look like! If you fix that... I will be a LOYAL FAN and always buy your liquid foundation... NO JOKE.

The ONLY flaw that Revlon's liquid foundation has is the horrible shade selection it has for warm and/or golden undertones. Their warm and golden selections are NOT golden or warm. They're REALLY pink. Please Revlon... make some TRUE golden and warm undertoned liquid foundations... PLEASE!

BTW... the sampling/testing of this foundation and these pictures were taken a couple weeks ago. I think I've gotten a slight tan due to the sunny weather that's been gracing us lately. LOL. If MAC had an NC32... that's what I'd be right now.

FOTN: Sprite!

So I did an FOTN using only coastal scents hot pots as the eyeshadows. =] Some people wanted to see if they were pigmented and I just felt like playing with make-up. I used some of my FAVORITE colors from the the ones I bought. =] So here it is. Oh yeah, it's titled sprite because after I finished the look that's what it reminded me of. LOL. It unintentionally ended up looking very "sprite-ish". LOL. =] Anywho, enjoy!

What I Used
Face:
Beautiful Girl Cosmetics Mineral Foundation in "Medium Warm" (applied wet)
MAC Studiofinish Concealer in "NW25" (concealer for under eye bags and circles)

Cheeks:
Coastal Scent Hot Pot in "B03" (this is an AWESOME blush color btw. i like this alot!)

Eyes:
UDPP
NYX Concealer in "Beige" (really light layer to help grab the colors better since it's a TINY bit stickier than UDPP)
Coastal Scent Hot Pot in "M19" (on inner third of upper lid and on the inner tear duct)
Coastal Scent Hot Pot in "M02" (on middle portion of upper lid)
Coastal Scent Hot Pot in "M17" (on outer portion of upper lid, in and above crease)
Coastal Scent Hot Pot in "M10" (highlight under brow bone)
Milani Color Brilliance Pencil in "Green" (on lower waterline and lash line)
Coastal Scent Hot Pot in "S25" (on top of the pencil liner on the bottom lash line)
Jane Be Pure Mineral Gel Liner in "Black" (on upper lash line)
Covergirl Lash Blast Waterproof in "Blackest Black" (on upper lashes)
Maybelline Lash Stilleto in "Very Black" (on bottom lashes)

Lips:
NYX Lips Lipstick in "Thalia"
NYX Long Pencil Lipliner in "Mauve"
NYX Megashine Lipgloss in "Beige"

So that's that. So far, so good with the Coastal Scents Hot Pots. I don't wanna jump the gun before the official review though so... yeah. =P Hehe. =] I do have to say though, "M17" and "M02" are very awesome colors. I can already tell they'll be in my top 5 favorite hot pots. ;) "B03" is also a VERY pretty blush color. =] I'm actually very satisified with how this color combo turned out. =]

I'm trying out Beautiful Girl Minerals' Foundation in "Medium Warm" and think this is my match in their line. =] I tried "Golden Medium" and that was WAYYY TOO yellow for me, personally. =P

The coverage is AWESOME when applied wet. I prefer full coverage so I like to apply their foundation wet. When applied dry I would rate the coverage from light to medium, but definitely not full.

Also, I cannot begin to explain how MUCH I LOVE my brush guards. I used them to dry all of my blending/crease brushes that I bought from Coastal Scents and they work SO MUCH better now. I used them for this look! =] They're not all splayed out and fluffy anymore... which is awesome because it gives me much more control. =] Yay! =P

So that is all dears. Must go to bed soon since I have work tomorrow morning. Yay... NOT! LOL. Whatevs... gotta pay bills somehow, right? =P

Swatches: Round #1 of Coastal Scents Hot Pot Swatches

This is the first post of a three part series. =] I will be doing swatches of all of my Hot Pots so that people have some sort of reference. These swatches are done against NC30 skin. =]

The first palette and these swatches contain some "B" and "S" colors. "B" means that the color is suppose to be used as a blush and "S" means that the finish of the eyeshadow is either satin or shimmer. =]

Here is the palette that these swatches work in conjunction with.

Here is a pic of all of the swatches side by side. =]

Swatches of the First Two Rows:
Taken without Flash


Taken with Flash


Swatches of the Last Row:
Taken without Flash


Taken with Flash

Seems some people are asking me to review the Hot Pots as well. I will definitely try to do that once I find some time and after using them more. =]

Anywho, I hope this helps whoever needs it. Hopefully I can get this swatch series done by the end of this week!

Label Maker, Coastal Scents Hot Pots, & the Highlight of My Weekend

So I pretty much can't sleep right now. LOL. I'm actually pretty pissed off because I found the label maker that I bought from Target for half the price at Walmart. I can't return the one I bought from Target either because I threw away the receipt and packaging. DOH! >=P Suxors.

Anyway, I can't sleep right now because I took a LONG nap earlier. Yeah, I totally screwed myself with that one. LOL. So here I am labeling some of my makeup. I vowed to make GOOD use of this label maker after feeling like I've been ripped off. LOLOL. =P

Here's the project I conquered tonight...

Labeling all of my Coastal Scents Hot Pot Palettes

I also labeled my partially finished self pressed mineral pigment palette but there's no new colors in that one, just transferred some of my fave colors from my old 15 pan palettes to the new 12 pan one. =]

Using these items...

my overpriced label maker and three 12 pan palettes.
I also used scissors and my mascara guard (don't ask. LOL.) but yeah, they're not pictured. LOL.

So I bought 36 hot pots and got three 12 pan palettes with them for free. =P I know, I went crazy with the hot pots. Overindulge much? LOL. =P I also bought the variety pack of the "Brush Guards", and they work AWESOMELY when you use them to dry brushes that fluff out after you wash them. (i.e. coastal scents blending and/or crease brushes, fiber optic brushes, etc.) I also want to buy more because the Brush Guards are suppose to help prevent your makeup brush bristles from getting all wonky when you travel with them, & I can see this actually working for that purpose as well. =] I've had that happen to me a few times and it's rather irritating. LOL.

So anyway, here are some swatches of my hot pot palettes. =] I will do ACTUAL swatches of these on my skin as soon as I get more time. =P

Please note that ALL images are clickable/enlargeable so that you can see which colors are which. The top row on the lid corresponds with the top row on the part of the palette holding the pans. (i.e. "B02" is the color in the uppermost left hand corner)

Shimmer Palette

Shimmer & Matte Palette


Matte Palette

So that's that. If you guys want label makers, get yours from Walmart... NOT Target. LOL. It's half the price at Walmart. =X Ridiculous. I can understand a couple bucks difference but literally it's HALF the price. Lame. So at Walmart it was like $10.00 while at Target it's $20.00. -_-

Moving on... the highlight of my weekend was my Saturday night. I had dinner with two awesome ladies. =] I tell you, I do NOT have enough awesome girls in my life. LOL. jk... but honestly, these two are down to earth and truly cool individuals. =] If you guys don't know (which you should if you've been reading my blog for a while now) these two smexies are Imee (Life As Icey It) & Jackie (Jrose Online). Imee is on the far left and Jackie is in the middle. =]

Here's my first OOTD (Outfit Of The Day), I wore this on Saturday. Sorry it's blurry, I have shakey hands. =(

Don't you know, only COOL girls take pictures on top of toilets. LOLOL. I SERIOUSLY need a full length mirror. o_0

OOTD's will be a rare thing on THIS blog because I hardly EVER dress up. LOL. Most of the time you'll catch me in jeans, flip flops, and a spaghetti strap or t-shirt. I don't have time to be trying to look cute all of the time... I got stuff to do and people to see. LOL. =P But should the occasion arise... I might post some here and there. LOL. =P

So that's that. Aren't you proud of me? I ACTUALLY posted a blog entry... LOL. Those have definitely been lacking as of late. =P

FAQ: Color Contacts

So I get this question asked quite frequently and it would just be more convenient for me if I had a post to refer people to in the future. LOL.

Q: What's the name of the brand and color of the contact lenses you're wearing in XXXX post?

A: This is easy because I only use one brand. LOL. The brand that I use is Freshlook 3-in-1 Colorblends. The colors I use vary depending on which specific color you're asking about (obviously. LOL.) I've included pictures of me wearing some of the different contact colors that I use so that it's clear what the name of each color is.

Freshlook 3-in-1 Colorblends in "Grey":

Freshlook 3-in-1 Colorblends in "Pure Hazel":

Freshlook 3-in-1 Colorblends in "True Sapphire":

I don't wear the blue contacts anymore because they're too bright for me. LOL. Now that I'm older I prefer a subtler approach. =] I could get away with wearing blues when my skin is fairer, but when I tan in summer the blue ones end up looking UTTERLY fake. The grey ones and pure hazel ones are definitely my faves and are complimentary to me year round. =] I noticed that Freshlook actually released 3 new colors and I'm interested in trying one. =P I'm interested in trying out their "Sterling Grey" color. I probably will... I'll let you guys know how that works out. LOL. It looks like a blue grey color, very pretty. But I'll have to try them on myself to know if I like them on MYSELF. LOL.

Q: Where can you buy these contact lenses?

A: You can usually buy these contacts and this specific brand anywhere that sells contacts lenses since this is a mainstream brand and they are NOT circle lenses, therefore, they're relatively easy to find. They're just regular colored contacts. =P If you prefer to order online just google, "Freshlook 3-in-1 Colorblends" and you'll be able to find various e-tailers that sell these contacts.

Anywho, there it is. =]

Jackie's Baby Shower

So I just got home from Jackie's (Jrose) Baby Shower. =] It was a cool little shindig, very chill. =D Def good company, so def good times. =D

I was able to meet Imee (LifeAsIceyIt), Nessa (NessasaryMakeup), and Anne (YummieBitez) for the first time at the baby shower! =] Very cool. =D They're all sweet girls and it was great finally meeting these girls in person. Imee is funny as hell... she makes me laugh. LOL. =] I didn't get a chance to talk to Anne & Nessa as much as I would've liked to but hopefully I get more of a chance at IMATS later in June. =D I also was able to meet Jackie & Imee's friend Carol. She was really mellow & cool too. =]

So without further ado, here are some pictures. =P

Here's the makeup I wore to the Baby Shower.
It's EXACTLY the same as the makeup I wore in my Giveaway Video... and yes, I'll probably do a tutorial on it since people have been asking. =] Don't worry, just give me time.

Me, Jackie, & Imee
I HATE how I look so damn pasty pale in this pic. o_0

Matt & Jackie opening the baby shower presents! =D

Me, Momma Jackie, & Baby Ethan. ;)

Anne, Nessa, Jackie, & I

Jon & Vanessa. LOL. =P

So that's that! =D It was fun. I'm sure Jackie will have MANY more pictures & much more to say in her post about it. After all, it was HER & ETHAN'S day. =] Well, I have work tomorrow... so goodnight. LOL. Lameeeee...

Maybelline Stilleto Lengthening Lash Mascara Giveaway!

Who doesn't like a giveaway!? =]

Details are in the video! =D


email address to email if you want to enter: misschristiana @ gmail dot com

Rules:
1.) Email me with your name & email address
2.) Giveaway is open ONLY to US Residents
3.) Deadline to email me is MAY 20th @ 11:59 PM Pacific Time
4.) You DO NOT have to be a subscriber to enter. It'd be NICE if you were... but it's not a requirement. I don't want people subscribing to me JUST to enter the giveaway (that's why it's not required); I want people to subscribe to me because they actually enjoy the content I put out. =]

How the Winners Will be Chosen:
Each contestant will be assigned a number according to the order I receive their entry. After the cut off date (May 20th @ 11:59 PM Pacific Time) I will use a random number generator to pick 9 numbers at random. The 9 numbers picked will be the 9 winners.

I decided to use this system for picking the winners because I didn't have any difficult requirements for people to enter, thus this method makes it fair game for everyone who enters and there are no biases with the winners that are chosen.

That's it! Have Fun!