How I Clean My Makeup and Brushes.

Hey guys! Sorry its been so long, I just started college, and a new job. Needless to say, I'm very busy. ha! So today I wanted to show you how I sanitize things in my makeup room, and how I clean my brushes!

Here are the things you will need;

From the left; clorox wipes, these are the Kroger brand I think, anything that kills germs and is a wipe. Alcohol, I've done a bit of research and I still haven't found what the difference in percentage means, some people say it doesnt kill germs if its under 70% and some say all alcohol kills germs, use whatever you think will work. All the way to the right I have my makeup brush shampoo, I bought this on clearance at walmart, it works fine, I've used Dawn dish washing liquid, and Johnson&Johnson's baby shampoo, neither seem to do any better than the next, this is just what I had on hand.

These are optional, if you have filthy makeup brushes like I do ;)

Baby oil, again, the walmart brand. Can you tell I don't care about name brands? haha. Cottonballs and some paper towels. Other things I use are wash cloths, a big towel and a bowl.

This is pre-wash, ew, dirty brushes. So before I do anything I rinse them all, get them all wet(make sure not to get water in the ferrel(the silver/metal part) I've had brushes fall apart, and ya know, why waste your money?) then I take my bowl, put some baby oil in it(just enough to cover the bottom) and start swirling, just dampen them with the oil, then brush the excess out and lay them on your big towel. The baby oil will break up the makeup stuck in the hair, and help the cleaning process go more smoothly and quickly ;)

Once they've all been baby oiled empty your bowl and put about a quarter sized amount of shampoo in the bottom, run some warm water(about the temperature you wash your hands in) and fill the bowl about a half of an inch up. Dip your brushes in and swirl swirl swirl! The water is going to get filthy, so I like to do all my foundation and face brushes first.

It kinda looks like coffee, dont drink it ;) anyhow I do a 'first round' as I like to call it, where I wash them all a little bit and then dump the water. Then I make a fresh batch and start again. Make sure you feel your brushes and see if they have any left over soap, or makeup, they should literally feel squeeky clean. Run them under the warm/hot water and spread the bristles, they should be the same color they were when you bought the brush.

taa daa! Sparkly. So now you lay them flat, I like to fluff the bristles back to their original positon and let them dry over night. Right after this I take a cotton ball and some alcohol and wipe down the handles. In the morning when I wake up, I take the smallest amount of leave in conditioner and rub it together in my hands, and go over all my brushes, it helps keep them soft. :)

The way I sanitize my makeup is just like you would clean anything else. I keep those clorox wipes in my makeup room and wipe down the counters every day, I make sure to wash my hands before and after applying makeup, and I spot clean my brushes after every use. I'de say once a month I go through all of the drawers, and wipe them down along with all the products inside, it just minimizes dirt, bacteria and overall messiness. I soak my pencil sharpeners in alcohol and sharpen every pencil I own before I use it. It keeps them fresh, clean, and sharp! If you are using makeup only on yourself, when you're not sick, and not sharing or using it on clients; what I do might be a bit excessive, I'm a weirdo like that. Do what you think is necessary. My mom NEVER cleans her brushes, and she is just fine. I don't think its even a necessity. It just keeps them looking nice and minimizes the chance of infections and pimples.

Thanks for reading! xoxo,

DIY Cream Blush

Hey guys, today I thought I would share with you one of my go-to beauty recipes. This would work with eyeshadow, bronzer, you name it! But today I'm going to be making blush.

All you'll need is a facial primer, I'm using Mirabella Prime for face and eyes. You'll need a moisturizer, I use eye cream, it is more emollient and creamy, my favorite is Avalon Organics Vitamin C eye cream. You'll need your favorite powder blush, and a contact case, or small jar.

I mix the cream blush in the container I'll be storing it in, to reduce clean up. So basically it is a 1:1 ratio of primer and moisturizer, then add as much blush as you want, the less you add, the sheerer it will be, stir it up and make sure the container you keep it in is air tight. I find that my blushes last about 6 months. Unless I use it up before that. 

There you go! Super simple, and now you don't have to mix and match, pair the cream blush with the powder blush in the same shade and it will last all night! I hope you enjoyed! xoxo

Nail Polish Collection

Hey guys! Today I wanted to show you my nail polish collection, how I store them and how I organize them.

So this is the rack, I built it myself. It is hanging above a bookshelf/cabinet right next to my bathroom. Like I said, I built it. One day after work I decided I wanted a nailpolish rack, so I went to Lowe's and had the wood cutter guy cut me some wood, I believe the dimensions are 36 inches by 24 inches, so you have 6 panels of 4" x 24" and two panels of 4" x 36" and a big back panel of 24" x 36". I used hot glue to put them together. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube on how to make your own. These are just my dimensions. I used some pink spray paint I had laying around, so the whole thing cost me about $7, and took about 45 minutes.  

As you can see, I have quite a bit of nail polish. My family buys me new ones whenever they are on sale, and they are always stocking stuffers. On the top shelf from the left; I have my nail tips, clear, frosted and white, then some foot cream, base and top coats, then my nail art pens, and some more nail growth serums and a large top coat. On the second shelf, I color code starting with white China Glaze, Orly, then nude; Essie, Sally Hansen. On the far right of the second row I have pinks from lightest to darkest. On the third shelf, from the right, I have a dark pink glitter from Nicole by O.P.I, then into some purples; Essie, Revlon, Covergirl Magnetics. Continuing to the left into blues; Wet n' Wild, Savvy, ect.

Starting on the left hand side of the fourth shelf down, we have a Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure, and then it turns into greens; Sinful Colors, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. Yellow; Sephora by O.P.I in the color Taxi Cab. Orange; Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in the color Snappy Sorbet, Milani, ect. On the far right we have reds; ICE(the walmart brand of nail polish), Nailtini Nail Laquer in Bloody Mary(this one came in the my glam bag for January) and drop down to the 5th row on the right, another Nicole by O.P.I glitter polish, then my blood red color, into blacks, greys, metalics, gold, silver, glitter, and then glitter top coats. On the very last shelf I keep my nail polish remover pads, my acrylic powder, some more top coats, some Sally Girl mini polishes, and my Gelish gel polishes. Most of my tools(nail clippers, cuticle nippers, files, ect) are in a jar sitting on top of the bookshelf. 

I love my nail polish rack, I was very proud of myself for building it, and it is very practical. I didn't really have a space for my polishes before, I was just shoving some into a drawer that was hard to get to and didn't display my favorite colors. This is like a wall decoration, and I can easily pick out the color I want for the day. I don't have much room to expand my collection though, I might have to rebuild or just add a few more shelves. Some things I do have to keep in a drawer, Like my jumbo bottle of acrylic liquid and my LED gel polish curer.

I found this to be more customizable and less...tacky(?) and also cheaper than the acrylic polish displays you can find on ebay or amazon.

How do you keep your polishes? Do you friends think your mental because you have so many? Mine do. :)

Maybelline Color Tattoo swatches/review

Hey guys! I was looking through my collection, and I saw I had a lot of the Color Tattoos from Maybelline. They are great and affordable cream eyeshadows from the drugstore. So I thought I would show you the ones I have and tell you a bit about them.

I have seven; Too Cool, Bold Gold, Tough as Taupe, Inked in Pink, Barely Branded, Tenacious Teal, and Bad to the Bronze.

They retail at about $6 a piece, they come in little pots, similar to MAC paint pots. They are glass and are bottom heavy. The top is plastic and doesn't seem as well made and sturdy as the bottom, though  I have never had a jar break on me. You get a decent amount of product for the price, and they last a long time if you keep the jar closed. I'm on my second pot of Bad to the Bronze, because I left the cap off. Although now I know you can put a bit of saline solution into dried out products to make them good as new. It speaks volumes about a product when I have to rush out and repurchase something when it dries out. 

I use Bad to the Bronze (second from the left on the bottom row.) on a daily basis. It is the perfect neutral, it has warm goldeny undertones and is, just as it says, bronze. Sorry about the picture, they are so shimmery and the light reflects off of them so much that it was hard to get the true color. This picture is un-touched. From the top left we have Too Cool, which is a basic white, very cool undertones, I don't use this much unless I'm going out at night, and I'm doing a smokey eye. It is too frosty for me. Then the second from the left on the top row is Tough as Taupe. It doesn't seem taupe to me, more grey, it is a very matte shadow, and again, I only use this when I am doing a dramatic smokey eye. Next is Tenacious Teal, I almost bought this as a joke, it...seems so unwearable, but as a pop of color in your inner corner, it really brings out the green in my brown eyes, if that makes sense. Then on the bottom row from the left is, Bold Gold, and this must have been the dud in my collection, it doesn't seem to have much pigment to it, unless you build it up, more glitter than anything, although for a really simple look I sweep it all over my lid and call it done. Then we have Bad to the Bronze, and then Barely Branded, which is a champagne color, very flesh toned with warm undertones, it is metallic and is part of the metal line within the color tattoo line. I love it and it has become another one of my go-to's. Last, on the very right of the bottom row is Inked in Pink, I don't usually wear pink eyeshadow, but I felt this was wearable, it is a muted pink and it's metallic, I actually love it, and wear it more than I thought I would.

BOTTOM LINE: if you want to skip all the reading, they are lovely, all of them, they last FOREVER, I mean you are going to need olive oil to get these things off, they are simple, and now come in very wearable shades, and I think everyone should own Bad to the Bronze and Barely Branded, you will get your $6 worth out of those two at least. They are a staple in my collection, and as you saw, I wouldn't be without them.

ANOTHER walmart haul.

If it seems like I go to walmart a lot, it's because I do! :] This haul is itsy bitsy though, I promise.

I was so excited that I found this! I had been looking all over, CVS, walgreens, Target, and I finally found it, at a walmart across town! I saw leighannsays do a first impression/review on it, and I knew I had to have it. I love everything Revlon, I love simple "slap-it-on" products, I love double duty products(like sunscreen, moisturizer and coverage, hello! bb cream!) I got it in the color light/pale. I only saw two shades, light and light/medium. bummer, but still.

THENNNN, also super excited about this! I found my Barely Branded color tattoo! I thought it would be in a special display, nope, right in with the regular colors, I guess they are making this part of the perminant collection, which I love, much more wearable than, say, Feirce and Tangy(its bright orange...like traffic cone orange!) so I picked up the Barely Branded and Inked in Pink.

I haven't tried anything on, but boy am I excited to!

Clinique 3-step System; Step 3

Hey guys! Today I just wanted to share with you my toner of the moment. I haven't always used a toner, but this past year I have made it a point. Reason(s) being, Toners unclog pores, even more than your cleanser, making it appear as though you have smaller pores. Toners re-balance your skins pH, cleansing your skin upsets your natural acidity, a toner helps your skin re-balance, leaving more time for your skin to work hard on important stuff, like soaking in that new retinol cream :]

This is the toner I use, My mother bought me the full 3-step system a few years ago. I ran through the moisturizer like it was water, I have a bit of the cleanser left, and as you can see, plenty of toner. This bottle is huge, 13.5 oz! To tell you the truth, I'm trying to get rid of it. I use it morning and night on a cotton pad. One swipe over my face and neck, then I let it dry, then one more swipe. I also keep a bit in a spray bottle in my purse for when I am feeling hot or oily. This toner has a lot of alcohol, so it helps to break down sweat and oil throughout the day. It has a strong scent of alcohol, which I don't like, and that is the reason I want to hurry up and use it. I don't see it doing amazing things for my skin, but Clinique is a good brand and I wouldn't want to waste it! I plan on switching to plain ol' witch hazel when I finish this up.

Do you use a toner? Which one? Do you see significant skin benefits?

January 2013 ipsy (myglam) bag.

It came today! I was so excited, as always.

So this is what came in my pink bubble wrap, which is a nice touch, ipsy, I can appreciate that ;)

The first item wouldn't even fit in the bag, so I knew immediately I got a concealer brush!

Very cool, I don't use concealer brushes, I usually just blend with my finger, but this will be neat to try out and see. I've also never used this brand, although I believe it is sold at Walmart. This retails at about $6.

Unfortunately I looked on the ipsy website and saw what I was getting before I got it, boo, no surprise. :( I knew I was getting the hairspray and the body butter, although with the packaging I thought the Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter would smell deeper, more woodsy. It smells exactly like an orange. Not sweet, more tangy. I like it. I also thought that it would be thicker, but it applies like a regular lotion. Maybe even a bit thinner than say..Aveeno, or Bath and Body Works. 

The bag is cute on the inside, as always. I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

Like I said, I knew I was getting this, not crazy thrilled. But it is always nice to have a travel size hairspray. Especially if it is good.

I knew I was getting a nail polish. I had hoped that it wouldn't be red.

But you can never have enough nailpolish, or classic reds!

The packaging was cute and clever.

I got the color Bloody Mary #108

I also was super excited about this, Josie Maran 100% organic argan oil. Very nice, and high end. Way to go ipsy! Im excited to use this, and will be giving a full review and before and after shots...first I gotta figure out how I wanna use it!