Walter Mercado is My Spiritual Advisor

Posted on October 29, 2014 by itsapplesandorangesblog

For those of you who may not know who Walter Mercado is, shame on you! All jokes aside this tv personality has been a cultural fixation of the Hispanic community for so many years. He is an astrologer/persona who predicted and read horoscopes from the 70’s up until 2010. His mysterious aura was heightened with his choice of flamboyant wardrobe which included jewel encrusted capes and gowns. Call him the “Liberace of astrology” if you will, he has had the attention of latino households who appreciate him for his comedic relief he offers or take his word as up most truth.

I managed to snag this awesome Raglan sweater perfect for the start of fall from none other then the young artist Tony Peralta of the Peralta Project. Founded in 2005, Native New Yorker Tony Peralta has mixed his artwork and designs to include street wear for the masses. His gear is a mix of latino culture with hip hop and New York City’s vibes all in one.

“Those who connect with The Peralta Project are bold, opinionated, intelligent, fearless, humorous, defiant trend setters who run the world at their own pace, trusting their vision every step of the way.” –The Peralta Project

I paired the top with my linen leopard Cynthia Rowley shorts purchased at Tjmaxx for contrast in texture and color. My old season Forever 21 moccasins in olive tone and my neutral Kate Spade quilted purse completed the outfit. Links to items below!

“Walter Mercado” Raglan

ASOS Culotte Shorts in Leopard Print – Mutli • Asos • $18.95
Gianni Bini Tammy Leopard-Print Shorts • Gianni Bini • $41.40
Kat Leopard Print Flippy Shorts • Boohoo • $14.00
Generation Love June Leopard Shorts • Generation Love • $69.00

Les deseo mucha paz pero sobre todo mucho…mucho..AMOR!

-Ari

Makeup Looks

Posted on October 26, 2014 by itsapplesandorangesblog

Happy Sunday Everyone! It’s been a while since I have done a makeup post so I decided to photograph the looks I did on mis mejor amigas before a casual night out. I am also working on my application skills and what a better way to do it right? Lets take a look at these beauties…

L-R Cinthia, Lucy & Emily

First one up is Cinthia: She has really great skin and normally doesn’t wear any foundation. She asked for the “jlo glow”. Here’s a closer look at what I came up with:

Face: Hourglass veil primer, Covergirl Outlast 3 in 1 foundation shade #857 (golden tan) mixed with Gerard Cosmetics BB plus illumination. MAC prep and prime in bright forecast (undereye brightening), Anastasia Contour kit Shade Fawn and Havanna. BH cosmetics blush palette (peach shade) Mary-Lou- Manizer for highlight.
Brows: Anastasia brow wiz in Dark Brown
Eyes: MAC paint pot in layin low, shadows: Amber lights (Entire lid), Texture (crease) and naked lunch (brow highlight). Revlon matte shadow in Rich Sable (outer corner).NYX jumbo eye pencil in white (base), E.L.F false lashes and Sephora Rio nights gel liner
Lips: Limecrime lipstick in Cosmopop and Gerard Cosmetics gloss in the shade nude.

Next up is Lucy: She and I can talk makeup for hours upon hours! She too has great skin and loves defined brows. Here’s what I created on her:

Products used:

Face: Becca Ever matte primer, Tarte Amazonian clay in the shade tan-deep sand mixed with Bare Minerals Bareskin Foundation in the shade Bare Caramel. Mac pro long-wear concealer in the shade W35 & W30 Anastasia contour kit in the shade Havana, MAC prep and prime in the shade Bright Forecast. BH Cosmetics blush palette (berry shades to the top right) Mary- Lou- Manizer for highlight.
Eyes: MAC paint pot in layin low. NYX jumbo pencil in white. Buff (brow highlight) Rose (lid)from Lorac Pro Palette 2, Revlon Matte shadow in Rich sable (crease) and Makeup geek’s Bitten (outer corner). Loreal voluminous mascara, E.L.F Lashes and Sephora Rio nights gel eyeliner.
Brows: Anastasia brow wiz (dark Brown) and dipbrow pomade (medium brown)
Lips: Rimmel Lip Liner in Cherry kiss, Too Faced Melted lipsticks in the shade Berry.

Last but certainly not least Emily: Doesn’t she have great lashes? (no falsies used). Emily loves bold lips which is why I wanted to give her a softer eye look, Here’s what I came up with:

Products used:

Face: Hourglass veil primer, Neutrogena nourishing long wear foundation in the shade warm beige, MAC prep and prime in Bright forecast, Anastasia contour kit in the shade Fawn, MAC blush in peaches, The Balm Mary-Lou-Manizer for highlight.
Brows: Anastasia brow wiz in the shade chocolate
Eyes: MAC paint pot in “layin low” Naked 3 palette in the shades Dust (lid), Nooner (crease), Mugshot (outer corner) and Strange (brow highlight), Sephora Rio nights gel liner, Mascara Loreal Voluminous
Lips: Rimmel in Cherry kiss and MAC Fashion Revival lipstick

There you have it guys. Hopefully these looks can be of inspiration to you.
If anyone has any makeup looks you would want to me try please let me know down below.

Thanks to these silly girls for letting me experiment with them

Hasta Pronto!
-Gwen

“Fall” into the 90’s – Tommy Hilfiger

Posted on October 23, 2014 by itsapplesandorangesblog

This last installment of my “Fall” into the 90’s mini-series (check out the previous two here and here) is inspired by the Tommy Hilfiger takeover of the late 90’s urban community. Although hip-hop and the iconic brand have had their ups and downs, the selling power of that magical time cannot be denied. Every “cool” celebrity rocked Tommy Hilfiger and his business expanded as more and more adopted the trend. I absolutely love and adore specifically how the late Aaliyah would wear her Hilfiger gear and it is where I drew my inspiration from for this outfit. She looked tomboy-ish and comfortable but still effortless sexy and urban. I found both the Tommy Hilfiger boyfriend jeans and undies (boy’s size) at my local tjmaxx both on clearance! I spent less than $20 and I couldn’t be happier. In order to give it the “fall” element I wore my sturdy wheat timberlands as well as threw on a sweater crop top that happened to coordinate with my color scheme. Most of the pieces for my mini fall series came from my own closet and were items I could mix and match to get the 90’s aesthetic. Check out similar items below!

Crop Top
Tommy Hilfiger Jeans
Timberland’s
Tommy Hilfiger Underwear- Here & Here

-Love

Ari

First Look: New Maybelline Products

Posted on October 17, 2014 by itsapplesandorangesblog

Many makeup brands launch new items at the start of a new season and boy am I glad they do! I was of course doing my weekly browsing at my local CVS and came across a few new items from Maybelline, they are the Color Sensational Creamy Matte lipsticks, the Instant Age Rewind skin transformer and lastly the Brow Drama brow sculpting mascara.

Lets take a minute and talk about the fact that there is finally an affordable matte lipstick! (very few brands carry a matte line in the drugstore). That news alone is super exciting, but here are some other reasons why these lipsticks are great: texture is creamy and smooth, they set to a demi-matte (not drying like some of MAC’s lipsticks), they are pigmented and can last on the lips for about 4-5 hours (there will be some transfer if you’re eating, but you can easily apply another layer on top without it looking cakey). Here’s a closer look at the four shades I picked up.

Left-Right:
#660 Touch of Spice, #680 Mesmerizing Magenta, #690 Siren in Scarlet, #695 Divine Wine

Lip Swatches:

Touch of Spice: Brown nude

Mesmerizing Magenta: True magenta shade with a hint of a violet undertone

Siren in Scarlet: Cooler tone red

Divine wine: Dark Burgundy

On to the Primer and Brow mascara:

I’ve used this primer a few times and I can say that it has reduced the look of my pores. (Maybelline also claims that it will reduce the look of wrinkles, lines and imperfections but I did not notice much of that). The primer has a velvety consistency as well as a subtle pink tint in order to give skin a little radiance.

The Brow Mascara is meant for sculpting and adding a tint to your brows. In all honestly I only saw a slight difference in color on my brows and I am not a fan of the rounded tip for sculpting (My eyebrows are a bit thin and the “ball tip” wasn’t as precise as I would have liked.

Overall I am pretty happy with my new finds.
I am not sure if all of these items can be found in most drugstores but I do know Ulta carries each of them.

Maybelline at Ulta

Hasta Luego,
-Gwen

Breakups to Makeup/Smashbox

Posted on October 13, 2014 by itsapplesandorangesblog

This past weekend I attended an event hosted by Sephora at the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City. Smashbox cosmetics was there doing makeovers and demonstrating new products. I of course jumped on the opportunity to get my makeup done by one of their artists. I learned some new tricks on how to create a cat eyeliner (God knows I needed the help).
The creator of “Breakups to Makeup“, Angelique Velez was also there. Angelique launched Breakups to Makeup in June of 2013 with the intent to spread this message: “makeup serves as a creative outlet to those applying and livens the spirit of those wearing it” I couldn’t agree more!. Angelique has quickly made a name for herself with a bunch of fun merchandise. She is well-known for her catchy slogans such as “loved raised me lipstick saved me”, “I would cry but my mascara is designer” and so many more! Angelique was gracious enough to let me ask her a few questions about her brand:

Gwen: What inspired you to come up with “Breakups to makeup”?
Angelique: A few years back I went through a terrible breakup, but the only thing that enabled me to get out of bed was makeup. I have been a makeup artist for many years and I found comfort in knowing that I was getting out of bed to not only make myself happy by putting on my favorite lipstick but also because what I did made others happy as well.
Gwen:How do you come up with your slogans?
Angelique: My slogans come to me through day to day life experiences, for example one day I was getting my nails done at the salon and I thought wow I am totally useless right now (my nails were of course wet) which was when I came up with the “I’m only helpless when my nails are drying” slogan. I also like to carry a journal with me to jot down whatever pops into my head.
Gwen: What advice would you give to someone who is an up and coming artist/entrepreneur?
Angelique: I would say to listen to your heart and keep going. Not everyone is going to understand your path but its ok don’t listen to them, you’ll find your way.