Neutral Zone 

With Spring time being just around the corner I decided to create a soft nude look on the eyes and lips. The warmer it gets the less I want to wear a full face. It’s something about light colors that suit everyone’s skin tone, especially when the suns out. Below you’ll see my creation as well as the products I’ve used.

     

Products used:

Ex1 foundation (shade 300)

Dr. Brandt Pores no more Primer

L’Oreal Brow Stylist Definer (brunette)

L.A Girl Orange Corrector (for under eye area)

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer (NW35 for dark spots)

Maybelline Fit Me concealer (shade 25 Medium)

MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Bronzer (Dark Tan)

Charlotte Tilbury Blusher (shade Ecstacy)

Becca & Jaclyn Hill Highlighter (champagne pop)

Stila Eyes of the window eyeshadow palette (mind)

Rimmel Super Curler Mascara

Clinique Skinny Stick eyeliner

L’Oreal Super Slim felt eyeliner

NYX lip liner (shade ever)

Nars Audacious lipstick (shade Brigitte)

Gerard Cosmetics Gloss (nude)

Hope you all enjoyed this almost spring look. Till next time.

xx, Gwen

Holiday Shine

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The Holidays are upon us and what better way to celebrate than to look the part with lots of glitz and glam. I posted the photo above on Instagram and decided to show you all what products I used. I am in love with the rusty copper shade I used all over the lid! Colors like this are a great way to add a bit of shine without it being too overpowering or for those who are not into chunks of glitter on your eyelid (for those that are I will have a post up for you soon). I hope to soon be able to incorporate mini video clips on other makeup looks I create. Well then, lets get started!

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Base: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Primer great for creating a smooth canvas and filing in pores before applying foundation.
Color Corrector: Bobbi Brown in the shade Peach (I put this under my foundation to counter-act the darkness under my eyes and around my mouth)
Foundation: Ex1 Invisiwear foundation in the shades F300 & F400 mixed together (I am so pale during winter months)
Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me in the shade medium #25 under my eyes
Bronzer: NYX matte bronzer in the shade Deep-Tan to give my face some all over color and I also used it for slight contouring
Blush: MAC sheertone blush in the shade Peaches
Eyeshadows: Makeup Geek’s vanilla bean for brow bone highlight, Revlon Matte in the shade rich sable for the crease and outer corner and for the standout color I used NYX loose pearl pigment in the shade Rust ( I wet my brush a bit with MAC’s fix plus)
Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills brow wiz in the shade Dark Brown
Eyelashes: One coat of Too Faced Better than Sex mascara and on top a coat of Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes.
Lips: MAC lipstick in the shade Craving ( I dabbed it with my finger) topped it off with Gerard Cosmetics lipgloss in the shade Nude.

Here’s a closer look of the shadow
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How vibrant does that cooper shade look? Utterly Obsessed!
Hope you all enjoyed this quick “tutorial” so to speak. Once again I will be working on putting out Video Clips so you can actually see what I am doing.

What are some of your favorite Holiday looks? Leave comments/requests down below!
Happy Holidays everyone!
-Gwen

Makeup Looks

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

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:

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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.

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:

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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.

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:
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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

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 IMG_6502 (2)

Hasta Pronto!
-Gwen

How to: College Football Makeup

Graduating in 2012 from the University of Central Florida was one of the proudest moments of my life. In looking back at my college experience, I wish I had participated in more “college” activities when I had the chance. In comes football games and tail-gating! I attended my first game ever this past weekend and like most people could not wait to don my colors and rep my school (even though Im an alum now). I decided to go all out and finally break out this beautiful gold pigment from NYX I had been waiting to use for some time. It is so sparkly and intense and can easily liven up any look.The “bondage weightless makeup adhesive” from Urban Decay was the perfect choice & worked so well at holding the pigment. No heavy feeling on my lid as I yelled and cheered throughout the evening!

  1. I first prepped my eye for all that color with NYX skin tone primer all over the eyelid, crease, & brow bone
  2. I then used a yellow shimmer shadow from the NYX Mysterious Brown Eyes Color palette all over the eyelid (as another base to make the yellow glitter pop even more)
  3. I then used Urban Decay Eyeshadows “Tyranny” as a transitional color in the crease & “Vengeance” in the crease up to the brow bone for more depth. Remember to blend!
  4. I applied Urban Decay Bondage Adhesive to my eyelid (straight from the tube) and covered the entirety of the yellow.
  5. With a clean flat shader brush, I patted the NYX glitter pigment on the entire lid. I kept adding more and building the intensity until I reached my desired effect.
  6. Optional-Finally, I used black gel liner to create a cat eye and finished off with loads of mascara!

Make sure to clean up afterwards thoroughly seeing as I had a lot of fall out (not after once it was already dried on my eye) I am just messy during my process! These steps can be replicated with any of the variety of pigments depending on your team colors (blue or purple would look spectacular). Links below!

urban decay, nyx, glitter, pigment, cat eye, glitter glue, ucf, college, football, makeup

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ucf, university of central florida, makeup, tutorial, cosmetics, urban decay, bondage, glitter glue, adhesive,knights,glitter,eyeshadow,nyx,loose pigment

 

urban decay, nyx, glitter, pigment, cat eye, glitter glue, ucf, college, football, makeup

urban decay, nyx, glitter, pigment, cat eye, glitter glue, ucf, college, football, makeup

***On my lips I am wearing Gerard Cosmetics in the color “1995”, also both my Anastasia contour kit and Loreal telescopic mascara were used.

Nyx Pigment

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction

Nyx Primer

Go UCF Knights!

-Ari

JLo Glow

I am so sad that Mother nature did not give the big apple a scorching hot summer this year. We are now in the middle of August already experiencing September like temperatures, don’t get me wrong Autumn is my other favorite season but I still needed some more sun in my life! Ok, enough with the rant, if you’re like me and did not get the chance to visit the beach here is how I created a faux tan or that JLo glow as some would call it before summer officially ends.
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To achieve this glowy bronzy look I used all of these products below:
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From the Mac palette I used Brown Script (lower left) on my crease and lower lash line. I used Amber Lights (top right) on the entire lid From the Lorac palette I used Buff (top row left) for my brow highlight and Mocha (4th from the left on the bottom) to touch up the outer v and lower lash line

From the MAC palette I used Brown Script (lower left) on my crease and lower lash line. I used Amber Lights (top right) on the entire lid
From the Lorac palette I used Buff (top row left) for my brow highlight and Mocha (4th from the left on the bottom) to touch up the outer v and lower lash line

– One of the main products in making the skin appear more dewy is to add a liquid illuminizer to your foundation. I opted for the Gerard Cosmetics BB plus illumination crème, a pea sized pump is all you need to mix into your foundation and it will cover your entire face.
– Another key component in creating a bronzy effect is of course bronzer. I used my L’Oreal true match powder in the shade Cocoa to warm up my entire face. I also took a contour brush and very lightly carved under my cheek bones.
– Lastly what will give you the ultimate glowy effect is a highlighter. For this particular look I chose the Sonia Kashuk illuminating bronzer in the shade goddess. This color is really golden and gives you the perfect sunkissed glow.
* This is an extra step, but since I wanted to mimic Jennifer Lopez’s all over bronzed look I also placed a mixture of brown and bronzy shades on my eyes and finished the look with her signature peachy nude lip.

I leave you all with a photo of the woman who not only inspired this look but also inspires me to work hard.

jennifer-lopez_small[1]

Here’s a detailed list of the products I used:

Benefit Porefessional face primer

Bare Minerals Bare Skin Foundation in the shade Bare Caramel

Gerard Cosmetics BB Illuminating crème

Tarte Maracuja creaseless concealer in the shade Medium Tan

NYX blotting powder in the shade Medium/Dark

Anastasia Brow Whiz in the shade Brunette

Lorac Behind the Scenes eyelid primer & Pro Palette 2 colors: Buff and Mocha

MAC Eyeshadows Brown Script and Amber lights

Too Faced “Better than Sex” mascara

L’Oreal Privee lipsticks in the Jennifer Lopez and Eva Mendes Shades

NYX Butter Gloss in the shade Cherry Cheesecake

*Products can be found in your local drugstore , Sephora or Ulta.

Hope you all enjoy what’s left of summer!

-Gwen

Whitening Lightning

All over the Youtube and Instagram world people have been raving about the Whitening Lightning Color Your Smile glosses, let me be one of the many to say that these glosses do not disappoint! One of my favorite beauty vloggers Carli (Youtube: Carlibybel) created a spring beauty essentials kit with Whitening Lightning which includes two glosses, a brow bar to go and another greatly raved about product called the BB plus illumination by Gerard Cosmetics I of course jumped on this amazing steal! The kit is priced at $85 but I also used a coupon code which brought it down to $65 for all four products.

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Light Pink shade: Raspberry Sherbet Rosie shade: Rose Hill

Light Pink shade: Raspberry Sherbet
Rosie shade: Rose Hill

I love the consistency of these glosses! They glide on your lips smoothly and are also full of color! What’s really unique about these glosses is that they come with a built in light and mirror, no need to run to the restroom for touch ups ladies! I am not a huge fan of how light pink looks on my already pigmented lips so I will be using Raspberry Sherbet as a top coat for a pink lipstick instead. The Rose Hill color is to die for! I will be wearing it alone or over a lipstick as well. (It was actually created by yet another one of my favorite beauty vloggers Jaclyn Hill).

Raspberry Sherbet

Raspberry Sherbet

Rose Hill

Rose Hill

The Brow bar to go is a kit comes with two shades of brown (one is a bit lighter and has red undertones while the other is a bit darker with more taupe like undertones). The colors blend really well on the brows and it gives a soft and natural look to them (when using a light hand).

Brow Bar to go in the shade: Brunette to Ebony

Brow Bar to go in the shade: Brunette to Ebony

The Gerard Cosmetics Illumination BB plus cream is like liquid gold! It can be used as an all over BB cream to give you that all around glow, you could also use a pump of it to mix into your foundation for a more dewy effect or just dab a pea sized amount onto your cheek bones for a gorgeous highlight!

Gerard Cosmetics BB plus Illumination

Gerard Cosmetics BB plus Illumination

Wearing the BB Illumination as a cheek bone highlight (No Filter)

Wearing the BB Illumination as a cheek bone highlight (No Filter)

After using these products for about 2 weeks I can honestly say that Whitening Lightning is one of my new favorite beauty brands! I will be trying one of their teeth whitening kits next!

Have you tried any products from whitening lightning? If so leave comments down below.

Direct Link to Carli’s bundle:

Carli’s spring essentials
(I googled whitening lightening coupon codes and used whichever one came up)

Until next time,
-Gwen