ELF Beauty Boot Camp Contest Entry - Hot Pink Lip

ELF has a contest running right now (ends 2/3/13) where they want to see your versions of their lastest Trends To Try - they gave entrants the option of doing as many of the trends as they like. I decided to do just two (mainly because I'm not a fan of contouring), and for fun I thought I would do a photo-tutorial for my blog, showing how I accomplished each one.

Today's entry is for their Hot Pink Lip. If you are familiar with me and my style, I love me some brights, so when I saw one of the trends was a hot pink lip, I knew I had to do that one! Unfortunately ELF doesn't have much variety in their bright lip colors - I wish they would make a bright pink or fuchsia in their Matte Lip Color pencils. When I wear a bright lip, I'm usually needing it to last all day, so I have catered this photo-tutorial to share how I ensure a long wear.

Here's all the tools I used:
Studio Lip Exfoliator
Studio Lip Primer & Plumper
Studio Lip Lock Pencil
Essential Feather Proof Moisturizing Lip Liner
Essential Lipstick
Studio Pout Perfecter

Step 1 - exfoliate lips to remove any dry flakes, smooth fine lines and help the lip products blend into the skin easier

Step 2 - I like to use a lip plumper prior to adding my lip colors, just because I like the subtle tingle and plumping - and I love the smell of cinnamon :)

Step 3 - apply a lip primer to neutralize the natural lip color, this will help the added lip color show truer

Step 4 - the lip lock pencil is a must to keep your lip color in check, it really helps to prevent color bleeding, feathering and smudging (like when your kids grab your face, lol)

Step 5 - apply a lip liner to shape your lips and it serves as a base color so when your lipstick starts to fade away you'll still have the stain from the lip liner to hold up the coverage

Step 6 - apply lipstick, I do a light layer first, press lips together for a good blend then apply a second layer

Step 7 - apply a dab of pout perfecter, the reflective particles are not gritty but still attract light making your pout look perfect ;)

All Done!

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NEW Limited Edition Spring shades for the Clarisonic Mia 2

Clarisonic released 3 new limited edition Spring shades for their popular Mia 2; Passion Fruit, Key Lime, Sea Breeze.

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Too Faced on HSN tonight (8pm est)

ELF Beauty Boot Camp Contest Entry - Cat Eye

ELF has a contest running right now (ends 2/3/13) where they want to see your versions of their lastest Trends To Try - they gave entrants the option of doing as many of the trends as they like. I decided to do just two (mainly because I'm not a fan of contouring), and for fun I thought I would do a photo-tutorial for my blog, showing how I accomplished each one.

Today's entry is for their Cat Eye Trend. Personally, I like to step up my liner looks, so I decided to go with a double liner trend - which I have been really loving lately. I went with a pop of purple this time, I'm trying to branch out from my go-to blue shades :)

Here's all the tools I used:
Essential Shimmer Eyeliner - Plum Passion
Studio Single Eyeshadow - Purple Passion
Studio Precision Liquid Eyeliner

Prep - curl lashes, I do this first so I don't remove any makeup when curling my lashes afterwards (I like to get my curler as close as possible for the most lift)

Step 1 - shape your liner with the creamy shimmer eyeliner pencil, extend the wing to your liking and direction it towards the end of your eyebrow (some people call this extending the angle of your lower lash line)

Step 2 - use an angled eye brush to press a similarly colored eyeshadow onto the creamy shimmer eyeliner, this will ensure longer wear, no smudging and no transfer to your upper lid (plus it helps intensify the color)

Step 3 - apply your liquid liner to follow your lash line and extend the wing to match the angle of your colored liner, the thickness of your black liner is up to you, but keep in mind you still want to see the color popping out

Finish - apply your mascara, false lashes, liner on the water line... it's all up to you. I only applied mascara in this photo-tutorial, but false lashes are always fun

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Benefit Cosmetics Fakeup Launch Party (SF, CA)

Last night I attended a little event in the city at Benefit's Boutique, their Fakeup Launch Party. I went with my beauty-loving friend, Antonay, and fellow blogger, Silvana of GlitzGlamBudget. I turned out to be a really fun evening! We started off with a little detective game, figure out who stole our makeup sample bags of the new Fakeup Crease-Control Hydrating Concealer, saw a demo on how the concealer hydrates the skin, swatched the concealer on our very own eye areas (yes, even on top of our makeup), and got some makeup done by the artists - if you were lucky like my friend Antonay, who arrived without makeup on, you got a full face of makeup! They also had champagne, cupcakes, water bottles in Benefit cozies and a digital Bosco photo booth that took four photos and turned it into a mini animation - if only they had a viewfinder to preview your photos, haha, we ended up doing three sessions of photos because we kept getting out of frame :)

Hope you enjoy the evenings photos and I'll have a review up on the concealer in a couple weeks to share how it feels, wears and my overall thoughts on the new product.

You can view the photo animations HERE

NEW ELF Product: Studio Eye Enhancing Mascara

ELF just added a new mascara to their lineup, the Studio Eye Enhancing Mascara, $3.00 and available in three shades Black Diamond (looks to be a black shimmer), Black Citrine (looks to be a black gold shimmer) and Black Sapphire (looks to be a black navy shimmer). Oh, I can't wait to buy these!!!

DETAIL | This light reflecting, metallic Eye Enhancing Mascara is designed to enhance and complement the color of your eyes. The unique silicone shaped brush coats every lash for a clump-free, smudge-free, volumized look. Pair with the Eye Enhancing Eyeshadow for a gorgeous eye look.

HOW TO | Apply to eyelashes from root to tip, working in a zig-zag motion to fully coat the lashes. Reapply if desired. Remove with eye makeup remover.

INGREDIENTS | listed on the product page

eyes lips face are always crueltyfree and PeTA friendly!

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Beauty Blogger Headquarters - December/January Task

December's Beauty Blogger Headquarters' task was extended through January to make up for the holidays and busy schedules. Our current task is to share how you photograph for your blog. I'm going to share my past blog photography setup and my current setup - kinda showing the "upgrade" and how to make it work with what you have on hand.

I first started out photographing products, swatches and makeup looks with my Blackberry Tour 9630 with a 2.4 megapixel camera, using the highest resolution of 480x360, the settings were basic and the best quality photos were taken outdoors in pure daylight - anything indoors looked grainy and yellow, and needed a lot of editing to balance the color and exposure. As a beginner blogger, I knew my camera wasn't the best, so when my Blackberry finally died, I was excited to upgrade my camera quality as well as my phone :)

Blackberry Tour 9630

Product in fluorescent lighting and photo editing

Makeup swatches in fluorescent lighting and photo editing

I then bought and currently use a Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate with a 5 megapixel camera, highest resolution of 2560x1920, AND I learned in early 2012 that the settings include a macro focus option - which creates crisper photos than the previous auto-focus setting I was using before. The settings can get really intense with customizing lighting, location, special filters, etc. The basic photo quality is much better than my old Blackberry, it takes clear photos indoors, outdoors, day and night, and the flash is pretty good. It also films decently, which comes in handy when I lose my video camera or I'm vlogging trips and the kids.

Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate

Product in natural light with no photo editing

Makeup swatches in natural light with no photo editing

The lighting I used in the beginning of my blogging life - the large fluorescent bulbs in our apartment's kitchen - the blue/green tone was easier to handle than the yellow/orange tone from our incandescent lamp lights throughout our home.

Once I got my new Samsung Fascinate phone/camera, I started using natural light - and this was before I understood natural light was the best way to go. I was randomly photographing an impromptu makeup shopping spree in our new apartment which had a huge sliding glass door in the living room, after seeing how amazing the photos turned out, I never went back to artificial lights (unless it's a casual photo, and I'm feeling lazy, lol).

Fluorescent lighting  and photo editing

Natural lighting with no photo editing

As a stay at home mommy of two little kiddies, I have barely any time during the day light to photograph like I would like to. I find myself scheduling product and makeup photo shoots on the weekends when my Boyfriend is home and can watch the kids for a few hours. I am currently looking into the prices of buying a light box or making my own. I want to mimic natural light as best as possible, but also utilize my nights of "me-time" to get some photos done.

As for background, I love the look of white - I use my small Ikea Melltorp table in white as my background. In the past I have played around with dark backgrounds, printed backgrounds, but for me the white is easiest. It helps keep the colors true to life and I rarely have to edit a photo for lighting or exposure fixes.

Natural light shows everything true to color with no photo editing

My photography setup is just my white Ikea Melltorp table pushed into a corner with two windows, this is my ideal setup - I have been planning it for a year and finally got my office put together so now I actually have a place just for photographing. Having a dedicated area is so helpful when I get a window of time to do something blog related, I can just run into my office, setup some products and starting shooting pics.

My photography setup

My top photography tip for beginner bloggers, and one I wish someone told me before I figured it out on my own, is to utilize natural light - even if you have a crappy, pixel-y camera, the natural light will make it look ten times better. Oh, and this might sound like common sense, but dedicate some time to knowing your cameras settings and abilities, it makes all the difference when you have the right settings and the right lighting :)

Lastly, if I could go upgrade my equipment today I would go buy a Canon T4i, or T3i. I've been obsessively watching videos and reading reviews on them, making myself fall in love with them. I think this camera would improve my blog photos, products swatches and my video quality. Aw, what a dream come true!

Canon T3i

Canon T4i

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