Selasa, 31 Januari 2012

Makeup For Your Alter Ego: Part Five

Aaaaghhhh!!  So here it is, the fifth and final look in the Alter Ego Series.  Dun dun dunnnn...Mine! I've been f-reaking out about posting this for ages now!  The bloggers that have collaborated with me on this series have all produced some incredible looks so I've really been feeling the pressure haha.  I think you'll all agree it's been an amazing series and I'm really grateful to everyone who's created a look for it!  Thank you so so much ladies <3 

Right!  Rather than babble on nervously for about an hour, I'm just gonna post my look and let my pictures do the talking!  So, here it is...





The concept for my look was about an alternate personality burning away inside me...my Alter E-Glow if you will haha (sorry I couldn't resist that) coursing through my veins.


On the outside I'm generally VERY reserved. My hair, my makeup, my mannerisms, anything to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to myself. But inside I have all this crazy shhh going on! I'm just incredibly conscious of how I come across to others and sometimes this makes me afraid to let go. Don't get me wrong I'm not contrived, just weirdly shy and very self conscious. So to me, my Alter Ego is the person inside I wish I was brave enough to be!

It really took a lot for me to post this look. Those of you that know me or have followed me for some time will know, I NEVER post full face shots of myself! But this time I couldn't wuss out!



I really liked the idea of the normal, reserved look juxtaposed with the bubbling eruption of the alter ego, and I also wanted to challenge my own strange obsession with symmetry. Hence the half and half approach to the look.  


So there you have it! My Alter Ego! Hope y'all like it!

Speak Soon xx

MIS PRIMEROS PREMIOS!! gracias ney

Hola!! wow un post?? tan seguido?? jaja pues si!!
tenia que publicar estos premios que me ha otorgado Ney de http://maquiclubgirl.blogspot.com/, Muchas Gracias!!, visiten su blog y siganlo esta muy padre :D

Aqui estan y sus respectivas preguntas...


Agradecer a quien te lo otorgo:
Gracias Ney ;)
►Preguntas:
► ¿En que eres imaginativo?
pues me encanta imaginar diversos disenios de unias como quedarian y asi hacerlos
► ¿Te consideras creativo?
Hace un tiempo diria que no!! pero ahora que encontre algo que amo de verdad como mi pasion por las unias digo que si soy creativa y tengo mis gustos definidos con los disenios y colores
► ¿Como surgió tu blog? (personal/gustos)
.surgio basicamente porque queria compartir mi gusto por los esmaltes y las unias con otras personas, surgio por mi necesidad de compartir mis ideas
► Entrégalo a 7 personitas:
(pendiente...)
 
 

 Cuál es tu idea de PLUR?
mi idea de plur...paz, amor, unidad y respeto...los sentimientos y valores primordiales para una convivencia entre seres humanos
► Escribe una frase sobre el respeto:
El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz (Benito Juarez)
► Cuáles son tus ideales de una persona correcta?
respeto y amor propio
► Entregar este premio a 7 personitas PLUR.
(pendiente...)
 

L'Oreal After Hours, Finger Paints Special Effects Motley, and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Top Coat

Hi Guys! Happy Tuesday!

Today I'm multitasking and killing 3 reviews with 1 post!

First up, L'Oreal Color Riche Professional Manicure in After Hours...

I am a sucker for a dark blue polish. Actually, I'm a sucker for any blue polish, but dark blues always suck me in. So it's no surprise that out of the 4 polishes I have from this line, I tried out a dark blue first. After Hours is a rich, Navy Blue that is so dark it looks black. You have to look very closely to see the blue in this on the nail, despite it being evident in the bottle. Even so, it is gorgeous. Formula on this baby is fair, it's a jelly but it thickens rather quickly. By the time I hit my last nail it was leaving those annoying little strings of goopy polish on the tips. Nothing a little thinner can't cure though. I used 2 coats here, although it's easily opaque in one medium-thick coat.  Now, let me tie in my second product here:

I decided to try out Sally Hansen's Diamond Flash Fast Dry Top Coat with this mani. And I have to tell you that the shine is absolutely amazing, and the dry time is lightning fast. However.....It bubbles like nothing I have ever seen. The bubbling is not evident until it is completely dry, which is misleading to say the least, and I'm not talking one or 2 bubbles - nope! I had at least 15-20 bubbles non each nail. It's also very very thick, doesn't spread easily and is just an overall pain. I was really disappointed in this one. Sally Hansen's top coats, while not the best on the market, are usually decent. This was a huge letdown and I'm bummed that I wasted 7 bucks on it. I will say that if you let your polish dry COMPLETELY before using this, the bubbles aren't as bad. But in my mind that defeats the entire purpose of a fast drying top coat.

Here is L'Oreal's After Hours. Look closely and you can see that it's actually a deep Navy and not black (In these pics, I used a coat of SV over the Diamond Flash to try and lessen the bubbling. It worked well, but you can still see some bubbling.).

























Please forgive the dog hair on the bottle! There was sticky goo left on it from where the price tag was! hehe!

After taking these pics, I added 2 coats of Finger Paints Special Effects Flakie Top Coat in Motley. I'm sure you've all seen this stunner by now, but I had to try her out over After Hours. Motley is an awesome Flakie top coat with a Blue to Green shift. But it's not just basic blue and green - it shifts from a royal blue with a hint of purple to blue, to teal, to green. It really is gorgeous! I didn't dare use the Diamond Flash again, so I topped this with SV. I'm loving this combo!



















































I'm pretty happy with this mani. I was on flakie overload for while there, but I'm ready to give these a whirl. I was really impressed with how easy Motley was to control, and I like that it's not overloaded with Flakies so that you can use a single coat for a softer look, or 2+ coats for something more dramatic. Good stuff! I still have to give Flecked and Twisted a whirl, but I'm certain they are just as awesome. What do you guys think of them?

Happy Polishing!
-Kimber

NEW WEBSITE IS NOW LIVE!!!


GO PEEP IT!! 

INICIA EL MARATON DE SAN VALENTIN-disenio #1 Elmo's drops of love

Hola!!!!

Pues hoy primero que nada los saludo y quiero decirles una cosa rapidita: mi blog se va actualizando conforme va avanzando el anio y conforme me voy pintando las unias, no me gusta pintarmelas todas en un dia y tener las fotos con el proposito de tener entradas o posts guardados, no me importa si no subo entradas muy seguido lo que me importa es que sean en tiempo real!!

Bueno dicho eso, les doy la bienvenida a el primer maraton de disenios para el dia de san valentin, se me ocurrio que desde hoy 31 de enero hasta el 14 de febrero ire subiendo disenios inspirados en esta festividad porque se que muchas chicas buscan a veces que hacerse para ese dia especial, pondre disenios sencillos y algunos tal vez no tanto depende de mi inspiracion jaja :p, Si algun otro blog gusta seguirme en esto adelante!!! solo den el credito a este blog y listo.


Bueno y sin mas ni menos aqui esta el primer disenio!!! Se me ocurrio hacer algo asi porque a mi hijo le encanta elmo y porque vi un disenio un poco parecido en la revista ''nails design'' pero ese era de acrilicoy un poco diferente, como yo solo pongo unias de acrilico no las uso pues lo pinte :D





Senin, 30 Januari 2012

Teal and purple redo!

Like forever ago, I did a look that I called "Teal(ish) and Purple" that got a HUGE response on Makeupbee.  It was actually voted best colorful look of 2011 on there, which is completely awesome!  However, looking back at the picture, I really feel like I could have done the look better.  So today I gave it a try!!

Old look vs. new look!


I just think I brought the purple in too far in my original look and had too much darkness in the crease.




What I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NYX JEP "Milk"
MAC "Teal" pigment
MUFE 92 shadow
"Darkhorse" from U.D.'s Naked palette to blend between the teal and purple
"Naked" from the Naked palette to blend the purple out
"Virgin" from the Naked palette as a highlight
MAC Blacktrack fluidline 
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Lips:
Revlon "Cupcake" lip butter

Face Makeup:
Carmindy for Sally Hansen Your Skin foundation in "Porcelain"
Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid foundation "Buff"
Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser "Fair"
Maybelline Superstay 24/7 concealer
L'oreal True Match Pressed Powder N3 in contoured areas
Covergirl Professional loose powder "Translucent fair" in highlight areas
ELF studio blush/bonzer duo
NYX "Peach" powder blush
ELF Shimmering Facial Whip "Spotlight" (a white color)

I gotta tell you, I was pleasantly surprised with the ELF Shimmering Facial Whip.  I squirted a little onto the back of my hand and stippled two fingers in it to spread it out a little and then stippled it onto my cheekbones still using my fingers.  It doesn't settle into smile lines when I smile and it doesn't look cakey or super obvious like highlighters have a tendency to do.  I really like it (and for $1 you really can't go wrong!)!

I personally prefer my new look over my old one.  I think the shape is better and the blending is better.  It's just not as intense of a look.  What do you think?  Which one do you prefer???

Makeup For Your Alter Ego: Part Four

So I'm really excited to be bringing you another look from the Alter Ego Series today. It's from someone whom you may recognise from many of my own previous posts...show some love to Hoz, my baby sister (in-law)!! As well as being both a very beautiful and entertaining model for me, Hoz is also incredibly talented with a makeup brush herself! She's created some absolutely stunning looks in the past, and has now decided to start a blog of her own to showcase them. Please stop by and check her out over at Beauty_Spot. You wont be disappointed!


Anyway, less blab! Here's some pictures of Holly's Alter Ego...




If you've already stopped by and checked out Holly's blog (which I know by now you have, right?) you'll know what an amazing job she's done with this look. It's so far removed from her everyday persona! Ordinarily she rocks a rather stunning, and not to mention VERY perfect vintage pin-up style look that I have to admit I'm a teensy bit jealous of haha. This is always accompanied by an enormous smile, so to see her like this is a complete transformation!

Here's what Holly had to say about this look herself..."Hmmm, here's a toughie! What is my Alter Ego Natalie asks me...? Well my personally traits are quite simple (like me hahaha) if I were to describe myself it would be that I laugh pretty much at anything including myself! My mum says I have an opera laugh! I am REALLY laid back and easy going and I am never phased by anything. Any attitude or what I would call worrying things in general life go straight over my head. I never really get upset or angry, so for my look I decided to create the complete opposite of how I look at life. I wanted to go for a worried, sad and upset look with loads of tears, I also included colours which I HATE to wear on my eyes just to represent how un-like me this really is."


Thankfully this last pic is much more like the Holly I know and love! Anyways, hope you guys all like this look as much as me. Stay tuned for the final installment...it's mine!

Speak Soon xx

BOOHOO TUTORIAL #1

I did a nail tutorial for Boohoo, based on one of their outfits from their new collection. Have a look here to see the full tutorial.


Minggu, 29 Januari 2012

Pure Ice Crackle & Ice Duo: Strike A Pose

Hi guys! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

Today I have one of the Pure Ice Crackle duos to share with you. I know, I know..most everyone is so over Crackle. And for the most part, I am as well. But...I never really used it much so on occasion when I want something quick, easy, and still eye catching, I'll pull out a crackle. The Pure Ice Duos are actually pretty interesting. I'm drawn to crackles with eye catching color, and these little duos have just that.

This particular duo is a Silver Glitter polish (It's actually Pure Ice Beware) matched with a striking shimmery bright blue crackle. I like the look of glitter under crackle, so this was naturally the first of the 3 duos I have that I tried out.  Here, have a look!
































Oops! I managed to whack my ring finger against the table right as I finished this mani! Good thing about crackle is that that little ding was only noticeable in pictures. :)

I love the color combination of this silver glitter with the bright blue crackle. This is one of the few crackles that I have worn that didn't glop up on me.  The crackle dried very quickly though, so you do have to work fast. I used a thicker coat on this swatch since I like larger cracks and really wanted to show off the color of this crackle. I tried a thin coat on my thumb, and it led to smaller, spidery cracks. Still looked great, but the color wasn't as vivid. I actually liked the Pure Ice crackle much better than the Sally Hansens, which glop up quickly and tend to be very thick. And for the price ( I think these were around $2.99 at Wal Mart), these little duos are certainly worth a wear.  I picked up the Gold/Red combo and the White/Purple combo as well. After wearing this one, I'm actually looking forward to trying out the other 2.

Happy Monday! I hope your day is less crazy than mine is slated to be!

Happy polishing!
-Kimber

It's a Poison Plum kind of day!

I was thinking about what kind of look to do and realized how seldom I've used Sugarpill's Poison Plum from their Burning Hearts quad so I wanted to do something with that.

Also, I usually edit my pictures on picnik.com, which unfortunately is closing on April 19th so I knew I'd need a new way to edit my pictures so I downloaded a free trial of Photoshop.  I am really really really not good with computers.  So to edit my pictures today I followed, step by step, Meredith Jessica's photoshop tutorial.  I think they came out really well.  My eyes look so bright!  Generally when I'm editing my pictures, I edit the contrast so my black looks black like it does in person and every once in a while I'll edit the color temperature depending on my lighting.  Sometimes I slightly alter colors, but that's just to make them appear in my picture the way it does in real life.  So this was my first attempt at photoshop!!  Here's my look!


Here it is unedited, just so you can see the difference



Just a simple purple smokey eye!

What I used:
Lime Crime's Eyeshadow Helper
Sugarpill's Poison Plum
Urban Decay "Naked"
Urban Decay "Virgin" (both shadows from the Naked palette.  I told you I use this thing all the time!)
Bobbi Brown gel liner "Black Ink"
NYX "Black" shadow
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Lips:
Lime Crime "Coquette" lipstick
Revlon "Cupcake" lip butter

I had asked Meredith Jessica, Dawn, and Ronnie what they suggested I use to edit pictures and they all said photoshop haha.  Meredith Jessica kindly edited two of my pictures for me and they look so beautiful!  Look at these bad boys!  This is how I knew I had to give it a shot!

For this look I used:
Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper
NYX JEP "Black Bean"
BFTE "Spellbound"
I can't remember for sure but either "Naked" or "Buck" from the Naked palette (I think it was Buck)
and MAC "Vanilla" pigment to highlight
L'oreal HIP "Black Shock" pencil liner
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara

Lips:
Lime Crime "Coquette" lipstick
Revlon "Creamsicle" lip butter

Face Makeup for both looks:
Carmindy for Sally Hansen Your Skin foundation "Porcelain"
Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation "Buff"
Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser "Fair"
Maybelline Super Stay 24/7 Concealer (2nd to lightest color)
Covergirl Professional loose powder "Translucent Fair"
ELF studio blush/bronzer duo
NYX "Peach" powder blush

So those are my looks for today!  I hope you like them as much as I do!  I hope you all have an incredible week!!  Thanks guys!!

Wearable Valentine

Hola guapas!

Since everybody else in the makeup community are posting their Valentine's Day looks I thought I might as well do the same. I'm not completely done with the Monster High series yet but I have no inspiration for it at the moment so it will have to wait and leave room for some wearable looks.

The look I'm going to teach you today is a typical romantic Valentine's Day look inspired by love and chocolate. And even if you really hate Valentine's Day you can still wear this look, because it's really wearable (at least if you like pink...).



So let's get the tutorial started!
Step 1
The most exciting picture ever... ;) Prime your eyes with your primer of choice. As you can see I've already applied my base.
Step 2
With a Mac #239 brush I applied a bright pink eyeshadow. I used "Matt glory" from Make Up Store but any bright pink will do. :) Blendy blend!
Step 3
Now we're going to apply a chocolate brown eyeshadow (I've used one of the matte browns from the 120 palette). You don't want the brown to get out of control so use a small brush, like Mac #219, to apply it. Start with applying an "extension" of your lower lashline, just like shown in the picture.
Step 4

Drag the brown into the crease! Just apply it in a thin shape since we're going to blend it out later. 
Step 5
Blend the brown out. For this I've used a Mac #217 brush. 

Step 6
Add some darker pinkish reddish color in the outer corner where the brown and bright pink meet. This give the look a little more dimension and helps the pink melt together with the brown a little more easy. The color I've used is the blusher Wonderblush "Cleopatra" from Make Up Store. 
Step 7
We want a little more depth so we add some black eyeshadow to the outer corner in the so called "deep crease" of the eye. If you really want a light and superwearable look you can skip this step! 
Step 8
Blend out the black and fade it out into the crease. Also, pick up a little, tiny bit of the pink lid color on a blending brush and trace the edges of the brown shape with it. I think that gives the whole look a lift! :) 
Step 9
Pick up some black eyeshadow on an angled brush such as #266 from Mac, and press it into the upper lashline. In the outer corner, feather the black upwards towards the crease. Also apply some black really close to your lower lashline, taking the color about one third of the way under your eye. 
To brighten up the eye (this is a great trick to make small eyes look bigger) I've applied a concealer pencil. You can also do the trick with a white eyeliner pencil but I was aiming for a softer result. 
Step 10
Put on some mascara and if you like a pair of natural false eyelashes. For the moment I've abandoned my beloved Ardell #105 and used the #110 instead for a more natural result. :)

The brows are filled in with a soft brown color which comes from the 88 palette, but since I'm going to phase out the megagazillion palettes in time I will recommend "Omega" from Mac instead.  (I will write a blogpost about this later explaining why I'm not going to keep on using these palettes...)

Step 11
For the lips you could go for a more nude look if you'd like. I'm not that comfortable with pale, nude lips so I've used a lip pencil that is slightly darker than my natural lip color (which is "Something Blue" by Make Up Store) and on top of that Clinique Superbalm  Moisturizing Gloss in "Raspberry". 

I hope that you liked the look and the tutorial! :) See you guys soon!

Don't forget to comment and subscribe! :)