CONTOUR

I have this title in all caps because contouring is my new favorite thing to do while getting ready in the morning. I wasn't really interested in contouring until last year but I didn't really know what I was doing and I just used my bronzer at first. This summer I purchased my first contouring kit and of course it was the Anastasia Beverly Hills powder contour kit because I read a lot of blogs and tutorials and I heard it was the best and I was not wrong. Just a side note, when it comes to beauty products it important to study them as well as anything else you want to find information about. Many women, makeup artists, or just makeup connoisseurs have tried it all and they (for the most part) know what they are talking about so if you ever have any questions about makeup, look it up! Once I started contouring I fell in love with it because I love the way it adds dimension to my face! Just a warning though it does get addicting...

I have taken pictures of where you should apply the darker colors as well as the light colors and the highlight. Now it might look dramatic at first but then you blend it with a blender and then it looks natural! I love what it can do for my face, let me know what you guys think!

Every Woman's Staple Piece... Hair

I feel like I haven't touched on hair yet which is crazy because I think your hair style has a lot to do with your look, outfit, and overall confidence. Trust me, a bad hair day can throw you off of your day and I'm sure I am not alone. I am going to share with you guys some of my favorite hair trends!

Now I am mostly known for how big my hair can be especially when it is in one of my well-known "messy buns." I did gymnastics all my life and I have thick hair so that was one of the only combinations that worked. However, I became known for my hair and I have actually come to embrace my messy buns and I even get a lot of questions on how I do it. Now that is an extremely hard question to answer because it is different every time and it has the name for a reason, it is always super messy so I never know where to begin! However, I am going to try and show you all as well as a few other hairstyles that I love!

First is the half up half down messy bun. I used to wear my hair like this ALL the time my freshmen year of high school and I have no idea where I got it but I love it. This trend seemed to have come back this year and I have seen so many girls rocking this look. Here is the look:

Next are simple beach waves that you can do with your straightener. I only did a few pieces of my hair hair but you get the idea. It is so simple and quick! Here is how:

Lastly, is the famous messy bun!

Common Makeup Mistakes and Tricks

I have already discussed some of my favorite products with you all, but now I just want to share some of my favorite little makeup tricks to make your eyes pop! I think that the eyes are one of the most important things to get right and your makeup can either make your eyes look open and awake or the exact opposite.

The most important thing when it comes to your eyes is that you want to make them look bigger and this is usually where a lot of women go wrong. You always want to make sure that you highlight and darken the right areas. Curling your eyelashes will help your eyelashes raise and therefore help open up your eye. Secondly, white eyeliner is a must. A lot of women use a lot of black eyeliner on their bottom lid because lets be honest, thats what we all grew up learning. However, black makes the eye look smaller so it is actually better to use white eyeliner. Next I like to highlight the tear ducts of my eyes to give it a little shine and to make your eyes pop. I also like to highlight the brow bones just underneath the edge of my eyebrows to give it another pop. When applying eye shadow, make sure that you work your way up just below the brow line so that it lengthens your eye and gives them more depth. Lastly, it is important to know where to put your under eye concealer. A lot of people think that you are suppose to put it directly underneath your eyes but it is best to make triangles underneath so that it blends downward and focus the attention further down.

I did my makeup how it should be done on the right side of my face and the opposite on the left side of my face to show you guys the difference these tricks can make. I did not use any different lighting on either side of my face or edit any of the pictures. On the left side I didn't curl my eyelashes and just put mascara on them and I didn't put eyeliner on the top just the bottom. I put black eyeliner on my water line. I also only put concealer on my under eye bags at the very top instead of working my way down like I did on the opposite side. On the right side I curled my eyelashes and put mascara on them. I added a little line of liquid black eyeliner on the top. I put natural color eyeshadows working my way upward and blended. I used white eyeliner on my water line and I added a little highlighted eye shadow on my tear ducts and on my brow bone to give it that shine. Here is a picture of both eyes:

I just wanted to show you guys the difference in how makeup can either help or hurt your face. The look to the left is not bad, however there are a lot of things you can do to make your eyes look bigger and even pop so why not learn them! I hope these makeup tricks work for you as they have worked for me. It is important to figure out what works on you most of all because everyone is different and not everything looks/works the same for everybody! Let me know your thoughts!

Sammy Products are In!

I recently made a few purchases on sammydress.com which is one of the websites from China that I talked about in a previous post. Now I didn't pay extra for faster shipping because I had a while to wait and my order did take about a month to get here but the good news is that it did come the day before we left on vacation so I got really lucky and was able to wear some of my newest purchases! I go a swim suit and an outfit paired with a halter top and shorts for summer! The swimsuit was just $8 and the outfit was $12.

I just wanted to show you guys what these purchases actually look like on because a lot of the sites can be deceiving and they don't always turn out how you want them. However, mine turned out perfectly and that is mainly because I do my homework and make sure that I know what I am going to get. I am obsessed with the swimsuit I got and it fits perfectly! Here is picture of what it looks like on:

The outfit was a blue outfit with flare shorts and a matching halter top. I didn't particularly like the outfit together just because it is all the same color, but I love both of the separates and they go perfectly with so many other outfits! I wear the shorts and a different top just recently to Disneyland and I am so obsessed so here is picture:

And here is a picture of the top when I paired it with just a pair of my shorts at home:

SO OBSESSED and can't wait till it is warm enough to wear them here in Utah! I just wanted to show you guys how inexpensive these websites are and that they do have super cute stuff! The only thing is that you just have to look into it! I hope you guys enjoy :)

The Best Drug Store Moisturizer

One of the most important components of your beauty routine and skin management is moisturizing and I don't just mean any moisturizer. It is important to find a moisturizer that works well with your skin type and keeps your skin hydrated and breakout free. Recently, I was in the market for a new moisturizer because I ran out of my previous one and I just couldn't decide which one to get. I didn't want to spend a fortune on just moisturizer but I also didn't want something that was going to damage my skin. I read online about a few good drug store moisturizers and a product called Cerave was on the list. I saw it at Target when I was back home in Arizona and I was a little skeptical at first, but it was a little cheaper than the rest and I decided to go with it. It was about $11 so the price wasn't bad, but the quality is what I was most interested in.

This product is very light and I don't have to use a lot which is nice. I apply it to my entire face once I take all my makeup off at night before I go to bed. I have noticed that my skin feels so hydrated and really soft! I haven't had any major breakouts and I am really loving this product. This is just one woman's opinion, but if you are looking for a non-expensive drug store moisturizer that is good quality I definitely recommend it!

The Secret to that Everlasting Glow!

If most of you are like me, you love having that perfect bronze summer tan. Well for me, it is more of an obsession, however I hate having to wait all the way till summer to get started. Now I like to get a head start and today I am going to share with all of you my secret.

Before we get started I just want to talk a little bit about the power of a tan. I've mentioned this in a previous post, but in doing gymnastics all my life, that came with the honor of wearing a leotard in front of thousands of people. (I am just kidding when I say honor). I always wanted to tan in the tanning beds when I was in high school because I had some friends that did it and I just always wanted to be tan. My mom, on the other hand, would never let me. Finally when I turned 16 she gave in and let me go a few times when gymnastics season started. She said that she saw my confidence go up out there when I was tanner. I didn't notice a thing but I was just glad I wasn't so pasty anymore in that leotard. 

As i started to get older and compete in college I noticed that I was a lot more comfortable and confident when I was tan. I stopped going in the tanning beds because they obviously aren't good for you and I do not recommend them. I started doing something different. I have also seen a number of my teammates get spray tans but I feel like you are always taking the chance of getting too orange or too dark plus I cannot stand the smell of it. It also washes away in a few days anyway and that is not what I am looking for. I began to use tanning lotion. I use Jergens Natural Glow because I think that is one of the better brands and I would apply it to my entire body before bedtime. I didn't wear it every day, just a few days before meets usually or that week leading up to it. It works best if you build up so when you begin, make sure you apply it for a few days straight in order to start building that tan. After a while of using the lotion I felt daring and went for the Jergens Natural Glow Foam instead of the lotion. This is by far my favorite and it works the best! After using this I started to see more immediate results and a darker tan! They have also made these products better because they now have new scents so you don't have to smell bad. And they are under $10! Here are pictures of the products. I hope you give them a try and let me know about your results.

 

Salon Nails, but not for the Price!

If you ladies are like me, you love having your nails done. However for me, I am always caught in the middle of doing them myself and getting them done. Whenever I just paint them myself they always chip the next day and then eventually come off within a few days. Whenever I get them done, I get acrylics and they end up ruining my actual nails and they are just so expensive especially to keep up with.

Just a few side notes that have to do with acrylic nails. They look really good but essentially are not very good for the strength of your nails. If you have noticed when you try and take them off after you got them done at the salon, it is a slow, painful process. There are so many layers of acrylic and glue and such that when you take off the nail it is taking a lot of your nail with it which is why you probably notice your nails are very frail afterward. Between this and the cost I decided I needed to try something new. That is when I decided I was going to do my own artificial nails at home.

I went to Walmart and bought a 500 count nail set which was only $5 keep that in mind. It comes with the glue already inside, but if you want more or run out you can always buy more which is what I started to do. (Sometimes I even keep my tiny glue bottle in my purse in case a nail falls off or I just need some glue.) They come in different sizes as well. My nails are really small and I like shorter nails so I get the shortest nails, but there are long ones too.

All you do is glue on the nails starting from your pinky and ending with your thumbs. Make sure you put enough glue on the back of the nail and press and hold for a good minute so that the nail sticks on really good. I also bought an artificial nail clipper which is the clipper that they use at the salon. You don't have to buy this but I find that it is much easier to cut the nails with that then with a regular clipper. This is also very inexpensive and looks like this.

So my next step is just cutting the nails down and then filing them to where I want them. As I mentioned earlier, I like shorter nails so I cut them and file them till they are just a little longer than my finger. The nails come in a clear color so you get to paint them whichever way you want which is my favorite part! Another advantage is that since it is not your real nail and it is a little more lifted, then it is a lot easier to paint and I find that I don't make hardly as many messes as I do when I just paint my real nail. After I paint I just finish with a clear coat and is that simple and CHEAP. I took before pictures of just my regular nails, the clear filed down artificial nails, and then after they were painted. I have this weird obsession with all white nails especially in the summer. I think it makes me feel tan. ;) But you can paint them any way you want!

Your nails will look just like you came out of a salon! I often get asked if I got my nails done and I usually tell the truth and tell them I just did them myself, but you can say you got them done. They will never know! ;)