I have thought long and hard about talking about my professional work on the blog. I created this space three years ago so I could separate my work from my life, but I am seeing how fun it could be to share a little bit here and there. Every time I have thought about showing how-to's, or doing product reviews, I have found another blogger who was doing it better, at a higher caliber than I was thinking, so I tucked my tail between my legs and gave it up.
This morning, a co-worker of Billy's wanted to use me as a model for a photo project for school. She has been collecting shots of people in their work environment. She even convinced Billy, who hates photos, to give her a few minutes to snap his photo earlier this week. She wanted to come over to my house and take photos of me with my makeup and hair supplies, so I obliged.
I saw my chance to take a few pics of my daily hair and makeup routine as I was getting ready. To be perfectly honest, I edited out my under eye bags, because I hate them, but left the rest of my face alone. Since the bags are gone from all of the photos, you can still see a difference between the before hair and makeup, and the after photos, but I wanted to be completely upfront with you so as not to sell a complete lie. If you read through this long post, you can see the untouched before and after with bags present. Try not to hold my insecurities against me.
Also, I have never before posted a photo of me without mascara. I know! Even in all of my exercise selfies I am wearing mascara. So I am baring all for you! My eyelashes are blonde, so without mascara I look sick. Also, my lips are naturally extremely pale; I look like I've been pulled out of ice or something if I don't have lip color on.
I start out by using Epicuren Eye Cream
and a benzoil peroxide zit cream on any blemishes, then moisturize and prime with Urban Decay beauty balm. I love multi-purpose products. If I can combine moisturizing, SPF, color correcting and priming into one step, I'm a happy girl.
and a benzoil peroxide zit cream on any blemishes, then moisturize and prime with Urban Decay beauty balm. I love multi-purpose products. If I can combine moisturizing, SPF, color correcting and priming into one step, I'm a happy girl.I always do my eye makeup before my foundation because I make a mess and like to clean it up without having to reapply my foundation. I use Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner 
in black and
in black and CoverGirl LashBlast Mascara
in very black. I put on two coats, let it dry, and separate with a clean LashBlast brush before cleaning up the mess with a Q-tip. Insider tip: I was taught how to put my mascara on by my mother, who has some unconventional methods. She taught me to lick a Q-tip and use that to clear up mascara that got on my lid. When I wear waterproof mascara and don't want to use eye makeup remover, I will put chapstick on my eyelids to provide a barrier that allows the waterproof formula to be removed in the same way as regular mascara!
in very black. I put on two coats, let it dry, and separate with a clean LashBlast brush before cleaning up the mess with a Q-tip. Insider tip: I was taught how to put my mascara on by my mother, who has some unconventional methods. She taught me to lick a Q-tip and use that to clear up mascara that got on my lid. When I wear waterproof mascara and don't want to use eye makeup remover, I will put chapstick on my eyelids to provide a barrier that allows the waterproof formula to be removed in the same way as regular mascara!
Next up is eyeshadow. I use Covergirl Intense Shadowblast Eye Shadow in Beige Blaze 
all over my lid and brow bone as a primer and to highlight, then use the middle shade of the Victoria's Secret Ultimate Look Shadow trio
{I use Most Wanted, but that link is to a similar color set} on my lid, and the dark color on the outer corner and crease. I throw on another coat of mascara, focusing on the lash tips at this point.
all over my lid and brow bone as a primer and to highlight, then use the middle shade of the Victoria's Secret Ultimate Look Shadow trio {I use Most Wanted, but that link is to a similar color set} on my lid, and the dark color on the outer corner and crease. I throw on another coat of mascara, focusing on the lash tips at this point.
Next, I mix a tiny dab of Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer
in medium with a tiny dab of Fresh Twilight Freshface Glow
that I mix together on my ring fingers and pat on under my eyes, then smooth across my cheekbones and to my temples. I also dab a bit on any blemishes that I see. I like to mix the concealer like this because it is super thick, and the twilight acts as a highlighter where you need it most, also, a little goes a long way with both products. BTW, I am not trying to do The Rock's eyebrow raise in the picture below. My right brow is droopier than my left. Thank goodness my bangs cover that side so you can't usually tell as much as you can here. Oh great. Now you are going to see it in all of these photos hahaha faces are hardly ever symmetrical, and eyebrows are sisters, not twins!
On to the rest of the face! I use a Sonia Kashuk duo fibre brush like this one to apply my Benefit Cosmetics Hello Flawless!
powder foundation in I'm cute as a bunny honey. I use the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette bronzer to contour my jawline, all around the outside of my face and hairline, under my cheekbones and the sides of my nose. I use the highlighter between my cheekbones and jawline. I use my Amazonian Clay Blush
in Blissful on my cheekbones. I love this color. It's a bright apricot that doesn't have sparkle, and it's perfect for a medium yellow-toned complexion like mine.
Oh yeah, here are the untouched before and after pics with my bags :(
in medium with a tiny dab of Fresh Twilight Freshface Glow that I mix together on my ring fingers and pat on under my eyes, then smooth across my cheekbones and to my temples. I also dab a bit on any blemishes that I see. I like to mix the concealer like this because it is super thick, and the twilight acts as a highlighter where you need it most, also, a little goes a long way with both products. BTW, I am not trying to do The Rock's eyebrow raise in the picture below. My right brow is droopier than my left. Thank goodness my bangs cover that side so you can't usually tell as much as you can here. Oh great. Now you are going to see it in all of these photos hahaha faces are hardly ever symmetrical, and eyebrows are sisters, not twins! powder foundation in I'm cute as a bunny honey. I use the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette bronzer to contour my jawline, all around the outside of my face and hairline, under my cheekbones and the sides of my nose. I use the highlighter between my cheekbones and jawline. I use my Amazonian Clay Blush in Blissful on my cheekbones. I love this color. It's a bright apricot that doesn't have sparkle, and it's perfect for a medium yellow-toned complexion like mine.Almost finished, I promise! Because my lips are so stinking pale, I always, and I do mean always, complete my face with a colored lip. I am partial to lipstick because I need more pigment that is easy to apply frequently. Lipgloss tends to be too sheer and sticky for me. My favorite lipstick right now is Maybelline Colorsensational Lipcolor Warm Me Up
, but that was in my purse, and I was in the bathroom, so I used Victorias Secret Glossy Tint Lip Sheen
that is similar the one in the link. VS tends to change up their beauty products faster than I can find them listed online, so that's what you get. With that, my face was done. I was lucky that my hair had held up pretty well from the day before, so I used a 1 inch curling iron to recurl a bit of my hair that had gone whacky overnight. I combed my bangs into place and spritzed with Ag Smooth Frizzproof Anti Humidity Hair Spray
. And there you have it, my daily hair and makeup look that works for a photo shoot!
, but that was in my purse, and I was in the bathroom, so I used Victorias Secret Glossy Tint Lip Sheen that is similar the one in the link. VS tends to change up their beauty products faster than I can find them listed online, so that's what you get. With that, my face was done. I was lucky that my hair had held up pretty well from the day before, so I used a 1 inch curling iron to recurl a bit of my hair that had gone whacky overnight. I combed my bangs into place and spritzed with Ag Smooth Frizzproof Anti Humidity Hair Spray. And there you have it, my daily hair and makeup look that works for a photo shoot!