08 Oct 2015 Beauty

How to Create my Signature Beauty Look

As much as I love going full glam, again and again I find myself without enough time to go the full nine yards. Today I’ll be sharing with you a few key steps that make achieving my signature beauty look as easy as pie! I rave constantly about my favorite makeup products, faithful staples as well as new discoveries; its obvious that selecting the right makeup products is crucial in creating a flawless face but one thing we tend to overlook is our brushes which is equally as important. With the right brushes, your makeup will work harder and reach their full potential.

I’ve recently discovered SEPHORA COLLECTION PRO Brushes and they’ve found their forever home in my kit. Developed with the Sephora Pro team for over a year and hand shaped by trained artisans, they are the most luxurious brushes I’ve ever used. My makeup has never looked better and I secretly feel so fabulous with the brushes in hand, they are so gorgeous just to look at. The handles are elongated and are the most rich high gloss shade of black. They are also the only makeup brushes to feature all chrome ferrules! They will never yellow or look dull, the brush number is etched on so it will never rub off and the brushes will always look brand new!

Now let’s put these brushes to work!

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07 Oct 2015 Travel

Buenos Aires, Argentina | Travel Diary

Happy Humpday! I hope everyone’s week is going well, we’re halfway through!

I’m totally kicking myself for falling out of the momentum I had going with my South America posts, it takes so much longer to remember the little details and memories when too much time has passed. Luckily, this is the last post of Buenos Aires and soon we will be exploring Brazil! We added Buenos Aires to our intinerary at the last minute because it’s just so close! It’d be a shame to travel that far and not pay a visit. As I mentioned previously in my Iguazú Falls post: we landed on the Brazilian side but decided to cross the border into Argentina immediately to explore the falls before flying out for Buenos Aires.. it saved us an international flight! I noticed that flights within Argentina and within Brazil were much cheaper than from one country to the other even though everything is relatively close.

We spent two nights and two days in Buenos Aires at the gorgeous Four Seasons Hotel! We didn’t get a chance to do much research before arriving in Buenos Aires (since we added it on so last minute!) so we kind of winged it. Not mad about it at all because I absolutely loved the city, it really is Paris of South America. However, I definitely want to make a trip back with more time and having done a little more research, there’s so much to see and we only grazed the surface. I’ll chat as we go

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06 Oct 2015 Beauty

Smashbox #SHAPEMATTERS Palette | Review & Swatches!

Contouring is here to stay which means the contour kits will forever be rolling out and evolving. Can’t say I’m mad at that! Smashbox released their #SHAPEMATTERS palette this Fall as a permanent member of their product line – yay! I hate when great products are limited edition. This is such a unique palette that really covers (almost) all of the bases: Brows, Contour, Highlight, & Eyes. While I hope Smashbox expands this palette to fair, medium, and dark to properly cater to everyone, I do still think this is a great palette especially if you are a gal that travels quite a bit or are new to makeup because it covers so much. You’ll just have to supply your own blush & lip color! I love all-in-one grab n go products!

This set contains Smashbox’ brow tech wax perfect for keeping those brow hairs in place and helping the brow powder adhere for maximum definition. I love that it has a little protective cover to keep from getting dirty. There are also two brow tech powders (Taupe & Soft Brown), again I would love to see a range of shades for this palette; I had to use soft brown with a bit of the brown eyeshadow (Sumatra) to fill in my brows. There are three contour products (Contour, Bronze, & Highlight) as well as a “Glow” powder. I love everything except the contour powder because it simply isn’t dark enough for my skintone (or contour-preference). The bronze powder is perfect for adding color and glow to my hairline and cheekbones and I absolutely love Highlight under my eyes because you know I love them bright! I use the highlighter, Glow, on the tops of the apples of my cheeks to make them appear more rounded and plump. Beautiful powders. The 9 eyeshadows included in this set are some of Smashbox’ best selling shades, they are neutral, warm, and safe – a perfect addition or starting point to every girl’s kit!

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02 Oct 2015 Beauty

Pixi Natural Contour Powder | Shape & Shadow

[pullquote]Get a super-natural shaded effect with this luxe contouring powder. Easy-to-use formula enhances your natural features, creating definition when swept into the hollows of the cheeks, under the jawline, down the sides of the nose and in the crease of the eye. The formula is packed with peptides, a multi-vitamin complex, plus aloe vera, super fruit and coffee extracts to further enhance & nourish the complexion.[/pullquote]

Anyone in a love affair with makeup within the past 5 years most likely loves to contour, I know I do! I’ve tried so many different powders over the years and am constantly changing up my routine. I swing between warm and cool, usually mixing the two and now I realize what I needed all along was a neutral-toned contour powder. I began using Pixi’s Natural Contour Powder last week and haven’t been able to stop myself from reaching for it. The powder is definitely dark, so I’m not sure if it would fare well on your fair-skinned ladies as I can only speak from personal experience; but it is a universal powder so perhaps all you need is a light hand. I layer upon layer upon layer 😉

I would describe the color as a grey-brown but it doesn’t appear ashy at all, it literally looks like a natural shadow creating a very naturally contoured look even after I build mine up as dramatic as possible. Natural & contour… you’d think that’d be an oxymoron. If you love MAC’s Blunt, you will love this! I haven’t touched Blunt in forever because it’s very easy to go overboard with it but I found myself reaching for it to pair with this.. I first contour with Pixi and then very close & tight to my ear I hollow my cheek even further with Blunt. I love the two together! Should I do an updated contour video?!

You can purchase this online at Target for easy store pickup or for a few dollars more shipped to you via Amazon!

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01 Oct 2015 Beauty

LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette | Fall Makeup Tutorial

Happy October!! My favorite month is finally here! 🙂

I hope you guys enjoyed my review and swatches of the new LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette I put up yesterday! Today I have for you a tutorial using it! Originally I was recreating a gorgeous look Rihanna posted recently but I would have had to stray away from the palette for a foil for my lids so I detoured from my plan and this turned out to be a great fall look! Let me know what you think!

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