The Power Of Makeup

Last year the amazingly talented NikkieTutorials broke the internet and started a phenomenon that has overtaken the beauty community and social media. The phenomenon I'm talking about is known as "The Power of Makeup". Too often makeup artists and enthusiasts are shamed for being incredible at transforming and bringing forth the most beautiful aspects of women around the world. It breaks my heart every single time I see someone's art degraded, knowing full well that all of the ugly and hateful comments that people make solely represent an inner self-loathing that is being projected outward.

But more than that, I blame social media for spreading so many unrealistic images of perfection, brainwashing people into thinking they're not perfect just the way they are. Worse than that, it gives everyone unrealistic expectations of each other so that they can't see true beauty if it was looking them right in the face. If you have any gifts or talents at all, you shouldn't be ashamed of them. Express those talents to the best of your ability and don't waste them.

"Do you ever not wear makeup?," I've heard this phrase countless times, especially from men. My response? Actually, I don't wear makeup every day, mainly because my skin and eyes are too sensitive to bare it. And yet, I'm blessed with this talent for doing it -- kind of ironic if you ask me. But so what if I did wear makeup everyday? That's the troublesome question that has been bothering me lately. So what? Would it hurt anyone if I did wear makeup everyday? Does it cause world hunger and poverty? Is it really that bad of a thing?

Personally, I think that anyone who makes you feel bad for who you are and what you love, doesn't deserve a spot in your life. These words are easier to type than they are to live by; trust me I know. I have first-hand experience with what it's like to feel ashamed that I was artistic. I hid it from friends, family, and coworkers for the longest until not being myself got to be entirely too much to handle. Unfortunately there's quite a few hard truths you'll have to swallow in life, a couple of which are: People don't like what they don't understand and You can't please everybody. Once you accept those facts, I think the road to self-love becomes that much easier.

And that's what I think "The Power Of Makeup" is all about. It's not just about the negativity and hate that has crept its way into the beauty community. Regardless if you do makeup or not, the message is about self-love. Whether it means you want to find a cure for something, become a pro athlete, or like to cake that makeup on, you be you.


XO♥ 

A Pop Of Color: Christmas Makeup Tutorial

Ahh!! Merry Christmas, everyone! I know we've all been looking forward to this day for months now. We get to open up all these goodies that we've allowed ourselves and our family to splurge on just this one time out of the year. And we all deserve it for working our tooshies off. But more than anything physical, I hope you and your families receive all the success, happiness, and wealth today, tomorrow, and all of the days of  the new year.

I had a lot of help from you all on Twitter in deciding which tutorials to do for the holidays and this is actually one of the chosen ones. A pop of color is an easy way to introduce brighter shades into your look without completely overwhelming the senses. It's especially nice if you're brand new to makeup and want to play around. I'm personally in love with green shades like this and have to fight myself to not use them so often for the sake of versatility on my blog!


Tutorial

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1♥ After priming my lids with the Lorac Behind The Scenes Eye Primer, I took M3 (light blush) from the Smashbox Full Exposure Palette on a small blending brush and applied it as my transition shade between the brow bone and crease. Today, I did not take this shade up as high as I normally do.

2♥ To create more dimension, I swept M6 (medium charcoal grey) more directly into my crease using the same blending brush. I found that I had to build up this color quite a bit, but this aspect made it really easy to blend into the transition shade.

3♥ Before I went into the main lid color, I wanted to add a base lid shade. So I wet my flat synthetic shader brush with my Evian Facial Spray (you can take any setting spray you have on hand) before applying S5 (satin taupe) to the inner two thirds of my lid. This will act as a good base for the pigment that will be used in the next step.

4♥ Using the same dampened synthetic brush from the last step, I applied Makeup Geek Utopia Pigment right over the base shade on the inner two thirds of my lid. I love this glitter because you can use it wet and create a foiled effect or you can apply it dry like a more chunky glitter.

5♥ For more definition, I applied M7 (black) to the blank outer third of the lid all the way into the crease. Make sure to blend this shade well into the crease colors and blur out the line between it and the pigment. To do this I used the small blending brush from the other steps in windshield wiper motions. If you feel like too much of the pigment has been dusted off, you can take whatever is left on the flat shader brush and pat over it.

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6♥ Apply your winged eyeliner. I made a relatively thin wing for my standards because the look is a little "bottom heavy" so I didn't want to do too much. To make my wing I used the Milani Eye Tech Extreme Liquid Eye Liner in Blackest Black.

7♥ Now for this step, it would be much more effective if you applied a green eyeliner, but I didn't have one so I just worked with what I had. I took the Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Peacock (teal) through my waterline and slightly onto my lower lash line as a base for the shadows to come. You don't need to apply much of this product because it is very emollient and creamy and a little goes a long way!

8♥ Now for the "pop". Using a pencil brush, I used Grasshopper (bright grassy green) from the Urban Decay Vice 4 Palette to smudge out the eyeliner. Luckily this shade was able to transform the base into a nice green color, but I think this would have looked even better on top of a dark green eyeliner. To just slightly blend out the edges, I took that same shade that I used as my transition shade earlier on an angled shader brush and focused on the edges of the green shadow only.

9♥ I wanted even more green, so I did what I always do--add glitter! With a small detail brush, I first applied the LA Splash Splash Proof Sealer Base on top of the green shadow. Then, I patted the Nyx Glitter On The Go in Forest on top of it. Glitter is always festive, especially when it catches the light, and it takes this simple look up a notch.

10♥ Add the finishing touches! As always I applied Mac Nylon Eyeshadow to my brow bone and used the House of Lashes "Smokey Muse" lashes. I still felt there was something special missing from the look, so I just added the cute little adhesive rhinestone that I got in a pack from Michael's, the art supply store.

Face Deets

♥ Foundation - Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless

♥ Concealer - LA Girl Pro Conceal

♥ Brows - Nyx Micro Brow Pencil in Taupe

♥ Bronzer - Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder in Naked Dark

♥ Blush - Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

♥ Highlight - Sephora Radiant Luminizing Drops in Ultralight topped with Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal

♥ Lips - Nyx Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Sandstorm

XO♥