Hair Fashion Friday - How to Create the Lady Gaga Bow Bun!

Hey beauties!

Here in Rhode Island, the weather has been wicked hot and extremely humid. I love to wear my hair down, but sometimes I just can't handle it and want to get all of my hair out of my face and off my neck. When the weather is this hot, I usually will wear a messy bun. But the other day, I wanted to make the bun a little more special, so I decided to rock the Lady Gaga bow bun! It is super easy to do and it looks really cute and feminine. I had quite a few people ask me how I did this, so I figured I would do a quick tutorial for y'all! :)

What you'll need:

- An elastic the color of your hair
- Bobby pins the color of your hair
- Hairspray

First off, you want to start by gathering all of your hair into a high ponytail. Tie it with the elastic, but instead of pulling all of your hair through on the last turn, only pull half of your hair through and leave it in a loop. Also, make sure you do not pull your hair completely through. You will want to leave a little tail hanging from the loop.

After you have your hair in the loop, you will want to split the loop in half, vertically.

After you have your loop split, take the little tail of hair that is left and pull it straight up.

After you have the tail straight up, you want to take the tail and wrap it between the split that you made.

Secure the tail with a couple bobby pins that are the color of your hair. As you can see in the picture above, my bow loops are a little small, so I just used my fingers to pull them apart and fluff them up a bit. I finished by spraying some hairspray to tame the flyaways and any hair that may be sticking out of the bow.

And, this is the finished look! As you can see, it really is SUPER easy and really cute! If I can do it, anyone can do it. I had posted a picture on a beauty Facebook page, and someone asked me if thin haired people can pull this look off? Just to let y'all know, my hair is super thin and if I was able to achieve this, I think people with any hair texture, thin or thick can. Of course, the thicker your hair the bigger your bow will be.

Would you ever rock this look!? Let me know if you decide to try it! I would love to see some pictures!

Hope you guys are all having an awesome summer!

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri

Eep! New True Blood Inspired Makeup and Body Line Coming to HSN...

 Hey Beauties,

This is a real impromptu blog post, but anything that includes True Blood PLUS makeup requires immediate attention!

As I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook, I noticed HSN had a post about a new True Blopod line that is coming to HSN in early August. I don't know all the details about the new line yet. So I clicked on the link and started reading the article and noticed that Deborah Lippmann will be joining forces with True Blood and HSN to create this line.

The line looks like it will contain six nail polishes, a dark, deep red lipstick, a fragrance called Forsaken, body cream, powder, candles and reed diffusers.

I am most excited for the set that contains the lipstick and one deep blood red nail polish. It will retail for $28 and be available to order exclusively from HSN on August 9, 2012!

 

  
Image from news.instyle.com

 This is the set that I will DEFINITELY be ordering!

  Image from news.instyle.com

I'm not sure if this will be the entire collection, but it is looking like it will be since this was all that was featured on the site.

For more information on the new True Blood collection check out THIS site!

I am so excited, if you couldn't already tell! So will you be purchasing anything from this collection?! True Blood is by far my favorite show, so I can't wait!

Face of the Day, Outfit of the Day, Nail of the Day and Small Beauty Haul! 6.28.2012

Hey beauties!

Two posts in about 24 hrs! Wow, I must be sick. Haha. Well, today I had a loooong doctors appointment, so I decided to dress casual and since it is super hot here now, I wore one of my new summer tops!

I was so excited to wear my new top today. I had it all planned out since last night. Haha. I think I actually did a post on this shirt when I bought it waaaay back in February/March. I have just now wore it and I love it! It is super cute, and actually one of my nurses LOVED it!

 

 In the upper left corner is my eye makeup and lower left is my hair and earrings. I just did a simple pony and pulled my bangs back. 

I got the neon yellow lace top at Forever 21, back in March-ish. It was about $12. The teal tank underneath also came from Forever 21 and was only $2.80. I bought the dark wash, distressed denim shorts also from Forever 21, but they were bought last summer for $19.80. I wore simple white flip flops and my zebra shell earrings that I got when I went to Bermuda.

My makeup started simple, but then kind of intensified after I found a duo that I had for a year but never used because I lost it. Haha. I didn't wear any thing on my face because it was so warm and humid today. I used Too Faced Chocolat Soleil Bronzer all over my face for an instant glow. I used my favorite Mary Lou-Manizer as a cheek highlight as well as used it on my cupid's bow. For the eyes, I used my Loreal Infalliable shadow in Amber Rush, theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer in my inner corner and brow bone highlight and the Loreal HIP Duo in Riotous on the lower lash line and in the outer corner. I kept my lips simple and used a Revlon Gloss in Rose Gold.

 

I am LOVING WnW I Need a Refresh-Mint!

I just picked up the WnW polish today and I heart it! I did two coats of WnW I Need a Refresh-Mint. I probably could have gotten away with doing one thicker coat, because it was pretty opaque after my first application. I added some glitter in Spoiled's Pet My Peacock on my ring finger and thumb. It has pretty gold, teal and purple round glitters in it. I really am enjoying this nail polish and this combo!

I picked up a few items at Walgreen's today, none of which were planned. Lol

After my long doctors appointment, I stopped into Walgreens because I NEED to find the Wet and Wild and Fergie nail polish collection before the 4th of July! I have an awesome mani planned and need one of their new polishes that has star shaped glitters! Unfortunately, my Walgreens did not have them yet and the lady told me to check back on Saturday. Even though I didn't get what I went for, I still browsed the cosmetic isle quickly and saw that they had the new Maybelline BB Cream. I am not a huge fan of the Garnier BB Cream because of the fragrance, so I figured I'd give this a go! I paid just $8 for it, so it wasn't that expensive either. It contains 1oz and the best part is it doesn't have a strong fragrance!!! I will be doing a full review soon on it! I also picked up the Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara. It has gotten a lot of buzz around the YouTube and Facebook community lately, and for only $2.99, I figured I'd pick it up and try it. I tried it this afternoon and so far, it seems ok. I'll let ya know more after I use it a few times! Then, as I was walking to check out, on an end cap, they had WnW nail polishes. They came with a Mega Last color and then the top coat. I've always wanted I Need a Refresh-Mint, but never got it. So, since this came with a top coat, for the same price as just getting one polish ($1.99), I bought it cuz it was like getting the top coat free! So far, I am LOVING the color as you can see from the picture above!! :)

So that is it for now! I may be picking up a few more beauty and clothing items this weekend as I am hitting up Target and Walmart. I'm also going to see Magic Mike tomorrow with a few friends! So excited for that, so I'll be wearing my new BB Cream to test it out!

Have an awesome weekend and try to stay cool!

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri :)

My CHEAP Version of Ciate's Caviar Nails...

Hey babes!

I'm so so sorry, but I realized it's been a couple weeks since I last updated this thing. Ugh. Lots has happened. I was in the hospital for a week. I just got out about 4 days ago. This whole Crohn's disease thing is REALLY unpredictable and caused me lots of pain and other unpleasant symptoms, so I headed to the ER and they liked me so much, they kept me for a whole week. Ha! No really, I'm doing a little better now. I'm actually thinking of starting a second blog about my life with Crohn's, so if I do, I will link it here.

Anyways, while I was in the hospital I had a caviar manicure on that I did myself. I really, really like the look of them, but I really, really did not like the price tag of the Ciate Caviar Manicure Set that is sold at Sephora. For about $25 USD, you get one bottle of nail polish and one bottle (the size of the nail polish) filled with microbeads. So yea, $25 for what, beads and one jar of polish? Ummm, nope, I was NOT going to jump on the Ciate trend. So being little Crafty Keri, I decided to search for microbeads somewhere else. Initially I was going to go to Walmart, but I didn't have luck there. Then I went to the Dollar Tree to get some cleaning supplies, and what do you know... I found microbeads!!!! And the best part was, they were a freakin' BUCK! So I went completely wild and bought TWO packages! :)

It literally is the SIMPLEST manicure EVER! If you can pain your nails, you can do the caviar manicure. All you need is a bottle of your favorite nail polish and matching microbeads. If you have those two items, you can achieve the $25 Ciate look and NO ONE will ever know the difference!

 Here I used Spoiled polish in Let's Eat Sushi and yellow and white microbeads from the Dollar Tree. So simple and so cute!

First, you want to take what ever color polish you choose and paint one coat and let it dry completely. Once it is dried, go ahead and paint a second coat that is a tad bit thicker than the first one.

I polished two coats on this nail, now it's ready for the beads.

Immediately after you paint your nail, take a handful of whatever microbeads you are using and pour them onto your wet nail. It will be MUCH easier, if you paint all 10 fingers with the first coat, let them dry and then go back and do the second coat one nail at a time. So paint a thicker second coat, add beads immediately, then proceed to the next nail.

 These are the beads I found at my Dollar Tree. I bought two packs. I used about a bottle and a half for one manicure that I did on all of my fingers. 

After you sprinkle the beads on your nails, you want to press down the beads gently to get them to stick into the second layer of polish you applied. Don't press too hard, just pack 'em in there. Also press along the top of the nails, to make sure there are no microbeads that are hanging off the tips of your nails. After that you can add a top clear coat, but it is totally optional. I personally did at a top coat. But if you do choose to, be careful and use a VERY, VERY thin amount of top coat. If you use too much, it'll settle into the beads and look like a gloppy mess *lesson learned*. Lol :)

So there ya have it! It's seriously, SO simple. I got complimented on it by every single nurse that came in to take my blood pressure and O2. Lol. So save your money and go the budget friendly route and get your beads anywhere BUT Sephora. I'm sorry, I'm a huge fan of Sephora, but to me, this just feels like its ripping people off, when you can get the SAME exact results for a BUCK! Lol!

Okie, enough rambling. Lol. I took some pics over the days I had the mani on to show you the wear of the mani. Overall, I got about 4 days of good wear. My right hand, which I use for everything lost beads a lot quicker than my left hand. Overall, I'm pleased with both the outcome and wear and will definitely be doing these manis again.

 

This is just after applying the caviar manicure.

 

 30 hours after application - still looking great! 

 

 50 hours after applying the mani - few beads fell off, but overall it looks good.

 

 78 hours after the manicure - as you can see my left hand looks good still, with only a few beads missing. But my right hand is a HOT mess. Lol. 

 Overall, I give caviar manis a thumbs up! Have you tried them yet? Will you buy the Ciate set or go a budget friendly route? 

I am planning on doing a really awesome 4th of July mani, so I will post that the weekend after the 4th, so keep a look out for that!

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,

Keri :-P

OOTD and FOTD for June 10, 2012!

Hey Babes!

Today was my little nephew's Baptism! I can't believe Preston is already almost 9 months old! Boy, does time really fly by!?! After such a miserable week, weather wise, today turned out to be a beautiful, warm and sunny day. I wanted to break out one of my cute summer dresses, but had a hard time deciding which one, since I have quite a few and love them all. I decided to go with one of my newer dresses. I was happy with my choice because it was really colorful and was a perfect fit for such a great day.

I LOVE one shoulder dresses. I think the cut really flatters me. They are a fun way to show a little skin during the summer months!

I bought this dress at Walmart a few weeks back. I found it in the junior department. Lately, I have been VERY pleased with the clothes that I have found there. I think they are definitely stepping up their game with the quality and appearance of their clothing. I purchased this dress for just $12.88. I paired this dress with a simple pair of black flats, that I also bought at Walmart for just $5. For accessories, I wore my diamond encrusted Mickey Mouse ears necklace and black and white zebra print shell earrings that I bought when I was in Bermuda a few weeks ago.

Since the weather was SO incredibly nice out, I decided to add some bright colors into my makeup. I focused primarily on my eyes and kept the rest of my face pretty neutral.

I really enjoyed creating this look, and I did the eye look with primarily drugstore products!

Even though this look has a lot of bright colors, I still think it can be very wearable if you keep the rest of the face neutral.

 

I achieved this look with primarily drug store products. The Cover Girl trio that I used was not very pigmented and very powdery, but I made it work by using a primer and a white base. Even though these shadows are not the best quality, I still am happy with the way this look came out and I will continue to use this palette because I really am enjoying the bright green that came with it.

Products Used:

Eyes:

- ELF Eyelid Primer in Sheer
- NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin (lid)
- Cover Girl Eye Enhancers Trio in Firecracker (pink- outter v and crease; green- inner corner and lower lash line)
- Tarte Light, Camera, Lashes Mascara

Face:

- Milani Minerals Blush with Brush in Luminous
- theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer

Lips:

- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Just Enuff Buff
- Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait


I hope you guys enjoyed this look and had a great weekend! I can't wait to do more makeup looks that include bright colors!


Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri :-P

True Blood: Sookie Stackhouse Inspired Makeup *May 2012 Collab*

Hey guys!

Sorry I have kind of been MIA. I went on a cruise to Bermuda a couple weeks ago, and then a few days after I got back, I got sick :(
I haven't been feeling good at all. Thankfully, I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. So hopefully, he can get things straightened out and I can get back to feeling well and posting more. I have so much that I want to blog about, especially from my vacation! I took lots of pics and cant wait to post them! :)

If you remember from last month, I did a collab with a bunch of other talented bloggers and Youtubers (links are below). Well, it is time for another collab post, this one is a collab that is inspired by a TV show or TV character. I am really excited to be doing this look. As all of you Trubies know, True Blood is coming back on for the summer in just a few short days! So in honor of the show coming back on, I am going to be doing a makeup look that is inspired by Anna Paquin's character, Sookie Stackhouse! I've used mostly drugstore makeup, so this is SUPER affordable!

My Favorite show! Can't wait for season 5!

Sookie wears very little makeup, but always looks amazing!

If you watch the show, you know Sookie wears very little makeup, but always looks flawless and put together. So, I am going to show you my take on her beautiful, simple, everyday makeup look. I hope you enjoy

I used this pic as my main focus, but pulled inspiration from all the photos I posted!

So, here is my Sookie Stackhouse makeup look! I'll be wearing this when I watch the premiere next week!

Sookie's makeup look is real simple to achieve. I really think anyone could do it!

Sookie is very natural with her makeup. I used the VANITY palette from Wet n Wild and used primarily the two lightest matte colors. I used the darkest matte color to darken the outter v up just a tad. I used the lightest shimmery shade as an inner corner color and a little bit for a brow bone highlight.I think the most prominent makeup on Sookie's eyes is the white eyeliner that is on her lower waterline. That really makes her eyes pop more than they already do. So I tried to make that my focal point.

 This eye makeup could definitely be worn as an every day look.

I stayed really simple on the blush and used a peachy color. Sookies cheek bones are very defined, so I used a matte bronzer to define my cheek bones.

Her lips are pretty much a 'her lips but better color'. They are very natural. If anything, they have a slight berry tint to them. I used my Berry Smoothie Lip Butter from Revlon and made it a little more toned down by adding a nude lip color over top of the Berry Smoothie.

 To give the look a bit of color, you could also add a colored eyeliner to the lower lash line to instantly punch up the look! Oh yea, please don't mind my hair. Lol. I did this look at 2am! Haha!

I hope you liked my Sookie look! I really enjoyed doing this, and may continue doing a True Blood series. We will see where the summer takes me!

Products used-

Eyes:

- ELF Eyelid Primer in Sheer
- Wet n Wild Vanity Palette
-Avon Glimmerstick in Brown Sugar
- ELF Gel Eyeliner in Black
- ELF Studio Eyeliner and Shadow Stick in Pearl/Glow
-Revlon Photoready 3D Volume Mascara

Face:

-  Milani Minerals Blush with Brush in Luminous
- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Lips:

- Revlon's Berry Smoothie Lip Butter
- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Just Enuff Buff

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri

*As always, make sure you check out the other talented bloggers and Youtubers who took part in this fun collab! They all came up with amazing looks inspired by television shows and characters! 

Lauren
Yt Channel: Redheadphd
Title: Mad Men's Joan Holloway FOTD
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihymPia7GUw

Kelly
Yt Channel: Kellywolstenhom1
Title: New Girl Zooey D. Look
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDf3NpwmtWM&lc=zlS7hBdKoShoCToDPVzQ5DhBysd...

Natalie
Yt Channel: Purplestars1986
Title: TV Inspired Collab: Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice
Links:
-Yt Video (Tutorial): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEQUDOXs4U4&feature=g-upl
-Blog Post (Pictures): http://purplestarmakeup.blogspot.com/2012/06/tv-inspired-collab-lydia-deetz-f...

Laurie Ann
Yt Channel: Beautymakeupandmore
Title: Nina Dobrev Inspired Look
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym8K0RLjCMU

Emily
Blog: Southern Gorgeous
Title: Glamazon Collab: TV Inspired Makeup Irene Adler
Link: http://southerngorgeous.blogspot.com/2012/05/glamazon-collab-tv-inspired-make...

Maggie
Blog: Vibrancy On a Brush
Title: House M.D.-Inspired Manicure
Link: http://vibrantbrush.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-collab-house-md-inspired-manicur...

Jason
Yt Channel: BeausicBlog
Title: Dianna Agron/Quinn Fabray Glee Season 3 Finale Inspired Makeup
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HsO7v7OQMY&feature=youtu.be

Rock Concert Makeup!

Hey Babes!

Along with all things beauty and style related, music is a HUGE part of my life! It always has been and I am sure it always will be. Rock and metal music has helped me get through tough times in my life, especially when I was going through my diagnosis with Crohn's disease. Anyways, my first 'rock' concert was No Doubt back when I was in junior high school. After that show, I became a concert junkie and went to shows whenever I had free time (and extra money).

My all time favorite concert that I went to was the 2003 Ozzfest. The lineup was insane!!! On the main stage, it included Korn, Manson, Disturbed (my all time favorite!), Chevelle and of course Ozzy. At that time, I wasn't really into makeup all that much. I probably just threw on some blush and lip gloss and called it a day. But, over the years my love for makeup increased, so I had to figure out a makeup look that would work for those intense nights spent at a rock or metal show.

Last Monday, I went to a Korn concert with one of my friends so this was the perfect opportunity to show you how I rock my makeup (no pun intended. Haha!) at shows. It was inside and in a really small venue. Since I figured it was going to be real warm, I definitely did not want to wear a full face of makeup. I wanted to play up my eyes a little, so I started thinking and this is the look that I came up with!

 

Here is what I decided to wear to the Korn show. I decided to keep the makeup light, but still really pretty. I like how the inner corners of my eyes are highlighted and the focus of the look. 

I'm really digging the pop of color on the lower lash line trend!

 

I achieved this look with just 4 different eyeshadows and a jumbo eye pencil! It seriously only took 5 minutes, tops!

Eyes:

- Urban Decay Primer Potion

- theBalm's Nude 'Tude Palette (Stand-Offish, Sultry, Serious and Sassy)

- NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Oyster on lower lash line

- Urban Decay's 24/7 Eyeliner in Perversion on water line

- Tarte's Light, Camera, Lashes Mascara

Face:

- Milani's Blush with Brush in Luminous

- theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer

Lips:

- Milani's Lipstick in Grape-Tini

This look is super simple, but I think it's really pretty and it is appropriate for a concert. It isn't so much that you stand out and look like you don't fit in with the crowd, but it is just enough to make you look polished and put together. 

What is your favorite concert you've been to!? What kind of makeup do you where when you go to a show!? My next show is System of a Down! They are coming in August! 

I will be back from vacation in a few days, and be back to posting regularly sometime in the beginning of the week!

Stay forever beautiful!

Love and hugs,

Keri  :-P