Spring Makeup Collaboration -- Gorgeous Geraniums!!

Hey beauty babes!

I am excited to write this post, as it is my first ever collaboration! The theme for April's collab is spring makeup. So many ideas started going through my head, so it was so hard to decide on a look to do. I decided that I wanted to do an eye look that was inspired by a springtime flower. I took to the web to help narrow down my choices and after looking at hundreds of flowers, I decided that I would model my look after the Geranium - 'Elke' flower that blooms in late spring.

The Geranium 'Elke' flower is present during late spring to mid fall. The white, greens and different shades of pink are the colors that helped me decide to pick this flower as inspiration!

I love doing looks that have color in them. Don't get me wrong, I definitely LOVE my neutrals, but I prefer to jazz up a look with a pop of color! I added some pink shadow and a teal-green liner to add some life to the neutral shadows. On my cheeks, I used a pink blush and a pretty champagne color highlighter. I finished the look with a pinky-purple lipstick that practically matches my natural lip color. I am really pleased with the way this look came out and will definitely be rocking it lots more during the springtime!

 My finished look! I am very pleased with the outcome and got several compliments by family and friends! 

This is how my eye makeup looks with my eye open. Even though it has a couple different colors, I still think it is a very wearable look. 

 Here is a picture of my eye look with my eye closed. I think the colors resemble those in the Geranium. The green liner reminds me of the steams and the lighter and deeper pink on my eye is also present in the flower.

Here is a list of the products I used:

Eyes:

- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- theBalm's Nude 'Tude Palette (Snobby, Stand-offish, Sultry, Serious)
- Urban Decay's Fun Palette (Woodstock and Uzi)
- Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Junkie (lower lash line)
- Tarte's Light, Camera, Lashes mascara

Face:

- Benefit's Bella Bamba
- theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer
- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil

Lips:

- Milani Grape-tini

I am also rocking a new hairstyle (review on the product will be coming soon) in the large picture. I hope you enjoy this look. I had a great time creating it! :) 

Make sure you check out the other awesome YouTubers and bloggers that took part in this amazing spring collab! I included all of their info below. Everyone who participated is extremely talented and I promise you wont be disappointed with the springtime looks that they came up with. Every month, myself and the other bloggers and YouTubers below, will be partaking in a monthly featured collab, so make sure you check back often so you don't miss a post!

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

Spring Collab Participants:

- Britney
Blog: The Glam Goddess
Post: http://britters89.blogspot.com/2012/04/glamazon-spring-collab.html

- Amy
Blog: Polish and Such
Post: http://polishandsuch.blogspot.com/2012/04/glamazon-april-collab-spring-splatter.html 

- Laurie Ann
Youtube: Beautymakeupandmore 
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--W19uzdD5k 

- Stephanie Louise
Blog: All things Beautiful
Post: http://stephanielouiseatb.blogspot.com/2012/04/glamazon-spring-2012-collab-coral.html

- Wendy
Blog: LuvLifeBeauty
Post:  http://luvlifebeauty.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/2549/

- Kerrie
Blog: Gorgeous-Glamour
Post:  http://www.gorgeousglamblog.com/#!/2012/04/glamazon-spring-collab.html

- Natalie
Blog: Purplestar Makeup
Youtube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NCu8NGiWbbw
Post: http://purplestarmakeup.blogspot.com/2012/04/playful-pastels-glamazon-spring-collab.html

- Therese
Blog: Animal Friendly Beauty
Post: http://animalfriendlybeauty-therese.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-into-summer-with-bh-cosmetics.html

- Robert
Blog: Makeup Insider
Post: http://www.makeupinsider.net/2012/04/glamazon-collab-spring-inspired-makeup.html

FOTD 4.24.2012, MyGlam Contest and Potential Wedding Updo!!

Hey beauty babes!!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Sunday my friend, Linda, picked me up around 4ish and we went to Target to pick up ingredients to make s'mores. Everybody knows that you can't walk into Target and get just what you went in for. Lol. Besides marshmallows, I ended up purchasing some deodorant, soap and eye makeup remover, (which I ended up getting them all for FREE. I will explain how in the next post), and some real cute animal print socks!! As we were walking past the little girl's section, I spotted this wicked cute shirt. It caught my eye for several different reasons; it was bright pink, it had a cute cupcake on it and the sleeves have shoulder cutouts! I wanted to get it SO bad, but didn't think it would fit. So, me being me, I decided to try the shirt on in the middle of the store. To my surprise, it ended up fitting!! I was excited for two reasons - 1. It was super cute and I wanted it. 2. It was in the little girl's department which means I lost even more weight!! Woot! Go me! Haha!

My super cute shirt! It is from the Disney Jessie Prescott Collection at Target. You can't really see the cutout sleeves that great. I will be doing a haul on all the clothing I bought for my vacation to Bermuda, so I will show them better then.

After I went to Target, I ended up going over my other friends house for our monthly game night. I didn't want to wear too much makeup, since we were just playing board games but I also wanted to look nice and put together. The weather was real dreary and gloomy so I definitely wanted to add some color to my eye look. Here is what I ended up wearing...

I am really loving the neutral eye with a colored liner on the lower lash line. It really adds a little something special to the look! 

Eyes: 

- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- theBalm's Nude 'Tude Palette (Stand-offish, Sultry, Sassy, Schitzo)
- Urban Decay's Naked 2 (Verve, Blackout)
- NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Horse Raddish (lower lash line)
- Urban Decay FlipSide (lower lash line)

Face:

- Benefit's Bella Bamba
- theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer

Lips:

- Burt's Bee Nourishing Lip Balm with Mango Butter
- Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Coralberry

I really liked the way this look came out, so I am going to enter it into MyGlam's latest contest. The contest lasts all month long. All you have to do is upload a picture of your favorite eye look to the MyGlam Facebook page explaining your look and what products you used. You are encouraged to use Urban Decay products and the UD 24/7 liner that came in the April Glam Bag, since the prize is an AMAZING Urban Decay mini vault of their new reformulated eyeshadows. So fingers crossed!!! :)

I know this blog post is a little long, I promise I'm almost done. Before I go, I wanted to post a picture of a hairstyle that I came up with yesterday. I think it came out pretty good, especially since this was the first time that I did it. I think this is going to be the way I wear my hair for the wedding that I am in. It's next weekend, so I still have a little time to play around and to perfect it. The bride made us flowers to put in our hair, so that will dress it up a bit.

This is the low messy side bun that I came up with. I got the idea from a picture I saw of Selena Gomez. She wore this to a red carpet event last year. I couldn't get a pic of the back, but it did look cute. 

So whatcha think!? Do you like the hairstyle!? I think it came out good for a novice. Lol. Do you think it'll look good for a Spring wedding!?

Thanks for reading this long, random post! Lol! Hope y'all have a GREAT week!

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

Braided Bridesmaids Hairstyles - Opinions Needed, Please!

Hey beauty babes!

This past Fall, one of my good friends asked me to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming May 2012 wedding. Of course I said yes. I have known her since I was in 5th grade, for over 20 years! We lost touch for a couple years during college, but regained friendship shortly after. When she asked me to be a part of one of the most important days of her life, I was honored. Of course with me being into style, beauty and makeup like I am, I was really excited to go dress shopping, look at hairstyles and bridal makeup .

All the bridesmaids went dress shopping back in December. The bride wasn't too sure if she wanted us to wear a long dress or a short dress. After trying on several dresses, she ended up going with a really pretty light, pale blue long dress. The dress is flattering and looks great on all of the girls, which is hard seeing as we are all so different. The color is pretty, but it is a bit hard for me to pull off because I am so pale. I definitely need to go tanning a few times before hand. The bride said, since we all got the same dress, we could each pick out whatever shoes we want to wear - we just had to make sure they were silver. I picked out really cute 3-inch silver, sandal heals that are very glittery and sparkly!

I think these shoes are so cute! The best part was they were SO cheap! Originally they were priced at $35. But when I bought them at Deb's, they were marked down to just $9!!! What a steal! :)

I am going to be doing my own makeup. I am going to use one of my neutral palettes (either my Naked, Naked 2 or Nude 'Tude) and do a soft neutral bronze eye with nice liner and lots of mascara! I am going to go with a soft peach cheek. My focal point with be my lips - I plan on wearing one of my NYX round lipsticks in a coral shade.

I have everything planned out except how I'm going to wear my hair. This has been something I've been struggling with since the beginning. My friend wants out hair to be up. I went over her house a few days ago and we were looking online at updos. I pointed out some that I liked, most of which were braided styles. Since my hair is so thin and I have NO idea how to work with it, I am going to get it done by a hairstylist. The problem is, I don't know which one to pick! I put some pictures below to show you some styles that I like and were thinking about doing for the wedding. I need your help on deciding on which one will look best on my thin hair. 

This look is simple yet classy. It will definitely be warm during the wedding and this style will keep my hair off my neck. 

 I like this style because it is not polished and a little messy. I prefer the messy look over the polished look. 

 This updo doesn't have a braid, but I still really like it. I really like the soft, side-swept bangs. 

 This braided style looks like the first one, but isn't so perfect and polished. 

 The bride wants our hair up, but I love this look. I would just tie my hair into a low messy bun.

 This is probably my favorite look out of the ones here. Its very soft and messy. 

 I think this style is different. I like the small braids all throughout. 

So, whatcha think!? Which styles do you like best and why!? Which do you think I should wear!? The wedding is just a little more than 2 weeks away, so I need to make a decision quick. Please leave a comment letting me know which you think would work for my hair type and which style I should rock!

Thanks for helping!



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

*All hairstyle pictures were borrowed from Google Image, except for the last one which was borrowed from Amy Elizabeth's Hair Design Facebook Page.

OOTD and FOTD - Bachelorette Party Fun: April 14, 2012

Hey guys!
I haven't done a FOTD post in quite some time, so I figure I am way past due! Plus, I have actually never done an OOTD. So I decided to make a post combining the two. Saturday, was one of my good friends bachelorette party. We started the day around 1pm and ended late, around 1am. I had to find both an outfit and makeup that was day and night time appropriate and I had to dress comfortable as the day involved a lot of walking.

The weather was absolutely beautiful yesterday! It was about 70 degrees and it was very sunny. The outfit that I had planned, would have been too warm for the day, so I modified it a bit. I started out with just a cute, black and blue leopard print dress that I bought in the Fall at PayHalf for just $5!!! I paired it with a little grey cami and finished the look with black sling-back flats that had a cute little bow on the top. Since we were out all day and night, the weather took a dip into the 50s around 8pm. I brought a pair of black leggings and a cute cropped dark denim jacket with me. I'm glad I thought to bring them, because I changed into my legging and jacket (while keeping the dress on) before we started the night's activities. I totally forgot to take pictures of my outfit with the leggings and jacket on, so you will just have to imagine what it looked like! ;-)

Here is the outfit that I started the day with. I bought this dress at PayHalf for just $5. I bought the grey cami from Marshals a few weeks ago, so they still might have them.

These are my new shoes that I picked up from Payless. I bought them just a few days ago for just $14.99 (a little less with my AAA discount)! They also have them in white, blue, red and floral. They are super comfy. I walked over 2 miles in them with no problems at all!

I wanted to do a pop of color with my eye makeup, but I HATE wearing blue eyeshadow. I haven't figured out how to get it to work for me. So I took to Facebook and got some suggestions to try purple. I think it worked out pretty well! My eye makeup lasted from 10am in the morning til I got home at 1am. I was pretty impressed with the outcome. Now, I know my face looks a little redder than normal. I had a BAD reaction to a product that I used a few days ago. My face has little micro-scratches all over it. It is healing but, as you can see I am still pinker than usual. Lol. I will be doing a post on the product and what exactly happened soon.

Here is my FOTD. I will list the products I used below. My face is still a little red, but it does look A LOT better than it did on Thursday and Friday. Ugh, what a mess it was! Lol!

Eyes:
-ELF Eyelid Primer in Sheer
-Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (Verve, YDK, Blackout, Busted and Bootycall)
-NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Oyster (lower lash line)
-Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister (lower lash line)
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion
-Revlon Photoready 3D Mascara

Face:
-theBalm's Mary Lou-Manizer
(I didn't need blush because my face is still red! Ha!)

Lips:
-NYX Round Lipstick in Margarita
-Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Coral Reef

And that's a wrap! I tried to list everything that I wore and used for makeup. If you have any questions, please make sure you either email me or find me on FB or Twitter! Oh! I am also on Instagram as of last wk! My user name is Cupcakey83, make sure you add me and I will add you right back!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri :)

Nail of the Day: April 10, 2012 & A Quick Review!

Hey guys!

Sorry its been super long since I last updated! I have been going through a lot health wise. First I was struck with a cold, then a nasty stomach bug, then my Crohn's disease went into a mini flare-up and lastly, my allergies decided to show up and make me completely miserable. Ugh! It totally sucked. I didn't feel like doing a single thing except lay in my bed and watch Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Haha! Easter Sunday, was the first day in about two weeks that I actually wore makeup and it felt pretty darn good! My allergies are still bothering me but thanks to a wonderful drug called Nasonex, I'm feeling lots better! So, I'm back for good now! :)

Ok, so my first post back is going to be a Nail of the Day (NOTD) and a quick review on a couple colors from the Spoiled nail polish line. Last week, CVS had a great sale. Spoiled nail polish was buy 2 get 1 free! I ended up getting six different colors for just $7, thanks to the sale and my Extra Care Bucks. I will be reviewing them all eventually as I wear them, but for now, this post will focus on just two of the ones I bought: Toad-ly Amazing and Uh, As If!

Spoiled nail polish in Toad-ly Amazing and Uh, As If!

Spoiled nail polish is made by Wet n Wild. They have a huge selection of 72 different colors ranging from pastels to brights to neons to sparkles. There is definitely something for everyone's taste! The brush is very thick, one swipe covers my entire nail. There has been talk about some of the brushes being cut uneven, but luckily I haven't experienced that with any of my polishes.

I used Toad-ly Amazing on all of my nails, but on my accent nail I used Uh, As If! I painted them Saturday and it is now Tuesday and I have no chipping!

As you can see from the pictures the colors are amazing! The color that you see in the jar, is the color that will transfer on to your nails. Toad-ly Amazing is a blueish, green that has hints of gold and silver shimmer running through (depending on the light). Uh, As If is a bright, bold pink that also contains a bit shimmer. These colors are perfect for the spring and summer and Uh, As If! Is the perfect color for the bright/neon trend that is going on for the summer months.

These polishes wear amazingly well for just $1.99 (cheaper if you can catch a sale)! I have had the same manicure on for three days and do not have any chipping yet! I have washed dishes, showered, played with my nephews and my nails still look nice and fresh! I would definitely recommend picking some up at your local CVS! Make sure you hurry though, because I have heard that these polishes are limited edition.

Have you picked up any nail polishes from the Spoiled collection!? If you did, what colors did you buy!? And what do you think of the brand!?

Oh, I almost forgot! I wanted to let you guys know that I won a giveaway from theBalm! I will be receiving their Nude 'Tude palette! I am excited as I don't own much from theBalm. I do currently own Mary Lou-Manizer and it has become a staple in my everyday routine. I am excited to become more familiar with the brand! Make sure you check out theBalm's Facebook page if you want your chance to win a free product from them!

I'm SO excited! I NEVER win anything!!! As soon as I receive it and get a chance to play around with it a bit, I will be doing looks and a review on the Nude 'Tude palette!

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

*Drab to Fab* - How to Bling Out Your Brushes!

Hey Beauty Babes!

A couple weeks ago I bought some new brushes that were really fun and bright. They were so me! I love anything that is bright and fun! When I put them in my brush holder, I noticed my plain white brushes looked so blah next to my new ones. Lol. I wanted to do something to add some color and fun to them. So, I went inside my craft bin and dug around until I found some pretty cool stuff to bling them out!

I started with my $1 ELF face brush. The handle is pretty thick compared to most brushes, so this took a little longer than I expected. It was still super easy and the end result is definitely worth it!

Here is my ELF face brush blinged out with light blue and champagne mini rhinestones.

I showed a bunch of people my new and improved brushes and they all loved them. I got great feedback and some people even wanted me to do a tutorial on my blog. Even though it is so simple, I figured I would still do a step-by-step post on how to get super cute brushes!


First, gather your supplies. You only need a few things, most you probably have laying around your house.

Here is everything you will need to get super fun, sparkly brushes!

Supplies:
- Makeup brush
- Super glue
- Tweezers
- Rhinestones

You can use as many or as few rhinestone colors as you would like. I chose to use two different colors, light blue and champagne. After gathering your supplies, put a small layer of glue around the brush. Take your tweezers and add your rhinestones one by one in what ever pattern you choose.

Here is the first row of light blue rhinestones glued to the eyeshadow brush.

I decided to do one row of all light blue and then the next row I added all champagne. I went back and forth between the two colors. After I finished gluing down the first row of rhinestones, I repeated the same step, by adding a layer of super glue around the brush. Then I picked up the champagne rhinestones with my tweezers and added them one by one around the brush.

Make sure you just add a small amount of glue each time, because the super glue does dry quick.

Keep going back and forth between the two colors (or whatever pattern you decide on) until you completely cover your brush with rhinestones. It's pretty simple and its a easy way to jazz up your boring brushes! You can get real creative and add multiple different colors and different designs. Your brushes will be totally unique and no one will ever have the same brushes as you!

Isn't my finished blinged out ELF eyeshadow brush cute! It went from drab to fab in just a short amount of time!

Collectively, it took about an hour to complete. The face brush took a bit longer because it is a lot bigger. I did this a little over a week ago, and haven't had any rhinestones fall off. Just make sure you keep a few extra rhinestones on hand in case one does pop off you can just glue it back on! This would be a great DIY gift to give to friends and it is just a fun way to dress up your own collection!

Now go grab your brushes and some glue and rhinestones and get to blingging! Let me know if you blinged your brushes. I would love to see some pictures!

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri

*First Impression* - theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer

Hey Beauty Babes!

I was out with my sister today running some errands and got an email on my phone from UPS saying that theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer that I ordered from Hautelook had been delivered! It was supposed to arrive tomorrow, but it came a day early! I wasn't home so they left it out in front of my door, which I HATE! Anyways, I am super excited because I am starting to slowly build up my high end cosmetic collection and ordering from Hautelook is a great way to do so without breaking bank!

This is going to be a quick first impressions post! theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer is extremely popular in the world-of-makeup. If you ask people to recommend a good highlighter, they will point you to Mary-Lou! That is how I ended up ordering it, and so far, I am glad I did! Here are a few pics of Miss Mary-Lou Manizer!

theBalms Mary-Lou Manizer would look great on most skin tones!

This compact contains a ton of product! It is huge! I know people say that certain makeup lasts them 'forever', but I am pretty sure this will literally last me FOREVER! This highlighter is definitely very noticeable, so you only need a little bit to get the job done. Mary-Lou is a very pretty shimmery-champagne color with gold undertones. It is very soft and when I swatched it on my hand, it blended with ease.

The packaging is ADORABLE! Very vintage!

This highlighter does not contain actual glitters. It is very, very shimmery, so a little bit of product goes a real long way. If you are not careful when applying, I am sure it would be very easy to over do it with this product. So make sure you use a light hand when applying, unless you are going for a heavy, shimmery look. This product can be applied all over your face, you do not have to use it just on your cheeks. To get that glowy, shimmery look, try applying it to your lips and eyes.

This compact contains .30 oz of product and retails for $24. I was lucky enough to find this on Hautelook and only paid $12!

I only rubbed my finger over the highlight twice and got a very heavy swatch! As you can see this swatch is not blended. A light hand is need when applying this product!

Since I just got this yesterday, I've only played with it a little bit. I am sure I will be getting A LOT of use out of this, as I just adore highlighters! I can already tell, this will be my 'go to' product when I am looking to add a bit of shimmer to my look!

I know lots of you guys took advantage of this being on Hautelook. If you ordered it, did you receive it yet? What is your first impressions of Mary-Lou!?

Stay forever beautiful!
Love and hugs,
Keri

Song of the Day - Actually just watching Tarte on QVC! :-P