Saturday, July 17, 2010

My Favorite Things: Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm


Most girls have a shoe or bag obsession, I have a makeup obsession. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? During one of my recent sephora.com binges I happened upon the most amazing lip balm I have ever found.
I have very dry skin as it is and the Chicago weather can be extremely harsh on my poor lips! Never fear Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm is here to save you!

It's made with Shea butter, Avocado Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Lemon Peel, Chamomile, Green Tea, and Vitamin E. It also has SPF 25 to protect your lips from those damaging UVA and UVB rays. Most importantly it smells absolutely incredible.
I've found that most lip balms such as ChapStick and Burt's Bees only temporarily condition until the product is absorbed. When I use Jack's my lips continue to feel soft long after it wears off. It's a little bit pricey ($7), but in my opinion is a quality product that is worth every dollar!
Jack Black's comes in 3 flavours: Natural Mint, Lemon and Chamomile, and Vanilla and Lavender and is available here.

Friday, July 2, 2010

We Have a Winner!


Firstly,thank you to all who voted! It was a close call, but the winning look with a WHOPPING eight votes was.........the Smokey Eye!
Secondly, I profusely apologize for not keeping up with the postings, I'm really sorry. I could give excuses or I could just make up for it by giving you some rapid fire looks to make up for it!

I know I say this practically every time but, I really love the smoky eye look. It really draws attention to your face, and most importantly to those little windows into your soul! The smoky eye is a staple look that every fashion conscious girl should know how to do. One of the best things about this look is that it is so versatile. You can go more classic and use colors like black and brown, or you can make it modern by using colors such as purple or green as seen below.




Rules: 1. Thou shalt not wear a smoky eye with thin eye brows. Because it is so bold it must it must be anchored with a strong brow.
2. Thou shalt tone down all other features. The lips and cheeks must not compete for the attention.
3. Thou shalt feel like a powerful, ultra-feminine, beautiful woman when wearing the smoky eye.
4. Thou shalt apply several thick coats of mascara for the same reason as #1.
Tips: 1. Liberally apply a layer of powder under the eyes before you start to catch any shadow
that may fall. When you are finished simply sweep the powder off your face to avoid any under eye smudging.
2. Blend, blend, blend! Smudge, smudge, smudge!
3. Use many shades of which ever color you decide to do in order to make it as vibrant as possible.
4. Try to make a gradient of color starting with the very deepest shades at the outer corners and the lightest towards the inner corners.

All that being said, let's get get started!


The application technique for the eye shadow is the same as it's always been!

Eyes: Brow bone: Lightest brown from the Good Girl palette by Ulta.
Lid: Second lightest brown from the Good Girl palette by Ulta.
Crease: YDK, Smog, by Urban Decay
Outer Corner: Darkest brown from the Good Girl palette by Ulta, Twice Baked by Urban Decay
Inner Corner: Iceland by Ulta

Cheeks: Joy by E.L.F.
Lips: Everbloom Kiss Outlast Lipstain by Cover Girl
Eyeliner: Espresso by Ulta. With the smoky eye I tend to go a little bit heavier on the eyeliner. Tip: With the smoky eye I tend to go a little bit heavier on the eyeliner.To ensure long-lasting, smudge-proof eyeliner I take a small angled brush and lightly press a dark chocolate brown eyeshadow onto the lash line in order to set the eyeliner.