Starbucks. FAB.

Well, I'm a Starbucks junkie. The first step is admitting you have a problem right?
Living at Starbucks has given me the opportunity to further enhance my people watching skills. Call me a creep if you want, but the checkers tutor wearing the bath robe is quite hard to look away from.
He doesn't wear makeup though, so no need to give you the secrets behind his beauty regiments.
The woman sitting next to bath-robe-man though, happened to have the coolest color lipstick on!
It wasn't red, it wasn't coral, it wasn't pink. Honestly, I don't know what color it was, but it was fabulous. I stared at her lips for a while trying to use my art school knowledge to decipher the color. But as I got lost in trying to choose between magenta and plum, I noticed she was staring right at me. It wasn't a look of disgust or confusion though. Just an intent moment of eye locking. It was the weirdest moment of my life between another female and myself. Anyway, I tried to pretend I wasn't the creepiest person ever and just asked her what brand her lipstick was, and she told me the coolest thing!
She made it herself!
She took old lipsticks, melted them, put the melted contents in a form and then let it harden. I was shocked, and SO intrigued. There was nothing else behind the process though. Just as simple and knowing what colors to mix and making sure you had a mold that would give it some shape.
Cool right?
I tried it myself, and have not quite mastered it yet (I'm not one to get things right the first time).
So I encourage you all to try it yourselves. Take the ends of some old lipsticks and go to town.
One day you may have some creep in Starbucks staring at your lips too.

Get a little cray cray; it's fun. 

Tragic Blush Drabulosity.

Rosie red cheeks. What girl doesn't want that little pop of color? It's cute and really adds a glow to any lovely ladies already beautiful face! But, it becomes a problem when you apply too much blush OR apply it in the complete wrong spot. 

You're probably thinking "huh? There is no wrong spot!" 

Oh but there is my dears. 

For example; the other day I encountered a woman in Kroger. She gave me nasty looks while I handed her my Kroger Plus Card. (Sorry you hate your job, but I do not appreciate, nor do I accept your nasty looks, m'am.) So I quickly deemed her Ms. Nastypants for all the nasty looks. Childish? Maybe so, but I was just acting accordingly. Anyway, Ms. Nastypants, is a prime example for this lesson on blush. It looked like a child drew all over her cheeks with a red Crayola marker. (Luckily those markers are washable with water.) 

Not only did she apply at least 50 coats too many; she also had it all concentrated in little circles under the apples of her cheeks. I didn't even know what to make of this sight other than, birthday clown, maybe? (If you couldn't tell, I really was not a fan of her.)

Take a lesson from Ms. Nastypants. DO NOT apply 50 coats of blush! 

Find the proper color for your skin tone (lighter for light skin, darker for dark skin) and gently sweep the color on the apples of your cheeks. I like to smile a little while I apply it, so I can target the apples directly. Make sure you blend it all out along your cheekbones. Avoid streaky blush lines though, or you'll have to do your whole face over again. (Ain't nobody got time for that! Still relevant right? )

As long as you are kind and gentle to your brush it will treat you right in return; giving you a nice glow and warmth that Ms. Nastypants will never achieve! 

Go ahead girl, make those cheeks pop! The ones on your face, of course. 

Heck, make the other cheeks pop too; you're fab!

A Tale of DRAB Lipstick.

It was a typical, slow day at work, when all of a sudden woman walked through the door. A pale woman wearing BLACK lipstick. I literally thought Elvira had come to steal my soul. Luckily, this woman was not actually coming to reap souls. She turned out to be one of the most perky people I've ever met. (You know, one of those people you want to slap for being so nice?) It's funny how the scariest people always turn out to be the nicest.

Although I was beyond glad to interact with a decent human being; I could not stop staring at those deathly black lips. I couldn't even be sassy and tell the woman that she looked like the Grimm Reaper; I mean, how do you tell the nicest person ever that they look like a terrifying mess?
I just couldn't do it. So, I let her walk out of the store to face the rest of the world like that.
I won't let you guys down though!

Choosing the proper lip shade for yourself is incredibly important. One shade off, and you could look like a hot mess; or my new Elvira friend (I don't really know which is worse).
Here's an easy guide to keep in mind when you're standing amongst 100's of shades of lipstick.
(Of course there are always exceptions. But, sometimes it's good to play it safe.)

1) Pale Skin = Pale Shades
- Dark shades will make you look more pale. You are lucky though, not many people can pull off a pale shade without looking they have chalk on their lips.

2) Medium Skin = Bright Colors or Dark Shades
- You are pretty lucky, you can pull of a variety of different shades. Test em' out.

3) Dark Skin = Dark Shades or Quirky Colors
- You could probably pull off that black lipstick with the right wardrobe. And you're super lucky because those crazy bright purple shades that you see will look totally fab and make your lips pop!

Keep this in mind, play it safe, and you'll have a fabulous winning shade each time.
Bye bye Elvira. Hello Elle Macpherson!

Eyebrow Arching Fabulosity.

Okay guys, let's try a quick game.

Google a picture of your celebrity beauty idol; in my case Mila Kunis. Now take your index finger and place it over their eyebrows. Not looking so beautiful anymore, huh? 

Shapely eyebrows are an incredibly important aspect of your face! 

Of course, most of us are not blessed with thick, perfectly arched eyebrows. I actually have the complete opposite of this myself. "Thin, un-contoured random hairs above my eyelids" is probably the best description. Apparently these thin eyebrows run in my family, so I had no choice but to learn how to combat this curse. Luckily, it's super easy to get those perfect Kardashian brows. (Basically, my brow pencil is my best friend. No shame.)

For those of you just starting on your eyebrow contouring journey, try using some tape. Tape your brows off just like you would your cat eye eyeliner and use the same coloring book idea; but keep it nice and light. Don't want to get that caterpillar look. (Andy Rooney much?)
It's as easy as finding your brow shade, sticking on tape, and going to work.

Once you're comfortable getting the contour right, do it with out the tape boarders. You'll be surprised how your hand remembers the way to your perfect shape.
Soon enough you'll be a pro with some absolutely fab brows that'll blow those Kardashians out of the water!

(Or, if worse comes to worse, pluck those brows out completely and compensate with some ivy. JK!)