Spring time, baby!

Dear Newbies,

Spring is here. And being that I am a native to Florida, I love love love it! I get to spend more time outside by the beach, pool, at theme parks and festivals and just enjoying the weather. This makes Year 2 of my make-up/beauty obsession and I have to say, I have learned a TON since last year. Here are my Top Spring/Summer Tidbits for Newbies.

Wear Bronzers

I’ve stopped wearing face make-up but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want some kind of glow. My new Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick is perfect for a Springy/Summer glow.

And I know it’s a bit on a pricey side (ahem, $42) but yall gotta trust me on this one. Such a great investment! And I’m sure there are better dupes out there (namely Milani) but I’ve been having dreams about this Shimmerbrick since December of last year. I swirl my MAC 182 brush in this and lightly brush it on the apples of my cheeks. A little goes a long way and it gives me a noticeable but subtle shimmer. I love it! I didn’t think that darker skinned women could pull of bronzers, but honeyyyyy, we sho can. I’ll show you in the FOTDs to come.

Minimal Eye Shadows

I already have oily lids so going through the hassles of putting on 1-2 bases and 2-4 eye shadow colors on just isn’t something that I look forward to in the summertime. Instead, I just sweep a highlight under my brows. I still look “made up” but with little effort. Vanilla pigment is my HG highlight and looks great when applied with a fluffy brush.

Pretty Pouts

My lips aren't always so hot in the winter time because they tend to be drier. But during spring/summer, I love bustin’ pretty and rich colors. Yes, girl…even at the beach while sippin’ a pina colada. Pretty lips give the face instant glam! And lip products don't even have to be top of the line.

Ya feel me? $1.72 for N.Y.C. Gotta love it!

Fab nail colors with cute sandals

And when I say fab nail colors, I mean alllll colors! Orange, green, yellow, pink, purple, fire engine red….any and every color. And I love designer shoes like a lot of females but I also love to save some money and get twice as many pairs at Payless. Shooo…..I ain’t shame. I think these are mad cute for only $10.

And with colors like these....

(thanks Yums)

You couldn’t tell me anything…

So, see, newbsters...spring/summertime is great for us! Last year I spent a lot of time coming up with make-up designs with my terrible skills. This post is a great example of that. This time around I plan on taking it easy on the face, checking out new collections and perfecting liner on the lower lash line. That's my project of the season!

What's yours? Do you have any tips/suggestions for fellow newbies? Share them!

Image Sources: viewpoints.com, payless.com, chinaglaze.com

Hi lovelies!
My life is the busiest right now....and not in a good way, either so excuse me for bein' a bit behind on commenting and posting. I do have a little time to get up on 2 topics that my blog sistas Shawnta and Nywele (nap love!) tagged me on.





First....

My Top 10 Must Not Have Items

(1) MAC's Strobe Cream: A hot pearly mess on this woman of color. And it's too heavy on the face....AND it's too much money and you don't get enough product and I think it is just one unnecessary product (angry much?...hehe).

(2) Revlon eye shadows: Now I'm all for cheap but these colors are hardly pigmented. And the colors look a H.A.M. on....you guessed it---"this" woman of color.

(3) MAC Lipglasses: I know, I know....I purchase them, but the more I think about it, the less I like them. They aren't any better than other lip products. In fact, I find them to be more drying and they stay on less longer than the cheaper brands. And I'm sure there are hella dupes. I just got "caught" up because it's MAC. Towards the beginning of my blog, I vowed to never spend that much money on a lip product......ahem, 12 products later...

(4) Pantene Pro-V (in the gold bottle): You're kidding me right? Sulfate-galore.

(5) NYC Nail polishes. They are super cheap but these bad boys come off in 1.5 days. And don't even try to wash dishes. Chile please....

[PHOTO BREAK!!]

Now for the top 5 Beauty Crimes:

(1) I keep my mascara longer than 3 months.....and I don't care either. Muahahahaaaa.

(2) I purchase products because of a collection but I know good and dern well I will probably never used them (ahem, Fafi Eyes 1).

(3) I let my finger nails get too long. I don't even take the time to care for them the way that I should.

(4) I hardly wash my hair. Which is okay because I have a thicker texture but seriously....I can go 2-3 months without washing my hair and that's just not cute. I mean, it doesn't stink or anything---I'm just too lazy to wash it.

(5) I spend money I don't have on cosmetics. The biggest crime of them all! I still can't justify $10 on some eye shadow because that could be gas money, payin' off a bit of a student loan, a gift for my Mother, shoot....something else "more" important.

Have you done any of these yet? Let me knowwww!! I don't think I'm going to link anyone because I'm pretty sure most of done this already! I love these random question posts.....helps us get to know each other better. I'm a cornball, sing Kumbyah type yall, so don't mind me.

Allure's Beauty Spring Trends, part II comin' soon so stay tuned!

Peace & sunshine

The Younger B....

I had to do it. This is the newest OT self-reflection post floatin' around the beauty blog space. I had to get up on it because I love readin' you all's and doing them myself.

What I Would Tell the Younger Me

...now, I'm just turned 23 and I consider that to be pretty young. So I'm going to pretend as if I'm talking to the 18-year who moved out of the house in burbs of Tallahassee, Florida. She went to college 4 hours away and had no idea what her new life would bring her.

Look at her. Dorm room livin'..

All young and innocent at the tender age of 19. Well, actually....this was sophomore year when I wasn't so innocent, but I digress. LOL...and I'm going to write in Ebonics so if you need some translating, let me know! HA!

(1) Stop being so damn proud. You are going to need help so don't be actin' like you can do it all and let someone help you (prolly need to tell this to the current me too!).

(2) Stop trying to want to be "grown". Paying a bill don't make you grown and when you finally HAVE to be grown, you won't want to be. Trust.

(3) You are going to have some hard times. You are going to feel sad and alone but GOD will never leave you. Keep your optimism because that and GOD's love will be your strength.

(4) It's coo to desire the love of a man, but don't be runnin' after them. You are too worthy for that and if you gotta chase a man, then honey, he ain't the one.

(5) You were put on this Earth to write and help others. Don't worry how you are going to do it. You will. Stop stressing about your "purpose".

(6) Stop being so insecure. You are not fat. You'll look better in a few years though. Watch.

(7) You're not going to have it all together anytime soon so don't think that by the time you're 20 or 25, you will. Life ain't that easy.

(8) Stop thinking that people HAVE to do right by you. They don't. And they won't. So be prepared.

(9) Stop thinking that college is killing you. You're being too dramatic about it. Life AFTER college is what you really need to be fearing.

LOL...look at me.

This was around the time when I discovered strapless bras for us ladies with the DDs! Haaaaa. Too funny. Those were the days. No regrets in college. But I would pay a couple million to return to those days. I have yet to find the joys of NOT being a college student. That's why I'm takin' my ass back for graduate school!

What would you have like to the tell the "younger" you? I'd love to know!

Peace....inner and worldwide.

Road triiiiiip

Hey chicas! Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! Still shocked that I'm 23!

I'm back from my 2-day road trip. Of course I went to Orlando and hit up the MAC Pro store where I chatted it up with my new favorite artists who were happy to see me. I didn't buy anything (THAT'S THE FIRST!!!!!) but it was good to see some familiar faces. I went to Universal City Walk, saw some friends and saw Juno. Please go see this movie. That and The Great Debaters. And August Rush. Amaziiiing films.

Then I headed to Tampa Bay!!! My college home! Had so many memories in this city and was happy to be back. I went to my storage spot to go grab some things and got all sentimental.

*Yums, see the shine?*

My life in a storage room. Gotta love it. I need a home! And then I went around visiting my friends and got into this HUGE debate about Black women wearing red lipsticks. My girls were NAY and I was YAY. Many said that because their lips were already big, wearing red would make them look like a clown.

Now tell me.....do I look like a clown?

Seriously...women of color are still victims of what beauty should look like. While a crap-load of people plump their lips and go around lookin' a mess, we hate our beautiful naturally plump lips because back in the day we were hated on because of them. What a mess.

But I digress. Then my girls and I went to my favorite Thai restaurant. Aren't they fab?

The Fashionista, the Public Relations chic, the law student and the International Humanitarian. I have great lady friends!

And then before I went and got my brows threaded. I seriously think that Indian women truly understand the art of thick natural brows with an arch.

I swear, I won't let anyone else touch my brows. Only my Indian ladies and Sam Fine. That's it!! But I just can't get my left brow to look like the right. Dang, that bothers me! The right is just wonderful and the right is trying so hard to keep up.

More productive posts soon to come. I'm out living my last few days in Florida because I fly back to my poor volunteering life in Cali and I'm SO not looking forward to it. :( Yall bloggers have been updating like crazy. I can't keep uuuuup!

Peace and India.

Weekend Ish

So I'm back. No more flu. Thank you all for your well wishes. I healed myself again without the use of OTCs. Only herbal, homeopathic and aromatherapy remedies and blends. My Mommy is an herbalist and is big on the "natural" tip. I didn't play around with make-up too much last week since I was sick but I am thrilled at how my skin is looking these days. This is the best it has looked since I moved here. Of course I have 4 pimples getting ready to form but for the past 2 days....its looked fab. It's a shame that I can't have more acne-free days. LA smog, LA smog.

And I don't even wear StudioTech anymore.
I just do....
-Prep N Prime
-Mineralized Skin Finish
.....an eye shadow or two and just gooooo.

It's been a week since I've purchased Prep N Prime and I'm lovin' it so far. I'll do a beginner's review on it later. No complaints so far.

I haven't gotten around to playing with yellow eye shadows again like I said I was going to. No major beauty hauls this weekend either. Except this pretty little pearly color from Orly.

I'm staying far away from nail salons and especially acrylic nails. I'm really on this "self-beautification" thing these days. Which is why I spent 6 hours twisting my hair instead of pay someone else to do it. That was so not fun.

And I think I've found a good neutral look. Check it:

For a base I pulled out the UDPP and put MAC Paint Bamboo over it. I've been having some issues with Indianwood Paint Pot so I went back to the Paints and it's actually working REALLY well. So I use that....lightly apply Woodwinked with a fluffy brush, hit my crease with some Cranberry and my outer V with Carbon.

I love Carbon....who would have thought you could do so much with a Black matte eye shadow. It's such a staple for me.

I discovered 2 things about my eyes this weekend.
(1) I have a football field space between my eyes and eye brows. I'm serious. And I don't think it's a good thing. I have so much space between my eye and brows that I can't ever really do a highlight because I end up looking clownish!! The pic below is me bein' silly but I think it really shows just how much space I have! Urrggghhh!

(2) I have heavy lids. My lid goes completely over my crease. And then my crease disappears! I have to do the "surprised" (see above pic) look just for you to really see my eye make-up. I hate that! I'm thinking of doing a consultation (and payin' for it, I guess) at MAC to figure out how I can work with my eye shape. It's startin' to drive me nuts.

I'm so glad that this is a short week! I went out and purchased some FAB boots for my NYC trip.

*Yums, you see the baby wipes?
I'm so addicted to them, I stock up!*

I haven't been to NYC in a minute so I'm excited. I also went and purchased my first scarf. That's big here in Cali, I guess. In FL, you don't see anyone wearing a scarf and it gets pretty cold there too. Hmm, interesting.

And before I went home I went to Starbucks on La Cienega and Beverly Blvd....waiting to be discovered. LOL! Just kidding....*looks around*---not really though. Pulled out a book (after balancing the checkbook....gulp), put the feet up and just chillllled. The music was fab too. Prince, Jill Scott, India Arie, John Mayer...I was jammin'. And I'm not even a coffee drinker (this was my 2nd one this year!) but that Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha is amazing.

Yaaaay, tis all for now. Makin' my rounds to my other beauty blogs.

Peace and scarves!

Oh yeah....and the blog is gonna undergo some ugly construction.
I'm playin' around with HTML and doing some upgrading
so please excuse the mess. :)

Pure Randomness....

I can NOT wait for MAC's Collection of The Stylistics to drop. I think the packaging is just absolutely gorgeous! I wonder if the products are really worth the hype? It doesn't even matter! I'm just happy to see beautiful Alek on the center of this piece. Pro-Black and pro-MAC. They do a pretty decent job at showin' some brown folx. Missy, Eve, Mary J, Alek.....I can certainly support a company that shows brown skinned folx some love.

I thought about typing up the color story, but then I realized one of my favorite beauty blogs has already done that. Check out Temptalia for the complete cover story and beauuuuutiful pics of this upcoming collection. It's droppin' on November 29th. Normally I'd hit up my nearest MAC Pro store in Orlando......but then I moved to LA, so I usually run to the MAC Pro store off of Roberson a week before launch dates. Buuuut, I'll be in NYC so I'll be hittin' up their MAC Pro in Manhattan. Can't wait! Now whether I'll be able to afford more than 2 products from this collection is another story.

On a good note: my brows are growing back. It's been 8 days since....ahem, "the accident" and I've got hairs growin' like mad. I'll upload a picture later to show yall. I'm so happy. I'm broke beyond belief this weekend (oh wait....EVERY weekend) but I plan on working on some projects/designs. This weekend I want to:

(1) Watch some make-up videos (love EnKore!)
(2) Play around with my yellow shadows...just for fun.
(3) Invest in a kabuki.
(4) Check out fab fall nail polish colors...Alyssia, you're the inspiration for this one!
(5) Study MAC product ingredients (I have a MAC Employee manual. Don't even ask....hehe)
(6) Depot some eye shadows.
(7) Have a field day at the nearest CVS and check out Ardell lashes, Milani, CoverGirl, L'Oreal, Beauty of Essence brushes, etc.

....and that's just for the weekend. Let's see if I stick to it! Here's a completely "blah" but natural look I did yesterday after work.

I used (all MAC unless otherwise noted):
StudioTech NW45
Mineralized Skin Finish (Deep Dark)
Revlon Colorstay eyeliner
L'Oreal HIP Cream Eyeliner
NYC lip color
....and sprayed with Fix +

Yes, been wearin' the head wrap all week. I'm so damn dramatic---I trip my own self out. Pretty decent neutral look, I suppose. Thanks for showin' the love and for all of your comments/responses/tips/opinions. It is greatly appreciated!

Peace and UPDD

A Fab Video and other stuffs...

I absolutely love beauty folx who aren't caught up on just one brand of make-up. I've always been a hidden make-up lover, and it was MAC that brought out the obsession. However, I STILL can't help but have a field day in drugstores and Sephora. Hell, I even get excited to go down beauty aisle in grocery stores! Craziness, I know.

I stumbled upon this video from D0rksta's Beauty Blog. This man did a wonderful run through of his make-up collection and his essentials. It covered all the basics and as a newbie I found it to be extremely helpful! He even mentioned my Mineralized Skin Finish and I felt so proud. I was like, "Awww, I have that!" Please check out the video below for his tips, recs and reviews of make-up essentials. It's a good 10 minutes of such wonderfulness!



He's also on YouTube @ EnKore Make-up. I'm sooo watching all of his vids!

Aaaand, another thing. I've been running into some wonderful beauty blogs as of late. I'm so happy! I learn so much from other people.....their reviews, tutorials, pictures, experiences and products. You all are contributing to my success and motivation in the make-up world! Check out my Daily Beauty Marks for fab beauty blogs and some fun stuff too!

And also, I'm droppin' some links/addresses.

My MySpace:
DivineBlackness

Blog's Email Address:
ClumpsOfMascara@gmail.com

My Personal Blog:
Rantings of a Rebella

My Make-Up Photo Album:
An Attempt to Enhance

Love and Sally Hansen nail polish!