Spring Makeup Tutorial

Happy Wednesday, loves!

I have another tutorial for you! It is a Spring Makeup Tutorial and I love how it turned out! It has a lot of light pinks and just looks so fresh and bright! Please check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN9Iq48nd68

xoxo, Kayla

2014 Beauty Favorites: Eyes

Hey Pretties! Hope your week is going well! Only one week until CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Can you tell I have been excited all month long? :)

This next post is my favorite eye products from 2014. The majority of these products I have been using for the whole year and have consistently stayed my favorite all year long. I have loved them for a while now and I wouldn't be surprised if they made my favorites next year as well! We will have to see :)

PALETTES:

Every palette that I own, I adore. I love eyeshadow palettes and prefer them over single shadows. I just like how I have everything in one spot and knowing I have several shades that will go well together. Even though I could list all of my palettes as my favorites, these would have to be my top three. And if you are looking for any last minute Christmas gifts for a sister, friend, cousin etc... these palettes would be great for anyone!

• Chocolate Bar Palette by Too Faced - This is my all time, number one, nothing can beat it palette! I absolutely LOVE this palette! It is the perfect palette as it has shadows that are matte, shimmery, sparkly, neutral, bold... it just has everything you need! The shadows blend amazingly and are so easy to work with. The colors are gorgeous and the palette smells like a cup of hot chocolate. YUMMM! And I am like a little kid in a candy store this past week since the new Semi-Sweet palette came out! Girl, you already know I ordered it and I can't wait to get it!!!

Chocolate Bar Palette by Too Faced

• Naked 3 by Urban Decay - I love this palette because it is so feminine and girly. It is gorgeous! I love all the pinky, rosy colors! You can do something light and flirty or you can do something more sultry and sexy. I just think this is the ultimate palette for a girly-girl! Urban Decay's shadows are amazing quality. The shadows are so blendable and have so much pigmentation. If you love makeup, this is a must-have!

Naked 3 by Urban Decay

• Pro Palette by Lorac - I love the Pro Palette because it has as many matte shadows as it does shimmery/sparkly shadows. In most palettes, there are only usually 2 or 3 matte shadows. This palette has 8! I usually always use a matte shadow for my crease/transition color so I like that with this palette, I have more matte shadows to choose from. The Pro Palette has an amazing range of shadow choices and the shadows feel so silky and smooth. This is a great staple palette to have in your collection!

Pro Palette by Lorac

PRIMERS:

I think that there are a lot primers out there that work great. A lot of them do their typical job of what they are supposed to do - prevent creasing, help the longevity of the shadow and make the pigment pop. But these are the two that I constantly use and think that they are the best!

• Shadow Insurance in Candlelight by Too Faced - I have used this primer for several years now and it has become a staple for me. I do own the regular Shadow Insurance version but I prefer the Candlelight one. I like that it creates a really soft shimmer (the original version has no shimmer). It is so subtle and pretty and I think it really helps the shadows stand out a little bit more - almost in a glow-like way! This is the primer that sold me on eyeshadow primers. I never knew how amazing your eyeshadow could look with a primer - no creasing, lasts so much longer and the colors look so much more pigmented! This is definitely my go-to for higher end primers and I absolutely love it! 

• Eyelid Primer by e.l.f. - I discovered this primer a few months ago. Not only is it a great primer but the most amazing part about it is that it is only $1! Yes, only ONE DOLLAR!!! Go ahead and splurge on something you have been wanting and pick this up for next to nothing! And don't let the cheap price fool you! It works great and I am constantly going back and forth between this one and my Too Faced one. I notice it works just as good as my higher end primer and I am still amazed how cheap it is for such a great product!

Eyelid Primer by e.l.f.
Shadow Insurance in Candlelight by Too Faced

MASCARA:

If you have been following me for a while, you know it is hard for me to find a mascara that I truly love. Over the past several months of blogging, I have sampled some mascaras that have started to impress me. I have narrowed down my "likes" into the top two that I am truly loving and I think these are the best out there!

• Le Volume de Chanel by CHANEL - This has been my most favorite mascara I have tried all year. It makes my lashes look truly amazing! I have really short, stubby, fine lashes and this mascara makes me look like I have long, voluminous lashes! The formula isn't messy and it is super black! It only takes a few swipes and my lashes are looking so long and voluminous! It really is amazing! For a luxury brand, I feel like the $30 price tag for this mascara is definitely worth it! This sample has lasted me quite a while and I am most definitely going to purchase a full size when I run out! 

• Hypnose Drama by Lancome - Although Le Volume De Chanel has been my favorite mascara this year, Hypnose Drama is my second favorite. I just got this sample probably about a month ago but I have been really loving it. Like the CHANEL mascara, this is not messy at all. I absolutely hate thick, clumpy mascaras! I feel like it doesn't give me as much volume as Le Volume de Chanel but it definitely is comparable on the length I get with this mascara. I just like how clean this formula is and I like using this to apply a good base coat when wearing false lashes. It helps them blend easily into to the false lashes as they won't be clumpy. I am happy to have finally found some great mascaras that are working for me :)

Le Volume De Chanel by CHANEL
Hypnose Drama by Lancome

EYELINER:

90% of the time, I am wearing gel liner. I only use this same gel liner and rarely ever wear any other type of liner. I do not care for liquid eyeliner whatsoever. And if I by chance happen to wear anything other than my beloved gel liner, it will be the pencil eyeliner I mention below. And the best part is: they are both drugstore items!!

• Eye Studio Gel Liner in Blackest Black by Maybelline - When I started to experiment with gel liners, I was a little intimidated. But I quickly learned that applying gel liner is actually much easier than I thought! Once you practice a few times, you will get the hang of it easily! After trying out gel liners, I said goodbye to liquid! What I love about this gel liner from Maybelline is that it is so creamy and so pigmented. It just glides right on and makes your shadows POP! This liner stays put and I never have to worry about it smudging or feeling like it needs to be touched up. I love this gel liner and will forever continue to repurchase it!

• Silkissime Eyeliner in Black by L'Oreal - If I don't feel like taking the time do to gel liner, I will just quickly pop this liner on. It glides on so easily and effortlessly and that is what I love about it! But it is also so pigmented as well... and I love that even more! It will be just as bold as my gel liner and it will never smudge or wear away. I know that it is going to stay put and won't fade away throughout long day. This is the best pencil liner I have tried from the drugstore and if you use pencil liners, you should check this one out!

Silkissime Eyeliner by L'Oreal
Eye Studio Gel Liner by Maybelline

LASHES:

These are the two lash products I swear by. I haven't found anything better than these two, nor do I want to! They are awesome products and both so affordable!

• Sweet Romance by House of Lashes - If I ever could dream up a pair of perfect lashes, these would be it. I love these lashes and they are the only ones that I wear! I don't like wearing lashes that are too over the top. I don't want people to look at me and think "Those are the most obvious fake lashes I have ever seen in my life!" These lashes are perfect because they are SO natural looking but add just like right amount of length and volume. I get asked "What do you use to make your lashes look like that?" and girls are amazed when I tell them they are false lashes. They tell me they look so natural and that is exactly what I am going for! If you love false, natural-looking lashes you must try these out. And if you are a girl who is just getting into false lashes, I HIGHLY recommend these! It is amazing what a little bit of extra OOMPH to your lashes can do to make your eyes look even more amazing!

• Lash Grip Eyelash Adhesive by Ardell - I mentioned a while back that I have a love-hate relationship with this eyelash glue. It works AMAZING but it smells AWFUL! I never have to worry about my false lashes coming undone with this lash glue. They will make the lashes stay in place all day long with no worries about the corners coming off. But the smell of the glue is atrocious! It legit smells like manure mixed in chemicals. I know, I'm sorry that's disgusting. But it is so bad! I tried finding another glue but it did not work whatsoever. I have decided to just bear the smell when it comes out of the tube and once it dries you can't even smell it. If you can handle a couple of minutes of a very unpleasant smell, the result of not having to worry about lashes falling off is well worth it :o) 

Lash Grip by Ardell
Sweet Romance lashes by House of Lashes

BROWS:

• Brow Wiz by Anastasia Beverly Hills - I LOVE BROWS! This is the one and only brow product I use. And in my humble opinion, nothing out there is better than the Brow Wiz! There are so many color/shade choices offered for the Brow Wiz (I use "Taupe/formerly Ash Blonde") and the extra fine tip is perfect for filling in every sparse spot in your brows. Having shaped, filled in brows is SO important! It really defines your face and brings everything together when doing your makeup. If you don't fill in your brows, I suggest just giving it a try! What is awesome about the Brow Wiz is that it gives you perfect brows, yet it is so natural looking! I never filled in my brows before using this product and once I tried it out, I was hooked! It is amazing what having great brows can do for you!

Brow Wiz by Anastasia Beverly Hills

OK... That was a long post! :o)  Hope you got some good ideas and recommendations if you are in the market for some new eye products!

Have a wonderful weekend, loves!

xoxo Kayla

Travel Makeup Recommendations

Ciao Bellas!

Since the holidays are coming up, there is usually traveling that accompanies it to see family and friends! I thought that I would give you recommendations on some good travel makeup. Since I live out of a suitcase more in a year than I do my own home, I have had plenty of practice on trying to nail down the essentials when it comes to traveling with makeup! I will share what I think are key items to bring with you and hopefully it will help you to not overpack but still have exactly everything you need! 

1. You need a good palette

     Lorac Pro To Go - This palette is my absolute favorite travel palette. You have six eyeshadows, two blushes and a bronzer. It has so many things you need in a conveniently small-packaged palette! The shadows are all neutral so you can wear any outfit, any lip, any accessories and it is going to go with these shadows! You can create a simple day look or a smoky eye for night. This is definitely a must for traveling in my opinion!

Lorac Pro To Go

Lorac Pro To Go

     The Nudes by Maybelline - If you prefer to have more shadow choices, this would be a great palette to have. It has twelve shadows but it is still super slim and small and makes it great for traveling. Like the Pro To Go, you are also going to be able to wear these shadows with anything. They are all neutral and going to look fabulous with whatever you pair with it!

The Nudes by Maybelline

     Chocolate Bar Palette by Too Faced - If you prefer having both neutral shadows AND color, you can not go wrong with this palette! I adore this palette and it has been my favorite for a good six months now! You can create SO many looks with this palette. With a wide variety of color range, you can create the perfect holiday eye!

Chocolate Bar Palette by Too Faced

2. You need a blush that will compliment any look

     

     In my opinion, a peachy-coral blush looks good with everything! It is by far my most favorite shade of blush to wear and whenever I see other girls wearing it as well, I think it looks so beautiful! It looks so pretty on any skin tone! Here are some great options for a peachy-coral blush:

- Melba by MAC (a classic!)

- Luminoso by Milani (a GORGEOUS drugstore blush! You will look like you are glowing!)

- Bellisima by Kat Von D (go to Sephora and check out this hidden gem. STUNNING!)

From left to right: Melba, Luminoso, Bellisima

Bottom: Melba
Middle: Luminoso
Top: Bellisima
(In Natural Light)

3. You need a nude lip, pink lip and red lip

     It is easy to throw multiple lipsticks in your bag causing you to bring way more options than you need! I think by bringing these three lipsticks you are going to have exactly what you need no matter what look you are going for. A good pink lip for the day, a good red lip for going out, and a nude lip for anything in between! Here are some good options:

PINK

- Romance by Covergirl (I mentioned this in my last Friday Five!)

- J. Lo's Nude by L'Oreal (despite the terrible smell of L'Oreal lipsticks, I still love this color!)

- Creme Cup by MAC (my absolute favorite pink lipstick of all time!)

From left to right: Romance, J.Lo's Nude, Creme Cup

Bottom: Romance
Middle: J.Lo's Nude
Top: Creme Cup
(In Natural Light)

NUDE

- Nude Embrace by Maybelline (you can see me wearing this in a recent Insta pic!)

- Nearly Nude by e.l.f. (so affordable and so pretty!)

- Creme D'Nude by MAC (the perfect Nude in my eyes!)

From left to right: Nude Embrace, Nearly Nude, Creme D'Nude

Bottom: Nude Embrace
Middle: Nearly Nude
Top: Creme D'Nude
(In Natural Light)

RED

- F-Bomb by Urban Decay (This is the lipstick that got me hooked on red lips!)

- Ruby Woo by MAC (the best matte red of life!)

- Just Garnet by Wet N Wild (a shimmery, fuschia-red that screams HOLIDAY LIP!)

From left to right: F-Bomb, Ruby Woo, Just Garnet

Bottom: F-Bomb
Middle: Ruby Woo
Top: Just Garnet
(In Natural Light)

4. You need a NYX Butter Gloss

     These glosses are perfection! You need a good gloss to have in your purse when you need to apply something quick and easy on your lips... but they can also be paired on top of your lipstick and it looks gorgeous! I would recommend any of the shades NYX offers! Just go to Target and take your pick :)

NYX Butter Glosses

5. Samples are your best friend

     Now is the perfect time to use those samples you get from Ipsy, Birchbox and other makeup orders! Usually, I always have some sort of sample to cover my mascara, primers, perfumes, shampoo/conditioner and even use up those dreaded foil packets - they really do come in handy when traveling! It is much easier to travel with samples of products than full-size - so don't forget about your samples!

6. Everything else

     Then pack everything else you need!

- Foundation

- Concealer

- Highlighter 

- Bronzer

- Powders

- Brow Products
- Lash Products
- Setting Spray

- Brushes

I hope these are useful tips if you are needing to travel soon! So excited the holiday season is almost here!

xoxo Kayla

     

Friday Five: 11/14/14

Happy Friday, girlies! It is a rainy day here in France so it is a perfect day to snuggle up and drink some coffee :)

Here are the products that I have been loving this week:

1. Pro Palette by Lorac
     The palette I keep reaching for this week is the Pro Palette by Lorac. I just love it more and more every time I use it. It is such a great palette to have in your collection so if you don't already own it, I highly recommend going out and getting it! You get 8 matte shadows and 8 shimmer. I love that there is so much variety of both matte and shimmer. For instance, in the Naked palettes, there aren't as many matte shadows to choose from. I like in the Pro palette, I have more options. The pigmentation of these shadows are amazing and they blend wonderfully. Just a great, classic palette that I will always want to have in my collection!

Pro Palette by Lorac

   
2. Melba by MAC
     Another oldie, but goodie. This is another product you need as a staple in your collection! Melba is a very popular blush from MAC and I absolutely love it. I find that I like corally-peachy blushes the most and this is the perfect blush for my taste! It is so gorgeous! I have a lighter skin tone but I think this would look amazing on any skin tone - light or dark! I love MAC blushes and don't think you can go wrong with any of them!

Melba by MAC

Swatch of Melba

3. Nail Laquer #318 Light Mauve by Kiko
     This is one of the nail polishes I picked up in my Kiko haul (Read about the products I purchased here). I have been wearing this on my nails all week long and I am loving it. I am really digging the mauve colors recently! It does start to chip off after a few days but for the cheap price that I am paying for it, I don't really mind it. 

Light Mauve by Kiko

4. Super Gloss #126 Baby Pink by Kiko
     This is another product from Kiko that I have been loving this week. I got this gloss because it was really sheer and slightly shimmery and thought that I would like wearing it over different lipsticks. And I do like doing that, but I have been really liking wearing it alone this week! I have been wearing really minimal makeup this week and this sheer gloss is perfect for a minimal makeup look!

Baby Pink by Kiko

5. Lipperfection Lip Color in Romance by Covergirl
     I have only worn this once this week (since I have been doing the minimal makeup) but I have a newfound love for it all over again! This is probably one of the older lipsticks I have in my collection and I rarely use it. But I pulled it out to wear the other night and I am loving it again! Romance is such a pretty pinky-mauve. Since I have been loving mauve recently, that is probably why I love it so much! I will definitely be wearing this again soon!

Romance by Covergirl

Swatch of Romance

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend :)

xoxo Kayla


Find the products I mentioned here:

Pro Palette by Lorac

Melba by MAC

Light Mauve by Kiko

Baby Pink by Kiko

Romance by Covergirl

Friday Five: 9/12/14

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend, pretties!! :)

I have been trying to get this post up all day but my computer is not letting me access my photos :( I am sorry! I don't know what the deal is. So for this post, instead of having pictures of everything, I am just going to link each product to their corresponding websites after my thoughts. Hopefully I can figure out what the deal is before my next post!!

Anyways....I am so excited once again to share the products I have been loving this week! These past couple of weeks I have been loving some amazing products and I can't wait to share five more awesome items with you!

1. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Taupe/Ash Blonde
     To be honest, this is something that is a favorite every week. I use it every single day and it is, without a doubt, a holy grail product. I am OBSESSED with brows. The bolder and thicker, the better in my eyes! I wish I had Sofia Vergara's brows (as I posted on Insta recently) but unfortunately, my brows are not as amazing. I still do love my brows and the Anastasia Brow Wiz is the perfect tool to help me enhance them to make them look natural, perfectly shaped and filled. The Brow Wiz is just pure amazingness and might just be one of the best makeup products ever invented. FOR REAL. I love how fine the pencil is and lets you get in between all of your brow hairs to fill it in so your brows look perfect and uniform throughout. It doesn't wear away and I never have to worry about re-filling them in throughout the day. This product has definitely changed my brow game and I could not live without it! If you haven't checked it out, you need to ASAP!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

2. Sweet Romance lashes by House of Lashes
     These are also something I use weekly and a holy grail product. (I just felt like including a couple HG products this week, because hey.. they really are "Friday Five's"!) I am again, OBSESSED, with these lashes and they are the loves of my life. One of my first blog posts was on these lashes and I stated that I loved them so much because they are so natural looking. I am not one to wear big, bold lashes and love that no one can tell that these are false. They really do look real and I feel like my makeup is "naked" without them. Even though they are completely natural looking, they give you that extra little "oomph" and makes your eyes look so pretty! They are also so affordable ($9!) and such great quality that I can use them several times before needing to toss them. I just can't say enough great things about these lashes!

Sweet Romance lashes by House of Lashes


3. Lorac Pro To Go Eye/Cheek palette
     I picked this up not too long after I had gotten The Nudes eyeshadow palette by Maybelline. I loved how convenient it was to travel with The Nudes palette because it is smaller and makes it easy to toss in a small makeup bag. What's awesome about the Lorac Pro To Go is that it not only has eyeshadows, but blushes and a bronzer as well! This palette has 6 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, and 1 bronzer. It is so great how they made this palette so compact and made it the ultimate travel palette by including all of the shadows, blushes and bronzer in one! This palette includes so many things that I need to travel with creating less clutter in my bag because I don't need a separate bronzer, a separate blush, and a separate eyeshadow palatte. And I don't only just use it for something easy to travel with! Everything is so beautiful and pigmented and I reach for it at home over my larger palettes! Which is exactly what I have been doing this week :)

Lorac Pro To Go Eye/Cheek palette

4. Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black
     I have heard really good things about this eyeliner and decided I needed to check it out for myself. I prefer gel eyeliners over pencil or liquid and this gel liner definitely did not disappoint me. The formula of this eyeliner is awesome. It is super creamy and just glides right on. It stays in place all day and doesn't smudge or smear. And it really is a "blackest black". It is super pigmented and I never feel the need to add more to make it look darker. I know that I will keep re-purchasing this. I love when I find drugstore items that I will use on a regular basis. Just because something is drugstore and not high end doesn't mean it isn't an amazing product!

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner


5. Chance Eau Tendre Sheer Moisture Mist by CHANEL
     O! M! G!!!!!! I discovered CHANEL's Chance Eau Tendre a couple of months ago and fell absolute, head over heels, in love with it! It is definitely competing with my favorite scent Daisy by Marc Jacobs as my number one perfume. I was just randomly smelling different perfumes at Macy's one day and came across this one and I was blown away by it. (And I am definitely not a perfume junkie!) It is a fruity, feminine, absolutely gorgeous scent. I was so tempted to purchase it but wasn't ready to spend the $90 on it. Then last week, I was doing some online shopping and I don't even know how, but I ended up on CHANEL's website... Funny how that happens :) I saw that they offered more of like a body spray in this moisture mist that I did not see in the store. As soon as I saw it was half the price of the perfume, I felt that gave me reason to finally buy it :) After I purchased it, I already knew this would be in my Friday Five this week! I anxiously awaited for its arrival and have been using it every day since I received it. I just can't get enough! If you're looking for a new perfume, I would HIGHLY recommend checking this one out!!!

Chance Eau Tendre Sheer Moisture Mist by CHANEL

HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND!


xoxo Kayla

Friday Five: 8/15/14

Happy Friday <3

You know the drill..... Here are my faves this week :)

(ps.. they are all eye products this week!)

1. Better Than Sex Mascara by Too Faced
     I have been using this mascara every day! I love how my lashes have been looking when using this. It gives my lashes length and volume and I don't notice any clumping or flaking away throughout the day. I also love the packaging. It feels so glamorous! It is so sleek and the tube is heavier than most mascara tubes and it makes me feel like I have a luxurious treasure :) I am super picky about mascaras... I can never find any that I think look good so I find it to be a personal victory for myself that I have a mascara in my top five :) 

2. Smoky Cream Liner in Must Have (Waterproof) by Sephora
     I got this gel liner a while back in an eyeliner set from Sephora. This was actually the first gel liner I ever tried and I still love it! At first I was a little intimidated applying a gel liner but it glides on sooo easily! It is super creamy and it doesn't get hard and break up during the day at all. "Must Have" is a black color and it is SUPER black.. very pigmented! I have been using it all week because I have been wanting a bolder liner every day and this literally only takes a few seconds to apply and I am good to go! This is a great product from the Sephora line and I am very impressed with it!

3. The Nudes Palette by Maybelline
     I just posted a review on this palette in my last post. Check it out to find out my thoughts on it! And those are all of the reasons why I have been loving this palette this week! :)

4. Behind the Scenes Eye Primer by Lorac
     This is a great eye primer in my opinion! It works so well for me as it helps keep my eye makeup just as fresh looking as when I applied it. It helps keep the color vibrant and helps the shadows to be long wearing. With some eye primers, I have noticed that some of it will settle in certain areas and be almost a cakey-like consistency which then makes the shadows look cakey. I have never experienced that with this eye primer and know that I can always count on it giving a great base for my eyeshadow.

5. Infallible Eye Shadow in Iced Latte by L'Oreal
     I had to get this pigment because in one day I saw two reviews on it and I was sold! I watched Jaclyn Hill use it in one of her videos and then I was reading one of my favorite blogs "Make Me Up Mia" and Mia had done a review on a few of these Infallible Eye Shadows. "Iced Latte" was one of them and I was able to see the color up close and see how pretty it was! I was obsessed and needed it immediately after reading her review! I went out that day and got it and I have been absolutely loving it! I have been using this color mostly on the lid and I need to go out and get more! It is so easy to work with and I apply it with either a brush or my finger. You barely need any product and you are set for the day! 

And there you have it! You could get a whole eye look out of these products :)

Have a fabulous weekend, dolls!

xoxo Kayla