Tips for [Prom] Makeup

Hey Lovelies!!!

For this week's blog post, I wanted to share with you some helpful tips. Now these tips are kind of intended for prom, as its around that time of the year when high schools have their proms, but these tips can also be used for other special occasions (graduations, birthday parties, weddings, etc.), or even just every day looks. And just this week I was asked by two of my closest friends from when I danced to do their makeup for their prom. Now, both girls have quite different complexions, hair color, eye color, skin types, and also different colored prom dresses, so I had to do quite different makeup looks for both of them. Neither of them wear much makeup on a regular basis so I didn't go too dramatic on their makeup; I actually kept it quite simple but it still came out quite nice. And as I was doing the makeup, I was explaining to them the process I went through to pick out their makeup looks. So I figured I should share it with my readers as well! So here we go:

♥ Do your research!- Figure out what you're wearing especially the color. Also figure out what colors work best for your complexion, hair color, eye color, etc. It might seem like a lot to consider, but I can assure you that you'll find something even if it's not all in one place.

♥ Know what you're comfortable with- Know what kind of makeup you feel comfortable wearing for an entire night. If you're having someone else do your makeup, make sure they know of this comfort zone and that they follow it!

♥ Practice!!- This step is crucial in assuring that your makeup comes out the way you want. And practice more that just once. This way you can learn different ways to apply the makeup to get the desired look. And for people with sensitive skin, this step will avoid having a reaction to makeup on the big night! If someone is doing your makeup for you, it might be a good idea to have them do a trial run so that you know what you'll look like on prom night.

♥ Less is more- I can promise you that less is more when it comes to makeup. No one wants to show up to prom with cakey face makeup, raccoon eyes, and smeared lipstick (I mean, I guess it would make prom unforgettable...). If you aren't too experienced, I would suggest not going too much more intense than your regular, everyday makeup.

♥ Be prepared for touch-ups- If you want your makeup to look the same at the end of the night as it did at the beginning, make sure you're ready to apply some touch-ups. I would suggest bringing your lip product, setting powder (or even blotting papers), concealer, and maybe an eye liner. But don't be focused on keeping up with your makeup, focus on having a good night!

Now these are my best tips for makeup for your big night! Also, if you have any other tips to share, please leave them in the comments below as they might be very helpful for someone reading this!!! Keep in mind that I never went to prom (I'm not one for those types of events...) so I've never put these tips to test myself. I have, however, done people's prom makeup for three years now and I always ask how the makeup held up. So far, I've had nothing but great results, which I'm super thankful for! If any of you have questions about the prom makeup that I do, please leave a comment or tweet me; I'd love to answer! Until next time, stay beautiful!!

♥♥♥

My Life in Boxes

Hey Lovelies!!!

So this past week, I finished my first year of college and moved back home. This past year has definitely been the best year of my life. I've met so many amazing people and grown so much as a person. I've made the best friends I could ask for and I know that we're going to be friends for a LONG TIME. And I think it's because of my friends that I've gained a ton of self-confidence and have become way more friendly and outgoing. And to think that back in December I wanted to quit school. I can't help but think how different my life would be right now... So, if any of you feel like school isn't for you, give it a chance because it will get better!

Now that I'm home, I'm already missing all my college friends! It's really strange to be back home alone. I can't look forward to our group meals in the dining hall at 12:20 and 6:00 every day. It's so different that we're already planning a huge pool party for later this summer for a huge mid-summer reunion. And we're all counting down the days already!

I'm also really sad to be leaving my job at Aeropostale. Well, actually me and my friend are transferring to the one closer to us for the summer, but it's still not the same. The people that I work with at the Aero near school are the nicest, coolest group of people I've ever met! I literally love every single one of them! A few of us have already made plans to meet up during the summer because 4 months apart is just too long!

Other than missing all of my friends, it is pretty nice to be home. Sleeping at home is so peaceful and quiet and I actually feel fully rested for the first time in months. Eating is so much better at home too! Everyone was so sick of dining hall food that being at home is like being in a gourmet kitchen. The only downsides being having to cook your own food and not having all of your favorite friends with you.

The most annoying part of moving back home was definitely packing everything up. I've been so busy these past few days that I haven't even gotten the chance to unpack everything yet. So for now, I'm living out of boxes and suitcases. My room is the biggest mess I've ever seen. Tomorrow is the first day that I actually have time to do some unpacking and laundry (THANK GOD!!!) and I can't wait. I have OCD so you can imagine how much anxiety I've had just being in my room these past few days. The excitement of getting my room cleaned up and back to normal is unreal!

I'm sorry that this wasn't one of my normal beauty blog posts. I've had a lot going on this week between finals, packing, and moving back home so I didn't have time to prepare for anything. So I figured I'd update you all on what's happening. And now that I'm home, I'll have some pretty great blog posts coming your way very soon! So get ready for that!!! Anyways, I'm off to bed but I'll be back next Sunday as usual! And until then, stay beautiful!!!

♥♥♥

April Favorites

Hey Lovelies!!!

It's that time again... Monthly Favorites!!! YAY! But before you get too excited, I have some kind of bad news.. Unfortunately, yesterday I had a pretty bad allergic reaction to something I ate (I'm allergic to ginger and it must have been in something that I ate and I wasn't aware of it) so this post is going to be kind of unimpressive. The day before I post is usually the day that I plan it all out and take pictures. So because I wasn't able to do that, I'm going to be using pictures from the internet just to make my life easier and not cram everything in today. I'm still going to be telling you the things that I've been loving this month, just not with my own pictures. I hope you can all understand why I'm doing this and no one is upset. So here we go!!

Fashion

♥ Daisy High-Neck Crop Top from Aeropostale - As you might already know, I work at Aeropostale so I spend a lot of time looking at their clothes. And they have some really nice stuff! So buying it to wear to work isn't so bad because I can wear it outside of work too! And I've recently been loving daisy prints, so this crop top was perfect for me. I don't wear this to work but I'm looking forward to wearing it this summer paired up with the orange skirt below.

♥ Orange Skirt from Aeropostale (pictured above)- Another fav from Aero. I'm a super girly-girl so I love wearing dresses and skirts. But I didn't have a bright orange skirt in my collection, so I figured this one would be the perfect addition, plus it looks amazing with the daisy crop top!

♥ Zodiac Tank from Aeropostale- Thanks to Andrea Russett, I've recently been loving tank tops like this one. They're kind of baggy and super comfortable to wear. And when I saw this one at work, I had to get it. And I'm loving it. It's super soft and has a cool bright green stitching.

♥ Tribal Scarf from Aeropostale- Another impulse buy from Aero. I was putting up these scarfs on the display and decided that I needed one of them in my wardrobe. And my favorite thing about this scarf is that I goes with almost anything because of all the colors in it.

Makeup

Nothing new this month :(

Nails

Again, nothing new :(

Skincare

♥ Jergens Natural Glow Body Lotion- Being a naturally very pale person, I need all the help I can to look tan for the summer. I tend to burn and never tan when I'm outside, so I need to use self tanners to get nice tans. While a lot of self tanners can make you look unnaturally orange, the Jergens Natural Glow line doesn't. It gives a very natural looking, gradual tan. I've been asked by many people if I went tanning or on a vacation, when all I've done is applied this a few times. Totally recommend for anyone who wants to try out a self tanner.

♥ Jergen Natural Glow Facial Moisturizer- Along with the body lotion, the face moisturizer in the Jergens Natural Glow line works amazingly! And an added bonus is the fact that it contains SPF 20. It's not the highest SPF but anything will help, right?!

♥ Dove Cucumber and Green Tea Body Wash- I've switched my body wash to something a little bit fresher and more appropriate for spring. Although it's not my favorite scent ever, it works really well and smells very fresh and clean. Plus, the bottle is huge so it should last me a while.

Hair

Nothing new this month :(

Scent

♥ Caribbean Escape Wallflower from Bath and Body Works- Always a favorite scent when it becomes Spring/Summer time. It smells of coconut and tropical flowers. I have this plugged into my wall in my dorm room and I have a candle ready to burn once I arrive home next week.

Food/Drinks

♥ Arizona Green Tea- I'm a huge green tea fan, and although this one has a lot of sugar, it's delicious and at only $0.99, it's impossible to pass up. I like the green tea flavor the best, but Arizona also has so many other flavors to choose from. You just can't lose with Arizona!

Entertainment

♥ I don't have anything really specific, but I've been loving listening to throwbacks from the 90's. I've been listening to them on iTunes Radio on various stations (Spice Girls radio, N'SYNC radio, Jesse McCartney radio). If you're a 90's kid, I highly suggest checking out these radio stations because I think it's impossible to not be happy when listening to throwback music.

Well, there you have it. I'm already feeling a lot better so I'm hoping I can put 100% effort into Sunday's post. Oh, and just a heads up, I working really hard making some changes to the blog appearance. It's a lot of changes and using tools I'm really new to, so I don't know when it will be finished, but I'll keep you all posted. So, I'll talk to you all again on Sunday, and until then, stay beautiful!!!

♥♥♥

My Pamper Day/Evening Essentials

Hey Lovelies!!!

So this post is something I've wanted to show you for quite some time but it got put off farther and farther because of other posts I had to do first and also the fact that I had to be home to even take the pictures. This post is inspired by a YouTube video by one of my top favorite YouTubers (and bloggers), Zoella. Here's the video I'm talking about (go on, give it a watch):

Mine is slightly different and I do things all throughout the day. It can be really relaxing after a long day. I will say one thing though, if I'm really busy and don't necessarily have time for a pamper evening but I have one anyways, it won't make me feel relaxed or relieved, but rather add to the stress. So, just a heads-up, don't do this unless you have the time for it!!! Don't run yourself a nice bath and give yourself a facial if you have a paper and a huge test the next day!!!! (You have been warned) So here we go, my Pamper Day/Evening Essentials:

Look how excited I am to start my Pamper Day!!!

The first thing I do, is make my bed. It sounds weird but having a made bed makes my day so much better and makes me feel relieved.

After eating breakfast, I'm finally ready to starttttt

To start, I put in my contacts. Even though I like my glasses, it's just easier to not have to deal with them while getting ready.

The next thing I do is wash my face with the Olay Fresh Effects {Shine, Shine Go Away} Facial Cleanser with the brush it comes with.

Here's a a live shot of my washing my face.. Super exciting stuff right?! (And don't worry, I'm not naked. I'm wearing the polka-dotted towel wrap from an earlier picture)

Next, I use a toner. I prefer to use toner right after cleansing my face. Everyone's skincare is different so if you've heard of using toner at a different time, that's fine! It all depends on what works best for that person!!

Ooh, another live shot... Super cute...

Next, I hop into the shower. I love being home because I can shower in the mornings since I have a hair dryer there. And when I'm home, I use different products in the shower. Mainly so I don't have to pack it in my bags for just a weekend at home. The shampoo and conditioner that I use are the Garnier Fructis Pure Clean. I'm not completely in love with them or anything but my hair just feels really clean (yes, the title tells the truth) after using it.

Next, I scrub my face with the St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub which I adore and leaves my skin so incredibly soft!

Then, I use the body wash and body scrub from The Body Shop in the Moringa scent which is perfect for the spring time! And this also leaves my skin feeling super soft!

Then, it's time to shave!! I use the Satin Care + Olay shaving gel and the Schick Quattro razor.

After getting out of the shower, I put on a face mask. This is a new one that I'm absolutely loving!!! It has peppermint in it so it has a cooling feeling which is really nice and leaves your skin feeling really soothed.

Here's what it looks like on:

Then, I've got to use a spot treatment because nobody's has time to deal with acne breakouts. Let's be honest...

Next, it's time to moisturize!!

Then, I scrub my lips with a delicious sugar scrub and finish it off with a mint lip balm.

I finish off my body care with The Body Shop's Moringa Body Butter which is actually the best body butter/lotion that I've ever used, and I'm being totally honest. It leaves my skin so soft and smooth all day!

Then, I dry my hair so that I can go about my day.

After a long day of stressful or taxing events, it's always nice to take a nice relaxing bath with some lovely smelling (and looking) Lush bath bombs and bubble bars. Here, I'm using the Candy Mountain Bubble Bar and the Butterball Bath Bomb. The combination of the two was really sweet smelling and left my skin feeling super soft and moisturized!

And I love taking baths with a nice glass of ice water. This cup is in a Christmas wine glass because all of our glass cups were being washed in the dishwasher... But at least this glass is cute even if it is a little out of season.

Also, lighting candles while I'm in the bath really relaxes me. I'm able to turn off the lights and just have the candle light. It's really nice to have really low, minimal light while you're relaxing in the bath. I also really like to have a movie playing on my laptop (which I leave on the counter) while I'm in the bath. Having the movie playing makes me completely forget the stresses outside and focus on myself, the bath, and the movie.

I hope you all enjoyed this post!! I really enjoy doing pamper days/evenings. I try and do it every time that I go home. And I felt that I wanted to share with you my routine and my essentials in case any of you wanted to start doing this as well! If you guys do these pamper evenings, please let me know some of your essentials in the comments below, as I'd love to give it a read and maybe try some new things out. Anyway, that's all I have for this week. I'll be back again next Sunday and until then, stay beautiful!!!

♥♥♥

March Favorites

Hey Lovelies!!!

It's that time again... Time for monthly favorites!!! It's crazy how fast this year is going by, isn't it?! 

♥ My first favorite would be my birthday which turned out to be a really nice day!!!

Skincare

♥ Olay Fresh Effects {Out of this Swirled} Pore Clean + Exfoliating Scrub White Grapefruit and White Tea- I've completely fallen in love with the Olay Fresh Effects skincare line. I also really love scrubs, whether it's body or face scrubs, because they make your skin feel so soft! And this one is no exception, plus it smells beautiful!! It's very fresh, as you would expect from the Fresh Effects line. It's not a really rough scrub, but just coarse enough to get a deeper cleanse in your skin.

♥ Olay Fresh Effects {Bright on Schedule} Eye Roller- Again from the Fresh Effects line, is this eye roller. I've been trying to get my hands on this for the longest time, and I finally found it a couple of weeks ago. And it has made such a big difference in the appearance of my under-eye circles. They're not as dark and don't look puffy. I would highly suggest this product to anyone!!!

♥ Lush Mask of Magnaminty- I'm in love with Lush's Fresh Face masks. The last time that I stopped by Lush to pick one up, they didn't have any, for some reason. But the lady at the store really helped me in choosing this mask. And I'm very happy with it!!! It's very minty and has a cooling, tingly feeling when you use it. I've need an improvement in my skin since starting to use this. Plus, since it's not one of the face masks, you don't need to refrigerate it and it lasts much longer.

Makeup

♥ Milani Brow Fix Brow Kit- Here's another product that I've been searching for absolute ages for! I finally found it and have used it ever since getting it. I'm extremely happy with the results and can see myself using this for a very long time. I just hope that it won't be as difficult to find when I need to get a new one because that would be even more frustrating.

♥ Covergirl Fresh Complexion Concealer- This concealer isn't the best concealer available to buy, but it is the only drugstore concealer that matched my skin tone perfectly. I have really light skin and most drugstore concealers are WAY too dark... No good! This one, however is perfect. So if you have really light skin like me, I would recommend trying this concealer in the lightest shade available.

♥ Covergirl + Olay Stick Concealer- I wanted to try out some new concealers and found these two concealers from Covergirl and have loved both of them. I've never tried a stick concealer before but heard great things about them. And it's all true because this concealer has really good coverage and blends really nicely. Plus it matches my skin tone pretty well, something that is usually really hard to find for my super light skin.

Nails

♥ Orly Bonder Rubberized Base Coat- I heard about this product from MissGlamorazzi and, since I've been looking for a new base coat, figured I'd give this one a try. It's a rubberized base coat so that really helps the nail polish stay much longer. And it does just that! I've noticed that my manicures last much longer now, so definitely try this out!!!

♥ Revlon Parfumerie in Powder Puff- I've noticed that I've had a different Revlon Parfumerie in every Monthly Favorites post. That just shows how much I truly love these nail polishes. And my mom got me this one for my birthday, along with two others, and this one is just beautiful. It's a pale pink with beautiful glitter and looks stunning. It isn't completely opaque so it either takes many coats or another color underneath. It smells like baby powder, which is kind of random but not a bad smell. This is just such a perfect color for me to wear. But it would definitely look much better if I was tan...

♥ Seche Vite Top Coat- If you've heard of this product, you won't even need to read this because you already know how amazing it is. It is THE BEST top coat I've ever used. It dries so quickly that I no longer have to sit and wait for ages for my nails to dry before I'm able to do anything. It makes me love painting my nails even more now!!

Hair

♥ TRESemme Platinum Strength Strengthening Heat Protect Spray- TRESemme heat protect sprays are my absolute favs but I've only used the regular one. I'm obsessed with the Platinum Strength line (it's what I use for shampoo and conditioner) so I just had to try this spray. I like it even more, mainly because of the scent. It's a little different but better. So I'm going to use this one over the other one from now on.

♥ Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo- I'm not going to say much because I've already reviewed it here but all I need to say is that I love it and it gives my hair lots of volume... Something it lacks a lot of.

Fashion

♥ JacksGap Rickshaw Run T-Shirt- A while back I donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust Fundraiser that Jack and Finn were doing for the Rickshaw Run and as a reward I got this t-shirt. I've been wearing it a lot because 1) it looks really nice thanks to the talented Finn and his graphic design skills and 2) it's super comfy. I also got a little card and Maoam (Jack's fav candy) pictured below:

Entertainment

♥ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire DVD- I'm a huge fan of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire was my favorite book and favorite movie (so far) out of the whole series. So when I got this for my birthday, I was super excited!!! I've watched it a few times and can't get enough. Plus this will be perfect for our weekend movie nights.

Miscellaneous

♥ Canon PowerShot ELPH 130 IS- Obviously, I'm loving my new camera that I got for my birthday. Other than this picture, I took all of these pictures for the blog with my camera. They come out so nice and it's really easy to use. I'm super happy with the results.

♥ Xhiliration Jewelry Storage/Mirror/Charging Station- I found this on sale at Target for $10 and had to get it. It was like it was meant to be! It has my two favorite colors (pink and light blue/Tiffany blue) and I needed a place to store my jewelry and a mirror for my desk. It literally had everything I needed and matched my room perfectly. If I didn't buy it, I would be convinced that I was crazy... It was almost like it had my name written on it.

♥ My new phone background- I'm obsessed with my new background. It's perfect for spring, which is slowly making it's appearance in Massachusetts. I love pink and I love daisies so this background is totally "me". I just love turning on my phone and seeing this right away. I got it off of Tumblr (I freaking love Tumblr) thinking it was just a random picture but it ended up being the perfect size to be a phone wallpaper. YAY!!!

I hope you enjoyed my favorites from this month. And leave a comment below with some things you've been loving this month. I'd love to have a look!! And if you didn't notice, I didn't do a shoutout to anyone this month. I do however, want to give a shoutout to my new favorite website: Pinterest. I've just started on there so I'm still getting the hang of it. I'm going to be posting my account on my Contact page. So if you have a Pinterest too, leave it in the comments and go follow me (or do whatever you do on Pinterest), I'll follow back! Anyways, I'll see you on Sunday and as always, stay beautiful!!!

♥♥♥

What I Got for My Birthday!!!

Hey Lovelies!!!

Before I begin this blog post, I just want to let everyone know that I am not in any way bragging or showing off. I am doing this post because I enjoy post like these: seeing what people got for their birthdays or Christmas. I'm sure lots of other people enjoy seeing these as well. If you have a personal problem, please email me privately (my email is in my Contact page) and we can figure something out.

So, I've mentioned that my birthday was this past week. And let me just say, I love my birthday!!! I'm not really one to like all eyes on me or to be the center of attention, but for one day a year, I take advantage of it. Not in a spoiled or bratty way though... I'm super thankful for everyone who takes the time to say "happy birthday" to me, my family and friends for celebrating with me, and especially anyone who might get me something! Anyways, I've turned 19 and while it isn't anything compared to turning 18, I was excited, regardless. I didn't have much in mind for what I wanted for my birthday, I just knew I wanted a camera. But enough talking, I'm going to share with you some pics. Here we go...

I did A LOT of research before deciding on this camera. I wanted a good quality point and shoot and I wanted a Canon. Looking at all the brands, I've found that Canon is one of the best and I've worked with one before and really liked it. I went directly to the Canon website and looked all all the point and shoot cameras that they had. I quickly realized that only two cameras had 5 stars, so I narrowed it down to those. The price difference was $20 and the capabilities were only slightly different. I ended up going with the more expensive one because the customer reviews seemed slightly better. I also like the appearance (shape and color) better. To get the camera, I had to go to four stores before I finally found it at Staples (of all places!). And it was even $50 off!! So the more expensive of the cameras ended up being the least expensive. And I'm very pleased with it so far. I've used to to take some pictures (coming up for the blog) as well as testing out vlogging... Not really great quality vlogging, but I've done a test vlog so that I can practice my editing before I do the real thing.

I was super excited about these two movies!!! I got Catching Fire and Frozen!! AHHHH! I love both of these movies and I'm sure happy to have them on DVD so I can watch them whenever I want to! And one of my friends at school hasn't seen either of these, so we're already planning a movie night. If you haven't seen these movies, I highly suggest it!!!

Also in my gift bag, I got some of my favorite goodies!!! I got three Revlon Parfumerie nail polishes (which you know I love!) in Powder Puff (light pink with glitter), Wintermint (mint green with aqua glitter), and Beachy (shimmery bronze). I also got a $15 gift card to Starbucks and a $15 gift card to Panera, which will be spent in no time! Along with my favorite spring/Easter candy, Mini Eggs!!!

I also got $50 to spend on anything I wanted. And since I got a card from Vera Bradley for 40% off a purchase in my birthday month, I'm going to get a bag that I've wanted for the longest time in my current favorite pattern. I used to be OBSESSED with Vera Bradley and took quite a long break from it, but when I got my birthday card from them, I quickly started looking for what to get with it. And it's the perfect time to get a bag like this since I got home from school for long weekends. This will be the perfect sized bag to bring with me and I'll look fabulous carrying it!

So that's all I got for my birthday, and I'm super grateful for everything!! On my birthday, my family celebrated and had a delicious red velvet cake (YUM!). And then on Friday my family and two of my friends (who are like family) went out to eat at my favorite pizza place (from New Hampshire) that just moved near by. And I'm super happy that I got to spend my birthday at home rather than at school, just because it felt right!

Anyways, I hope you liked this post. It's a little random but I love seeing these by other people! Again, I'm not trying to brag... I'll be back again next Sunday. But for now, I need to sleep since spring break is now over and I have classes tomorrow :( As always stay beautiful!!!

♥♥♥