This is a great nail look for winter and the holidays. It’s neutral with a little frosty bling, so honestly, you could even wear it year round. I’ve been sporting this look quite a bit this winter season. It looks really impressive, gets a lot of compliments, and it’s surprisingly easy. Watch the video above to learn how to do it!
(I’m using CND Shellac Nail Polishes, which are a gel hybrid polish. This is a specialty nail polish that I don’t recommend unless you’re willing to put the time into learning how to properly apply it. It’s also more costly than regular nail polish (plus you have to use a UV light to cure each coat of polish), so you have to be willing to put down a little money in the beginning too. If you’re willing to put the time and money into it, then I DO recommend these polishes. 90% of the time, I’m wearing Shellac over normal nail polish. As much as I can be a girly girl, I’m pretty tough on my hands, so normal polish chips way too easily. With Shellac, I can rock a beautiful manicure without chipping for 2-3 weeks!)
Apply a base coat.
Apply two coats of neutral color polish.
Let the second color coat try enough so that it’s not wet, but so it is a little tacky to the touch.
Using a precise makeup brush or paint brush, apply loose glitter to the tips of each nail.
Using your finger, wipe away any glitter from the skin, and press your finger onto the glittery tips of each nail to lift off any excess glitter (so we don’t gunk up our top coat polish brush with glitter!).
Apply at least two coats of top coat (loose glitter has a tendency to poke through one layer of polish, so two will really seal it in and make the nails nice and smooth).
Here are the products I used, as well as some alternate polishes if you’re not using CND Shellac.
It’s finally starting to really feel like fall in Santa Barbara! Leaves are changing colors and falling, the air is getting crisp, I might have to relight my pilot light soon, sweaters are (sometimes) necessary, I’ve worn socks to bed a few times (SO WEIRD, I KNOW), and Starbucks is using red cups. AND I got a cold, which is super lame. But alas, FALL!
There are so many things I absolutely love about fall — sweet potatoes, Thanksgiving!!!, cozying up by the fireplace, warm drinks, soup — but I especially love dressing for fall. So, here’s a super easy, casual fall outfit that is great for that transitional summer/fall weather (which, yes, we’re still experiencing here in California. Sorry for those of you in in the polar vortex). For colder climates, throw on a long sweater and swap the sandals for boots!
Here’s a creepy broken doll makeup tutorial I got by request from one of my subscribers! (You guys tell me what you want to see, and I’ll do it!)
The Steps…
1. Generously apply very light, full-coverage foundation to your face and neck (any skin that will be showing). Cover your eyes and mouth too. Choose something that dried matte. I’m using Revlon Colorstay in Ivory. Then, apply a coat of translucent powder all over. I’m using Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder in Translucent.
2. Apply neutral eyeshadow. I’m using my Bobbi Brown SOHO Chic shadow palette and putting white on my lids and brow bones and medium/darker brown in the crease. (Here’s a more affordable shadow palette that’s really similar.)
3. Use a brighter pink blush to create very circular blush marks on the apples of your cheeks.
4. Line your bottom lashes with white eyeliner, like NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. We’re doing this to make our eyes appear larger, so line the waterline, lashline, and beneath the lower lid.
5. Using liquid black eyeliner like Maybelline’s Eye Studio Master Precise Liquid Liner, line beneath the white under your eyes, we’re drawing on a new bottom lashline.
6. Line the top lid with the black eyeliner too.
7. Apply really dramatic, full false eyelashes to the top lashes. I’m using Ardell Double-Up #204.
8. Apply more natural, but “doll-like” lashes to the bottom line we just drew on with the eyeliner. I’m using Ardell Natural #116.
9. Curl the false eyelashes and apply a coat of mascara to all the false eyelashes.
10. Using the liquid black eyeliner, draw on a few cracks and holes. Make these look splintered like broken porcelain!
11. Apply another coat of foundation to your lips and let it dry. Using a matte lip liner (like NYX Slim Lip Liner Pencil #831 Mauve), draw the shape of the top of a heart on your top lip. Make this lip much narrower than your normal lips, but still pouty. Draw on the bottom lip to match the width of the top lip. I filled in my lips using this liner as well.
12. Using the black eyeliner, draw lines from the corners of your real lips straight down to connect beneath the chin.
I’ve always loved the pop art style of art. Roy Lichtenstein is one of my favorite artists (I was an art and communications studies major in college), so I wanted to recreate a pop art style makeup look that you can do for Halloween. This is a surprisingly easy look that you can do completely with some pretty basic makeup items.
Let me know if you have any questions about the look or if you have any requests for other Halloween looks!
My skin has been acting up a bit lately — random breakouts that keep popping up, some of which heal fine, but others have left a few marks on my skin. So I wanted to do something that would give my skin a refresh. I’d been hearing a lot about at-home chemical peels and wanted to give one a try.
If you’re not familiar, a chemical peel (also called an acid peel) uses a chemical solution (usually acid) to smooth the texture of your skin by removing the damaged outer layers. Chemical peels are typically administered by a dermatologist or at a skincare spa — it’s a pretty serious skincare treatment. When you get a chemical peel, the outer few layers of your skin basically blister and peel off…it can look a bit gnarly (seriously, just google it).
Despite the zombie-like appearance, a chemical peel is one of the least invasive ways to improve the appearance of your skin. Sun exposure, acne, or just getting older can leave your skin tone uneven, wrinkled, spotted, or scarred. A chemical peel can help improve acne or acne scars, age and liver spots, fine lines and wrinkles, freckles, irregular skin pigmentation, rough skin and scaly patches, scars, and sun-damaged skin.
Chemical peels are not cheap, and right now, splurging on one just isn’t in the budget for me (plus, I’d have to hide out for like a day or two to avoid exposing people to the zombie-ness, which isn’t super convenient right now). So, I decided to check out some at-home alternatives. The Peter Thomas Roth 40% Triple Acid Peel has gotten great reviews, so I decided to grab a sample at Sephora. For this at-home peel, you apply it once a week for 12 weeks, for optimal results. You only need to leave the solution on your skin for 2 minutes — super quick!
Watch the video for my first impressions and what I thought!
I LOVE awards shows and I LOVE awards show fashion, but so often, I’ll watch the show and then have a thousand other things going on that I never getting around to posting a review. By the time I actually HAVE time, usually a month has passed. But I want to change that. So (only a couple weeks late), here are my best and worst dressed at the 2014 Emmys!
Best Dressed
Julia Roberts in Elie Saab
This is such a cool dress. I love the color, and the cut is very interesting. I just want to touch it! With all those little balls on it — the texture is so neat, and it looks amazing on her.
Uzo Aduba in Christian Siriano
Red is HUGE right now, and we saw a ton of it at the Emmys. And this dress is perfect. The color is amazing, and really compliments Uzo. The cut is so sexy and she pulls it off so well — she’s just oozing sexy ‘tude (get it…”uzing” LOL). I love it.
Lizzy Caplan in Donna Karan Atelier
I first saw this dress from the front, and thought it was pretty basic, but looked really good on Lizzy. But then I saw the back, with that WHITE! It is gorgeous. The front is simple and interesting with the cutouts, but then the backless back and that big white back and train make it so dramatic and exciting!
Lena Headey in Rubin Singer
I didn’t realize she had so many tattoos! Anyhow…This dress is gorgeous. It’s simple and classic on the one hand with the black and the smooth fabric, but very interesting as well with the asymmetrical hem, the off the shoulder look, and the subtle striping in the fabric. She did a great job with the makeup too — soft smokey eye with a hint of pink lipstick and blush.
Louise Roe in Monique Lhuillier
As we’ll see with Caley Cuoco’s dress below, Monique is loving the red and pink combos lately, but where Caley’s Lhuillier dress was a bit of a miss for me, this dress is awesome. In fact, I think it’s at the top of my list. I love the abstract watercolor-ish floral pattern and the dramatic colors. The asymmetrical hemline showing her great legs off, and the volume in the skirt are really great as well. I like that she kept the hair and makeup simple and matched her nails and shoes to the dress too.
Keke Palmer in Rubin Singer
Another Rubin Singer gown makes the “best” list! Apparently this gown was custom made for her — and you can tell! The fit is perfect, and the color is just exquisite – it all compliments her so well! There’s lots of drama in the silhouette and the color, so she did it right by pulling her hair back and opting for simple makeup – that really focuses all our attention on the dress!
Honorable Mentions Allison Williams Giambattista Valli
I really like this dress. The colors are great and give that princess ball gown silhouette some spunk. The shape is great on her too. It’s just a little boring to me, and I feel like we’ve seen this type of look on her a lot.
Claire Danes in Givenchy Haute Couture
We’re still seeing red. And this red is incredible – a bit more on the orange side, and it looks great on Claire. I like the cutouts, the silhouette, and I even like the belt, surprisingly. I also love the matching lipstick. The neck wreath thingy though…it kills me! I just wish it wasn’t there. That’s the only thing I don’t like about this stunning dress.
Anna Gunn in Jenny Packham
This dress looks amazing on Anna. The color is great with her strawberry blonde hair, the cut is slimming, it’s interesting with the top beading and the slit. Overall, it’s a great choice. It’s a safe dress, though, a little mellow for my personal tastes, but she looks excellent.
Worst Dressed
Laura Prepon in Gustavo Cadile
There is WAY too much going on here. Teal, emerald, peplum, one shoulder, shoulder flap, the tail or train thing…none of it works, and it’s all really distracting. Feels very old school prom.
Lena Dunham in Giambattista Valli
What is even going on here? A friend of mine described this as resembling a tampon (UH. GROSS). But really, need I say more? Mistakes were made.
Caley Cuoco in Monique Lhuillier
I want to like this so much! The cut is dynamic and intriguing, the red (again!) is fierce, and Caley is rocking some major confidence, and that’s super hot…But the tulle combined with the red and hot pink just makes it look young and prom-ish.
Michelle Dockery in Rosie Assoulin
First, it’s too long. It shouldn’t be bunching up at the bottom like that – with this type of fabric, that’s really noticeable. I just really don’t like this, and I know it made a lot of people’s “best” lists. I think it was a brave choice, and it’s very retro, but the blue, green, and cream don’t work for me. I think the cream washes her out and the colors aren’t right for her. Also, those wings don’t do it for me…all I can think is that she looks like a sea slug.
Katherine Heigl in John Hayles
So, when I first saw this, I assumed it would be a more mature woman wearing it…not some 30-something. This dress fits her great, her boobs look great, unfortunately the color kind of washes her out…but that’s all beside the point… it’s about 30 years too old for her.
Mayim Bialik in Oliver Tolentino
I LOVE this color. So, so much. Bu it’s all wrong for this type of dress. It it looks like she’s playing dress up as a renaissance queen or rich colonial woman. There’s just WAY too much dress. And then with such a bright color…way too much.
Mindy Kaling in Kenzo
Mindy’s makeup and hair are on point. She looks beautiful. But this dress, ahhh. The neckline and silhouette aren’t terrible for her and the color works…but that damn silver stripe! It bugs me so bad! The stripe ruins the dress and makes the fabric look cheap.
What did you guys think? Did you watch the Emmys? Who were your best or worst dressed?
I wanted to share my go-to 15-minute makeup routine. This isn’t my “barefaced minimalist” makeup or my “full-face going out” or “photoshoot” makeup, but it’s my go-to face when I have a lunch meeting, happy hour with friends, and most other activities.
Next I take care of my eyelashes, by first separating them with my fingernail and then curling them with my Revlon Cushion Grip Lash Curler. I really prefer eyelash curlers with springs as you have more control over the pressure you apply to your lashes while curling. It’s important to apply and loosen pressure when curling, rather than holding firm the whole time. “Pumping” the curler like this will prevent you from leaving a crease in your eyelashes.
Once I’ve made a mess with mascara, I clean it up using some Q-tips and Vaseline 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly. (Super weird pro-tip: I swirl the Q-Tip in my mouth before getting vaseline on it to tame any fuzzies…trust me, it makes a difference! I only use vaseline on one end of the Q-Tip and then do another wipe after just with the wet end to clean up any excess vaseline.)
Next I do some basic contouring using an angled powder brush, like Sigma F40 – Large Angled Contour brush, and Hoola. I apply the Hoola in the hollows of my cheeks at a diagonal line extending to my hairline. I also apply some near my temples, under my chin and jawline, and on the sides of my nose.
I blend the Hoola in with a soft powder brush, like the Sigma F50 Duo Fibre brush. Blend, blend, blend!
Now I apply Benefit Cosmetics CORALista Blush in a diagonal line from the apples of my cheeks up to my hairline using the angled brushed I used to contour. I also put a touch of the blush on the tip of my nose and bottom of my chin.
I have very thick, dark eyebrows, so I rarely do anything to them. On a typical day, I just brush them with some Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara for Brows and Lashes to make sure everything’s under control. I always wipe most of the gel off on the edge of the container before putting in my brows – a little goes a long way!
Now for some highlighting. I apply Maybelline New York Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer to my brow bones, underneath my eyes, down the center of my nose, above my cupid’s bow, and at the center of my chin. I blend with my concealer brush and then blend further with my BeautyBlender.
I set my makeup with Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder using the Laura Mercier Velour Puff. I apply the powder to any areas I want to highlight or any areas that might be prone to get oily, like under my eyes, my forehead, my nose, and my chin. It’s important to press the powder onto your face, not wipe it.
And LAST step…I curl my eyelashes one last time and apply a second coat of mascara.
It seems like A TON of work, but once you get the process down, it really doesn’t take too long. Let me know if you have any questions!
Last weekend, Germany won the World Cup Final against Argentina. It was a really good game, going into extra time, with Germany securing the win with an amazing goal by Mario Goetze. Honestly, his shot was GORGEOUS. The game was competitive, and fun to watch, but it would have been really nice to see an Argentine (specifically a Messi) goal and a bit more high stakes game-play. But like I said, very good game. Did you guys watch the World Cup? How about the Final?
Also, if you’re interested in any of the outfit items in my video, here are a few! Unfortunately, I bought some of these things a little while ago, so they’re not longer available, but I’ve posted similar ones below.
I use my flat iron to curl my hair all the time. Not only does it create luscious curls, but there are a few other good reasons to use your flat iron to get amazing curls…
If you only have a flat iron, that’s all you need. No need to go spend money on other hot tools.
If you’re packing for a trip and have limited space in your bag, throw that straightener in there. You’ll be able to straighten and curl using one tool.
The curls you get with each tool — curling iron, styling wand, tapered wand — will all be different!
The curls you create with your flat iron will last. I tend to have stubborn hair when it comes to holding a curl, yet the curls I do with my straightener always last longer than those done with a curling iron.
Straightener. (I use a CHI Ceramic Flat Iron and I LOVE it! I’ve had it for quite a few years now and it still works perfectly. I’d highly recommend it — it’s worth the price.)
Watch the video above for the full tutorial or take a peek at the photos below! Thanks!
Julia Roberts in Elie Saab
Uzo Aduba in Christian Siriano
Lauren Salaun 