Waterlines

Do you like to line your waterlines?  Have you ever tried?  Today we are going to talk about those and how you can use them to change up your eyes drastically.

What are waterlines?  They are exactly what they sound like - the part of your eyelid that actually touches your eye and yes you can actually line the top one!  If it doesn't freak you out to do it, lining your water lines can really make some beautiful eyes.  Lining your top waterline will really make your mascara look better too as it will make your eyelashes look thicker and darker at the roots.

Most people line their lower water line with a darker liner (black or brown - sometimes color) to create a more dramatic eye (typically smoky) like this:

Here is a more toned down but still lined eye:

If you watched the 4 minute makeup tutorial then you saw an example of lining the lower line all the way while only doing part of the top for a nice everyday look.

My personal favorites are the following:
1.  Lining the top lid's waterline for everyday (leaving bottom one untouched) like so:

2.  Lining the top one with a dark liner while lining the bottom one with a white liner or powder (you can use an eyeshadow!) to create bigger eyes - more the babydoll look.  I usually use the white liner on the bottom for pictures as it creates a really nice eye (eyes look smaller when you use a darker liner on waterlines).

As you can see, waterlines can be hugely important in your eye makeup! So, what's your favorite look?  What would you like to see a tutorial on?

XOXO

Joy

Striped Skinnys and Patterned Leggings

Striped or patterned skinnys/leggings are huge right now and can be so much fun!  I have been afraid in the past to embrace a patterned pant thinking it wouldn't be flattering, but much like leather leggings, these totally surprised me!

*These pants are high waisted so wear your shirt tucked in to take it to the next level. =)


Then I saw Kileah, a super cool Mom of 4 littles rocking these leggings at church a few Sundays ago and I became a believer!

Can you believe this girl has 4 kids??

Her 3 oldest hobbits behind her showing off wonderful personality!

With all her blessings

What an amazing woman and hot mama!

*Kileah's outfit is a great example of a way to wear a patterned legging as a more neutral, "safe" look overall (which could go casual or dressy).  The pattern is still fun and adds to the look without being overtly loud.  


What do you all think?  How do you feel about the patterned/striped look??

XOXO

Joy (and Kileah)

The False Lashes Look

Mascara can be an amazing thing for eyelashes when applied properly AND enough.  The more girls I talk to about makeup, the more I hear that they think you only need one, thick coat of mascara.  I'm not sure why this isn't taught more, but mascara works best when applied one careful, thin layer at a time.  Usually I do at least 2 if not 3.  It's like painting your nails (or furniture!) - you can't expect to get the best result with one, thick coat of paint.  You have to be patient and do multiple layers to build up the final result.

Here is a picture to demonstrate one coat of mascara for me:

Not my best picture but oh well, you'll get the idea.  =)

Now here is a picture to demonstrate 3 coats:

Do you notice how much more the eyes open up and my lashes are much more noticeable?  It's the difference between lashes not liner.

When you apply mascara here is how it should go:
1.  First coat should focus on base of your lashes (where your lashes connect to your eye lids) - make sure you get all the way down there and make sure every lash gets a little bit on this coat.  You don't want it super thick or clumpy  - just a touch all over.
2.  Second coat builds on the middle to ends more - don't just coat from underneath, also coat from top (above coming down) but again don't make super thick or clumpy.  You can really add to the length of your eyelashes with this coat so focus on ends and making them longer.
3.  Third coat (if needed) focuses on the lashes that are on the outside of your eyes to make your eyes look even more wide (kind of like false lashes are longer on the outsides).

If you want to get super long lashes to accentuate this look, use City Lash or Revitalash serum (link below).




Tip:  If you get clumps while putting it on, use your eyebrow brush to gently brush lashes and remove clump - don't use your fingers or you will clump eyelashes together.  Also, give time between each coat to let it dry some - doesn't have to be all the way dry but you will have better results if it's not wet when you go to apply the next coat.



* I do not do 3 coats on the bottom lashes - just the top.  Bottom is once through with maybe another touch up after it dries.

-This false lashes look is key to a perfect smoky eye. just fyi.


Now go enjoy those beautiful, false looking lashes!  =)

XOXO

Joy

Beauty Blender Tutorial: Makeup Blending for Amatures

Alright girls!  Here is a video tutorial showing how I apply all my skincare products with the beauty blender (I do not apply my moisturizer with it!).  I cannot tell you enough how much I love this thing.  It seriously is the best investment I have made for makeup application things.

Before this video I washed and moisturized my face.



Here is the link again if you want to grab a pair of these - best deal I have found so far (minus groupon?)

Hope this answers some questions and shows you all just what a great product this is!

XOXO

Joy 

Product Review: The Beauty Blender

The Beauty Blender

Have you guys heard of the Beauty Blender?  Well, today you'll learn all about it!  This handy sponge has been getting a lot of buzz in the makeup/beauty world so I finally had to try it myself and wow, I was blown away!  I had no idea what to expect, I mean, it's a sponge right?  But man, this is what I have been needing ever since I was introduced to using brushes for my makeup.  I have never been a huge brush fan for my foundation and have struggled with getting it just right.  This blender has totally changed that!  Anyone could put on a beautiful face of foundation with this guy!

This sponge will give you a perfect, flawless look with all your face products.  I use it for everything except eye stuff.  You wet it down before you use it so it is moist on your face and will "water down" your foundation to give you lighter coverage (if you want - it doesn't have to!).  I even use it for my dry powders (blush, contouring, setting powder etc) and it is amazing!  It just makes everything go on super smooth and even.  It gives the impression that I am a much better makeup artist than I am!  =)

The best part about this guy?  If you get too much of something in one area or need to remove some contour color (I usually struggle with getting both sides of my face to match), you just push a little harder so that some water comes out and smudges it off - all while keeping it flawless and perfect looking!

If you use foundation on your face this beauty blender will give you a glowing, smooth, air-brushed look.  If you contour at all, this is a must have product.  It has greatly reduced my "dirty" cheekbone look and now gives a perfect shadow under my glowing cheeks.  I also love using it with my Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation as it makes it not such a heavy coverage that it would be if I was using my fingers or brush.


Stores sell this beauty blender for $20 a piece which is really pricey!  So I got mine off Amazon - a two pack for $23.  So far I only use one and just wash it out everyday.  I use regular soap but I hear that Johnson's baby soap works really well too (didn't want to have to buy the pricey cleaner!).  I put a link to Amazon below for you all.





Try it out and let me know what you think!  I will be doing a future tutorial on it soon.

XOXO

Joy

Peeptoes!

I LOVE peeptoe shoes and this trend is really fun right now!  There are so many fun shoes from flats to stilettos that have a peeptoe incorporated in them.  There's just something sexy about showing some pretty toes but peeptoes are a tad warmer and more practical when it's not super warm.  =)

Black Peeptoe Heels:  H&M

Red peeptoe flats:  Maurices

I also am digging the peeptoe booties too as seen here:

These shoes are really versatile as you could dress up anything with them!  They look great with virtually any outfit.

Have a wonderful weekend!

XOXO

Joy

Beauty Tip: My New Secret Weapon

Ok girls, I have been so excited to write this post because this new beauty find is so amazing that I had to share it with you all!

I have heard several people mention Estée Lauder's Doublewear Foundation and decided that I had to try it.  (If you need a post on why foundation is a good idea, you can read that here.)  I got a free sample of their foundation at the stand in Macy's.  (I think they have an Estée Lauder stand in Nordstrom's too.)  Remember, you can always get a free sample so take advantage of that!

I tried this stuff and was a believer after the end of day 1!  This stuff is water proof/sweatproof and smudgeproof!  If you are a Mom, this foundation will save your makeup.  Because it has such strong staying power, it will hold all your other makeup (powders, blushes etc) on just as well.  After I had worn it all day, I took my hand full of water, rubbed it all over my face and nothing came off (not even my blush).  Being a Mom means that you never know what is going to end up on your face so it's amazing to have makeup on that won't come off even if you end up wiping other things off.  =)  Obviously I don't mean that you can swim with this stuff or go crazy because it does not claim to be waterproof so it's not made for that.  But compared to what I was using before, it holds up pretty darn well.

I was tired of having makeup come off on my clothing or inch slowly down my face all day but with Estée Lauder Double Wear, that doesn't happen anymore!  I am never going back to regular foundation.  In fact, I plan on wearing this through my next labor and delivery. ;)   (I am not pregnant!  =)).

Tip:  Give it a little time to "set" after applying before you put on your powders and blush (do your eye makeup while it sets).  Also, be careful applying your contour and blush because it will stick to the foundation really well making it harder to fix mistakes.

This picture was taken after I had worn it all day, then took a handful of water and rubbed it all over my face - nothing came off!  You can actually see a water drop on my chin still in this picture.  Pretty amazing stuff!

Seriously, just try a free sample and then decide for yourself but I am never going back.  =)  

  

XOXO

Joy

Moving: Finding Our New House

I wanted to wait on writing this post so I could have some pictures to accompany it.  It usually takes a  little while to set up the house so that's why this post took so long.  =)

Moving:  A Story of God's Hidden Grace Part 2:
As fun as house hunting may sound, it really wasn't because we didn't want to move in the first place and we really loved our home so it felt like nothing matched up.  There is definitely a rental "season" and we were not in it.  We looked at tons of houses online and walked through at least 15.  I know, this doesn't sound like a ton but for a rental house it felt like a lot.  Most of the houses we looked at were ok.  They weren't ideal or as great as our current place but we could make it work.  After having no luck in finding "the one", we re-examined priorities and widened the area in which we looked.  We were flabbergasted.  Peter and I had never looked this hard or long for a place before.  All of our previous places had basically been the first one that we looked at and we both loved them.  This time was totally different.  Because I had seen The Lord give us great houses in the past, I wasn't too worried about it but as time got away from us, we did become more urgent in our looking.

Covered Patio at night (can't wait for the summer dinner parties!)

I had my eye on this one house from the beginning but it was out of our price range.  After a few weeks, I noticed that the price had dropped!  I showed Peter and we agreed to look at it.  I looked at it (while Peter was at work) and fell in love.  It was beautiful, had everything we were looking for and just had that feeling of "home".  The one thing that Peter was not too excited about was the location (being farther away from the highway than he preferred).  It was a great, family-friendly area for me with lots to entertain Simon and I.  After wrestling with it for a while, negotiating with the property management group for a lower price plus longer lease (and then deciding against that because we didn't want a longer lease), the house became ours!  It is a long story but we are settled and God is good.

Simon loves the picture wall

Dining room and picture wall

Now, I know that Jesus isn't my personal genie who sits up there waiting on and granting requests from me - that's not what I'm saying at all.  I do wholeheartedly believe that He is Abba Father who loves to give good things to his children and loves when they ask in faith for it.  We love to include Him in every detail of our lives and that includes housing, therefore I am so thankful to Him for this new, beautiful place. Out of a crummy situation, He made something good.  THAT is why I said there was hidden grace in this whole journey.  He gave us a new place that we were excited to move to and raise a family in.  Jesus, in his GRACE to us guided and directed our move and I praise Him for that.

Enjoying the backyard

He loves to dig in the pots

Trying out a brunch place in our new neighborhood

Enjoying our breakfast nook with a friend

Helping with dishes in the kitchen

I don't have a ton of pictures at this time because I haven't had the best opportunities yet!  These will have to suffice for now.  =)  I hope this story can encourage you if you are going through a time where you are wondering why things are hard or unfair.  We have a big God that we serve and sometimes He allows things because He has something better.  I believe that what He is allowing is always better than what we had before if we yield ourselves to Him and allow Him to re-define what "better" or "best" is.  Take heart, friend.