Beauty Deals: Tarte Friends & Family Sale! 40% OFF!

Use code: FF08 for 40% off anything on Tarte.com

Valid July 24th through July 27th

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Video & Tutorial: Applying Gem Nail Tips

Have you ladies ever gone to a salon to get your nails done, whether it be a simple manicure or acrylics, and they charge you an extra $3-$5 for a nail design? Well why pay extra when you can do it yourself for cheap!

All you need is:
- Nail stickers/gems, whichever design you like
- Clear nail polish
- And a steady hand!

Just apply your gem sticker/design at the desired location, press, and paint on a top coat for it to stay....and voila! If you want to get more creative, you can buy a striping nail polish (which is made with a really long thin brush) so that you can make stripes along your nail line, or just random designs.

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Meet Penny Lane! (And of course upcoming MAC Release Dates)

Many of you noticed Penny in her first film debut in my video on the Crown Brushes, and she is Jon's dog; she is a Yorkie and she is too cute for words!

She is the friendliest and craziest dog ever, lol. She gets so happy when she sees one of us, but she can be mean when you interrupt her while she is eating or sleeping in her favorite spot- the closet.

But she is one smart cookie!

Do any of you have any pets? Do they do anything crazy/funny? I'd love to hear!
______________________________________________________________________________

Fresh from Specktra, upcoming MAC Release Dates...ladies! Start saving! LOL

Date/Collection

07/18 - Colour Forms Nordstrom Anniversary collection
07/31 - LustreTwins
07/31 - Starflash
08/21 - Cult of Cherry
08/21 - Overrich
09/25 - Suite Array
09/25 - Gold Fever
09/25 - MAC for Ungaro Collaboration Collection
10/02 - CremeSheen
10/09 - MAC for Manish Arora Collaboration Collection
10/16 - NEW Traincase
10/16 - Mineralize Line Expansion and Displayer
10/16 - Sheer Minerals
Holiday 08 - Red She Said

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Video & Tutorial: How I Clean My Brushes

**Edit** Readers Joanne and Jessica got their brush cleaner jars today and they have refills 2 in a pack for $3.99! I guess my Michaels didn't have it... :(

Cleaning your makeup brushes is important. Why? Because we constantly use it on our face, and to prevent bacteria from accumulating on our brushes, then in turn put it on our face, we need to clean our brushes at least twice a week and/or use brush cleaning wipes in between.

You can use baby shampoo as a means to clean your brushes, it is safe and gentle on a baby's head, so it's safe and gentle for your brushes. It's also great if you want something quick and easy to get, as well as those of you beauties on a budget. Avoid brush cleaners that have a high concentration of alcohol which can lead your brushes to be dry and brittle. I used to use CVS's "Essence of Beauty" brush cleaner which had a horrible smell and made my brushes nasty.

I use MAC's Brush Cleaner because it really works effectively in thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting my brushes and there's no horrible smell. ($11, www.maccosmetics.com)







I bought this brush cleaning jar at Michaels (a craft store) for I believe around $5 or $6. It's in the same aisle as where all the acrylic paints are (I was originally in that aisle to look for materials to paint) and there it was. It has a sponge at the bottom that has tiny hair-like bristles to help the brush cleaning process. You just can take it out and clean the sponge after each use and let it dry. (Watch the video for more info).

I posted some pictures here for you ladies at work and who can't watch YouTube vids on the job, LOL.


1. Pour some of MAC's brush cleaner in the jar, pour enough to wear the sponge is saturated, you do not have to fill the jar up or even halfway, just enough to where the sponge is soaked.


2. Start cleaning each brush and watch all the dirt transfer to the sponge as you swirl each brush around...




3. When you are done cleaning all your brushes, take out the dirty sponge...


4. Rinse it under the faucet until it's completely white again...


5. Let it dry!


6. Enjoy your newly cleaned brushes!


Watch the video:

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Video: Crown Brush Review

I hardly have rants, but I really hate verification codes, especially the one on MySpace, they have a bunch of letters and numbers that look like they're melting and a bunch of squiggly lines running through it, like how the heck am I supposed to read that?! I have bad eyes as it is, and on top of that, it's the frustration when you type it in wrong and having to repeatedly type in the correct one, aye dios mio! I just thought that was funny...lol.

Anyway, thanks to Trinh (Spankedelic), we swapped items from the bloggerswap and I got my items yesterday (which was the minerals below), they are gorgeous and I love 'em, thanks gal!

I had a lot of requests for a Crown Brush Review video, (you gals are lucky I love you because I hate doing videos, but it's so much faster than pictures LOL), so here it is!

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Product Review: Beauty From The Earth Minerals

Finally! My BFTE review, I've been meaning to get this in your hands sooner y'all but I have been so busy having fun with these minerals trying to create different looks!

First of all, the customer service is beyond excellent! Crystal, the owner of BFTE, is amazingly sweet and responds to you right away (not to mention beautiful!), and I love awesome customer service when it comes to these mineral makeup companies simply because most of them are owned by one person and one person only (at most 3 people!) and yet they manage to multi-task and respond to customers, pack and ship, create...all at once!

Secondly, the website itself Beautyfromtheearth.com carries a wide range of mind blowing colors guaranteed to suit you ladies who love earthy, natural looks to even the ladies that are not afraid to show off some bright colors! I LOVE how they have actual swatches of each color on the website and not just a computer generated or blurry picture of a swatch. Why is this a bonus for me? Because it really helps me decide what colors I want and allows me to see what color I should expect rather than guessing which shade of blue it is for example. Also, since many mineral companies don't accept returns or exchanges, it can be scary buying a full size of something you are not sure of. They even have a few models showcasing different looks and colors on the site which paints an even better picture of what colors to get!

My favorite colors? Grape, Green Apple, Karma, Peacock, and Jaded

I had an opportunity to try these gorgeous mineral eyeshadows and I love the color-payoff and how vibrant they are, even without a base! I highly suggest using a mixing medium (glycerin/water mix, see the label on the right on how to make your own homemade mixing medium), because this helps pigments adhere to your eyelids more as well as making the color bolder. They are very easy to blend and work with, and I love the shimmer they give!

They also have a 5-piece sample kit which includes 5 baggie samples of any colors of your choice for only $5! That's only $1.00 a bag and there is plenty to last you many uses. Full sizes come in a 5 gram sifter jar packed with enough product to last you a long time! They also have blushes, mineral foundation, skincare products, and more!

Swatches (ALL DONE DRY, NO BASE-sorry forgot to swatch "Jaded" but the color as is, is on my lid down below):




Here are just SOME of the looks I did using some of the BFTE minerals, as you can see the possibilities are endless because BFTE has a lot of colors to choose from!

BFTE e/s in "Karma" (on lid) and "Purple Iris" on contour


BFTE e/s in "Grape" (I love it!)


BFTE e/s in "Jaded" and MAC e/s in "Carbon" on outer-V and contour. Lower lashline is Milani's Color Brilliance Eye Pencil in "Green".








BFTE e/s in "Grape" on lid, BFTE "Blueberry" on contour:


BFTE e/s in "Green Apple" on the lid, "Purple Iris" on the contour, and "Grape" on outer-V:


Other looks you can do with BFTE minerals...some looks are not with BFTE, but wrote down very similar dupes since BFTE is a lot cheaper than high-end brands!

BFTE e/s in "Envy" on inner corner, "Green Apple" on middle of the lid with "Emerald Green" on the outer-V and contour:


BFTE e/s "Karma" mixed with "Strawberry":


BFTE e/s in "Grape", "Lemon", "Tangerine", "Raspberry", and "Green Apple":


BFTE e/s in "Raspberry", "Karma", and "Grape":


BFTE e/s in "Lemon" on the lid, "Grape" or "Purple Iris" on outer-V and contour:


BFTE e/s in "Purple Iris" and "Grape":


BFTE e/s in "Karma" and "Purple Iris" (on contour):


BFTE e/s in "Envy" or "Green Apple" on inner corner, "Peacock" on the middle of the lid, "Grape" on outer-V:

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Melody's Makeup Outlet Partay!

Melody's Makeup Outlet
11 South 2nd St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 281-7707 (Tell them Vanessa from NessasaryMakeup sent ya to get yourself a discount!)

They have discounted items from well-known brands: MAC, Too-Faced, Smashbox, Shiseido, Shu Uemura, and more!


This past saturday, Melody's Makeup Outlet in Alhambra was fully staffed gearing to open their doors for the freebies they were giving out (which was NYX cosmetics and some false eyelashes), I went there and met up with Anne and met Miss Jaclyn Rose for the first time! I have known this girl online for a little over a year via MySpace, and we finally met! It was a true pleasure meeting her, she is so cute and super sweet in person!



The place was packed and there were so many people checking out the goods. I was being good since I am on a no-buy until August 1st because I am trying to discipline myself to be "good", and so far so good! Since I dropped $430 on the BF's new iPhone 3G (had to pay more to break his contract), that I was trying to recover by not buying anything I don't need. So essentially, I chatted with Anne and Jaclyn while THEY shopped, but actually walked out with NOTHING (shocker!). Even the BF didn't believe me and did a quick bag check to see if I tried to hide something in my purse, LOL.

We took a pic with the owners, of course who are so nice and now good friends and it was overall a pretty fun night! Parking was super hard to find since there was also a fair going on, but we managed to find a spot. Afterwards, we ALL went to have dinner at Noodle Planet (or Noodle World) with Anne, her BF, my BF, and Jaclyn. She wasn't the 5th wheel since she was MY date, I made my BF be the 5th wheel, LOL.

We had a lot of fun having girl chat, getting to know her and her family, her adorable boys, and just random things. We exchanged numbers and you can bet we are slowly forming a beauty blog clique! We will definitely hang out again!

Owner Rob taking a smoking break outside with us (none of us smoke, haha)


Group pic! Did I feel like a ginormous giant? Yes. :)

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Product Review: Shiseido Mascara Base vs. Tiffa Mascara Base

Product: 5 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Brush Head: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5
Price: $22, available at Sephora, Nordstroms, Macy's and other department store counters.

What it claims: A clear base coat for eyelashes that improves mascara application and wear as it boosts volume and curl. Adds dramatic definition to the eyes. Contains Multi-Nutrient Factor, an advanced moisturizer.

PROS: The thick brush wand builds up volume to my lashes, it's a clear gel therefore you can even just use it by itself for a "natural look", immediately when I started to use it I noticed a difference. My lashes looked fuller and longer, and that was just it by itself! There's no funky smell to it and it really keeps a curl on my lashes that lasts me all day. I also like how it is conditioning so it's like a primer to your eyelashes before you apply mascara therefore it prevents eyelash fallout.

CONS: The price, but it does the job so to me it's well worth it!

How does it compare to the Tiffa Mascara Base? Well the Tiffa mascara base has tiny hairs (click on the link for my review on it) that basically attach to your eyelashes to give the illusion of longer and thicker lashes, and can sometimes be irritating if one of the "hairs" gets into your eye. The Shiseido Mascara base is a true eyelash primer and has no "hairs" to attach onto your lashes; it strictly coats your lashes giving you more fuller and longer lashes. It also holds a curl while the Tiffa mascara base doesn't really hold a curl, although it did look the same for the finished look in my last FOTD...

Here are the pics to prove it, so what do you think? ***NOTE*** I did NOT curl my lashes for this demo so that you can see the result...so imagine IF you DO curl your lahes...hello va-va-voom!













TIFFA MASCARA BASE:

It really perked up my lashes but sorta made it wonky...

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