Oh Back To School

I've always been one that was excited about "back to school time". Back home in California it was always in September so we had the Fall to look forward to. I loved the crunch of the leaves, the hustle and noises of kids rushing to school. The laughter, the excitement of what teacher you got and who would be in your class. I loved the carnivals, the new school clothes, the new supplies (I was and still am a sucker for all office supplies and the colors associated with said topic). Now that I am a mom, I have mixed feelings about school starting. I've not ever been a mom to cry when they leave and miss them the whole day. I am usually there in the classroom helping out, then taking a few days a week for myself. The thing I am nervous about is making sure they behave themselves as gentlemen, hoping that I have taught them well enough to stand up for "the little guy". To choose the right wherever they are, to be active in participating during class time, ya know, normal mom hopes. I thought it would be only appropriate to have a back to school shoot! Here are a few of my favs from the amazingly talented Niki Martins Photography.

 

 

 Niki is amazing and I love that she captured these gorgeous mountains that I look out of my window to see everyday. Utah is such a beautiful place to live!!! Love my lake, love my mountains.

Outfit Deets:

Blouse, belt, bow: Forever 21

Skirt: small boutique in Jackson Hole but re-constructed by Holly Sundstrom

Shoes: Charlotte Russe

Tie: Tie One On (First one I purchased just for me! I usually steal from the hubs or the kids LOL)

Makeup Deets:

Lashes: Demi Whispies in black by Ardell

Shadow: MAC Bamboo & Handwritten in crease, Shroom on brow bone

Lips: Laura Mercier Sugar Violet Lip Stain

Saint Patrick's Day Eyes

Top o the mornin to ya! Have I told you lately that I love the color green on my eyes? It is one of "my  colors" from the color wheel and it just makes me happy every time I put it on. This fun little shoot was done by the amazing Miss Sara Marie from Sara Simpson Photography. It was featured on my Instagram Fashion account complete with outfit details. I have been having so much fun sharing my closet with you guys...and can I say that it is a little freeing? I have been one, like a lot of girls, to be down on myself when I look in the mirror. This creative outlet has helped my own what I love and share it. By talking about the pieces that I love from my closet and explaining why they work for me, it has helped me to compliment myself in a round about way. Not to feel conceited (at all) but more so to point out the positive and be happy with me =). I felt the combination of the outfit and the makeup was just perfect for today! Here's the video tutorial on how you can get your own amazing green and gold glittery eyes. Enjoy!

New Year, New Thoughts

Eating "clean", Ipsy find (and love) and going "natural". I've had such a transformation since moving to Utah. There are so many things I've been introduced to. Oils, clean eating, lifting weights vs. cardio, I did makeup for my first movie and I learned a lot about fake blood, scars on the face, hypothermia, just so much!!! Here are a few more things that I've learned ; D.

Lily Collins Look

I THINK SHE IS STUNNING!!!!! Yes, I was just shouting...but can you blame me? Now I see collections come and go. I'm not one to run out and buy every single one like most beauty bloggers. Would I love to review them? Well sure! but when does the madness stop? Do I really want to spend all of my money on makeup when I already have a ton of it (and most of the colors that come out I have a duplicate for)? Not really. This launch made me sit up and take notice though and I will be matching everything I have to see what can be used in place of then getting the REST if I don't have it. Maybe I'm just loooonging for Spring (I am btw) or maybe it's time for me to start makeup shopping again. It wouldn't be too out of line, I mean, I AM a beauty blogger. It's what I do! =) What cosmetics collection made YOU run out the door to get it?

Wizard Of Oz Tin Man

I aDORE the wizard Of Oz! I am an old soul to begin with so I love the charm and memory that old movies and old movie stars evoke. I watched every musical I could growing up and had a fascination with the stories that were "behind the scenes". My dad and his brothers are all movie buffs and I would LOVE sitting and listening to them tell stories about the interesting, little known facts about all the movie stars that I dreamed of being and the movies I would have died to be in. I used to get up and tap with Gene, twirl with Ginger, slink around with Cyd and bop with Ann Miller. I just loved them all! I crave the fashions from back then, I want singing and dancing in movies to come back to poularity (no I don't mean like High School Musical or remakes of classics). I mean all kids are put in dance and voice lessons if they want to get into the business =D. I digress....were any of you TOTALLY and completely freaked out by Margaret Hamilton as the wicked witch????? I was TERRIFIED of her and would hide behind the t.v. every time she came on. LOL even now when me and the boys watch it I get the chills when she came on {shudder}. Not withstanding the Springer family has decided to be all things Oz this year for Halloween and I could NOT be more excited!!!!!!! I can just see it in my mind and I really hope I haven't built it up too much in my mind. I am literally giddy about being Dorothy. My sweet mama was her years ago and made the costume I get to wear. That alone makes my heart melt a little =). I've ordered the boys costumes online this year instead of piecing them together. Older boy will be the tin man and the younger wants to be the scarecrow. That leaves the cowardly lion for the hubs (he's sooooo enthused about the idea...insert all my sarcasm there!). But he will do it cuz he loves me and doesn't want to break my heart =D. I am trying to get his costume done but I can't find ANYthing!!!! He said he would totally wear the lion head piece that Luna Lovegood wore in Harry Potter but how can I find THAT???? I've Googled it but I'm not spending that kind of money = /. I would like to do all of the characters form the Wizard Of Oz so here is the first. The Tin Man!!!! I do two separate chins so pick your fave (you could say this tutorial comes with a double chin ha!). I know bad joke, but enjoy and Happy Halloween!!!

Hot Summer Lips

I had posted that I had a few videos where my camera died and cut off the end. Thiiiiiis is one of those =). I am going to post it anyway seeing as the only thing missing is the lashes. Hope that you like it and sorry I didn't post it sooner so that said lips could have been worn in the actual Summer. There's always next year right??? ; D

Brave

Here is my journal entry that I wrote about me and my friend's aMAZing day on August 31st. This was the day before our little family packed up and took off for Disneyland. I almost missed out on this day and I am SO glad we decided to leave a day later!!!! Enjoy a look into my funny life =).

Psst...are you awake? I can't sleep because WHAT an amazing day!!! The plan was simple, Maria's birthday was today/yesterday so we were to get ready at my house, go shopping, go to lunch and then to see Sara Bareilles up in Park City. We ended up leaving super late but still in good spirits ready to shop! All the way there and through out we would joke about meeting Sara (yeah right!) and how we would totally be best friends. We found SO many cute things, most of them the last in the shop or just our sizes. Sign of good things to come? We ate at the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch which was beyond yummy and topped it off with a birthday sundae. Then it was off to Park City. Let me tell you one thing about Maria right now. She has been SUCH a dedicated runner that she actually injured her foot and has been wearing a boot for the last few days after seeing the doctor. There were over 5,000 people at this outdoor concert so we ended up parking VERY far away and having to walk quite a bit all the way uphill. I could tell it was hurting her foot so we decided to check out the merchandise and use the restrooms. The line to get in was even longer than the hike to get up there (literally) and hoping the people at the front would have pity on at least her I explained the situation. They let her sit up there as I went to go all the way to the back of the 5 mile line to wait. I had barely left when I ran into someone I had met through my cosmetics blog (love you Heather!). We chatted and giggled about seeing each other and crazy life events. Then she tells me she actually won a radio contest and she was waiting around to meet Sara!!!! Hearing this sent chills through me and I just started laughing and petting her arm, "I just have to touch the person going to meet Sara . Tell her I love her, and that we should be friends and...". "Excuse me but do YOU want to meet Sara too?" I turn to see the guy in charge of this little group going backstage. After picking my jaw up off the ground he tells me that another person that had one hadn't shown up and there was an opening. I told him about Maria and he said to go and get her. WE WERE GOING TO MEET HER!!!!! I just couldn't believe it! We went backstage, shook her hand, chatted, got pictures and I showed her a video of Branson singing her song "Brave". She loved it (hi, he's darling LOL) and just like that we had met the girl we had only joked about meeting. EPIC!!! Upon leaving I asked if we needed to go stand in line now (lawn seating so I'm sure all the lower areas were taken). He said we were good to just walk in AND that Maria's boot qualified her to sit in the handicapped seating. THIS DAY COULD NOT GET ANY BETTER!!!!! We were able to sit right at the feet of Miss Bareilles as we belted out our favorite songs and snapped picture after picture. I could not have imagined a better day and am SO glad I got to share it with such a dear friend. Happy Birthday Maria of mine. Love you!!!! 

Smokey Brown (Mountains for Earth Day)

Happy Earth week ladies! Today is a smokey brown tutorial inspired by the mountains. I have such a beautiful view of the Rockies out our back window and love love LOVE to look at them. It makes me think of all those vacations, camping, snowboarding or skiing looking out at the mountains. I feel super grateful to be able to see them everyday now =). Love this look too!

Don't you love my model poses? LOL My hubby loved the look and wanted a new picture of me. He was so funny and wanted me to take a pic in the car. He turned on my fav music (blasted it is more like it) and turned on the air full blast (man is it hard to keep your eyes open with it blowing) and was like,"Honey, it's like a real photo shoot!" LOL!!! Here was the winner chosen to come up on his phone when I call

Happy Earth Week Rainbow Eye

Here is day two for Earth week. Today is a rainbow. I like how it starts but LOVE how it ends. Have you ever done that? You know, where you start something makeup related that you think will be great....and it just turn out the way you wanted? I didn't want to film it all again so I just added a short video at the end of how I changed a few things. Enjoy....or just cut to the end LOL ; D. Tell me I'm not alone in this?

Teal & Caramel Random Tutorial

After opening up my Ipsy bag for the month of March I had this urge to use the colors in there from Yabby Cosmetics. They so PERfectly matched my outfit and so I decided to do a very last second tutorial. Somehow it turned into "deep thinking" and reflections...hope you don't mind ; ). I have just been thinking a lot about life lately, friends, family and creative outlets. This is definitely an outlet for me and I am super appreciative of you guys for watching, commenting and learning with me. I feel like I am branching out in all areas of my life and was wondering how you guys would feel about me posting about them from time to time. I throw parties for people, I would love to share what I do and the ideas I've come up with. I'm on this whole weight loss kick and would love to share recipes. I adORE decorating (love me some Pinterest) and am actually in the process of doing two homes in the area and would love to share crafty crafty things along with decor. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments and if we want to keep to strictly makeup I can create other blogs no problem and keep this one free of those things =). Thanks for all of your feedback!  Love you guys!!!

Sexy Eyes

image from Pinterest

Hi there makeup lovers!!!!! I am excited to be back and doing such a dramatic, fun, smokey eyes for you today. The BEST part of this whole thing is that MOST everything comes from the drugstore!!! Not everything though, and for the items that aren't I made sure to use VERY inexpensive products that are just a click away on Amazon =). I wanted to kick off this warmer weather with a sultry sharp eye and have been so taken away with this pic that I want to lighten my hair for the first time in 12 years!!! What do you think? Should I take the plunge???

Flawless Kim Kardashian Makeup

Saw this picture and was SO captivated by it. Love her or hate her, she knows how to wear her makeup! Her makeup artist has sent girls all over reeling trying to make their cheekbones as pronounced, their eyes as dreamy, their lashes as long and thick and lips as pouty as possible! Sure, they airbrushed the JuNk out of this photo but still.....beautiful!!!!! In this video I teach how to achieve this gorgeous look with two different lips. One with the orangy red she sports and the other with a very glossy nude lip. One thing I was most impressed with as I went through doing my eyelashes was that I thought my demi whispies might not be good enough to match hers. I ended up doing a good coat of mascara on them and they TOTALLY proved worthy!!!!! SO fun to find that something you already had, something you thought was only good for one thing, surprises you =). I don't feel the need to go out and get different lashes when doing Kim looks. Tell me what you think and which lip is your favorite!

Snow White Makeup Tutorial

The beautiful princess Snow White is known far and wide for her kindess, charm her beautiful snow white skin and ebony black hair. I was asked to dress up as this iconic Disney princess for a little girl's birthday party last week. I thought I might share how I got ready. I am scheduled to do this again next week and think I might have to reference my own video =). Hope that you enjoy it!

Make Those Blue Eyes POP!!!

This is probably one of my most requested tutorials. Not this one specifically, but in general. A lot of girls want to know what colors will make their blue eyes stand out. I've always dreamed of having super dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. It's just a combo that I find stunning! Alas, I'm a brown eyed girl ;) but still love it! I have done a tutorial for the summer time and here is one for the winter. It is the same general idea but a few different colors.

P.S. Be looking soon on the blog for a giveaway from Shabby Apple!!!!! Here is the outfit I wore in the video =):

Kev's Rainbow Eye

Here is video #2 for me and Kevin. I know it took forEVER for us to get it uploaded but my computer would NOT process it for the life of me. The first video is where he had to take all my product and do my makeup blindly. Then we had readers send in a bunch of photos for Kevin to try next time. The one that he chose was a rainbow eye sent in by Stacey. 

Here he is using the picture and trying to match it. At the end there is a Q&A where he asks how to fix common mistakes. I think he did a great job! =) What do you think???

False Lash Routine {updated}

image from Pinterest

I have one other lash tutorial but you know how things change over time =). This one is solely dedicated to the application of false lashes instead of a mini tutorial withIN another tutorial. It takes practice to master lashes but NOT much!!! You would be surprised how easily it will come to you as you do it often. It now takes me less time to put on my lashes than to perfect a few coats of mascara. 

I also love to use different kinds depending on my mood. You'd laugh if you say the different pairs I have in my bathroom. Do I feel "saucy"? Then I would wear something like these:

I like the separation effect where certain points are longer and thicker. More often than not I opt for romantic and whispy for dates with my hunny like these:

What is YOUR style of lashes??? Where do you get yours if you wear them? Also, this is a terrible picture because photography is not a strong skill of mine but here is the outfit I wore in the video.

Dress: Forever 21
Bow: Forever 21 (almost 3 years ago)
Navy blue cardigan: Forever 21
Navy blue leggings: Forever 21 (are you sensing a pattern LOL?)
Boots: Target.com
Teal knee length socks: Target

Smokey Smokey

I haven't done a smokey eye in FOREVER it feels like so I decided NO MORE! Today would be the day to bust one out and rock it for.....the PTA? LOL I basically live at the boys' school helping out so hopefully the kids/teachers liked it ; D. I decided to go with blues since that would make my brown eyes pop but feel free to sub in any colors that you love! Enjoy and happy holidays =).

Bat Those Lashes Ladies

Soooooo ever since I started wearing false lashes I can't seem to not add them to my every look. If I don't, it doesn't matter how big of a bow I wear, I feel like a man ha! Lashes, when done well, are feminine and beautiful and add that touvh of drama we all crave every now and then. I have always thought that the extensions were way too expensive and a touch too new to be done well every time. I have seen them be stunning but I have also seem them be an absolute MESS!!! Too feathery, too many, too few, crooked etc. To have to redo them constantly is also a discredit to them. For me, I am happy to buy my Demi Whispies from Sally's for $4 a month. I love that it takes me less time to throw them on than to do my mascara.  That all being said I do wish that I had been born with gloriously long lashes. How nice it would be to go swimming or take a shower not having to worry about damaging my lashes. I was SO excited then to hear from my good friend Nicole about a fantASTIC lash serum she had been using. Take it away Nicole:

 "I was in getting a pedicure one day and this girl next to me had the most amazing lashes. I complemented her on them and I expected her to say she had extensions in but instead she said she used this product "Nutraluxe lash md". She had tried latise and a few others but likes this one the best. So I went home and jumped on amazon and ordered it right away. When I received it I read, do not use if pregnant or breastfeeding. Great, I was pregnant then and I would be breastfeeding.... so it sat in my drawer for a year. It had a two year expiration on it and longer if never opened so I waited. I just finished nursing my baby back in the beginning of June. That day I busted this product out. It took about 4 weeks to see much difference, but then every month it keeps getting better it will reach its optimal results in another few weeks it said around 4 months. I have loved this product! Before I go to bed at night I take one swipe across my eyelid like a liquid eyeliner and that is it. I read so many reviews before I started it and a few mentioned it made their eyes more sensitive or red around the skin in the morning, but I have not noticed anything. I make sure I do not rub my eyes at night though. It has turned my almost non-existent lashes into full beautiful lashes. The lashes are much thicker, a little darker and way longer and curlier. I was about to get extensions too but they are pricey and you have to keep redoing them so I gave these a shot first. Your falsies look great, I can not get them on me without looking like a clown and I can never feel like they are secure enough. Here are some pictures of my miraculous before and after!"

Convinced??? I know I am enough to buy it and try it out! I am so excited to show you the results along the way!

Here is the link to where you too can find this great product.

www.amazon.com/Nutra-LUXE-Physican-Formulated-Ophthalmologist-Tested/dp/B001WAKUUC/ref=pd_sim_bt_1 

I have ordered one for myself for Christmas as a stocking stuffer ; D. Are you going to order and try it??? Leave a comment!

Be Bold With Brows

Stepping a little out of our comfort zone can be scary but it can also prove to be wonderful! This look is a little outside of the box for me as an actual wearable look. It is meant to be just that, a look. Not something to be done everyday but more like a new outfit or a hair-do change. Look to the runways to find bold brows and daring looks and you may see a brow like this one. I liken it unto the look Tyra refers to as "ugly pretty". With that in mind...enjoy!

Jennifer Connelly has had these amazing brows her whole life/career. Who remembers her from Labyrinth or the Rocketeer?

This is a TERRIBLE picture!!! Her head seems very bulbous from the screen shot someone took of her but I can't find her rocking these brows from the same show anywhere else.

 Back to normal...not bold but very beautiful.

Lily looking lovely

Elizabeth Taylor rocking the power brow

 Estee Lauder model Hilary Rhoda

the difference is HUGE!!!

Beautiful with long lashes

Reese Witherspoon (& a red lip)

I had a request from Ashley for a Reese Witherspoon look and also a red lip tutorial. I kind of just put them both together since they came from the same person =). You can also watch it in HD!!!!!!! SO much better quality. Click play and where you see the numbers 360p, click on it and choose the 720pHD version =). She wanted to know how to do shadow on hooded lids and how to make a red lip not look trashy with her coloring. She also sent me some pictures of herself and holy COW does she look like Reese. Check out that jawline!!!

 This is the red lip that I chose for the look but not the eye makeup. I think this lip will look stunning on Ashley with it's slight orange undertone.

 Here is cute Ashley herself =).

This is the eye makeup that I chose for the tutorial. Soft and somewhat pinky nude in it's color with fabulous sparkle. Great for the red carpet and stunning for an everyday look. I'll be doing a more dramatic Reese eye in the future.