Get Ready With Me | Red Lip

Here's a makeup look featuring a bold red lip, I hope you enjoy! Below is the step by step process I used when creating the look to better help with what exactly I did. <3

Foundation and Concealer:

I used Philosophy's Hope in a Jar to moisturize after showering before starting the video. With summer and the heat a primer is pretty essential plus it helps even out my skin tone. For this video I used Benefit's Porefessional. I mixed Loreal True Match Foundation in shades W2 and W3 together on the back of my hand and applied it with a Beautyblender sponge. I went in with Mac's Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15 as a concealer and highlighter and applied it under my eyes, along the bridge of my nose, cupids bow, and forehead and blended it out with the Beautyblender. To set the concealer I used Mac's Prep + Prime Finishing Powder with an Elf blush brush.

Eyebrows:

I'm not going to lie, I suck at doing my eyebrows. I don't have the technique down and quite frankly I'm a little lazy but I did what I could for the video. I used Anastasia Beverly Hills' Brow Wiz in Brunette. Since I bought mine I guess they've changed the name to Dark Brown instead of Brunette. I went over and sort of set that with Whitening Lightning's Brow Bar to Go. After the video I used the wax in the brow bar to keep my unruly brow hairs down, haha. Anyway, moving on to eyes.

Eyes:

I only used one palette for this video and that was the Lorac Pro Palette. I kept the eyes simple since I was doing a bold red lip. A bold eye and bold lip clashes with each other. You usually end up looking like a clown. I took Taupe in palette with a Sigma E40 and put it in my crease. I then took Lt. Bronze on a Sigma E55 all over the lip. It's one of the shimmer colors in the palette but it's a very subtle shimmer. I then took Mauve on a Mac 217 and pushed it in the outer corner and up into the crease just to give a little definition in the eyes. Then I took that same E40 and blended everything out.

Face: 

I contoured my face with Nars Lagoona Bronzing Powder using a Sigma F05 brush. I hit the hollows of my cheeks, forehead, chin and dragged it onto my neck. I used my favorite blush, Mac's Melba on my cheeks. It's just the perfect neutral shade. I wear it year round. I'm staring at my hand since I just swatched it and the main color that I see is peach but a nudey peach. Anyway, I used a Bhumi blush brush to apply it on the apples of my cheeks. I took my Sigma F50 Duo Fibre brush to blend everything out and make sure there were no harsh lines. And to give a pretty glow I went in with Mac's Soft and Gentle Mineralized Skinfinish as a highlight on my cheek bones and cupids bow.

Eyelashes:

I curled my lashes with Japonesque's Eyelash Curler. This curler is the bomb. I've tried drugstore and the Mac one and this one is better than all of those. I did one coat of Loreal's Telescopic Shocking Extensions Mascara, the waterproof formula, because using waterproof before your regular mascara can help make the lashes look fuller. I then used Loreal's Telescopic Carbon Black Mascara and coated my top and bottom lashes. And finally, this wasn't in the video, I finished it off with Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. I know, it's a lot of mascara but I'm not a false eyelash wearer so I do what I can to make my lashes look long and full as if I were wearing falsies. 

Lips:

Before the video I put on Maybelline's Baby Lips lip balm to make sure they were moisturized. I used Rimmell's Scandeleyes Kohl Pencil in Nude as a lip liner. I used it as a base around my lips and because it was nude, it acted like a concealer so the color wouldn't bleed throughout the day. I took Mac's Myth lipstick and put it in the middle of my lips because I wanted it to be a little lighter since the red we're about to go in with is VERY red. Now for the big mamajama is Mac's Russian Red lipstick. 

For the final touch, I locked in my makeup with Urban Decay's Chill Setting Spray. And boom, we're done!

By the way, my hair is three day old hair. I sprayed it with Batiste Dry Shampoo before filming and combed it through. It's always a mess so don't pay any attention to it haha.

I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comment section either here or on the video! Oh, and I tried to find links to all the products. Loreal and Rimmell are drugstore brands so you can find them at any drugstore, Target, Rite Aid, etc.

Thank you!
Amanda :)


As a disclaimer: I did not make the music I put to the video. 
Picture Perfect - dFonz
Seth is a good friend from high school and his music is amazing. Picture Perfect is one of my all time favorite songs. I listen to it at least once a day. If you like it, you should check out his Soundcloud and Youtube -> soundcloud.com/dfonz and youtube.com/sdfonz
Do It Like A Dude - Jessie J
Classic - MKTO  

Equipment: Macbook Pro
Edited on: iMovie

Easiest Way To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

It's the dreaded day when you just know it's time to clean those makeup brushes. If you only have a few brushes then it's not so bad but when you have a lot, it can be time consuming.

How often should you clean your brushes? You should probably clean them once a week. There have been times I've cleaned mine after two weeks though but I only use my brushes on myself. It's easier to get all the product buildup off if you do it once a week though. If they're being used for clients, obviously you need to disinfect them after every client. 

I was using the dawn dishsoap and extra virgin olive oil to clean mine but I found an even better way..the Blendercleanser Solid by Beautyblender. It's one step and so easy to use.

(Difference between and new and used one)

How do I use it? 

All I do is wet my brush, making sure to not get water above the barrel.
FYI: Getting water above the barrel can cause it to rust and the barrel will ultimately fall off and ruin your brush.

Then take the brush and swirl it in the cleanser.

Then take the brush & swirl the brush with the cleanser on my hand to work it into the bristles.

Wash the cleanser off and hang to dry! 

I use this Benjabelle Brush Tree to dry my brushes. It's such a nifty & great product. I've had it for about a year and a half & there are no chips or anything. This is the only one they had when I bought mine but they have since made quite a few different ones. Very easy to clean as well.

I like cleaning my brushes at night and having them dry over night. You can see I've got some Real Techniques, Mac, Sigma, Bhumi, Sonia Kashuk brushes and a Beautyblender. And no, I don't use these all on a daily basis. Haha. If you have a ton of brushes and you don't like your hands to look like prunes, I'd look into the Sigma Spa Brush Cleaner. Although I don't have one, I've heard a lot of great things about it from beauty guru's.

Happy brush cleaning!
-Amanda :) 

Sigma Makeup Brushes

Sigma Makeup Brushes

Is it worth the hype?

I was very skeptical when it came to Sigma's makeup brushes. I researched, watched videos and read reviews about their brushes and there were a lot of mixed opinions. I decided to hold off on purchasing any for the time being since I felt I didn't need anything at the time. 

2014 has come and I knew I needed new brushes. I had been watching Jaclyn Hill on YouTube for awhile and she mentioned she teamed with Sigma to create an Expert Beauty Box that included seven of her favorite brushes for $90 (retail value of $113). I decided to go ahead and buy the box in March when it launched.

My box (pictured above) arrived a week later.

The contents included:

• F80 Flat Kabuki 
• F86 Tapered Kabuki
• F35 Tapered Highlighter
• E55 Eye Shading
• E25 Blending
• E40 Tapered Blending
• E30 Pencil
• Mini E25 Blending (Free Gift with $30 purchase)
• Card from Jaclyn Hill

I immediately took them to the sink to wash. (I use the Beautyblender Solid to clean my brushes) The Kabuki brushes washed fine, no shedding or fallout. However, when I washed the F35 Highlighter brush, it shed quite a bit. I was a little sad when that happened. The rest of the brushes had no shedding or fallout. 

I've been using these brushes for a month now and I absolutely LOVE them. Ever since that first wash with the F35 brush, it has not shed since. They work amazing. I have different makeup brushes but always grab for these. I will definitely be purchasing more. Not only do they have brushes but they also have makeup and accessories for your brushes! They have a brush glove that I really want to try too!

Basically, Sigma brushes are like Mac brushes except cheaper in price and better quality. If you're in the market for new brushes, I recommend taking a look into their collection. www.sigmabeauty.com

-Amanda :)