The right blush for your skintone

We've all seen it. Someone who overdid it just a tad on the blush that morning and ended up looking more like a clown than a girl. It happens to the best of us, but its an easy fix.
Sometimes how blush looks on the skin has less to do with the amount you apply and more to do with finding the shade that is going to compliment your skin tone and give you the radiant look you desire without looking ridiculous. One thing is for sure, putting blush on is one of the best way to instantly radiate your skin and give a glow that makes you look more cheerful and happy.
Your gut instinct may be to go with the color you like the best or the one you think looks like the one "everyone else wears," but just like we all wear a different clothing size, we all have different skin tones and different color compliment them differently. Whether you prefer cream blush or powder, finding the right color is the most important, second to application. Keeping it light is the best way to make sure you won't have a blush catastrophe. You can always add more, but its almost impossible to remove what you've already done without having to completely start over with your makeup. And when it comes to getting ready for school, time is of the essence.

For fair skin, its important not to go too dark. You don't want to overpower your beautiful porcelain skin. Stick with a light peachy pink and a light application for more of a glow than a "blush".

For medium skin tones, just like fair skin, peaches and pinks are your best go-to, however you may want to take it a step further and go a shade or two darker. A rich pink or even mauve will provide
you with a lasting glow, without being too much.

For darker skin tones, deep shades of red, orange, and brown look best. Pink colors will tend to leave you looking more washed out than flushed.

Keep the blush focused on the apples of your cheeks for daytime wear and bring it up the cheekbones for a nighttime look. If you want something more dramatic you can always use contour shades with darker bronzier colors and a lighter highlight shade on the top of your cheekbones. However when it comes to contouring, especially during the day, like grandma always said, less is more.


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5 Minute Cat Eye

Cat eye eyeliner is a fun way to spice up your daily makeup routine. You can easily play it up for a formal outing. You can make it sultry for a night out, or you can keep it simple for day to day wear. Whatever you choose, there are a few basic steps to creating the look you desire.

As far as materials go, all you really need for the basic cat eye is either a black gel liner with a small angled brush, or a black eye pencil. Using liquid liner will create a look that will smudge less, but is harder to blend or fix mistakes. You'll also want to have some Q-tips readily available to fix smudging and to blend out your liner.

To start off, apply your mascara like you normally would. Once this is dry, draw a rough line using your black eye liner pencil along your upper lash line. It doesn't have to be perfect because you will be going over it later. If you have trouble with this, try gently pulling up on your eyelid to expose the skin further.

Next, if you are using gel liner, load up your brush. In order to keep clean lines, try flipping your brush back and forth in the product to get an even coating.

To find the angle you want for the "flick", follow your bottom lash line as if it would continue all the way to your brow bone and draw a line along that angle. Then go to the edge of the flick and pull it back along the lash line. You can see the way the makeup artist does this in the photo.



Use gentle strokes and remember to keep it small at first, you can always make it thicker and more intense after you get the general shape. Also try not to pull on your eyelid as you shape, it will distort the look of the cat eye when you move your finger. Just relax your eyes. If you make any mistakes just take a cotton bud and gently brush over the area.

When you are trying to get both eyes even, try placing a mirror on the table and look down as you fill them in to get a better angle.

When you have finished your cat eye, try blending some dark eye shadow in the crease of your eye to create depth and finish with a setting spray to help maintain the look all day.




















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How To Look FLAWLESS in School Pictures

Most people have trouble when preparing for picture day. Here's a few steps you can take to make sure you are ready for your flawless photo shoot.

1. Clear skin = confidence

Going into a picture knowing your skin is looking its best can really take the edge off. If you don't normally, start washing and moisturizing your face 2-3 weeks before the picture is scheduled to prep it. This helps ensure you won't have any bad break outs, dryness, or uneven skin tones.

2. Put together an outfit. 

You can find something to wear that you already own, but buying something new is always fun. Make sure you select a shirt in a color that looks good on you. Also, choose something simple. No crazy colors or patterns. The pictures focus should be your face, not what you're wearing. You also want to stay away from anything that is too low cut, you don't need anything else to worry about when your getting your photo taken.

3. Style your hair.

Find something fun to do with your hair that you can practice the night before, You don't want to be scrambling in the morning, so make sure it's doable in a short period of time. You may want to choose something that brings your hair out of your face and eyes. 

4. Photo-ready makeup.

Especially when it comes to school photos, you don't want to over do it. You will end up regretting it later. Go for something simple, and remember the basics: apply lip balm first to make sure your lips are moisturized and ready. Avoid using moisturizers or primers that contain SPF, because this reflects the light of the camera and can cause your face to appear whiter than the rest of your body. Use a matte powder to set your makeup to control shine, and stick with a neutral eye shadow palette. Make sure to fill in your brows with either an eye pencil or matte shadow. Last but not least, make sure to add a little more blush to your cheeks than normal. Flash photography can remove up to 20% of color and intensity from your makeup, and you want to avoid looking washed out, so blush away.


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Sleeping Beauty

Ever want to wake up to a firmer complexion or a more even skin tone, maybe even healthier hair? Sounds more like a dream I'm sure, but its not entirely impossible. 

At night, skin is more susceptible to treatments, such as those that even skin tone, because it is doing less work to protect itself from other elements such as the sun. In additions, vitamin C becomes deactivated in sunlight. To fade spots, try Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Overnight Peel. ($17 in Drugstores) 

The worst thing you can do to your hair is sleep with it wet. Wet hair is extremely fragile. To avoid damaging the ends, try wrapping it up in a t-shirt instead of a towel. Also, using satin pillow cases allows hair to slip with movement and has a slimmer chance of being damaged during sleep.
And even hair that is already dry can benefit from being moisturized. Post shower, try using a leave-in moisturizing treatment. This gives the product all night to "work its magic". Try L'Oreal Professionnel Liss Ultime Smoothing night Treatment (around $35), which can be applied to damp or dry hair.

Your elbows, hands, heels, and knees often get forgotten about, especially when it comes time for bed. These areas tend to be dry already, and not keeping them nourished will only hurt you in your sleep. Before bed, try applying a body lotion that contains moisturizing elements as well as gentle exfoliate acids. This clears the way for the moisture to completely soak into your skin. Eucerin Intensive Repair Very Dry Skin Lotion ($12; drugstores) is cheep and works amazing.

Its every girls dream to wake up with her under eyes bright and ready for the day. These dark areas can have many causes ranging from sun damage to blood pooling in the skin under your eyes while you sleep. In this case, you want to strengthen and plum the skin using some thing that contains collagen-stimulating peptides. Mary Kay TimeWise Repair Volu-Firm Eye Renewal Cream ($40) works for this, even though it tends to be a little pricey, its worth it in the long run.

Of course we can leave out the feet in all of this.. For a pampering overnight treatment, apply Vaseline to the soles of your feet and put on socks before you sleep. The socks help bind the moisture to your feet and you’ll wake up to soft, smooth soles. 



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How to: Fake Wide-Awake Eyes

School has begun to drag on over the past month, but just because its Monday, doesn't mean you have to start your week off with tired looking eyes. There are ways to fake the wide awake and fully rested face...

The Tear Duct Trick:

It all starts in the tear duct, pick a light pink shade of eye shadow. Avoid chalky, silver colored highlighters, they tend to look more blue, making your eyes, especially the tear ducts area, appear drawn and tired; the opposite of what we want. Also try to avoid heavier products. Some liquids work, but most liquids and creams can be thicker on the skin and you do not want that in your eye area. Pink is a color that flatters all skin tones, as well as balancing out yellow and pink undertones.

White Water Line:
Another easy way to make your eyes appear more awake and ready for the day is to line your bottom water line, the piece of skin between the eye and your lower lash line, with a white eye pencil. This brightens the eyes and makes them look bigger. Using a waterproof eye pencil for this will be essential if you want it to stay all day.

Eliminate puffiness:
Puffy eyes are a dead give away of sleep deprivation. Using something chilled— a bag of ice, frozen peas— should do the trick as long as you hold it on the area for 10-15 minutes. 

Exfoliation:
Not only does this brighten your skin to make you look more awake, but it has many other benefits for your skin to stay healthy. Its best to use a treatment that contains dead skin dissolving fruit acids.

Curling Eyelashes:
When your eyes aren't cooperating, curling your eyelashes is a must! It makes mascara application simpler and easier. For the biggest impact, apply the curler once before mascara application, and once after they have completely dried.

Eye Shadow Trick:
You might think a shimmery light shade will brighten up your eyelids, but the truth is, when your tired it can exaggerate puffiness. A warm brown shadow is perfect for visually deflating bloated lids. Try to stay away from anything with pink or red undertones.

Blush to Cancel Under-eye Circles:
Using a little bit of peachy pink blush on the apples of your cheeks or on the cheekbones can detract from your tired eyes' under eye circles that tend to have blue or purple undertones. This also adds warmth to your complexion. 



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Kitchen Cupboard Beauty Heros

  You don't always have to go to the department store and spend a boatload of money on expensive brand-named products. Especially when a lot of what makes store-bought products so expensive is the fancy packaging and labels. You might be surprised how many all natural beauty ingredients you already have sitting in your kitchen, or just a quick trip to the grocery store away. In addition to being cheep, anything you make at home will be 100% natural, making it a great option for people with sensitive skin. Not to mention that DIY is all the rage this year. Here's a few you might want to try:

1) Shea Butter
This has a ton of benefits for your skin, along side the fact that it smells amazing. Its nourishing texture makes it great for anti-aging treatment. It has SPF 5 for natural sun protection, which means it can be used as a daily sunscreen. Organic Shea butter also has anti-bacterial properties. This helps prevent stretch marks, and heal wounds. 

2) Easy Exfoliates
Exfoliates are great for the skin and so easy to make with about anything you can find in your kitchen. Mild exfoliating once or twice a week, in addition to daily cleansing, can dramatically improve the results of your skin care routine by removing dry and dull skin cells from the surface of your face which keeps your pores from becoming clogged.
One of the easiest recipes I know combines sugar, olive oil, and warm water. 

3) Simple Blackhead Remedy 
Blackheads can appear all over the face and can be extremely frustrating. Luckily there are a few easy kitchen tricks to help illuminate them! 

• One uses a mix of 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon and a tablespoon of honey. Using your fingers, dab onto dry skin.
• Another option is a egg white mask. Taking two eggs, separate the whites from the yokes and apply to face. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. This will help tighten pores, giving you smooth and clear skin.

4) Strawberries for white teeth?
Mashing up a strawberry and adding a little bit of baking soda is a quick and easy way to get whiter teeth! Use your toothbrush to scrub on for about 5 minutes and you're good to go.


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5 Must-Have Beauty Products for Summer

This Summer was hot, and so are these must haves to keep your skin, face, and hair ready for the sun and the sand of the pool and the beach!

1) The first must-have for your Summer hair product check-list is the Pronto Braid Paste

The best way to keep hair out of your face when the temperatures really heat up is with a braid or top knot, and this product will make sure your 'do stays all day long. It has a great long-lasting, non sticky formula, which makes it perfect for all hair types. You can pick this up at Ulta or order it off of oscarblandi.com for just $25.

2) NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray = Great "Summer looking" skin!

While this product doesn't do the best job of making my makeup last all day it does do a great job of giving my face the nice dewy Summer finish we all love. Also, NYX as a brand itself is generally very affordable so that is one perk of this product over something on the high-end scale. This setting spray goes for about $8.

3) Garnier BB Cream... foundation and moisturizer in one?!

BB Creams are big this year, especially for the Summer face because not only do you get coverage for blemishes but you are also protecting your skin from the harmful rays of the sun (yay)! *Also, this product works great for dry skin without getting too oily! This BB Cream by Garnier comes with SPF 20 built into the smooth formula and comes in a variety of shades to fit any skin color. Price ranges around $13-- which can be a little pricy for such a small bottle.

4) Bad pool hair? Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray.

Take advantage of your beachy waves while you're in the sun with a few sprays of this hair renewal spray! The large bottle is great for home, but pick up a travel size to carry with you on vacations as your must-have quick fix to a bad hair day.

5) Absolute must for running late; Dry shampoo by Herbal Essences

Don't have time to shower? Not a problem, at least for your hair. Herbal Essences Dry Shampoo smells great and helps to soak up oils in your hair that tend to make it look greasy and unappealing. Great, inexpensive product to throw in your beach bag and carry with you on-the-go! 

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