Purple Ombre Nails (Tutorial)

Ombre is one of the biggest trends this year. Whether it's ombre hair, ombre clothing, ombre eyes/lips. It's everywhere, so of course it needs to be incorporated on the nails as well :)

Here are my purple ombre nails. The key to a nice ombre is to use colors that are a few shades darker/lighter from each other. You can also create ombre nails from a blue to an orange for example, but the blending process will be a little harder since the colors aren't similar.

If you'd like to see how I did this, keep reading!

What you'll need :

Here I have a matte top coat (optional), 4 different shades of purple and a makeup sponge. From left to right : NYC- Matte Me Crazy, Essie- Nice is Nice, China Glaze- Spontaneous, China Glaze- Coconut Kiss and OPI- Siberian Nights.

Step 1: You'll need to apply a white or nude color on every nail as your base, this will help the next set of colors pop. Wait for this to dry completely. This is OPI- Sweet Heart (it was not shown in the picture above.)

Step 2: Dampen your makeup sponge and wring out any excess water. This will help your polish stay on the surface and not soak so far into the sponge. Take your polishes, and apply a line for each color, going from light to dark.

Step 3: Line your sponge up on your nail and press down. If you like where all of your colors are placed, you can then blend the colors by bouncing the sponge on top of the nail. Be careful. You don't want to over-do it or the sponge will start to pull your color up instead of laying it down.

Step 4: Apply the first coat with your sponge on every nail. By the time you're finished with your last nail, your first one should be dry enough for the second coat. Apply as many coats as you see fit. Here I've applied 3 coats. You'll notice that your sponge will leave a little bit of a bumpy finish (you can see in the picture) But don't worry. Once you add your top coat, it'll even everything out.

Step 5: Clean up time! I like to pour a bit of acetone in the bottle cap and dip my cotton swab into that. It's much more convenient.

Step 6: Once your nails are all clean, you can then add a top coat. As you can see, the nail texture has evened itself out.

Step 7: You can stop there or choose to add a matte top coat like I did. It was hard for me to decide what finish I liked better, so I just ended up sticking with this one!

Hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial. It's simple and the results are pretty! What's better than that?! As always, feel free to leave any comments/questions below.

Happy sponging! ;)

Aubrey

Smokey Friday Night Eyes (Tutorial)

I decided to create a tutorial showing you all how I do my smokey eye-look. You can always substitute these colors for something lighter/darker or more colorful.

The first tips I have for any smokey eye is, 1. Use quality shadow. Using shadow that is finely milled and nicely pigmented will help you blend better and you will have a smoother application (a.k.a. it'll be a lot easier to create a smokey eye). 2. Don't use those sponge applicators that come with some eye shadows. A smokey and sultry eye-look is made by going from dark to light. You'll need a decent blending brush to create this. If you'd like to know how I created this look, keep on reading!

What you'll need ::

Eye shadow primer :: I'm using Urban Decay - Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Eye shadow :: I'm using Urban Decay - Naked Palette

Eye kohl :: I'm using MAC Cosmetics Eye Kohl - Smolder

Mascara :: I'm using Benefit Cosmetics - BADgal Lash

These are the eye brushes that I used to create this look. They are all Sigma brushes and you can find them here. From left to right :: E05, E55, E40, E30, E60, E25

Step 1: Apply eye shadow primer on your lid and blend up to your brow bone. This will keep your eye shadow from creasing and will intensify the colors of your shadow.

Step 2: Take your E40 (blending) brush and sweep the shade "Naked" (a light brown color) into your crease. You will hardly see this shade when it's all said and done, but it's put down first to help your darker shadows blend easier.

Step 3: With your E60 (flat shader) brush, pack on the shade "Sidecar" (a sparkly champagne color) all over your lid. Don't go into your crease with this shade. You want to use your sparkly colors on the lid and your matte colors in your crease.

Step 4: Take your E25 (flat blending) brush and apply the shade "Buck" (a dark brown color) into your outer-V. I will be applying a black color into my outer-V but putting this color down first helps the black blend easier.

Step 5: With your E30 (pencil) brush apply the shade "Creep" (a black color) into your outer-V.

Step 6: Use your E25 (flat blending) brush again, to blend out the black and browns in the outer-V. This may take a few minutes. Blending is key. Use a windshield wiper/circular motion until it's blended the way that you prefer.

Step 7: With your E55 (eye shadow) brush, apply the shade "Virgin" (a sparkly off-white color) to your brow bone and in your inner corner.

Step 8: Take a black eye kohl (here I'm using MAC- Smolder) and apply it above your upper lashes. To create more of a precise line, use an eyeliner (E05) brush to smooth it out and create a sharp point.

Step 9: Apply your mascara. Here I'm using Benefit Cosmetics- BADgal Lash.

Step 10: Take your eye kohl, and line your lower water line.

Step 11: With an E30 (pencil) brush, sweep the shades "Buck" (dark brown) and "Creep" (black) under your lower lashes.

Step 12: Add some mascara to your bottom lashes and you're finished!

I hope you all enjoyed this smokey friday night eye-look! It's one of my favorites to do! As always, if you have any questions/comments, feel free to leave them below!

Happy blending! ;)

Aubrey

Neon Saran Wrap Tutorial

Yesterday, my grandmother and I did some shopping. We stopped into Sally's and I spotted China Glaze- Celtic Sun. WOW. Talk about a bright-highlighter neon, I had to get it! I have absolutely nothing like it in my collection. This is a color that most people wouldn't want to get (including my grandmother) but not only was the color popping out at me, but the China Glaze was on sale for $4.99!! Any polish addict would have swooped it up in a heart beat! :)

This is the look that I decided on doing with Celtic sun. Let me warn you now to put on your sun glasses! 8)

I achieved this look by using 2 colors and saran wrap. I decided to use neon, but this saran wrap trick can be used with any colors that your heart desires. If you're interested in how I did this mani, keep on reading!

What you'll need:

Grab 2 colors of your choice. Here I have China Glaze- Purple Panic and China Glaze- Celtic Sun

You'll also need some saran wrap.

Step 1: Decide on which color you'd like to use as your base and paint that on every nail. I decided to use Celtic Sun as a base. (Tip: if you decide to use celtic sun as well, try painting on a coat of white underneath it. The formula is streaky and a white base would help.) Wait for your nails to dry completely.

Step 2: Rip off a piece of saran wrap and crumple it into a ball.

Step 3: Paint your second color onto the saran wrap. This is Purple Panic.

Step 4: Dab your saran wrap ball onto a piece of paper. This will let you know if you're happy with the design that is coming off of it, and it will also remove any excess polish-blobs that may be on the saran wrap.

Step 5: Dab your saran wrap ball onto your nail in a bouncing motion. You can do this as little or as much as you like. If you prefer more of the base coat to show, dab only a few times. If you prefer more of the pink to show, dab many times. The look is all personal preference.

Step 6: Clean up around the edges with a cotton swab. Add a top coat to protect your design and you're finished!

This is a fun and easy look that anyone can do! Hope you all enjoyed this tutorial! As always, if you have any comments/questions, feel free to let me know below!

Happy polishing!

Aubrey

Eyebrow Tutorial

Today I'll be showing you how I achieve this brow look.

(don't mind my bare lids, I always do my brows before I apply any eye shadow.)

I like to keep my final brow result as natural as I can. I don't like the over-filled look and I don't like the super-thin look. It's proven that having a thicker brow makes you appear younger and more youthful (just figure out how thick is too thick for your face shape.) If you want to know how I fill my brows in, keep on reading!

Here are my brows without any sort of fill. They're very light and thin. The hair on my head is dark so my brows seem to disappear on my face if I leave them alone. When I was younger I never filled my brows in - but now that I'm older and know more about it, I've learned that they frame your face and make your facial features pop. Filling your brows in will give you a much more "complete" look when you are doing your makeup.

What you'll need:

1: Here I'm using E.L.F. eyebrow kit in the shade "medium". It comes with wax (left side), powder (right side) and a duel ended brush. If you don't have an eyebrow kit or a powder made specifically for eyebrows, just find a matte powder that is about 3 shades lighter than your hair. If I used a powder that was the exact color of the hair on my head, I'd look like I had caterpillars crawling on my face.

Check out the eyebrow kit here: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/studio/eyes/eyebrows/eyebrow_kit

Here is the dual ended brush that comes with the kit. I only use the angled brush side. This brush is surprisingly good quality so I use this every time I do my brows.

2: An eyebrow brush. This isn't completely necessary but I like to use it to make sure that my brows aren't being too unruly.

3: Concealer and a concealer brush. These are also unnecessary. It's a personal choice whether you would like to use them or not. (I'll explain more in the tutorial.)

4: Eyebrow gel! I don't know what I was doing before I discovered this! I would do my eyebrows perfectly and all it would take would be me putting a shirt over my head to mess them all up. You brush this bad boy through your brows and it keeps them together for the whole day.

Check out the brow gel here: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/elf/eyes/mascara/wet_gloss_lash_and_brow_clear_mascara

Step 1: Take your angled brush and swipe some of your powder. Start outlining the bottom of your brow. Be sure to only use a little powder at a time. You want this to be a faint line. Be very careful at the start of your brow. This is where most brows are their thinnest, so you don't want to have a lot of shadow there.

Step 2: Following the same process, outline the top of your brow. Again, be careful around the start of your brow, you don't want a lot of shadow here.

Step 3: You'll have to figure out whether you like more of a rounded tip or a boxed in tip. I prefer a boxed in tip on my brows. I begin by applying a straight line where I'd like it to start.

Step 4: Start filling in between all of the lines you've created. If you've put too much shadow on your brows, take your brow brush and brush your brows until it's your desired shade. The brush will pick up any excess shadow. On a normal day, this is where I'd usually stop and add my brow gel, but if I'm going out and really want some extra definition on my brows, I will continue on to step 5.

Step 5: This is where your concealer and concealer brush come in handy. Apply a small amount of concealer on your brush and very carefully draw a straight line underneath and above your brow. This will straighten up any powder that may have gotten out of line.

Step 6: Blend your concealer downward so there isn't a harsh concealer line. Once your brows are exactly how you want them, add your brow gel. Wait for your gel to dry and you're finished!

Here is my brow before and after. Still natural but much more defined!

Let me know if you guys would like more tutorials like this! If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to leave them below and I'll answer the best I can!

Thanks for reading!

Aubrey

Purple Pastel Mani

Today I decided on a simple color and no nail art.. pretty crazy huh? I have an interview tomorrow and I didn't want to scare them off with my bright neon pink, blue and green water marbles :)

This is Essie- Nice is Nice, and it's such a pretty color! I'm a sucker for anything pink or purple. This was sent to me by Tamara, aka @ohtammm - If you aren't following her on Instragram then you are missing out my friends! She's amazing!


Don't mind the dryness of my cuticles, I need to give them a little TLC this weekend. My hands have been getting dry lately; maybe it's my body's way of telling me that fall is right around the corner! ;) I'm sure most of you hate reading that but fall is one of my favorite seasons! As much as I love this pretty pastel purple, I love vampy reds and purples even more.


Hope you all love this color as much as I do!
Aubrey