Marc Jacobs re(marc)able Full Coverage Foundation Concentrate

What it is:
An ultra-lightweight, oil-free foundation concentrate that delivers 24 hours of full-coverage wear.

What it does:
Get 24-hour wear and flawless coverage in an instant with this ultralightweight foundation concentrate. Featuring a revolutionary oil-free formula that contains twice as much pigment as a leading full-coverage foundation, it’s infused with innovative ingredients that completely cover with spot-on perfection. It’s enriched with Marc Jacobs’ patented golden pigments that are wrapped in lecithin—an ingredient that’s biochemically similar to skin—for immediate, effortless blending and a smooth, soft matte finish. This foundation has a one-of-a-kind dot applicator that allows for custom coverage. Just shake, dot, and blend for perfectly-matte coverage.

My Review:

If you are looking for "full coverage", this is a great foundation to get. It covers everything, and gives you an almost "porceline doll" look. I would not say it's "ultralight" though, as it definitely feels like you have something on, but that's a small price to pay for the flawless look you get. It's definitely immediate coverage with a matte finish as it advertises. I love it, and I recommend it!

There are however two drawbacks to this foundation..

*It dries too quickly (I advice working your face in sections so you get ample application time)

*The bottle is HORRIBLE! It is super messy, and you waste alot of product.

Retails at around $55.00

Black/Purple Ombre long hair

I've gotten a lot of comments/questions about my hair, mostly how I got it this way, and how much did I pay?...so today I'm going to break it all down for you just in case you are thinking about going ombre.

So a few months ago I decided to do a purple ombre look to my hair. As an artist, you know I'm all about color, and change. I figured it's just hair, and if I screwed it up, it would just grow back. I was smart enough however, not to try to attempt this myself lol, I went to a professional.

My hair already had long layers, so then it was teased from around the 1/2 way point to the bottom, then it was bleached to take the color (black) out from the teased part, then it was washed, and colmed out before the actual color was applied. Then she applied purple on all the teased part, and fushia sparadically throughout my hair. After everything set for around 45 minutes, it was rinsed out. Finally, it was dried, and styled. This was the end result.

• actual time start to finish for long layered hair was 4 1/2 hours
• actual costs with special shampoo to keep it vibrant, tip, and process was $450.00

Was it worth it? No!  realistically, after about 4 weeks, the color fades even with the special shampoo and you are now at a lavender point before it fades out to light lavender to grey.

Lesson learned!

Eyeshadow Peach/Cream/Gold

So for this look, I decided to use more of a neutral palette.

1. I started this look by applying eye primer in
"Anastacia Beverly Hills Eyebrow pomade".

2. Then I applied eyeshadow on the top part of my lid on the color cream

3. Followed by the color light mauve, toupe, light grey, peach, and gold (remember that the key putting on eyeshadow is blending properly).

4. I finished off this look by applying a black winged eyeliner, black mascara, gold glitter liner on the bottom lash line, with black eyeliner ontop.

 

Free Makeup Session with me.

The perks of being my bestie! Free makeup sessions with me. 💄

This is Iesha, my bestie. What I need to tell you about her is that she is part middle eastern, and as so, she tends to have very dark under eye circles. She also has extremely sensitive skin, so I have to be very careful about what I put on her face or she starts breaking out.

  

1. I started off by applying eye primer to her lids. Applying primer will help your eyeshadow stay in place.

2. Working from the inside out, I applied a combination of taupe and peach on her inner lids, followed by a combination of cream and bone, followed by grey, dark grey, and black.

3. I winged out the dark portions of her eyeshadow and blended in some taupe to lead up to the highest part of her lid. I then finished her eyes by applying the lightest color (cream) on her arch.

4. Finally, I winged out her liner at the ends, extended her liner into a cat eye look at her inner corners, and applied black falsies to finish out her eyes.

Hope you guys like, and don't forget to let me know what you think by commenting below.

Advice on Customizing dolls

I've come a long way since my early days customizing dolls (2yrs ago). At first, it started out as a past time for me, but now, that's all I seem to do. I absolutely love these little girls, and bringing them to life is just icing on the cake for me. But it wasn't always this smooth.

I started out by making mistakes after mistakes, but eventually, trial and error is what got me to perfect my skills.

If YOU are thinking about trying your luck customizing the little girls, there's a few things you should know before you start.

First. You need alot of patience. For people like me, that need immediate results, this is the most challenging part. I have thrown away many a dolls simply because they didn't come out the way I expected, and in the time I expected. Now (2yrs later), I just sit back, listen to music, hear a book, or occasionally lift my head up at my phone to watch a movie while drawing, carving, and sanding.

I work on one part of the doll, and only concentrate on that part in order to focus better. Also, I always start out by drawing in what I want the features to look like before I start to carve them. In other words, if I am working on the lips, I only concentrate on the lips. Every so often, I will get up, take a break, come back and look at my work again from a different angle before I move on to another part.

I draw, carve, and sand...in that order.

Another thing that helped me was purchasing a "faceplate lot" to practice my carving techniques. I believe it was a "lot" of 10 faceplate. I practiced just about every night, until I became more confident with my skills. In my defence, I feel I had a big advantage because my background is in art, so drawing facial features just came natural, what didn't come natural was the carving, and sanding, as I was used to painting on canvases, and with oils.

Second, it's very important that you get the proper tools.

You will need:

• Carving tools
• Sanding tools
• Pastels
• Blades
• Sand paper/sanding blocks
• Paint brushes
• Qtips
• Watercolors
• Oil pencils
• Dimensional gloss (optional)
• Mr.Super Clear
• Small toothbrush
• Disposable cup
• Toothpicks

Most of my tools/supplies were purchased from:

www.blytheeverafter.com

www.michaels.com

Blythe customization - Sophia

Blushing Process for "Sophia"

At this point, her face had already been sanded down, as well as her lips/dimples/nose/philtrum, and chin.

She is now ready for her blushing.

First, I applied one coat of pastel sealant. I let it dry completely. Then I applied white pastel powder all over her face. I use this as a base so the rest of her blushing goes on smooth, with an airbrush look. More sealant.

Then I applied her first layer of pink blushing on her cheeks, and eye sockets. Then, dipped my brush into a sienna watercolor and flicked the brush to allow the color to spray on her face randomly. More sealant.

Then I applied color to the inner parts of her lips to give them depth. More sealant.

Then I repeated all my blushing steps for her second coat.

Then I applied paste, and 2 different glitter dust to her eye lids, and I let dry for about 1 hr. At this point,  I also applied her new eyelashes.

Then I reattached the eyes to her face plate.

And here she is all done!

Tea Station for "Her"

So after I created the coffee station for my husband (in my last post), I decided it's ONLY FAIR that I create something special for myself too.

I checked out different kitchen hutches online with some of the cheapest coming in at around $300. Of course I was like, "Heck NO, I'm not paying that much for a hutch!
So I went on a mission trying to find my perfect hutch on Craigslist (which is my OTHER answer to everything, lol). This one was listed at $250 . I got the guy to lower it to $150, plus he even delivered to my house.

Realistically, this is a full day project, only because of the drying time. I bought a small quart can of  black chalk paint from Lowes & one paintbrush, and once again I went at it like an animal. There was no stopping my creativity on this one as this one was for me. I decided on black chalk paint because there is just a simple classiness to the color black, and decided to accent the frames on the window and doors with teal/blue/copper/gold. *when creating a rustic finish, always remember, the more imperfect, the better*

Above, is the before/after pic. Below, is the a few pics of the details.

 Mostly everything on it I already had so I didnt spend money on it. I added flameless candles (I already had), and a small lamp I found at Joann's Fabrics for $3.00

So there you have it, My own little Tea Station/Reading Nook.


Lowes for the chalk paint/brush
Joann's Fabrics for the lamp
Craigslist for the hutch

Coffee Station for "Him"

I have this bare wall between my kitchen, and family room that just sits there. It's like a blank canvas just waiting for some inspiration to happen. One day, I was checking out Pinterest ( as Pinterest is the answer to everything for me, lol ), and I found some ideas from other creative people, and I had an idea...

It was around Father's Day, and so I was thinking (dangerrrr), why not make something for my husband this year, instead of getting him gift cards.
And so I became an animal with this project!!! All these ideas, and visions kept coming to me, and I was determined to create a masterpiece for him. I went on a full day of shopping, and 1/2 day of creating with daughter (his step-daughter, her fiance, and our son).

Father's Day came, and my husband went golfing as he does every year. When he came home, he walked into his own personal Coffee Station. He said this meant more to him than any gift card because it was a family effort. He loves it, and is there every morning brewing up his favorite blends...not to mention all the compliments he gets when people come over.

Evening coffee has never been better!

• www.bedbathandbeyond.com for the Coffee Frames/flavored syrups
• www.hobbylobby.com for the metal wall shelfing/letter M/books/picture frame
• www.michaels.comfor the glass jars/plant pots
• www.oldtimepottery.com for the lamps/mugs
• www.worldofdecor.comfor the coffee table
• www.lowes.com for the coffee rug

Blythe Tools - 1

Creating Blythe dollies is another passion of mine. They'reso plain when you get them, and so expressive when you are finished with them.
But customizing them with the proper "blythe tools" is key.

My first blythe customization was done with cutting, and sanding tools from Michael's, and Loews. They did the job, but they didn't do the job to my standards.

When customizing any doll, my goal is always to be as detailed as possible. I mean after all, anyone can customize a doll, but it's the tiny details that will really bring your doll to life. Yes, this dollie here is cute, I give her that, but she is not amazing!

For my second blythe customization, I did my research, and came across theses little babies. These tools are made specifically for the customization of Blythe dolls, and the difference is impressive to say the least.

 

Because these tools are made specifically for Blythe dolls, they can fit, carve, and sand easier, making my life alot less stressful.

Here's the link:
http://www.blytheverafter.com