Golden Eye Look (vid)

Hey guys!

Here's the new look!

As promised : 

Thanks for looking & good luck!

Kara

Shin Splint Taping (vid)

Hey guys!

11/20/2013

So if you follow me on twitter, you'll know that my worst enemy right now is this shin splint I've had for 2-3 weeks now. I've tried relaxing it and icing it but nothing has really helped me out as much as I need. So I found out about KT tape and looked online on how I should tape my shin. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a very good video that was super related to the area that I have my shin splint in so I ended up making my own arrangement.

Like I mention in the video, I'm not an expert or certified in Kinesiology but I figured I'd give it a-go and it seems to help me out pretty well.

Here's how I do it and let me know if you have any questions at all. 

(BTW, I apologize for being quiet--my roommates were sleeping. Also, I know the background noise is super annoying. Will try to fix ASAP)

**Update: I ended up adding another full length piece over the two horizontal pieces to close the gap. Here are some pictures of the final wrapping:

 

Again, I got my tape at Albertsons for $10 but there are many more color options on KT tape's website (http://www.kttape.com/) but you'll have to pay a little more plus shipping for it. 

Definitely feel free to follow me on twitter and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Good luck and happy running!

Kara

Simple Eye Shadow & Brush Care (vid)

Hey guys!
So here's a new video for an eye shadow look:

Also,I made a video addressing how I clean my makeup brushes:

Thanks for looking & good luck!

Kara

If you don't already, follow me on twitter!

Quick Fall Makeup Tutorial (vid)

Hey guys!

I made another makeup tutorial video. This one is a bit quicker and as I promised, I posted a picture of the final look as well. 

Here's the video:

final look:

I hope you guys like this one! Let me know what you think. 

Good luck!

Kara

Everyday Makeup Tutorial (Vid)

Hey guys!

So big news, I made my first video tutorial (finally!). I figured it would be much more convenient than taking a bunch of pictures and sorting through them all and what-not. 

The quality isn't great and the lighting is kinda weird. I'll try to look into finding new places to do the videos in the future if all goes well    :-) 

Anyway, basically to summarize this tutorial, I changed up my normal foundation routine and I presented a new eye liner look that I'm currently in love with. 

Here are some pictures from some of the days I've work this look. It's very versatile and looks good no matter what :-)

 
 

That's it for now and I plan on making more (and better) video tutorials in the future whenever I have the free-time :-)

Thank you guys for your support- it means the world to me!

Good luck!

Kara

Makeup Tutorial 06

Hey guys!

I've created a couple of new looks for you. But it's really 2-in-1 since I did half of my face a day-look and the other a night-look. Nothing too much has happened lately except that I added bangs to my hairdo! I hope y'all like this one :-)

Fresh clean face with my foundation on!

Start out with the L'Oreal Infallible in 888 eye shadow. I just use my ring finger to put it on the lids. 

From here, I'll be working on my left eye for the day-look!

So I used a dome shadow brush to apply MAC Haux to the hollow of my eye and blended upward.

Then I used Sidecar from my Naked palette on the outer corner.

Then I added this brown gel liner, curled my eyelashes and applied my mascara!

The finished look. Very light and simple. Also quick for early mornings!

Onto my right eye for the night-look. I used Buck from my Naked palette to the hollow of my eye and also blended up and down. 

The key to this look is layering the colors to make it more dimensional!

Next I used my Makeup Store Eye Shadow in Brownie to the outer corner and under the eye and blended well.

I then used that same brown gel liner to smudge onto the base lid
and some on the outer corner

Using my NYX roll on shimmer, I put that on my main lid to add a little sparkle :-)
And the NYC black pencil eyeliner to my bottom waterline and my lid. I smudged it with
a smudging brush to make it softer.

I lined my top lid with my favorite liquid eyeliner and then added mascara.

The finished looks!

My finishing touches are these bronzers. The top one is more for the day since it's lighter. It's also better
for the winter time since you generally get more pale during the winter.
And the bottom left is the night look. It's OK to go a little darker at night. 

I hope you guys liked this one and if you want, let me know what you think of my new hair :-) 

Good luck!

Kara

Makeup Tutorial 05

Hey guys!

It's been quite some time since I've posted on here but this tutorial is all about blemishes and the best way to cover them up! Middle school was my all time low when it came to acne. I was sooo self conscious about it and I still am today even when I get a few breakouts here and there. Instead of those big hormonal changes causing my acne, nowadays, it's stress that causes them. And apparently I'm stressing out since my skin is not clear of acne. But I've found that these ways really help to disguise the severity of the blemishes. But on top of everything, do remember to wash your face at least once a day, and most importantly, don't forget to use an oil-free moisturizer. 

I started off with a clean, moisturized, and primed face per usual. You'll get best results when you have a clean canvas to work on!

So, I recently got my first MAC foundation. I have the shade NW20 which I think is a little bit too orange or tan for me since I'm pretty pasty. So what I've done is I've mixed a little bit of my old foundation (on the right) to help balance out the shade and make it a little bit closer to my skin tone. One thing that I have found with the MAC Studio Fix Foundation is that it initially goes on a little bit dark and then as it settles in your skin, it lightens up just a little bit. 

Specifically for covering up blemishes, I do recommend using a full coverage foundation so that you don't have to use as much concealer afterwards. Often times, acne looks worse when it's caked on with concealer. No bueno. 

The concealer I'm using is MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW15. You should generally go a shade lighter than your foundation for concealer. MAC 242 brush is a good brush to use when covering up blemishes. The technique that makes the difference is dabbing the concealer over the blemish and then blending lightly with your ring finger. You want to avoid wiping the concealer on because it'll wipe away the foundation and make you look stripey! Also, no bueno. The biggest thing is probably blending the concealer well.

After I've applied foundation and concealer to the problem areas of my face.

Complete your makeup with your favorite blusher, bronzer, powder, and lipstick.

It's truly as simple as that and it really does work well. If you have really red acne, try using a green-tinted concealer to help cancel out the redness of it then carry on with the rest of these steps. If you have one of those monstrous pimples that doesn't come up to the surface but it leaves a huge bump under the surface, the best thing to do for that is to make the spot as matte as possible. It'll create the illusion that it isn't as raised as it is. 

Well, anyways, I hope y'all liked this one and helped you gain a little bit of confidence back!

Good luck!

Kara

Walmart Haul!

Hey y'all!

Since I mostly live in Wyoming, there really aren't too many (if any) makeup stores such as Ulta, Sephora, Mac, etc... that I'd typically find pretty much anywhere back home; So I've had to make-do with my local Walmart. Here are some beauty stuffs that I picked up! :-)

I can't really believe I haven't gotten these products before. Here I am once again, preaching about Neutrogena! I love some of their other skin care products so I thought I'd give these a go. There were so many things to choose from so I just picked these three for now:

(center) Purifying Facial Cleanser - $6.97

(left) Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Night Cream - $12.97

(right) Eye Cream - $11.47

[You can skip reading this next part if you want haha]

{ There were two choices of similar facial cleansers: this one and one that was also a makeup remover. I chose this one because I don't like using makeup remover washes on my face- in my experience, it makes my skin oily. When I tried it out with complete makeup on, all of my makeup came off like a charm. So out of the two, I'd choose this one!

I know that you're probably thinking, "She's only 19! Why is she using an eye cream already?" Well, wrinkles are inevitable but the best way to avoid them (at least as long as possible) is prevention! It's a lot easier to prevent them than to try to deal with them once you get them. One of my goals is if I can find products that will make my skin look good enough to not have to wear a layer of foundation over it every day, I'll be truly happy. Keep your skin happy and it'll return the favor! :-) }

These products were quite pricey but I have faith in them so for now, it's worth the money!

(top) L'Oreal cream eye liner in 174 bronze - $8.47

(pink border) Maybelline Lip Stick [515 Coral Crush / 725 So Pearly] - $5.50 ea.

Rimmel Lip Liner in 007 Rose Quartz - $3.97

(bottom) L'Oreal infallible eye shadow - $6.97

Again, pretty expensive but beauty is an investment (right?). 

(top) Maybelline Eye Liner in brown - $5.94

(middle) - Rimmel Eye Liner in nude - $3.97

(bottom) - Maybelline Falsies Mascara - $5.94

I did swatches of some of these. 

From left:

1. L'Oreal infallible eye shadow

2. Maybelline Eye Liner in brown

3.  L'Oreal cream eye liner in 174 bronze

4. Rimmel Eye Liner in nude

5. Rimmel Lip Liner in 007 Rose Quartz

6. Maybelline Lip Stick 515 Coral Crush 

7. Maybelline Lip Stick 725 So Pearly

I've already used the Neutrogena skin products tonight and so far-so good! While some of these products will pack a punch in your bank account, I think gradually they are worth the expense. If you feel your best, feel self confident and beautiful, it's worth it! I always enjoy adding more to my collection even if it is from Walmart!

Good luck!

Kara

First Day Back Makeup!

School is just around the corner and I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty excited to go back. I'll be taking my very first class pertaining to Petroleum Engineering this fall along with various other math-based classes. It'll be a tough semester but it'll also be a good one :-) 
It's super important to dress your best on the first few days back since first impressions are crucial!
If you look good, you'll feel good, and you'll do good.

I've only done 1/2 of my face with my foundation to show how well it covers the redness of my cheeks. 

Prior, I washed my face, moisturized it, and applied my face primer.
A really good piece of advice for deciding what shade of foundation to use is go with what is closest to the color of your neck. This way, you won't have to blend it too much on  your neck. It's much easier to add color than to try to take it away (that's what blushers and bronzers are for). 

This is the amount of eye primer I use for each eye. A little goes a long way! 

(All of the products I've referred to are described in previous posts - figured I wouldn't type it all out again). 

For the first eye shadow, I'm using Sin from Urban Decay's Naked Palette. I put this on my main lid. 

The next shadow I use is Buck from the same palette. Using a domed crease brush, I put Buck all over the rest of the lid - blending upward to the brow.  

(I apologize for the blurriness)
If you are a more simple look kind of person, you can stop here with the eye shadow. But I like to add at least one more shade to add depth. 

The extra shade I'm using is Smog. I applied this shade with this hollow brush to the outer corner of the eye including on the outer of the main lid over Sin. Additionally, I blended this lightly along my bottom lashes. 

I absolutely love these colors because they really bring out the blue-ness in my eyes. 

For my last shadow, I used Virgin in the inner corners of my eyes so I look more awake (which will come handy when I have 8 am classes!). 

Once again, if you wanted to, you could stop here and just put mascara on and call it good! It stands on it's own very well as a lighter look. 

A new technique that I've been incorporating more and more is using a thin eye-liner brush and eye shadow to apply my eye liner. Here, I'm using Dark Horse. 

You can either just go with the eye shadow eye liner or you can add your favorite liquid liner over the top of it. It tends to add a softer touch to the look when you combine both. 

The very next step is to apply your highlighter. Here, I've colored the areas that I think are best to apply high lighter. 

The blusher I used was Maybelline's Dream Mousse. I applied a little bit with my ring finger to the apples of my cheeks. 

I powdered my face with Maybelline's Dream Matte powder to set my foundation. 

To finish the look, I added Victoria's Secret Mineral bronzer to my cheek bones, bridge of my nose and a little bit around my face. 

It's even cute with glasses!

I wish you all the best of luck this academic year, I hope you own it :) 

Good luck!

Kara