Illamasqua Inspired Halloween

Illamasqua's Creative Director, Alex Box, is an amazingly talented, constant makeup inspiration. The looks she creates with each collection the London-based brand launches leave me in awe (and wishing I had excuses to go all out all of the time). Naturally, I had to recreate one of her looks for a special Halloween Get the Look!

Illamasqua is one brand I have super limited experience with. In fact, I only own two of their lipsticks but I'm dying to try out more. For this look, I'm wearing Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquer in Big Bang, with gold eyeshadow pigment (Gold Finger) along the outside of my upper lip and outer edges of my bottom lip.

Products Used:
NYX Eyeshadow Base in White
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tenacious Teal
ULTA Eyeshadow in Mosaic and Chianti
Random Blue Eyeshadow??
MAC Eyeshadow in Chrome Yellow and Orange
EMANI Crushed Minerals Color Dust in Gold Finger
Prestige Beauty Bar Eyeshadow Palette in Artsy Tartsy
NYX Lipliner Pencil in Plush Red
Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara
Ardell Special Occasion Collection in Sublime

Before you even get to the eyes, apply white face paint, or in my case, the lightest foundation available at Walgreens. Set with translucent powder, and highlight nose, cupid's bow, forehead, etc. with iridescent white pigment. Mix yellow and orange eyeshadow to create mustard and apply to cheeks, temples, chin, and hollows of neck. Add a touch of blush to your chin, too!

Step 1: Outline eyebrows with red lip liner (Plush Red), blend and fill.
Step 2: Set eyebrows with red eyeshadow (Chianti).
Step 3: Pat blue base (Tenacious Teal) over entire eye area, omitting eyelid.
Step 4: Apply blue over entire eye area with a fluffy brush, omitting inner eyelid.
Step 5: Apply blue to lower lash line with a pencil brush.
Step 6: Apply gold (Gold Finger) onto eyelid with an eyeshadow brush.
Step 7: Apply dark blue wet to create a false crease using a detailing brush.
Step 8: Bring dark blue down and around tear duct, and line lower lash line.
Step 9: Create squiggly lines extending from lower lash line using dark blue wet.
Step 10: Wipe away every other gap (2nd, 4th, 6th) using a makeup remover + q-tip.
Step 11: Fill in gaps (2nd, 4th, 6th) with yellow (Chrome Yellow).
Step 12: Apply light blue (Mosaic) as highlight to brow bone.
Step 13: Apply gold (Gold Finger) above eyebrow using a detailing brush.
Step 14: Apply gold (Gold Finger) to tear duct.
Step 15: Apply false lashes!

I hope you enjoyed this Illamasquaesque look! It was so much fun to do, even though those Ardell lashes were a total pain to apply (they're so stiff). Let me know what awesome things you're doing today, and what you're dressing as! Happy Halloween!

NOTW: I've Got My Eyes On You

Halloween is the BEST time of year. You'd think I'd do more to celebrate it on here with how much I love it, but it kind of snuck up on me this year. I just barely broke out my Halloween decorations at home, and Andrew and I were total party poopers last weekend when we decided to skip out on a themed party we were invited to.

I've got to make up for it somehow, right? And what better way is there than even more eyeballs on my nails! Inspired by this photo.

I can't even remember the last time I used glow in the dark nail polish, but it's so fun! It was probably around the same time as my obsession with glow in the dark stars on my bedroom walls and ceiling. I know I'm not the only one, right? Admit it! We all had a Spencer's phase.

From left to right: Fright Night Claw Polish in Ghostly Glow, Sinful Colors in Cross My Heart, Wet n Wild in 2% Milk, Fantasy Makers in Darkest Hour, and Finger Paints in Paper Mâché. I immediately posted a photo when I finally found the tombstone and coffin-shaped polishes because I was so excited! They're so cute.

This manicure is super easy to recreate with a little patience and a steady hand. I free-handed my half moon shapes but you could easily use French manicure stickers or reinforcements to help. Using different sized dotting tools, layer whatever color iris you choose, black for the pupil, and white just off-center. That's it! If you want to make it extra spooky, using a thin brush or toothpick, make small squiggly vein lines. Finish off with your top coat of choice, or use glow in the dark nail polish!

Baby's First Smokey Eye with Sleek MakeUP

Makeup is all about having fun and experimenting, right? I've been pushing myself to try a lot of new things and let go of the notion that I can't pull something off. One such thing being a smokey eye. My translucent skin/dark under eye area had me convinced I wasn't cut out for this kind of look, but whatever! I did it anyway!

Using Sleek MakeUP's Storm palette, I gave myself a smokey-blue cat eye, diffused with a mix of browns and a light hand. The royal blue used in my outer v produces quite a bit of fallout but I just tap the excess off and use a kabuki brush to clean my under eyes and cheeks afterward. This really is an awesome earthy toned palette with super wearable shades, great blendability, and nice textures. Even if some colors create a little mess, it's still totally worth its $9.99 price tag!

Products Used:
Sleek MakeUP's i-Divine Palette in Storm
Sonia Kashuk Eye Couture in Eye On Neutral 02 (Read my review here)
Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black
Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeliner Pencil in Bronze
L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes Black Lacquer Mascara
Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in Nude
e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit in Medium

Shocked as you may be that I'm using that Sonia Kashuk palette, I have to say I really like that one orange shade. Combining it with a bit of Storm's matte chocolate brown created a great transition color to diffuse all of that blue. Shame on me for skipping primer—though this obviously speaks to Sleek MakeUP's great pigmentation!

Step 1: Pat silvery blue onto eyelid with an eyeshadow brush.
Step 2: Apply mid-tone brown to outer crease and blend with a blending brush.
Step 3: Apply royal blue to outer 1/3 of eyelid + crease, blend with a crease brush.
Step 4: Apply black to crease to deepen the blue and blend.
Step 5: Diffuse blue edge with mid-tone brown/orange.
Step 6: Apply pale champagne as highlight to brow bone with finger.
Step 7: Apply gold shimmer to tear duct with finger.
Step 8: Line lower lash line with bronze eyeliner, set with gold shimmer.
Step 9: Give yourself wings!

I totally wore this out to a movie Friday night where I'd be in the safety of darkness. Ha! I'm not behind it 100%, more like 80%. What do you guys think?

A Moment with Stila

By the grace of the makeup gods I stumbled upon a code for a site-wide 50% off sale on stilacosmetics.com thanks to Nouveau Cheap all the way back in April. Somehow the 50% off code was combined with an additional 40% off code during the checkout process and my entire purchase was 70% off. Did I just hear audible gasps?


Each of these $39 eyeshadow palettes were under $12 and that's just out of control. The code also threw in free shipping and a mascara sample for any order over $50, and a free full size blush for orders over $100. Since my total was just under the $50 mark, I added the Custom Color Blush in Coral which is normally $20 and got it for six bucks! That's the price of a NYX blush! Ah!! I'm gloating, I'm sorry.

I've been excited to play with these goodies but, as usual, I waited forever and then I waited some more. Surprisingly, I went for In The Moment first despite my usual aversion to purples (thanks to my super translucent skin). When you look at the palette though, only two out of ten shadows are true purples. Cue me getting over it, feeling experimental, and hoping I don't end up looking like a raccoon!


The eyeshadows are really nice! I've never owned any Stila products prior to this and I'm pleasantly surprised. They are a bit dry (not as buttery to the touch as, say, theBalm) but there's great color payoff and they blend well with very little effort. An extra bonus is the full size Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner you get (normally $20 on its own). Each of these palettes are in Stila's permanent collection which is great because limited edition things have me so quick to panic about missing out!

Products Used:
Essence I ♥ Stage Eyeshadow Base
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Painted Purple
Stila In The Moment
Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black
Stila Forever Your Curl Mascara
Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in Nude
e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit in Medium



Step 1: Apply purple base all over eyelid with finger.
Step 2: Pat violet (Glance) onto inner and outer eyelid with an eyeshadow brush.
Step 3: Pat rose gold (Wonder) onto center of eyelid with an eyeshadow brush.
Step 4: Pat gold (Spontaneous) onto center of rose gold (Wonder) with finger.
Step 5: Apply coppery-brown (Whim) to outer crease and with a blending brush.
Step 6: Apply dark purple (Improvise) to crease and blend with a crease brush.
Step 7: Apply cream (Desire) as highlight to browbone with finger.
Step 8: Line waterline with nude waterproof eyeliner.
Step 9: Give yourself wings!

Have you tried any of Stila's products? If so, what are your favorites? I'm pumped to try out In The Light next, or maybe In the Garden...

NOTW: Uneven Lengths + Simple How-To

After getting the perfect almond shape I love oh so much, I promptly broke a nail on Andrew's car door. I told myself "alright, just make sure you crop out that bad boy in your next nail post." Then I broke another while walking Princess and Muscles the same day... of course. So uneven nails it is!


I love drugstore shopping, which I know I mention all of the time, so it should come as no surprise that I spent a lot of time hopping from Walgreens to Dollar General to CVS this past week. My final stop was Five Below where I picked up three new nail polishes I used for these nails.


From left to right: Unlabeled Skull Nail Polish in Black, Funky Fingers in Pink Pixels and Fool's Gold, and Love & Beauty in Purple/Black (which I already owned).


To get this look I started with two coats of Pink Pixels followed by two coats of Fool's Gold. Next, with very little product on the brush, I lightly covered each nail with the Purple/Black glitter. Using a small brush, I made sure to slowly build the glitter starting at the cuticles, moving outward to get the gradient just right.


Using a cosmetic sponge, I applied black just at the cuticle (be sure to use a moist sponge with a very small amount of black). Then, I placed a small oval stone at the base of each accent nail with a toothpick. Finally, I painted two layers of top coat (three on the accent nails so those stones will stay put). If you try this look please comment below with a link! I'd really love to see it!


In an effort to catch up with all of you savvy internet users, I signed up for Bloglovin' (finally). I'm only a few years late... I was suprised to see I already have quite a few of you following me there, so thanks guys! Follow my blog with Bloglovin' if you'd like!

NOTW: Birthday Nails + DIY Nail Decals

After our trip to Cedar Point, my naked nails were dying for some love and affection. I decided to try something new this time. Homemade nail decals!


Whenever I do my nails, I reuse the same few pieces of plastic as makeshift paint palettes to dip my brushes and sponges. Over time the small pools of polish pop off with such ease, I knew I could totally make use of it.


After some googling, it seems I'm not the only one who knows about this great trick. Everyone's directions vary a bit, most paint large areas and use scrapbook punches, but I found that painting the designs directly onto a sandwich bag was exactly what I was going for and the most fun. I went to town!


Let the artwork dry overnight, otherwise there will be no give when trying to peel the designs off. Make sure you fold the sandwich bag, starting closest to the edge of design and slowly roll the bag back between your fingers. It works like a charm.


I painted my base coat and background design and let them dry fully. Using a tooth pick dipped in a tiny bit of clear polish, I added as many burgers, french fries and eyeballs as I could fit onto each nail. A couple of top coats later and...


My thumb and pinky are my favorite. Fries, eyes and polka dots, all day, every day!


The colors used for the background are ORLY in Naked Ivory and China Glaze in Rose Among Thorns (Neon). I recommend you give this a go, it's super fun and helps rid you of you your non-dominant hand's shameful work! Well, at least it did for me!

Surprise Balls: A Tutorial

Have you ever heard of the glory that is a surprise ball? I hadn't until I happened upon the blog Oh Happy Day. You could literally spend hours mesmerized by all of the lovely things on that blog, I know I have... But these balls are just magical! My family is quite large so we choose to focus on the kids during the holidays, and I immediately knew surprise balls would be perfect.

I had such a great time getting all these goodies at Party City and Uncle Fun (which happens to be one of my favorite stores of ALL time), I totally felt like a little kid. I figured I'd write up a simple tutorial so you can get in on the fun, too!

Stickers! Chocolate! Dinosaur Masks! Nail Polish! Bug Pins! Bird Pins! Bouncy Balls! Moustaches! Finger Puppets! Tops! Erasers! Bubbles! Temporary Tattoos! Candy!

After gathering all of your small treasures, prepare your crêpe paper. I found that cutting strips in different lengths then folding them in half worked best. Otherwise the paper is too wide and it looks a bit wonky. A plus side to the wider strips is more coverage, so choose whatever works best for you.



Begin with the largest, roundest, or most obscure-shaped object and get wrapping.



My first one started out a bit rough and ended up more egg shaped than circular. It's good to remember the balls will be unraveled so no need to be a perfectionist!

Don't forget your life fuel :P


They really are super easy to make, just be sure to round out your ball by layering strategically placed goodies.



Confetti and glitter are nice little fillers to add in between the bigger items. Smaller items like stickers and temporary tattoos, too!



To finish these babies up you can use tape or a small sticker on the edge of your last strip of crêpe paper. Then decorate it to your heart's content! I used red and white pipe cleaners and holographic ribbon from the dollar store.



Shipping these to New York was a nightmare but they made it! The obscene amount of bubble wrap I used cushioned them well enough but their ribbons and ornaments fell off. You know, the only way I knew which ball belonged to which kid! Everything ended well, though, thankfully, and each kid got their ball. Next year I plan to make mini piñatas because I love crêpe and tissue paper so much! Gahh!