Blush

Blush can be a great makeup essential for some, especially for people in theater, show choir, and the Hollywood. But, simply put- not everyone needs blush.

I don't wear blush- I never have. Maybe someday, after my teenage years when my face doesn't look like it has craters comparable to those of the moon and I've lost my young glow, I might find a use for blush. Certainly not now, though.

Blush is just one of those things that looks great... if you apply it right. Too much and you look like a clown. The wrong color and you look like you have some concerning skin disease.

Blush is the thing that gives singers and actors that beautiful and lively, rosy freshly-pinched-cheeks look. Since I, and I'm sure many others don't live in a TV show or movie, that's just not necessary for us. I get enough color in my cheeks from being winded by walking down a big flight of stairs or embarrassed by accidentally spilling my coffee.

There are people that should thank their lucky stars that have naturally smooth skin with maybe one pimple residing on their chin once in a while. These people are truly blessed. They save money on four layers of foundation. They also can use blush. Don't get me wrong, blush isn't bad. I might just be a bit bitter about not being able to use it without looking like I have Rosacea.

It's also quite easy to look like what we'll call a tart if blush is not applied correctly. Traveling back to the nineteen eighties has never been so close as just one palette and brush away.(except of course unless you're counting blue eyeshadow).

In case I am so fortunate as to have a person that meets the qualifications for blush-wearing, application is plain and simple. Don't let anyone see you apply blush as they might give you a dirty look- make a "fish lips" face to start. Apply blush in an extremely light layer, and preferably a light shade for best results. Powder is probably the most common form of blush and should be fairly cheap as well as last a long time.

With blush, the best thing to keep in mind is always "Less is more."

Books for Beauty, Health and Fashion

Many people look for all their beauty tips from pinterest or cosmetic store consultants- the book has generally somewhat died out in this modern age, unfortunately. This doesn't mean that it can't still be a good source for finding beauty and health tips.

I have two books personally that I really enjoyed reading and have gotten some good ideas from. These books are written by Lauren Conrad- who is a fashion designer and author; and Lea Michele who is an actress and beauty/fashion icon.

Lauren Conrad's book is called Style. It is her first ever book that was not a fiction novel, and is just a great flat-out fashion guide, including makeup. Lauren gives great advice on how to stock and organize your closet. Not only that- she then shows you example outfit combination ideas. She also does the same thing with hair and makeup. All of these show off how she coordinates her style. This is great because "Yay!" now you can basically be a Lauren Conrad look-alike. Who wouldn't want fashion tips direct from a fashion designer herself? 

Lea Michele's book is called Brunette Ambition. This book is basically like all of Lea Michele's pinterest boards combined if she had a pinterest. It has food recipes, health recipes, fashion ideas, and exercise routines- combined with a lot of back stories about her life. I'm quite a fan of Lea Michele and her work on Glee so I don't mind the content about her child life and career, but for those that really don't care too much about that, there's still plenty of valuable content concerning beauty, health, and fashion. I personally like her information about facial care and try to abide by her regimen as much as possible.


So, next time if you're looking to get new ideas for your closet and cosmetics, support one of your favorite celebrities by purchasing a book or style guide and see what they have to tell you.  

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Ways to apply foundation

For foundation application, there are many different ways to apply foundation. This includes brushes, sponges, disposable foam wedges, or just their fingers, and probably some others. Since I've personally used most of these methods at one point, I'll share with you the pros and cons of each.

I personally currently use a sponge to apply my liquid foundation. I purchased mine at Ulta. It's an initial cost of at least five dollars, but can really pay off in the long run. What I like about sponges, first and foremost is that you don't have to touch the makeup with your fingers and get them dirty. Another great- and my personal favorite advantage of the sponge- is that it can be great for contouring and getting the liquid foundation evenly spread out even in places with creases like around the nose and the eye area. This is because the sponge is dual sided. There is a pointed side for fine contouring and a flat side for blending areas like your jawline and chin. You just can't get this kind of definition with a brush. The downside to the sponge is that it is hard to clean and if you don't clean it, you can get extra clogged pores and acne from it.

Next, in order of my most favorable application techniques, is the brush. I used the brush for a long time before I recently switched to the sponge. It has almost all the same advantages as the sponge in that you don't have to get your hands dirty. When I started using a brush to apply my foundation, I mistakenly was using a brush that was big and fluffy shaped. I found out that those types of brushes are actually for bronzer or blush. When I switched to the correct type of brush, I was actually disappointed. It is a lot smaller and I found myself using a lot more product. Maybe this is because I didn’t start of with the right kind of brush to begin with. Just as with the sponge, if you don't clean the brush periodically, it can be harmful to your skin. I also find it harder to clean a brush than a sponge.

Then there is the disposable foam wedge. They are one time use and come in a package similar to cotton pads. Since they are one time use, you don't have to worry about clogging your pores like you do with sponges and brushes. The wedge is similar to the sponge in feel and the fact that it has a pointed side for contouring, but not as defined and the flat side is not as big. Another downside is cost. One package of wedges is obviously cheaper than a brush, but since they are one time use, you usually go through a package fairly quickly, especially if you put on foundation every day.

Lastly, there's the plain and simple way of just getting your hands a little dirty and applying it straight with your fingers. The upside is no cost for applicators, but the downside is not as much definition and it's really just a huge mess. For me, this makes the cost of a sponge worth it.

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ModCloth

Everybody has their fashion secrets. Where do they always find such great deals? How do the avoid deodorant stains? Who cuts their hair? Today, I am going to share with you one of my biggest fashion secrets. I believe that the website I am about to introduce to you toady is one of the sole reasons I am able to find such unique and fairly priced clothing on somewhat of a budget.

The site I hope you're dying to hear about is called ModCloth.com.

They offer so many things it is mind boggling. Oh yeah and the clothes. There is an endless amount of clothes in an endless amount of styles for an endless amount of people. Yes, ModCloth carries, women's fashion. women's plus size fashion, and men's fashion. There are probably more dresses in the store's stock than people in the city of Cedar Rapids.

Prices can range from eight dollars to three hundred and eight dollars for just a single item. This is because they offer products from a vast variety of designers and also sell great vintage scores. My hunch is the reason it is called ModCloth, is because it sells vintage clothes via a modern form of sale as well as actual modern clothes (which, if you have read my last blog post, I believe is sort of mixing together anyways).

ModCloth really cares about their customers. They offer stylists that post style ideas to go with any clothing item you buy. They also always update reviews if many buyers say the piece seems to run too tight, loose, short, or long as well as advice as whether to size up or size down. They do this because they get products from designers from North America and Europe, so sizing can vary a lot. They give you free shipping if you spend more than fifty dollars. If you sign up as a member, they send you frequent valuable coupons. Also, if you're a member, you can unlock a lot of great features such as an option where it suggests items to you based on your favorited items as well as picks items for you it thinks would look well on you if you give them your height, weight, and bra size. The best part? Being a member is free. A unique and pleasant experience is that ModCloth offers  a service where people write honest reviews and post pictures of their items in real life so you can almost feel the garment in your hands and really don't have to do all that much guessing of what your product is going to be like. I order from this website quite regularly and usually never have a problem. Once, I bought a glass candlestick with other items in a purchase of multiple Christmas gifts. I opened the box and the candlestick was shattered. It was two days before Christmas Eve. Within a matter of 5 minutes, the helpful customer service had placed the order for a new candlestick with rush shipping at no cost to me.

I believe that this website is truly the best clothing website one could ask for. If I hadn't known about this website, I don't know where my wardrobe would be.

High-waisted Pants/Vintage Resurfacing

High-waisted pants have made a major comeback in even just this past year alone. There was even a popular song out in 2k14 mentioning them. Fashion blogs all over tumblr and pinterest posts are/were plastered with what could be said as Summer's hottest pop look coming seemingly out of nowhere.

Are high-waisted pants just a summer trend with shorts of the style? Certainly not. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, high-waisted jeans! They flatter almost every body shape! With such a high rise, it can help suck in unwanted "pudginess" (which is my favorite thing about them) and can give you a long looking body. To show off your sometimes up to triple-button fly, girls have been tucking their shirt in partially to their high-waisted pants and are able to wear those crop tops without fear with high-waisted shorts in the summer months.

This trend of the high-waisted bottoms seems to coincide with the overall trend in pop culture of vintage that is surfacing. Antique shops are getting busy and one of the eerie cool things sometimes you can find an outfit in a store or on a pinterest modern fashion board that would show incredibly strong resemblance to an outfit you would see in a photograph from the ninteen-fifties, find in a decades museum display, or in an antique shop.

Personally, I am a fan of the vintage trend. Most things are stylish, classic, and modest. The thing I admire most about vintage clothing like button-up cardigan sweaters, babydoll dresses, and circle skirts, is that they show off and celebrate femininity without having to basically expose the parts of your body that make you feminine.

Going Out Of Business

The store known as Deb is going out of business. There is a Deb in my local mall as well as an online store. Currently, the online store only serves as store locator, as all their clothing has been shipped to their stores.

So, far this sounds like a downer all around. In some parts it is; the store is very popular in the fall and spring for Homecoming and Prom because of their variety of formal dresses. They also cater to a larger audience of teenage girls as they offer regular and plus sizes in trendy everyday clothing.

The thing that is most disappointing about this situation is that the whole entire company is shutting down and products won't even be available online. It would have made sense as to why the location in our area was closing because it had a lot of competition in the same mall. Rue 21 and Maurice's sell the same types of clothing and are directly across the Deb store in the mall. With the only thing setting them apart being their formal dresses, it would have been understandable as to why it would not be able to stay afloat.

The positive that comes out of the store going out of business, is that they must get rid of as much stock as they can. This means sales and discounts like no other. Most of the time, when clothes are discounted at these rates, the clothes can be out of season. The store has no choice but to discount the already in season clothes if they have any hope of making profit.

If you're wondering, I got two new pairs of jeans, a cardigan sweater, two pullover sweaters, and a dress. This only cost me about one hundred dollars. Normally, that would have cost somewhere between two hundred and three hundred dollars. I was able to purchase in-season and ready to wear items that I would not have normally purchased at the original ticketed price.

Since this doesn't happen often, it is always a great move for your wardrobe when you take advantage of going out of business sales.

Sally Hansen's "Miracle Gel" Polish- Truly a miracle

The amount of nail polish available on the market today could probably fill an entire ocean. And with all these new innovations in creative nail art and technology, how do we ever know what's good and what's not so good? I can share with you a nail polish that is definitely a front runner for one of the better nail polishes out there. This polish is called "Miracle Gel" by Sally Hansen.

Miracle Gel is a gel-based polish which is becoming increasingly popular over the regular liquid nail polish. The best part about it Miracle Gel and what makes it stand out from the rest of the gel polishes is that unlike most gel polishes, it doesn't require a UV light. The problem most people have with gel nail polishes is the fact that you have to have a UV light to set the polishes. This means either going to the salon, or buying a home kit including a UV lamp which can get pretty expensive. Miracle Gel sets without the UV light- automatically cutting close to twenty dollars off the price of getting your nails done.

The polish costs $7.99 a bottle, which is a very fair price. Some high-end brands like OPI and Essie cost that much or more for a bottle of polish that isn't even gel based. If you're starting off, you're going to have to buy your chosen color and the top coat. For an initial price of $16, the end product is incredibly impressive. The company's website says up to 14 days of wearing, but who actually believes what the companies say about how long a product lasts? I personally have found that I can wear this polish for a week or beyond with only minor chips. This is including the fact that I do dishes a lot at work which can incredibly shorten the wearing length of your manicure. I have yet to find a nail polish that can give me better results.

The application is quick and simple. It only requires two coats of the color of your choosing and one coat of the top coat. No base coat needed! The polish and brush is really nice because it is smooth and a little thicker than regular polish. I've even found that for whatever reason, the drying time seems to be a lot faster than other polishes.

The colors that it is available in are quite contemporary and vast. I personally have 4: A fashionable lavender-like purple, a coral/red, a light aqua-blue, and a mint green. I already have 4 shades and I've only just discovered the product a couple months ago- that surely says something of how great of a product it is.

Miracle Gel ranks high in qualities of variety, price, and ease of application, There's almost no reason not for you to try it.

Lip Color

Lip color can accent a person's natural facial features, give flair to a makeup look or outfit, or be a way to express personality. It helps if you pick a color that is "your color". This usually means it compliments your skin tone and/or your lip shape. There are plenty of lip colors sold everywhere from high-end places like Sephora, Ulta, and cosmetics counters at department stores, as well as more common places like Target, CVS pharamcy, or Forever 21. The evidence of their popularity can certainly be found in fashion magazines, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

 People with thinner or average shaped lips and porcelain or light complexions usually pull off the more bold and vibrant colors more easily; colors like bright or crazy reds, oranges, pinks, and purples. People with olive skin tones usually look better with more natural tones like peaches, pale pinks, and browns. People with very dark or tan skin tones are well complimented with deep colors like plums and dark purples, dark browns, and deep and dark reds.

The bigger or fuller your lips are, the less they tend to need a lot of lip color. If this is your, clear and pale glosses and balms are a good way to go if you still want to wear lip products. (in fact, balms are good for anyone- no matter if they're clear or pigmented, as it is most important to always keep your lips hydrated).

A good time to use an especially bold or bright lip color is when the rest of your makeup is more toned down. Another good time to bust out that tube of crazy color is when your outfit might just need that extra little pop of color to top it off.

Lip color should not be left in the dust behind all the new trends in eye shadows and eyeliners, but should be taken into some discretion. It's totally okay to try that bold cherry red once in a while for fun, but not all colors are for everyone. Take into consideration the above tips for the perfect compliment to your ensemble.

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