The A Lister's Favorite Drug Store Brands

Okay, so all of us women love makeup and want to learn how to do more with it. I mean why would you be paying attention to my makeup blog if you didn't? Also, we are all on a budget... and if I am honest, makeup takes a lot of mine lol. So, I went to Target the other day and after checking out I realized that I bought an entire new set of makeup and seriously only spent like $40. My mind was blown. That's seriously like one compact of powder for some of the name brands that aren't even that reputable. So there you have it. I have officially been converted. That being said, I have created a chic/relaxed look today that I hope you all will enjoy!

Step 1 which is also my number one rule no matter what, always start with a clean face! That way you're not clogging your pores so much that you begin to get pimples.

This seriously is my new favorite foundation ladies. It is light and you don't have to put a lot of it on to get full coverage.

To apply the foundation, simply rub the sponge that comes with it in the creme and swirl away! Be sure to cover all of your skin though!

This new powder is a gift from the makeup gods. I got the medium/dark shade and this is truly a skin tone matching powder. It is perfect on my face!

To apply this, I bought a cheap makeup pad because I do not like the little brushes that come with them. So when using the makeup pad, I applied the powder in a circular motion all over my face including my eyes.

Speaking of eyes, here is the most wonderful eye pallet ever! It can be used for a smokey eye, a single shade, or simply use the primer for a full coverage and skin tone evener and then throw on some mascara and go!

First, I used the primer creme (far right, bottom) and put it all over my upper lids and under my eyebrows with my finger.

Then, I used the illumination creme (far right, upper) under my eyes and applied it with my finger as well.

Here, I used the bottom gold shadow and applied it all over my upper eyelids and under my eyebrows.

Then, using the beige just about the gold shadow, I applied it only to my eyelids.

Now, to create my crease I used the top purple shadow and put it on my crease and all this time I have been using the shadow applicator that came with the pallet.

Then, using my finger, I gently blended in the shadow I applied to my crease to my eye lids and under my eyebrows.

And then, using the dark brown shadow, I applied a line of shadow to my lash lines on my upper and lower lids to create depth and break up the soliditiy.

This is a cat eye revolution my loves! This liquid eyeliner will get you hooked! It has a very tight brush so that it will not put on a thick line and have a very sharp-pointed end to create the perfect cat eye!

There are two previous cat-eye tutorials. The Baby Cat Eye and The Cat Eye.

This is simply a straight on view. I personally love doing cat-eyes. However, if you desire a straight line, feel free! It's your face darling!

Then comes the brown eye liner pencil. I almost always go for brown because I have blue eyes and it isn't as harsh as black eye liner. (Excuse my pad to keep it from rolling lol)

So using the brown eye liner pencil, I applied it to my waterlines.

I then applied it to the bottom eyelid. Then using the little sponge on the end, as you will see in the next picture, I spread it out as well as soften it so that there is not such a definite line.

So in this picture, I have spread out my eyeliner on the bottom. Also, I using my bronzer that will be shown with the cheeks, I slightly darkened my eyebrows.

Now in this picture I tried to focus on the "FLAMED OUT" which is a new CG mascara and I must say I am a fan!

So first, as many of my readers know, I hate putting mascara on my top lashes first for several reasons. So here I have applied mascara to my bottom lashes.

And here I now have applied mascara to my top and bottom eyelashes.

And now we have E.L.F. blush and bronzer. Also, I bought an E.L.F. blush brush because you can never have too many!

In this step, I have simply applied the bronzer to my cheeks as if it is a dark blush. It accentuates the cheek bones as well as gives depth to the sides of your face.

Here is a side view of my bronzer.

Next, I applied to actual blush to my upper cheek bones only. It adds a soft hint of pink and tones down the boldness of the bronzer.

I also bought an NYC twistable. Red is a classic lip color and can be worn with anything!

And there you have it! Thank you all so much and I hope you were inspired in one way or another! XOXO Lala!

Sun Kissed (dedicated to Randi Ann, my boo)

This is dedicated to my friend Randi Ann (my boo) who is going to the beach in California (only a little jealous) and needed some ideas for beach makeup! So I have created Sun Kissed and hope that you love it Randi Ann! And for those of you that see this and you follow me on facebook, you know that I have never actually gone to makeup school and all of the looks I create are from me seeing something I like and working over and over again until I can duplicate it with my own easier, not as technical, methods. So I do not know how to contour but I think the way I will use my bronzer in this one is similar. Either way, it's still a pretty look and I hope everyone loves it!

First, have a clean face. It's paramount. Putting new makup on top of old makeup leads to so much bacteria and then you get pimples. (and yes, I try to scare women out of starting with old makeup because it really is bad for your skin!!)

First, apply your foundation like normal if you use it. If you do not, that is okay, but I highly encourage you too. There are so many benefits of using foundation such as evening your skin surface, evening out your skin tone, and if you are someone that has red skin on your face, it is better for you skin than using several different powders because they can clog your pores so badly and quickly.

Next, as I said earlier, I have never gone to makeup school so this next step is going to be my "contouring." I would say that a bronzer would work, I am going to use the dark bronze and tan pallets (upper and lower far left). 

So what I did to get my "glow" in this frame is I took a blush brush and I applied the bronze and tan pallets in these areas (some are harder to see because of the lighting, I apologize):

1) both sides of my forhead but not the middle aread

2) my cheeck bones

3) along my jaw bone

4) my nose 

5) my chin

Next comes powder. Make this the lightest layer of powder you have ever put on in your entire life! That is what I had to do haha! Very light powder because too much will completely cover up the bronzer.

Next I used my actual bronze colored blush and went over my cheeks as if I were putting on my blush normally.

These are the 3 colors I am going to use on my eyes. 

So first things first, I used the vanilla colored shadow as my base and applied it to my upper and lower eyelids. 

Step 2: I used the shimmery pink shadow and applied it only to my upper eyelid. Not to the area directly under my eyebrow.

Step 3: your crease of course! I used the darkest shadow on my pallet and made a light crease (I did not apply a lot of the dark shadow, just a light layer of it).

Step 4: using the darket shadow, I used a smaller eyeshadow brush to apply the darkst shadow to my bottom eyelid. 

Step 5: using your darkest shadow still, use and angled eyeshadow brush and apply the shadow to the lash line of your top eyelid as if you were putting on eyeliner. This step is simply to create an area between your mascara and your eyelid itself. 

Next comes your bottom mascara. I always apply it first because I do not like having a bunch of little dots on my upper eyelid from looking up to put on my bottom mascara.

Then comes your top mascara!

Add some pink lipgloss and your Sun Kissed look is complete!!

** In this tutorial I simply brushed my eyebrows. Because we are going for a light beachy look, we do not want our eyebrows to be bold and not blend in with our over all look! 

XOXO Lala 

Fast Class

So as many of you all know, I am a full time student, makup blogger, and animal advocate. Therefore, I have a lot on my plate. I also know almost everybody else in this world is busy with their own things as well so getting ready in the morning and looking presentable has to be done while you're on a time crunch. So when getting ready for school and running out the door, when I do wear makekup to school, it has to be something fast and simple. So this is fast class :) (I also have a Work Day makeup tutorial that is quick as well!)

Always start with a clean face. Left over makeup is terrible for your skin!

Foundation. I love foundation because it evens your skins surface and provides an even skintone.

Next comes your powder. I always apply mine in a circluar motion to make sure that I cover my entire face and then I run my brush down my neck to blend my makeup line on my jaw so that people wont laugh at me (or you when you put on makeup) later. 

So in this frame, I have simply brushed my eyebrows. Because we are doing our makeup quickly and keeping it light, we don't want heavy eyebrows because they will stick out like a green thumb. As I have said in my other tutorials, eyebrows bring a look together or tear it apart.

Your eyemakeup. Well, because we slept through our alarm and only have 15 minutes to put on makeup, we skip everything because we are in a hurry and only do our crease so that our eyes have some depth.

Next comes your bottom mascara. As I have said before, I always do my bottom mascara first so that I do not have a lot of little dots from my upper mascara touching my upper eyelid while putting on bottom mascara.

Then of course there is the top mascara. I try to keep it light because you dont want them to be over powering. Your goal is to have a balanced look.

Next comes blush. I used bronze because it is a great color and it blends well with the overall look we are creating.

Finally, add some pink lips and you're ready to change your sweat pants and walk out of the door!

And yes, this is me most mornings sadly haha! Now my secret is out...