Valentine's: A Night Out

I've never been a big Valentine's Day person. Once in 7th grade this guy Michael bought me a teddy bear after dating me for a week, and then broke up with me the next day. Thankfully I got to keep the bear! This year I prepared, I planned a day/night out with my closest girlfriends.

Valentine's Day I decided to head to my hometown and hang with my friends, and spend the night out with some lively music from Jeffrey Lewis who was playing a show at an art gallery. I once saw him play in someone's living room when I was a young kid, and he's been my favorite live performer ever since. The most surprising part about being a modern Southern woman is that musically I've had the opportunity and have branched out a lot since my roots run deep with blues and rock n' roll. Thankfully Greenville, NC has provided that for me, and given me the culture that I craved, and kept me local instead of trying to escape the South.

The morning started with brunch. Biscuits from the Bojangles drive-thru, and mimosas' in the parking lot before we went to see 50 Shades of Grey. I'm still not entirely sure why we decided as a group to go see this movie, but it was entertaining. Jamie Dornan is of course my new girl crush, and I was already watching The Fall before I went to see movie so I was fully immersed in all of his attractive traits. I've never heard that many women sigh at the same time in unison. It was surprisingly funny, and sweet at points.

I decided to get my makeup done and I enlisted the help of my friend Meagan Wilson to help me, (pictures at the top). She's a professional freelance makeup artist, but I've known her since we were getting ready together for nights out when I was 19. It's pretty fantastic to see her as a growing professional, and if you're ever in Greenville I highly recommend her. Currently she does by appointment only consultations, but for Valentine's Day she did a special for a full face so I contacted her and set it up. She asked for a few pointers about my outfit, but really I just let her go crazy. The result was a punchy red lip, a new take on the smokey eye, and an amazing set of fake lashes to add onto my already long one's. It was perfect. I especially loved the glitter liner on the inner corners, because in the dark my eyes looked incredible! She is really incredibly talented, and so dedicated to her craft.

Jeffrey Lewis was great, and the night ended with me in bed happily asleep. Currently I'm nursing a wicked cold, but Valentine's Weekend was worth it! I had the best time with my friends and getting ready was fun again. I can't wait for my birthday.

xo,

C

Megan Wilson Makeup

Red Dress- Forever 21

Beauty: What's In My Bag? (Part 2)

Part 2

Ok, so we're off and running for part 2 of What's In My Bag?

I love eye makeup. You would have never guess, right? Kidding. My eyes are one of my favorite features so I try and play them up as much as I can. The first product in the far left picture, that magical pod of purple. That just happens to be Color Play cream eyeshadow in Orchid-ing Around, by Flower Beauty.  I actually won this one in their Facebook contest last year and I've been through 2 pots since then. The cream shadows from this line are incredible! They are long lasting, and I like to toss this pot in my bag for touch-ups as this color goes great on light or darker for a night time change-up.

Next to that eyeshadow is my favorite brow pencil, also by Flower Beauty. Raise Some Brows in Blonde is the perfect in between brow shade for me. I usually get mine darkened in the salon but in between I like to play them up with this pencil. I have naturally dark eye lashes and brows, but in the Summer obviously everything lightens up pretty quickly from the sun light which is why having a good pencil or powder is an excellent addition to any makeup starter kit. If you're out of mascara or forgot it, always, always kick up the jams on those power brows!

The next two pallets are mostly browns, and highlight colors which I wear pretty much all the time. The top shades are from Julep, and so is my favorite eyeliner in the entire world, Kajal Eye Glider in, Brown Shimmer, and Carbon Black. I'm a contacts wearer, so I'm picky about what I put near my eyes. Mostly because my eyes get irritated easily, and also because contacts are expensive! The pallet has one highlight, and 4 progressively darker shades of brown. You could go nuts! I really like them, and it's also the only other pallet I've purchased lately that's had a mirror in it. The bottom pallet is from the Glam Eyes line from Rimmel in 028 English Breakfast. I've used these since I was in high school, and I love Rimmel makeup in general. It's skin friendly, and the mascaras are as good as most department store bands I've bought. It has all my go to shades if I can't make up my mind in the morning, and I always get lots of compliments about it.

Next up, LASHES. I was literally born with monster lashes, and even though they've lightened a lot since I was little they haven't lost an inch of length. I still curl my lashes even though I don't really need to. Rimmel has two mascaras that I love, and they are Lash Accelerator Endless in 003 Extreme Black, and Volume Accelerator in the same shade. I'm almost out of the second, and I'll probably give it up after this tube since I've really into Accelerator Endless at the moment. It doesn't flake, or irritate my contacts and I love the coverage. It never runs!

The last two pallets are one's that I've recently picked up. The Rimmel pallet is in 001 Smokey Noir, and I wore it to a super fun house party in my hometown which is about 2 hours from where I live now. I put it on at around 6PM, but unfortunately the color didn't last as long for me as the other shades that I have. I love the black but it just didn't hold, even after setting. I was super disappointed, but the grey's in this do last a long time and I've been able to do a funky night out look with it. Lastly, the ELF pallet in, #71404 Smoky was my most recent purchase, in fact I just got it last week. The highlight color in the middle is insanely beautiful and I love the dark brown, as well as the glittery navy shade. Navy was a little out of my comfort zone, but I thought it turned out beautifully.

As for tools, most of my brushes are last minute buys. Although, I finally found Real Techniques brushes in the US in a store. (I almost screamed during a super busy afternoon in the store!) I've been huge fans of the Chapman sisters for a long time. In fact, my first beauty blogger that I ever watched was Pixiwoo and I've learned so much from them and Louise (Sprinkleofglitter). Seriously, between their videos I felt like I finally had the confidence to go to Sephora and not feel like an idiot!

I hope you enjoyed these rather long (sorry), what's in my bag, posts. They're super fun, and I promise I'll get better :) Until next time, just remember it's always about the girl that wears the makeup, and not about the makeup that makes the girl.

xo,

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Beauty: What's In My Bag? (Part 1)

PART 1

Firstly, these are actual things from my makeup bag. That's it right there, that overstuffed blue thing. Some of these products are used, and well loved, and I'm showing you this so you know know I really do use them! I love makeup packaging, and branding. Typography and fonts can really be so beautiful but half of the things I've bought in the past just plain don't do the job for me! That's the funny part though right? That's how they get us. I'm not above buying something that looks pretty only to find out later that it doesn't work at all. For now, this is a little selection of what's in my bag.

I'm lucky in that my skin is pretty easy to handle, but incredibly sensitive and delicate. I can never leave the house without SPF on (neither should you),  and I can't exfoliate too often without turning out like a tomato in the noonday sun. Learn from 16 years of hard lessons, skin care is essential regardless of how much makeup you wear! I cannot stress this enough. Right now my skin care regimen consists of using the Olay Pro-X Cleansing Brush with Garnier's The Ultimate Cleanser, and  Target brand's, Sensitive Skin Moisturizer with SPF 15. I try and do a face masque once a week and my favorites are by the Montagne Jeunesse brand that come in packets. They are usually at Target for less than $3, or if you watch the clearance shelves at Wal-Mart sometimes they're even cheaper! My favorite masque is the Brazillian Mud Fabric Masque. It's like a gigantic Biore strip for your face, and it just feels lovely afterward when you're slathering on moisturizer.

Right now I'm loving the Powder PaletteⓇ Multi- Colored Custom Bronzer for Brunettes from Physician's Formula, as well as the Custom Blush. They are both glittery, but the blush has a much smaller particle of it. In the Summer I like to contour with bronzer, so I use Flower Beauty's, Ready, Set, Glow! (Shade BD1). I love using those two products together, as I feel like they compliment each other so well. Flower Beauty's bronzer has no shimmer in it, but comes with a blush that has a small amount. Obviously my compact is almost out, but if you wanted to wear those two shades alone I can attest that they are the longest lasting that I've ever used. The color literally stayed put all day. I also love their line of cream blushes, and if it's not too hot I opt for Win Some, Rouge Some in shade Pure Petunia. It's like pink and coral colored, and it's so beautiful ... I just can't!

Oh snaps, forgot to mention foundation! Right now I'm trying out Neutrogena's Skin ClearingⓇ oil-free makeup in shade 30 Buff. I break out a little bit in the Summer going from water, to land, and back again. A good foundation that does double duty, is a lifesaver. So far, I've been really pleased with it and the coverage is great! Sometimes I can even get away with wearing no concealer, which is always a plus for the mornings that I'm in a rush. I set all of my makeup with translucent powder, and I have a small compact that I picked up at CVS which I sprinkle a little in for when I'm out. Since it's something I use a lot, I like having a big tin of it and Airspun Original Formula Loose Face Powder (in shade, translucent extra coverage 070-41) is my tried and true essential for every season. It also has a familiar scent that reminds me of getting ready with my Mom when I was a little kid and it holds everything in place.

This year I've planned to expand my horizons to places likes Sephora, Ulta, and MAC, so that I can better understand the art of putting things on your face that I missed out on. No one in my family really liked makeup, or did the minimalist approach to it, so once I was old enough everything I tried to learn came from magazines.  Then came, the beauty bloggers and I adore them! I think they make the planet a happier place, and they've helped grown up Caroline learn how not to look like the crazy bag lady. I can do the basic work, but there's tons more that I want to do. I love makeup! I love trying things, and most importantly, I think every girl, woman, single lady, or Mom should feel beautiful. For the record, no matter where you come from, or what you look like, that should never stop you from having those happy, fluffy cotton candy feelings about yourself! Everyone has low moments. Everyone feels not so pretty sometimes. I'm telling you this now, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! You woke up just like you did, acne spots, freckles, and all. Those things matter like sprinkles on cupcakes, let's face it we're just going to eat it anyway! In other words, if it's 100 degrees, with 100% humidity then go get a cupcake and stop worrying about runny eyeliner.


So go play a little, and do it with your makeup.

:)

xoxo,


****Stay tuned for part 2!


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