Resolutions

2013! This past year has flown completely by, I know we all say that every year but I feel like I blinked and 2012 was over.  I have never really made resolutions before, they have never been something I put any thought into, but this year I want to accomplish so many things so I thought why don't I make resolutions and really try to stick to them.

1. Make Me Time - I find myself working 24/7 literally and I rarely will sit down and just do anything that doesn't in some way have something to do with work.

2. Read Books & Magazines - I have a stack of three months of magazines sitting on my dresser that I have neglected and a list of books I want to read.

3. Take Off Chipped Nail Polish - This is a big one for me because the day a nail would chip I used to take all my polish off and give myself a fresh coat, 2012 was filled with a week of fully chipped nails. NOT happening in 2013.

4. Blog - Make time to blog, on here and for the store. I always felt like I never had anything worth saying or anything time to do it.

5. Eat Good - Not even just eat healthy, but I find that if I'm busy during the day I will skip two meals, I want to be able to sit down and actually enjoy food not just stuff my face one time a day.

6. Enjoy The Little Things - The past year I think I took people, time and opportunities for granted. I do not want one moment to go by with out enjoying it. 

7. Take Pictures - I have so many cameras / devices that take pictures and I never take pictures, one day I am going to wish that I had pictures from those special days and now I am going to have them.

8. Keep Organized - I actually stuck to this pretty good the past year, so this is just a reminder to keep a clean room, closet and WRITE everything down (appointments, dates ..).

9. Buy Less Lip Products - Haha this is one totally for my mother and my wallet, I do not know why but it seems that ANY store I walk in whether it be Target, Sephora, Ulta, Walgreens, Jewel .. That I NEED to buy a new lipgloss or lipstick I do not have any more space in my vanity or handbags for them so I am really going to try to limit myself and use up some of the ones I have.. this will probably be the hardest to keep!

10. Sleep - I have had so many nights that I stay up staring at the ceiling or watching half a season of TV shows on netflix, I want to actually try to get a normal sleep schedule this year.

Now I know not many people keep up with their resolutions, but I am really going to try my hardest this year because these all seem so easy when I look at them, but I neglected each and everyone last year. So here is to an AMAZING 2013, filed with Happiness, Friends, Memories & of course some Glitter!

New Years Eve Makeup

Christmas has come and gone this year, but there is one last night to dress up, take LOADS of pictures and a last chance to make memories with your favorite people. 

If your anything like me you have had a dress in mind for a week or two now.. but your makeup is still in question, well I pulled out some of my favorites this morning and came up with a super fun Picture worthy look. That is the main thing with New Years Eve Makeup, you need it to last all night & have it look flawless in pictures. I pulled out all my beauty secrets and i'm going to share the look I plan on rocking tomorrow night.

The first step is the perfect base, I always go to my Makeup Forever HD Foundation for flawless coverage. I get so many compliments at work about my skin, and I promise I have far from perfect skin, but this makeup will give anyone the perfect complexion they are looking for. I apply it with a real techniques stippling brush for an airbrushed finish.

Another very important step is to make sure that your eye makeup will last all night and for that I always gravitate towards my Nars smudge proof eye shadow base.

For the eyes I chose a matte eye look. For that I took the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette, my new found love for great matte eyeshadows. Take a fluffy eyeshadow brush like the Mac 224 and mix the shades Venus & Foxy together, apply the light colors to your lid, taking a tapered eyeshadow brush mix Naked 2 & Faint and apply it to your crease. This is a throw back of a Marilyn Monroe Makeup look, a classic pretty eye.

For the liner, I always love a good cat eye, so take your gel liner, I used Mac Fluid Line In Black Track & my angled 266 brush. Start from the center of your eye and flick out towards the end, making the line thicker.

Then for a fun New Years POP, Take Urban Decays Heavy Metal Liquid eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy (it's the perfect champagne gold) and dab it from your inner corner to the middle of your eye. Take your finger and smooth it out, every time you look down people will get a subtle hint of glitter!

Eyelashes are a big part of this look, you want them to be plush while not looking clumpy, so i always opt for my Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes to get the job done.

I like to keep the cheeks more of a neutral tone with a little bit of color & highlighter. So I use Benefit Dallas for a nude pink & Macs Soft & Gentle Mineralize Skin Finish For a Highlight.

For the lips I chose a bold burgundy, since the look is very neutral based. I love the Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm, because they will last you all night with out having to touch up. Crave is the prettiest wine / burgundy with a pink tone that I have used.

The most important step to finish your look is to set the entire look, and my all time favorite setting spray is Urban Decays De Slick. Once you spray this on your makeup isn't moving until you take a cleanser to your face at the end of the night, Spray three sprays across your face and dance the night away!

As a little bonus, To match the gold glittery eyes apply two coats of Butter Londons West End Wonderland for a truly Festive look! It's the perfect mega gold glitter polish.

Have a Happy New Years Filled with Glitter, Champagne, & Amazing Memories! 

Throw Back Thursday Prom 2008

I love the thought of throw back Thursdays! Picking my first one was a bit tough, but as I was looking through my external hard drive my senior prom seemed like a good place to start. So here is a little peek into my past.

The getting ready process, of course everyone was waiting on me as I was making last minute adjustments. 

Adding to us being late for group pictures we stopped by my house for some outside pictures. My friend Bryce, best friend Anna & date Jose.

Anna & I taking a break from group pictures to get a totally Cliche Prom Picture! We've been best friends since we were one, just seemed right.

As everyone was still taking group pictures a few of us decided it would be the perfect idea to go get chipotle before the limo came.. My mom told me not to spill on my dress so I wrapped myself up in napkins and enjoyed my prom burrito.

We were lucky enough that the prom was downtown Chicago, so we decided to go down by the water and get a few pictures.. low and behold the ten minute walk wasn't such a good idea. Because 5 minutes into taking the pictures it DOWN POURED. I'm talking we were running and you couldn't see five inches in front of your face, and prom hadn't even started yet. Hair & makeup was a lost cause after that.

Example A. Me and my friend Matt, notice the wet hair slung into a low side pony tail.

All in all this was a perfect way to start throw back Thursdays, it brought back so many fun memories & i have to admit I loved that dress.

Emmys 2012 Best Dressed

Its that time again, the Emmy awards. Theres nothing that I love more than a pre award show red carpet. The gowns, hair, makeup & shoes! It’s every girl girls dream.The Emmys did not disappoint tonight. I love that Sarah Hyland helped Georgina Chapman design her custom Marchesa gown, & that Julianne Hough stepped outside her comfort zone and rocked a quite literal mermaid gown, but I have to say I think my pick of the night goes to Leslie Mann I literally paused my Tivo when I saw her, the entire look is FLAWLESS, from the high neck to the pockets, the hair & her turquoise jewelry.. I'm in love. 

Here are my top picks.

Mac Holiday 2012 Collection

"OMG.." "Too Cute" "NEED Everything" are the first three phrases that come to mind after seeing the mac holiday 2012 collection. I have to say normally every year I buy a few sets from the holiday collection for myself & gifts, except last year. 

Last years glitter & ice collection was not my cup of tea to say the very least, but Mac has beyond caught my attention this year. I have a list of just about every set they are coming out with. Not to mention the adorable chevron boxes will sit very pretty on my new vanity (if it ever comes).

Are you ready to see the cuteness? Be sure to have a pen & paper ready because your Christmas list will be starting a bit early this year. You've been warned.. 

Photo Shoot Fun

One of my favorite things to do is style for photo shoots, I love the prepping, making look boards, packing it all up and layering on pieces of clothing and jewelry. For the last photo shoot I worked on I got to take my styling up a notch. We were shooting for the front page of 1happygirl.com and for once I wasn't the model, I was so excited because not only was I styling the clothes for this shoot I got to do hair & makeup as well. I was a bit frazzled because it was so much to do.. But anyone who knows me knows that I am beyond a perfectionist and everything has to be my way..  Sometimes that works against me, but for this shoot it turned out amazing. We worked with the prettiest photographer ever Anya from Michigan (side note, wanted to throw her in as a model for a few shots!) She knew exactly what we wanted to convey and she shot every picture perfectly. We had a 7:30 am call time, and I had to get three girls styled from head to toe literally, I couldn't of got it all done without my wonderfully stylish mom.  I went for a really natural look on Courtney, she has the effortless beauty look. Kristine has a face like mine so doing her makeup was the easiest thing in the world, I stuck with old hollywood look, a darkened crease, defined cheek bones and a bold lip all day. I ended with Olivia and made her look a little more edgy, a darker bronze eye with a slicked back ballerina bun. 

We started shooting homecoming in the morning and went into the fall shoot after lunch. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day, I couldn't of asked for a better team in 98' weather wearing boots & sweaters.

MIA

Yeah.. so they past three months I have been MIA, to say the very least. With two stores and life there wasn't much time to sit down and have alone time, let alone have time to blog. But with fall right around the corner I am so excited to get back into my schedule and doing things that I love. I did put together a collage of some instagram photos from the past three months. Full of arm parties, my vegas trip, baby Gemma, lazy sunday mornings, my cat and the start of packing up my room to redecorate!

I am so excited to redecorate my room! I am going from a hot pink, black & white room, to a more sophisticated cream & neutral bedroom with mirrored accents.