Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Your Friends

It’s the last Monday before Christmas and I’m getting excited! There’s just something beautiful and happy about this season and I wish I could bottle it up and carry it with me throughout the rest of the year! One of my favorite things to do during the week before Christmas is hit the stores to do some last minute shopping. It’s completely chaotic but that’s what makes it so fun.

I’ve done pretty much all of my shopping but one of the hardest things to find are good stocking stuffers! My mom, ahem, Santa I mean, used to give my sister and I cans of silly string and tell us to go at it. Usually, we ended up just going after my dad because it was way more fun! Anyway, I’ve included a few fun stocking stuffers to spark your creativity.

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Women

Some of my favorite things I’ve gotten in my stocking in Christmases past (besides silly string) are nail polish, fuzzy socks, chocolate Santas, mittens, lip balm, and oddly, a whoopie cushion. Trust me, that provides hours of entertainment and laughs for the whole family! Here are a few other great ideas for a gal pal on your list! Scroll through to find your favorites and be sure to share your stocking stuffer ideas in a comment below!//shopsensewidget.shopstyle.com/#/?options=%7B%22widgetId%22%3A%225855ae954df128a1f9ef707d%22%2C%22version%22%3A1%2C%22pid%22%3A%22uid3025-28872695-82%22%2C%22size%22%3A200%2C%22columns%22%3A3%2C%22rows%22%3A1%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fapi.shopstyle.com%2Fapi%2Fv2%22%2C%22iframeHeight%22%3A275%2C%22iframeWidth%22%3A705%7D

Sephora $6 Mask Review

Thank God it’s finally Friday! It has been such a long week and nothing short of chaotic. I want to sleep in and then sip my coffee while I browse Instagram and Pinterest. There’s isn’t a lot more satisfying than that. Actually, tomorrow I’ll be doing a noon photoshoot for my belated graduation photos, but other than I will spend the day in bed!

One of my favorite things to do on my weekends is go to farmer’s markets to get flowers and then do a bit of pampering when I get home. Usually that entails giving myself a pedicure and then a facial. Sephora is selling $6 face masks and $3 lip masks now and obviously I had to try one!
Not going to lie here, I wasn’t all that impressed. The pearl mask I tried made my skin oily and I broke out into red pimples. Not cute! However, the lip mask did soften my lips quite a bit! You leave the mask on for 15 minutes and then take it off. The instructions said not to wash your face after but I did dab my face dry because there was so much excess product left over. At least you get your money’s worth!

All in all, I wouldn’t recommend the face mask but the lip mask was worth the buy. They have hand and foot masks that I’m probably going to try soon. I’ll let you girls know how those work when I finally try them. Keep in mind that if your skin is dry, the face mask might do wonders for you! Since my skin is naturally oily in most spots, it made the problem worse. Either way, I hope you get some time to just enjoy your weekend and relax!

-liz

 

 

 

makeup app for a flawless look

If anyone reads my blog enough, they know that I love new makeup products and sharing my favorite finds with my readers. Although I have to be honest, I don’t wear makeup everyday, not even to the office. There are several reasons for this, the most important being that I know how delicate skin is and how quickly it can get icky. I let my pores breath at least 3 days out of the week! Not being particularly prone to acne, this seems to just help any oily spots on my face, so I can’t speak for those who have chronic acne problems. Because we want to look beautiful in photos though (i.e. full face of makeup) some brilliant developers have come up with an app that applies makeup flawlessly to your face in a photo!

Make Up Plus App

These are my before and after photos. In the before picture, I have no make up on. After, I appear to have a full face of makeup. How amazing is that? Technology never ceases to surprise me. No matter what an app can do though, I’ll still believe that I’m pretty without a bunch of makeup. But an app I can use to look more put-together in photos? Sign me up! Did I mention it’s a free app?

My sister and her friends take so many selfies and photos together that I know this will be a hit! They’re all such pretty girls and it always just cracks me up when they complain they aren’t beautiful. They have no idea how lovely they are! When I was 16, I felt the same way though. Every year since I was a teenager I’ve gained a little more confidence and a lot more happiness!

Consider downloading this awesome app. If you take selfies a little too often, then this is a must-have on your phone!

-LIZ

Top 3 Sephora Products

Good morning friends! Hopefully you saw my blog post yesterday about my experience and how-to contouring at Sephora. If not, I’ll link it here! I did a quick contour for my makeup today and it turned out really well even without the careful instruction of the beauty experts. I always wonder if I can recreate the look on my own without all the same expensive makeup they use. Turns out, for the most part you can. But there are a few Sephora products that I find crucial to achieving the same look!

1. Sephora brand Contour Duo– This is where the contour really takes shape! This handy tool is double-sided and easy to use. You simply blend it in with a makeup sponge and you’re good to go. It retails for $20 but is far cheaper than other high-end brands.
2. Sephora brand 10 Hour Wear Perfection Foundation– Without a doubt my favorite foundation I’ve ever used (and I’ve tried a lot!) The texture is really smooth and doesn’t feel cake-y on my face. If you wear foundation 5 days a week, it will last you for about 4 months. This also retails for $20.
3. Smashbox Brow-Tech Shaping Powder– Eyebrows are out of control and usually need some help. To pull together the rest of the look, you’ll need something to work with the brows! This tool is a little wand with lose powder on the end that will help you fill in your eyebrows and give them a more defined look. I use it frequently and love it! It might be more of a splurge item because it costs $25.

These products are definitely my splurge items as they aren’t as cheap as drugstore makeup. The real difference is how long it lasts on your face. I used to wear Cover Girl foundation and it worked but only for a few hours until it was sliding off my face and looking goopy. If you can afford to treat yourself, start out with the foundation and go from there!

Sephora’s Contouring How-To

 

Happy Monday beautiful friends! I’m rested up from last week and ready to hunker down and deal with this week. Easter was interesting this year- it snowed! When I woke up, there was a dusting on the ground and by 3pm it was gone and the sun was out. Kansas City is forever surprising me.

Last Thursday, I went to Sephora for a class on facial contouring. I had never done it before and since it’s getting so popular, I figured I’d try! The class was free and two hours of professional instruction. The photo above of my makeup-less face is the “before” picture. Unfortunately, by the time the night was over, the natural lighting was gone and getting a good shot of the amazing makeup was difficult.

We started out by putting on concealer. They taught us to follow an inverted triangle formation for the best results. Basically, draw from the outer corner of each eye down to the nostrils and fill in the space that you’ve outlined using a makeup sponge. After that, put on foundation and blend!

Next comes the highlighter. When you’re highlighting, the goal is to highlight the center of your face and cheek bones. The shape of your face determines where the highlights go! Typically, you’ll put the highlighter down the center of your nose, the tops of your cheeks, the lower half of your forehead (think three branches going straight up and to the left and right), and underneath your lower lip. Blend each area with a makeup sponge.

The most important step is the shadow part of the contour. For my face shape (oval), I draw lines underneath my cheek bones, the sides of my forehead, and directly underneath my jaw line. This concept applies to most other face shapes. The only difference is a round face will want to extend the blending up and down the sides of the cheeks. After you’ve blended, dust on face powder so your contour will stay in place all day!

This is the final product! You can see the shadow on my cheek where the contour is. This shadow makes my cheek bones look higher and more defined. If you really want to learn to contour, the best thing you can do is sign up for Sephora’s classes! They are so helpful and a lot of fun. Leave a comment below with any questions you have!