{Beauty Tuesday} Eye Brushes

Do you want flawless makeup? A perfectly blended smokey eye? I have a secret for you. It doesn't matter how expensive your eye shadows, primers and mascaras are. If you don't have the right brush, you can't achieve the look. But brushes can be daunting. There are hundreds of shapes and textures to choose from. What do you use were? Does it matter the kind of bristle? synthetic or natural? dense? thin? Are expensive brushes worth it, or do cheap ones work okay too? 

Makeup brushes are the one thing I never really "learned" about until recently, so I need to fill y'all in on the amazing brushes I'm loving right now. I'm going focus on eye brushes, and save face brushes for another post. Everything I'm talking about today are actual brushes I own, use often and LOVE. 

For great eye makeup I think you need 4 different brushes. I know. that's a lot right? Believe me, even more are helpful, but to get you started I recommend these 5 types of brushes.

1. Fluffy Brush-- Meaning a brush with good control that will help you pack shadow onto your lid. Here you can have a wide variety of what a fluffy brush is, but think your traditional eyeshadow brush. 

I use a MAC 239 and I LOVE IT. I am lucky enough to have parents who spoil me at Christmas, because I couldn't afford to shell out $22 for one brush, but if you do this is a great one.

I also have this Sonia Kashuk Brush that I LOVE just about as much (I normally use 4-5 colors on my lid a day, so I have several fluffy dense brushes for general lid application)

2. Pencil Brush-- this is my FAVORITE. It is so versatile, and packs a great punch. I would recommend a pencil brush for both your lower lash line and your crease. 

I use a MAC 219.

I honestly don't own any other pencil brushes, because this one is just so fantastic. But I have heard great things about the Sigma E30 pencil brush and at $9 dollars it's a little more budget friendly than the  MAC counterpart.  

3. Liner Brush

Okay, I'm breaking with MAC and I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE my ELF Angled Liner Brush

For another kind of liner brush altogether I use the Sigma E15 Flat Definer. This is more useful if you want to use shadow for your liner. I love how stiff this is brush is. You can either use this with just your liner shadow, or you can soften a cream liner and smooth it out with this brush.

4. Blending Brush

HERE IS THE KEY. Blend blend blend. Seriously. I can't even tell you how important blending is when it comes to a smokey eye, or any eye look for that matter. Sonia Kashuk Multipurpose Blending Brush is great. When looking for a good blending brush you want something somewhat flexible, but still dense.

For a different kind of blending brush check out the large eye shadow brush from Eco Tools. From what I can tell it only comes in the Bamboo 6 Piece Eye Brush Set (LOVE this set y'all!). It's completely differently shaped,  but a great option. 

This kit is a great beginner set too, the brushes are great quality, and really well priced. 

If you want even more eye brushes, beyond these basic four, try 

1. A highlighter brush-- look for something light and fluffy

2. Angled Crease Brush

3. Lash Brush (separate those babies)

4. Brow Brush

5. Smudge Brush

6. A Tiny Defining Brush to get in those small corners.

Okay. That's all I've got for you today. Again, I wasn't paid for any of these reviews, I own all of these brushes (and many more), and I am very fond of ALL of them. If you have any more specific questions please don't hesitate to email me or comment below. Have a great beauty Tuesday Ladies!

A little sparkle for you Monday

I've been super busy lately, but busy with crap. Do you know what I mean? Car issues, endless trips to the grocery store, errand running, oh and starting to study for the lsat again. woohoo. I'm a tad worn out, and this weekend didn't really provide any relief. Oh well.

But, do you know what makes me happy? Sparkly things. Yep. I'm a girly girl over here, and I love all things sparkly.

Um. hi. are these work appropriate? If not, oh well. I'm wearing them anyways.

Wow. Lilac. Glitter. Tulle. Amazing.

Didn't Kate Middleton wear this? If not, she should. 

Love this skirt!

I adore this vintage pearl diamond combo.

okay. this might be my wedding dress. screw the white. I'll take blush pink and sparkles any day. 

I love this style. Love a sparkly nail. and the pink and silver combo too!

I. am. dying. I. need. this. in. my. house. 

This could work too :)

Hope y'all have a great rest of your Monday!

{Friday Cocktail} Arnold Palmer

Happy Friday! We made it, and I'm super excited, for no particular reason other than the fact that I get to sleep in tomorrow :)

For this edition of Friday Cocktail I'm going to step away from the alcohol. What. Shocking. I know. Who am I. But everyone needs a break from boozing every now and again. Plus, I have some readers who don't drink, so I want to teach them a tried and true southern classic.

An Arnold Palmer (in some circles called a half and half) is a deliciously light beverage and super easy to make.

1/2 Iced Tea + 1/2 Lemonade

okay you're done. See y'all Monday.

Haha, while the Arnold Palmer is that easy to concoct I of course stepped it up a notch.

Fancy Arnold Palmer

via

Ingredients

• Fresh sweet tea (use a tea bag not a mix)
• Lemonade (again if you have fresh it's way better)
• Mint leaves
• Frozen Strawberries
• Simple Syrup 

Directions

• In the bottom of a mason jar (all the best southern drinks are served in a mason jar) muddle a handful of fresh mint and Simple syrup*
•  Pour tea, then lemonade into jar
• Toss in a few frozen strawberries and stir.
• The longer you let it sit the better it tastes (I normally do 30 mins in the fridge)
• Add ice and enjoy 

*use as much or as little of the simple syrup as you want depending on your desired sweetness.

OF COURSE... this recipe has plenty of room for vodka should you be so inclined.

Have a great weekend loves!

Summer Influenster Box

I recently got my Influenster Summer Beauty Box and OMG was I excited!

First it came with this really good Quaker Soft Baked Bar in Banana Nut Bread flavor. It was so good! I shared with my roommates and we all agreed. This is definitely filling, and great to throw in your purse if you are on the go. 

Sorry if this is an over share, if so please scroll down to the next picture, but you all want my real opinion so I'm going to give it. They sent a sample of the newest tampax products.  A couple of liners and tampons. I have to tell you I'm a loyal tampax pearl kind of a girl, have been for probably a decade. But ladies you may want to switch to radient. I think the packaging is much better (more durable) than pearls. I know this has happened to all of us, you have random tampons floating around in your purse, they get gross, maybe the packaging breaks open, whatever, it's not good when you're in a bind. Let me just tell you, these are great. And they give you a handy pouch!

Okay, welcome back, sorry for the crappy iphone pictures, a new camera is on it's way! Get excited y'all. 

Anyways, next up is the Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Sunscreen. I have super pale skin, and I normally go 70+ on the face, 50+ on the body. So this is low for me. BUT I tested this out at the pool a few weeks ago, and I love the formula! If you have sensitive skin, or are trying to avoid fragrance this is not for you. BUT this smells like a tropical beach, and I love it! It's thick, rubs in super easily. I'm a HUGE fan. Bonus, it comes in 12, 30 and 50 SPF.

Then I got some pretty decent size samples of Clear Shampoo and Conditioner. This is the stuff that Heidi Klum keeps talking about on TV. They focus on a clean and healthy scalp, for healthier hair, which makes sense to me. I've been having issues lately of getting my hair clean enough when I wash it (mostly due to having super long hair for me, and I'm not used to how much shampoo I really need), but this stuff is really making a difference. I'm sticking with Pureology for now, but I really like this to get rid of build up.

This Sally Hansen Hand Creme is AWESOME! super moisturizing, but not heavy. I really love it! 

Now THIS is my favorite find of the box. I love nail polish, but I haven't really been on to hop on "trends" like crackle polish, neons and neutrals, etc. This is a Magnetic nail polish by Sally Hansen, and OMG it's so cool. It applies really easily. You do one coat. Let it dry, then do another and while its wet you hold the magnetic cap over the polish for 10 seconds. When you pull it away the effect looks very much like the top you see below. It's wavy and AWESOME. our first reaction was a synchronized audible WHOA! Love it 

*Note: I received each product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.