Hello!
I hope everyone had a fantastic long, Labor day weekend. Here in Plymouth, the weather was picture perfect.
I know that everyone just loves fall. I do too, but for me, summer is and will always be my number one!
Anyway, last week, my friend Diane and I went out for a nice dinner. (If you are ever in Plymouth, MA be sure to go to Martini's on Main Street. SUCH AMAZING FOOD). We snapped a picture, and I uploaded it to my Instagram (SheShe830).  Well, color me flattered, because I had 7 people ask "How did you do that under your eyes?' Or "What Highlighter is that?"
so, I figured, I might pop on here and give you the info.
Everything that i have on my face, is in this picture here....

As you can see, there was actually no highlighter used. How I did the light under my eyes is through a process called "Baking". Baking is a technique that goes back to the olden days. It was once just considered for use as "stage makeup". However, it has become mainstream recently.  Baking is a way to conceal any dark circles you may have. It is a SUPER powerful way to do this. (The old analogy of bring a gun to a knife fight comes to mind).
It will keep your concealer from fading or cracking. Also, if you tend to get oily, this is your best way of fighting that.
There are are few things to keep in mind.

• If you want to do this, it is a full makeup look. You'll also need to do foundation, contour and blush in the bare minimum.
• You absolutely have to do a gradient fade with the concealer as you get further away from your eyes. Otherwise, it will end up looking as if you are wearing a Zorro mask, that is just not a good look.
• You have to set aside at least 25 minutes for this.          

There are countless YouTube tutorials by actual makeup artists who can give you a step by step on how to do this properly.

In a nutshell though, this is what you do...

1. Apply your foundation
2. With a concealer lighter than your skin, "Highlight" anything your want ( In the photo , I did under my eyes, down my nose and the space on my forehead right above my nose.)
3. With a wet beauty blended, cover the concealer in the thickest coat of loose powder. Literally, you want to be caking this powder on.
4. Let it rest, untouched for 20-25 minutes ( I did my eye shadow/lashes at this point).
5. After 20-25 minutes, use an extra large, clean powder brush to dust the powder off of your face.

That's it! Once you've done that, your concealer is literally baked on.

If anyone else gives this a try, send me a pic or tag me, I'd love to see!
.

Hello there. Can you believe we are now in the final three days of August? I cant. 😞
I know my husband will be happy when the hot weather is gone, not me though.
Anyhow, last month I did a post which showed the 5 least expensive beauty products that I use on a regular basis. In the time since then, I've had 5 or 6 people ask "Well, what are the most expensive things in your collection?" At first, I didn't want to do this post. I didn't want it to come across as "Look at my luxury items, aren't you envious?"  However, after sleeping on it, I can see the value in doing this post. Some of these things really are worth their cost. If you have that assurance from a friend before you buy something that costs a pretty penny, you might feel more confident in making the purchase.
However, not all the glitters is gold. there are a couple of things on here that were absolutely NOT worth it. If I can save you from wasting your money like I did, then its worth it.
In fact, lets get the duds out of the way. We'll start with them.




                         Promise Intensive Hair Treatment by Uniqkka      $85.00
                                       Promise Intensive Treatment by Uniqkka
The best thing I can say about this deep conditioning mask is "meh". It's certainly not bad in any way. It does condition your hair. However, it in no way preforms so well as to justify the price.
Kerastase's deep conditioner is considered the gold standard by many stylists. It cost $20.00 less than this.
My personal #producthero deep conditioner is by Moroccan Oil. It costs $45 dollars LESS  and blows this one out of the water.


                                             Tom Ford Eye Quad in "Nude Dip"   $88.00
                                                            Tom Ford Eye Quad
I gave this one away, donated it to a women's shelter. I do question if I just bought the "wrong" quad. All of the other ones are so highly rated on Sephora's website. I truly found this one to be no better than say the Wet and Wild Egg shell palette which costs $2.99.  As in $84.99 less than this.



                                                          
                                                 Dior Air Flash Foundation   $62.00
                                                     Dior Air Flash Foundation
I'll never, ever be without this stuff. This foundation is the tool for regular folks like us to achieve that perfect, airbrushed look that we always see on the Hollywood folks.
With this, you can have a sheer or as full coverage look. You decide the coverage level you'll have by how much you spray on. Unlike other foundations, it doesn't appear as if you've put several layers of it on.


                                        Orbie Super Shine  Moisturizing Cream   $52.00
                                              Orbie Super Shine Moisturizing Cream
This stuff is the secret to salon perfection blowouts. I have a LOT of hair. A ridiculous amount of hair. My hair takes a very long time to dry and is prone to frizz. I do my fair share of heat styling as well. This stuff is a remedy to all of it. The scent is down right intoxicating. If I could buy it as a perfume, I would. Even though this costs $52.00, you only need the tiniest amount each time. I'm talking a dollop the size of a dime. One tube lasts me 4-5 months.



                                                    Viseart Neutral Matte Palette   $80.00
                                                     Viseart Neutral Matte Palette
If I could only have one item in my beauty collect from now on into forever, this is what I'd choose.
This is literally everything I'd hope for an eye shadow palette. The colors last all day. Every shade in this palette is of the highest quality. Its SO blend-able. You could have 0 makeup application skills and still knock it out of the park if this is what you were working with.
The funny thing is...I almost never bought this. My hubby and I were on vacation. We'd had a wine filled dinner and I was tipsy. We had gone back to the hotel (We walked! Drunk drivers SUCK).
Anyhow, I stopped in at the apothecary-esq store to buy a bath bomb. Of course, makeup is the shiny object that I cant NOT look at. I saw this palette and said "Charge it to my room!" (Sorry, Honey!) 😙
In a few weeks...we'll be back there...I might just recreate that moment with one of their other palettes!


So, there you have it. What are your splurge products that are absolutely worth it?


~XO
SheShe