Guest Post

5 Wearable Orange Lipsticks for $13 or Less

April 28th, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

About the Author
This guest post was written by NadÃ¨ge of Atomic BeautÃ©. You can also find NadÃ¨ge on Twitter and Facebook.

5 wearable orange lipsticks
Wearing Victoria’s Secret Lipstick in Cabana

The whole world’s obsessed with orange these days! — and by “world,” I mean the fashion and beauty industries. Since Pantone named Tangerine Tango the “Color of the Year,” I haven’t gone two seconds without seeing orange strut down a red carpet somewhere, or grace the pages of a magazine, or pose on a store shelf. Orange is an underrated, bold color, and many people don’t believe they can pull it off.

But they can! Here are five (non-limited edition) wearable orange lipsticks under $13 that are sure to work on any skin tone.

(In all of these pics, I’m wearing Sephora + Pantone Universe’s Apricot Brandy blush.)

Orange, orange everywhere

1. Victoria’s Secret Lipstick in Cabana ($13)

Victoria's Secret Lipstick in Cabana

Cabana is a sheer, coral-orange lipstick with gorgeous specks of gold and staying power of about two hours. It just gives lips a subtle pop of color.

2. Milani Lipstick in Bonfire ($5.49)

Wearing Milani Lipstick in Bonfire
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3 Easy Makeup Looks to Streamline Your Summer

April 27th, 2012 by Karen 45 Comments

About the Author
This guest post was written by Radhika of Weekend Ramblings. You can also find Radhika on Twitter and Facebook.

Makeup competes with other treats when summer rolls around

Having spent a good part of my life in South India, summers really aren’t my favorite time of year, and then there were those days in college walking around a campus without trees! Back then, my summer makeup routine consisted of a shaky line with a black eyeliner, and it hasn’t changed much over the years.

Sure, I take a little extra care with the moisturizer now, and try not to forget my sunscreen, but the last thing I want to do on a glorious (or sweltering!) summer day is spend time in front of the mirror on an elaborate makeup look. In summer, my priorities lie elsewhere, like in the frozen food aisle. 😀

The sooner I get out of the house, the better, and with that in mind, here are 3 quick makeup looks that I depend on each summer.

1. Fresh-faced and natural

This look has always been a favorite with my husband, and for a while I walked around with the mistaken belief that it had something to do with the way I look! Turns out, it has more to do with how fast I can be ready to head out the door.

Much as I hate accepting that he’s right about anything, the lazy side of me has to agree with him on this one. 😛 It’s not every day that I have passably clear skin, but on days that I do, this is my go-to makeup.

A fresh-faced natural summer makeup look

First, I dab some corrector/concealer on my dark circles to make them a little less scary. Then, I use a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen in it, and apply foundation only to my problem areas. I wait a few minutes for that to set, and then blot with a tissue to remove any excess. I finish with a powder to set — only on the shiny areas that need it the most, like around my nose and chin.

My summer makeup essentials

Next, I dust on a matte brown eyeshadow, a black liner for tightlining (I lift the upper eyelid slightly to help with the lining), and a dark mascara to brighten the eyes.

That’s it! All done — well, almost. Rather than using a bronzer, I prefer peach-coral blushes that give a natural flush of colour with a hint of summer tan. And a dab of coral or pink lipgloss.

A dab of coral or pink lipgloss
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Come on, Don’t Be (Color) Shy: A Beginner’s Guide to the World of Color

April 27th, 2012 by Karen 48 Comments

About the Author
The following guest post was written by Sunny of Mostly Sunny blog. You can also find Sunny on Twitter and Facebook.

A Beginner's Guide to Color

Do you remember your first pieces of makeup? I do. I remember one of them. It was a Maybelline trio with three matte neutral shades in it, and I got it when I was a freshman at university.

That’s really when I started venturing into makeup, and my friends had some very good advice: “Just use something that doesn’t scream ‘color’ but gives your eyes some dimension.”

If I remember it right, that trio was roughly the equivalent of Urban Decay Foxy, Naked, and Buck.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Even professional makeup artists would tell you not to underestimate the power of good neutrals, and I remain a fan of them to this day, but what if you’ve been dabbling in the neutral waters for a while and feel like making a colorful change?

You may not feel comfortable leaping from Naked palettes to peacock colors and mermaid eyes right away. So what can you do to make the transition a little easier?

Below are a few tips to help beginners ease their way into the fantastic world of color! 🙂

Products mentioned today

Tip 1: Try a colorful eyeliner on your lower lash line

A Beginner's Guide to Color
Products: MAC Macroviolet, UD Rockstar, UD Ransom, UD Mildew, UD Stash, Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green

A Beginner's Guide to Color
From left to right: MAC Macroviolet, UD Rockstar, UD Ransom, UD Mildew, UD Stash, Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green

If you feel like keeping most of your eyes neutral, a pop of color along your lower lash line is one easy way to spice things up. You can even go over the eyeliner with a neutral eyeshadow to bring the intensity down a notch.

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Chevron Nails Are Trending Up For Summer, and They’re Easier Than They Look

April 26th, 2012 by Karen 22 Comments

About the Author
This guest post was written by Sammy of The Naulasaurus. You can also find Sammy on Twitter, Facebook and Etsy.

Chevron nails, sometimes called the reverse French mani, are trending up for summer. They’re funky and unusual, and way easier to do yourself than they look. Believe it or not, all a girl needs for these is a little know-how, some nail polish and a bit of scotch tape.

You’ll need…

Scotch tape, and if you don’t have any on hand, you can use masking tape or sellotape instead.
Two Summery colours of your choice. Today I’ve chosen NYC Lexington Yellow and Rimmel Urban Princess.
A clear top coat.

Step 1:

Paint on your base colour, and wait for it to dry completely. You could even use a fast drying top coat like Seche Vite to speed up the process. Make sure this is the lighter colour of the two because we’ll be painting the other colour over the top.

Step 2:

Use your scotch tape to mark off a triangle at the base of your nail. Be warned! If your base coat isn’t 100 percent dry, the tape will definitely ruin the whole mani.

I learned this the hard way when I first started using tape in my manicures. My impatience led to a lot of frustration when I kept pulling off my polish with the tape before it was dry.

You can stick the tape to the back of your hand before you use it on your nails to remove some of the stickiness if you think it will mess with your base colour.

Step 3:

One nail at a time, paint the second colour over the nail and tape, and immediately go to step 4…

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What Do Pink Cheetahs Have in Common With Kisses? Violent Lips Temporary Lip Tattoos

January 7th, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

Written by Clare

When lipstick and gloss just won’t do, perhaps a pink cheetah will work better for you. Find out more in today’s guest post from Clare.

Violent Lips in Pink Cheetah

First things first

I’m a makeup-obsessive from way back, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about makeup, it’s that you can make almost anything work. Colour should never hold you back, and you shouldn’t be afraid to rock a bold lip if you feel like it.

Bold lips, huh? Well…they don’t come much bolder than Violent Lips. If you haven’t heard of them before, they’re vitamin-enhanced, vegan-friendly lip appliquÃ©s tested on celebrities, not animals, and above all, they’re temporary!

Violent Lips Temporary Lip Tattoos

Kim Kardashian and her sisters Khloe and Kylie recently posted twitpics wearing them. I’d already sourced some myself and figured it was about time to figure out if the company’s tutorial was as easy to follow as it looked.

What you’ll need to get started

In each pack of Violent Lips, you’ll find three sets of lip appliquÃ©s — three top lips and three bottom — easily separated, in case you make any mistakes and need to use half of another set.
The directions, which can be found on the back. They’re very basic, so you might need to refer to a tutorial to fill in the blanks because, for example, the directions don’t mention that you’ll also need water.
Water
A cotton pad
Scissors
A mirror
Violent Lips in Pink Cheetah (or any of the other 76 varieties)

Violent Lips Temporary Lip Tattoos

Ladies, start your engines!

Firs, make sure you start with dry, un-moisturised lips, and you don’t want to be wearing any other products. That’s important, because if you already have something on your lips, your Violent Lips won’t stick.

Violent Lips Temporary Lip Tattoos
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How I Finally Managed To Deep Clean the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush

October 30th, 2011 by Karen 59 Comments

Written by Juli

What happens when a brush with destiny meets an unstoppable force? I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out thanks to today’s guest post from Juli.

Deep Clean the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush

Good things should be shared amongst friends, but great things must be shared with the world!

Dirty makeup brushes and tools are some of the many things that can cause breakouts and otherwise irritate the skin. I know that mine reacts violently whenever I subject it to a foundation brush that hasn’t been cleaned for more than two weeks, so I always try to keep the things in my kit as clean as possible.

But sometimes that’s easier said than done.

For instance, when I couldn’t get the muck off of my Sigma F80 Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki Brush, I became a very frustrated girl.

The regular shampoo method wasn’t doing the job at all…and olive oil didn’t work much better.

Deep Clean the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush

As a matter of fact, olive oil probably did my Sigma F80 more harm than good. I spent more than 45 minutes one day trying to remove all of the oil from the bristles. It had mixed with the remaining liquid foundation in the brush, and no matter how hard I scrubbed with shampoo and detergent, the olive oil and dried foundation flakes wouldn’t budge.

It looked pretty disgusting too…

Deep Clean the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush

I’d subjected the brush to extremely vehement abuse, scrubbing the bristles like I would an elephant’s hide, and letting water flow from the tip into the ferrule in an attempt to dislodge the stubborn oil. I even threw it on the floor once hoping it would miraculously learn its lesson and self-clean (sorry).

I hated cleaning the Sigma F80 brush so much that I started to dread the weekends, because that’s when I deep clean my brushes every week.

After considering its rave reviews, I tried MAC Brush Cleanser, hoping that a high-end brand would perform a miracle, but repeatedly dunking the F80 into a cup of MAC’s cleanser only removed a teeny bit of gunk, and the dense bristles soaked up a lot of product…

Hey, hey! Expensive product there, don’t drink it up so quickly, yo! I even tried to dilute the MAC brush cleanser with water, but that also didn’t help much.

Then, one day I was just reading blogs and chanced upon a product that would change my life — okie, more like cut my brush-washing time tremendously.

Jang! Jang! Presenting the Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge!

Deep Clean the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush

Before taking these pics, I made sure to get the bristles really brown and dirty to give you that “OMGIGOTTAHAVETHIS!!” effect when you see the brush returned to its pristine white condition. Hoho.

So, here’s my dirty Sigma F80 Brush. For the purposes of showing how the cleanser works, you can replace it with any brush you like.

Deep Clean the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki Brush
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How to Make a DIY Mojito Salt Scrub with Mango Butter

October 2nd, 2011 by Karen 31 Comments

About the Author
The following guest post was written by Jenny of My Funny Valentine. You can also find Jenny on Twitter.

DIY Mojito Salt Scrub with Mango Butter

There’s something so rewarding about making your own skin care products. You have total control over the quality of the ingredients that go into your creations, the feel of the product, and the scent of the product (I’m only a control freak when it comes to skin care, I promise!).

I personally love salt body scrubs. If you’ve ever been to my house you know that my shower area is cluttered with jars of scrubs of every description — some store bought, but mostly ones that I’ve made myself. It feels amazing to massage a handful of scrub into your skin after a long day, and the salt scrubs that I make leave my skin both polished and moisturised.

So, why did I make a scrub based on mojitos? Well, because mojitos are just the BOMB!

This particular scrub is super easy to make, even if you’ve never made DIY bath and body products before. Unlike some DIY oil-based scrubs, this one rinses clean because it has a built-in emulsifier.

Ingredients

You should be able to find all of these at your local health food store, or online at stores like Garden of Wisdom Skin Care.

10g mango butter (weight 0.35 oz)
5g cetyl alcohol (weight 0.18 oz)
20g olive oil (weight 0.7 oz)
7g avocado oil (weight 0.25 oz)
7g pomegranate oil (weight 0.25 oz)
10 drops peppermint essential oil
10 drops lime essential oil
3 drops grapefruit essential oil
1g vitamin E 500IU (roughly 2/3 tspn)
0.8g Polysorbate 80 (roughly Â½ tspn)
A few drops of optiphen
70g salt

Mojito Salt Scrub
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Don’t Miss These Great Guest Posts

September 17th, 2011 by Karen 6 Comments

Great Guest Posts at Makeup and Beauty Blog

I’m really proud of the guest bloggers who’ve submitted posts to MBB over the past couple of years. First, because I know how much time and effort can go into putting together a review or a tutorial, especially one you really care about, and second, because I can be a perfectionist (see, it’s not just Tabs). In some cases, I ask guest bloggers to retake some of their photographs or revise their written drafts, always trying to make the finished product the best we both think it can be. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job. 🙂

If you’ve missed any of these recent guest posts, I encourage you to check them out, and if you do find them interesting, please visit the author’s site.

Be a Flying Beauty with These Airplane Beauty Tips