Something good after all…

My senior prom was this past weekend and honestly besides being with my friends, the hair and makeup is my favorite part. 

I had an appointment set up for my hair and my makeup just because it was my last prom so I thought it would be fun to have my makeup done for a change! After she finished my hair she told me the price and called her next client over. She forgot to schedule my makeup. I had packed some of my makeup just incase I didn’t like what she had done or wanted to make a few adjustments. So I ran to Walgreens and grabbed a few essentials that I didn’t pack. 

I ended up with an amazing smokey eye that I loovvveeeddd! I received so many compliments and asked who had done my makeup. I paired it with a peachy lip and a very soft blush and a somewhat dramatic contour. 

I would love to make a tutorial for this if any of you would like to see how I did it. 

But in the midst of the chaos, I found a foundation that I love! It’s the Neutrogena Shine Control Liquid makeup. 

This stuff kept me matte all night! I seriously think I blotted once. And at about $11.00, it’s a great steal. It’s a medium coverage and very buildable. It does have SPF but there was barely any flashback in my photos. I’ve worn it since that night and it’s my new favorite when I’m wanting more coverage and a lasting matte! 

I love how glamourous prom is. It justifies the real me. 😉 

Much love! 

~ Kate, xo 

Loving Foundations!

“What I’ve been loving” this week is my skin. I’ve been drinking ridiculous amounts of water. Like absurd amounts. But a couple months ago I stopped drinking anything but water and now my body craves it! Soda doesn’t even sound good and if I want something besides water, green tea is my go to. My skin is literally glowing, my under eye area is less puffy and the fine lines are noticeably filled in, and I can even tell a difference in my lips!

Since I’ve been loving my skin, I started the search for a foundation that enhances my skin rather than masks it.

1.) No7 Airbrush Away Foundation, $17.99

Available in 14 shades, I picked mine up at target. It blurs away unwanted imperfections but leaves your natural skin texture.

2.)  bareMinerals Bareskin, $29.50 

I have loved this for a long time. I just recently rediscovered my love for it on a whole new level when I wanted a long-lasting foundation that leaves my skin looking beautiful! It has a very natural finish. Before I had very problematic skin, so I only used this on days where I felt my skin looked good enough to wear a lighter coverage foundation. Now I wear it all the time and I’m wishing I would have worn it more before because it allows my skin to really breathe.

3.) e.l.f. BB Cream SPF 20, $6.00 

This is a super affordable dupe for the Smashbox BB cream. With warmer weather approaching, I know I’ll be grabbing for this often! I actually prefer this over the Smashbox BB cream just because I feel like you can really build the coverage without it becoming heavy.

I use my Urban Decay Pore perfecting primer with each of these.

What have you been loving recently?

Much Love.

~Kate, xo                  .

Jewelry… One of my favs.

I LOVE jewelry. I feel like an outfit can be transformed by one piece of jewelry. I also feel like if you have a few staple pieces, you are good to go. You don’t need 10 jewelry boxes full to be able to create great looks (although 10 jewelry boxed full would be wonderful.)

I recently went through my jewelry and kept the pieces I had worn recently (and by recently I mean AT LEAST within the past year) and then organized it. I also want to share lifestyle tips on my blog, so here’s my first!

How I organized my jewelry:

I bought a four part folding jewelry holder at Walmart for $10! I set it up on my vanity and placed my jewelry how I wanted it. I soon realized it took up way too much room and wasn’t practical at allowing me to see my jewelry fully! So I hung it on my wall and now I’m able to hang on the jewelry I wear regularly and I’m able to see it easily letting me pick things out when I’m getting ready!

I love the way it looks. I’d also love to see if you try this or have done something similar.

Much love!

~ Kate, xoxo

What I’ve Been Loving

I want to start a small series each week to tell everyone what I’ve been loving!

Recently I’ve been playing around with different loose powders to see which I like to set my foundation, use under my eyes to catch fall out during darker looks, or to bake to create a clean contour.

I’ve tried higher end brands (Clinque powders being my favorite) and then drugstore brands. And this week, the drugstore brand amazed me!

It’s not a new product I don’t believe, but it’s now a staple in my everyday makeup routine.

I use light 01. The powder has a slight color, but it’s almost translucent!

It’s the Maybelline Shine Free Loose Powder and if you have oily skin, you NEED this. I wore it all day the past 2 days, longer than usual, and I only touched up in my T-zone once. My under eye didn’t crease, my laugh lines stayed matte, and it doesn’t feel heavy at all! At around $5.00, I highly recommend this!

Let me know if this is a series you would enjoy. Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kate, xo

#OOTD

Hello there!

Today’s weather was beautiful! So I thought it was a great day to do my first Outfit of the Day post since I wasn’t getting blown away in Oklahoma for once. I picked my dress up at Target because it’s seriously like wearing an over sized T-shirt without pants but not getting judged. Then my shoes are just black Converse, a shoe that I don’t wear often but looked super cute paired with this dress! And I added silver jewelry (earrings from Catos.)

I love this simple, everyday look. I wore it shopping today! Let me know what you think.

Much love!

~ Kate

My Minnie Costume!

Hi everyone!

So this past week I did a Minnie Mouse costume for a fundraiser and I thought it would be fun to share what I did to create this fun dress up look

1.) My Outfit 

For this adorable and incredibly fun little costume, I purchased everything I used from 4 stores. Forever 21, Walmart, Party Galaxy, and Charlotte Russe (only my shoes were from this store.) My red skirt and black long sleeve were on sale and I got the whole outfit for $12. I didn’t want to invest a lot since I would be gluing white dots to the skirt! I then went to Walmart and got a white t-shirt that my sister and I cut somewhere around 25 circles from that. We took a mason jar, turned it over so the rim was on the shirt, and traced with a felt tip pen to make circles. I also got yellow felt from Walmart which I wrapped around my shoes to make those iconic yellow heels.My shoes were just white open toed wedges. I got Minnie ears from Party Galaxy that already had the red and white bow on them. Super cute! I also got my black gloves from here. I paired all of this with black panty hose. 

I had hot glue already so I used that, but as you can see, the dots were hanging on for dear life by the end of the day. So I would suggest using fabric glue instead.

2.) My makeup 

I decided to do a red lip to match the Minnie red skirt and I drew a little black heart on the end of my nose with a black pencil eyeliner and I set the black eyeliner with black eyeshadow so it would stay matte and not slide off my nose! I did a very bright pink blush and contoured my cheeks and nose but avoided bronzer because I wanted a “cartoon” like face.

I wore silver hoop earrings because they seemed very Minnie and sassy to me. Perfect.

I was accompanied by my Mickey and Daisy also, to complete this look perfectly.

(You’ll have to ignore that one little dot who isn’t being a team player.)

Let me know what you think! This was a lot of fun to create. Much love!

 

Fake Nails at Home Without Damage

I’ll be the first to admit that I feel more put together when I have my nails done. However, I’ll also be the first to admit that the damage is less than desirable. Not to mention the price of getting your nails done every 2 weeks! They file your nails down to create a rough base for the acrylic to stick to, and once you remove the nail, you’re left with rough, uneven natural nails. 

I’ve recently started experimenting with doing my own acrylics at home, but even those leave my natural nails in a mess. So now my favorite way to do my nails is with glue on plastic tips. I’ve created a short tutorial here so you can create acrylic-looking fake nails at home that last! The damage is very minimal and is reversible within just a couple days. It’s a very inexpensive method allowing me to change the color as often as I’d like! 

  
1.) Materials 

Everything you’ll need is available at Walmart, Target, or anywhere that sells beauty supplies. 

• Glue on nails 
• Brush on glue (recommended) 
• File and/or buffer 
• Base AND top coat 
• Nail polish (any brand will work) 
• Nail polish remover (one which contains acetone works best but isn’t necessary) 
•  Cotton swabs and cotton pad 
• Nail clippers (I prefer guillotine clippers but any will work!)

  

2.) Finding the Best Fit 

The key to creating salon quality nails is making sure the nail matches the shape and size of your natural nails. I use the Kiss Full Cover Nails in the short length. 

  
Start by trying different nail sizes on each finger and then laying the one that fits best to the side.  

 

After finding the size, you can choose to either shorten the nail now you after gluing the nail on. I prefer to glue the nail and then cut to my desired length. 

3.) Gluing and Shaping the Nails 

The plastic nail tips have rough edges and a  little plastic piece on the end that needs to be filed once glued on your finger. If you decide to shorten the nail, you will cut the plastic piece off but you will still need to file the rough edge away. 

  
  I take my file and start on the bottom edge by the cuticle and flatten the nail, this will prevent lifting from the bottom. Next, if needed, shape the edges. Lastly, file the top away and downward to create a rounded end that will allow the polish to go on smoothly. 

You can file your nails to create any shape desired

• Square 
• Almond 
• Round 
• Stiletto
• Oval 

  
The possibilities are endless! 
4.) Painting 

If you go to a salon, you know they always begin with a base coat. This is the not-so-secret secret to making your polish last. Even the more inexpensive brands of colored nail polish can last if paired with a good base coat and top coat.  

 Pro-Fx Sticky Base Coat & Supreme Gel Top Coat – available at the drugstore for $6.99-$8.99 

After your base coat, you can choose any color you’d like. I almost always use more than one color to create an even more “salon manicure” appearance. To prevent chipping and lifting, coat the nail evenly and go as close to the edge as possible. If you get a little on your skin, don’t worry! I will show you how to clean this up at the end. 😉 

  
These are the brands I used for this specific manicure: 

   
    
This specific color was a glossy box exclusive, but they do sell a very similar color in stores. The other polishes are available at the drugstore. 😊  

After 2 coats, or until a nice even cover is achieved, allow the polish to dry enough so that you can finish with a top coat without smearing the color.

5.) Clean-Up 

After you’ve painted your nails and they have had time to dry, you can clean up the edges and under the nail tip using a cotton swab and cotton pad (I use a cotton pad opposed to a cotton ball so I don’t end up with fuzz everywhere!) 

   

 

EXTRA TIP: 

You can paint the nails before you put them on so you don’t have to wait for the polish to dry! I use a pair of tweezers to hold the bottom of the nail and paint up to the end of the tweezers. Then once the paint has dried on the end I painted, I hold the nail on the other end and paint the small unpainted portion. This is also great for designs because you can let the paint dry fully and do other things while it dries! 

I’d love to see if you’ve tried this technique! As always, I’m open to your suggestions! Much love. 💋 

Tips For Oily Skin 🙊

If you have oily skin, you’ve been there. You spend upwards of 30 minutes or more on your makeup, only to be completely shiny 2 hours later. I have combated this my whole life and have compiled my every day routine and tricks into one post! 

1.) Exfoliate AND moisturize. 

Use an oil-free exfoliant at least 2 times a week to remove dead, dry skin. If you have dry skin building up, your body will try to over compensate and produce extra oils to rehydrate your skin. I’ve been loving the Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Pure Scrub 

  

Available at the drugstore for as low as $6.99 

I completely understand the thought process of avoiding moisturizing because I don’t want the excess oil on my face. But after being completely frustrated, I asked my dermatologist for any advice. She told me to ALWAYS use a moisturizer so again, my skin won’t try and compensate for dry skin. She recommended the Saint Ives Timeless Skin and I also really love the Clinque Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion 

  

$2.99 

  

$21.95 

2.) Prime before your foundation 

To ensure that your foundation doesn’t “slide” off your face, you need to give it a good base to grab onto. An oil-free primer is best, but the key thing you want to look for is Glycerin. Work the primer into your skin and you’ll be left with a sticky surface to apply to. 

Have you heard of using men’s shaving balm as your primer? I saw Jacklynn Hill use it on her YouTube channel and I had to try it! It’s the best primer I’ve ever used. Available at Walmart and Target, I highly recommend trying Nivea Post Shave Balm, Sensitive 

  

$6.00-$8.00 

Another favorite is the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer 

  

Ranges from $16.00-$35.00 

3.) Set your makeup with a setting spray 

This is seriously the easiest step to making makeup last! After applying your full face of makeup, hold the spray about 6 inches from your face and just mist! There’s so many different options available and they all seem to be very similar in the way they work. These are both good ones to give a try:  

 
$4.00 available about Walmart & Target 

  

$30.00 

4.) Blotting sheets 

The key to absorbing oils and not becoming a cake face is blotting sheets. These. Will. Change. Your. Life. There’s so many options and again, they all work relatively the same way. Here’s a couple options: 

  
$1.00 

  

$4.99 

  

$16.00 

5.) Be prepared 

I always carry powder, blotting sheets, and an eyeliner with me incase I experience the dreaded smudging. They’re small and light weight. If you don’t carry a purse, you can’t just leave them in your car! I suggest a liquid eyeliner if you’re leaving it in your car because they won’t melt.  

 
I hope these small tips help you handle the cursed oily skin! Let me know what suggestions you have! 💋 

Welcome 🎀

Hello darlings! Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoy everything I have to offer here! My goal is to provide “beauty on a budget” tips as well as higher end product reviews. I also love lifestyle tips including hair, nails, and just ways to make your everyday life more fun and fabulous! I’m always open to suggestions, opinions, and collaborations. My contact information is found on my “About” page. Please email me if you’d like to be added to my email list. I will send out notifications when I create a new post as well as giveaways and features. Much love!  💋