Feast Your Eyes On This, Friday!

What do all of the iconic beauties of yesteryear have in common? Besides their unabashedly feminine sense of style, their unforced gracefulness, and subtle strength, these girlfriends knew how to work it. And the first beauty rule in working it is some heavy duty liquid liner. Nothing says, "come hither," as innocently as a cat eye.

Audrey Hepburn

Gold pixie glitter and liquid liner all at once? Worthy of an entire week of blog posts. Probably my favorite eye makeup look of all time.

Grace Kelly

 And with a scarlet lip? Perfection.

Marilyn Monroe for Life

 I love this understated Marilyn we have going on. The muted lip almost looks slept in. 

Audrey Hepburn

 No need for caption. You know why it's right.

Twiggy

 Fierce lower-lash drama. Wowza!

Brigitte Bardot

 The ultimate sex goddess. She reminds me of a vintage Beyoncé. There is no higher compliment.

Marilyn Monroe

Classic Marilyn. Total bombshell.

Judy Garland

 Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Brigitte Bardot

The queen of the cat eye. 

Bon weekend!

What Was Sista Thinking? Wednesday

Exterminate Extensions

For the longest time I have been dying, I mean dying, to get hair extensions. Until I realized they came with an $800 price tag. Holy moly! So I marched myself to Sally's and got a weave. That's right. A weave. I even did the black girl pat. You know, when your weave starts hurting and you have to pat on it. No bueno. This just simply goes to show that even the best of us have a few beauty blunders under our belt (in my defense, I only wore it in an up-do sort of fashion to give me extra volume-- never in the flowing mane type of manner).

Not to go on a roll here, but I have seen multiple purchases that I have made also in the homes of... guess... No, not Jennifer Anniston. Or Beyonce (I wish!)... You'll never guess. The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Yes, I've spotted a similar weave and some Jessica Simpson hooker heels that currently reside under my roof and theirs. Warning sign?

Cutting to the chase. Here are reasons why no one should be doing extensions. Granted, there are some cases where they work, but here's what you need to watch out for before you make that $800 investment:

Miley Cyrus

Girlfriend, we have long since left Rapunzel territory.

Lindsay Lohan

I have to remind myself that this is coming from her head and not her armpits.

Dancing With the Stars Hair Piece

You too can look like an over-tanned, over-processed, over-bedazzled wonder woman with the Salsaloosa: Dancing with the Stars new hair piece collection. 

Courtesy of DWTS Hair Collection

Here she is in all of her glory: Salsaloosa.

Woops! Unfortunately, that's real.

Tuesday: Tip of the Day

Bubble Bath for Your Brushes

Your brushes work hard, so you can play hard. The least you can do is show them a little TLC. I'm guessing most of you have never bathed your brushes. You're probably thinking: only makeup-obsessed people do things like that. Well, you may be right. But here some reasons you should lather up:

1. Brushes hold oils and bacteria. Each time you use them, you're spreading that bacteria on your face. And that 17-step skincare routine your derm has you on has just officially gone to waste. 
2. If you've invested in a nice pair, washing them significantly increases their life. It keeps them soft, fluffy, and the hairs from falling out over time.

Great! Now that you're convinced, all you need is some brush bath. If you're a discount kind of gal, baby shampoo will do the trick.

1. Wash brushes in lukewarm water with a pea-size amount of shampoo until the water that comes out when you squeeze them is clear. 
2. Pat out excess water with a towel. 
3. Re-shape. 
4. Let them sit on the edge of your counter overnight to dry. You won't believe the difference the next day.

Brush Bath, $20; trishmcevoy.com

Baby Shampoo, $5; drug stores

Make It Work! Monday

The 4-Step Smokey Eye for Dummies

Blake Lively

If you're 5-minute morning makeup routine kind of girl, the smokey eye seems like a daunting task that can quickly take a turn from "racy" to "raccoon". Not to worry. More than likely, you already have everything you'll need:  a basic sheer shadow, kohl eye pencil and triangle makeup sponge. You can use a black or colored liner. If you're opting for color, here's a short guide that works best for certain eye colors: Brown eyes=navy. Blue eyes=cobalt blue. Green eyes: amethyst or emerald.

Checklist:

1. Apply a sheer, illuminating shadow on lid. Can be a color or a neutral. Keep in mind, your liner will be heavy, so use a light hand.
2. Line inner rim of your upper lid and along lashline. Use short, dash-like strokes along lashline and feather slightly past outer corner of lashes. Line half of lower lashline, starting at the outside corner and tapering off toward the middle. For a more dramatic look, line the entire lid. (If your pencil is tugging and not drawing easily, roll the tip around on the top of your hand until it warms up.)
3. Wiggle a triangle sponge along your upper and lower lashline, smudging the the pencil mark until it blends with shadow and has your desired smokiness. The more blending you do, the softer the line. I leave an eye pencil and sponge in my car for a quick work-to-cocktails switcheroo.
4. Top with two coats of mascara and you're smokin'! 

Tools: 

Eye Kohl in Costa Riche, $14.50; maccosmetics.com

Sponge Wedges, $6 for 8; sephora.com

Feast Your Eyes On This, Friday

The Epitome of Chic

I'm baaack! Miami was fabulous. I left with lots of inspiration that I can't wait to share with all of you. The other thing I left was a stalker. Apparently Roberto, my cabana man, isn't as nice as he seemed. Enough with the drama. Who's ready for a little feasty Friday! I know I am.

When I saw this picture a year ago, I literally melted. I've been saving it since I started my blog and now seems to be the perfect time to share. Along with a little "get the look" tutorial. Because, really, who wouldn't want to channel her?

Gordon Parks for Life

Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Cosmic Raspberry, $23; bobbibrown.com

Tips to get the maximum pigment out of a rich-hued lipstick:

1. Exfoliate your lips. Lorac has a great lip sugar scrub that moisturizes while smoothing.
2. Pat a translucent powder on lips for extra holding power.
3. Apply lipstick. Blot. Reapply. For a more matte look, blot again.

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Color in Pulsion;, $25; nordstrom.com

Tips for a pro-worthy mani:

1. Swipe a cotton pad soaked in rubbing alcohol over nails to soak up excess moisture. It bonds the polish to nails for a longer-lasting mani. 
2. Dip a cheap angle makeup brush ( I like the kind a CVS) into nail polish remover. Trace around the the out of nails to clean up any mistakes.

Bon weekend!

Summer Vacay

Hello my pretties! I will be on a brief hiatus from the blogosphere. I'm sure my legions of followers will be deeply saddened by this. Stay tuned for the next post on Monday, July 25th! Til next time:

Slim Aarons

Kiss kiss! 

Feast Your Eyes On This, Friday

{It's Raining Men}

Consider this my second installment of "Why I Would Have Been a Lovely Candidate to Live in the 50's and 60's." Except this time, it's all about the men. This is not intended to be a current-generation man-hater post. However, there was something special about the male population 60-somehting years ago...the way they dressed, danced, sang, even smoked a cigarette. And I'm not a cigarette kind of girl, but they even made that look fabulous. Ah. So really, feast your eyes on this:

They weren't afraid to grab the reins.

And were very secure in their masculinity.

They perfected the "dip and kiss." 

PS: Where did that move go?

And invented aviators.

Liking cats didn't make them lose cool points.

Neither did jorts.

Picking up the phone to call you didn't scare them.

They were better dancers than you were.

And had moves no guy in this decade has ever seen.

They were good at serving.

Fabulous at sharing.

And knew how to lead a pack.

They lived in tuxedos.

And could pull off a Speedo.

They. Were. Men.

Bon weekend!

Thursday Thought of the Day

Changing it up on ya! No Wish It Was Thursday, Friday (even though I do) this week. Just thought I'd share some of my morning thoughts with you. I started this blog because I love beautiful things and I think there is this misconception out there that you can only be enamored by beauty to a certain extent until you fall into the "shallow/materialistic" category. I disagree. Women are meant to feel beautiful and to love beautiful things. So my challenge to you today is to look for the beauty around you, embrace it, and enjoy it. Especially the beauty that you possess. Here is some inspiration to get your beauty wheels turning:

Phoebe Howard

Town & Country 

From Health

Mariah Carey

What Was Sista Thinking? Wednesday

{Brow Blunders}

The easiest, and fastest, way to transform your look is with well-shaped brows. The number one makeover most women need is a professional brow-grooming appointment. All the other makeup stuff is easy, doesn't take three months to regrow, and can be washed off if it doesn't work. And trust me, who you get to shape your brows is just as important as scheduling the appointment. My mom (sorry mom!) still has a bald spot where someone permanently burned hair off of her eyebrow with hot wax. Here are the most common brow felonies. These are not misdemeanors. They are major beauty offenses:

The Tadpole:

Gee, they are fast little swimmers, aren't they?

The Anorexic:

When your eyebrows need a stencil, you know you have a problem.

The Caterpillar:

Works for the runway. And only the runway.

The Mini-Me:

When I grow up, I want to be...

The Fix:

Use this handy-dandy diagram as a guide for perfectly plucked brows. The three golden rules:

1. Draw an imaginary line from the corner of your nostril, straight up past your tear duct. That's where your brow should start.
2. Draw an imaginary line from the tip of your nose through the center of your pupil. Where that line intersects your brow should be the highest part of your arch.
3. Draw an imaginary line from the corner of your nostril to the outside corner of your eye, continuing to your temple. That's where your brow should end.

If many of you are reading this saying, "Woe is me, my brows don't do that," have no fear. Get an angle brush and brow powder in your appropriate shade: brunettes=medium to dark brown shade, blondes and red=light, sandy brown to taupe. Apply the shadow in light, feathery strokes, following the shape and hair growth of your brow. I don't like pencils because they're much heavier, and less natural than powder.