Who did it better... Brands VS Brands

With so many makeup lines we sometimes find ourselves in the cosmetic section of department stores asking, "Which one is better?"

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BOBBI BROWN LONG WEAR GEL EYELINER VS M.A.C FLUIDLINE EYE LINER GEL

Both are great liners, easy to put on, comes in a variety of colors BUT I have to go with MAC FLUIDLINE EYE-LINER gel! WHY you ask? Well the BOBBI BROWN liner tends to flake after a while and who wants to worry about that mid afternoon?? NOT ME!! Even though they are both gels for some reason the MAC goes on smoother and stays on longer w/out flaking.

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LAURA MERCIER EYE BASICS VS URBAN DECAY SHADOW MAGIC POTION EYE BASE

For those that are a little clueless on what an eye base is, its a product you put on before you put shadow and it makes everything last 10 times longer! Especially living in Miami, primers are a MUST HAVE  in your makeup bag. My favorite one out of these two products is LAURA MERCIER!!  I love the fact that as soon as you put it on it dries to a powder finish, and also comes in a variety of shades so if you wanted to skip the eyeshadow and just do the base and still look like you have eyeshadow on you can.



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M.A.C EYEBROW PENCIL VS ANASTASIA EYE BROW PENCIL

If you are still a person filling in your brows w/ your brown/black eyeliner than you definitely need to read this section of the blog. Anastasia is known as the "Eyebrow Guru"  in the beauty world. She has done eyebrows to a lot of celebs and came out with her eyebrow line years ago. I was a little disappointed using this pencil.  I love using a thinner, retractable pencil to do my brows. It gives you a more natural and neater look to the brows. So sorry Anastasia, i have to go with MAC eyebrow pencil for this one.

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TARTE CLEAN SLATE PORELESS 12 HOUR PRIMER VS MAKEUP FOREVER HD PRIMER

An artist must always prime his canvas before creating his work of art. The same rule applies when putting on makeup. Your skins looks smoother and has more of a flawless appearance if used before putting on your foundation. I had a tough time choosing between these two, so i had to call it a tie!! What i love about TARTE'S primer is that it fills your pores and leaves the skin feeling so silky,

smooth and soft. It almost gives it that airbrushed look.  The MAKEUP FOREVER primer leaves the skin looking radiant and that beautiful glow to it. I love it for drier skin or skin that lacks radiance. When looking for a primer, its all about what works best on your skin and not about what Allure rates as the best, or what your girlfriend uses.

The new MAC collection is FIERCE!! CHECK IT OUT!!

The new collection which is called "IN EXTRA DIMENSION" is phenomenal!  I fell in love with the following items

The color i fell in love with is called HAVANA. It sort of looks like a cream in the picture but it is a powder, but not just any ordinary powder shadow. MAC refers to it as a "liquid eyeshadow." The texture is very smooth and has a high shine in it w/out shimmer. I love this color because it goes well with every complexion.

Next on the list is "PLAY IT PROPER".  This is an illuminating powder w/out shimmer. Kind of weird right? but it gives your skin that glow but looks super natural. Usually when using a HIGH SHINE product you see the shimmer particles on your face, but since this powder is a satin finish, it gives shine w/out the shimmer! AMAZING! This color is only for fair to med. tan complexions.

This is the skin finish powder in "WHISPER OF GUILT". This is a high lighter for the face almost the same concept of the powder above. Give luminosity w/out large shimmer particles on the face! They come in different colors so every complexion can use this product.  You would use this product on ur cheeks, cheekbones, and down the contour of your nose. Anywhere u want a little shimmer!


The picture below is a great guide to help you place your high lighter. Your bronzer should always go below this color, and should always be MATTE. I would suggest LAURA MERCIER MATTE BRONZER for MED. TO TAN complexions and for darker what i always do with clients is use a deeper pwd foundation as a bronzer and also for contouring.

You can still be cute on a budget! There is no excuse!!

I have used this foundation for about 2 weeks now and i truly love it! It is super light weight and gives pretty good coverage considering that its a foam. I pump a little bit in my hand and just spread it all over my face like lotion and I just finish it off with a little mineral powder and I'm done!

This mascara is one of the blackest mascaras Ive tried in a very long time. FIERCE!!! It gives great volume to lashes w/out leaving them hard and brittle!

This is another fav. mascara of mine. This gives your lashes an incredible length but not too much with the volume. So i always go back and forth between this one and the one and the CARBON BLACK, just depends on my mood. LADIES please don't forget to curl your lashes!!! That's like peanut butter w/ out the jelly, hamburger w/out the fries, bagel w/out the cream cheese! A LASH CURLER is super important! PLEASE don't forget this step BEFORE  applying mascara! 

I love using this eye lash curler from Laura Mercier. I prefer this one because its plastic. The metal ones kind of scare me. I always feel like my lashes are going to come off. 

Dont spend tons of $$$ of skincare. RECESSION PROOF SKINCARE REGIMEN

I have tried everything from La Prairie, La Mer, Clarins etc. These are all great products but if $250-$1000 dollars isn't in your budget for skin care I have something for you have to try. One thing that all skin care products have in common is HYDRATION which is very important!! Moisturizer is the way your skin way of quenching its thirst. 

This product from ROC happens to be my favorite. On one side of the pad is soapy so it cleanses and on the other side of the pad is a little more textured to help you get rid of all those dead skin cells that are just resting on you face and making you look dry. Also helps diminish the appearance of fine lines to keep you looking younger.

ROC RESURFACING DISK $8.97 US

Next product that i love and would just recommend doing this once a week is this Laura Mercier Face Polish.  What a scrub does is remove dead skin cells. The older we get the longer it takes longer for our skin cells to renew themselves on their own, so exfoliation helps speed up that process.

LAURA MERCIER FACE POLISH $30.00 US

 
Now please don't laugh at the next product. lol  I'm pretty sure some of you are saying "hell no" or "that's ghetto"... lol but don't knock it until you try it.. I started using NIVEA cream one day after i ran out of my pricey moisturizer and fell in love! Its super rich in moisture, i even use it under my eyes. I recently started using it on a couple of clients. I hate when your putting foundation on someone and there skin is so dry that it makes the foundation look horrible. Guaranteed  you will love the glow it gives to your skin. I'd rather look dewy and shinny than dry and rough.. lol DON'T YOU AGREE?

NIVEA CREME $6.00 US

**They do have a Nivea Cream that is specifically for the face, so you dont necessarily have to use this one**

R&B singer ASHANTI is BRINGING IT in her new video!

R&B singer Ashanti featured her new video on 106 & Park yesterday. We have never seen Ashanti with this look but you know what..... I AM LOVING IT! VERY BOLD CAT EYE, makes Amy Winehouse cat eye look mediocre.

For the people that are not that skilled in the makeup department you can cheat your way to the perfect cat eye w/ these eyeliner stickers. You stick them on the eye lid and your done!!

On this second look she is sporting some fierce lashes and BOLD BLUE lips. Not sure exactly what lipstick was used but I'm pretty sure you can check out Keyshia Dior's line www.kaoir.com and check out: #kaoirdoll. and finish it off with a glitter lip gloss.