Let's Talk: Hair + Makeup!

So, y'all.

Today happens to be my birthday! 

And it goes totally perfect with this post because I LOVE hair and makeup. 

As a self-taught MUA, I truly enjoy makeup and the art form that it is. 

Hair is important as well, and I feel that makeup and hair compliment each other :)

So, I'll be sharing my favorite products and techniques for y'all today! 

Let's get to it!

Let's Talk: Hair + Makeup!

Hair

Favorite Products

1. Matrix Biolage ColorLast Shampoo

2. Matrix Biolage ColorLast Conditioner

3. It's A 10 Miracle Hair Mask

4. Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Primer

5. Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil

6. Kenra Volume Finishing Spray

7. Kenra Shine Spray

8. Kenra Texturizing Taffy

Favorite Techniques

1. When you're washing your hair, make sure your hair is completely soaked through before applying any shampoo. This will ensure that all of the oils are loosened up. 

2. Shampoo mainly the roots of your hair, and give yourself a good scalp massage to encourage your hair follicles to grow. 

3. Condition only the ends of your hair, and just use whatever is leftover on your hands in your roots. Take a wide toothed comb in the shower and comb through your hair with the conditioner in it. This will prevent any major tangles when you get out of the shower. 

4. Once a week, use a deep conditioning mask in your hair and leave it in for 10 mins while you're in the shower. This will help the strength of your hair and keep the split ends at bay.

5. When you get out of the shower, just tie your hair up in a towel. Do not towel dry it {rubbing the hair in the towel}, and apply oil primer all over your hair. 

6. Apply 2 pumps of oil to the ends of your hair, and then brush through your hair with a comb. I prefer to let it air dry from here to not use a hair dryer. 

7. After you've completed your hair style, of course use hair spray, and shine spray if needed. But texturizing taffy {a very small amount} will take your hair do to the next level. Warm a pea size of it up in your fingers and 'scrunch' it throughout your hair.

Makeup

Favorite Products

1. Mario Badescu Rose Water Spray

2. BECCA Backlight Priming Filter 

3. BECCA Under Eye Brightening Corrector

4. L'oreal True Match Lumi Liquid Illuminator

5. Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation

6. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

7. Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder

8. Benefit Hoola Bronzer

9. BECCA Mineral Blush

10. Benefit Watts Up Cream Highlighter

11. BECCA Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfecter Highlighter

12. L'oreal Telescopic Mascara

13. Koko Lashes

14. Sephora Retractable Brow Pencil

15. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Gel

16.  Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick

17. Buxom Lip Cream

Favorite Techniques

1. Prep your skin by spraying a fresh facial spray. 

2. Use a luminous primer all over your face as your base to give yourself a 'glow from within' look. 

3. With your ring finger, apply a bit of the under eye brightening cream. Blend it out with a very damp beauty blender.

4. Mix half of your liquid highlighter and half of your foundation together and apply several dots of it to your face. Blend it out with a very damp beauty blender. 

5. Apply a concealer under your eyes in an upside down triangle shape and blend it out with your beauty blender. 

6. Set your concealer with a translucent setting powder. 

7. Apply concealer in between your eyebrows, in the middle of your chin, down the bridge of your nose, and right above the cupids bow. Blend this out with a damp beauty blender. 

8. Apply your bronzer in the hollows of your cheeks {you can find this by sucking in your face like a fish. The big hollows are where you apply the bronzer. This is used to mimic where shadows would hit on your face}. Apply the bronzer using an angled brush or a stippling brush. Blend this out well. No harsh lines! Also apply some bronzer on your temples on your forehead, and down the sides of your nose. 

9. Apply a small amount of blush on the apples of your cheeks with a blush brush and blend it back into your hairline almost. 

10. Apply your cream highlighter with your ring finger to the tops of your cheek bones and above the arch of your eyebrows. Also apply this down the bridge of your nose, and on your cupids bow. Blend this out with your finger as much as you can, and then lightly blend it out with a very damp beauty blender. 

11. Apply your pressed highlighter on top of the cream highlighter to set it and add some extra glow. Make sure this is well blended or you can have 'zebra stripes'. I recommend blending it with a small eye blending brush, and then a bit with your ring finger. 

12. Apply a coat of mascara to your eyelashes to prep for falsies {or keep it simple and just curl your lashes and add a few more coats of mascara}.

13. Apply your falsies with glue. Wait 20 sec after applying your glue to the lash band and then apply it to your eye. The tackiness will help with the performance of your lashes throughout the day.

14. Enhance your eyebrows by drawing a faint line underneath your brow. Then with short hair like strokes, fill in your brows to your liking. Make sure to brush them out with a spooley after. I promise, this will make them look 10 times better! Don't be afraid of the spooley!

15. Coat your eyebrows with some brow gel. This will keep it in place all day and keep your eyebrows from fading.

16. Apply your favorite lipstick or gloss. Liquid lipstick stays on all day, even through eating and such. You can also slightly over line your lips with it if you want to, and you won't be able to see where you overlined it! 

17. Apply a gloss, but I personally do not like applying a gloss over a liquid lipstick. Sometimes a gloss can do it all on it's own!

18. Set your makeup with that first setting spray you used in the beginning! 

Easy peasy! I hope that helped y'all with some techniques and products! I only rave about the things I love, so I hope these products work for you too. 

Have a wonderful day! It's an amazing day today, thank you Jesus!

Let's Talk: Moms!

If y'all know ANYTHING about me, then you know that my mama is my best friend, and one of THE most important people in my life. 

So...

Let's Talk: Moms

My mama was amazing! Here's a couple of facts about her so that you can 'get to know her' a little bit better.

-She was an RN for 40 years!

-Her kids {and grandkids} trumped anything else in life. 

-She had a dry sense of humor, but it could get you rolling for hours!

- She was well known for making soup out of anything we had left in the fridge {and no joke. It turned out amazing, but different every single time}.

-She loved to have parties and entertain at our house for any given reason.

- She LOVED the Lord, and I thank God every day that she decided to give her life up to Him, even though she was in her mid 50s!

- Her favorite foods were eggs. And wine. And cereal {at 10 pm}.

-Her favorite places to shop were Costco and Ross {and yes, that's exactly where I get it from!}

-She could make anyone feel like the most special person in the entire world. 

So, now that you know more about my sweet mama, let me tell you about some of my most favorite memories with her!

-She put a full size trampoline in our living room for Christmas one year. 

- We went to the pool every day after school to swim and play, and then we'd come home and have a fresh bowl of spaghetti. 

- We would make enchiladas together whenever we had a hankering for Mexican food.

- She came out to Hawai'i to spend a week with me, and we had the time of our lives going to the lagoons, swimming in a waterfall, and so much else. 

- I would come to her office every day to have lunch with her, or to go shopping with her after work.

-While at chemo, we would do manis and pedis!

 

My mama was one of my most favorite people. EVER. She still is. 

Sadly, my mama passed away on October 7, 2015. Not even 6 months ago. And the pain is still so fresh. If you'd like to read more about dealing with grief, you can do so here. 

I will ALWAYS think about her every single day. And I cannot wait to see her and squeeze her again. Although, I have to say, I pray with her every single day. And it helps so much.

This song is now the song that makes me think of my mama. 

As for my journey into motherhood, it's not here quite yet! 

But when it is, I know that mama will be looking down and loving on the sweet new baby that will join our family. 

And even though I wish she would be there to hold my babies, I am SO eternally grateful to Jesus for sacrificing himself on the cross so that MY mama can be in Heaven without any pain forever. 

Mothers are the absolute greatest. So I cannot wait to hear about your mom, or your journey to motherhood!

Let's Talk: Guys!

I'm linkin' up with Momfessionals today! I love Andrea's sense of creativity, and I love linking up with her. So, Andrea, if you're reading this, just know I appreciate you and all your hard work that you're doing for these link ups, and everything else!

With that said, let's get on with the link up! 

Today, we're talking about all the guys in our life! 

And I'm ready to tell you all about mine!

Let's Talk: Guys

Jesus

Honestly, Jesus is my number one guy. I cannot do life without him. And he has made the biggest sacrifice for me that anyone ever has or ever will. 

If you don't have Jesus in your life, please reach out. I would love to share my love for Him with you!

Derek

In case you're new {or just didn't know my man's name}, Derek is my soon-to-be hubby. 

He is my soulmate. He is my rock. He is everything to me.

Sounds so cliche. But unless you are in love, you won't understand that these cliches are so true. 

It's so hard to even put my love for him into words. He is my ultimate best friend. No one understands me like he does. 

He knows every single thing about me, and yet we still grow closer every day. 

I love all of his quirks and how hard working he is. 

I love how he waits to tell me all about his day until we are in person together, and then just tells me how much he missed me all day. 

I love that he's a bit quiet around other people, but that he's 100% himself at home, and reserves his love for us. It makes me feel so special that he saves his love {such a precious thing} for the most important people in his life. 

Love is thrown around so easily now a days, but I love that when he tells me he loves me {and shows it}, it's still so incredibly special. It still gives me butterflies, several years later. 

I love his kindness and generosity. I love his sweet eyes. I love how passionate he is. 

I'm tellin' you. I could go on and on forever about my man. 

Cole

The Coley Bear is our first baby! He has taught us so much about love, and life, and how to truly be responsible for another precious being. 

He is so special to us, and we love him dearly. 

And yes, he is our puppy. 

The love of our pup is so unconditional, it's crazy. 

I love how much he learns daily, and I love how excited he gets to see me every time he wakes up from sleeping. 

I love his tender personality to comfort you when you feel sad, and I love his curiosity. 

He certainly has awaken this family {figuratively, AND literally}.

Owen

Owen is my brother, and the oldest sibling of all 4 of us {he has 3 younger sisters, bless his heart}.

Owen is a free spirit, who has a love for adventuring, and making the most out of every day. 

He's incredibly hard working and has built his business from the ground up, by himself. 

I love his love for his family and friends, and that he would do anything for the ones that are close to him, because that is hard to find these days.

Scott

Scott is my brother {in law}. He's an incredible dad to my 2 nieces, and such a wonderful husband to my older sister. 

He's got such a sense of humor, which you kinda have to have that when you live in a house full of girls ;)

He's a super handy man, and incredibly knowledgeable about so much in life. 

He is my sister's best friend, and I'm so thankful for that. 

He's such an amazing dad, and that has been a huge thing in my life. After I escaped from an abusive father, Scott showed me that life did not always have to be so serious, and that there are actually GOOD dads out there. Wonderful, even. He showed me that you can have fun with your kids {and your wife} and not be screaming at them all the time. 

Rick

Rick is my future father-in-law, and let me just say. He is quiet. But he is so intelligent. 

I don't say that lightly. Have you ever needed to know ANYTHING about ANYTHING?!! Well, he knows it :)

{Derek and Rick}

And we love it! It's so interesting to be around him. He's always got so many stories, and words of wisdom.

He's an extraordinary role model. A man of Christ, who loves his wife so much, and is a wonderful dad to his kids. 

I love these guys so much! It's so weird, because to everyone else, these are just random guys...

But to me, they have all helped shaped me, and they have all become a part of me. 

I know y'all feel the same about your guys too. And for that reason, I cannot wait to read about them :)


Make sure to check out Makeup Mondays on the blog today! You won't wanna miss that one!