Pink is my signature color....

Well actually its not....

I just thought that cute line from "Steel Magnolias" was pretty fitting for this. We were asked (the Madd Models natch) to choose our signature makeup look and do a tutorial for you fine people. I thought and thought about it and realized...I do soooo many different looks how do I choose just one?

Well I considered this...I'm a stay at home mom so getting myself made up is not always on top of the priority list. Showering is even a luxury with a 3 year old and a 1 year old...so ultimately when I do get the time to do my makeup (however brief) I try to pack as much punch as possible. I also have this thing where I HAVE to match my clothes. Fortunately, I wear a lot of pinks, purples, white, black and grey. Oh, and I also have green eyes and want to pick colors that are complimentary to my eyes! Soooo that means tons of pinks and purple eye looks for me. Knowing this, it did help me choose this look which I love and its versatile with ANY color really. I do it most often with pinks and purples and ALWAYS WITH....

Madd Style Cosmetix of course! And here are the colors I decided to play with today:

Left to right (top to bottom): Xray Spex, Outlaw Star, Nambie Pambie. LOVE THESE THREE!

As usual we start with getting our eye prepped to receive these lovely lovely colors. Only this time, we are going to do it a bit differently. I recently was lucky enough to acquire some of Madd Style Cosmetix new product "Pop N Lock"!!! This stuff is AWESOME! Its a primer and base all rolled into one and is also white in color so hence the POP of Pop N Lock!

I had been experimenting with Pop N Lock and Awesomesauce recently and discovered that if you mix the two, something WONDERFUL happens. Something truly AWESOME.  So here's what you need to do. And let me preface by saying that this may take some practice to get the consistency correct and what your level of comfort is because let me tell you, the glitter/shimmer/color payoff you're going to get from this is INTENSE. Definitely not for the feint of heart!

Grab a small shadow brush that you may not love too much...a cheapie kind you have as a backup or spare. Turn it to the pointy end (the non brush end that is) and scrape a bit of "Pop N Lock" up and place it in the cap. (see the below pic):

As you can see I didn't scrape very much, again a little goes a LONG way! Once you have a bit of it in the cap, let's add a drop of Awesomesauce.

Awesomesauce is potent stuff! A drop should be enough to moisten the Pop N Lock up, we want to create almost a paste. Now flip your brush over to the bristle side and meeeeeeex that paste up! Add more PnL if it seems to wet, add more Awesomesauce if it seems to dry.

Once you're satisfied with the consistency, time to apply. Be SPARING or else this will migrate and crease up!  My advice is, apply a thin layer with the brush and then smooth out the color with your finger to make sure a nice even layer is on and to ensure the Awesomesauce doesn't crease up.

Yesssss I realize I have a picture here with my ratty manicure. I swear I had a french manicure a few days before...but I have two kids. Do you even REALIZE how many times I had washed my hands/did laundry/did the dishes in those few days?! You're lucky I still have fingers left!

 Give it a few minutes to set/dry and get tacky because it will help with pigment application.

Load up that brush with Xray Spex and starting at the duct pat the color on generously. Keep going back for more and really layer it on. Xray Spex is a lighter more highlight color but its PACKED with punch and very buildable. Its a white with a gorgeous pink duochrome so when the light hits it the pink is very visible. Build that color up til the pink pops out!!! Blend towards the center of your lid stopping just midway.

For the outer corner/crease area I'm using a slightly larger brush than usual because I really want a soft blendy effect. Outlaw Star looks intimidating when on the brush. I mean just LOOK at it. Its so glittery and fuchsia....almost like a dress one of my Barbie dolls wore in the 80's. Dont you LOVE IT?!?!?!? With a sweeping inward motion start working Outlaw Star in towards the center. Don't meet up with Xray Spex completely tho...let the color kind of just dissolve towards it (meaning stay heavier with the color on the outer corner and blend into the crease.) The color can be as dark or light as possible depending on the amount of drama you want.

So now you're wondering what the heck is going on in the center of your lid right? I mean you've got Xray Spex and Outlaw Star in like kind of a stand-off just barely meeting. It looks a little...unfinished wouldn't you say? Well here's where Nambie Pambie comes in. Nambie Pambie is the baby pink color from the Drop Dead Fred collection and is just FABULOUS! Our intention will be to take a slightly smaller shadow brush and just pat Nambie Pambie down the center of our lid. This will marry Xray SpexNambie Pambie being their adorable little offspring in the middle. Aw what a cute image. But what this does is, not only soften the look but it gives the lid a cohesive feel and also the shimmer in Nambie Pambie draws the light to the center of your lid and really makes your eye just glow. 

But hold up...of course we're not finished!

Time to finish this look off, and soften the edges. Get your big fat fluffy naked (no pigment on it) brush and sweep it along your brow bone. Sometimes I even make small circular motions just above the color to kind of draw a bit of the color up and just diffuse it out and up towards the brow bone. Not TOO much color though because we will complete the look with a sweep of a neutral toned shadow just on the brow bone like so:

You know what comes next lovelies. Some black mascara a little black eyeliner on top and bottom.  I also used a black pencil on the lower waterline because I feel like the pencil lasts a bit longer on the lower waterline. Liquid liner kind of just floats into my eye and blinds me eventually.

Aaaaand that's my signature look. I have finished look pictures of course ...like a ton of them because I'm awesome and I love myself and you will now be forced to look at pseudo-artsy pictures of mah face. 

Oh and PS....Ive done this look before in purples too like I had mentioned! Here is one I did a while back using MSC Opal and Fabby LaLa!

Incidentally the lip gloss I'm wearing is a Sephora brand lippie in "Miami Pink". Its one of my go-to glosses if I'm running out the door. Thought I'd stay true to the whole idea of "signature looks". So this is how I'd look on any given day of the week dropping my son off at Pre-K. And yes, I know I'm wearing a yellow tank top when I said I usually match my outfits. Have no fear...I changed into a black shirt right after I shot these.

So who knew you could get such depth of color and fabulousity from just THREE eyeshadow colors?? It just goes to show how versatile MSC's stuff is and how amazing the Pop N Lock/Awesomesauce connection is. I mean just LOOK at that shimmer. Hot damn.

OK guys...you know what to do comment, whore me, complain about me, whatever. Just hope you enjoyed it and as always check out MSC's stuff because trust me, I wouldn't keep going back to their stuff every damn day if it wasn't the best product out there right now. For reals.

Thanks lovelies!!

Save the DRAMA for your MAMA...or not.

DRAMAAAAA! Dark to light dramatic eye tutorial!

F'n Drama!



OK so clearly this is NOT a tutorial on how to look like Johnny "Drama" Chase from Entourage. But, whenever I hear someone talk about "drama" I cant help but yell out "VICTORY!!!!!"  Sometimes...there are good kinds of drama. I swear!  You know, like the kind of dramatic makeup looks that would stop traffic, or just the kinds that will make people sit up and notice you. Definitely not for the feint of heart...but a nice way to shake up your regular makeup routine.

So everyone can do a light to dark eyeshadow progression right? I mean, its pretty common nowadyas to do the light on the lid, dark in the crease/outer corner. The dark goes on the outer corner/crease to add depth and drama right? Welllll what if we switched it around? I had been DYING to try this look and make it work so it didnt just look like my eyes were on backwards. First thing I did was of COURSE grab my Madd Style Cosmetix pigments!

So I took a look at my extensive collection of MSC eye pigments and tried to pick a color that I had a lot of. Clearly the most colors I have are purples and pinks (my own preference)...but wanted to do a different look. I chose GREEN cuz I had a great selection of darks and lights. I started swatching the colors on my arm and then lining up the piggie pots in order from dark to light. I highly recommend swatching your colors on your arm before you decide to use them...it really does help!  So I ended up picking six....yes SIX lovely green MSC eye pigments and here they are:

OK Left to right the lucky winnas are:Dark Crystal Emerald, Misfits and Moonbeams, Soylent Green, Weird Science, Acid Bath & Pieces 

Next thing we're going to do is get those eyes prepped. Time to prime and base. Refer to my tutorial on priming and basing on Youtube natch. Link here: Primers & Base Tut!  To really help these colors pop we are going to put two different color bases on. The first color is going to be the NYX Jumbo Eye pencil in "Black Bean" on the inner corner of the eye blending slightly outward towards the middle of the lid. Then, picking up around the center of the lid and blending outwards to the outer corner, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Milk".  To get a nice sharp line, we will do the old tape trick only er...I seem to have run out of tape. Looks like it's time to improvise....

Forget diamonds...Post-It Notes are apparently a girl's best friend!!!

So in the above pic you can see how I blended the two base colors and used my handy dandy post-it note to get that nice sharp line later.

Now it's time to start with the good stuff. Get your small shadow brush and dig on into your darkest color which is Misfits & Moonbeams!

Inner corner only for now! Don't venture too far over. This process is going to be repeated over and over. You'll get the gist.

Using the same smaller brush (clean it off if your're all hoity toity about it) and get your next to darkest color which is the Dark Crystal Emerald color:

Right next to the Misfits & Moonbeams, start laying down the Emerald in a straight line starting at the lashline and working your way up but not TOO far up. Don't go above your natural crease.

Third color in line will be our Weird Science. Layer him right after Emerald. See how this is working?

OK, so if we've done this right, by the time we reach for our lighter greens we have used up all the black base with the darker greens and are now venturing into the white based part of the lid. Still using a small brush, let's use the Soylent Green. Mmmm nommy people.

I'm so psyched I got to use Acid Bath in this tutorial because this color is so phenomenal. It really pops in this color combo as you can see above. It's our next to last lightest green.

Last, but certainly not least; is Pieces. Let's hope we have enough room to get Pieces in because he is not to be missed. Pieces is going in the outer corner of this lovely striped concoction.

Time for blendy blendy with the fluffy fluffy brush! Get your naked (no color) fluffy brush and gentle-up those colors because they are pretty bold. Sweeping the brush back and forth over the orbital bone, swirl the brush a bit to soften the colors and combine all of them onto the oribital bone.

Once blendy blendy is done, get your highlight brush and any neutral toned shadow to sweep on your browbone. Then, peel off the post-it note to reveal that nice sharp shadow line!

Ah the magic of modern technology!

Lastly, line your eyes with a black eyeliner, I chose my go-to liquid eyeliner in black and then a black pencil eyeliner on the lower waterline. I just find the pencil stays longer if you scrub it into the lashline on the waterline a bit. To finish the whole look, let's grab our small shadow brush again and fill in the lower lid with some Acid Bath, because that color is just SO fab!!! I also think it lightens up the look a bit.

Voila! Done! A seriously dramatic eye look that really looks awesome no matter what color you use. In fact, the more dark to light colors you have to strip onto your lid the better! It will make for a complicated makeup look that will wow your friends and make you look awesome of course. Of course because I'm so humble (its my best feature!) here are some super awesome finished look pics of me me me!

Thanks for checking me out yet again my lovelies! I hope you got some interesting information from this little tutorial, I always try to be innovative and interesting! Til next time! xoxoxoxo

Pinks and Greens tutorial!

A pirate walks into a bar with the wheel of a ship hanging from  his crotch...

The bartender says to him, why do you have the wheel of the ship hanging from your crotch? The pirate answers, "Arrgghhh its drivin' me nuts!".

OK so I had no idea how to start this blargh so I figured who doesn't love a pirate joke? Seriously tho, we almost lost my dad on the Disney ride "Pirates of the Caribbean" once due to this joke. We were all jammed into the little boat going along and my husband leans over and tells my dad this joke. My dad starts to laugh so hard he almost falls out of the boat. I must say, one of the times in my life I've laughed my hardest.

Enough horseplay...let's get down to bidness. The look I am going for was actually requested to me by the lovely Madd Cat Piper Holden from the fan page of Madd Style Cosmetix (of course!):



Piper had green eyes like Moi so she had asked what was a great way to highlight her green eyes AND use pinks/greens. I dove into the MSC Birthday Collection and came up with something pretty gorg if I do say so myself! Let's get started!

First up the piggies!

Madd Style Cosmetix (L to R, Top to Bottom): Seedless, Radar Love, Chatter Box, Xray Spex.

Primer and Base! I use Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original and NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Milk". (Soon to be replaced by MSC's "Pop N Lock" which is an AWESOME primer/base from the genius mind of Mo!!!

Brushes of course. Don't even THINK about using a sponge applicator! If you are, throw them away IMMEDIATELY and go get yourself some brushes. They aren't expensive...go to Rite Aid/CVS/Walgreens and get a set of EcoTools. Cheap, vegan, dooooo eeeeeet!

A basic black mascara, a basic black liquid or cream liner (or pencil is fine too) and I also used a green eyeliner in pencil form.



OK let's rock. So first things first, start with primed and based eyes. If you STILL don't know by now I do have a Youtube tutorial you can watch on how to prime and base and why blah blah. Here's the link: Chrissy's Primer and Bases tutorial.

So your primer and base are nice and dry, grab a small brush and dip into your first piggie "Xray Spex" which is a silvery white pigment that has a pink duochrome. Perfect for this look because it will really highlight the pink colors we use.

Spread that "Xray Spex" around in your duct area blending out slightly into your inner corner.

Let's get that medium sized shadow brush now and pick up the "Seedless" (a light pink with a green duochrome) which is one of my favorite pinks that Madd Style Cosmetix makes.  It's one of those colors I can just throw on my eyes for an everyday look or add Awesomesauce and really glam it up. I'm layering "Seedless" right next to "Xray Spex" on the inner corner blending around lightly. Don't go too far over into the middle, we are leaving that space open. I'd say go about to halfway on your lid and stop.

Knock some color off that medium sized shadow brush (or if you have two medium sized brushes use the other one you have, show-off) and dip into that "Radar Love" which is a very bright almost hot pink. That's going right next door to "Seedless" down the middle of the lid. Keep your outer corner open for the last color!

For this application let's use our crease brush and get "Chatter Box" which is a jungle green color that also has pink sparkles and a pink duochrome. See what I did there? I picked a green that was super complimentary to "Seedless" (which has a green duochrome) and "Radar Love". Don't be jealous of my awesomeness.

Using the same crease brush, but without picking up more color, really frame the eye with that "Chatterbox". Sweep the brush over from the outer corner really scrubbing that color into your natural crease. If you feel like some of the pinks are getting lost, go back and get more of the "Seedless" or "Radar Love" and by all means, add it back!

Finish off the look by sweeping a neutral toned flesh color onto your brow bone for highlight.

Now that the color is all in place, get your mascara and black liquid liner. For the bottom waterline let's use the green eyeliner pencil.

A trick to help keep the green pencil liner stay on and also to give added pop is pat some "Chatterbox" over it with a small smudger brush.  Careful, don't poke yourself in the eye!

And that's about it folks. Easy and quick...packed with lots of color!! Here are some of the finished looks:

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial my lovelies!!!! Sub up, comment...share me. You know what to do. ;)

xoxoxoxoxo