You're not a Kardashian, and your skin is happy.

I have noticed lately a very large spike in girls attempting this "Kim Kardashian" highlight and contour ridiculousness. Sure, I love a nice contoured nose, cheek bones, and a highlighted face, but not at the overdone level this "look" has become.

 

 

Anyone that owns a TV, computer, smart phone, or has eyes or ears for that matter, has been exposed to the Kardashian craze. Young girls, and even older women have been whipping out the panstick, bronzer and white shadows lately to try and achieve this look. Well I have news for you ladies...YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS. Foundation, contouring powder and highlighter are not meant to be rolled on with a paint brush. No significant other has ever said "I love when my girlfriend/wife wears a ton of makeup!" Unless your day to day life involves hundreds of flashing cameras, or HD lenses inches from your face, put down the paint. Your makeup is meant to accentuate your face not make you look like a Barbie doll. I would be lying if I said I didn't layer makeup sometimes, or do an overly heavy eye on occasion, but not to the degree that these Kardashian makeup tutorials tell you to do. Hey don't get me wrong it's ok to experiment with looks sometimes, even a heavily contoured face, but the key is to know when enough is enough. Here are a few ways of knowing when you are wearing too much makeup.

1. Does my makeup make my skin crease when I smile? Particularly under the eyes, smile, and forehead?
2. Do my eyes look like I was laying out in the sun with sunglasses on after I apply my highlighter?
3. Do the tiny little hairs on my face and nose look extra noticeable after setting with my powder?
4. After I use my phone, what does the screen look like? Do I have to wipe it off before putting it back into my purse?

If you relate to any of the following, then the answer is probably yes!

Contouring and highlighting can be a great makeup trick when known how to do correctly, so here are some tips on doing it the natural way!
1. After you apply your foundation and concealer, apply your highlighter stick (I like Prep & Prime from Mac or Neutrogena salmon highlighting stick) in a down word sweep on the edges on your face near your nose, and out onto under you under eye near the apples of your cheek. Using either a sponge, brush or beauty blender, blend well into your skin by blotting and swiping up your entire cheek and all under your eyes.

 



 

Area to use highlighter pen

 





2. Using a soft setting powder, set your makeup to get rid of all of the shine and keep it matte. But don't over do it or you will be back to seeing those tiny little hairs on you nose!
3. Using either a contouring color, ( Many brands including Makeup forever, MAC, Sephora and Benefit sell kits) or a dark matte brown eye shadow, using a smaller brush, lightly swipe the line from your ear, down your cheek bones, almost all the way to your outer lip. Blend as well as you can with the brush but don't rub in. Repeat the same step on the outer part of each side of your nose, and forehead hairline.
4. Using a large brush with just a light layer of bronzer blend that area all together until you can only barely see a contour line
5. Using a soft rose colored blush, just apply lightly to apples of your cheeks swiping up your cheek bones, until it all looks blended and natural.
6. Optional step- If you like a little more highlight, using either a highlighting powder, or even just a white eye shadow, apply with your ring finger, dabbing lightly, from the highest point of the apple of your cheek, all the way up your cheek bone. Repeat on the cupids bow of your lips, and in the center of your nose.
7. Using the same brush you used to apply your setting powder in step 1, without adding any more powder, give a quick sweep over your whole face, making sure it's all blended.

There it is! Seems like a lot of steps, but not NEARLY as much makeup is used this way, and you will notice a huge difference in how your skin looks and feels!

For more tips, and tutorials please follow me here, and on Krysta Pelc through Facebook. Also keep an eye out on YouTube for Bellafina's Beauty Makeup Tutorials after the New Year! Thanks for reading!

Gift card win, or gift card waste??

I'm back! It has been a long time since I have had a chance to share my thoughts and tips with all of you, and I'm so excited to be back! Special thanks to my Mom for the new laptop for Christmas allowing me to get back to it!!

Now that Christmas time is over, and your pockets are looking like an empty post holiday clearance rack, now is the time to put those gift cards to good use! We all either ask for money, or gift cards, or we have that one relative that doesn't know what to get you, so they just throw some money on a gift card and call it day. Well thank you to them! Now is the time to buy yourself something that you wouldn't necessarily deem a "responsible purchase", and spend that money on something that you really want! Well ladies, if you're anything like me, that is makeup! Even being a makeup artist myself, I have a hard time convincing myself, my wallet, and my fiancé for that matter, that $40 for a tube of foundation is a reasonable purchase. With that being said, getting a Sephora gift card to me is like getting a big shiny diamond. You may not have a Sephora near by, or your gift card may be to Walmart, Ulta, or any other comparable location that sells makeup or makeup accessories, but all these locations can be equally as tricky when picking the right things for yourself.  Now the trick to spending this gift card smartly, and not just blowing it on the next "big thing" that everyone has can be tricky. You don't want to end up wasting your money, when you realize that that same new "it" foundation you just bought, comes along with a lovely face full of blemishes. Keeping that in mind, here a few tips to avoid all of that.

1. Have a general idea of what basic products you want, or need.
Unless you have a full makeup bag already, filled with all of your basic essentials and products you love, your best bet is start at the beginning. Ask yourself a few simple questions, Do I have a good base? aka primer, concealer, foundation etc? Do I wear makeup on a regular basis, or just on special occasions? Do I prefer a good lip or a good eye?  All of these questions can help you answer where you should start.
Do I have a good base?- If you don't already have a good foundation, or primer that probably where you should spend the most of your money on. For lack of better words "You can dress up a pig but its still a pig" Not to say that anyone looks like a pig without makeup, haha, what I mean by this is if you have severely uneven skin tone, or skin imperfections, dark circles or any other skin issues (that we all have ladies!) if you don't even it out, and just throw on some eye shadow and lipstick on, your face isn't going to look its best. So why waste your money on an expensive eye shadow pallet, before starting with a base? You wouldn't bake the cake before mixing the ingredients??
Try out different foundations, and see what works best for you and start there! (See my blog about picking the correct foundation for extra help!)
Do I wear makeup on a regular basis? - If the answer to this is no, then I definitely would think about investing first in just a good skin care routine. If you plan to go sans makeup regularly, then your skin should be your #1 priority. There are a lot of gimmicky skin care lines out there that will cost you an arm and a leg, and most of the time do less than a bar of dial soap, and a generic face lotion. I've been sucked in before too ladies, it hard not to be! Do your research, read reviews from real customers, find what fits your skin needs best and go from there. Always make sure there is a good, gentle and course exfoliate, (round exfoliate beads, not made from nut shells!) a brightening cream, and a good moisturizing lotion.
2. Keep in prospective cost vs quality.
Just because Dior came out with a new lip shade at $59 a tube, doesn't mean that it's the best quality, or will work the best for you. We as consumers have a tendency to be drawn towards name brand products, assuming that they are the best, when in most cases, they aren't. I dealt with this exact moment last year, when my main stream fashion magazine, convinced me that Diorshow eye shadow was something I needed, when in fact after spending $30 on this, I was not very impressed with, ended up returning, for a lesser expensive brand, that I still use to this day! So just be careful ladies and do your research!
3. If you absolutely love it, get it!
If you are a makeup pro, or you just want to go for it, and try out a new lipstick, or eye shadow pallet etc, and you're feeling daring, I say buy it! But be sure to try out every single thing you're thinking of purchasing before doing so. Sephora is definitely in the pricier realm of makeup, but every single thing is able to be tried, and even a Makeup Artist that works there, will show you how to apply for free! Test out eye shadows on the back of your hand. How are the pigments? Are they shiny or matte? What is more important to you when wearing lipstick? Do you prefer bright shiny colors? Or a matte long lasting color? All of these things are good to take into consideration before purchasing any sort of larger makeup purchase.

Everyone, myself included, has the tendency sometimes to "follow the trends" and purchase the "next big thing". And I think as long as there is Cosmopolitan, Elle, and other trendy magazines we all will continue to do so, unless we let our knowledge be our guides, instead of our eyes! So good luck with spending those gift cards ladies, and remember, you are your best fashion icon! :)

(All opinions on products within my blogs are just that, opinion and are not meant to sway anyone away from an specific products they may like)