Tribal Print Inspired Makeup

50% OFF Mineral Collection E.L.F!

You can save 50% on E.L.F.'s Mineral Collection!

This offer is valid now through August 22nd.

The coupon code is: "MINERAL"

You get 50% off purchases of $25 or more.

Below are a few of my choice picks:

Tips On How To Maintain Your Eyebrows.

Some people wax them, others pluck. Some thread, some shave them off and have them tattooed on (I know someone that did this!)…Whatever you decide to do doesn't matter, most of us do something to our eyebrows. And we should! Eyebrows help to shape and define your whole face. They open up your eye area, and lighten our overall facial expression. I always say that eyebrows make a huge difference to your face.

But they're kind of a pain to maintain as well. I'm constantly plucking, cutting, waxing, and shaving mine (I have thick eyebrows, don't judge me!). 

So how do you keep them groomed if you do them at home yourself instead of having them professionally shaped and maintained? Simple! Check out these tips and tricks.

Duri Cosmetics Fall 2011 “Wine Tasting Party” Collection

Wine tasting anyone? 

Duri Cosmetics has introduced their Fall 2011 "Wine Tasting Party" Collection with some beautiful, seductive, and enticing colors for the new Fall season. The collection is composed of warm shades of reds, plums, deep purples, and toasted oranges.

Color shades from left to right:

(561) Cognac XO

(562) Bloody Mary

(563) Pinot Noir

(564) Cabernet Sauvignon

(566) Dragontini

(567) Grape Swirl

The prices are around $5 per polish and the collection will be available in September at Duri or call 1.800.724.2216.

xoxo,

Miss Nwoka

Rose Gold

Okay, so I'm loving that the rose gold trend has made the transition from fashion and accessories to makeup. Rose gold is a great shade because it’s flattering on most complexions and is subtle enough to be worn during the day, but can be flashy and dramatic at night.

OPI Cozu-Melted in the Sun: I love metallic shades on nails and this color is fantastic. I absolutely LOVE how it brings life to my nails!

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Pink Quartz: This product is great because it’s really versatile. It’s right between a bronzer and a blush and a highlighter so it can definitely be used as all of those, and could easily be used as an eyeshadow. It’s like a zillion products in one!

Bare Escentuals High Shine Eye Color in Rose Gold: Loose pigment can be tricky, but I heard about this on my favorite beauty blog, Her Late Night Cravings. In this video, they recommended this shade and said to use a small brush to dip into the container to get the pigment. 

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Rose Gold: This was my very first Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss because of how drawn I was to the gorgeous color. It’s definitely pigmented and one of the prettiest glosses I own. It’s great for summer because of the gold sparkles and the pinky color!

xoxo,

Miss Nwoka

Matte Blushes From Sephora

Nars Blush in Desire: I just bought Nars Desire. I’m absolutely in love with it. It’s a bright, intimidating pink, but the matte finish is gorgeous and it gives you a lovely, just-in-from-the-cold flush! I also love Nars blushes because they blend so well, and you can get away with a bright color like this! I know this may not SEEM demure, but I promise that when you use a loose, fluffy brush it give the most angelic glow. It’s also kind of fun to look at in the packaging because it’s so bright.

Laura Mercier Second Skin Cheek Color (Rose Petal): This pink is a little more demure, but is also matte. I like that it has coral undertones and think it would be flattering on most complexions.

Another option for matte blushes is to use a cream blush. Cream blushes usually don’t have any sparkle or shimmer to them, and they often look really natural and gorgeous.

Here are some more cream blushes:

Nars Cream Blush in Lokoum: I love this mauve color. So pretty!

Philosophy The Supernatural Lit From Within Healthy Cream Blush in Look on The Bright Side: Another great bright pink!

xoxo,

Miss Nwoka

M.A.C Semi Precious to Launch

Mention MAC and you’re likely to remember its awesome collaborations such as with Marcel Wanders, Disney, DC Comics etc.  

The MAC Semi-Precious line launches this Saturday at all MAC counters so be sure to stop by and see them in person. How beautiful do these palettes look next to each other?

Prices range from $17 to HK$51

xoxo,

Miss Nwoka

Ted Noten’s Makeup Kit

Makeup, brand names and art combined into one?! Uhm...how can you NOT love this?

Check out Ted Noten’s Makeup Kit which was recently on display at Design Miami/Basel. 

Using 3-D printed nylon, Ted came up with the concept of a gun-shaped makeup kit embedded with what he deems is every woman’s essentials (including a Viagra pill.) And yes, he’s aware of the stereotype and has spun it into the whole artistic philosophy of examining gender dynamics. 

Named the Chanel001 (the black version) and Dior001 (the white version), the respective ‘guns’ pack the brands’ cosmetics along with other goodies such as a 18k gold toothpick, a perfume bottle with an 18k gold mechanism, a 50-gram 24kt gold bar, a USB stick and an antique hairpin! 

Yep! I'm definitely in LOVE.

xoxo,

Miss Nwoka

Leopard Print [Makeup Tutorial]

One day after being bored, I decided to play around with my makeup...I have a sick obsession with animal print. However, my love front animal print inspired me to create this eye shadow pattern which a lot of my friends liked.













What you'll need::::

• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil [White]

 

 

 

 

 

• Maybelline Expert Eye Shadow- Quad Chai Latte

 

This lighter colors will be blended and used at the "skin" of the leopard.

While the dark brown will be used as the spots.

• L'Oreal Paris Hip Studio Secrets Professional Chrome Eyeliner

 

This will be used as the outline for your spots.

This video shows you how to use all of the items to make a leopard eyeshadow print.

 

xoxo,

Miss Nwoka

How To Get Your Foundation To Match Your Skin

For some people it's difficult to figure out how to match your foundation to your natural skin color. They tend to match it with their necks, inner wrists, and jawlines. This entry is to save you from yourself.

If you match to your…

Neck – Because of the shadow your face casts down upon your neck, it only makes sense that your neck is going to be one of the palest parts of your skin. It receives the least amount of sun, and contains much lower levels of pigment than many other parts of your skin. Match your foundation to your neck, and you run the risk of a washed-out, sickly looking face.

Jawline – Depending on your bone structure, your jawline may appear, which can cause unintentional highlights or shadows that are lighter or darker than the rest of your face. Although the difference may not be major, you might not be getting a true gauge of your actual skintone. If your face is ruddy or sallow and doesn’t have the same undertones as the rest of your body, you’re also looking at choosing the incorrect shade. For example, my face has a lot of red in it, but the rest of my skin doesn’t. I actually have yellow undertones, but if I matched to my jawline, I’d be apt to pick a foundation with pink or beige undertones.

Inner wrist – This one, I simply don’t get. Your inner wrist contains a lot of large veins and again, gets very little direct sun exposure. And since when is the inner wrist at all comparable to a face? This can lead you astray in the worst of ways.

So, what’s the best place to match to your foundation?

Simple. Your chest. Think about it. You want your face to look relatively in tone with the rest of your skin. As long as you don’t live in the 18th century and have to endure having lace tickle your chin every waking moment, I’m assuming that you wear shirts that expose part of your decolletage from time to time. By matching your foundation to your chest, you are matching it to a part of your skin that receives relatively the same amount of sun as your face, has a much more even tone than many other parts of the body, and should age rather similarly to your face.

Look up any red carpet photo from the past where you might have thought, “Wow, she looks off,” but you couldn’t figure out why. Check out her face in relation to her chest. It will usually be darker, which probably means that she or her makeup artist matched her foundation to her neck, or jawline, or, even her inner wrist.

For the one guy who might be reading this: match to your arms (the “outer” part). It is the second closest to your most natural looking face color after the chest (which, I’m assuming, you don’t bare as readily as most women).

Even if you think you have a good thing going matching to wherever you do now, humor me. Give your chest a try. I bet you’ll thank me if you do.