Brow Game....Not So Strong...

I've been doing makeup, both on myself and on various clients for a while now, and i've come a looong way. I started out trying to perfect the application of eye makeup because, for me, the eyes are the first thing a person sees on your face. From there I got pretty serious about brows and felt like I had a good handle on them when I turned my attention to the face. Highlighting and contouring, finding the right color blush, blending, priming, smooth foundation... those things were a bit of a struggle for me. One major factor that I had to learn to ALWAYS account for was lighting. I would do what seemed to be a flawless makeup application and the snap a picture and realize that, with a flash, the whole face looked like I hadn't even tried to blend it. So ghat's always on my mind. I tend to use natural light more than anything. I'm find the best window in the location and have my client facing it...even of it means setting my stuff up kn the floor. Now that i've gotten to the point where I feel very comfortable applying every aspect of a full face of makeup, I spend a lot of time researching better (yet still affordable) products, new techniques, and sovon... but I had an experience recently that drew to my attention that, while I can define some fairly freshly shaped brows just fine, the ladies who come to me in need of a wax but not wanting to have me tweeze their brows gave me a bit of trouble. You see, I tend to follow what the brow is naturally doing (or has been shaped to do). It your brows are waxed slightly uneven, there's only so much I can do to fix that. If your brows grow in a little...crazy, I have the worst time getting them to look sleek. I realized this yesterday. I did a young lady's makeup and she had...some..things going with her brows. They were unevenly shaped, growing in a bit sporadically, and when I was done, something just seemed...not quite right about them. I was a bit disappointes in myself for this, and I actaually didn't take pictures of her makeup and told her to send me some when she had a chance. When I received the pictures, I noticed that, DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN.. She had fixed her brows, making them a little thicker to hide the not-so-neat way they were growing in. Aw man! Well, to be fair, she is a makeup artist herself, so I felt pretty good that the brows were the only thing she felt the need to change. But it made me realize that I totally need to work on my brow game. Challenge Accepted!

Just Wanting to Get Better

So, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on eyes and brows. I know a lot of different twchniques, and I found what works for me but can still switch it up if a client requests something that's best done a different way. But I am constantly on YouTube watching different "gurus" (and some not so well known youtube artists) perform their preferred highlighting and contouring routines.  Highlighting and contouring is probably my favorite part of makeup application, although it has always been my least strong point. Whether it be finding the perfect tool and technique to apply the highlight or finding the right products to use, i'm always trying to get better at it. Practice makes perfect, of course, and I really do try to practice on myself as much as possible, but I am a beauty on a budget so switching up the products is not always ideal. For the past year and a half i've been using the Coastal Scents Camouflage Palette for my highlighting needs. Mixing the colors to match clients needs and trying different ways to get the best application. It has worked...fine. I used to adore this palette but I believe that i've grown out of it. It has started to crease on me and, although it works great for my clients, I need to move on. My first move was to take some advice and start setting it with a powder to avoid creasing... works ok. I'm not totally in awe of it, but it is a bit better.
What's been trending for quite some time and is majorly affordable at around $2/$3 per tube is LA Girl Cosmetics Pro Concealer.  The only issue i'm having is... I CAN'T FLIPPIN FIND IT IN STORES! Yes, I can buy online, but I am the type of shopper (esp cosmetics) that needs to see colors in real life. I would hate to buy a hand full of these babies and then realize I have no use for any number of them...ain't nobody got time fuh dat! The other day, I walk into my local beauty supply for some hair and SCORE! LA Girl Pro Concealers front and center!.... inshades my skin tone and darker. Whomp whomp. I don't contour with concealer, I prefer powder. It's much easier to blend for me. So, still on the hunt for this concealer.
What I will say is that I am so very happy that I am a visual learner and that I can take a lot from what I see from youtube, instagram and makeup artists personal websites as well as trial and error on my own face. I've gotten soooo much better and have soooo much more of an understanding of why different techniques and products work on different skin tones and types. Just because i'm not in a formal school, doesn't mean that I shouldn't try to learn what I can from those willing to share and better myself with some experimentation of my own. So... next step is finding some cosmetology text books for cheap and gaining more knowledge and, of course, finding those damn concealers!
Just thought i'd share with you my current state of mind. I haven't stopped doing makeup and I haven't stopped beating my own mug..i've just been preoccupied.

Fall Shmall!

I know fall is supposed to be all about the neutral shadows, the deeper colored lipsticks and  revolving our whole cosmetic lives around orange, brown, burgundy, copper, gold and red.... but...while I LOVE those colors and how they go with the feeling of fall weather, I can't always stick with one color palette.
So yesterday I just wanted some color in my life. Nothing too wild...just not neutral, by far. I went rifling through my makeup and pulled out a palette that I had only used maybe once and just kinda forgot about. It's the "Poster Child" palette from Wet N Wild.

I bought this palette for 2 reasons, 1) i'm a sucker for bright colors. And 2) i had two other, less vibrant, palettes from Wet N Wild and they were very pigmented.  

For the look I was going for, the blue in the bottom righ corner was calling my name! 

This is the end result...

Let's start from the top. I always begin my makeup routine with my brows. I've recently been filling in/defining my brows using a brown eye shadow (also from wet n wild) and an angled liner brush. To make the applications easy and get a smooth line with no chalkiness, i dip the brush into my face moisturizer, wipe off the excess and then coat the brush with the shadow. After totally defining my brows, i use a spooly brush to brush the color through the hair...this makes it so you can actually see the hairs. Next up is concealer. If i plan on highlighting and contouring my face, i use a concealer that's about 2 shades lighter than my skin. I use a small concealer brush to apply the concealer along the bottom and top lines of my brows and then use my ring finger to blend/fade it outward. 

For my brow bone, i used Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color in Spun Silk. It's a light enough shade on my skintone to highlight my brow bone, but it's matte, so when i go in with all the vibrant colors, it keeps me from looking.. drag-ish. Next, in between the crease of my lid and   blended up into the Spun Silk, i applied Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color in Silky Caramel. Again, it's matte and it's a great color to blend with the lighter shade on my browbone as well at the darker shade to be used in my crease and on my lid. Next up, that amazing dark blue. I used a short-haired shadow brush to pat the color onto my entire lid. I like to pat on the color i use on my lid because it makes is easier to build the opacity of the color, although this shadow is pigmented enough to not need much effot to build. After i got the blue all over my lid, i took a blender brush and applied the darker pink from the left side (second color from the bottom) in a sweeping motion along my crease. Next i grabbed my BH Cosmetics Party Girl Palette and used the shimmery black shade on a narrow brush in the crease of my lid. Then i used the blender brush that had the pink shadow on it and blended the black upward into the pink. Then i grabbed a flat shadow brush and  applied the teal color on the right side of the Poster Child palette (second from the top) to the inner corner of my lid. I used Wet N Wild cream liner in a pot and a liner brush from E.L.F. to apply my winged liner, threw on my stacked lashes that i've been wearing allll the way out, and moved on to my face. (After i apply my face makeup, i lined my lower lashline with a brown pencil and took an angled liner brush and swept the dark blue shadow over it. Applied black liner to my waterline and mascara to both my top and bottom lashes.)

Face Time!

I used Maybelline Baby Skin to prime my face... i go back and forth on whether or not i like this primer. Why? Because, altho it does fill in pores and smooth my skin very well, i have oily skin and this primer can feel a litte heavy..greasy even. But, a little goes a long way for those who have oily skin and setting with a powder becomes very important when using this primer. After letting the primer set for a good 5 minutes, i used a dupe for the Beauty Blender sponge to apply my foundation, which is Mary Kay TimeWise Matte Wear Liquid Foundation in Bronze 4. I apply foundation all over my face, but i avoid the areas directly below my eyes and directly above my brows..because i'm going to use a concealer to highligt in those areas and i don't like how heavy it can get in those areas. Using a concealer brush, i applied the same concealer i used for my brows in the areas that you see 

Here. To blend the concealer, though, i used the tapered end of my blender sponge and a patting motion. To set the concealer under my eyes to avoid creasing, i used the same patting motion and tapered end of my blender to apply E.L.F HD Translucent Setting Powder. Then i used a soft powder brush to sweep the excess powder away. For contouring my face, i used a pressed powder from Black Opal in Deepest Espresso. I swept the powder in a downward motion along the bottom of my cheekbone (starting at the outer point of my cheekbone and stopping a little more than halfway down..like, straight down from the outter corner of my eye) with an angled powder brush, then i blend upward...but not too much..just so there's no stark line of darkness. I like to use a blending shadow brush to apply my contour to the sides of my nose and then blend it by sweeping an empty small stipling brush up and down the area where i applied the color. I used a highlighting stick from E.L.F. in Persimmon to coat the larger area of my blender sponge, blotted it onto my hand, and then used a patting motion to apply it to the tops of my cheekbones and along the bridge of my nose. I applied a loose powder bronzer with a soft powder brush to the area i contoured my cheeks and blend upward. For blush, i used Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Dark Cherry on the apples of my cheeks. And that was that!

Lips!

I lined my lips with a brown brow pencil, applied Wet N Wild lipstick in Think Pink to the inner area of my lips and blended to two colors together, then i applied Wet N Wild's Bare It All to my lips and used my finger to blend the three. Being darker skinned, it's hard to rock a nude lip color or a pink as light at Think Pink without some liner and blending. Lol!

And it's all done! 

These full-face photos were taken using natural light and no flash at around 6pm. It wasn't long before i had no natural light to work with at all. So, even though and horrible yellow-toned light in the bathroom can totally ruin the ability to see the colors used, with the right angle, they can make for a pretty fierce selfie...

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New Obsessions Reviving Old Habits

Basically, I have a love for makeup that will never die. But I also love sleep, mom time, snacking on various foods and desserts, blogging, browsing social media, writing and getting household things done. So... how do I fit a full face of makeup into that? Well, the truth is, I used to prioritize makeup into my day and slowly but surely allowed it to be phased out... mainly by laziness. Before I even get started, i'd give myself 50 reasons why I don't have the time or energy to snatch my face. I think all busy women are guilty of this at least sometimes.. probably not as often as me though.
Well, I saw a few folks post that they were super into this new app called Makeup Social, and how it was this magical place where makeup lovers both artists and not, could share looks, product reviews, get makeup advise, etc. OF COURSE I need to be there! I went to my google store and searched...and searched... and searched... but nothing."Wait... nothing? Oh, I see. Only available for iphone. So i'm being punished for having an old ass galaxy s3 with a cracked screen that I got as an upgrade last year because i'm cheap and wanted to not pay for a new phone? So the ppl at makeup social are targeting me because i'm cheap?! I see how it is! I don't even want that app!"...was my response.
So, I searched more and found that they have an actual website that you can log onto www.themakeupsocial.com so I signed up there. The website isn't the easiest to navigate through. I get emails alerting me of comments on my posts but no alert for when someone mentions or tags me. I can't simply search for a person or even get a look at my profile as others see it without going through some extra steps. And I can't post photos of my previous looks or work. If I go to upload a photo, the only option I have is to take a photo right then and there to post. These things made me not like the website as much as I knew I could and it made me wish upon a star that they'd hurry the hell up with the android version of the app... But I, somehow, have still managed to slowly become OBSESSED with this site! This network of MUA's both freelance, like myself and MUA's that work at counters and makeup stores... girls who have jobs outside of the beauty industry but love makeup.. people who were just as cheap as me and shopped the non-high-end brands and made magic happen with them as well as the girls who can't live without their MAC. People who are just starting out in getting makeup right and people who have been doing this for years. It's amazing.
This site seriously revived my want for putting on a full face even when I have nowhere to go... mainly because of the fact that I can only post pictures of makeup that's happening right then and there, but also because these are the people who appreciate a good beat down. Lol! So, instead of product details, i'll just post some pics here of makeup that only got done so I could post a decent selfie on Makeup Social. And if there's any looks you'd like info on, comment below which one (s) and i'll do a separate post for them.

What a difference some photo restrictions can make, right? Lol! 

Again, if any of these tickle your fancy, feel free to make a request in the comments and i'll break down the deets. 

As usual, find me on 

Instagram: @RacquelMUA

facebook

And now on Makeup Social: @Racquel_G

And book me on

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Or here

STACKED!

I've seen a bunch of posts (when giving makeup details) about stacking false lashes. Some ppl stack two different styles, some stack two of the same style... and it always looks nice, but I never felt like it was mandatory to try. If I wanted thicker lashes, i'd just buy thicker lashes..duh!
For those who don't know what stacking lashes is... It's when you take two false lash strips and lay them on top of each other, making sure that the ends and entire strip are totally in sync with each other, and then making them stick with a very thin layer of lash glue. You then apply the doubled strip to your lashline as usual and you get a fuller and more...luscious eyelash look.
Now, I for one, have seen it done over and over and thought that it always looked really great. But still, I never felt like I HAD to try it. Recently, I have been wearing more natural lashes. Wispies and things of that nature. Yesterday, however, I was set on wearing a winged liner, lashes and a bold lip... but the natural looking lashes weren't gonna cut it. Why not try stacking my lashes? Am I right? It just seems like what should happen in this instance. Well... i'm not a total dummy, so I decided to try it on some used lashes, just in case I did it wrong. Nobody wants to f $#@ up their brand new lashes. (Yes, my name is Racquel, and I reuse lashes...over and over again until they are worthless)
So I had a pair that looked like this..

Here is what they look like on my eyes...

Very natural, almost not noticable at all. So yea, these little gems served their time and had been sitting on my self just...chillin. because i had started wearing these here wispie numbers for a little more drama in my life...

Really great right? Long and flared yet still not beasty enough to look like way too much...to me. 

Well, I placed the first, shorter lashes on top of the longer and wispier lashes, made sure they were the same length and were perfectly aligned, held them steady and put a good amount of lash glue along the aligned strips... I let it get a little tacky, and then placed them along my lashline. This, of course, is after applying some very neutral eye shadow and a fairly serious winged liner. And here's what i was working with after that...

I mean...tell me that this is not a major yet still not too thick and drag-ish difference!!!

So very glad that I tried this and now I am HOOKED! No lash shall go unstacked!

There you have it! For more of me find me on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yourmk

Instagram: @RacquelMUA

The Makeup Social: @Racquel_G

For bookings:

RacquelMUA@gmail.com

www.styleseat.com/RacquelMUA

Keepin' it Smooth in a Quick Tip...

Hey! Ok, so the best way to get a good face of makeup going is to have some smooth skin to apply it to, right? And everyone knows that the best way to smooth your skin out is to ? EXFOLIATE! So yea, ppl go out buying all the apricot or micro bead or whatever products, and if you're anything like me... you've got an amazing exfoliator right there in your house.
Now, I've tried sugar and honey, and that worked really great. Just mix the two and scrub-a-dub... But I saw something on pinterest a few months ago, about an age fighting homemade mask that included coffee grounds and I was intrigued.
So, I figured, why not wake my skin up while I get rid of my dead skin cells? I used the grounds that were in the filter of my morning coffee...yes, after I had made the coffee... after washing my face, I scooped about a teaspoon of the grounds into my hands and awkwardly slapped them onto my face and began to scrub. I didn't go full force with the pressure since I do like my skin, but I scrubbed in a circular motion for a good minute (maybe). I rinsed my face and it had an...almost oily feel to it. (Did u know that coffee beans contain their own oil?.. I didn't) I patted my face dry and it was not even real how smooth my face felt! I used less moisturizer than usual and noticed that my face had a glow that no other exfoliator (store bought or homemade) had given. It was.. like magic! I know, I think everything is like magic. But shhh. I've been doing this once or twice a week now for the last few months and I just feel like my skin is all around better. Plus my makeup goes on flawlessly... like, it's not a game. So... try it! You can use freshly ground coffee beans, coffee grounds from a can, coffee grounds that u've used... I don't think it matters. Try it especially before applying makeup and your mind will be blown.

Change Is Inevitable.... When It Comes To My Hair

Hey!.. So we all know that I am very fickle when it comes to my look. Well, I loved loved loved my red hair and I adored my dreads!.... But red just didn't feel like ME. It was cute and fun and the dreads were definitely #ALOOK (shout out to Handsome Deville) but, I was craving my blonde. So i took to google and youtube to figure out how to get it back without having to Amber Rose it up.
First, I took my beloved .dreads out to assess the color situation...hoping that the red had faded away.

As you can see, the color was alive and well. And the way i had my hair wrapped around each dread left me with some pretty gnarly curls.

After a day or two of searching, I found a not so harsh way to strip the red out of my hair... Vitamin C and Shampoo!.. Wait, what?
Yes! I crumbled maybe....12-15? Capsules of vitamin c (you can use any kind of straight vitamin c. The powdered kind, the giant tablets, or the regular capsules that u take with water like i did) and grinded them in a tupperware dish til it was a fairly fine powder. Then i added about the same amount of shampoo that i'd use for one wash (i'm very liberal with the amount of shampoo i use btw) and a teeny bit of water to get it to a liquidy texture. I mixed these things together until it was a bit creamy...yet grainy. I slathered this mixture all over my hsir, from ends to roots and then put a plastic cap on it and wrapped my head in a scarf. About an hour and fifteen minutes later, i rinsed it out and shampooed my hair one time. BOOM!

So much of the color had faded!...But it was still fairly pink. So i went back to youtube to consult some videos of this proccess and found where i had gone wrong. I put the mixture on dry hair. So, back to crumbling, grinding, adding shampoo and water and mixing. This time, since my hair was wet, i worked the mixture through my hair as if i were shampooing it, then plastic capped it, scarfed it up and left it in for 2 hours and maybe 15/20 minutes. I rinsed and washed snd HOLY MICHAEL'S CRAFT STORE! i could see blonde! It was that faded pink-ish blonde, but it was def blonde...aside from my roots, which were my natural hair color. Ps: I had a picture of that result, but I deleted it because i didn't realize i'd be blogging this... let's not judge here. After the second process, i loaded my hair with a good amount of organic coconut oil and put it in a single braid at the (get this lingo) nape of my neck. That's how i went to sleep.
Anyhoo, what's thoroughly impatient girl to do when she feels that just about all of her red color is gone? Go buy blonde dye, of course! To the drugstore i flew the next morning to get my Feria Ultimate Platinum!... but they didn't have it, so i opted for Absolute Platinum.

Looks fancy, right? Exactly... it's sure to work!
I rushed home, to get my blonde on! But i had thought about a comment my friend puddin made about being a "slave to my roots" and figured i would pretend to be a pro and try to give myself a bit of an ombre look.. i'm not a pro.. i'm an idiot. I applied the blonde dye to my roots first, skipping sections to make sure some of my roots would be blonde and some of them would stay dark... because that's what i vaguely remembered possibly seeing one time a year ago on youtube... i left the color on my roots in a plastic capr for about 50 minutes before applying the rest of the dye to my almost blonde but still a bit pink remaining hair. i replaced the plastic cap and left that on for another 30 minutes?... then i washed it out, applied the anti brass conditioner that comes with the dye and rinsed that out after 7 minutes....
Um... So... remember i said i was an idiot?... I wasn't kidding. WTF WAS I THINKING????? My "technique" and impatience left me with some pretty nice blonde hair... with pink, orange and dark brown roots!!! Wha-...wha-...What was i going to do? Like... wtf was life supposed to be with this hair? I couldn't help but laugh at how bad it was. But maybe.. it was just because it was wet? I deep conditioned for an hour with coconut oil in a plastic cap. Rinsed that out and went to bed, convinced that i'd wake up to fairly decent hair.
HA! My roots laughed in my face! They literally laughed and did a dance of humiliating severeness on my head...

Notice the anger on my sleepy "i just worke up to hair that hates me" face... notice the legit blondeness, yet absence of roots because i wouldn't dare photograph those warlocks....I knew i had to quit life right then and there... OR... (warning, amazingly bright idea coming) I just go get more platinum dye and redo it. Right? Just try the blonde one more time! BRILLIANT!.. but wait.. i don't want to be Amber Rose's brown-skinned twin...right! I was going for ombre right? Ombrizzle fo shizzle right? Ombreezy fo sheezy right? Om- sorry. Um... i'll go darker in the roots! I'll go... black? NO! Brown...Chocolate brown! CHESTNUT BROWN!!! To the drugstore!... with a scarf on!

I stared at the browns for a good thousand years because... I have NEVER shopped for brown dye before. All i knew was 1. I love loreal products. 2. I have to buy something.
I opted to shop the Preference line and landed on this little gem...

Number 5CB "Medium Chestnut Brown" in the "warmer" colors. Ran home, locked the bathroom door, divided my hair into four sections (two in front, two in back), mixed the color in the applicator bottle and applied the color to my roots, and used my fingers to rake the color through my hair to the not-quite-halfway point of the length of my hair, so there wasn't a stark line of difference between the brown and blonde. I did this with each section, making sure to keep the length of the brown the same for each section. Then i sloppily clipped all of my hair together where the blonde began, used the excess color in the bottle to really get my edges covered and put a plastic cap on. Ps: i knew that some of the brown dye would get on some of the blonde, but i figured that it would help with the ombre effect.

After sitting for 30 minutes or so, i washed the color out, used the brown dye's conditioner on the brown part of my hair and the anti-brass conditioner on my blonde ends.. rinsed and FELL IN LOVE!!!! 

Here it is! Just air-dried.. as u can see, my hair has no personality or consistency when it comes to texture... it's just hair. So i braided it...

And the color looked pretty dope! I was convinced that i was now an ombre master!... in my head. 

But I needed to style my hair with no heat and i figured i'd give Bantu Knots a try. And this is the end result of that...

Maaaaybe not perfect, but there is definitely more volume and texture in my hair. And the color really looks amazing! I'll try this again, but with bigger chunks of hair, since my hair is so deceivingly fine.

There you have it folks! I'm back to blonde, with a new twist! So happy with my results! I swear, I am just like you and i have had my share of mishaps and fails... but i recommend that we all just keep pushing the envelope and trying new ways to Dazzle! It usually ends up being well worth it. *flips newly colored hair* ha!

For more of me:

www.facebook.com/yourmk

Instagram: @RacquelMUA

The Makeup Social: @Racquel_G

And for bookings, contact 

RacquelMUA@gmail.com

or

www.styleseat.com/RacquelMUA

I'm Back... For Now

Hey!!! I've been in this funk for the past few months and have been completely NOT into Dazzling.. especially since I never go anywhere.
Well, I finally got fed up with myself. I mean, how do I expect to get back to feeling like myself, if I don't force the issue? I mean... C'mon son! So the other day, I decided that I would just throw on a full-face of glam and not worry about my lack of plans for the day.

Day 1:

Ok, let's just go throught the steps i took to achieve this look...
I lined my brows with burgundy lip pencil and used a spoolie brush (looks like a mascara wand) to brush the color through my brows. Then i used an angled brush to add a dark brown shadow to my brows and, again, brushed the color through with the spoolie brush. Next was concealer. I used a small concealer brush and a consealer about 2 shades lighter than my skin from my Coastal Scents Camoflage pallet to highlight/perfect the shape of my brows..  See my brow tutorial here.

Next up was my lids. I primed my eyes from lash line to brow with Wet N Wild eye primer from the Fergie collection. This stuff really works, but can be difficult to get a smooth application, so i apply it with a flat shadow brush. After priming, i broke out my Coastal Scents Revealed 2 pallet...

And highlighted my brow bone with the color fourth from the right on the top row. Next, in the crease, i used a tapered crease brush to apply the color on the bottom row, left corner. To sort of marry those two colors, i used a fluffy-ish blending shadow brush to add the color at the top row, fifth from the right and blended the colors together.

From there, it was time to get a little dramatic. I used a dark brown Wet N Wild Color iCon eye pencil  to draw a line along my natural crease. Then I used a short-haired blender brush dipped in the color second from the right on the bottom row (don't be fooled, it's a darker color than it looks) to set the pencil in my crease as well as blend upward. Using my flat shadow brush, I added more primer to my lid where no color had been added and then used that same brush to apply NYX shadow in Hot Orange using a patting motion to build the color. Using that same type of flat brush, I applied a yellow/gold shimmery loose pigment that I got on ebay for like, a dollar, to the inner corner of my lid. I applied Wet N Wild cream gel liner with a liner brush and some lashes, and moved on to my face.
I used a beauty blender sponge knock-off to apply Mary Kay Time Wise Matte Wear Liquid Foundation in a mixture of Bronze 4 and Bronze 5, all over my face except directly under my eyes. Then, using the same concealer I used on my brows to highlight my face. Check out my highlight/contour post here To get an idea of where i apply my highlight. Next, i used a small stipling brush to blend the concealer and make it look smooth and not so heavy. Instead of contouring with concealer, i used an angled face brush and Black Opal pressed powder in Deepest Espresso to contour my cheek bones and frame my face. I used a fluffy shadow brush and the same pressed powder to contour my nose. I used a powder brush to apply a bronzer from Elizabeth Arden (it has minimal shimmer and gives more of a glow than a sparkle.) to the area where my highlight and contour meet along my cheek bones as well as around the edge of my face and down my nose.. very lightly.  I used an angled blush brush to apply Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Golden Copper and Cherry Blossom to the apples of my cheeks and blended outward. Since my face was done, I moved back to my eyes.
I lined my lower lash line with my dark brown Color Icon pencil, then used an angled liner brush and the second color from the right on the bottom row of my Revealed 2 pallet to smudge the brown liner out. I applied Mary Kay Ultimate mascara to both top and bottom lashes. And used a black Color icon pencil on my waterline.

On my lips, I lined them with a brown pencil, and smudged the color inward. Then i applied a Wet N Wild lipstick in Think Pink, blotted, then patted the same yellow/gold loose pigmenti used on my eyes, onto the center of my lips.

I set it all with Mary Kay Finishing Spray, and that was that!

All of these photos were taken in front of a window that faced the sun and had white sheer curtains. No flash, no retouching.

For more of me:
www.facebook.com/YourMK
Instagram: @RacquelMUA
The Makeup Social: Racquel_G
and for booking:
RacquelMUA@gmail.com
or
www.StyleSeat.com/RacquelGuess

Dread Head Life!

Ok, about a week ago, I wrote about my new obsession with synthetic dreads and how i'd be making the move to being a short-term dread head. Well, it took days after buying the hair to prepare it and then get it onto my head... but it was worth it!
So here's how it went....

I went to the beauty supply and bought few packs of kanekalon braid hair for $2/$3 per pack. The bottom color is called "velvet" and it looks to be a mixture of purple, black and pink... kinda looks like the color of eggplant. The bright clown hair at the top is... red... lol! Not sure what they called this color, but i like to call it clown hair.
I combined these 2 colors (some with more red, some with more velvet) to balance them out to at least kind of match my hair. I followed some instructions i found on youtube for preparing the hair to look like dreads and teased sections of the blended hair. after i was done, it looked like this.

A huge pile of... tarantula legs right?. Lol! Well, this was after hours of teasing and backcombing the hair and getting it to be fairly dense in it's... nappiness. Next i had to steam them. I laid a dry folded bath towel on the floor, then a thin baby towel over that. I secured the hair by setting... something heavy on top of it and began twisting it over the towel. After i got it twisted enough to where i wanted it, i draped the remainder of the baby towel over the hair and gently ran my iron (full of water and set to let out the highest level of steam possible) Over the towel to allow the steam to set the twist into the hair. When i was all done, it looked like this...

Now, what I did was, I made a bunch of "double-ended" dreads and a handful of "single-ended" dreads that I would use in the front of my head. Well, i made them all and i felt accomplished... But then i had to figure out when i'd actually put them in.

I got fed up last night and just decided y not start tonight and just see how it goes..

well that was a great idea! Because i was able to get a good amount done AND finish today!

The only thing is that, i didn't make enough to dread my whole head. Lol! And i was so tired that the thought of making more made me yawn. So I opted for rocking the look that had inspired going this route of dreading anyway... i left hair out in the front. 

At the moment, i haven't cut my bangs into the style necessary to rock them in my face, and opting for this look means i would need a scarf or bandana to feel like it's #ALOOK .. but i love it still.

Ugh! The bags under my eyes are serious!.. obviously i didn't get much sleep last night.. but oh well, such is life.

Please forgive my face... it's naked and i couldn't wait to post about this hair of mine. But this ^^^ is how i'm gonna wear my hair until i cut these bangs. 

Anyhoo... here is a look at the back of my hair...

Well there you have it... keep in mind that i know they aren't perfect.. but that's a part of what i like about them... they're just... me. So yea, i love them. Lol!

I'm Afraid of Commitment. ..

Ok, I know u see that title and think "really?... married with 6.7 million kids, and ur afraid of commitment?" But really am... when it comes to my appearance. I am always changing and growing mentally and so, I can't remain the same physically... I fall into a pit of feeling blah. So I went blonde for a long time, but with blonde came the journey of getting brighter and brighter. I'm always adjusting my daily makeup routine from super heavy to wearing nothing at all... and now i've gone red.. and pink, but let's concentrate on the fact that I can be classified as a chemically enduced ginger. Well... I think i've mentioned before that I really wanted to get dreads, but the commitment there is ultimate. So I got marley twists and i've had box braids, and i've looked up a little about fake dreads but the work involved is not really worth it (or feasible with my kiddies ruling my life.) And also, the dreads I was used to seeing didn't really look like real dreads to me.. my husband and two of my brothers have dreads so I know this...man!

I'm used to seeing ppl with their faux dreads looking like this...

Not bad looking by far. But i kinda want my hair to look a little more authentic.

Well, a discussion with a framily member (stole that term, but it fits) and he is so not about non-black people having dreads for cultural reasons. I, on the other hand, think it's dope when cultures and traditions and arts cross the color lines. This may be because i'm mixed with so many things and the sharing and embracing of cultures is what my family is made of.. but whatevs. The discussuion re-sparked my need for a head full of realistic yet removable dreads... like... i want my hair to look kinda cool and funky with a hint of earthiness... i want to look how i feel inside... and i really like the way i see punk girls freak their dreads... for example...

You see? It's stylish and fun and looks dressed up instead of being all the way earthy and dressed down... i like these because i feel like this is what i would look like if i could just commit to the dread head... but wait... is that top pic.. Sokolum?.. One of my fav girls to follow on ig because of her makeup looks?... And did i just see her post that her dreads are from icy dreads ? Wait... so... they look like real hair (colorful, but real) and... they're not growing from her head?... whaaaaaaat?!?!
So i checked them out and then, even better, learned how to make them myself... a bit time consuming, but worth it since the install is pretty simple and the materials are extra cheap. So... i had some leftover braid hair from my box braids and i tried the process out, just to see if i could do it and achieve a natural looking dread... SUCCESS!...

So, I'm going to refresh my red with my adore hair color, get some braid hair that matches, make a thousand dreads in my free time, and get it started! I'm beyond excited to look like this from behind....

So yea, next mission in this hair journey of mine is in full swing.. stay tuned...

Lady in Red!

Hey! You may have noticed that I took a little break... ok a big break. I'm pregnant.. AGAIN and I just haven't been.. feeling it. I haven't been wearing makeup or doing anything grand with myself for the last couple of months, but I have been keeping busy with prom clients, graduation clients, birthday girls and I even hosted a mini makeup class... should be doing more of those because it was so fun!
Well, I got fed up with how blah I looked and I desperately needed a change. But what? What could I alter that would change my whole look?... hmm... MY HAIR!!! Not that i'm not still madly in love with blonde, but it just got a bit mundane for me. It was too me, if that makes sense. So I decided that I wanted to go red.. not all the way red, red that would ombre into blonde at the ends.. sounds wondrous right?

So here's the deal, I found this dye that looked like my dream color. Tectures and Tones in Intense Red. Sold!.. but, although the ombre effect came out perfect, the red was NOT intense at all. I was a bit heartbroken. I was sure the color would be great since my hair was blonde and didn't need to be lifted.. I was wrong and I got a dull, brownish red. I did some research and found that a semi-permanent hair color could save the day. I found one that looked like it would do the job, got some protective gloves and ran home to fix this mess before the fourth of july weekend ensued.
I washed my hair, towel dried it, as instructed and allowed it to air dry a little... because I do have children that I have to tend to. Then I proceeded to section my hair into 5 sections, rubber banded the stopping point of the red, just as I had when I dyed it the first time, slathered Adore hair color in Crimson all over from roots to rubber bands, threw on a plastic cap and blow dried it for a few minutes. I let my hair sit in the cap for about 45 minutes, I think before washing the color out....
So as i'm washing the color out, I notice that the dye seems to be staining my blonde hair.. the hair that needed to stay blonde! I washed it a good three times before giving up... I have an amazing head of red hair... with pink ends instead of blonde. Can we say FAIL?! I wasn't sure how I felt about it so I let it dry.. and it wasn't bad. But I wasn't quite in love yet.

There you have it folks! My short, yet emotional journey to becoming a red head. I must admit, i never would have thought to try red with pink ends, but i do love it!
Once i curled it, and got some makeup on, i felt like a new woman and my old self at the same time. It was a great feeling. I'm standing out in a way i like and i don't feel like i look boring. I'm going to enjoy this red for a while, then i think i'll move on to purple.. yes, i said purple! I'll definitely will make my way back to blonde one day.. blonde will always have my heart.

Speaking of makeup... Let's do a quit makeup rundown...
i used a deep red lip liner from avon (that's a thousand years old) on my brows to make them match my new red doo. Foundation: Mary Kay Time Wise Matte Wear Liquid Foundation in Bronze 5 (i got a tan). On the lids, i used a few colors from my new Coastal Scents Revealed 2 pallet, a blue shimmer pigment at the inner corners, Wet n Wild gel eyeliner pot, and some random lashes that i can't recall the name of. I used my Coastal Scents Camoflage pallet to highlight and Black Opal pressed powder in... deepest espresso?... to contour, Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Golden Copper and Cherry Blossom on my cheeks, Covergirl Mineral Loose powder bronzer in number... 425..? And i mixed a pale pink and nude lipstick from Wet n Wild on my lips... also.. i realize that i suck at knowing my product names off the top of my head... i apologize.

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Laziness Can Really Get You Places... Right?

Ok look... i spend 13+hrs out of the house, 5/6 days a week. And doing my makeup in the car is all fine and dandy, but sometimes (more often than not, lately) i just wanna say "who tf cares?!" And do nothing with this mugg of mine. I do love keeping it simple aka lazy at times, and just doing foundation, blush, mascara and lipstick/lipgloss.. but then again, sometimes i don't want to wear foundation. So i started wearing a bb cream.. and that was grand... but then baseball season started and although i got the darkest color available (i know, i know, a fancy red bone like me? Darkest?) I had gotten tanned enough to look crazy in my bb cream. Welp, too bad nobody makes a bb or cc cream in my color... ooh! And with an spf, since i'm out in the sun for baseball practices and games...
Oh wait...
Mary Kay does!!!

Mary Kay CC cream with spf 15! It's pret-ty amazing. Now, just a heads up, if you're darker than me... the struggle continues, because the darkest shade (Deep) is an EXACT match on my skin.. like... the PERFECT match. Great news for me and ppl with my skintone and lighter..  not so great news for darkertoned dazzlers. But don't worry, i'm sure this is only the beginning... well, pretty sure.
Inside Tip: if you're looking for the same effect, mix your shade of MK foundation with the MK broad spectrum spf face primer.

Back to the magic. I normally don't like most spf products on my face because they feel heavy. But MK is known for their light-weight spf products, plus the color looked spot on so i had to try it. Needless to say, at this point in my rambling, that i am very happy with this product! It goes on and rubs in easily, and once it sets, (which takes like.. a minute, tops) it is WEIGHTLESS. I don't feel like i'm wearing anything at all! Not only does it even out my complexion, it protects from sun damage (the leading cause of premature aging) AND it gives my face this... glow... my skin just looks radiant. . And i love that!

Now, these photos are taken with no flash and natural sunlight. (Gotta love having a sunroof). The left is me with no makeup at all. The second is me with the Mary Kay CC cream on. Not super heavy, as you can see. My skin is just more even and, can you see the glowy-ness? The right photo is after adding a little MK Mineral Cheek Color in both Golden Copper and Cherry Blossom, some Ultimate Mascara and a light layer of MK Cream Lipstick in Merlot that's been blotted... and that's it! A good, glowy look that shows that i did put some effort into my face, without having to bust out a thousand products! WINNING!!!
Anyhoo, just wanted to share this gem of a product with you.

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The Circle of Life... The Blonde Life

I have been an advocate of blonde hair for a while now. I've shared my journey to the lightest of blondes (so far) as well as my efforts to keep my goldie locks from falling out of my head... 

You may have noticed a bit of... growth on some of my more recent posts, and that would be due to me ... *pause for effect*.... GETTING A WEEEEAVE!!! I hadn't had a weave since before i gave birth to my second child 3.5 years ago! It was grand, i loved it, i bought... not expensive hair, i loved it, curled it, straightened it, took it out, put it back in, braided it, flipped it, tossed it, damaged it, hated it and took it out again... it was a fun 2 months. And now that i know that my life is more complete with longer blonde hair, i am saving for some good quality naturally blonde hair so i know it's not as damaged... i am also considering a wig so i can totally leave my hair alone. In the few weeks after taking my weave out, i decided that i would let my hair grow out and stop with the murderous coloring... i've also stood in the hair color isle at both walgreens and target and stared longingly at my beloved feria platinum hair color.

Aaaanyhoo, in an attempt to keep my hair even healthier than before, i got a little more serious about keeping my hair moisturized and braiding it in order to get bouncy hair that looks like it's been styled... my hair in it's natural state is straight/wavy in the front, curly in the back and frizzy in the middle... it's less than amazing. But, after washing, conditioning and applying a little oil, i put 2 braids in my wet hair, one on each side like so....

...and let it dry completely (usually overnight) and  it ends up looking EXTRA fancy! Like this...

And if you're wondering if i cropped these photos because of blemishes or because i didn't like the way my face looked.... You're right! I can be fairly vain at times.. big surprise!

Here's me with the best shot of my face... not the greatest shot of the hair...

Not too shabby right? It looks shorter than usual, but i guess that's what u can expect with curlier hair. For some ppl, this is just regular old curly hair. But to me, and others with multi-textured hair, this is dreamy! Ha! I was even asked if i had curled my hair with a wand... Success! 

Welp, my hair journey continues on. Hopefully my next hair post will include an extravagant weave or wig and photos that lead u to believe that i could be related to blacc chyna.

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