Snow Blooms

SNOW BLOOMS: Blue floral denim and snowflakes

Flowers in the snow: it seemed like a fun idea! In reality, the harsh Michigan wind and constant snowflakes were BRUTAL for photographing outside. Being that I hate the cold weather AND indoor photography, you might be piecing together why you haven't seen much of me lately! But rest assured...I've still been thrifting, hoarding and styling...and I'll be giving you a sneak peak into some of the thrift treasures I saw while out and about on a recent trip to Tennessee in tomorrow's blog!

Today's outfit is 100% thrifted: the dark blue fitted floral jeans, vintage brown and black suede zip up blazer, vintage wicker handbag and heels were all thrift store finds totaling no more than $10 for the entire ensemble! I really love blue, black and brown together because I feel it's so unexpected.  The cheap purple statement ring was a dollar treasure that seems (oddly enough) to go with everything I wear! Do you have a piece of jewelry like that? Leave a comment below and tell me about it!

What do you think of my smoky eye makeup? Let me fill you in on a few of my tips and tricks:

This is the basic technique I used, though I substituted more of a neutral/nude tone for shimmery peaches and whites, and blended with grey/black. Basically, I changed the color palette and also went for shimmer rather than a matte look. However, I used the same basic shading/liner techniques shown below. (Click the image to view the blog/tutorial at Style'n).

What I've learned over the years:

1. Do your eye makeup first. Sometimes it can be difficult to get a feel for whether or not you "love" what you've done with your eyes when the rest of your face is naked. To be honest, for many years, it was the opposite of how I did my makeup. I mean, who doesn't start with base first? However, when you are working with high pigments and amounts of liner/shadow, especially contouring with black, it WILL get everywhere and ruin the base you have.  Do yourself a favor and do your eye makeup first...but leave your mascara for VERY last, so it doesn't get powder/blush/etc on it.

2. Get brushes. If you want a "pro" look, you'll need brushes for application and especially a blending brush! I honestly can't live without any of my eye/eyebrow brushes (especially my exacto brush for eyebrow shadow application) and I only spent about ten dollars on all of them together, because I use E.L.F brand. They are synthetic hair but an amazing value for the price and my brushes have held up now for THREE FULL YEARS through washings, which is truly spectacular when you consider they were only one dollar a peice!

3. Don't get hung up on expensive shadow if you can't afford it. There's honestly no doubt that some brands like MAC have THE BEST eyeshadow...it's true! And some "dollar store" brands are absolutely awful. However, if you are looking for high pigment brands that are actually cheap AND work well, I'd suggest the following: Wet n' Wild Color Icon eyeshadow kits (very high pigment and great contouring powders), N.Y.C., and L.A. Colors shimmering loose eyeshadow with brush.  I also really like E.L.F. eyeshadow.  I have an eyebrow shadow kit by NYX Cosmetics that is fabulous and only cost around three dollars. I don't do falsies (fake lashes are way to much work for me and I'm terrible at applying them) and I love my drugstore mascara: L'oreal Voluminous is honestly my favorite brand ever! For black liner, I prefer Mary Kay for my cream liner and I really love my InColor Fabuliner liquid eyeliner pen as well. Another product that I can highly recommend is the E.L.F. eyeshadow primer! And finally...one of my best tips is to try creating your own eyeshadow creams. In order to get extra "oomph" and staying power from some of my less expensive eyeshadows, I will sometimes create a basic cream from the powder using simply water or a bit of my favorite moisturizer that I know is safe for the eye area. Try it out!