How To Rock The RED Lip!

Ok ladies, how many of you have seen the Kardashians with their gorgeous long hair, flawless skin, rockin' bodies AND bright red lips? I am sure you have thought to yourself, "Wow. I love that look but I have no idea how to pull it off.". Well lucky for you I am a freelance makeup artist and I am going to break it down for you. Simple and flawless! So, here we go...

First thing you need to understand is that to pull off a red lip, it has to be the focus of the look. For example, you wouldn't want heavy eye makeup AND a red lip. That's too much, your face isn't a coloring book. The idea is to add a pop of color on your lips and neutralize your other facial features.

To begin, start with what I call a "blank canvas". As you can see this is me with literally no makeup on, just moisturizer (daily moisturizer is vital for healthy skin). Don't judge me, it takes guts to put your face on the internet with NO MAKEUP! :)

After you are properly moisturized you want to apply your mascara and foundation. I use Covergirl Lash Blast Volume in Black for my lashes. I use Almay Mineral Powder in medium. The mineral powder offers a very light and natural finish. Again, the idea is to keep everything toned down so the lips will POP! I also use a bit of bronzer on my cheekbones, blending from the outside inward to give my cheeks definition. I use Physicians Formula bronzer. Below you will see my cheeks have definition and my face looks natural. This is what I call, the base.

Next you want to focus on the eyes. As I said before you want to keep your features neutralized but you can still define them. I LOVE pairing a clean black liner with the red lip. It's very Marilyn Monroe :) The idea is to define the shape of the eye but keep it clean and use neutral colors. Below I have just finished lining my eyes. Before that I use Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer. Then I use Rimmel Exaggerate liner in black.

Next you want to add depth to the eyes and highlight the brows. I use a very light brown for my base eyeshadow, a darker brown for the crease, and a shimmer gold applied just below the brow. I apply very light coats of all three colors. The point is to add depth not to make the eyes heavy. Keep it light! I use Urban Decay's Naked palette for this step. See below my eyes look natural but a little more defined.

Then style your hair as normal, again keep it simple!

Next comes the LIPS! I use Revlon Colorstay. First I apply the color and wait until it's completely dry then I apply the clear gloss that comes with it. This seals in the color for up to 16 hours! Amazing!

And that is how you rock the RED lip!

I hope you ladies enjoyed this. Now go put your heels on and RED lip and have some fun!!

Abigail

Love and Let Go

"Sometimes when you love something you really do have to let it go. If it's meant to be, it will. It doesn't mean you give up or lose hope. It simply means you give it the room it needs to happen at the right time."

The above quote is one of my most recent Facebook statuses. I thought I would elaborate on it.

This quote was written with respect to love.

Relationships are not perfect, I think everyone can agree on that. I believe that there are certain situations in which time and space need to be taken into consideration. As women we can get so caught up in the love story and just the idea of being in a relationship. It can take us on an emotional roller coaster. We want it all and we want it now. When you get to a certain point in your life when you are ready to settle down you just don't want to wait anymore. After all, many of us just spend so much of our lives desiring to be in love and to find "the one". But it doesn't always work out that way.

Men are much different in their thought process. Often times it isn't until much later in life that men decide they want to settle down and even when they do make that decision, it isn't one they want to rush. This can create a bit of a problem when you get two people together with completely different views on what the pace of the relationship should be. The crazy part is that both parties often have the same goal, it's the speed to reach it that differs.  

When you get into a relationship where a man wants a slower pace the best thing for the woman to do is back off. Like the quote says, this isn't meant to say you give up and move on. It means you give him space, after all he needs to be the one doing the pursuing. Let him lead the chase and follow his pace. Let him know that you're still there but you aren't going to be the one pushing the relationship to that next level. Men really do enjoy being the leaders, so let them do it. Enjoy it! When we get so caught up in where the relationship is and how to define it we lose sight of what really matters. Just enjoy life and the fact that there's a man in your life that does care enough not to jump too far ahead too fast. There is a difference between taking your time in a relationship and commitment issues...and that is another blog in itself.

In conclusion, don't over analyze and don't overthink it ladies. If it is meant to be it will happen, allow space for the relationship to grow on it's own without the pressure. Keep loving yourself and keep believing in love. Don't give up, just give it some room. And if in the end the man doesn't lead the chase, then you know it wasn't meant to be. If a man really loves you he will pursue you, but you have to let him in order to truly know.

Abigail



Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Well here it goes...

My name is Abigail. I live in the beautiful city of Virginia Beach. I am within one mile of the beach and I love it! I am the mother of a beautiful little girl. Her name is Dylan Elaine and she is my world! Right now she is 15 months old. She is walking, talking and really becoming quite the little diva :) I work a full time job and I am always on mommy duty so I stay very busy.

I am starting this blog because I have realized that I often times use social media websites as a means of venting. And while I believe I have every right to post my personal opinions on what is made to be a private site it's still easy accessible to too many close friends and family. Sometimes I just want to vent or share my opinion without every person on my contacts list reading and responding. So here I am, beginning my journey in the open waters of the blogging world. Here's to a successful reader's list!