Shalonda A.: 2012

Higration Nation

With summer gone and fall almost out the door winter is soon approaching! With winter comes dry, cold, air which can cause havoc on the skin. If you pay attention to your skin you will notice that it is not as oily as it was during warmer weather. I myself have very oily skin and I am always surprised when I see flaking as the weather changes. There are several steps you can take so you will have beautiful skin year round. The suggestions are from personal experience as well as advice from a professional esthetician Catina Jariett owner The Beauty Room Skin and Body Care www.thebeautyroomskincare.com. Below you will see examples of products that give you a price point from high to low. You can find your own skin care I just put up some examples along with products I use and work for me.

Cleansers

I have found that what I wash my face with during the summer might be a little too cleansing for winter months. You never want to wash all the natural oils from your skin but during the summer you do want your skin to feel cleaner, but during winter it does not take much to clean and dry your skin out. I always recommend cleansing products that are free of soap (seeing soap is a detergent and can strip your skin of all its natural oils) cleansing milks and cream washes are good products to use they are soap free and hydrating to the skin.

Toners

This is a personal decision as far as I am concerned. I do not use toner on a daily basis I find myself using it only when I do my makeup. If you feel using a toner is necessary for your skin keep it up just make sure you are using a toner that is alcohol free. If you find your skin getting dryer with the use of your toner then you should stop the use until the weather warms up.

Moisturizers

With our skin getting dryer in the winter months

changing your moisteriser is a good idea. Choose a moisturizer that is richer than the moisturizer you used during the summer. Night creams are a good idea for the nourishment of your skin also. Remember to make sure your moisturizer has a spf of at least 15 for daily use even though snow might be falling and clouds are in the sky UV rays still come through and attack the skin.

Visiting your esthetician regularly and drinking plenty of water with the steps mentions above will ensure your skin looking it's healthiest throughout this winter

Sephora and MUA Haul!

Ok, I THINK I over did it today but I have to say everything was a DEAL! I was in Makeup heaven and I am still on my high hours later.

Here is my latest Haul from Sephora and MUA (Makeup Artist Professional). Items listed below with photo and prices.

Total Haul

SEPHORA BY IZAK

Saw this palette and fell in LOVE! It runs about $30.00 and the colors are so beautiful one set has more warm tones (gold)

Second set is more cool tones (pinky) they will both come in handy stay tuned for looks!

SEPHORA ILLUMINATRICE

Sephora Illuminatrice Compacte (Golden) - $5.00 SALE

Sephora Illuminatrice Conpacte (Pink) - $5.00 SALE

I cannot wait to use both Illuminators they are so soft (as you can see by product on my finger) I might get more use out of the Gold for now but the pink won't be left out!

PRISIMA CROME SHADOWS

Prisma Crome Burgundy Gem N045 - $5.00 SALE

Prisma Crome Moon Beam N005 $15.00 Reg Price

Prisma Crome Gold Reflection N020 - $5.00 SALE

Prisma Crome Moon Glow N035 -$5.00 SALE

Prisma Crome Dazzle N018 - $5.00 SALE

Prisma Crome Emerald Facet N025 - $5.00 SALE

I blogged about Prisma Crome shadows a couple of months ago I am addicted now seeing some of them where on sale I had to get more! Use them wet or dry wetting your brush will make the color more intense!

SEPHORA SHARPENERS

Clear Pencil Sharpener - $3.00

Dual Pencil Sharpener - $5.00

SEPHORA BROW PENCIL

While in Sephora I was eyeing the Anastasia brow pencil retailed at $20.00 I have been contemplation getting one when I ran out of my DIOR Universal Brow Pencil but sadly they were out. The sales lady directed me to their Sephora line that they just started carrying and it worked and looked just like the DIOR and the Anastasia pencils almost half the cost! They have a nice variety of colors and if they work the way I hope they work I will be getting them all! I was so excited seeing I am all about the brows I can't wait to try this out! I like how thin it is so I can precisely draw hairs in the brow but the end that has that weird comb??? That thing (and yes I mean thing that is all you can call it) hurts Oh and did I mention they are WATERPROF!!!! I will be posting photos soon as I find a good subject.

Sephora Retractable Eyebrow Pencil retails for $12.00

All items can be found at www.sephora.com or any local Sephora store, if you don't see sale items ask sales person to check in the back. I had to ask and found a treasure of deals! I think the makeup on sale is being discontinued so if you like you better get!

MUA (Makeup Artist Professional)

Eyeshadow Palettes

top to bottom to the right

Poptastic Palette - US $6.21

Heaven and Earth Palette - US $6.21

Pretty Pasteles 4 pounds - US $6.21

Mini Master Class - US $6.21

Going for Gold - FREE with purchase of 2 or more palettes

I learned about these palettes through my favorite YouTube makeup artist Pixiwoo sisters Samantha and Nicola Chapman www.pixiwoo.com. I really love these palettes they are highly pigmented and smoothed coverage! MUA products can be purchased thru their website www.muastore.co.uk or www.superdrug.com. I purchased mine thru MUA store and they are really timely on the delivery too!

The View From Here!

Take a look at hair done by Meatta B and makeup done by me the looks taken from magazines and recreated for beautiful everyday women.

Before

Brow Bleaching

Lipstick change

Test, Test, Test!

I am getting back into the saddle so to say and getting my feet wet! I have not done a shoot for my book in some time now but here I go!

First shoot is with model Kate with Affiliated Group, hair by Meatta B., photography by Dante Marshall, and makeup by Me Shalonda A. These are just the bts photos still awaiting the finished product!

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

This is the second shoot we worked on more edgy. Model Cara from Affiliated Group, hair Meatta B, photography Dante Marshall, and makeup me Shalonda A.

Look 1

Look 2

Look 3

Color Fusion

Hot pinks with Biker Babe hair makes for a fun summer! The look was so much fun I used white frost on the inner corner with a soft pink in the center with a shocking pink on the ends also a little purple was blended on the bottom finishing up with liner and half lashes. The lips where kept soft and glossy I wanted the focus to say on the eyes. For information on hair please follow Meatta B on instagram! To see more photos of my world of makeup join my blog and follow me on instagram as well!

Thank you to my beautiful niece Michaela

Hair by none other than Meatta B, Makeup Shalonda A.

Sleek Blush By 3!!!!

I am always in the mood to buy makeup, no I might not need it but just maybe it could make my life better! So while searching one of my favorite makeup sites www.sleekmakeup.com I came across a new product they where featuring...something I didn't have from Sleek that I wanted. Sleek has come out with the wonderful palette blush colors three colors in each palette named Blush BY 3. They are so beautiful and the pigmentation is out of this world!! I am never disappointed with most of Sleeks makeup products and with Blush by 3 I am their product junkie for life! They have five palettes named, Pink Sprint, Sugar, Flame, Lace and Pumpkin. I purchased 4 of the five as you can see here. If you love blush this is a great product to try!

Colors shown: Pink Sprint, Sugar, Pumpkin, and Lace

Here Sugar should have been called Brown Sugar! I love the colors they are just beautiful for women of color.

My Favorite is Pink Sprint this is a great combination of pinks and plums I have used the middle color as an eye color as well.

Pumpkin is a wild card the bright oranges and baby doll pink is to die for!

Lace is probably the most versatile palette I find this to be my go to palette. Its warm colors almost match every complexion.

Now Sleek is a UK based makeup brand so you will be paying overseas shipping which is $10.00 and the blush palettes are $15.99 each. I always suggest getting everything you want at once so you can get the most out of that shipping price I am sure you will find more to buy!!

Doll Eyes!

There are many great spring/summer makeup trends and one that stands out to me are the Louis Vuitton 2012 Spring/Summer runway show the look is called "Doll Eyes". This look calls for the eyes to look very "flirty" eyes with lashes for days! Here I used the so cute Sidney she had the perfect face and brows (everyone knows I love a good set of BROWS). I wanted to make the look more wearable so I choose to use lashes that were a little tamer. Hair was done by none other than Meatta B.

"Doll Eyes"

Prep clean up brows

Completed look

The Star In You!

I Recently collaborated with my great friend hairstylist Meatta B on a small project to take celebrities looks and redo them on everyday women! Meatta and I had so much fun working on this project we will be posting more redo's some will consist of Trends, popular looks and product reviews please stay tuned! We both would like to thank our models Barbara Tina Gonzalez, Tisha Parker, and Elly Strzalkowski you were all such good sports!

This first look came from the Oscars Red Carpet with Milla Jovovich and Elly was the perfect person for this look! Don't you Think???