Dare to Bare

Can I just confess something here?

I love - LOVE - looking at photos of "celebrities without makeup." 

No, I'm not proud. I judge. I totally do. 

But I'm going to stop that - stop judging the celebrities and my fellow "real girls" who don't have an army of makeup artists or photoshop experts to take us from "ordinary" to "Ooh-la-la!" In this photograph, I haven't even brushed my teeth or ran a comb through my tangled, bedhead locks. My friends, here I am:  acne scars, under-eye circles, moles and all. Au naturale, as those chic French people say. 

Honestly, this picture was scary to take. We all want bigger eyes, higher cheekbones and glossier lips. But at some point, we have to look at ourselves and accept ourselves as is. I have never seen a makeup free picture of myself that I actually liked. 

But this is me. Almond-eyed, short lashed, tangled hair and pale. The way God made me. 

So today, I dare to bare.

'do the wave

Dear Readers, I've been absent from my blog, but I've been busy, you see. But I'm back, in significantly-less-than-full force. But here I am. Here I go.

When I was 6 years old, I was in the car with my aunt, who has beautiful, curly blonde hair. I asked her, "Do you like your hair?" She told me it was okay, she learned to like it. I then asked her, "Do you ever wish you had hair like mine? It's so straight and shiny!" She sighed, laughed, and explained, "Yes, Rachal. All the time." As solemnly and seriously as my smug confident self could, I explained to her that both my mom and I had really beautiful hair, and I could see why she would want hair like mine.

Ah, to be 6 years old and completely self-assured in my natural beauty. But alas! I now suffer from serious curl envy. (Sorry, Aunt Heidi!)

But, ladies, listen to me! I have found the secret of beautiful wavy hair, and it was so simple - a diffuser! Yes, even on straight hair like mine, it gave me the big, sexy hair I'd been lusting after. Check it out!

After drying my hair with a diffuser, I went back and scrunched my hair with Garnier Fructis Surf Paste and Aussie "Sprunch!" Voila! No further tools needed. 

So ladies, what do you think?

The Chapstick/Lipstick/Lipgloss That I Am Now Obsessed With

Confession: I am a hoarder.

Not the kind of hoarder that needs to go on TLC and be watched by crazy people like my little mama (hi, Mom!). I don't think.

No, I have a very specific hoarding problem: the makeup kind.

Fortunately for me, there are a whole slew of terms that may be substituted for the dreaded label of "makeup hoarder": "beauty junkie," "girly girl," and, (for us cheapie makeup hoarders), "drugstore diva." Just to name a few. I generally get my fix at Rite Aid because (1) they always have sales and (2) they have a no questions asked return policy on makeup!!

And this, my dear ladies, is my newest obsession.

Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm

It's a nifty little beautifying product by Neutrogena. I am a long time Neutrogena fan. I use their Healthy Makeup foundation (and I think I even made a convert out of my big sis - getting her to switch from Laura Mercier to this drugstore favorite was quite an accomplishment), the Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector, Healthy Volume mascara (sometimes, when it makes it back into rotation) and now, this lovely product in Sunny Berry.

Why I love it: it's soooooo moisturizing, it gives enough color that you can wear it alone with a bit of mascara, but subtle enough that it won't compete with a daytime smoky eye. Tell me what you think!

Warning: You'll have to excuse my duck face. And the fact that it's taken in the car. And that I'm wearing shades. It's 8 in the morning, it's finals week, and I'm currently sitting in Starbucks working on my take home exam. Obviously. But this little tube of awesomeness makes it all just a little bit better.

Nail Art! And they both involve glitter!

I am just all too excited about all the fun nail art that's been happening these days. I've always been a nail devotee - when I was young, adorable and Tommy Hilfiger obsessed clad, I would paint tiny TH flags on my nails. Or, back when I was a bull pup at North Bend Junior High, I painted my nails gold with blue paws on them! Sounds cute, right?

Sigh. No amount of conservative legal education and surroundings could beat that obsession out of me. As you likely know from my last post, I'm always looking for new ways to infuse a little fun, color, and general girliness into my life. The two-tone trend was easy to do and copy (I hope!). These are just *slightly* more difficult, but the effect is awesome! 

Look 1: Sparkly Ombre Nails 

I love my ombre hair. I can scarcely imagine having hair that is the same color from roots to tip! With that in mind, I created these ombre nails.

It's fun without being too crazy (the nails, not me)

You like? If so, here's how! (sorry I didn't take a picture of what I used, but the colors are very basic). I covered the whole nail in a super pale, glossy pink. Then, I painted a darker pink stripe horizontally in the middle of the nail, like so.

It's very easy to do

After both layers are mostly dry, I painted the top half of the stripe and the uncovered top of my nail (sort of like a French manicure, but with a lot less precision) with pink glitter, like so:

See how it seems to fade from pale pink to darker sparkly pink?

Pretty cute, huh? 

Look 2: The Blackberry Manicure

Have you guys heard of this? It's where you paint your thumbs a different color or give them a little extra pizzazz. It's called "The Blackberry Manicure" because people who have blackberries are constantly using their thumbs to text! And if you're going to spend all that time staring down at the shortest, fattest finger, doesn't common sense just demand that they deserve a little extra special attention and bling? Of course! So, check it out!

Sparkles Galore! Please don't examine my cuticles!!

What I used, from left to right:
OPI Austin-Tatious Turquoise
OPI Shimmer & Simmer
LA Colors Art Deco Black
LA Colors Art Deco Silver Glitter
Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat

Apparently these nails make me feel fierce and dorkylicious.

The How-To: Obviously fingers 2-5 are quite easy. I painted them with one thin coat of Austin-Tatious Turquoise and then two layers (for extra sparkles!) of Shimmer & Simmer. For the thumb, I painted two layers of Austin-Tatious. After it dries, I used the LA Colors (with the super skinny brush - makes it much, much easier) and painted two diagonal black lines. I carefully filled in the space with the LA Colors Glitter. Bam! If you don't like the blue/stripes/glitter combo, you can easily have a "Blackberry Manicure" by (1) painting your thumbs a different color (2) painting your thumbs with glitter and leaving the rest "normal" (3) drawing a design (4) putting a little jewel on your thumb nail. 

Readers: What do you think? Do you like either of these looks? Too silly/juvenile for you? Or just really fun?!

The How To: Two-Tone Nail Trend Alert

I love nail polish. It makes me feel pretty and cool and it lets me wear colors I never would be able to otherwise. Neon yellow? Bring it on!

Lately the two-tone nails are all the rage. There is a crescent moon shape at the bottom of the nail in one color, and then another color on top. Check it out! 

Of course, being a total trendoid, I had no choice but to try it out for myself. This is what I came up with: 

What do you think? Cute, no? I think it's perfect for an evening look - law prom, here I come! It's actually really, really easy to create yourself. Here are my tools: 

The bottom color: "Gold Mine" by Revlon

The top color: "The One that Got Away" by Katy Perry for OPI 

And, of course, my trusty top coat!

I used the gold first and let it dry completely. Then I used these little dot sticker label things and put them on the bottom of my nail to serve as a stencil. Topped it off with just one coat of "The One that Got Away." Can't forget the top coat and then - voila!! - you're done. 

Readers: Do you like it? Do you think it's weird? What do you think about the whole nail art trend? 

'do the shag

If you've opened up any fashion magazine in the past 6 months or so, you'll know that the 70's are back in a big way. Skinny jeans are being replaced with flares, stilettos with wedges, and big chunky necklaces with long sleek ones. Ladies are foregoing straightening irons in favor of their natural texture. I, for one, could not be more thrilled. I'm currently wearing super flares jean with clogs, a loose striped sweater, a long gold and red necklace and... I'm 'doing the shag.

My routine: 

1. I towel dry my hair then put it in one of those hair towel-turban things (I love those!) while I do my makeup

2. Take it out of the turban then comb it with a wide tooth comb (your hair is weakest when it's wet - use a comb, not a brush)

3. (this step is a very recent addition, but I LOVE it) Put a dime sized amount of Organix Moroccan Hair Oil through the lower half of my hair

4. Blow dry my bangs. Let the rest air dry.

Couldn't be easier. Thank you 1973! 

The At-Home-Mani Must Have

Today I’d like to take a brief moment to hail the wonders and magical powers of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

This stuff is AMAZING. It’s an at-home-manicure total game changer. Let me tell you why: 

1. It almost instantaneously dries your nails. One swish of the top coat, wait 60 seconds, and you should be good to go, even if you’ve put several layers of nail polish underneath. Just to check its wonders, after painting my nails with 3 layers of paint and then topping it with the Seche Vite top coat, I waited a minute and then pressed my nails into the couch to see if it would make any fabric impressions - it didn't! 
2.  It makes your mani last! I test-drove this stuff for 7 days on my nail polish – I remained completely chip free! It probably could’ve gone longer, but I was getting anxious to switch to a new color.

WARNING: The state of California warns that this may cause birth defects, so if you’re preggers, stay away (doesn’t this make you wonder what the state of California knows that the rest of the country doesn’t?) It kinda smells like paint thinner.

Totally worth the $9.95. Awesome! 

Best Drugstore Mascaras

To my 4 loyal followers, I apologize. I haven't blogged in quite some time. Winter leaves me completely uninspired, and I find myself wearing some version of the same thing everyday: skinny jeans, sweater, scarf, and flats. But the little groundhog told me that spring is well on its way, giving me hope that I will soon be able to release my beautiful collection of awe-inspiring, and currently dust covered, sandals; that I will once again be able to channel the bo-chicness of a flower adorned tank and twirly maxi skirt. Alas, the blinding sun and lovely blue sky keeps fooling me into believing that spring is just around the corner; the 40 degree temperature brings me back to reality.

And that, dear followers, is why I haven't been able to write. Today, I start anew. And since my fashion has been suffering, I'm taking a different route and I'm going to let you in on something that is very near and dear to my heart: best drugstore mascaras for those suffering from serious lash envy.

#1: Maybelline Falsies

Why you should love it: it's in a super pretty purple bottle, it lengthens like you wouldn't believe, even the non-waterproof version stays on through an intense, sweaty workout, it magically makes your eyelashes appear longer, even after you've removed it

Why you *might* not love it: it's a very "wet" formula

#2: Cover Girl Lash Blast

For makeup lovers, this pick should come as no surprise. When Drew Barrymore batted those lovely eyelashes while swearing this mascara did the trick, many of us immediately rushed to the nearest drugstore to find the magic orange tube with the interesting plastic wand.

Why you should love it: Drew Barrymore loves it, the plastic wand keeps you from getting any clumps everywhere, it volumizes, keeps your lashes awesomely separated without being "spider like"

Why you *might* not love it: it is not a lengthener, after a couple weeks after opening the bottle, it starts to flake

#3: Neutrogena Healthy Volume 

Why you should love it: if you're in need of some serious volume, this will give it to you. The big fluffy brush coats every lash, it's perfect for daytime wear because it gives you a "soft" look, it's very similar to Dior Show mascara

Why you *might* not love it: some find the giant brush to be difficult to use without getting it on your eyelid

#4: L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion

Why you should love it: it separates your lashes like no other brush can thanks to the tiny, innovative mascara brush, it gives you the ultimate "doe-eyed" look

Why you *might* not love it: it takes a while to use because it can only grab a few lashes at a time, it's slightly awkward to use

#5: Rimmel Sexy Curves

Why you should love it: it curls your lashes without needing an eyelasher curler, it doesn't clump, makes them very "plump"

Why you *might* not love it: the formula is thin, so it takes more than one coat, it is definitely NOT smudge proof