.:Best Makeup Wipes Ever:.

     Everyone knows how much I love to talk all things makeup, but, I also enjoy talking about skincare as well. I got my estheticians license back when I was having problems with my skin and thought it would be great to learn more about it and apply to what I was doing, which of course, is makeup! Honest Beauty has recently launched and even though I haven't tried their cosmetics, I've tried their 3-in-1 facial towelettes and they are AWESOME! Usually, when I remove my makeup with wipes, one, it doesn't take everything off, and two, my face feels extremely dry and even starts to flake. Ps-I have eczema, so my skin is extremely fickle. 

     I have been playing with a lot of Halloween makeup ideas the past few weeks which call for liquid latex, spirit gum, nose and scar wax, and fake blood, along with all my regular makeup used with it. After I put my festive and creepy Halloween face on one night, I thought, how the eff am I going to get all this off. Mind you, I was also wearing a lot of waterproof makeup as well. Then I remembered I had my wipes! They literally took EVERYTHING off!!! And even better, my face felt great after! I didn't have that tight, dry feeling! I definitely recommend them and they're super affordable! $6.95! Give em a shot and let me know how you like em!

Cheers!

lashes! Lashes!! LASHES!!!

Lashes! What can I say other than they look fantastic! However, I know a lot of people have sensitive eyes, want to rip them off halfway through the night, are afraid of them falling off, want to go for a more natural look, struggle to get them on, etc., etc. So my point of this post is to give you another option for a slightly more dramatic eye without the weight and struggle of strip lashes.

   Some people have no problem wearing strip and lashes and that's awesome! For others (like myself), the tiniest weight on the eyes can drive them crazy . Don't get me wrong, I'll definitely do it for the love of makeup, but I won't be in love with the feeling of it. If you're in the same boat as me, I most definitely recommend using flares. Flares are false lashes in small clusters, as opposed to an entire strip that's connected. I use those to bump up my look and believe me when I say, it feels no different than wearing mascara. It gives a natural pizazz! I've used them on clients and they would definitely vouch for them!

Here's a comparison of lashes: (Sorry for the not-so-clear pic. I definitely need to get a camera.)

Here are the lashes and tools I used for application: (Tweezers, lashes, and eyelash glue)

Here's a picture that's a little further away so you can have a better look:

The application is fairly easy, but like a lot of things, might take a little practice to perfect. Here's my method...I curl my lashes and apply mascara. You can go with as much or as little as you like. Let the mascara dry. I put a little dab of glue on a clean surface, then use the tweezers to hold the flares. I hold the tip of the lashes with the tweezer and dip the base of the lashes in the glue. I like to let the glue sit on the lashes for a few seconds before applying. It lets the glue get tacky and makes it easier to stick. Try not to connect them to your actual lashes, but rather your lash line. (It makes it less likely to lost lashes when you remove them.) I've found that keeping your eyes open in the mirror is the best way to see where you want to add some thickness. Since you can see the gradual change in lashes, you can decide how many you want to put on. I used three flares in my picture and added a little mascara on top of them. They come in small, medium, and large. I used all small for myself, but you can use whichever size works best for you, and even mix and match them. Anyway, I hope this helped, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at Mandyginfo@gmail.com.


Xoxo,
Mandy Mae

.:6 Steps To Lasting Lip Color!:.

Do you ever wish that your awesome new lip color would last? As a makeup artist, here are some little steps I do and share with my clients. As much as we would LOVE to just wake up and not have to do steps to get ourselves ready, let's face it, that's not realistic. We do have to put some effort into it. But....on a happy note, you can use this same technique for your natural, bright, bold, and anything-in-between colors!

1. Start off with a dampened toothbrush and softly rub your lips. This will get rid of any dry skin prior to application. 

2. Grab some of your foundation, dab it on your lips, and spread over lips and lip line. I like to do this to have it not only act as a primer, but to mute out the natural lip color so we can achieve that color we're specifically going for.

3. Brush on a little face powder just to make sure to set it. 

4. Line and fill your lips with a lip liner of your choice. (Note: this step can be used with simply a lipstick as well. In my 
experience though, using a liner really helps with lining the lip shape much more precisely.) Smudge or press your lips together to spread the color.

5. Grab a tissue and blot those lips.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5. (Just to ensure that your color is going to stay put.)

And voila! You've just created a lasting lip stain in any color you want! If you want that extra pop of color or shine, add some gloss or lipstick over. 

So whether you sip, eat, or smooch, you'll have the base color to last you! Let me know how it worked for you at idreamofhearts@gmail.com!

(Lip liner is Bobbi Brown 'Rum Raisin' and lipstick is Mac 'Hang-Up.)

.::they got put to the test!!::.

I'm a big eyeliner fan! And being that we're already in April means we're getting closer to summer, which means water, beach, fun, and sometimes disappearing eyeliner. So rather than spend a few extra bucks on a "good" eyeliner and possibly be disappointed, I thought I'd do a little research to see which eyeliners could withstand the elements before I decided to spend my hard-earned money. Hopefully this can be beneficial to my fellow eyeliner lovers...

Here are the brands, name of the liner, and price:

1. Makeup Forever- Aqua Eyes-$18
2. NARS- Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner- $24
3. Smashbox- Limitless Eyeliner- $19
4. Lancôme- Le Crayon Khol- $26
5. Stila- Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner- $20
6. Too Faced- Perfect Eyes Waterproof & Tearproof Eyeliner- $18
7. Benefit- BADgal Waterproof Liner- $20
8. Lorac- Front of the Line Pro- $23
9. Urban Decay- 24/7: Pencils That Last All Night- $19
10. Kat Von D-Tattoo Eyeliner- $18

Here is the photo just after applying the liners...

Here is a photo with 6 hours of rubbing on my long-sleeve sweater and one shower later...

And just for kicks, here's another photo after sleeping and one additional shower...

These are just a few brands that I tested and I know there are a lot of fantastic lines that have long-wear liners as well! Two more that I can vouch for, but unfortunately don't have photos of, are Inglot's AMC Eyeliner Gel ($12) and MAC's Prolongwear Eyeliner ($19.50). Both of which were put to the test on another occasion and passed with flying colors! So whether you're swimming, sweating, sleeping, or doing absolutely nothing at all, you can take comfort in knowing that those liners will still be on your eyelids! And hopefully these helped ease your 'I-want-an-amazing-eyeliner-but-don't-want-to-be-totally-let-down-and-waste-my-money' worries. If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to email me at idreamofhearts@gmail.com.

Cheers!!
Mandy Mae

::amIreally30?!?::

holy moly! it appears as if i'm 30!! where did the time go?? who knows! my 20's were a lot of fun, quite interesting, and somewhat embarassing but...going into my third decade of life i've decided that I'm going to try to NOT relive some of those less-than-stellar instances and fix some of my flaws. (scary thought, i know.) two good flaws to start with are my levels of patience and my inability to not joke in virtually every situation (i am 30, after all). so basically, as long as everyone in the world can not irritate me and egg me on, i'll accomplish those goals!! baahahaa!! so now here are a few of my fun 30th. birthday memories! Cheers!

patience or not, i hate waiting in line.

my handsome little nephew and my beautiful little niece/Goddaughter <3

me and my sissy-in-law!

space mountain. my sis-in-law screamed the entire ride. lol!

the tran/mira/flahavan fam! <3

mrs.prindle/me/mrs.cro <3

me and my beautiful mummy. i really don't know what i'd do without her. <3

the prindles/me/the cros. i appreciate them letting me be the 3rd. and 5th. wheel. baahaha!

::Got Anxiety??::

Whoa! It's been awhile since I've written a blog!! Well hopefully this will be helpful to one, two, or a lot of people! It's something that quite a few people have, but not a lot of people talk about, so I'll say it. I have anxiety. Fortunately, after time and an awesome program that was WELL WORTH the money I spent for it, I can keep it under control. Maybe I can share a couple tips I've learned that worked well for me that others can benefit from.

Anyone suffering from anxiety knows what a terrible feeling it has to have symptoms of anxiety. And one thing I've learned is that a lot of us are afraid of those symptoms. Our heart beats faster, we might start sweating, we start snowballing on how bad this could get, we might get nauseous, and so on, and so on. I've noticed and learned that I feared those symptoms and the thought of having an anxiety attack. So, a couple things that helped me was to think, "you know what, fine, I'll let myself have this anxiety attack. I'll go in my room (or wherever), float through the attack, be bothered for about 5-10 minutes, and I'll get it out of the way." Once I started to give myself permission to have panic attacks, I noticed I wasn't so afraid to have them, and they became less frequent! And remember...no one has ever died from a panic attack.

Another helpful tip I learned was to put aside a time and day to worry. Rather than worry all day, every day, just designate a specific time period. You can try to say to yourself, "okay this is bothering me and I'm thinking a lot about it, but I'll worry about it tonight at 7:00pm." And maybe from 7pm-8pm, you can think about what was stressing you out, and figure out a way to solve it. And who knows, maybe by the time 7pm comes, you would've forgotten about it. If not, you can figure out a remedy for your worries. :-)

Another REALLY helpful thing for me, which I have recommended to QUITE a few people is something called the Bach Remedy. At one point I had Xanex prescribed to me to help me when I was feeling anxious. And not in any way knocking Xanex, because it did calm me down, I noticed it made me sleepy. So I came across something called 'Rescue Remedy Pastilles.' They're all natural and have helped me in instances when I've felt some anxiety. I like the black currant flavor. All you do is chew on them whenever you feel anxiety or uneasiness coming on. I LOVE it!! And because it's all natural, there are no side effects! (I'm not a spokesperson for Bach Remedy by the way. LOL!) I've just noticed it has helped me a lot, so I thought I'd share it! This is what it looks like. Oh! I got them at Sprouts/Henry's.

And lastly, exercise and breathing techniques are really helpful!! And I'm not a doctor so I'm not going to claim that these are guaranteed ways to rid you of anxiety. I've noticed they worked for me. And also, if you anyone feels like they have severe anxiety, I definitely recommend the program from www.stresscenter.com. I bought that program and it has helped TREMENDOUSLY!! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email or message! Sometimes, it helps just to chat with someone who knows how you feel, or even just to know that you're not the only one in the world feeling that way! I hope I helped!! :-)

::myFIRSTblog::

Hi friends! Amongst all of the other things I'm doing, I thought, "why not start a blog too?" LOL! It seemed like a good idea so why not?! I guess you can call these my e-thoughts. I may or may not share some cool, funny, interesting, pointless, entertaining, motivating, encouraging, and/or helpful tid bits of information. But, in the event I share none of those, I'm still having a good time! And that's what life's all about right!! Enjoy!!