Playing in Makeup, Dressing up, Wedding Rehearsals and Rain...

Preparing myself for a crazy couple of days, starting today. My sister's wedding is exactly 1.5 days away (OMG, freakin' out!), and things are starting to ramp up. Family flying in from all over, rehearsals, dinners (and some more dinners), and then finally the Big Day.

I tested out a makeup look today... since it's a morning wedding I don't want to look too harsh, but I thought the berry lip was cute indeed. Might play around with some more variations.

Oh, and the wedding color scheme is cream and dark red? But my dress is plum. Well, as you can see, the whole color theme spiel is pretty much up to one's own discretion.

And now I'm off to see the wizard, folks!

Laterz!

-Sophia

Give Me Some Face: The Search for the "Perfect" Wedding Makeup (Part 1)

So... My sister's wedding is next weekend! Time really does fly by. It seemed like it was miles away just yesterday. I never really realized how much work weddings are...wooh! I'm definitely going to have to reevaluate for myself. Eloping never sounded better.

Anyway, I've decided to do my own makeup for the event, to mainly save me some money. Even though I am far from a makeup artist, watching loads of YouTube makeup tutorials has made me convince myself that I am. So that means I'm going to be test driving a lot of different products between now and the Big Day.

First on the makeup to-do list is getting my "face base" in order. I'm not a foundation wearer and I usually wear close to null on my face, coverage wise, except for Mac Mineralize SkinFinish Natural, which I reserve for social occasions. I just don't like the feeling of makeup on my skin, so that's why I usually go light. But since it's my sister's wedding and all, I guess I should make some kind concerted makeup effort, but I still want to stay on the natural "ish" side. You know how I do.

So off to Sephora I went. As I entered Makeup Galore Heaven, I proceeded to enter the maze of makeup, circulated by sprinkles of Sephora sales people (dressed in their matrix-like garb with their overly done up faces). Note to self: This is what I don't want to look like.

I already had a sense of what I was going for. I had a goal. No pancake makeup here! I was going for something lighter, something more along the lines of a tinted moisturizer. (Hey, this is a step up for me)! Finally, I fell upon the shelves of Laura Mercier. I heard through the grapevine that her products were pretty good, so I decided to give it a try. I put a swatch of Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer in Sand along my jawline, and voilà, perfect match. It felt great on my skin and blended beautifully. It also provided sheer coverage, which is what I'm looking for. I want my skin to look real after all.

The second product on the list: concealer. This was a definite must for combating any dark circles, shadows and redness on my face that may creep up in photos (i.e. around my nose and under my eye area). I decided to get Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Concealer in Dark Beige. This concealer is really light, blendable and provides impeccable coverage. It literally evened out my face! Hmm, maybe there is a reason behind makeup after all...

Last, but certainly not least, I need to set all of these face enhancements in place and more importantly, to keep some of the shine at bay. I know I will always be a little shiny in life. There's really no product that keeps me 100% shine free. My face is just too darn oily. I usually end up blotting a few times out of the day anyway. Anywho, that's where Mac Mineralize SkinFinish Natural comes in! It's an ultra light and silky powder that does the job pretty well. I use this alone as a normal face powder too.

That's it for now in terms of my "face base."  Oh woops, I forgot to add face primer, but I'll be "borrowing" some from my mom in due time. The above photos are in natural lighting/ direct sunlight. I feel like if it looks good in broad daylight, we have a winner!

So what do you guys think?!! If you have other makeup tips/advice I am all ears. Please share! Next up: Cheeks, eyes and lips! I'm thinking a winged eye and a berry lip???

P.S. The other big question besides makeup. Hair? Ughhh, kill me LOL.

Also, the hoops I'm wearing are handmade by Yours Truly! Check them out here!

As Requested: How I fill in my eyebrows!

Hi Guys,

I've been getting a few requests on how I fill in the brows! It's really simple and literally just three steps: brush, fill, brush. Ya'll know I really don't like to overcomplicate things. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!! Thanks for watching :-)

Here it is!

What I used:

• Wet n' Wild Eyebrow kit in Dark Ash Brown
• Sonia Kashuk Eyebrow spoolie brush
• Sephora Angled brush

-Sophia

Lip Snob

This is a new favorite of mine--this time from Stila -- in a great shade called, "Daring."

I was searching for berry/plum color last weekend, but I wanted to avoid the real dark wine colors because it's a tad too vamp for me, especially since I want something for an everyday look. "Daring" is a rich medium berry color that is wearable, and transitions beautifully from day to night. *For any dark or pigmented lipsticks, I would recommend getting a lip liner in a similar shade. It'll provide a bit more lasting power to your lipstick!

Bottom line: Berry lips make me happy!

-Sophia