I have Sally Hansen Nail Art Pens in white, black, and pink. I like using them to add little designs and to french tip my nails.
You must first apply nail polish on your nails before you draw on them with these pens. Once you’re done with your design, you need to seal it with a clear polish/top coat to lock in the design.
I like using these pens because they are water based, making them really easy to remove when I make mistakes. Here’s a little reenactment I made to show how easily these boo-boos can be fixed (please ignore the rest of the nail polish — I had them on for a while, and I decided to do this demo right before I removed it).
STEP 1
Make a mistake!
STEP 2
Take a cotton ball and wet it with water.
STEP 3
Wipe the area you want to erase with the wet cotton ball.
STEP 4
Voilà! All gone! 
The only thing I don’t like about the pens is that I’ve found that if I go over a design a little too much (like when I’m trying to make my french tip thicker), then the design tends to crack when I seal it with a top coat. I came up with a way to avoid this when I use them for french tipping, which is just to seal the tip with a polish that matches the pen color first and letting it dry before I apply a clear polish over the entire nail.
Overall, I think these pens are really fun to use and are worth a try!
March 3rd, 2010 in
Reviews | tags:
Nails |
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I received a request to recreate Rachel McAdam’s daytime makeup look in the picture below, and this is what I came up with:
The image doesn’t show her eye makeup in much detail, but it’s a darker color near the lash line and outer corner. She has a lighter color on her crease and a cream color as highlight that matches the inner corner/tear duct of her eyes. Rachel is also wearing a hint of blush and light pink lipstick with gloss. I think her makeup is a very fresh, clean everyday look.
Here are the steps I came up with for this Rachel McAdams inspired look (after applying moisturizer, face primer, and foundation):
STEP 1
Apply a cream colored eye primer on your entire lid to achieve a nice clean base for your eye shadow. I used MAC Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre” with a MAC 249 brush.
STEP 2
Using a fluffy brush, pick up a light brown color and apply along your crease using a windshield wiper motion. (Note: If you are not yet familiar with terms like crease, outer V, etc., take a look at my eye makeup map!)
I used MAC E/S in “Wedge”, which is a light beige/taupe matte color.
STEP 3
Apply a dark brown matte color like MAC E/S in “Handwritten” near your outer upper lash line and blend towards the center upper lash line.
STEP 4
Now create a parallel line with the same brush and color as in Step 3 along your outer to center crease area (the darkest part of the line should be near your outer corner). Then connect the two lines by lining up your brush to follow the same angle your outer lower lash line makes as it meets your outer upper lash line. Blend!
STEP 5
Using the same fluffy brush from Step 2, lightly brush a shimmery cream color to your brow bone area. I used MAC E/S in “Shroom”.
STEP 6
Line your upper lash line with a brown color. The outer part of your eye liner should be the thickest, and the line should get thinner as it reaches your inner corner.
In this picture, I am wearing Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in “Chocolate Shimmer”.
STEP 7
Using a pencil brush like MAC 219, pick up the same highlight color and smudge it along your tear duct area. Then curl your lashes and apply mascara. I used a deep brown mascara (Benefit Cosmetics BADgal Brown Mascara
) to make achieve a less dramatic daytime look.
STEP 8
To help create a fresh look on your cheeks, brighten your cheeks by blending a concealer one to two shades lighter than your skin tone. Then lightly apply a beige-pink blush on the apples of your cheeks and blend diagonally upwards.
I used MAC Sheertone Blush in “Blushbaby”.
STEP 9
Apply a pink lipstick. Rachel McAdams is wearing a lighter shade than the one I have here.
STEP 10
Use a light pink lip gloss on top of your lipstick to complete the look.
I went on another weekend trip to play in the snow. This time I went with my boyfriend to South Lake Tahoe to try snowmobiling for the first time. We went on a 2-hour guided tour at Zephyr Cove Resort.
This is the makeup look I came up with to match the new aqua blue outdoor purse I got at REI. I also wanted my makeup to be bright, since I wanted it to show up in the pictures with all the snow and the helmet I had to wear while snowmobiling.
EYES
- MAC Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre” (entire lid)
- MAC E/S in “Vanilla” (highlight)
- MAC E/S in “Aquadisiac” (lower lid including inner corner)
- MAC E/S in “Electric Eel” (outer V and blend towards crease)
- Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in “Black Ink” (upper lash line)
CHEEKS
- MAC Powder Blush in “Harmony” (contour)
- MAC Powder Blush in “Fleur Power” (soft bright pinkish-coral color on apples)
LIPS
- MAC L/S in “Vegas Volt”
The purse is called a Sherpani Milli Shoulder Bag. It has so many convenient zippered areas and a magnetic main flap. By the end of the snowmobiling tour, my bag was covered with melting snow. In my purse, I had my cellphone, glasses, wallet, and lipstick (yes, even when snowmobiling haha), and they were all dry! Another reason why I like this bag is because it’s made of recycled polyester material (I was president of my high school’s Earth Club), and it’s just super sturdy overall. It also comes in other colors and designs. This will definitely be my “go to” bag for outdoor activities from now on!
Here are some pictures I took of Lake Tahoe after the snowmobiling tour. I’ve never seen the lake during the winter. This lake never freezes (its depth of 1,645 feet makes it the second deepest lake in the US), so it maintains its pretty sapphire-blue color the whole year.
I also rode on the Heavenly gondola, which makes two stops on its way up the gigantic mountain. The first stop is just a place where you can take pictures of beautiful views of Lake Tahoe, and the second stop is where all the snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing, etc. begins.
My boyfriend and I went snowshoeing (again), but this time the sun was shining!
And that probably concludes my snow adventures for 2010!
I used two different violet pigments for this look — MAC Violet and Viz-a-Violet pigments. Viz-a-Violet is more of a lighter lavender shade whereas Violet is bright purple. These pigment colors come out even more vivid when applied wet.
EYES
- MAC Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre” (entire lid)
- MAC Pigment in “Violet” (applied wet on lower lid using a sponge applicator and MAC Pro Water Base Mixing Medium)
- MAC Pigment in “Viz-a-Violet” (using the same sponge applicator, apply on inner corner, tear duct, and lower lash line)
- MAC E/S in “Shadowy Lady” (outer V and blend along crease; extend to outer lower lash line)
- MAC E/S in “Digit” (highlight — this is a pale lavender color)
- Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in “Black Ink” (upper lash line)
- Lancome Oscillating Mascara
CHEEKS
- MAC Powder Blush in “Harmony” (contour)
- MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in “Dollymix” (on apples)
LIPS
- MAC Pro L/S in “Violetta”
You could also just use a nude or light brown lipstick to make the eye shadow be the focus of your face.
February 27th, 2010 in
Looks | tags:
Looks: Purple |
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I got these super cute sandals at Nordstrom’s a couple weeks ago. The brand is called Poetic Licence (imported), and the style is “Bloomingbird”. The weather’s been a little too cold to wear these, but I decided to get them anyway in case I couldn’t find them again in the spring/summer time.
I realized that lately I’ve seen a lot of pretty things I’ve wanted to buy and waited to purchase them, only to find that the stores don’t carry them anymore. When I saw these, I knew I didn’t want these sandals to disappear on me. I really like the blue color and the sequined bows!
These sandals are a bit on the pricey side ($68.95), but they’re just too adorable — even the box it came in looks like a drawer. I actually saved the shoe box to store my little knickknacks.
On the days that I was able to wear them (rain, rain go away!), I received several compliments on them. They are really eye-catching! These sandals also come in black, fuchsia, silver, and bronze at Nordstrom’s. However, I found that there are even more colors
available online! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for other Poetic Licence
items.
Wycee is a certified professional makeup artist and nerd.
