I am not big on resolutions, but I am big on goals and I have some lofty ones this year. One of the least lofty, but still in the challenging category is that I decided that I am going to wear more makeup this year, more than I have ever worn in my life, I am going to go all out. Why? Well, ahem, firstly I look like crap right now, seriously, having a toddler when you are a bit on the older side for having a toddler is well, taxing. I used to be young for my age, I looked young, I felt young and it fooled me and mother nature. I am feeling my age and then some. I have become one of those moms that walks around with mismatched socks, a scrunchie and dark circles around my eyes. I avoid mirrors and photos and generally have not been happy about the state of affairs of my presence. Yes, attitude and mind over matter go a long way, but I have to throw up the white flag here, I no longer am someone that can go around without makeup, I need some help. I need to go past natural and on to Sophia Loren. I am not giving up that easily, for three years I looked a bit like a schlump, I have never been schlumpy, but I started to personify it. Not anymore, this is the year I am going to perfect my wing tipped eyeliner, this is the year I brush my hair on a regular basis (and throw out the scrunchie), this is the year that I will be wearing false lashes to preschool, come hell or high water, I am doing it. I am going to over line the heck out of my lips, I am going to Kylie Jenner this shizzle, I am going to take what God gave me and I am going to work it. OK, so I haven’t figured the logistics of this yet, because I can barely brush my teethe with a toddler around, but other people have figured this out, I surely can. I may just be applying indelible makeup before the sunrises, who knows?

Let me introduce you to Alyona Y., a musician whom also happens to be my new YouTube makeup idol. This lovely girl has transformed herself into many a famous face, eerily so, with step-by-step videos you are sure to garner some new skills. I loved all her transformations but I am seriously going to try the Sophia Loren eye, I am going to make myself a Penelope Cruz pout and of course I am all over the Bardot smoky eye. Be forewarned her videos are addicting, next time you spot a woman in a turban with almond cat eyes, a regal nose, full lips and skin the color of caramel, it just may be me. Maybe.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

//RESOURCES//

Aly Art Sophia Loren Makeup tutorial

Aly Art Penelope Cruz Makeup tutorial

Aly Art Bridgette Bardot Makeup tutorial

Aly Art Kate Moss Makeup tutorial

Winged liner with tape tutorial 1 | 2

Winged liner tutorial for every eye shape

Our current fave liner

P.S. In the graphic Alyona is on the left, it’s an OUTSTANDING transformation!

Miss Tristan B. is the co-creator of the world’s best + easiest product photography editing tool-Foto Rx | Shopkeeper’s Helper and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog. Her lofty goal here is to make this a creative resource repository and to inspire you to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with your life.

For someone that never leaves their zipcode I sure do go through an awful lot of foundation.  I am kind of on an endless quest for a beautiful, light (but nice coverage) foundation that is easy to apply, doesn’t feel like I am wearing anything, is hydrating, has sunscreen and actually matches my skintone fairly flawlessly.  Is that way too much to ask?  I have hyper-pigmentation on my cheeks so I definitely want the coverage, but I honestly don’t feel like I have the time anymore to invest in concealer. The other day when I went to Sephora to pick up some of my favorite Laura Mercier mineral foundation I was sorely disappointed to see that it was no longer carried, since I only get to Sephora about once a year now, I seriously wanted to get something!  I went to the BareMinrals section and saw an interesting new product called BareMinerals Complexion Rescue tinted hydrating gel (mouthful!), I was intrigued, was color matched and took it home.

I have been using it about a week now and I am totally in love with it! Yes, you can get buildable coverage, it’s super easy to apply even if you are trying to keep one eye on the mirror and the other on your toddler who insists on trying to do something dangerous while you are trying to not scare the neighborhood with a naked visage.It is a gel, so at first I thought it may be sticky but it dries super fast. The con here being a gel is there is a sheen, in my mind I thought ‘glow’ my husband asked what was wrong with my face, so I have been using the BareMinerals veil powder, it is feather light and I haven’t heard nary a comment from him since (that’s a good thing because he likes it when I ‘don’t wear any makeup’). The best part for me is it lasts ALL day, I can’t remember the last time I put on a foundation that lasted all day. I am duly impressed!  It’s worth a try, sunscreen is 30, and if you get it at Sephora they have an awesome return policy if it doesn’t work for you!

Have you found any great products lately?  Do share if you have!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I ran away to Victoria B.C. for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Well, we didn’t actually run- we flew over on a seaplane! The seaplanes are a part of the scenery around here, but I’d never traveled on one – so when I learned that each passenger is only allowed to bring along 25 lbs of luggage (including your handbag etc), I knew I’d have to leave the big camera behind, and scrutinize all of the other items I would usually toss into my bag for a weekend trip.

Lightweight white trousers instead of jeans, a white blazer to go with everything, and slip-on tennis shoes were light and versatile choices. All of the clothing that made the cut was black, white, or navy (surprised? ha!), and easily interchangeable. I needed my cosmetic bag to be just as lean, so I decided to hit the drugstore to swap out my usual Smashbox eyeshadow palette (I like to use the black shadow for liner) for a small pot of gel liner. What I didn’t know, is that I would end up with a winner of a product that goes on like butter and lasts for the entire day! It’s a gel liner that comes with a small brush, making it perfect for my travel bag. I used the liner to create both a fine line for day, and a thicker line for evening – a very worthy travel companion, that now has a permanent place in my cosmetics bag!

My luggage was light as a feather so they let us on the plane and whisked us off to our dreamy weekend in Canada. If you have ever considered a seaplane adventure, do it!  The view was stunning, I think I had a cheesy grin plastered on my face for the entire flight!

RESOURCES

L’Oreal Paris Lacquer Liner in Blackest Black

Smashbox Eyeshadow Palette

Nars angled eyeliner brush (for even easier application)

Kenmore Air (in case you want a seaplane adventure of your own!)

photo by michelle p.

I thought with the impending change of season that we could discuss this week–new routines, refreshes and of course one of my very fave subjects paring down. First up is my new make-up routine, I don’t see it changing for fall and I have been very happy with it so I thought I would share. My former routine (pre-baby) consisted of many, many steps (sometimes even false lashes were involved), definitely a hot hair implement of some sort (for curling or straightening) and now it’s down to this and a shower.

Foundation-I found that putting on a powdered mineral make-up foundation so much easier to do than attempting a liquid foundation while there is a toddler underfoot. Using the brush I can sweep it over my face easily,  put the brush down mid-application if I need to stop and chase a toddler, something you don’t want to do if you have liquid foundation on your hands (especially if you have a white sofa).

Blush-As I have gotten older, I have realized two very important things about myself, no matter how much I would love to wear a pretty cool pinky blush (think fair skin Snow White), it’s just not right for my skin tone. The other beauty epiphany, is that I just look frumpy in cardigans, I can’t wear them, they no longer exist to me. The Tarte cheek stain in Tipsy has a peachy tone, which is much better suited for my visage (they have many colors to choose from to get your perfect match). This is insta-pretty, I LOVE this stuff. It’s pretty hard to apply this wrong, I use a brush (made for creme blushes) but my good friend dabs it on her cheeks straight from the tube.

Mascara-Mascara has been a luxury of time item, I can’t wear it unless I know that someone is watching our toddler. Trying to apply mascara with an individual that doesn’t find anything wrong with running right into you while doing so, even though I have explained many times, ‘Mommy likes being able to see out of both eyes’, well, mascara is just not a priority anymore. I keep my brows in really good shape (a miracle) but I have stopped defining them with product, because see the whole mascara debacle above.

Sunglasses-I don’t think I would be able to pull off this minimal beauty routine with confidence if I didn’t have a great pair of sunglasses, I don’t own a lot of things and I am pretty frugal on most, but a classic, quality pair of sunglasses will take you far in life (or the grocery store).

Lip Balm-The Rodin lip balm was a gift, but I love it and feel it really ties the look together, it is not sticky, not too shiny and just feels very luxe to me.

Hair-My hair is either tied back in a low pony tail, top knot or I’ll wear a military type cap.

My beauty routine is 3 minutes (if that) and I don’t feel like I did months back when having enough energy to shower was about all I could muster!

What about you? Any paring down? Any beauty secrets you’d like to share?

mineral foundation / foundation brush / blush / sunglasses (similar) / lip balm