Special Event Makeup, #MomStyle!

Thanks to Walgreens for underwriting this post. I was paid as a member of the Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all mine. Visit http://www.discoverbeautywithin.com/.

Back in the day – before kids – I had the luxury of spending hours getting ready for special events with my friends. We’d all gather at someone’s house or a hotel room, and do our hair and makeup together, consult on attire and jewelry, drink Champagne… basically starting the party mid-day!

Now that I’m a working mom, I don’t often have that much time before a big night out. I’m either getting ready before the babysitter comes (aka, with kids hanging off me), or rushing home to get ready after dropping the kids off with my folks. Or like this past weekend, I had exactly 45 minutes between getting home from work and when the school auction started.

Here’s how I get fabulous special event makeup when I don’t have much time:

1. Start the day with a fairly neutral base. This makes it easier to add on some drama right before the event. I’m not one to go the whole day without makeup {shudder}, so keeping it neutral gives me some polish during the day, but I’m not competing with the “base” when getting ready for going out.

Emerald green on the lids and crease, with a more olivey-green added in the crease for depth. Oh, and wrinkles.

2. Play with color! I love all the advertisements for bright, colorful smokey eyes, but since I’m old not in my early 20s, I’ve never felt like that was an appropriate look for me in everyday life. But an evening out is a perfect time to play with color, and it’s high-impact! Especially with only about 5 minutes to take my look from daytime to evening, a couple swipes of bright color go a long way!

3. Stock up in advance on some fun, inexpensive eyeshadows in fun colors. I buy the crazy colors at the drug store because they are so well-priced! I can be more adventurous in choosing colors when I’m not spending an arm and a leg for each one.

Smokin' eyes! I pulled the eyeliner and shadow pretty far out beyond my actual eye to make it more dramatic for evening and pictures. A couple extra swipes of mascara finished off the look.

4. Go darker than you think you should. Most of us aren’t photographed often in our everyday lives, but at special events, everyone has their cameras out. I make everything just a little bit darker than I think I should, and it pays off in the photos. I pay particular attention to my eyes, as I think they are my best feature.

Me at the auction with my beautiful friend (and one of my running buddies!) Annie.

5. At the end of the night, absolutely positively remove all your makeup. I know people who never remove their makeup before going to bed. Do you WANT to lose your eyelashes? It’s more important than ever to remove it all when you have dark colors on unless you want to wake up looking like a raccoon with ruined pillowcases! I use Neutrogena oil-free eye makeup remover, which works really quickly and efficiently.

Here are a few silly pics of us (my running buddies and good friends, Annie & Mary)  in the photo booth…

Eye will try something new!

Thanks to L’Oreal for sponsoring this post on trying something new with my makeup! Check out Makeup.com for beauty advice from the experts.

I fear getting stuck in a rut with my makeup. You know how it is – when you’re in a hurry in the morning, you just quickly do what you do every day. Before you know it, you haven’t changed your makeup since 1996. Because of my silly fear of looking dated, I like to experiment – especially with eye makeup. I pay attention to ads and trends and try to copy the ones I like. Some – like Drew Barrymore’s brightly-colored smoky eyes in the Cover Girl ads – I just ignore. Do you blame me? Love ya, Drew, but no.

Maybe it’s just my obsession with Pan Am that makes me notice it, but I am IN LOVE with the subtle cat-eye makeup I’ve been seeing everywhere. The goal with this kind of look is not to have a giant wing coming off your eye, but to accentuate the upper lid in a sultry, subtle way.

I for one can’t just do eyeliner – I need a little more definition and shading on my lids than that. So here’s what I used:

I’ve long been intrigued by the HiP line of makeup colors, but was a little intimidated by the concept of “High Intensity Pigment.” Since I was looking for a good eyeliner, it seemed like a good time to try it. That little brush came with it, which was easier to use than your typical pencil eyeliner. It’s much more forgiving, and doesn’t pull on the skin.

This HiP makeup allowed me to trace the area that I wanted done, then layer on the color until it was just right.

I lined the upper lash line from the mid-eye outward, then started from the outside and swept the color in to make the "wing." Boy, my skin sure does look old and wrinkly!

Notice how far it appears to “wing” out from the side when my eye is almost closed:

I thought that looked pretty dramatic, but...

It doesn't look like much when my eyes are open!

I like this look because it’s contemporary (even though it’s inspired by the 60s!) and something new and different for me, but it’s subtle enough to not look costume-y. I think I’ll try to wing it out a little bit more next time to see how it changes when my eyes are open – since I don’t tend to walk around with half-closed lids…

What new things are trying with your makeup these days?

Intrepidly,
~Krista

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. Learn more about Makeup.com or become a Facebook fan.

You can be a VIP at Dosha!

Dosha Salon Spa is hosting a series of VIP parties at their various locations. I stole away from work for an hour today to visit the NW Portland store because I love me some Aveda products and Dosha always treats their clients well. I’m a fan of the facials and pedicures!

If you’re in the Portland area, you should try to hit up one of the upcoming parties. Here are my highlights, and the schedule of upcoming parties is at the end:

In addition to snacks & wine, they offered special attention in the form of hand massages and make-up touch-ups.

Me getting a little makeover from Dana, manager of the Clackamas store

Dana used these Smashbox & Aveda colors on me, going for a "dewy" effect which I likey.

The finished product!

The really great thing, though, is your chance to pick up a VIP card. The card entitles you to 10% off just about everything all year.

The advantage of getting your card at one of these parties is the 10% can also be applied to the already discounted holiday packages – not normally eligible for the VIP discount!

Smashbox pre-packaged eyeliner and lipgloss gift sets. Separately sold for $96, only $22 and $30, respectively. At the VIP party, you get an additional 10% off. Great gifts, or break apart the packs to make stocking stuffers!

The ever popular hand & foot relief gift set, discounted only at the VIP parties.

You can RSVP to the parties on Dosha’s Facebook page.

Cheers,
~Krista

Gold sparkly nails

My friend Marti just posted a picture on Facebook of her nails, beautifully black and sparkly. I’ve been sporting gold sparkly nails for a week or so now, so I thought I’d share them. She used Butter London, I’m not quite so fancy.

Here are the products I used to get this sparkle effect:

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gilty Pleasure

Followed by a very sparse application of:

Milani Nail Lacquer “Jewel FX” in Gold

The Sally Hansen is awesome because it really truly only takes one coat. I live in that gold nail polish, I’m not sure why I love it so much. The faceted glitter in the Milani is super sparkly, and I’ve been feeling fairly festive wearing it recently. After a day or so, though, I have to reapply a clear topcoat. As the clear wears off, the edges of the glitter start bugging the haaaaayl out of me. And catching on stuff. Not cool. I really like that the golds don’t match, it gives it more dimension and makes the glitter stand out more.

That’s my latest nail obsession! How about you? What’s on your nails right now??

~Krista

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Thoughts on beauty: how much is too much?

Aah! I colored my hair for 10 years – by accident. It started with simple highlights, then I had to cover the roots… then I was trapped in colored hair land.

When I found out I was pregnant with Anna, I used the pregnancy (and fear of toxic absorption) as an excuse to let the roots grow all the way out. And I haven’t gone back. Turns out my natural hair color was lovely. Of course, soon after this realization, I started getting gray hairs. I don’t know if it was turning 35, or having a baby – but the gray hairs, they kept coming.

Now (5 years later) I’m feeling drab and unpretty… and thinking about revisiting the whole color-my-hair idea.

As long as I’m admitting these things,  may as well tell you I’m awfully tempted by a face lift, as well… Something I NEVER thought I’d even consider.

It’s the luxury of youth to not worry about aging. And the burden of parenthood is worrying about our kids. The transition is enough to give anyone gray hair. Sigh. Getting older is rough.

I don’t consider myself a vain person, but I do pay attention to how I look. It just makes life easier to be attractive, mostly on the inside, but the outside doesn’t hurt. Right? Admit it! You know it’s true!

Do you color your hair? Would you get a facelift? How much is too much in the pursuit of beauty?

~Krista