Panem Tutorials: Clove

On to #2 in my Panem tutorials series! Next is the beautiful badass Clove, played by Isabelle Fuhrman. For the interview with Cesar Flickerman, she has bright orange-y cheeks, winged liner with silver shadow, and a gorgeous orange dress!

1. Let's start with makeup, as usual. I'm going to go in with my concealer to cover up any blemishes.

2. Now I'm going to pick up my MAC Tres Cheek Collection Blush in Modern Mandarin. Now, on my skintone this can be extremely orange if you layer it too much. So I'm going to dust it on lightly to the apples of my cheeks.

Also: I used the Tres Cheek Blush Immortal Flower blush in my last tut, so if you are curious to see swatches, Amarixe has really great quality ones in her blog post! I would take them myself, but the quality probably wouldn't be as nice. Here :D- Amarixe's Blog

3. Moving right on into the eyes, I'm going to start by priming my eyes, and then all over the lid I'm putting the top left, silvery color in my Revlon 16-Hour Colorstay Palette in Siren. With a pencil brush, I'm going to bring the color underneath my eyes and into the inner corner.

4. To add more color to inner corner and underneath the brow I'm placing my Nars Shimmer Eyeshadow in Tibet.

5. Now I'm taking my Sonia Kashuk Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Liner and using a bent liner brush to apply it thickly on my upper lash line. I'm going to wing it out, but instead of upwards, but downwards.

6. My favorite part comes next! I'm going to apply my Revlon Beyond Natural Fake Lashes, but I'm going to cut them so they only go on the outer corner.

7. Once they are applied, I'm just to curl them and apply my Lash Icon Macara from Ulta to keep them more defined.

8. Now I'm just going to put on my Evolution Revolution Lipglass from Mac all over my lips.

And there you have it!

To top off the look, I'm going to show you a dress similar to this one.

Here is the dress from Macy's! It's a little more toned down color wize, but I think it's adorable!

And there you have it! Look for Glimmer, Katniss and more coming soon!

Panem Tutorials: Foxface

Hi everyone! I'm going to do a series of tutorials inspired by the characters from the Hunger Games. For my first look, I'm going to show you how to do a look for Jaqueline Emerson- a redhead, singer and the actress who plays Foxface in the Hunger Games.

The look is for Cesar Flickerman's interview with her- all of the looks for tributes will be from the interview or parade (with maybe the exception of Katniss).

Let's start with Makeup!

1. Becuase this is the Capital, having a good complexion is important. I'm starting out with my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation all over my face, and blending it in with a flat-topped foundation brush.

2. Now I'm taking my Nars Stick Concealer and I'm just brightening up my under eye circles and any blemishes I find on my face.

3. I'm skipping powder, but I'm going to go in and contour my cheeks with my Bobbi Brown Bronzer. This will define my face and match the brownish-blush on her face.

4. After bronzing, I just want to add a little more color, so I'm going to use my new MAC Tres Cheek blush in Immortal Flower. I love this blush, and I was super lucky to get one! Immortal Flower is my favorite. It's a peachy color, and I just want to add a teensy bit to the apples of my cheeks.

5. Next I'm going to take my MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle and just highlight my cheeks, to make them more shimmery.

6. Now onto the fun part: eyes! Of course, I'm starting with Urban Decay Primer Potion all over my lid.

7. Her eyes seemed to be very bronzey with a lot of blue eyeliner. I want the focus to be more on the crazy liner. So all I'm going to do is in my Maybelline Color Tatoo Creme Eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze and put it all over my lids. I'm not afraid to do some crazy color mixing in order to get the "Capital" look.

8. I want simple shadow, so now I'm going to take my Revlon Luxurious Color eyeliner in the color Electric Blue. Starting with a thin line close to my lashes, I'm going to thicken it slowly. Now open your eyes wide. If the the bronze color still shows when you're eyes are open, thicken the liner.

9. Now I'm taking my ELF Cream Eyeliner in the color Teal Tease. A thin line near the lashes will be enough just to intensify the color. Next take the same eyeliner and line the bottom.

10. Curl your lashes and use your favorite mascara!

11. Finally, I'll take my Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait and put that all over my lips!

The makeup is finished! I'm not going to do a tutorial for the hair, but I will show you some looks similar to hers!

I found a cute blue party dress similar to hers:

http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/sequin-hearts-dress-strapless-sweetheart-beaded-pleated-mesh-a-line?ID=640221&CategoryID=18109&LinkType=#fn=SPECIAL_OCCASIONS%3DParty%26sp%3D2%26spc%3D359%26ruleId%3D65%26slotId%3D

And there you have it! Look for more tribute looks coming up!



Basic Stage Makeup Tips: A Must Know for Every Performer!

As a performer, I've had tons of experience with stage makeup. I'm a dancer and an actress, but both areas of performing has similar if not the same general makeup! Stage lights are like high school snobs: harsh and point out your flaws. But stage lights are necessary for a great production. So I put together some tips for basic stage makeup.

1. Remember that basic stage makeup is the makeup that goes on under any makeup needed for your character. Also, if your director tells you not to wear anything that I put below, don't wear it! This is generalized and the usual makeup worn by actresses.

2. FoCoPo
I know, it sounds strange, but I think FoCoPo is a must have/do routine done before your other makeup. It stands for Foundation, Concealer, and Powder. As I said before, stage lights can be your worst enemy when blemishes aren't covered up enough. They bring out redness, discoloration, etc. So a good foundation, concealer and powder is absolutely necessary for looking flawless.

3. Eyeliner & Mascara
Being washed out is another terrible deed done by stage lights. You can look sickly pale if you don't darken up areas like your eyes. A basic rule for eyeliner is to make it black. Black looks the best and darkest on stage. I like liquid eyeliners, but pencil can work just as well as long as you thicken it. And for mascara, make sure it's waterproof, because the lights can make you sweat!

4. Bronzers and Highlighters and Blushes
Bronzers can be very tricky, especially when it comes to contouring. Unless your director tells you to, I like to skip bronzer, or else I could look suntanned or something horrendous like that. Highlighters can be tricky too. If done right, it can really make your cheeks and eyes sparkle. I like to a nice pigmented highlighter on my cheekbones and my brows and in the inner corner of my eye. I done wrong though, it can make you just look washed out. Blush is absolutely necessary for stage makeup. Without it, it can definitely make you look like a zombie. I like creme blushes for the stage, just because it's easier to touch up before going on stage.

5. Lipsticks
These can be really scary. Nudes can make you look washed out, but reds can be totally wrong for your part. Ahhh! Talk to your director, and always bring a variety with you to dress rehearsal.

6. Your Makeup Bag and Touch Ups

Every performer should bring a touch up bag. In it are the necessaries:

• Concealer & Powder
• Creme Blush
• Several different lipsticks in different shades
• Eyeliner
• Hairspray
• Bobby Pins
• Mascara

Yeah, hairspray and bobby pins aren't makeup, but they are still necessary for a good show. And even if you don't need them, someone else in the cast might need to borrow it!

Fun Fact: Hairspray doesn't have to be used for just hair- it's great for keeping your makeup on throughout the show!

I hope this helped!

Question: Can you name the Broadway Shows shown in the pictures?

Anti-Redness Primers: A Review



As some of you may know, I do struggle with a lot of redness on my face: corners of my mouth, my eyes and especially all over my nose. It's so red that usually my foundations, concealer and powders can't fix it all. So I went looking for anti-redness products, and I found L'Oreal Paris' Studio Secrets Anti-Redness Primer. I bought it even though I was very skeptical about using it. Why? Because I was afraid of putting a green product on my face.

Now, some of you might be like "Green? Are you serious?", especially if you haven't used a anti-redness product before. But here's why it's green: Green is opposite of red on the color wheel, so it counteracts the redness on your face.

I tried it on and immediately I noticed a change in the way my skin looked under foundation, especially after throwing on all my other face products. This primer is definitely worth the $13.

For me, I've never really needed a primer because my moisturizer clings to makeup, which is brilliant. But now that I've got this amazing primer, I'm never going back.

What primers do you use?

Dry Brushing?

The other day I came across one of Michelle Phan's videos about her foundation routine. She talked about how she's been using her blush brush to apply her foundation and I got to thinking. Is it possible to save a few dollars by using your blush brush instead of a foundation or kabuki brush?

Yes, it is. :)



After watching her video, I sat down and took my Sonia Kashuk Blush Brush and apply the foundation. It worked seamlessly. It didn't dry out the brush, it just looked amazing when I was finished!

I've tried many different techniques for foundation. Of course, I've used foundation brushes, and starting in the middle and working my way out, patting it into my skin, etc. I'm now using this technique and I love it!

I suggest you watch this video and subscribe to Michelle, she's awesome! :)

Spring Trends: Colored Denim!

Today during social studies class my teacher gave us an article about a new fashion trend: colored denim jeans! Of course, we had to explain to him what skinny jeans were and that wedges were not the same things as wedgies, but I really got excited about this trend. His question for us was "How are these evolved in the textile industry from the first Levi Strauss pair?", but my main reaction was how cute the colors are!

I'll link the article here but seriously, these are my new obsession. My favorite celebrity who has pulled off the bright colors is Princess Kate in a beautiful coral!

(Picture from InStyle Online)

Colored denim is spring-y and great for welcoming in the cold-yet-warm days! So my question to you is: how many pairs have you got?

I really suggest that you read this article, and I'll link some sites below that carry colored denim.

Forever 21

Urban Outfitters

Ann Taylor

The Gap 

There are plenty of others but I find that these are the cheapest!

-Anna :)



Get The Look: Taylor Swift in "Safe and Sound"

In honor of the new Hunger Games movie coming out Friday, I'm going to do a series of tutorials relating to the series and the movie. The first is for Taylor Swift, in her new music video for "Safe and Sound", a song on the HG soundtrack.  It's natural makeup, easy hair and a very, very pretty white dress.

First- Makeup!

1. Start by using your everyday foundation. I'm using my N.Y.C. Fit Me Foundation in the color "Light". She has very flawless skin, especially in this music video. Now take your concealer and cover up any blemishes you have.

2. Now take a pale powder and a powder brush. I would suggest using a shade on or one shade lighter than your skin tone for a more porcelain look. Blend this all over on your face and neck.

3. Her eyes and makeup in general is just very natural, but very pretty. I'm going to start with eyes and work my way down. To me it looks like she is wearing brownish purple eyeshadow and thick eyelashes. To start creating this, I'm using my Nars Eye Primer, which is an amazing primer, even better than Urban Decay Primer Potion. Next I'm going to use my NYC Individual Eyes Compact in Smokey Browns, and take the second from the top color, which is a grayish-brown. I'm sweeping it on with a lid brush and blending out the edge with a flat topped brush. I have a swatch of the color below.

4. Now I'm going to take an angled eyeliner brush, and taking the black color in my Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette. I'm going to pat this color into a thin line right above my lashes to make them thicker. You can blend it out a little if it looks too perfect. After that I'm going to highlight under my brow and in the inner corner of my eye with the third color in in the same palette.

5. Now I'm curling my eyelashes and coating them with my ULTA Volumptious Mascara. It gives them length and volume without looking too fake. I love fake eyelashes, but I don't think it would look right with such a natural look. Taylor is probably either wearing them or her lashes are just amazing, but to keep it simple, just go with this or your favorite mascara.

6. Next I'm highlighting my cheeks with the same highlighter I used before. Next I'm taking a cream blush. I'm using my Maybelline Dream Mousse in #20 Peach Satin. I love this blush because it is super easy to blend and looks gorgeous with nude eyes and on paler and darker skin tones. I absolutely adore it.

7. Moving on to lip color, I'm using two colors: My Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee and my MAC Lipstick in "Snob". First I'm coating my lips with "Snob". It's a nice, light pick with a matte look and it's very beautiful and fun to wear. Now, to put a little more "nude" into it, I'm going to put a teensy bit of the Creme Brulee Lip Butter on my finger and then just pat it into my lips and rub them together.

We are done with makeup!

Hair Time!

1. After combing out my hair, I'm going to plug in my curling iron. I have a very simple Conair Curling Iron and it works great! While it is heating up, I'm going to split my hair in half horizontally, and spray it with my Aussie Heat Protectant Spray.

2. I'm going to take sections of my hair and curl them in different sections. I'm making it loose curls, so it doesn't look too overdone. If you have bangs, leave them seperate from the rest of the hair. Once the bottom is done, let down your other hair, spray and do the same.

3. I'm plugging in my straightener and going over the curls quickly. If one looks loose enough, don't go over it. Only the tighter curls. You can also straighten your bangs.

Done!

Outfit:

I found a very nice dress from Urban Outfitters. In the video, her dress has puffy sleeves and is very long. So I found a nice, casual summer dress to make it look like Taylor's, but not floor length.

This is the back:

So pretty! Here is the link to the dress and you can check it out yourself:

Dress Link on UrbanOutfitters.com

I can't wait for the movie :) See you later!

-Anna <3