by Jessica Dawn

If you have oily and/or problematic skin, stop everything you're doing right now! Seriously. Just stop and read this. Because if you haven't heard about this stuff yet, I'm about to change your life. Dramatic? Yeah, but NOT DRAMATIC ENOUGH! Maybe I should do this whole post in caps? Would you get annoyed and stop reading? FINE. I suppose I would too. But I'll just say it - I will NEVER go back to using another foundation again. If I'm going for a true foundation, this is it right here. I don't need to try any others anymore. The search is over. It's the CoverGirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation. Tiffany started talking about how amazing this stuff was and then did a video on it too, which I absolutely recommend. She titled it "The BEST foundation EVER?!" Hey, her caps not mine. =) And I was just like, sure sure. But I'm always willing to try and was looking for something new. See I had planned on doing a foundation routine post with what ...

It was a GNO on Friday with the girls in my group at Cross Point Church. We went to Zanies in Nashville, which is a comedy club, to see Henry Cho. He was great. And I had never been to a comedy club - just comedy shows on a cruise ship, so it was fun. I sipped on an amazing mango margarita and laughed and laughed and laughed. It was definitely God's little gift to me after a long roller coaster of a week. Both the headband and the shirt that I'm wearing are from Forever 21. I ordered online and when the shirt came I was absolutely in love. It's probably the prettiest shirt ever. You can find it here . The front is pretty, but the back...oh my gosh. It's going to be so beautiful in the summer when I can wear just a tank top. This one is definitely worth the buy if you're looking for something similar! Oh and I finally got the new iPhone and am in looove. It's amazing. Just in case you didn't know. =) Top - Forever 21; Jacket - Collection (I think?) f...

I am swimming in makeup amazingness over here! My order from the Sephora VIB Sale came today. I knew I had gotten a little carried away when ordering, but I am SO glad I did. When I opened the box, I looked at it and was like oh boy, should not have ordered these. But after pulling them out and swatching everything, I'm kind of in love. I will absolutely be doing reviews on these even though they're ridiculously expensive. They're just too pretty and amazing not to! Of course I did pick up a few things that I just bought duplicates or re-purchased, like the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, Nars Concealer, YSL Babydoll mascara, and YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch. I've been patiently waiting to order some of them because I knew this sale was coming up and let's be honest - it's silly not to purchase during the sale. Clockwise starting with the red polish: Formula X VIB Rouge exclusive shade, Formula X New Classics VIB point purchase, Clinique Chubby Stick ...

It's that time of year again! And oh how I love it! I am in full on Christmas mode and yes I'm aware it's not even Thanksgiving yet. It's also going to be almost 70 degrees tomorrow. But it's going to snow 10-18 inches in Wisconsin, so I think that cancels it out and makes it okay that I'm in the holiday spirit. Right? This will be the first time the weather has been infinitely better here in Nashville than in Wisconsin. Infinitely. Actually, it made me a little sad to think that I won't have a white Christmas this year. Sort of. I'll be going home for Christmas, so it'll be white for sure, but from what they tell me, it won't be white here. And that's where the above comes in. A Merry Music City Christmas! It's an annual tradition put on by my church, Cross Point , that's free to the public. AND. They bring in snow. Like serious snow from what it sound like because supposedly there's sledding, building snowman, and snow ball...

Well what do ya know, it's been super long time between posts yet again this year. I've had a hard time with this blog lately. I still love makeup and want to do tutorials, but there's been an authenticity issue that I've been dealing with. On one hand, I love makeup looks that are smokey, fun, and actually using lots of makeup. That's kind of the point when you love makeup - to use it. And that's what I used to do. Play around with makeup and photograph it. While that's great, I kind of feel like I'm being a little fake because I don't wear makeup like that. I can't tell you the last time that I did a full eye makeup look. My day-to-day makeup is more natural. And while that's great and I love doing the natural looks, they tend to photograph the same, and you just end up with the same tutorial over and over again. So I could sit down and actually do my makeup, but I probably wouldn't leave my apartment or I would take it all off and re-...

Am I back? I don't know, but I'm going to try this thing again. Hopefully it'll stick this time since the craziness of my life has hopefully died down. I have 2 tutorials using the Marc Jacobs palettes that have been sitting on my computer for a couple months now and this is one of them. I fell in love with The Lolita palette over Christmas. (Yes, I know I'm mentioning Christmas in July. Sorry.) I loved it so much that when I saw The Tease, I knew I had to have it, and it's even more beautiful than The Lolita. A little less versatile, but still a great palette. I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate the bright violet shadow in this palette, but use it in a subtle way that you could even wear to work. This is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy! Step 1: Apply the peachy-pink color to the outer 3/4 of the top lid. Then apply the light brown shadow to the inner 1/4 and take up it up through the crease. Step 2: Now's th...

This is a look that has been my go-to for weeks now. It's so simple, it really doesn't need a full "tutorial" but I thought I'd throw it out here anyways. I ordered the Chanel Prelude quad a while ago and was slightly disappointed when I first opened it up - blame it on the huge beautiful palettes that I've been buying lately. When I first used it though, I was in love. The shadows are so absolutely subtly beautiful! If you're looking for a natural smaller palette or quad for travel (and are in the position to spend an obscene amount of money), I'd definitely recommend this one! It'll for sure be the one I travel with, and just reach for anyways. Step 1: Apply the top left shade on the outer corner of your top lid like you would a line and flick it out just a little. I used a Sigma E65 Small Angle brush. Step 2: Using an E30 pencil brush, apply the bottom left shade on the outer part of your bottom lash line. Step 3: The...

Pigs are flying! I finally used my Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette! Alright, so I only used two shades, but that's way better than I've done over the past 4 months. (Has it really been that long?) This look is super simple and really pretty for the spring. It's just a fresh, bright rosy look. Hope you enjoy! Step 1: Start with a base or primer. I uesd a Sigma Eyeshadow Base in Provoke which is just a nude base color. Then apply Burnout over all but the very outer corner of your upper lid. Step 2: Apply Buzz in the outer corner. Step 3: Line your top lash line with a dark brown to create a softer look. I used Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Damsel. Step 4: Line your waterline and inner corner in white. I used Rimmel London Soft Kohl Eye Liner Pencil in 07 Pure White. Step 5: Curl your lashes and apply mascara. I used a combination of L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black and L'Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black. Face: It Cosmetics ...

Today I thought I'd talk about hair chalking. I'm by no means an expert. I've only chalked my hair a few times, but I've tried a couple different ways and thought I'd write down my thoughts. The first time I tried hair chalking was last summer. (The below Instagram picture was from then.) I used chalk pastels - you know, the kind you used in middle school. Real art supplies. I had mine from college and was excited to bust them out even if it wasn't to draw something. I simply used the red, which looks pink in my hair. They say you should wet the chalk somehow, but I applied it dry and it worked just fine. If I had cared about turning my hands red, I would have put a paper towel between my hands and the chalk, but I just got messy. There wasn't really any residual chalk, because the pastel sticks are so compact that you really had to draw on your hair to get the color to come off, but that meant that I didn't worry too much about it coming off all ove...

I was going for a spring tutorial and one thing turned from hot pink to iridescent glitter and then it was barbie. Oh well, it's not like Mother Nature has realized it's spring yet anyways. We're getting more snow as we speak, though how much is still questionable; the weather this winter has seemed to change chaotically. We'll get spring and summer eventually, right? Until then, here's a super girly, hot pink, barbie look. I used the Lorac Pro palette, the Make Up For Ever Glitter in #4 White Violet, and the NYX Primal Colors Pressed Pigments Facepowder. The NYX pigments are not meant to be eye shadows, only for your face, but I threw caution to the wind and used it on my eyes anyways. (I haven't had any issues with it.) If you're worried about it though, the Too Faced Pretty Rebel palette has a bright pink you could use. It's a little deeper, but should give you a fairly similar result. Step 1: Appl...