Tangerine Tango was named Pantone’s color of the year for 2012! Pan-whaaaat? you say…Well nutshell version is: Every year Pantone (a company that established a system of identifying and matching colors for use in design et cetera) chooses a color of the year. And this color is used a lot in fashion, beauty, and design forecasting. Orange you glad I explained that?–umm, sorry couldn’t resist that joke–I bet you $10 if you haven’t noticed this color everywhere yet, you will know that you’ve read this!

I love the energy and confidence that this color communicates! Here are my Tangerine Tango beauty pics:

 

 

1. NYX eyeshadow in Hot Orange: It’s a steal at only $5!
2. MAC Lipstick in Morange: Literally one of my favorite lipstick shades OF ALL TIME! $14.50
3. ChaCha Tint by Benefit: Cheek stains are the best for giving a believable long wearing glow $29
4. OPI nailpolish in On The Same Paige: around $9
5. NARS blush in Taj Majal: looks lovely on deep skin or layered with bronzer if you’re more fair $28
6. Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti: creamy vibrant color $6
7. Cover Girl Lashblast: the mascara is black but the colorful tube and great applicator make this mascara a winner $6
8. YSL Rouge Volupte #14 Orange Shiver: The epitome of luxury, you’ll feel like a celeb pulling this bad boy out of your handbag! $34

And my final pick is the lippy above: Sephora brand Hot Hues Lip Balm in Crazy Coral. I picked this one up on Saturday for $10 and can’t wait to go snag the other shades it comes in (a bright pink & purple). It feels like chapstick, looks like jello, smells yummy, and leaves a bright orangey-peachy popsicle looking stain on my lips! I seriously can’t stop staring at it…it looks good enough to eat!

I’ve been pretty fixated on this color…in fact in the last 2 months I’ve added 3 tops and a pair of jeans in this color to my closet! Check out my clothing picks in this trendy shade HERE. So what do you think of Tangerine Tango? Any beauty picks off this list you’re going to pick up or already have?

Cheers to Confidence, Color, and Crazy Coral,

Remember my hair stylist friend Ashley? Well this past weekend was her birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with some girlie glam fun?!! 

Part of our girlie fun was sushi for lunch followed by a trip to the salon to get our nails done…now this is a huge treat for me. Weird, I know, considering how fanatical I am about nail polish. Truth be told, I usually just do my own. I picked out a pretty minty shade by OPI called Hey, Get In Lime! Absolutely in love with this shade right now!  

  On the docket for the evening was dinner and karaoke…so much fun! Ashley asked me to do her makeup for her day and night of birthday fun and naturally I recorded what we did so you all could follow along and learn how to do the dramatic smoky eye she wanted for yourselves!

You will need black, purple, green, and blue eyeshadows, I also used some basic shades from the Naked 2 palette, black gel eyeliner, mascara, and false lashes! This smoky eye is a personal fav of mine because when you layer the shades you get a peacock/oil slick effect on the eye that is so pretty! So here we go…

Cheers to Birthdays, Smoky Eyes, and Karaoke,

I’m sure you’ve all seen this trend…whether in hair or clothing it’s seems that ombré is everywhere!

Well tonight a little bit of boredom forced me to try the trend on my nails! I’ve definitely seen this done before and always thought it looked lovely but never sat down and tried it…as I was staring at my huge vase of nail polishes (that’s how I store mine…how do you store yours?) I realized I had a ton of yellow, coral, and orange polishes…

So I picked the 5 that seemed to show an ombré progression…

And voilá!

I’m quite happy with how it turned out and now wishing I had tried it sooner! It only took me a few minutes and I love that it’s a nail trend that takes no skill! Ha ha! As you know, nail polish is one of my biggest beauty loves and it seems new fancy ideas and trends with nails pop up daily! Love that!

So what do you think? Would you give this trend a try?

Cheers to Nail Polish, Ombré, and Boredom fixed by Beauty,

I did a shoot a while back that turned out SO beautifully and I’ve been dying to share the pics with you all but had to sit on them for a bit until they were published in the wedding blog Every Last Detail!  The fabulous Lydia Takeoka took the pics!

All 3 of the models were so gorgeous I thought it’s be nice to tell you how you can get each of their looks!  The first one that we will look at today is Ashley…

Ashley is often my partner in crime on shoots but usually as the hair stylist…this time though I had the pleasure of doing her hair and makeup! She is absolutely lovely, no?! I love the unique accesories: chains and pearls, and that gorgeous ring! And the vintage wedding dress was from a second-hand store!

To achieve this sultry eye I swept a rich cool undertoned brown all over her lid, blended her pinky-peach blusher shade into her crease, highlighted the inner socket and under the brow bone with a shimmery vanilla, and smoked out the edges with matte black shadow. A strong liner and loads of L’Oreal’s Voluminous mascara finished off her look! Try Dior’s 5 pan in Mystic Smokys 004

On Ashley’s nails is OPI’s Monsooner or Later…this was a bridal themed shoot so I especially loved this unexpected flash of color on her nails! Would you wear a non-traditional color on your nails on your wedding day? I would! (And I did! Haha…mine were black!)

Ashley showed up with her hair already with a bit of curl in it which made my job easier…to get this touchable updo start by running a curling iron through your locks or if you have natural texture use a scrunch spray. Next gently tease the crown, gather the hair like you are going to put it in a some-up-some-down look and pin. Pull the ends up and tuck into a french twist or chignon. Pull out small sections of hair as needed to add volume and texture. Then hairspray liberally!

Give this look a try and let me know how it turns out!

Cheers to sultry eyes and vintage dresses,

 

We’ve all been there…one more swipe of mascara, or a quick dab of blush, and you would be out the door but then the unthinkable happens: the uncontrollable urge to sneeze, a slip of the hand…Ugh!! No need to fear, take a deep breath…

 

 lydiaphotography.com

Here are a few fast fixes that have helped me!  I hope they help you too!

I got a little excited over my creme (or liquid) blush!

If it is still wet and has not set, then use a cotton ball to wipe off any excess.  Next grab your foundation brush and blend another layer of foundation on top.  Then set with translucent powder.  This will not only tone down your blush but create the illusion of that “lit from within” natural flush that we all want!

My lashes touched my eyes/face while my mascara was still wet! 

This blunder is SO common! Trying to clean it up can potentially ruin your look but it has a VERY simple solution…seriously folks, this changed my life…Wait and let it dry…Yup you heard me right.  It’s instinctual to wipe it off but that will onyl smudge and rub it in more, and using removers will break down your makeup beneath it and ruin your look!  After it dries use a clean eyebrow brush (or unused/clean mascara spool) and gently brush it off!  This is one time you will be thankful that mascara flakes! It will flake right off and your makeup underneath will still be intact!

I bumped my finger nail while it was still wet!

Ok, so this trick may not work for those HUGE smudges, like when you swipe off half of your polish.  But for those smaller smudges and marks this will do the trick…spit on one of your fingers (Um why are you grossed out? It’s your OWN saliva for crying out loud!)…so like I was saying, spit on a free finger (be generous!) and gently rub over the nail with the smudge, repeat as needed, all the while moving the polish back to it’s original place.  It’s very important that you do not press too hard or you’ll only make a bigger smudge! Finish by either an additional thin swipe of your color and/or a clear topcoat!

 

Any other Beauty Blunders you need solved?  Or do you have a Fast Fix that works great for you?  Let me know!

 

Cheers to imperfections…and being able to improve them,

 

My story with nails is a bit of a tragic one. I can still remember vividly the day that my mother, in an effort to encourage me not to grow up too fast, decided that it wasnt appropriate to have my nails painted. She told me I no longer could and that I’d have to wait until jr high to do it.  Needless to say, I was devastated! I could not understand why one day it was ok for me to paint my nails and the next it wasnt anymore…highly tragic…

on models nails: mint sorbet by sally hansen

 

So did my mom succeed in helping us not grow up to fast? I’m not sure…but what I will say is that the second I was in jr high and it was ok to paint my nails I ran to the store and spent all of my hard earned baby sitting money on nail polish…there were WAY too many shades to choose from though…pink, blue, purple, forest green (yes, that color was popular at the time!)…what is a girl to do?

So I made the most logical decision and bought as many shades as was humanly possible and changed my nail polish color just about every other day…I couldn’t get enough! I can even recall sneaking some polish into the bathroom at school to paint my nails in the stall! I mean I didnt have time to do it at home before I left…priorities people!

For those of you who have known me for any lengthy period of time know that I had my nails consistently painted black for about 7 years…as of late in an effort to change it up and not get stuck in a rut I have channeled my inner jr higher and resumed changing my nail polish color often!

 

clockwise from top left: Graphite by Chanel, my custom blend nude, Aloha by Dior, and Primrose Hill by Butter London

While I applaud my mother for encouraging me to stay young, I must say that if I become a mother and my child expresses an interest in painting their nails, I will be the first one to bust out my bottle of Chanel Vamp and paint their little paws!

 

So Cheers to jr high, recovering from childhood tragedies, and nail polish,