Photo Editing: What’s Going Right and What’s Going Wrong

10/24/2017

There are a few hot button issues floating around the online blogging community. Among these are cosmetic procedures, buying followers, bots, and also photography. Everyone’s worried about their own quality of content, and also concerned about what everyone else is doing. The latter deserves its own post, but there’s something to it that isn’t bad. We learn by observing, and when you scroll through Instagram long enough, you start to see some shit.

Every so often, the topic of photo editing in particular gets dredged up from what I can only assume is the ninth circle of hell. Usually in the form of a complaint. And it’s still a hot topic in terms of society, which it rightfully should be. But there’s a lot of context to these discussions, which sometimes gets lost. And sometimes, the context doesn’t matter at all. Opinions are often either extreme, or completely neutral. And honestly, that’s pretty interesting. Something as seemingly innocuous as photo editing can cause a bit of a riot.

What’s In My Everyday Makeup Bag

10/21/2017

Something everyone who wears makeup asks at some point is, “What do I need in my everyday makeup bag?” There’s a lot of answers to that, and everyone’s got different needs. And a lot of videos and blog posts about it show extensive everyday bags. Which is absolutely fine, people can and should do what they want and what they’re most comfortable with. But a lot of people, myself included, don’t go all out everyday and it’s nice to share that side of things as well. There’s an idea I see seeping through the cracks that if you love makeup, you have to go all out all day everyday. That’s just not true, nor is it practical.

Everyday makeup bag

My Evening Skincare Routine

09/18/2017

Disclaimer: this came out waaaaaaay more involved than I intended, but I may have underestimated how extensive my evening skincare routine is. If you make it all the way to the end, you’re my favorite person.

When someone hears “skincare routine”, especially evening skincare routine, there’s probably some ire or excitement. You either love having a routine, or it’s a chore. Or you’ve probably heard off the infamous 10 step skincare popularized by K-Beauty and your head starts spinning. I used to be in the camp of feeling that it’s a chore, and that the idea of a routine that’s longer than three steps made me nauseated.

Evening skincare routine

Easy Guide to Color Correcting with Concealer

08/19/2017

Color correcting is one of those trends in the makeup community that likely confuses most people. And by most people I mean anyone who isn’t a hard core makeup enthusiast. And I get it. It looks freaking weird and frankly it’s confusing. Where’s the logic in sticking a crazy color on top of another color to make it go away? Seriously how is sticking a random purple shade on your face possibly going to make anything better? And why do makeup gurus always use so much?

But here’s the thing: color correcting is easy as pie. It’s an incredibly simple theory that anyone can use with great results. If you’ve never played around with color correcting before, here is everything you need to know to get started.

Color correcting makeup

Instagram Made Me Buy It

08/17/2017

Ok here’s the thing, I spend a lot of time on social media. Like more than I would care to admit. So part of that is I get exposed to a lot of advertising, both directly from companies and from influencers. This is both good and bad, because there’s some disingenuous advertising, but sometimes you find really cool stuff. Instagram is where I spend most of my browsing time, so I see a bunch of interesting products. And sometimes, I decide to give things a try. Here’s what I bought after seeing an Instagram ad.

Glossier Haul | Phase 1 and Phase 2

08/14/2017

If you’re at all involved in the beauty and skincare communities on social media, you will see Glossier mentioned at some point. Their IG feed is gorgeous and their Milk Jelly cleanser is quickly approaching cult status. After hearing about them nonstop, you get a little curious about their products. At least, I did, and after waffling for a while I bit the bullet. I was simply too curious about all the great things I’ve seen.

Rebranding and Me

08/11/2017

One of the hardest parts of going into blogging was deciding how I wanted to brand myself. How I wanted to tell my story and how I wanted to present myself and my content. We hear a lot about originality, about authenticity, about standing out. The first piece of advice, or one of the first pieces, we’re ever given is: come up with a name that is you. And to be honest, how I previously named this blog and presented this blog didn’t feel like me. Yes it had my name and had the general idea of what I wanted to do, but it didn’t feel like me.

Going Cruelty Free

08/09/2017

Something I’ve been hearing about for a couple years now was the cruelty free movement. Like a lot of people, I naively believed that animal testing was some far off issue reserved for China, or only the most diabolical super villains, or for 1960s psychological tests. But unfortunately, it’s still a widespread practice that is poorly regulated by government agencies. But as I did my own research on the matter, I came to the realization that it is very real, and very present.

cruelty free

Looxi Beauty Eyeshadow Haul and First Impressions

08/06/2017

There are so many amazing companies you can find through social media these days, and one that’s growing on Instagram is Looxi Beauty! I’m in a bit of a rut lately with my makeup collection, usually buying the same kind of shades and feeling a little uninspired. When Looxi had a flash sale of 50% I decided to pick up a few new shadows! I’m such a matte shadow junkie, and I wanted more multidimensional finishes for a change.

Row 1: Laced, Blondie, Latte, Blow, Nova, Obsessed
Row 2: Foxy Lady, Starboy, Copper Popper, Genesis, Noir, Duperstar

Deciem ‘The Ordinary’ Haul & First Impressions

08/03/2017

Today I have a very exciting post for you! I finally placed my first order through Deciem, the cult hit skincare company that has a brand for anything and everything. One of their most notable sub-brands is The Ordinary, which has remarkably affordable prices with laboratory grade ingredients. Seriously, they had me at all the scientific jargon. (Don’t worry, I won’t torture y’all with that. Today.) I’ve been using them for a couple weeks, so it’s still a bit too early to give a full review. But I did want to share my thoughts on them, so let’s get into it!

previous 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | next