New Year's Eve Makeup Idea

The big end of the year celebration is tomorrow and I know some of you have already been thinking about the makeup you are going to rock out, right? At least I have! Here I give you one of my favorite makeup inspirations. This look appeared in the Marie Claire Magazine December 2012 Issue and it shows a beautiful plum colored lid using Laura Mercier's Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Amethyst. If you are going to recreate this look:

• Always start by using an eye primer such as Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion so that your look will stay put all night without creasing.

• For the eyelid you could use the E.L.F. Long-lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow (a gel eyeshadow) in Soiree under your favorite pinkish plum eyeshadow. Apply both eye shadows onto the entire lid and use a blending brush to blend it in the crease to achieve that perfectly blended transition between lid and brow bone. By using a cream or gel eyeshadow as a base you will make the color that you put on top stand out more and will give the lid a lacquered look that is huge this season.

• Add a darker plum hue in the outer corner of the eye and lightly into the crease to add more dimension. For both the pinkish and the darker plum shadows you could use the two plum hues in the BHCosmetics Standard Shimmer Eyeshadow 88 Color Palette.

• If you wish, you could add a very thin black line to the upper lid with a pencil or liquid eyeliner to define the eye.

• Add the darker plum hue you used earlier, but in the lower lashes (again, just a thin line of color).

• Add some mascara such as Benefit They're Real Mascara which is the one I'm currently using and feel free to add some false eyelashes if desired.

• For the blush, go for a soft pink hue that will lightly color your cheeks for a very subtle and natural look.

• To finish off the look, use a nude lipstick with a pink undertone to it. You could try the L'Oreal Colour Riche in Fairest Nude with or without a nude gloss on top.

And voilà! There you have a very sultry elegant look to say goodbye to 2012 and greet the new year! Hope all of you have a great New Year's celebration and that 2013 brings you health, happiness, and lots of new wonderful memories to treasure. See you next year!

Fixing a Smudged Nail

Don't you girls hate it when you have patiently painted all of your nails, they look amazing, and all of the sudden you smudge one of them. Agh! It's terrible....so unfortunate...But wandering through the fabulous world of the internet I found a video in a great website called Refinery29 which I know you will enjoy a lot. In it the celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec shows you an easy way to resolve that famous situation that probably we've all gone through. So no more smudged nails for all of us! Just click on the video below to learn the trick.

Travel-friendly Highlighter

The secret of makeup artists to make celebrities' face look so luminous and radiant is using a highlighter. This secret weapon comes in loose powders, pressed powders, gels, sticks, and now even in papers! Yup! Papers! I recently subscribed to Ipsy (formerly My Glam Bag) which is a monthly service that delivers beauty related samples to try products and/or discover new ones. This month one of the products were this really cool highlighter papers from Mai Couture. They come in a small handy notebook that is perfect to throw in your purse or to travel. At the end of the notebook there is an illustration that shows the areas where you should apply the product, like for example the top of your cheekbones and in your brow bone (my personal favorite places to apply it). I prefer using powder highlighter for daily use, but I also think this is a really clever, fast application, and easy to carry around product. It has a soft shimmer that attracts light to those areas of your face you want to stand out and I love that the shimmer is subtle and not big chunks of sparkle. Another positive point of this product is that they are paraben and talc free. You must be warned though that your fingers will get shimmer too so be aware of that and clean your hands after using them if you are bothered by it. Apart from that, I really recommend giving them a try since they are really easy to use and give a gorgeous look to your skin.

E.L.F. Long-lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow

This year cream and gel eyeshadows have had a big moment. These kind of eyeshadows wear very different from common pressed powder shadows because they are more pigmented, last longer on your eyes, and have a sort of liquid look to them in your eyes. They do have a problem with creasing after a few hours so always use an eye primer before applying them. Some of the most mentioned collections of these kind of eye shadows have been the L'Oreal Infallible 24hr Eyeshadows and the Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Shadows. I think both lines have amazing colors and great staying power, especially when used with an eye primer. E.L.F. Cosmetics also introduced a similar product of whipped cream eyeshadows and for a fraction of the price of the previously mentioned brands. I decided to give it a try and I have to say I was impressed. I bought the color Soiree which is a very shimmery opaque pink. The shadow was really easy to apply with my fingers since it has a very soft texture and the color came out beautifully and really pigmented. You can apply one coat of it or buildup a more intense color by following with more coats. It looks great alone or combined with a black eyeliner. So hope you girls try it and tell me what you think about it!

Nude Lips

For this Winter season lipstick colors such as red, plum, and oxblood are having a huge moment but there is another color that is trending a lot this season: Nude. This color is so versatile that is really easy to use to any event, day or night, to a party or just to go shopping. My two favorite nude lip products are from L'OREAL and both from their Colour Riche Collection. The lipstick is in the color Fairest Nude and is great because it is nude color but with just a hint of light pink to it. You can use it alone or with my other favorite nude lip product, the Colour Riche Balm in the color Nourishing Nude which will add shine and moisture to your lips. This balm is very hydrating and has SPF on it which is a great added benefit for everyday use to prevent dry lips, protect them from sun damage, and to add a little life to pale lips. I went through Pinterest to find some great eye looks to go with your nude lips. As I had said, the nude lips are very versatile so you can pair it with just about any eye look but my favorites are posted below. Hope you feel inspired and try some or all of these looks for all the fun Christmas events!

The Body Shop Beautifying Oil

I'm obsessed with silky soft skin and for over a month now one of my must have products to achieve this is the Coconut Beautifying Oil from The Body Shop. I love it because it leaves your skin very moisturized without feeling heavy or greasy. Also it gives your skin a very healthy glow and a subtle coconut smell which I find delicious. The product contains Coconut oil which is a moisturizing agent, Marula oil which is a moisturizer and has some antioxidant properties, as well as several other skin conditioning agents. You can use this beautifying oil in your body, face, and hair so its like having 3 products in one. One more important aspect from this product is the fact that it is animal cruelty-free and vegetarian, so not only you are doing some good to your body but also to the earth! :)

Comodynes Self-Tanning Towelettes

A few months have gone by since summer and for most of us the beautiful caramel color in our skin has long faded. Even do I like my natural skin color, sometimes one can feel a little "washed out" and pale. So to boost up a little my natural skin color I decided to buy the Comodynes Self-Tanning Intensive Towelettes from the Birchbox website. I totally felt in love with them because they are very easy to use, they have a good soft scent to it (unlike many self tanners that have a strong scent), and they provide just the right amount of color to my skin. Also these towelettes are paraben-free and the color looks natural since it adapts to your skin tone by working with the natural proteins in your skin. I am a fan of spray self-tanners but I don't like having to clean my shower after applying them, so these towelettes also provides the benefit of not having to clean anything afterwards! The package says to use it on face and neck, but I did my whole body and it looks great. A major benefit of using self-tanners instead of sun bathing or using tanning beds is that you don't increase your risk of suffering from skin cancer and you don't increase the wrinkles and dark spots that sun damage will bring. Always remember to exfoliate skin before applying ANY type of tanning products and also clean your hands afterwards if you don't want the palm of your hands to look weirdly tanned. BUT be careful that water doesn't touch past your wrists or the top of your hands since it could mess up the color in those areas. And last but not least remember to ALWAYS use SPF before going out in the sun!

PS. I leave here a video from Birchbox with some tips on how to use the Comodynes Self-Tanning Towelettes. Enjoy!

2013 Color of the Year

Every year the company named Pantone puts together a panel of people that will debate a very important subject regarding the future...the next "Color of the Year"!!! Ok, I know is not something of life or death but it is a really important matter for industries such as fashion and interior design among others. So get prepared to see a whole lot of 2013's new Color of the Year: Emerald!! I am really excited to see all the beautiful things that will come in this amazing color such as jeans, sunglasses, eye shadows, watches, nail polish, shoes, etc! The options are endless. I love the color since it's really refreshing and at the same time very sophisticated. Pantone describes it as "the color of growth, renewal and prosperity". Maybe using Emerald green will bring that same description to all of our lives and society in general! So now you know the next up and coming color for 2013, now its just a matter of...well...start our shopping! Yey!

Try Now! : Wet n Wild Megalast Nail Polish

Wet n Wild has been impressing me for a while now and their Megalast nail polishes is no exception. I recently bought the color Haze of Love (215B) which is a beautiful plum/dark burgundy color perfect for the fall to christmas transition. What I love the most about the polish is that it comes with the ManiCurve Pro Brush which is a wider brush that is perfect for preventing streaks during application. It also glides very smooth and lasted me for about 4-5 days without chipping (without wearing a top coat!)...What can I say...FABULOUS!

Beauty looks from the #1 Model of the World: Joan Smalls

If you're a magazine junkie like me you probably have seen Joan Smalls in like...well...ALL of the top magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W Magazine, etc. So no wonder she was named by Models.com the #1 Model of the Year. Not only this, but also she is the first Puerto Rican to be the face of Estée Lauder. If I continue taking about all her amazing work this post will be never ending, so here I share with you some beautiful makeup looks worn by her in some of her ad campaigns. Hope these serve you as inspiration!

P.S. If you want to know a little more about this amazing model, here's the link to a short interview. Enjoy! ----- Joan Smalls #1