7 Steps to Beautiful Summer Skin

The things I am most passionate about are: Makeup, Makeup Artistry, Photography, Exercise, and Nutrition. Yes, I still want to go back to school to major in Exercise and Wellness with a minor in Nutrition Communication. How does nutrition and exercise apply to your skin and makeup? More than you know. Today I'll give an idea of my favorite ways to feel energized, healthy, and how that helps my skin stay clear and ready for summer (or everyday!).

Homemade Lemon Facial Scrub!

Identity Crisis

Its true. I'm having a wee bit of an identity crisis. Every day for the last two weeks I change my clothes at least three times before leaving the house and I guess you can say life isn't that bad if this is the top of my worries. Right? With the gorgeous temps in the desert I am keeping it simple with an overly girly sundress, colorful studded earrings, hair off my face, and "day smokey" eyes with soft pink lips.

{No jewelry??? A first} 

{Dress and Earrings: UO}

MAKEUP

Face

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation 

Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder

Bobbi Brown Peony Blush

MAC Short Shorts Eyeshadow* as Highlight

EYES

MAC Short Shorts Eyeshadow*

MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow

Bobbi Brown Taupe Shimmer Ink Liner

Bobbi Brown Everything Mascara

LIPS

Shu Uemura BG209 Lipstick

Skulls, Sunshine, and Mac 'n Cheese.

Sunday Faces.

@thebloomer (my week on instagram)

I've been putting these posts together for some time now but for those of you who are new to my blog, @thebloomer is a post where I feature a fun snapshot of my Instagram photos taken over the previous week. I don't post them all, just my favorites! I hope you all have an amazing Memorial Day weekend. This is the type of holiday weekend where I feel like I should be packing up a car tonight with camping gear, climbing equipment, coolers full of drinks and food, and driving off somewhere beautiful, scenic, and quiet. I miss camping so much. I hope you all get to do something fabulous!

I'm super excited for a laid back weekend with my man.

Local Highlight: Teres Nail Bar

When I first moved to AZ I had that moment where my mind started racing about "who is going to do my hair now?" and "who's going to do my nails??" I wasn't concerned about finding a dentist, or a bank, or the nearest grocery store. Just to give you guys another example of how important this was to me... I still don't have a dentist. Go me.

When I give myself this time to relax and get pampered I seriously feel myself falling asleep half the time because I'm so relaxed and at ease. I had my nails done twice at two different places in AZ and I was noticing a common theme... huge lack of talent and extremely high prices. My experiences had been so awful I decided I wouldn't be getting my nails done for the remainder of my time in the desert. 

About 6 months later I was sitting at my computer in Scottsdale and after having a particularly stressful day I thought "screw it, I'm getting my nails done." I jumped on Yelp to search nail salons and I chose three different business, went to their websites, and did some research. Upon looking at Teres' website  I was instantly impressed with their website, their services, and most of all their competitive prices. Plus, it was two minutes away from my location. I called them up and made an appointment. 

On my first trip I was super lucky and landed an appointment with the lovely Mindy. During my appointment we made small talk and I discovered they had only been open for two weeks. Brand new! I was excited for them. My first appointment went really well and I couldn't have been more impressed with the establishment or my final result. THANK GOODNESS. I finally found somewhere and an artist that I love.

When you get a pedicure you also get a fun rubber ducky friend to hang out in the water!

Upon meeting the darling owner Courtney I knew I found a business run by good people and I'm super excited for her business to be a huge success. She had a very similar story to mine. She would go to salons, pay way too much, and leave with ok to mediocre results. It costs a lot to get a service done monthly and you have to LOVE your nails when you leave. Even though she could afford to have the service done, she felt the industry was seriously lacking and needed a major change. And boy, she did it! Not only do you get high end spa services at a super competitive price you also get wonderful service and beautiful results. 


The salon its self is fresh, modern yet cozy, and come on now.... they have aloe water. Courtney did an amazing job when hiring her team as well. She knew she needed to hire people by their talent but most importantly by their character. You can train someone on nails, you can't train someone to be a good person.  Seriously check out their website HERE and see their services and prices! All my readers outside of AZ, come visit me already. 
We'll get our nails done.

This was my first experience with Aloe Water and oh my gosh. It will change your world. 


You can follow Teres here:
1-Website
2-Facebook
3-Twitter
4-Yelp

I am super simple when it comes to my nails. I usually do a gel manicure with one solid color. I'm the easy customer for sure. They offer all sorts of fun nail art from the glitter ombre, to fun designs, to the whole water color technique. They can do anything you want! Especially my girl Mindy. Even though I'm loving this fun neon purple, I can't wait to try the orange.

Glasses Meets Makeup and a Summer Lip.

When it comes to getting your eyes as well as eye makeup to stand out behind glasses, I recommend the  following:

1- Focus on the liner. Make it slightly bolder than you would normally wear. Add a wing (even if its a baby) and smudge a dark color on the bottom lash line.

2- Use one light eyeshadow on the eye lid, inner crease, brown bone, and tear duct area to make your eyes look big, bright and bold.

3- Sculpt you brow! Even if its super soft this is one of the most important features. 

4- Apply a generous amount of mascara. Or better yet, top it off with a pair of natural false lashes. Emphasize the outer corners of your eyes for a lift.

5- Instead of thinking you need to pack a ton of color on your eyes, find a fun and simple lip color that is complimentary to your eye color! See that? Oh its my best friend Budding Love lipstick from MAC. (The only lipstick my boyfriend has ever liked. He on more than one occasion has proactively told me to wear it!)

And with that I give you my next summer lip color, Budding Love.

Now, I really need relaxation time and a delicious dinner with my man.

Torn

I'm feeling rather uneasy today. My mind keeps running laps and the next thing I know all my ice in my soy latte has melted and a few hours have completely escaped me. That is when I start thinking up all the fun and creative (and hopefully helpful!) blog posts I can create. I apologize that my photos are ALWAYS taken in my apartment. One of my goals for this year is to 1- get some better photography equipment and 2- grow a pair and start taking my photos outside in natural light!

I'm completely enamored with these shoes from ZARA. I ordered them a 1/2 size too big and had every intention of sending them back and getting the right size but the size I need in blue were gone and there is NO way I'm not owning these. I love the black and orange pair too. Check them out-----> HERE.

As for my ridiculous amounts of unnecessary anxiety, I'm hoping visiting my favorite nail bar Teres: Nail Bar today and having dinner with my boyfriend will help. I wake up everyday thinking about how lucky I am to have Ryan. Despite being the most wonderful boyfriend ever, he's easily the most splendid and inspiring human I've ever met. 

Wardrobe malfunctions :)

The Uplifting Project. Please Vote!

If you haven't heard of The Uplifting Project yet I am here to educate you. This is a cause to strongly assist under served communities around the world to build schools and provided educational resources to educate and empower that community. The Uplifting Project will build a school in Tanzania which is located in eastern Africa. Most Tanzanians live under the international poverty line and many of them don't have access to education. Helping The Uplifting Project by VOTING will allow them to: 1- build a school with lots of classrooms and bathrooms2-supply educational supplies such as desks, paper, pencils, books, etc...3- cover the cost of labor
You can help make a difference in the lives of a community. I have voted everyday since I found this cause and I honestly wish I could get my hands in the project and literally help build the school.The Uplifting Project is currently working on their first project of building a secondary school in Olasiti, Tanzania and with their steady progress they are hoping to open the school soon to its first 300 students. How amazing is this? Please follow them on their social profiles and vote :)
FacebookTwitterWEBSITE

Homemade Lemon Facial Scrub

What you need...

Gently massage the mask into the skin and let sit for 2-3 minutes then rinse with water. This scrub will gently exfoliate the skin without being too harsh or being a product that is loaded with chemicals. My skin feels wonderful and I can't wait for Ryan to come home and get his welcome home from work kiss. He better tell me my face smells lemon-ey and delicious!

So simple right? What are your favorite homemade facial treatments?

Summer Lips: MAC Vegas Volt

Okay okay. I know yesterday I said I was going to feature a blue under toned red today but as soon as I put these earrings on, I knew I needed a pink coral lip in my life. For me, coral is the ultimate summer lip color. Just feminine enough to feel "done up" and soft enough to not make you feel uncomfortable or out of your element. 

I love MAC's Amplified Lipstick in Vegas Volt. If you've never worn one of their amplified lipsticks you are truly missing out. Its like the pigment and hold from a matte lipstick married the moisturizing feel and shine of the cremesheen lipsticks! They 1- glide on softly, 2- leave lots of pigment so you don't need to use very much, 3- they hold!, and 4- the colors in this family are unreal pretty. 

The rest of my look....

FACE

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation

Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder

Laura Mercier Blush in Rose Petal

Highlight= MAC Eyeshadow Angel Flame*

EYES

MAC Eyeshadow Angel Flame*

MAC Fluidline in Dipdown

Bobbi Brown Everything Mascara

Brows= MAC Dipdown with 266 brush

Now, I'm off to fill out some paper work to be a MAC Freelance Makeup Artist (I use to work for them) then I am hitting the pool! Yes, in these earrings.

Summer Lips: Nars Red Square

One of my absolute favorite products on the market is Nars' Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Red Square. SO GOOD! I love that it takes two seconds to throw on, holds better than most other lip products, and it has just the right orange to red ratio. I am loving floral tones for summer with very soft skin and minimal makeup. Show off those fun lip colors ladies!

I very purposely lined the top lip and left the bottom lip super soft. I even blended it with my finger to remove some pigment so that the top lip is darker than the bottom. Give this fun technique a try with any color you desire! Tomorrow I'll feature a blue under toned red so you can all see the difference in how shades play up your skin tone and eye color. 

p.s. I'm completely obsessed with this floral scarf I bought a few years ago. Perfect as a summer head wrap as well.

Phoenix Style Collective

Today you can find me hanging out over on the Phoenix Style Collective's website! Upon learning about the PHXSC I was eager to reach out to them to get to know some local bloggers here in the desert. Since moving to AZ I found the blogging, makeup, and fashion world to be really small and I honestly felt quite alone in my passion. Boy was I wrong. I just needed to do a little more searching! The bloggers on this site are passionate, fun, creative, and I enjoy reading every single one of their blogs. 

I'm excited to be forever featured on their website and I look forward to working with them in any way possible. Check out their website -----> HERE.

My Friend Trevor Hale Being Awesome as Always!

My friend Trevor is one of the most intellectual and fun human beings I know! He proactively and humbly (I didn't even know he wrote this post until I stumbled upon it!) wrote this blog post for me. If you like all things awesome, you should follow him! 

Check out the blog post ----> HERE!


Hope you are having an amazing Saturday!

Summer Makeup Trend: Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

To me, Summer makeup is all about looking clean, fresh, and classic. Let your skin be in its most comfortable and raw form and don't be afraid to play with a little bit of color! Add a splash of blush or a fabulous lip color. Here is my take on the summer makeup trends...

Products Used

FACE
Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder
Bobbi Brown Blush in Peony
Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose Gold
EYES
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Mauve Ink
Bobbi Brown Everything Mascara 
Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Champagne
LIPS 
Bobbi Brown Lipstick in Cosmic Raspberry
Bobbi Brown Lipgloss in Sailor

Moisturize: Start with freshly cleanses skin and follow by applying your favorite moisturizer and eye cream. I love Bobbi Browns Hydrating Face and Eye Creams. They hydrate the skin and have built in primers to help your makeup apply much smoother and lost all day.

Skin: Next I applied Bobbi Browns Skin Foundation. I love this foundation because it blends into skin effortlessly and doesn’t lose coverage as it’s blending. This foundation truly lives up to its name! It looks just like skin and doesn’t make me feel like I look too made up and I’m always happy with how my skin looks through out the rest of the day.

Contour: For a warm and beautiful summer glow I take Bobbi Browns Bronzing Powder and contoured the outer area of my entire face and neckline to make my cheekbones and facial features pop. To top it off I take one last pop of bronzer and softly pop it along the front of my forehead, front of my nose, and apples of my cheeks to give the allusion of sun kissed skin. Not too much though! You don’t want your bronzer to over power your blush. If you are skipping blush, you can go a little stronger with the bronzer.

Color: Next I took my absolute favorite Bobbi Brown blush, Peony, and popped it on the strongest part of my cheekbones right underneath the outer corner of my eyes using a large fluffy blush brush. Once the color was of my brush I continued to buff until the blush was blended and there weren’t any harsh lines.

Highlight and Eyes: A shimmer Brick from Bobbi Brown is one item EVERY woman should own. I topped off the high planes of my face with the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose Gold to give my skin an extra touch of summer! My skin already has a dewy glow and I couldn’t resist adding more.

When it comes to the eyes you have lots of options...

1-    A simple layer of mascara

2-    Mascara and very natural looking false lashes for extra body an length

3-    Mascara and a simple natural shade of eyeliner

4-    Mascara and a winged liner

5-    Mascara, winged liner, and natural false lashes

Get creative and take it a dramatic as you’d like while still achieving that natural and effortless look.

Last but not least, lips. And in my opinion the most important feature for this look. If you have…

Blue Eyes: Choose a beautiful Hue of Coral and Orange. Whether it’s a Tint, tone, or shade you’re sure to make your eye color stand out the most.

Green Eyes: Choose a stunning hue of purple. A light lilac for those afraid of color or a vibrant plum for those looking to make their lips pop will work.

Purples really amps up Green eyes and make a stunning statement.

Brown or Hazel Eyes: Choose fun shade of pink or rose. Going soft yet bright is my top suggestion for this eye color. It will bring out any yellow or gold hues in your eyes and pink looks good on everyone.

I hope this helps you get on track for your summer makeup looks and I’d love to see what you guys put together!

Here are some of my current Wish List Items from Bobbi Brown.

 All of these wonderful Items can be purchased at your nearest Harrods location or online at Harrods.com. 
You can follow the Harrods Facebook page -----> HERE and keep up on fashion trends, beauty inspirations and 
lots lots more with them on Pinterest ------> HERE.  
What is your current favorite makeup trend? Comment below! I'd love to chat makeup with you. 


Lots of love and I hope you have an amazing weekend.