A Week in Review

Well hello! It's been a minute since I've last posted. But for good reason! Last week, I was adjusting to going back to work. Let me start by saying, I give all of you mamas who work full time outside the home so much credit. Aside from the fact that it was terribly hard for me to be away from Avery, it was hard going to work, coming home to do my mama duties, and still trying to get dinner on the table every night and keep the house clean... and I'm only going back to work part-time! Let's just say that come Saturday, this house looked like a bomb exploded. I'm hoping this week will be a little bit easier.

As I mentioned in my last post, last week was a great week to go back to work because it was Sephoraween! A week dedicated to Halloween makeup looks. We had some really fun themes this year and spending time in the morning creating Halloween looks took my mind off the fact that I was going to be away from Aves (can you tell we're attached at the hip?!). 

My first day back at work, the theme was Disney Villain, so I channeled my inner Scar from The Lion King and created a more realistic look, as opposed to turning myself into a lion, and I think it worked! I had many clients ask if the scar I created around my left eye was real. We also did Comic Book day where I turned myself into a pop art comic book character -- super simple and easy to do with black liquid liner. And then my favorite day, Horror Day! I may have mentioned I'm really not into Halloween or anything gory, but Horror Day is always my favorite day of Sephoraween. This year, I wanted to keep my makeup pretty glam and create some special effects scratches across my face. For my first time playing around with a special effects makeup look, I think it turned out pretty good! I just used materials I already had on hand: tissue, lash glue, eyeshadow, and LipTar. It was a lot of fun to create, but taking a ton of lash glue off my face was obnoxious!

After all of that Halloween makeup and playing around with some facecharts during the week, my brushes were so dirty. I also should probably mention that it had been way too long since I last washed my brushes. Dare I say, before maternity leave?! In my defense, I rarely wore a full face of makeup during maternity leave, so my brushes didn't see a lot of action, but regardless, you should wash your brushes every two week. Do as I say, not as I do!

I'm so happy I found this winter hat for Avery from Carters. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a thick, winter hat for a baby! There are a ton out there for toddlers but hardly any for babies, and let's not mention that the hats that are out there for babies are not cute! If you're in need of a nice, warm hat for your babe, hit up Carters. This one is on sale for $10!

A side note about this picture; shortly after I took it, Aves rolled over for the first time! I was trying to catch it on video, as I could tell she was getting really close to figuring it out. I got the dreaded full memory warning on my phone, and as I was making room on my phone, she rolled over. Of course, she refused to do it again, until last night. She rolled over five times in a row and I finally got it on video. It's so much fun watching her learn and grow!

Aves new favorite thing is putting her fingers in my mouth while she's falling asleep. She's starting to learn how to reach out and grab things, something our dog Riley still isn't too fond of! It's funny watching her try to have some sort of coordination with her arms and hands. Sometimes, she'll reach out to grab a toy or our noses and her arms and hands will go in the complete opposite direction. Watching a baby gain control and coordination of their body is like watching a drunk person -- pretty entertaining!

I'm excited for the day off of work today to snuggle my baby, work on some Ivy & Grace things, and make my way to Starbucks to get my first red cup of the season. Christmas is, hands down, my favorite time of the year, and as soon as Halloween is over, I'm ready to celebrate! It's really exciting that this year is Avery's first Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can't wait to start some fun family traditions with her!

Let's hope that this week gives me enough time to write a few more blog posts!

Happy Tuesday!

Halloween Makeup

Welp, my maternity leave is officially over. I have to go back to work next week. I really do love my job and love my co-workers, but if I could be a stay-at-home mom, I would. The only thing keeping me from bursting into tears is the fact that it's Halloween week, and at Sephora, that means a week dedicated to fun Halloween makeup. I'm really not a fan of Halloween; it's just not my thing, but I'm always up for a reason to play around with costume makeup.

Whether you're planning on looking cute this Halloween, or like something straight out of The Walking Dead, I have some tips and tricks to take your makeup to the next level.

 Clearly, zombie makeup is my favorite considering I've done it two years in a row. I'm more of a subtle zombie, I'll pass on the wounds. Last year on Classic Horror day, I created my first zombie look (left). I opened that day and one of our managers asked me to run across the hall to the coffee shop to grab her some coffee. Homeboy behind the counter kept on giving me strange looks but refused to address the issue that my face just wasn't right. It was entertaining.

If you're planning on spending Halloween dressed up as someone, or something, dead, you want to keep these points in mind. You want to make sure your face looks as sunken in as possible. Everyone knows all about the contouring trend that swept the beauty world this past year; creating shadows on the skin to manipulate or enhance your face shape. That is essentially what you're going to do here. In true contouring, you use an ashy, grey-toned brown to contour and then use a warm brown (bronzer) to add life and warmth to the skin. Throw out that bronzer step because we want to look like death! Use a grey, matte eyeshadow to heavily contour your cheekbones, and hollow out the eye sockets. You can also mix a deep purple and reddish-brown shadow together (always matte!) and apply to the eye sockets and around the nostrils for a more sickly look. In my looks, I used Anastasia's Sienna and Makeup Geek's Duchess for that step. Use a light hand here, you don't want too much color around your eyes. To keep the eyes dark, go all out with a black smokey eye. Don't worry about making it look perfectly blended, the more it looks like you got punched in the eyes, the better! I used a black gel eyeliner as a base and blended everything out with a matte black shadow. Keep your skin fair with little to no warmth, the dead do not have a killer tan! Finish off your look by lining and filling in your lips with black eyeliner. I added a deep purple lipstick in the very center of my lips for a little extra dimension. I'm obsessed with this one. This year, I wanted to add some fake blood around my mouth for a little something extra. I wasn't about to spend money at a special effects store on fake blood so I took some dark red lipstick, smeared it on my fingers, and then smeared it around my mouth before I put on my lipstick.

The ever popular mermaid. And for good reason. Who doesn't want to look like a mythical creature from the sea? I, myself, would love to be a mermaid. Except for the water part. I hate getting wet. I'll just sunbathe on a rock. 

This makeup look is super simple. I did a really easy eye look with purple and turquoise eyeshadow, pearlescent glitter and false lashes. I then took different shades of pink, purple, and turquoise eyeshadows and, again, contoured my face. Unlike the zombie look, go crazy with the shimmers. The more of a glow you have going on, the better. During this step, you want to make sure you're starting with the lightest shades first and blending the darker shades in as you go; it's always easier blending dark colors into light. You can also lay down a piece of fishnet before you place the eyeshadow on your face to create a scale-like appearance. If you choose to do this, I recommend putting down a white base first (something like this) as it will allow the scales to show up a lot better! Then it's time to get creative. Glue sequins, pearls, rhinestones, whatever you want, to your face using lash glue. Finish your look off with a fun lip color. I used Kat Von D's Coven lipstick with a hint of Bite Beauty's Violet in the center.

I was really feeling the colored contour, so I took inspiration from my mermaid look and created this Woodland Fairy look. The day of Halloween is the only day of the week we are allowed to ditch our not so flattering uniform and wear a costume. I wasn't about to spend an arm and a leg on a costume, so I threw on a camel colored top, black leggings, a black tutu, and a pair of boots and called it a Woodland Fairy costume. I threw some extension in my hair and braided in a few pieces of fake greenery I had laying around the apartment. 

For this makeup look, I created a dark green smokey eye with winged liner and false lashes. I used different shades of green to contour, again using a mixture of shimmer and matte shades. I started with light greens, blending in the darker greens as I progressed. I used a dark, forest green eyeshadow just in the hollows of my cheekbones for a little extra drama. For the lips, I wore a basic nude lipstick, and later in the day, ended up adding some glitter on top. I'm almost positive I used this glitter liner. Using something like a glitter liner on your lips will help to ensure the glitter stays on! Just wipe the liner on your finger and tap on your lips!

And there you have it! Three super easy Halloween makeup looks! If you recreate any of these looks, I want to see them! If you post them on Instagram, make sure you tag me (@jenna__anne). I'm looking forward to seeing what looks I come up with next week. Follow me on Instagram to see the results!