Get that Vampy Lip Look: Burgundy Lip Trend Tutorial.

Guys. It's my first tutorial. I'm super stoked.

I worked really hard to cut down all the video I had to just under 15 minutes for you. As you're watching, you will notice that I sped up some parts. Sometimes during those parts, it looks like I am talking. I am in fact talking, but I'm not saying anything overly important, so don't feel as if you are missing anything crucial. 

This may not be the look for everyone, but I love a bold lip. And the eyes are so simple that anyone might want to watch at least the first 10 minutes. I'll list all the products I used below the video. 

Eyes.
Wet 'n' Wild's "Take on the Day" Eyeshadow Primer from the Fergie Collection
NYX's Love in Paris Palette in "Je Ne Sais Quoi"
     You just need a light, shimmery taupe, a warm medium brown, and a cool, really dark             charcoal.
NYX's Love in Paris Palette in "Mon Cherie"
     You need a dark, cool brown. Mine had some sparkle, but that isn't necessary. And a                shimmery vanilla. Or a not shimmery vanilla. You decide.
L'Oreal's Voluminous Butterfly Mascara in "Blackest Black"
Brows.
A mixture of shadows from e.l.f.'s 96-Piece Geometric Palette
Lips.
NYX's Slim Lip Pencil in "Currant"
Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in "Black Cherry"
Face.
Revlon's Colorstay Foundation for Normal/Dry Skin in "Ivory"
Hard Candy's Lite Brite Undereye Concealer and Highlighter in "Fair" 
Revlon's Photoready Eye Primer + Brightener in 003
A mixture of eyeshadows from e.l.f.'s 80-Piece Day-to-Night Palette for my Contour
e.l.f.'s Studio Blush in "Mellow Mauve"
e.l.f.'s Studio Translucent Mattifying Powder

This is exciting. Thanks for stopping by.

Can You Believe It's Manicure Monday?!?!

Because I can't.

It's been far too long. Far, far too long. But not without good reason. I have been really really busy getting engaged. And working through all of everything that comes with being engaged.

I love these picture update moments, so here we go...

Zach and I have been together for close to seven years. This is a picture of us going to his prom when he was a junior in high school and I was a freshman. We grew up going to the same church with our families and started growing as friends earlier that school year. I had had a pretty consistent crush on him since I was...12, maybe? so those early convos on AIM were pretty much dreams come true.

We started dating when I turned 16 and spent the rest of Zach's time in high school together.

Zach graduated and headed to college in Virginia and I finished my last year of high school. We were already planning to be with each other for a while. so we just kind of let long distance happen. 

I went to school in New York. Zach visited me my sophomore year and my friend Ashton took some pictures for us. Some people were suspicious and thought they might have been engagement photos, but we weren't planning to get married until we both had graduated, so there was no reason to rush things.

And then Zach did propose to me. For real. I knew we were going to get married, but I had no idea he was going to ask me when he did. Happiest October 4th of my life yet.

He brought all the letters I have written him and all the cards I have made and laid them out in a path to him. And then he started to read me something from a letter I wrote him as he was leaving for college. I couldn't handle myself for a moment.

Being proposed to was genuinely one of the most joyful and exhilarating experiences of my life. If getting married is important to you, I sincerely hope you get to experience a proposal (from either side :)). And another huge thank you to all our friends who helped with the planning and executing...of the plan.
In case you aren't tired of pictures yet, I'll just share a few more from our inevitable engagement session. Once again, with the fantabulous Ashton. 

I feel like this one just screams "Christmas Card." Am I right?

Oh, and Zach has a puppy. So I also have a puppy.

For anyone who plans on getting some pictures taken for any reason but isn't sure about finding a photographer or being able to afford one, I'd like to just take some time to share what I worked out for these photos. I found a friend who likes to take photos. My fiance happens to have a nice camera, but even if he didn't we still would have gotten some perfectly fine shots with a basic digital. Then I used PicMonkey, which is a free online photo editing website. I just tweaked the pictures til I liked the way they looked, and they save in really high quality. Money saved. Check it out here. 

Now for the manicure. Can I just say that I am also fantastically excited about the nail polish I am about to show you? It is most definitely a new favorite color, and I was more than impressed with the virtual lack of chipping. 

Meet Revlon's "Fearless."

The lighting never seemed to be ideal, so I don't necessarily have a fantastic picture of this polish in action. Here is a shot in natural, but very cloudy, light.

This is really not a normal color for me. I tend to stay away from reds in general; I just don't usually love how either average or bold or bloodthirsty they look. But this caught my eye the last time I was in Wal-Mart and I took a little risk on it. Turns out it is going to be one of my all time favorites. It applied nicely; two coats and I had the opacity I wanted. It's a really bright, clean, orangey red. Not necessarily the first color I think of for the winter months, but I l-o-v-e-d the way it looked with some of my cheetah print accents and gold jewelry, and it really just gave me a nice pop of brightness in the middle of the snow and rain and grey. If I ever get a picture that does it justice you will be the first to see it. 

As usual I used Orly's Bonder Basecoat and Polishield Top Coat. This polish wore for a good week with only some shrinkage from the topcoat. No real chipping to speak of. Awesome. 

Thank you oh-so-much for stopping by. I'm going to get caught up with some fall posts and then all the winter-themed thoughts in my head are coming your way.