My Two Cents: The Royal Wedding

And a Royal affair it was. Yes I fed into the hype and I stayed up (4am my time) to catch some of this footage on tv. I was mostly excited about the fashion because of the speculation going around about Kate's dress. I was expecting Kate to wear an extremely modern dress so I most definitely wasn't expecting this...

At first I was disappointed, but honestly after seeing the way she carried herself in it I couldn't be mad. She was an absolutely gorgeous bride and the dress was a very classy choice and complimented her body extremely well although it (IMO) was a safe choice. I especially enjoyed the tiara that she wore that was borrowed from the Queen. It don't get anymore pimpin than that. She eluded confidence and I thought it said a lot about her character for her to allow her sis to wear a white dress also on HER big day :) Of course one of my favorites out of the guests was...

Ma girl Victoria! She can do no wrong for me. Ever. She's preggers and still stuntin in her Loubs. Her hubby looks yummy as always :) The hat fashion in London is CRAZY! I love it, everyone really shows out. The only thing I found odd was the first public kiss. Lol, was it me or did that qualify more as a peck or smooch than a kiss (Yall know, a KISS) hehe. It still was so cute that Prince William blushed after and how wild the crowd went! I thought Prince William looked quite debonair and I loved how free spirited Prince Harry seems as he was giggling and very playful throughout the whole ceremony. I do wish William and Kate have a long and happy marriage as they seem to be very much in love and they are too cute for each other. Oh, and I LOVE the style of the men's tuxs and also the regal look of the uniform *drools* Well, I hear everyone loves a man in uniform! ;) Did you watch the wedding/what did you think?


xoxo.

Downtown Haulin'

So, I had traffic court yesterday so since I was forced to be downtown I just decided to browse around and later I met up with some friends. Unfortunately, I got caught in a massive spontaneous rain storm (because that's what happens on the days you don't carry an umbrella lol) I made a few stops: the dollar store, H&M, Muslim shop (seperate post), besides the random places I went into. H&M didn't really have anything appealing and I've been beginning to think that SOME of the prices are bit far-fetched for the quality of the material they're made with. There's no reason why a spring jacket should be $60+ (IMO). I wanted to go to the dollar store because remember I kept telling yall about them $1 glitter liners I use? I wanted to stop in and see if they had more and behold.... I have FOUR new colors plus the gold, silver and blue liners I bought previously. That's pretty kickass.

Out of items worth mentioning, I also grabbed a Goody denman brush (I've never used any type) that I got for $1.99 ANDDDD it was the last one! The earrings were both $1.99 apiece and the travel size mirror was 50 cents. I considered getting a few since I switch up bags so much.

I got the glitter lines in 11 green glitter, pink (no sticker on bottom), 07 gray (although it looks black?) and 09 pearl mint :) They can definitely be layered and played with and the flash makes them look a lot less opaque than they really are. Not sure where else they're sold but the maker is B.S.N and they're waterproof. They're just bright and awesome. Oh and did I mention they have glitta in em? Lol

I also stopped in Borders since they're going out of sale they have all their books marked 40% off and up. I figured since the semester is ending soon it couldn't hurt to have some reading. I browsed the store for about an hour and a half (yes, I'm one of those) before finding 3 books. I only got two, The Calligrapher's Daughter which is a historical fiction and the Murderer's Daughters (simply a coincidence that they both have daughter in the title). I found both books browsing then looked up some reviews which turned out to be great for random book choosing. I'm not sure what initially attracts me to books but I always seem to find great reads without initial recommendations. And that was my day (besides immense studying). What are your favorite dollar store finds?

xoxo.

FOTN: Disco Diva

So my sister had her housewarming this weekend and I totally forgot that I had snapped some pics before I went so that means you loves get two blog posts in two days! (YAYYYY!). It was a great event, she received soooo many gifts and it was nice to see so many of her high school girlfriends come out to support her. I consider this a major accomplishment at only 23 and I'm quite proud of her defeating stereotypes of young Black mothers! Anywhos, I received samples of MAC 3D Gold and Silver (a sista's dream come TRUE! Yall know I lovesssss tha GLITTA! :) I decided to wear a pretty flashy look (because I'm a pretty "flashy" chick lol) since I wasn't sure if I'd want to do something later on in the evening.  I wish I could've snapped a pic of my shoes too! Maybe next time :) There's about a million tutorials for this eye so I won't go into detail unless asked. I felt at home in this gaudy ass makeup, I think I'm really a drag queen at heart yall! hehe

And now for the slightly awkward face to show how awesome this glitta sparkles....

All in all I had a great time. My sister made some type of punch out of SoCo that had people tore off their asses lol. In case anyone's wondering I am wearing MAC Gaga II lipstick + Chestnut liner on my lips and La Femme blush in Russet (HEAVY! Yall know how I do!). I adhered the glitter using a NYX jumbo pencil in silver. Also, my eyebrows are darker as I added a bit of black shadow. Everything in this look can be duplicated with a cheaper product :) I myself think this is a great look for going out to a club or party or just going on a date the prowl (grrrr! lol) Now, I cannot wait til I fool around with 3d gold! Me & glitta have this love affair... <3


xoxo.

Feels like Spring...

Happy Easter to anyone who celebrates and if not, this great weather is MORE than enough reason to bust out the bright colors! OMGoodness I am LIVING for this! Lol, I love the heat but the hotter it gets the less clothes AND makeup I typically wanna wear. I had dinner at my moms. She cooked ham, prime rib roast, gravy, string beans, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, seafood salad, and rolls. She also had peach cobbler and caramel Apple pie for dessert. I was living a greedy girl's dream. I love that almost all the women in my family can throw down in the kitchen (myself included). I often find no better way to enjoy company than over good food. I wanted to look springy but still didn't feel like a full face. Im wearing MAC pink nouveau on my lips & MAC Swimming eyeshadow with some fix+ on the brush on my lower lash line with falsies mascara and Nars Taj Mahal blush very light on my cheeks. How did you spend your holiday loves?

xoxo.

Quickie: Protective Weave Styling with Sensationnel Bump

So somehow I always have weave lying around that I bought and forgot to use, etc. I found this Sensationnel bump hair in my closet so I decided to do a quick weave with it since I'm still being too lazy to do a sew-in.

The bump collection comes in different forms but this particular box is "Feather 7". 

I love these because they're CHEAP, but don't look it, the hair wears pretty well, can be styled in various ways anddddd they come with a free closure which saves me a great amount of time. I was originally going to do a style similar to the box but I decided to go a little shorter just to change up for a bit. This hair comes feathered (as long as its layered right). I layered it to be feathered but I later flat ironed some of the feathers out to get my desired style. My products consisted of the weave (ONE pack, yes ONE lol), cap, scissors, sanex paper, hair glue, comb and my trusty razor for styling. I ended up cutting off about 3 inches of the hair rotating between my scissors and razor for sharp edges and getting rid of some bulk. Also, as mentioned I later flat ironed some of the front to have the hair frame my face a bit. 

The photo on the left isn't the best but I was in a hurry and it best shows the cut. The back is still mostly feathered and shorter than the front ends in a SLIGHT angled bob. My hair is braided underneath and I am able to remove this cap fully at my leisure. No hair was affected by glue during this process =) 

What's on my face?

Face => La Femme blush in Sienna, trusty dollar store liner in inner corner, WnW H20 liner in ultra black, Maybelline Falsies mascara

Lips => MAC lipliner in Cork, Brave New Bronze lipstick, Stealing kisses lipglass (Tartan Tale Set)

Eyes => Random gray shadow in crease and highlight

This style probably took me an hour to do with style which is rather quick for me! Lol hence "quick weave" hehe. I was very pleased with the outcome because I've gotten so used to wearing 18-inch weave I wasn't sure how I'd adjust to a shorter style. I usually would've added a few pieces for color but I liked it with just black once I was finished. I like doing these styles because I can still easily moisturize my natural hair underneath. I'll more than likely keep this in until sometime next week. What's one of your favorite "quickie" hairstyles?

xoxo.Leigh.

Switch the Style Up: African Flava to Nerdy Chic

So I thought about adding something different to my blog and I've decided to do a "Switch the Style Up" every now and then. These are makeup looks that I wear from day to night but switch up minor things for a totally different vibe. Hope you loves enjoy. During the day I wore a head wrap to class. It was a pretty nice breezy day outside. Head wraps are also a great protective style. My hair is currently braided underneath. I like to wear them with confidence so people know that you're wearing it because you WANT to, and not because of a bad hair day. lol. I always feel like ROYALTY when I wear them =)

Shoutout to Luna for crashing my mini photo shoot. She climbed right up and sat down ;)

Face => Revlon PhotoReady foundation in Cappucino, MAC MSF Natural in Dark, MAC Fix+ Rose, La Femme blush in Terracotta

Brows => Brown Inglot shadow, MAC Eyebrow pencil in Spiked, MAC Studio fix concealer NW45 to define

Eyes => Inglot matte black, green (I'm going to get the #'s and update, I PROMISE!)

Lips => MAC Marquise D' lipstick (LE Wonder Woman), Fulfilled pushglass

I wore this look during the day and switched to something a little more low key going out later after class. All I did was substitute my wrap for a black beanie and glasses. (Oh, and a side bang. lol)

Isn't the power of accessories just amazing? Stay tuned for more of these from time to time.

xoxo.Leigh.

Sassy Neutrals: Golden Glow

Hey Loves!

So I'm back with another "Sassy Neutral"! Yall know I love color, glitter and flash so I find these looks pretty boring, but they're easy when I'm looking for a quick make-up fix for the day. I used my 42 double stack shimmer palette for this look.

      

I followed my usual face regimen. I'm wearing MAC Tunnel of Love superglass on my lips and La Femme blush in Sienna. I personally love the double stack palette. I want it in the matte version as well. Do any of you own it?

xoxo.Leigh.

FOTD: I'm Feeling Retro

So I had a chance to pick up this Wet and Wild trio a little while back but I had never used it because I wasn't too crazy about the colors. But it fell into my lap yesterday so I said why not. The colors in the palette (besides the fuchsia) aren't as pigmented as one would expect. Swatches here:

I followed the trio (Lid, Crease, Browbone) but I added black to the outer crease because the blue was a little too light and I prefer more dimension. Usual face regimen products, MAC Fulfilled pushglass on lips, and La Femme blush in Redwood. I see so many of these Wet n Wild palettes running around. Rite-Aid has all products 40% so I'm planning on picking up a few things. What are your Wet n Wild faves?


xoxo.Leigh.

Rate That Lippie: MAC Candy Yum-Yum

So as you know, I was quite excited to get the only thing I wanted from the Quite Cute collection, CYY. Now, however, that excitement has faded from a full flame to fizzle.

Swatch: MAC Candy Yum Yum (top) vs. MAC Impassioned (bottom)

And here's theeeeee rant...First, the smell of my CYY is only SLIGHTLY vanilla and smells closer to a box of crayola crayons than a lipstick. YUCK! (Can I return for this reason?) Second, the finish is TERRIBLE! I read reviews that said they like this consistency over the regular mattes and I disagree. Mattes are one of my favorite finishes, my lips were well moisturized and I wore CYY for several hours and I still didn't get quite used to its almost powdery feel. (YUCK again). On the bright side it is a very beautiful color.

 I later added Athena's Kiss lipglass on top which darkened the color a bit but made the finish more wearable. I give this lippie at 2.9/5 and that's simply because the color is great. Everything else is a fail. Also please be advised that this lippie is truly a NEON pink. With that being said, MAC (IMO) had nothing worth having to HAVE out of this collection. They really need to step their game up. I'm "Quite Disappointed" with Quite Cute, however I did get some VERY cute pins from MAC with my purchase =). Did you loves pick up anything?

xoxo.Leigh.

FOTD: Blinged Out Neutral

I wasn't doing much yesterday but I still wanted to throw on some quick make-up. I was inspired by the scarf I'm wearing (from H&M) its my favorite! I've worn so many great looks with this scarf.

Face => MAC Fix+ Rose, MSF Natural in Dark, Revlon PhotoReady Foundation in Cappuccino. La Femme blush in Sienna

Brows => Filled in with Inglot eyeshadow, defined with MAC pencil in Spiked and  concealer in NW45

Eyes => Gold glitter liner that I found at the $1 store (WIN!) winged out. Wet n wild H2o in ultra black on lower lashline, Stiletto lash mascara 

Lips => MAC Fresh Brew lipstick, NYX gloss on top

I love an everyday look that's just pretty and simple without looking like youre doing to much :) Accessories help as well. What's your favorite way to bling out a neutral look?

10 Month Natural Hair, Contaminated Brushes & Other Things =)

Heyyyyyy loves!!

Glad to be back with some new updates. Slightly lengthly post since I'm particularly excited about 3 things:

1. My 10 month hair: I big chopped June 9, 2010 after no transitioning. I wear weave for the most part but its so refreshing to see my hair growing back in its natural texture after being relaxed for so long. I'm going back to weave this week as a protective style until my one year anniversary =) It's really an accomplishment for me because I had SOOOOO many failed attempts at being natural. Here's my hair currently below:

Yay for growth!! Lol, I'll do a before/after for my one year! 

Yeah my Christmas streamers are still up! I decided they were yearly festive Hehehe

Eyes => I used colors from my new Inglot palette. I will upload photos of the new palette soon along with swatches. Unfortunately I found the yellow EXTREMELY difficult to work with. I'll try working with it again and update. Falsies Mascara, NYX Milk pencil on waterline.

Lips => MAC Cork l/l, Pink Friday lipstick (LE) and Ample Pink plushglass

Face => Revlon ColorStay Foundation in Cappuccino, MAC MSF Natural in Dark, Blunt blush to contour, MAC Fix+ Rose annnnnnd here's where the CONTAMINATED brush comes into play! I had just washed my brushes but I guess I forgot the blush brush I used. The original blush for this look was NYX Pinky. I realized that the brush had a darker color after the first cheek but out of sheer laziness I just had decided to go with it by then. So yeah the cheeks are a LOT less muted then I was going for. Lol, has this ever happened to you?

2. Candy Yum-Yum lipstick: So yall know I was initially interested because of the cute name right?! But I saw the color and I was able to snag one of these online and good thing I did because I heard it went out of stock a few hours later! I'm still interested in swatching Playing Koi and Playtime but I'll have to wait til I go downtown for that. My Yum-Yum comes tomorrow (I'm a serial package tracker) and I'm quite excited about this pink because although I have a lot of pink lipsticks I don't have a matte one in this particular shade. Definitely expect a look from it. I can't wait to wear it on a nice spring day!

3. New kitten!!! Most of my friends know me as the "cat lady"'. I have an obsession with cats that parallels my makeup and I've wanted a Siamese cat since forever! My mom brought one without telling me so I talked my mom into letting me "watch" the cat she brought (until I can fully convince her to let me have him) She's black but comes across brown on my camera. She sleeps on my chest and her purrs are the sweetest thing! She's such an affectionate and playful kitten :)

Lol, she's resting on my hip in this pic. So cute! Her eyes are extremely sensitive to the flash so I'm hoping to get a better pic in the daylight. I'm planning on naming her Onyx or Jinx. Which ones to you loves like?

xoxo.Leigh.

Sick Days...

So, I haven't posted for a while because I was in the hospital for surgery and then I relaxed for about a week until I felt better. Of course I've been laying around looking like crap but luckily I'm almost back to feeling like self. ANDDDD I wanna to post something... sooooooo here's some random OLD things that I meant/considered posting but didn't lol

This was my Mardi Gras look! Can't really tell by this crappy camera but there's about 6 different eyeshadows. I so wish my brows looked like this everyday! Lol, a girl can dream...

 I posted this picture mainly for the curls. I loved them! I used a pack of the hard Annie spiral rods that you can find at your local BSS. This was my first time using them, awesome experience. The curls were done on wet hair, no products and slept on overnight. They were tighter but I pulled them apart. 

This is my current icon. I felt like wearing lotttttts of makeup (as usual lol) but I wanted a very sweet paradise-y look. Got this!

If you'd like to know a specific product or something just ask :)

xoxo.Leigh.