Makeup Starter Kit: What do the Beginners Need?

Hey everyone! Is it just me, or when you walk into a makeup store it's completely overwelming. All the different brands, products, and new releases can be confusing, and you'll end up buying the cool things rather than the things you actually need and will get use out of. SO here's what I think beginners need.

1. Concealer. You might not have acne, but almost everyone has under eye circles. I find that cream concealers are good for covering under eye circles, and more liquid-y ones are better for acne and redness. I recommend the Covergirl Smoothstick as a nice cream concealer. It comes in a stick, like a lipstick, and is easy to apply. I also have had mine for months and it's not even close to being done yet! I only recently tried a liquid concealer, like the consistency of foundation. I tried the Maybelline Fit Me concealer, the only problem is that it's not a perfect match for my skin. I think I get more coverage from concealer by blending it with a brush rather than my fingers so it's not all soaked into your hands and not your face.

2. Powder (Normal to oily skin mostly)
You can get loose powder, pressed powder, or even mineral powder. I've only tried pressed powder, because the first one I tried, I loved! I use the Rimmel London Stay Matte powder. It's very inexpensive and lasts a long time! It keeps my face from getting too oily. The only thing is that powder is what will make you look cakey, so keep it to a minimum to avoid that!

3. Mascara
You can look completely put together just by using mascara. I'm not going to go into to much detail about it, because I have a post called Mascara 101 where I reviewed 5 different mascaras. My favorite is the Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara because it's not clumpy, and very lengthening.

4. Eyeliner
You can get any type of eyeliner, pencil, liquid, gel, even use eyeshadow. I usually use eyeshadow because it's less noticeable. Liquid and gel eyeliners are good for really defining your eyes and giving a whole new look to your eyes. Pencil and eyeshadow eyeliner is good for looking natural but still giving definition to your eyes. You can even use colored liner to subtly add a fun pop of color without overdoing it.

5. Lip color
You could give your lips color using anything from tinted lip balm, to lipstick, to lip stain. My favorites are Revlon Lip Butters and Clinique Chubby Sticks. They both give a subtle color that's not in your face and are long lasting. Lipstick is great for really adding a pop of wowwww color and lip stain is good for long nights, when you don't want to reapply. I love lip stains because they're super easy to apply.

This is just what I think is necessary. Foundation is a must have for some people, but not for me. Blush, bronzer, highlighter, lip liner and eyeshadow are all things you might want to consider, but aren't completely necessary.

What are your must haves?
xoxo, Kendra

NOTD: Polka Dot French Tips

Polishes used-
White - Sally Hansen - White On
Pink - Sally Hansen - Hot Magenta
Yellow - China Glaze - Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Green - Sinful Colors - Simple But Fun
Blue - Sally Hansen Pacific Blue
Purple - Essence - Break Through

IF YOU WANT A  TUTORIAL LEAVE A COMMENT! I LOVEE THESE NAILS! #ADDICTED

xoxo, Kendra

OOTD: April 17

Today I decided to do an outfit of the day, because this is dressy for me because I usually wear sweatshirts.... so here we go! For my face, I have a tutorial on this a few posts down, so you can go look at that. The only thing different is the lips, I just used a red tinted lip balm. The way I got my hair like this is a braided my hair into 6 braids while it was wet before bed. If you want a tutorial, leave a comment! My scarf is zebra printed, and it's from Kohls. My nails are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue with Sally Hansen In The Spotlight glitter over it. My shirt is cobalt blue, it's a crewneck from Abercrombie. My jeans were just something I found at Ross. And last, my shoes are gray knit boots. It may be April, but we've got winter weather!

What did you wear today?

xoxo, Kendra

Mascara 101

Finding the perfect mascara can be a challenge. Especially when looking high end, you don't want to buy a $20.00 mascara and have it be a bad one! So I'm going to give you my opinion on several mascaras I've tried, including one high end. *Also this is just my opinion and one of the mascaras might have worked for you and not me, and vice versa*

1. Maybelline Falsies (Curved wand)
This mascara is either loved or hated by a lot of people. I recently bought this is and was hoping for it to be a good one, but I don't really like it. The first thing is that the formula is dry and sticky, and I prefer wet mascaras. It also is VERY clumpy, but that can be fixed with an eyebrow/eyelash comb. I do like the volume and length it adds though if you can deal with the dryness and clumpiness. The next thing I have to say is that it is really hard to get off!! I usually just get it off with a makeup wipe like the rest of my makeup but I had to get out eye makeup remover.  The curved brush I feel like, didn't do anything for my lashes. Recommend: No

2. Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes (Cone wand)
I actually like this one a lot! I'll start with what I don't like though- When I first bought this, the first 2 weeks were great. it was a wet, non clumpy formula which I lovedddd. As time went on it dried out very quickly! Now it's a dryer formula, not too dry though, and is clumpy. The brush is interesting, I feel like it didn't do anything for my lashes. It is still great for  lengthening!

3. Revlon Grow Luscious (Standard wand)
This was in my YouTube top 11 worst products of the year. First of all, the wand is bigger than my eye! Very easy to put in the wrong spot. It just didn't lengthen or volumize my lashes. It really just didn't do anything for my lashes. The packaging is nice on this one though and it stays wet for a long time! Had it for 2-3 months and it's wet-ish still!

4. Clinique Lash Doubling (Standard wand)
Here it is- best mascara I've EVER tried. I got this as a sample from my mom, (she gives me all her samples) and it didn't look like anything special at first. I love the wet formula and it also doesn't dry out fast! I've also had this one for 2-3 months and I still love it. I 100% plan on buying the full size and possibly getting more samples to review? It is VERY lengthening and doesn't clump at all! I highly recommend checking this out, it's $15.00 from clinique.com.

5. Maybelline Clear Mascara/Brow Gel (Standard wand)
You might think clear mascara does nothing for your lashes, and it does, just very subtly. It separates your lashes and slightly lengthens them. It won't volumize, but if you're not going for that it's fine. It's also good for younger girls who don't wear a lot of makeup or aren't allowed to. As for the grow gel part, it doesn't really work well for 'holding your brows in place'.

What is your must have mascara?

xoxo, Kendra

TAG: 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty

This is a popular tag going around YouTube and decided to do it!

1. Greed: What is your most expensive beauty item? Most inexpensive?
My most expensive is my Flirt lip gloss, the brand is sold at Kohl's. My most inexpensive item is probably Essence nail polishes & Wet N Wild nail polishes, they are both 99 cents!

2. Wrath: What beauty products do you have a love hate relationship with? What product has been the hardest to get?
I loveeee nail polish but it's so bad for my nails! I can't let it go, so now my nails are ruined. My hardest products to get would have to be the Revlon nail polish in Whimsical and NYX jumbo eye pencil in Milk for sure! I looked at so many stores for both, and took a lot of shopping trips to find.

3. Gluttony: What are your most delicious beauty products?
My yummiest beauty product is my Baby Lips in Grape Vine! For some reason, I love the smell of artificial grape.

4. Sloth: What beauty product do you neglect, due to laziness?
Mascara, It's too hard to work with and get out all the clumps.

5. What beauty product gives you the most self confidence?
My Maybelline Fit Me concealer.

6. Lust: What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?
They have to be funny :)

7. Envy: What items would you most like to receive as a gift?
Any Urban Decay palette for sure, Naked, Naked 2, Book of Shadows, they're all amazing and I would DIE for one!

Of course, this isn't YouTube but I tag London, her blog: Sparkly Lifestyle

Have you followed London yet?
xoxo,
Kendra