DIY – FIXING BROKEN MAKEUP : DOES IT WORK?

 You’ve dropped your favorite powder product, and it’s smashed to dust inside the compact.

“Oh, shit!”

I’ve done this with cheap stuff, and I’ve done this with more expensive products. And one day, on a Pinterest binge, I saw several posts about this particular hack. And I figured what better way to test it than on something not terribly expensive.

I decided to try this out with a drugstore highlighter that, while I love the product itself, the texture of the product in the pan….sucks. It’s the Physician’s Formula Mineral Glow Pearls Powder Palette ($13). The texture of the powder, the little ‘pearls’ on top, makes it impossible to pick up an adequate amount of product for application without frantically scraping your brush back and forth.
So I thought to myself “well, I can test this ‘hack’ and maybe even change the texture of the product all at once? I’m down!’. And I tested it on this because well, I wasn’t willing to intentionally smash up a more expensive product for experimental purposes.

So if you want to see how I did this and if it actually worked, keep reading!

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 So here is the ‘before’ shot. Like I said, it’s the texture of this that drives me absolutely bat-shit crazy. But the product itself is nice. If you can get any on your brush. It’s almost like you’re picking up and dropping product at the same time by swirling it around all these little bumps, like as soon as you get the product on your brush, it’s knocked right back off again.

 

 Now here, I’ve taken the tail end of a spoolie, and smashed the hell out of it. I got it as broken up as I possibly could. I didn’t want to leave too many large chunks for fear of it not  mixing back together as well, so I really went in on it!

 

 And finally, after adding about a cap and a half to two caps of Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) – just regular rubbing alcohol – I smoothed it out with my finger. You could use a spatula (cosmetic), but I found it easiest to get right in there and actually feel to make sure the texture all around was as uniform as possible. It was messy, to say the least, but I think I did an ok job. And finally I just cleaned around the edges with a Q-Tip to make sure it was nice and neat. Then I let it dry overnight.

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So, does it work?

IT WORKS!

It set nicely, the texture was a little bit better, however still on the dry side. But it’s better than it was. Most importantly, should you ever drop a compact containing your favorite face powder or blush or what have you, this totally works to fix it!
Have you guys tried this hack? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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LOTS OF LOVE!!

EASIEST WINGED LINER EVER!

 Everyone loves a good, sharp, even winged liner. But so many struggle to achieve it. Believe me, for the longest time, it was probably my #1 most hated step in my makeup routine. I actually avoided many looks so I wouldn’t have to do it! But it’s easier than you think!

So that’s what we’re going to do today! I’m going to break it down for you, step by step, and when we’re done, you’ll see just how easy it really is to get the perfect winged eyeliner!

Let’s get started!

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First you need a couple things:

• a small angled liner brush
• a gel eyeliner in the color of your choice
• eye makeup remover
• concealer
• a business card or something with a flat edge

Go ahead and start by applying any eyeshadow you want. I was playing around with my Morphe 35O so that’s what I have on.

Maybelline EyeStudio Gel Liner in Blackest Black

Morphe M160 1/8

Now grab your brush – I’m using the Morphe M160 1/8 Angle Liner ($2.99/morphebrushes.com) and my ride or die gel liner, the Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner in Blackest Black ($7.94 / amazon.com). This is the absolute blackest black gel liner I’ve ever used. It dries down matte and doesn’t budge until you take it off. It does come with a little brush in the package, but honestly I just couldn’t make it work for me, so I just tossed it.

Dip your brush into the product, and then wipe off the excess on the sides of the pot. Or you can do like I do, and wipe the brush back and forth on the inside of the lid, which helps to press the product between the bristles and saturate the brush, and get the tip of the brush super tight and compact.

Take your business card or a post-it or even some Scotch Tape, and line it up by following the bottom lash line, and that natural angle up toward the tail of your brow. This is going to ensure that you get a crisp, even wing, every single time. Now take your brush with your liner on it, and start drawing down toward the lash line. You can make your line as thick or as thin as you want – it’s all about personal preference.

Once you’ve got your shape, begin filling it in with your liner. Then simply lift the card away, and you’ve got a razor sharp wing!

 

 As for the rest, because I have hooded eyes, I tend to keep it very thin along my lash line, basically just stamping the brush along my lashes to work the product into the root. And that’s it, you’re done!

TIPS

If your lines aren’t perfectly even, thats totally ok! There are two ways to fix it, depending on whether or not you’ve already applied your foundation.

If you haven’t done your foundation or concealer yet, just take a clean angled liner brush, and wet it with some eye makeup remover, and then draw along the lines that need some sharpening. This method works to clean up mistakes on your eyelid, or with the actual wing itself.

If you’ve already done your foundation, using makeup remover will only mess it up. But you can use concealer! It’s like a magic eraser for your liner! Just take a little on an angled liner brush and draw along the edge of your wing. Easy peasy!

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Have you guys ever struggled with your winged liner? What were some tips or tricks that helped you? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Wanna follow me around on social media?!
Twitter & Instagram : @dlynnesposito
Facebook : Affordable Gorgeous
Snapchat : dlynnesposito

And feel free to reblog this post and share it and my social media with your friends!

LOTS OF LOVE!

HOW I FILL IN MY BROWS

If eyes are the windows to the soul, then think of your brows like the curtains on the windows.

Eyebrows are probably one of the most important features on your face. They complete any look, frame your face – it’s actually pretty amazing how powerful two little strips of hair can be! One of the things I get complimented on the most is my brows.

“What do you mean you fill them in? They look so natural!”

“Who does your brows?”

While I love how they look now, they didn’t always look like this. I used to go to the nail salons and get them waxed, and more often than not, they did them way too thin! Like pencil thin. And that’s not a good look for ANYONE.

When I was in hairdressing school, a classmate of mine actually took my tweezers away from me (yes, really!) and said “from now on, don’t touch your brows, don’t let anyone else touch your brows, I’ll do them”. And to this day I thank her for that! Not only did she rescue my severely over-tweezed and over-waxed brows, but she taught me how to properly shape and care for them. So a big shoutout to Danielle P!

Since we graduated in 2006, I’ve been doing my own brows. And because of the damage that not only I, but many nail salons in my area did, I’ve had to fill them in. See, when you damage a hair follicle by over-plucking or over-waxing (and you can tell because it usually will bleed a tad), it typically kills it and the hair never grows back in that spot. I have a lot of spots like that. So below I will share with you how I fill them in so they look the most natural. Let’s get started!

A few things you’ll need:

• a good brow pencil – I use the NYX Micro Brow Pencil in the shade Taupe ($10/ULTA)
• a good brow gel – I swear by Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel ($22/ULTA)
• concealer
• a small, flat definer brush, like the Morphe M432 Flat Definer Brush ($4/morphebrushes.com)

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 Taking my NYX Micro Brow pencil, I use the spoolie side first to brush out my brow hairs, and I always brush them up. You never want to brush downward. Always up, and always in the direction of the hair growth.

 

 Once my brows are brushed out, I take the pencil side and start at the innermost bottom corner of my brow, and draw a line all the way up to the underside of where my brow arches. Then I go from that point, downward to the tail, extending it ever so slightly, because my brows are not even lengths.

 

 Then I start filling in the tail of the brow. This is where you want it to be the darkest. Dark at the outer part, light at the inner part – we’ll get there, don’t you worry!

 

 Moving my pencil in short, hair like strokes, I work up to the TOP of the arch.

 

 From there on in, my brow hairs start to grow downward, so I carefully follow that pattern, filling in along the top line of my brow, and working inward, stopping right about at the edge of the iris (the colored part of your eye).

 

 Now flip back to your spoolie side, and start brushing through the brows again to distribute all the color evenly and brush out any harsh lines. Especially that very first line we made along the bottom – you want to diffuse that with the spoolie so it looks the most natural.

 Brush through to the tail end of your brow, and then bring the spoolie back towards the front (inner corner) and very lightly brush through there. If you have very sparse hair at the inner corner, you can take your brow pencil and make very light, upward strokes to mimic the look of brow hairs, but you don’t want that area too dark or heavy.

 

 Now I go in and set my brows with a clear brow gel, and I love the Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel. Yes, I know it’s pricey – when I got it I managed to get it for 50% off, and let me tell you, my brows don’t move! It’s like super glue on your brows! I have yet to find a drugstore clear brow gel that holds them in place like this one!

 

 Now this step is totally optional, and I don’t do this every single day, but if you got a little messy with the brow pencil, or you’re someone who loves a very sharp, sculpted brow, you can go in with a concealer and a flat definer brush like the Morphe M432, and carve it out and just kind of sharpen the edges. I tend to reserve this step for more dramatic looks, not for every day. Less is more, you don’t need a huge glob of concealer here. Just work around the edges, until you’re comfortable with the result.

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 And that’s it, you’re done! And a little tip if you’re someone like me who grooms their own brows at home, I like to fill in my brows BEFORE I wax them, that way there’s zero chance at overwaxing one more than the other.

 Always remember though (because this used to frustrate me, too) that both brows don’t always look identical. One may have more of an arch than the other, one may be longer at the tail, one may be thicker than the other – brows are sisters, not twins! That’s why we fill them in – to fake it ’til we make it, so to speak!

I hope this helped you guys, and leave me a comment below if you have some favorite brow products that maybe I haven’t discovered yet!

And as always, don’t forget to go follow me on Twitter and Instagram @dlynnesposito, and go like the Affordable Gorgeous page on Facebook!

LOTS OF LOVE!