Wedding plans

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Hello Beauties!!!

I said I was going to post my wedding planning but I won’t be giving out locations or anything like that. It will be more like how I manage my things. So here we goooooooo!

We’ve been going out now for 2 years and 3 months, he proposed on our 2nd year anniversary. So later on that night, we took the time to call most of our close family members and good friends to announce the good news over the phone.
NOTE: Important people shouldn’t find out through social media, it’s really not classy.
We hadn’t discussed details that night, we actually took the time to enjoy  our happiest moment ever and our evening out!!
The only thing we discussed was approximately when and in how long we wanted the big day to occur. We decided we wanted to wait a year and a half for certain reasons. So all we had decided that night was probably around Spring-Summer 2014.

That very same week we got engaged we started getting down to business  right away :P. We told ourselves the more time and the faster we start planning, the less we’ll stress and be more in control of the planning, the ideas and the budget. We decided to do it in May 2014 and we made a budget (AND STICK TO IT). We even started our registry and told everyone for our next birthday gifts, christmas gifts or any other occassion that we’d prefer getting things for our house instead of random things 😉
The way we thought of planning things would be setting priorities so from the most important to the less urgent thing to book or decide on. According to our generation and the way couples are in our area; everyone books in advance when I say in advance I mean 8-14 months ahead for the reception at least. It’s important to book the reception early because they book really quickly. So we started to research which halls interest us.
Our main priorities (the 3 most important) to book were: Ceremony, reception (food included) and entertainment! 😀  So we researched all halls that interest us and what they were offering for our budget and we end up choosing the one that suited our needs the most. We also booked the Dj and our Church.
Our next step (we’re at this stage now) is researching photographer and videographer and start thinking of ideas for flowers, transportation, decor options…

The important thing is to have lots of visual ideas, print and save ALL your ideas. Email yourself if you have to, take notes and keep everything because it doesn’t take much to forget, lose or even misunderstand information between suppliers. Keep everything in one place so you know where to go for the information you need.

That’s it for now. I’ll be giving a little update in a few months!! Happy Planning xox

Optimus PRIME!!

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Ok no transformers here, but if you think about it properly it does kinda seem like that. Face primers and eye primers DO transform. I’d like to share with you guys my favorite primers for eyes and face and for what skin types. This is my opinion and from my experience so far, it can be differ from person to person and may not necessarily work for you.

Eyes:
In general they pretty much all work but some have different texture and finishes therefore have a slightly different outcome. Personally I use all of them but depending on the look I want to acheive I alternate but these are my favorites.

The best so far is Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. This is ideal for most type of eyes and looks, but I find it holds the color very well and easy to blend colors over it and layering. It goes on with a slightly oily feel but has a nice silky finish without being oily.
My second choice would be Raffael cosmetic Prime Time. This has a thick texture wich allows you to layer and put a nice amount of eyeshadows especially with black or vibrant colors. It holds it in place and  does not crease but it’s not ideal for people who have very oily lids.
My third choice is MAC’s paint pots in any shade. This too goes on very creamy and oily feel but dries as a powder, there is a variety of shades that can even be left alone with no worries of creasing. You can play with the eyeshadows to get different looks. This is good for anyone but idealy for people with very oily lids.

Face:
Here it’s tricky there are soooo many to choose from and the choices are tough…

Oily: Best bet is to go for MAC’s mattifying gel. Soaks up all excess oil leaving a matte clean look. If you don’t fully want the matte look you can always go for the next one.
Combination: Smashbox Photo finish primer. It evens out skin tone, leaves you with a perfect canvas for foundation or powder.
Dry: (smashbox would work as well) but my favorite is Cover FX Anti-aging primer. The reason why I like this one is because when your face is dry it tends to “crack” in some areas. This has a slight oily finish which slightly fills in those “cracks” and leaves a nice clean, dewy finish. Also good for people who have fine lines and wrinkles.

The importance of primers: it’s self-explanitory, it preps your face for a better finish. It creates a good base for your foundation or powder and holds it much longer than putting your foundation alone. Many people have spent so much money on products which thought they did not get the results they expected but that’s because they never put a base. That’s  why you hear people say they want a long lasting foundation cause the one they have doesn’t hold. Sometimes you don’t need all that crazy coverage foundation, all you need is a good base and a decent tinted moisturizer (please review my tinted moisturizer posted a few months ago to save money on this).

I hope this helps some of you with your daily routine and helps you save money on “disappointing” products when sometimes all you need is a good base.
Happy Valentine’s day to you all!!
xox

OOTD

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Hello Girlies!

Here’s an outfit of the day. This look is a casual-nice :

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Boots: are from X2B (borrowed from my sister shhhh! 😛 ) They are buckled at the top near the calves, high heal. The buckle slighly adds edge and makes it look more casual.
Skinny jeans: from Forever 21 a few months ago. Dark blue, stretch. Super versatile. You can wear them with flats, heals, boots, sandals… I have 3-4 pairs I wear these all the time.
Black stretch tank top: from Forever 21, well its a tank top soooo ya, very useful
Blouse: from Dynamite. Black see-through, with black and gold trim buttons and sleeves tie with same black gold trim button. This too can be versatile. You can add a belt since its loose or just wear it as is. To make it more sexy at a night out, you dont HAVE to put a tank top under.
Makeup: lipstick speed dial from MAC, eyes: carbon, print, all that glitters and jest.
I took this pic before I wore accessories but all I added was a small metal-dark grey bracelet  that a very good friend made.

Hope you have a good day
xox

 

Glymm Box – January 2013

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First Glymm box of the year!

As you all know, I chose this box as my only subscribtion (if you wanna know why, go see my previous post)…

Ok, so this is what I got in my january edition:
glymmjan

-Metallic silver/bronzy makeup case
-Coolway Boost serum: sample up to 5 uses. This is a hair restoring serum activated by low heat.
-360 skincare Lavender mint firming serum: sample up to 14 uses. Makes skin vibrant, youthful and radiant. Oh and Cruelty FREE 😉
-Lashem Double trouble Mascara: sample up to 14 uses. Suppose to enhance lash growth, gives volume and good for sensitve and fragile lashes… Interesting! 😛
-La Fresh Facial cleansing wipes: got 2 samples, 2 uses.  Perfect for on-th-go!
-Burts bees moisturizing cream: extra sample…

On the little booklet, there’s a promotion for a limited time only Sheswai nail lacquer trio for 36$ value of 48$. Also Lashem dynamic duo (mascara and liquid liner) for 32$ value of 40$.

I haven’t tried any products yet but every few months I’ll be posting a favorite beauty box samples and let you know which ones made me want or actually buy full size products.
To subscribe to this beauty box, click on the link on the right side bar: Subscribe to Glymm box HERE.
xox

Beauty Boxes and which ONE i chose!!

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Hello beauties,

So when I first started blogging I was posting all my beauty boxes. Then I didn’t feel like being annoying so i stopped showing what I was receiving. I was subscribed to 3 boxes: Glymm box, Glossy Box and Top box.
There is big difference in not only prices but also in the type of products.
Glossy box: was initially 15$ canadian shipping incl and it had a variety of drugstore products. This box had mainly full size products but in my opinion this was quantity over quality. Then the price went up to 21$ canadian and they added a small magazine with details on the products. I liked this box and the concept, i also liked the fact that I was getting a nice reusable box.

Glymm box: It was 11.50$ with shipping and although the samples were a lot smaller and fewer, the quality of the products were much more higher end. I would say this box is Quality over quantity. It is now 15$ per box and they send the products in a nice reusable makeup bag.

Top box: I wasn’t subscribed long enough to entirely compare with the others but the 2 first boxes didn’t fully impress me, there was a lot of hair products, makeup and rebate cards to products that were higher end. The samples were small and was barely able to really TEST the product. I believe it was 12$ every month and it came in a recycled cylinder box which to me was not useful or reusable in any way.

Now the winner for MY needs and expectations is Glymm. Don’t get me wrong it was an extremely tough choice cause they were all different in their own way. But MY goal was to try to find new and quality products. I wanted samples of products that I wouldn’t just randomly spend at a drugstore but wouldn’t chance buying expensive creams that I didn’t know the end results and waste my money. I also liked the fact that it came with a makeup bag. Sure they weren’t FULL size products but it was enough to make me try and see a difference. I had a tough choice between Glossy and Glymm cause they each had their own pros and cons. For me in the end it was quality over quantity and that’s why I chose Glymm. (also the products are always all available online and easy to shop from the site).
So I will be posting what I get in my Glymm boxes from now on.
Don’t think this was an easy choice for me, if i could’ve I would’ve kept all my subscribtions but unfortunately I didn’t feel the need.
Looking forward to sharing the glymm products.

Note: this is MY choice, MY opinion and may not be the same for your expectations and needs.

Pretty smart lips?!

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photo111
Mind games these titles 😛
I call it pretty smart lips, why you ask? It’s all about the lips… Noooooo it’s because the lipstick is CALLED pretty smart from Raffael Cosmetics. HAAAAHAAAA Got you… or not! 😛

Lately the weather here has been cold, really really cold! So aside from the really pink cheeks due to the extreme cold, I found my face looked blahhhhh.
So I played around with some lip colors to see which would be nice to wear everyday but not too much and then this one caught my attention! It’s been a week now, I wear this look almost every day, the only difference is the eye liner. For a more dramatic look I’ve been wearing black liquid eyeliner or brown depending on what I’m doing or if its only for work I only wear mascara.
It completes a basic look without looking too much, according to some coworkers I look “polished”. Not only is it a nice lip color but it’s also very lasting and does not dry out my lips.
LOVE IT!!

Wedding Bells

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Happy New Year everyone, may 2013 bring lots of success for you guys, health before anything and happiness!!! Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays…
A few months ago, way before the holidays my boyfriend for 2 years proposed! It was like in the movies, so perfect and totally unpredictable! 😀
I wanted to know if any of you was interested to know how we are approaching our wedding planning and ideas also how we are organizing everything so far. If I get a few requests I’ll make a post just on the planning and the approach. If not I’ll stick to just makeup posts 😛 (ps. I took wedding planning classes, that’s why I wanted to share. It won’t be sharing just random opinions of how I think it should be done)
Comment below if you guys would like to hear more of the story and the planning 😛

Yayy! Talk to you soon 🙂 xox

 

 

(To my lovely cousin… Everyday I think of her and I know I’ve said this before but she was my #1 fan and although she’s not physically here with me sharing my plans like she did with me for her wedding,  I know she’s watching and helping as much as she can from heaven. All my posts are dedicated to her, she was always the first one to read them and call me to talk about it. I love you and miss you)

Holiday Makeup Inspirations

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The holidays are just around the corner!! I’m sure your starting to plan some outifts for a bunch of different parties coming up. Here are some ideas that can maybe inspire you or to glam up your look!!

The Classic Smokey Eye:
Doesn’t have to black, you can always do a nice dark green or purple smokey eye…

                  

Glitter Lids:
This look is so much fun for the holidays, you  can glam up ANY look just by adding glitter on your lids. This look can be messy but when applying glitter always put a tissue paper under your eyes for any excess fall-out to avoid the “Disco Ball” face (Haha!).

         

Even with the glitter you can play with different colors

 

 

 

If you don’t like Glittery Lids but want a touch of Glitz you can always just do a liner of glitter or line your liner like below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Last but not least the ultimate classic fire red lips or dark pink:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t have many different outfits sometimes using the same dress but tweeking up your look with different makeup and accessories, people might not even notice! Its all about putting the emphassis on something different (ex.: belt, stacked necklaces, eyes, lips, SHOES…)
I hope this gives you a few ideas for the holidays, have fun and enjoy every moment with family and friends. Eat lots and be safe.
Happy holidays!

Note: these pictures do not belong to me, these were just chosen randomly to give you ideas.

Fall Routine!

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I love Fall, I really think it’s my favorite season of all. Although it’s getting cold, EEK!

Anyway I’ve slightly changed my makeup routine since the fall, so here are some favorite products and what’s good for prepping for the cold weather.
For a flawless face I’ve been using Bentaberry /Super moisturizing face cream for girls mixed with a pea-size of my liquid foundation from Raffael cosmetics in C3, I apply it with a flat buffing brush in circular motions until well blended. I don’t always put powder because my skin gets overly flaky, so I sometimes prefer a dewy finish.
For eyes, I’ve been getting away with a simple primer base from Urban Decay – primer potion original and a thick black liner from Raffel cosmetic’s felt liner in Jet black. As for mascara, I’m loving the Benefit – They’re Real!.
For some color on my cheeks I’m using MAC’s mineralize skin finish in Medium Dark.
Finishing off the look with a nude/pink lipstick (my ULTIMATE favorite) Raffael in Dewy #475.

Now that it’s cold, my skin is getting dry and I’m sure yours is as well. I’m trying to do a self-facial at least once a month and use a heavier face moisturizer. It is also very important to exfoliate to remove all dead skin.

Enjoy! Get ready for the holidays, it’s so close!!  🙂

Happy Creepers!!

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Happy Halloween everyone! My favorite time of the year, the time where there are no limits to makeup and special effect are taken to extreme levels. I love it! Here’s a nice inspiration for you guys, this is my sister and her boyfriend as matchy skeletons so creepy 😛

Enjoy and don’t eat tooo much candy 😉

Makeup by Christina Paras

 

Products used: white and black halloween liquid makeup, raffael cosmetics transluscent powder, urban decay eye primer, old black liquid eye liner (to make the cracks), black gel liner, black mascara, raffael black carbon eye shadow and black eye liner in pencil in smolder.