LOTD: Red Carpet Worthy

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7
Young Blood Hi-Definition Powder

MAC Mineralize Powder in Dark
MAC Mineralize Powder in Gold deposit (under eyes, along bridge of nose, chin)
Cinema Secrets Foundation #201-67a - under eyes

Eyes:

Painterly Paint Pot - all over
L'Oreal HIP Metallic Shadow Duo, Silver - Lower lid, also used under lower lash line
MAC Grape Pigment - Outter V blended into crease halfway
L'Oreal HIP Metallic Shadow Duo, Black - Outter V, also used under lower lash line
Random soft pink ES - Brow Bone down to crease to blend out the grape pigment
MAC Hey E/S - Brow Bone, just under arch
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Black - Liner
L'Oreals Extra Volume Collagen Mascara
Lashes (#105)

Lips:

Paul & Joe lipstick in 060 - All over
MUFE 43 Moulin Rouge - To line and color just inside of the lips
NARS Lip Lacquer in Hot Wired - All over (on top)

~HG

NRW: Fettucine in Alfredo Sauce with Steak

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 thick New York strip steaks (about 2 pounds total)
Salt
Black pepper
4 garlic cloves
1 small onion sliced
1 pound dried fettuccine
1 stick of butter
2 shallots, minced
1.5 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
Spinach (optional)

DIRECTIONS
• Preheat oven to 425
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Meanwhile, lay the steaks flat on a cutting board; use a sharp smooth knife to cut them in half horizontally to create 4 steaks of equal size. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Peel and mince the garlic, then slice the onion. Place the steaks, onion and garlic in the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, until the meat is deeply browned. Discard the garlic and onion. Place all 4 steaks in a baking pan and bake in the oven for10-20 minutes, depending on your desired doneness.
• While the steak is in the oven, Cook the fettuccine in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté until tender. Add heavy cream and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, about 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat.
• Drain the pasta then return to pot. Add in the sauce and the grated cheese. Mix thoroughly. Top with shredded cheese and steak.
***If you would like vegetables added to this dish, feel free to sauté some spinach in butter and add it to the pasta, sauce and grated cheese mixture.

~HG

Rodarte & MAC Collaboration Canceled

I am so incredibly happy they decided to pull this collection for various reasons. Do you think this was a good move by MAC?

Article via The Huffington Post

MAC makeup has pulled the plug on its controversial Rodarte collaboration, announcing via Facebook that they will not shelve the products named for different elements of Mexican culture. The collection first came under fire last month when a blogger at The Frisky called out the Mulleavy sisters for calling a nail polish color "Juarez," after "an impoverished Mexican factory town notorious for the number of women between the ages of 12 and 22 who have been raped and murdered with little or no response from police."

Rodarte and MAC apologized, ultimately saying they would donate 100 percent of the proceeds from the collection to benefit the women and girls of Juarez, but on Tuesday, MAC posted the following statement to its Facebook page:

Out of respect for the people of Mexico, the women and girls of Juarez and their families, as well as our M·A·C Mexican staff and colleagues, M·A·C has made the decision not to ship the M·A·C Rodarte limited edition makeup collection. This decision will have no impact on M·A·C's commitment to donate all of its projected global profits from this collection to local and international groups that work to improve the lives of the women and girls of Juarez. We are currently conducting due diligence to ensure we donate to organizations with a proven record of directly supporting the women and girls of Juarez.
M·A·C and Rodarte are deeply and sincerely sorry and we apologize to everyone we offended. We have listened very closely to the feedback of concerned global citizens. We are doing our very best to right this wrong. The essence of M·A·C is to give back and care for the community and Rodarte is committed to using creativity for positive social change. We are grateful for the opportunity to use what we have learned to raise awareness on this important issue.

~HG

Friend Friday: Conspicuous Consumption

It's Friend Friday! This is part of a blogger group with Modly Chic. If you're a blogger that would like to participate, go to her blog for the details.

1. Do you think fashion blogs are often just conspicuous consumption? Are some?
I do! I think that in order to please their audience a lot of bloggers get sucked into buy buy buying all the time. It's crazy!

2. As bloggers do we have the obligation to explain our personal financial status, how we pay for the things we showcase, if we have debt, etc…
I'mma answer that with a quick hellz no! Whoever reads my blog does not need to know my financial status. It's not like I'm offering financial tips, I'm talking about makeup for goodness sakes!

3. Critics often say that fashion bloggers should use their money to support more worthwhile causes than clothing themselves in a different outfit daily. What’s your reaction to this?
I'm trying to understand how said "critics" even have a say? Do they know whether or not these bloggers are supporting worthwhile causes. Some people can actually do both. Even if a blogger chooses not to support a worthwhile cause, that's their business, no one else's *shrug*.

4. Since you started blogging, do you spend more money on fashion and beauty products?
No, I actually don't. Some times I think I'm failing my readers by not doing so, but my responsibility is to my family first, so I'm not going to excessively buy beauty products to showcase on my blog no matter how much I love bringing my readers new items. Now, because I am a beauty product whore, I do have moments where I buy buy buy,but that's usually once every 2-3 months, and I don't spend over $150. Until that time comes, I just try to be as creative as I can with what I have, or try samples, or products that are sent to me to review.

5. Life is about more than what money can buy. What are the things that top your list of what life is all about?
Life is about love, the cycle of giving it and getting it in return. It's about spending time with your family and friends and appreciating the little things. It's about being honest with yourself and others, and more than anything I believe life is about living up to God's potential for you.

~HG

The Perfect Red Lip

Red lipstick has been my enemy for years. You see, I'm a lover of the pinup girl look. Loves.It. However, I've always had to do my lip in some other color because I couldn't find the perfect red to match my dark skin tone. Most were too orange, too pink. too blue making itmore purple than anything. However, yesterday I was determined. I must've stood in front of the MUFE display for 45 minutes swiping all the reds they had, running to get lip wands to try them out, etc. Imagine my surprise when I found MANY that I liked! But there was one that I absolutely loved!

This is 43 Moulin Rouge from their Rouge Artist Intense collection. It's a very vibrant red with a satin finish. The best part? These lipsticks are so pigmented that one swipe is all you need. Seriously! Now that I've found the perfect red for me I am definitely going back to get others. Gotta love Makeup Forever!

~HG

Christmas in August!

These days I have to be very $$$ conscious, especially with a new addition to the family on the way. However, I'm a girl that loves loves loves clearance sales and sometimes I just can't help myself. Look what arrived today!:

I bought most of these items on clearance off of ASOS when they were offering free shipping to the US. The shower gel and such came from, yep, you guessed it, Luna Bleu. I've actually ordered from Luna Bleu twice in the last month, but I simply couldn't resist their August sale!

I really tried to search for these items on their site again, but it looks like they're all gone, so I can't get any good pics of them, however, I will try to show some close(r) up photos. Of course I'll take pics again once I actually get these babies home and take them out of the packaging.

Aren't the scarves gorgeous? I'm not really a scarf girl, but I simply couldn't resist.

What I absolutely can't wait for is to use my Paul and Joe lipstick. I think that by now you all get that I love glosses, but this lipstick looked so pretty on the site, and really stands out in person!

I hope you enjoyed viewing my haul as much as I enjoyed showing it. Don't expect any Outfit of the Day's from me because that's not my thing, but as I try to figure out how to wear these scarves I'll make sure to post pics.

~HG

LOTD: Still In Love!

Right now I'm still inlove with this one color. I'm sure this weekend I will do a total smokey eye with it. I also have a blue LOTD coming up, hopefully it will post on Friday. Enjoy!

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7 mixed with my daily moisturizer

Young Blood Hi-Definition Powder

MAC Mineralize Powder in Dark
Cinema Secrets Foundation #201-67a - under eyes

Eyes:

Painterly Paint Pot - all over
MAC Kid E/S - All Over
MAC Naked Pigment - Brow Bone to Crease
MUFE Aqua Cream in 28702 - lower lid to crease
MAC Sable E/S - Crease
MAC Handwritte E/S - Outter V
Mehron Precious Gem Powder in Diamond - Inner Corner
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Black - Liner
L'Oreals Extra Volume Collagen Mascara

Lips:

Coastal Scents lip palette, 3rd row, second to last lipcolor.

MAC Lipgelee

Cheeks:
MAC Blush in Sweet as Cocoa
MAC Raizin Blush

~HG

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7 mixed with my daily moisturizer
Young Blood Hi-Definition Powder
MAC Mineralize Powder in Dark

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MUFE Aqua Cream in 28702 - lower lid to crease
MAC Brown Down E/S - Crease
MAC Kid E/S - Blend out crease up to brow bone
CSP, black shadow - line eyes
Voluminous Mascara

Lips:
MAC  Lipglass in Totally It
MAC Lipglass in Crazy Haute

Cheeks:
MAC Blush in SuperDuper Natural
MAC Raizin Blush

~HG

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7 mixed with my daily moisturizer
Young Blood Hi-Definition Powder
MAC Mineralize Powder in Dark

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MUFE Aqua Cream in 28702 - lower lid to crease
MAC Brown Down E/S - Crease
MAC Kid E/S - Blend out crease up to brow bone
CSP, black shadow - line eyes
Voluminous Mascara

Lips:
MAC  Lipglass in Totally It
MAC Lipglass in Crazy Haute

Cheeks:
MAC Blush in SuperDuper Natural
MAC Raizin Blush

~HG

Product Review: Revlon DoubtTwist Mascara

"Revolutionary brush combines traditional bristles with innovative defining bristles for luscious volume and remarkable definition."

Umm, yeah, no. I hate hate hate this brush! It was super hard to use, and the mascara clumps! Worst of all, I've only had the mascara on for 30 minutes and oh, what is that I see in the mirror? Could it be flakes? Why yes, yes it is. Also, you pull up so much mascara when you pull the wand out that you immediately know that you are wasting a lot of product, and for what? Clumpy lashes? Ugh.

Any mascara where I have to twirl the wand in order to make any headway is just not worth my time.

Before

After 2 coats

Product: 3/10

Pricing: 6/10
Packaging: 9/10

~HG

Chocolate Bridal Beauty

As a makeup artist I always want to have a variety of photos in my portfolio showing a range of age and race. However, I was having the darndest time with finding a beautiful, chocolate young lady for my port. That's until the new Mrs. A contacted me. I did the makeup for her wedding in June, and I'm happy to say that she was very pleased. I heart her!

She wanted some depth to the eyes, but otherwise very natural. I think I achieved that. What do you think?

~HG

Stila Up To 75% Off Sale!

Up to 75% off of Stila Cosmetic items. Sale begins today and ends Sunday at 12 midnight P.T.

For one week only receive a free Pro Artist Palette with $40 or more purchase. Code: PROSTILA

~HG

Maybe She Was Born With It... Yeah, that must be it.

If you haven't noticed this about me from my various LOTD, when I find a product I love it take me a long time to try something else. This is especially true when it comes to mascaras. I am completely loyal to products that make my features do what it do. However, every once in a while if a product is on sale, or I'm just feeling sassy that day, I try something new (new to me anyway). So while I was standing in Ulta last week I pickede up L'Oreals Extra Volume Collagen Mascara.

"The luxurious, buildable formula infused with collagen creates breathtaking volume instantly. Glides on smoothly and lasts all day, with 12x more impact. No flakes, smudges, or clumps!"

Le sigh.

I should've known that a product that swears to do something by 12x would fail me.

Before

After

Me no likey. I feel like the mascara added length to my lashes, but I'm looking for this 12x more volume that it promised. I don't see it! As for no clumping, well, you be the judge.

The other thing I despised about this mascara was the wand. It didn't get a good grip on my lashes, so I couldn't apply it like I normally would.

For me this mascara was a fail. I can't even use it as my backup mascara. I keep using voluminous for that. However, if you'd like to try it, you can buy it for $8.99 at Ulta.

Product: 4/10
Pricing: 6/10
Packaging: 9/10

~HG

Luna Bleu August Sale!

If you know me, you know that I heart this website. Luna Bleu sells the most delish smelling body and home products in this world! They have notes to please everyone whether you love vanilla, or grapefruit is your thing. Currently Luna Bleu is having a 25% off August sale, which puts a twinkle in my toes. I will warn you that when they have a sale they get pretty backed up (it's a 2 women show), so be patient. Your order should arrive in 2-4 weeks. Go stock up now!

~HG

Tarte Cosmetics 40% Off Sale!

So what are you going to stock up on during the Tarte Cosmetics Friends and Family Sale?

~HG