How to: DIY Z-Palette

I am a big fan of making your own palettes and a lot of brands sell eyeshadow pans in just pan form that can stick to a magnetic palette. However, Z-Palettes can get expensive when the start at $15 for a small one. Don't get me wrong, I love my Z-Palette, but before I could afford my first one, I found a DIY video on YouTube that taught me how to make my own. 

What you need:

     - A Crayola or Roseart water paint palette

     - Magnet sheets with a sticky side

     - Optional: Fun duct tape

1. To start, you take out the plastic part holding the water paints and the brush. If you are using the Crayola version like I did you will need to break off the little plastic pieces that hold the brush as well as the piece that is used to hang the palette. This is a bit time consuming because you will have to sand it down flat enough to put the magnet sheet on smoothly.

2. Once you have a smooth and empty palette, trace the size of magnet you need and cut it out. IMPORTANT: before you peel of the backing to stick the magnet in, make sure it fits inside easily. You will have to trim the sides a bit because you used the bottom as a stencil.

3. Peel off the backing and place the magnet sheet in. Don't forget to smooth out any air bubbles and make it as stuck on as possible. Press down on the sheet until you feel it is done. (I have a line because I wound up having to use magnet square pieces instead of the roll.)

4. This part is optional, but I had some minion duct tape and decided to make my palette a bit more fun by putting the tape over the magnet. And Nixx decided to cuddle the palette as I was taking photos.

And you are done! My palette is currently housing the majority of my Makeup Geek Foiled shadows as well as some of my brighter colors (like Mac's Rule) and misc shadows.

Overall the process took me about 45 minutes to make, I had a lot of fun, and I have extra magnets left over if I want to make another one.

Good luck!
<3 Kimmie

Throwback Thursday

Back for another Throwback Thursday this week. These are two more photos I found when I was moving of my cousin Ursula a.k.a. Lani, my sister, and I.

The top photo is just at our house in L.A. and the bottom is the three of us being goofs at the Krispy Kreme's Factory in Gardena. I know the bottom photo was taken in 2004, but I am honestly not sure about the top, but I do know it was at least a year before.

My cousin is one of my biggest role models and I look to her for support and advice. She is the one who always reminds me that I need to take care of myself first and I don't always have to make everyone happy. I am happy that I now only live two hours away from her instead of 6!

Hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me, have a great Thursday!
<3 Kimmie

Pale Princess Makeup Tips

Hey guys, here are some tips I have compiled for those of you who, like me, much resemble Snow White in complexion. I plan on doing a post on my favorite makeup products for fair skin in the future, but for now here are five tips to keep in mind.

Disney Princess Snow White Cinderella Aurora and Belle (clipped to polyvore.com)

1. Make sure it matches! This is basic makeup 101; however, with extremely fair skin it is very easy to tell if your foundation doesn’t work for you. I can’t tell you guys how many times I have blended my foundation down my neck, it looked fine, then walked outside and looked like I had a wave of orange. Err on the side of going lighter and avoid foundations that oxidize.

2. Add some color back. I have been learning that it is very easy for pale girls to look washed out, ghostly or sickly. Looking dead is the last thing we want.

3. Concealer lips = no-no! I know girls love their nude lipsticks and I am no exception. However, especially with pale girls you want to avoid going too light because it will wash you out and make you look sick. Go for a “your lips but better” shade instead.

4. Careful not to go overboard. Ok, so when your face is naturally almost as white as a clown’s, it can be easy to add too much and look like you just got done working a kids party. Once again, I learned this the hard way. Find the happy medium with your makeup application. And this isn’t saying you can’t go dramatic, because if you can do it, rock it.

5. Don’t forget your brows. This is my weakness because brows are often the last things I remember. But, when you are fair, and especially if you have light brow hair, you will want to fill them in to frame your face and it can look weird if you don’t.

Hope these tips helped, and I have learned these all from my own trial and error and looking like a goof. Although, at the end of the day it’s just makeup, it washes off. So enjoy and have fun with it!

What to do When You ARE Sick

Tis the season! The cold and flu season that is. With the weather changing, temperatures dropping, and stress levels rising for impending finals, it is easy to become subject to tiny cold virus invaders. I did a post a while ago about how to avoid getting sick, but I thought it would be helpful to do a post about what to do when preventative measures fail.

     - Take advantage of the campus health center. The health center can give you a check up and make sure nothing is seriously wrong, and give you a note for class if need be. Plus, doctors will be able to give your more specific advice for your particular case compared to my blanket advice.

     - H20! Drinking lots of water will not only help keep you hydrated, but assist in flushing out the gunk and toxins in your system.

     - Keep an emergency stash. It is always a good idea to have an emergency kit of supplies you might need when sick/not feeling well: ibuprophen, cough syrup, NyQuil/DayQuil, Tums, etc. Don’t try to go it alone, medication exists for a reason, it will make your life easier while sick and help you get better quicker.

     - Get some Z’s. When you are asleep your body hard at work and is able to dedicate more of its resources to repairing your body. And when fighting an infection your body will especially need sleep because it makes it easier for your body to fight the virus.

     - Don’t forget to eat. I know when you’re sick a lot of time you loose your appetite. However, it is really important to force yourself to eat and get the nutrition you need to stay healthy.

Being sick while trying to balance school, work, and everything else under the sun really sucks. So I hope these tips help you guys. I am currently getting over a cold, which is why I thought it would be fitting to write this. Stay healthy my friends, and good luck with the rest of the semester.

College Makeup Essentials

Source

When it comes to college, whether or not you live in a dorm, space and money are precious assets that should be used wisely. So, when starting a new semester, you really don’t want to blow all your money on new makeup or bring your entire collection to school. Here are a couple essential items that you should invest in and should definitely find their way into your suitcase/makeup bag.

1. A basic, versatile eye shadow palette
     - Aim for something that has light, medium and darker shadows that you could use every day. I like the Coastal Scents Revealed Palettes, the NYX Natural palette and the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palettes. L'Oreal and NYX have some really good palettes for a cheaper price.

2. Face Primer & Eye Primer
     - If you are like me and on the go from the moment you wake up until you get home, you want something to help your makeup stay on all day.
     - ELF and Milani have incredible eye primers that are comparable to Urban Decay and Too Faced.
     - For face primers I would recommend L’Oreal or Maybelline.

3. Reliable concealer.
     - This is an absolute must! Especially when you are in college and stress and lack of sleep become everyday things.
     - I like the Maybelline Fit Me or Instant Age Rewind as well as the NYX concealers.

4. Mascara.
     - Well um, of course. Mascara helps open up your eyes and make you look just that much more awake. The drugstore has some amazing mascara’s and this is one item I really don’t think you need to spend a lot of money on.
     - My favorites are Maybelline’s Pillow Plush and Cover Girl’s Outlast (an oldie but a goodie!)

5. Foundation and/or tinted moisturizer.
     - This one is based on personal preference, skin type, how much coverage you want. Personally, I like to have both on hand so I can have a choice of what I want on my face that day, plus, tinted moisturizers or BB creams make decent primers/bases.
     - When it comes to foundation I have come to like the Maybelline Fit Me (can tell I like this line?), Revlon Color Stay (awesome because it has a formula for normal to oily or normal to dry), or Cover Girl 3 in 1. On the high end side, I love Cover FX, Kat Von D and Smashbox HD.
     - BB’s/CC’s/Tinted Moisturizers have boomed lately. Maybelline, Physician’s Formula, L’Oreal are all amazing, and high end brands like Cover FX, Laura Mercier and Stila all have amazing ones.

6. Nude Eyeliner.
     - This is a life hack I use on a daily basis. Replace the black eyeliner on your waterline with a nude pencil and it will instantly make you look more awake and alert! Especially amazing for when you have to be at work early in the morning or have a 7 or 8am class!
     - Rimmel has the best nude eyeliner I have ever used, and it is waterproof!

7. Everyday blush
     - For this you want to try and find something non-shimmery. You want to aim for something that is just going to give you a nice healthy glow.

8. Bronzer.
     - Aim for something that is matte. I prefer matte bronzers because you can contour with them, or just use it to add some warmth to your face.
     - Absolute best two bronzers I can recommend are NYC’s Smooth Skin Bronzer in Sunny (THIS THING IS ONLY $2 AND AMAZING!) and Benefit’s Hoolah. If you haven’t heard about these two I think you may have been living under a rock! Another good one I would recommend from the drugstore is the Rimmel Natural Bronze bronzer in Sun Bronze. (That’s a lot of bronze…)

9. Powder.
     - Even if you don’t use powder all over your face, you should definitely use it to set your concealer, particularly under your eyes, otherwise it can just slip and slide off. This really helps hold your makeup in place.
     - For me, powder is powder, especially if you are going translucent powder. But the ones I like the most that I have tried are Maybelline Fit Me powder or L'Oreal TruMatch and Physician’s Formula have good powders

10. Lip Stuff!
     - I say “stuff” because I feel like this category can change like the wind. I would definitely recommend having one or two lip products that you love and are your “go-to”.
     - For me, my “Go-To” lip products are the Revlon Velvet Rose, Maybelline Color Sensational in Summer Sunset and Peachy Scene, and Wet N’ Wild Bare it All. (My daily lip liner is Maybelline Lip Pencil in 25 Toast).

Additional: I love the Elf Mist and Set for setting my makeup and it is only $3!

Hope this helped :)
<3 Kimmie

University Applications Advice

So I am currently in the same boat as high school seniors and putting in my application to transfer to a university! EEEEEPPP! In all honesty, I am pretty nervous for this transition because I am not the best with dealing with change. I am facing the bittersweet emotions of being excited to transition to the next level of my education, but nervous to leave the comfort I have settled into at community. So, all in all, on par with what I was feeling as a senior transitioning to college.
So here are some tips for being halfway through the application period:

1. Make sure you have had someone proof read your essays. This is really important because you have a word limit and so you want to hit your point home without going overboard or over wording.

2. Don’t stress about trying to be the most original or most embellished in your essays, just be yourself. Colleges want to know about you, they don’t want to read a pretentious done up essay meant to impress them. Show them who you are and why YOU are different, why YOU are a good applicant.

3. Keep your deadlines in mind. They can catch up to you quicker than you would expect. For CSU’s and UC’s the deadline is actually November 30th, but for many privates the deadlines can be in December, or even January. Set deadlines for yourself to make sure you are getting everything done and not rushing at the last minute because sites are known to crash, and you wouldn’t want to waste all your hard work to get the app in late.

4. Be on the lookout for scholarships! I will be posting something separate on my advice for scholarships at a later date, so be sure to look out for that, but it is a good idea to start applying now, because their may be some specific for the schools you are applying to or the area you are from.

5. Don’t Panic. Take a lesson from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. So take a deep breath, remember it will be ok, and don’t forget your towel!

I wish you all luck!
<3 Kimmie

"30 Day"/30 Questions Makeup Challenge Part 3

Once again, totally forgot about the existence of this. Here is the final part, and here are links to part 1 and part 2.

Question #21: Where do you purchase your makeup?

- Um, all over the place. For drugstore, CVS, Walgreens and Ulta are the best. I do also love Sephora and will occasionally venture to my MAC counter. I don’t really buy a lot of makeup online but I will occasionally because I love Makeup Geek, Coastal Scents, ColourPop and Morphe Brushes (at the moment the store is only about 30 min away so that is cool!)

Question #22: Favorite toner.

- I loved my Clean and Clear cooling toner, but they sadly discontinued it. My new favorite is the Dickenson’s All-Natural Witch Hazel Toner. Thanks you AlisonLovesJB for your recommendation!

Question #23: Favorite eyshadow palette and blush palette.

- Blush Palette: I only really own one full blush palette, and that is the Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot Box O’ Blushes palette from the holiday collection. I love it because I had wanted to try Benefit blushes for a long time and this gave me that chance without spending an insane amount.

- Eyeshadow Palette: That is really difficult…this might be cheating but the one I use the most is my custom Z-palette that I put together. I use it the most because it has all the shadows I use on a daily basis in one spot. When it comes to premade palettes I think my favorite right now is my Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar.

Question #24: Which do you prefer: cream, liquid, matte, powder, sheer or shimmer eyeshadows?

- Um I don’t think I have ever used a liquid eyeshadow. I like creams for eyeshadow bases, and even though I love adding a pop of shimmer, I think overall I prefer matte eyeshadows.

Question #25: Favorite eyeliner.

- I love the Elizabeth Mott You’re So Fine and Jessie’s Girl liquid eyeliners. They make my life so much easier when it comes to doing eyeliner, especially in a hurry. (I am still trying to get the hang of cream/gel eyeliner. I own the ELF cream eyeliner and want to try the Maybelline Master Studio gel.)
Don’t have a favorite pencil liner...even though I have been using this the longest! Haha, but the one I have been using the longest is the Avon Glimmersticks Eyeliner in black.

Question #26: Do you wear makeup every day?

- Nope! I usually wear makeup Mon-Fri for work and school. Some days all I do is mix a pump of foundation in with my moisturized to add a bit of coverage and throw on mascara. But on days that I’m not going anywhere or just don’t care I do not bother putting in the effort.

Question #27: Favorite powder.

- I haven’t tried a bunch of powders, but at the moment I am loving the Maybelline Matte and Poreless powder.

Question #28: Favorite makeup remover.

- Like so many others, I love my Neutrogena wipes! But I am also looking to test out others. If you have any recommendations let me know in the comments please ☺

Question #29: Do you wear liquid eyeliner? (If so, what is your favorite?)

- See question #25.

Question #30: Photo of yourself with and without makeup.

Here is a picture from my before step brother's prom being a goof with him. No makeup.

And here is me after getting a makeup lesson at Mac.