Warmth

As a very pale individual I wear bronzer everyday along with the rest of the slap, but when it gets into the summer months, on a day-to-day basis I usually only wear bronzer, eyeliner and mascara. My favourite one to use is Warmth by Bare Minerals. I got it in the "Get Started Kit" which I also recommend if you want to try out the brand because it gives you all the essentials plenty of product and is pretty inexpensive for what you get.

As you can see I use the brush they give you, because I truly believe that their brushes work best with mineral makeup, and this brush: the flawless face brush is a lot softer than the full flawless face brush even though I use that as well for the foundation. 

In the photo you can see shimmer, however it is so finely milled that they are not overly visible. When most people say things give them a glow, I usually think its B.S. and discard it as probably making me a disco ball. But warmth really lives up to its name and gives your face a natural bronzed look and makes you look healthy. Some bronzers can be very muddy or orangey but Bare Minerals really knew what they were doing with this one. 

I can't really pull this off in the winter, but in the summer, it looks damn good. The cons are obviously that it is a loose product and can cause a huge mess, which is why I tend not to use the foundation, however there is usually just enough in the cap to use on my face that I just swirl the brush in the cap and don't even dip into the product itself.

I say if you want to try the brand, the started kit is a great idea, but if you just want to check out warmth it stays on skin for a decent amount of time and makes your complexion look bronzed and be-a-u-tiful! hah

Sponge Nails

As many of you have probably seen on all over Pinterest, I decided to try out the Makeup Sponge technique...

This is what I came up with and I quite like the technique, its simple and not overwhelmingly time consuming.

As you can see I put down a layer of white, and I made it sloppy because I didnt think it would make a difference, but it definitely does. You need to make the base layer opaque. Then i just pressed the sponge over the nail. To make it easier you could cut the sponge to fit your nail for less clean up, but I didnt bother.

I used Joe Fresh Butter, Revlon Perfect Pink and China Glaze Shocking Pink.

I think the best part of this kind of nail art is that it is just as simple to do the right hand as it is the left which is what I tend to struggle with with nail art.

Its super fun and can incorporate many trends like colorblocking, ombre, and colour trends like neons or mint or whatever colours are "in" at the time.

Second Day Hair

My hair is my favourite second and third day of not washing it. The second day I don't need to use dry shampoo, however my favourite way to style it is, if I straighten it I like to sleep on it wake up and have straight hair like normal. I might still keep it straight the second day, but if I go for a third day my favourite thing is to throw a little dry shampoo on and curl the ends with either a 1 and 1/4 or 1 and 3/4 inch curling iron on the ends which makes a really nice wave. Here's another picture. 

My hair is not the healthiest so I try to avoid washing all that often, now I've tried a few dry shampoo's, but so far my favourite is the Dove Refresh + Care "Invigorating Dry Shampoo." 

I bought this because it was on sale for $2.99 with the rest of the Dove products that week at Shoppers without hearing anything about it. So when I decided to use it I really enjoyed the smell. I'd like to say I did this for "science" haha but really I'm just extremely lazy. I didn't wash my hair for FIVE days. For me that is quite sometime but this stuff just works. My hair looked normal there was no grease and it didn't look flat either. 

It really does just refresh your hair and although most of the reviews on makeupalley.com are negative, I had a positive experience with it and wanted to share. I've had it for about a month now and there is still plenty of product.

The product does come out white, so you do have to brush it through but that's just a thing you have to deal with if you have dark hair. I do spray it like normal people when I wake up in the morning to style my hair. But another way I like to use this and all dry shampoos for that matter is to spray it directly on where my hair typically gets oily the night before until its pretty much white. I then go to bed and if its still there brush it through and go on. I really like this technique and saves the fear of not being able to get rid of the white cast that may happen in the morning.

Tell me in the comments your experience with this if you've tried it or what is your favourite dry shampoo?

Lately

Here is what I have currently been doing in my life of leisure before I have to get a job...

I have been sitting in front of my computer wrapped up in a blanket watching Gilmore Girls. I love the little anecdotes and Lorelai's sarcasm. I kind of hate Rory and would probably make the opposite decision of every big one she made, except maybe dating Jess. But still I love it.

Also, the slippers are by Victoria Secret, I recieved them from my cousin because they reminded her of Minnie Mouse, loove them.

I also may be one of the few girls that actually admits how much they love McDonalds, it's cheap, greasy, disgusting and soooo delicious. I am pretty much ecstatic that dollar drink days are back. Caramel Iced Coffee's are delicious. (way better than the french vanilla) Also is anyone else extremely unimpressed with the new yogurt and smaller fries with the kids meals, cause I know I am. Who goes to McD's to be "healthy"?

Also, while reading this post by Sammi of Beauty Crush  I was inspired by her nails, so I recreated them my self using Joe Fresh Powder Blue on every nail and for the flag used Cobalt also by Joe Fresh, Sally Hansen White On and Essie Red. I also put a layer of Essie Ballet Slippers to kind of tone down the vibrancy of the accent nail.
I love Americana and need to get my paws on some piece of American flag inspired clothing but haven't found that perfect item yet.

Finally, for Mother's Day I made a batch of white chocolate Oreo cookies, you literally heat up the chocolate in the microwave, dip the oreos in, throw some sprinkles on and cool in the freezer. Et voila, c'est fini.

They were yummy, and required very little effort.

So there you go, what have you all been up to, if any of you have a youtube, tumblr or blog I'm always down to read / watch new people leave it in the comments!

Nail Art

My name is Al, and I'm addicted to nail art.

It is now summer for me so I pretty much just sit inside and lurk the internet in my pj's, hair up and no makeup.

To get my beauty fix, I have turned to nail art.

I came across a photo on pinterest that brought me to this blog that has a bunch of ideas of nail art using craft scissors. We have a million different pairs because my dad found a set at a garage sale, so I had to try it out. (you can get them at most craft stores)

Ultimately it took an extremely long time and I would definitely suggest using contrasting colours because no one could tell what I did unless I showed them up close because the colours I used were so similar.

Otherwise, it turned out pretty well even though it required so much effing time, I probably wont try it again for awhile but it is a fun look.

I used OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender and Revlon Perfect Pink. I put down the Revlon shade first then applied Seche Vite, waited for it to dry. Then put the tape I had cut with the scissors on my nail and applied Lucky Lucky Lavender. Out of all 10 nails, the tape only peeled off the colour on one.

If you have any nail art ideas or anything you have done recently, tell me in the comments, or tweet them to me @AlsLoves, I'd love to see. Even if nail art isnt your thing, just tell me what you have been doing recently with your nails

Hair Fiasco

My hair has literally gone through hell in 2012, this is going to be a long post: beware.

Let's just start by saying I have gone prematurely gray, when I was 12 I first noticed them and by grade 9 I had to start highlighting my hair to cover them. I naturally have black/brown hair, so clearly my white roots are obvious. So eat your veggies and be born with good genes haha.

Anyways I like to stick to my natural colour, but I needed to take my graduation photos so I box dyed my hair with a natural black which was a little too dark for what I had. Then the true terror happened, I cheated on my hairdresser and boy did I pay for it.

I went to a salon in this mall that is near my house, people are always in and out and i assumed, "how can you mess up my hair, I just want to touch up my roots, they can SEE the colour I want" well the guy saw my hair and attempted to get it to the colour of my ends not the harshness of the black dye. In doing so he managed to make my roots a very orangey brown and my hair was still black. I now looked like a tiger instead of a skunk...

This photo does not do the atrocity justice, it looked awful and the whole reason I went somewhere else was because my hairdresser took time off for family and I knew St. Patricks day, My Birthday and Easter were coming up and I didnt want roots in pictures. Ugh. Then to boot it was exams so I had to leave home and wouldn't be able to go back for a month, so by May I had gray roots, then an orange strip, then the harsh black and finally the colour I like. Believe me as a young person with gray hair, you can see people glaring at your roots with confusion until they work up the courage to ask or I go, "Yeah, I have gray hair, I've had it most my life, I blame my mother." 

Not only that but the stylist said: "Oooh, the colour looks great," then the colourist said "You know you can use sunlight soap to get that out" yeah buddy, I'm going to dry the shit out of my hair cause you want me to fix your mistake. Essentially I paid $100 to look awful. Also, Mini Rant: the place was gross, no one had there own tools, there were too many customers and not enough chairs, it was dusty and dirty. The dye also hurt my scalp, I have never experienced that, it felt raw almost and burned when I itched it. It was fine when I washed it out, but really how do you charge that price when you use such AWFUL dye that it hurts.

Anyhoozle, My real hairdresser fixed it! Lesson learned: Never Cheat on Your Hairdresser!

She just laughed and scoffed at my awful hair, she put it back to what she always does and added a few little highlights that are really only visible under a light or in sunlight (which you can see in the photo). Whew, I feel normal again.

She also told me I am 70% gray, great.

Please tell me if you guys have had any awful experiences, or you just want to laugh at me hah.

It's crazy how much of my identity is in my hair, it is just hair but geez did I look crazy.