Tips and Tricks

According to movies, having a Mom who was a former representative of Clinique an an older sister I should have received the holy grail of makeup tips. But I didn't. Everything I know about beauty I've discovered from magazines, the internet or trail and error.

Recently my older sister asked for some makeup advice. I thought this was amusing (because she's older, so she should be teaching me stuff), but I told her some of my tricks regardless. So here's a handful of my most coveted beauty tricks and tips.

http://www.lifeloveandlacquer.com/

1. Nail polish is so expensive. I'm not about to spend $9 on one OPI polish (I wish I could, hell I wish I could buy Butter polish). But I buy Spoiled polish instead, which is only $1.99 and can be found at CVS. The polish maintains a good consistency and has a wide bush for easy application. It chips easily, so I would invest in good top coat. I use Sally Hansen advance hard as nails top coat.

http://www.womansday.com/

2. Stop buying shaving cream, It is honestly the biggest waste of money. Swap out you shaving cream for conditioner.  All shaving cream is doing is softening your leg hairs to create an easy close shave. Conditioner is made to soften your hair, and is a lot cheaper than shaving cream. Buy a hug pump of the cheapest conditioner, and violà, you are all set.

http://pakifashion.com/

3. Use multiple eyeliner products and layer them for extra stay power. I personally like gel and liquid liner. First I start out with Revlon gel liner, then I go over it with Sephora liquid liner. My liner stays for hours and is super dark. If pencil is more your thing, I would recommend MAC kohl eyeliner. The trick to great eyeliner is to use multiple kinds, so stock up.

http://beautyfool.com/

4. Exfoliate your lips for a smooth, soft, kissable mouth, Exfoliated lips will help lipstick and gloss lay evenly. You can buy exfoliate or make your own, I've done it both ways and I don't have a preference. ELF lip exfoliate is the one I'm currently using. When I make my own I combine Vaseline and brown sugar, but the internet is full of different recipes. 

http://theinbetweengirls.com/

5. Rim your waterline with white eyeliner. It will instantly open up and brighten you eyes. This is because the white liner enhances the whites of your eyes. I'm currently using NYX slim eye pencil, but obviously any liner will do just make sure it's a pencil and not a cream liner. 

http://www.maskcara.com/

6. Contouring your face is an art. It will make you look like you were born with impeccable bone structure or enhance it. All that is needed is blush, bronzer and highlighter. I use NYX cream blush, ELF bronzer and Rimmel London radiance shimmer. The difficult part is where the hell do these products go. I reference this contouring picture, which shows hot to contour based on face shape. The picture is from the makeup blog Mask Cara, which can teach you how to contour way better than I ever could.

http://blogs.ubc.ca/susannayao/2012/11/16/beauty-queen-sephora/

7. Sign up for Ulta and Sephora emails. There are so many freebies and coupons, I cringe when people pay full price. Hell, if you like a product so much go to the company's website and sign up for their emails. Chances are they will have their own freebies and coupons. The more freebies the merrier. 

Hopefully you learned some new beauty tricks and will be able to teach your older sister something too!

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By: Sarah Weingarten

Diving Deep Into The Girl Crush World

Oh, girl crushes. I have so many, which will makes this post hard to write. They all have taken a space in my heart for different reasons. Diving into the girl crush world is more complicated than it looks to the outside, non-girl crusher's eye (I honestly don't think there are any non-girl crushers out there but if there are, shame on you, girls are so badass).

There's a hierarchy in the girl crush system: Different levels of girl crush.

1. Basic Level Girl Crush
You just appreciate this female's sweet and awesome existence and commend her on her beauty and kick-ass personality.
Personal Basic Level Girl Crushes: Anne Hathaway, Rihanna and Janelle Monae

2. "I Want to be Your Best Friend" Girl Crush

This is the girl crush that you feel an instant over-the-web/tabloid
connection to. Something about her makes you want to have sleepovers with her, braid her hair and dissect all of her deepest, darkest secrets. Every fiber of your being knows that if, or when you ever run into her, an instant connection will form and a beautiful girl crush friendship will blossom.
Personal "I Want to be Your Best Friend" Girl Crushes: Jennifer Lawrence, the HAIM sisters, Mindy Kaling, Tavi Gevinson and Marina Diamandis

3. The "I Want to be You" Girl Crush

The end-all-be-all of girl crush hierarchy. You don't necessarily envy this female, you just want to be her. Everything she does you want to do. It's like a elementary school crush. You want to steal a piece of her hair and drink an everlasting polyjuice potion. There's just something about this woman that really speaks to you; she's an overall babe in your eyes (while you're wishing your eyes were her's).
Personal "I Want to be You" Girl Crushes: Sky Ferreira and Alexa Chung.

Many honorary girl crushes couldn't fit under my personal basic level girl crush and "I want to be your best friend" girl crushes. But Sky and Alexa are for sure my only "I want to be you" girl crushes. You can't be wishy-washy with level three girl crushes. Those are definite and typically static, for if a female gained or lost her status of being a level three crush it's a big deal. It indicates that you're personally evolving as a women. You're changing what you admire and look for in other women and your personal characteristic goals.

Sky and Alexa (I think I'm on a first name basis with them), are my level three girl crushes because I really want to embody their cool it-girl aura. In my head I think I'm smart, a badass, chic and total babe. But in reality I'm consistently none of those things... that's okay. I'm not trying to be something or someone I'm not. I'm just trying to develop my own version of Sky and Alexa's mythical love child. I'm inspired by them and the other girl crushes I listed, and I'm trying to incorporate everything I admire about each female and internalize it.

4. The Ultimate Girl Crush
The most overlooked but highest level girl crush. Level four is when you gain girl crush status from another female. This is the dream of every girl crusher, to have other women be infatuated and appreciative of you. If I was given the ultimatum to either be a girl crush or be Sky, I would without a doubt choose being a girl crush. Being a girl crush is different than being a role model. When you're a girl crush your crushers accept you as a real woman, a flawed but simultaneously amazing women. Role models have the stigma of perfection and fall under daily scrutiny. Role models crash and burn, girl crushes are forever. 

(I do not own any of these photos)

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By: Sarah Weingarten