eSalon, eh? Can I pay for my color with bitcoins?

So, as I promised I will be reviewing the eSalon home hair color kit. Alas, I am breaking the other half of my pledge to review the new L'Oreal Light touch Ombre hilight at home color kit. Stick with me now and all will be revealed...
    The eSalon process was easier than I thought it would be to order online, but pain in the butt caliber once received at home. You make an account, answer some questions about your hair and upload a picture (if you want, pic is optional). They suggest a color match, you say "sure" and viola'..salon quality hair care right to your door. After opening the box, I regretted it right away. Nothing was wrong with the product,  it was just way more time consuming than I had imagined it would be. Time is of the essence when you are a mother to 2 very energetic kiddos, and anything more than 10 minutes is cutting into " Are you serious?!!" territory. Nonetheless after staring at the box for a months, I gave it a go. Oh, wait almost forgot- pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the ordering process should you do this. That sneaky little esalon hustled me for auto delivery, knowing my mind is on 27 things at once and assuredly would not read any fine print or disclosures. I received a touch up root kit in the mail before I ever used the original kit, and after checking my bank account and logging into my esalon account I realized my oversight.  Uncheck, auto delivery box...then Ha! In your face esalon! Back to the lecture at hand. After setting aside 2 hours..no shit- 2 hours, I got ready to dye. Without boring you to death- a quick synopsis.  You mix part one, you divide, clip, color top of hair. Yep, just the top, wait 15-25 minutes. Then you mix part two, separate,  clip hair and do the bottom, from mid shaft to ends. The second step also contains your shine additive. This step is very important, said the package..well duh. Who would only do the first step and dye half their hair? After waiting 25 minutes you fill the part 2 bottle with water, so that the ratio is approximately half remaining dye solution, half water.  Shake vigorously,  and get in the shower for this part. Use said mixture like a shampoo,  dumb on head, mix to a creamy lather, rinse. Shampoo head with real shampoo-its included,  rinse and condition-also included. See, how long did it take you to read this? Imagine doing the process at home! If I knew the time frame, didn't have kids and wasn't extremely lazy it wouldn't have been such a PITA but I was ill-prepared. Now, let's talk results. The color was very nice. A little dark brown, a little mahogany,  and very shiny. Quite lovely. That said, it was nothing I could not have accomplished with a Feria, John Freida, or Color Preference,  for half the price and 3/4 of the time. The experience was more annoying than anything else, only because if I am going to spend time doing my own hair just to save some cash, I wouldn't spend all evening on my hair, ya dig. I would have much rather pampered myself, threw in the extra 50 bucks and relaxed at a brick and mortar salon while someone else did the work. Check out the pictures of before and after. Just like the tv infomercials I made the before shot all ratchety, and the after shot all smooth and sassy. Overall I would give this service 3.5 stars, for ingenuity,  and ease of order. I would give the results 4 out of 5 stars for sheer prettiness, but I would give the required actions to acheive all results a 2.5 stars, for just being a time suck. Give it a try if you have lots of time on your hands, or if you are the friend in your bunch that is the "group-appointed" stylist, sit down with the girls, order some products and have a salon spendy. ( a spendy is a sleep over to those of you unaware). My fingers are beat after this blog! Crap, the second part of last blogs committment. The reason I didn't do the self ombre kit is because it was a caramel colored ombre for dark brown hair and my hair is more red than it should be for that color. At least I think so. I might just try it tomorrow, post a pic and get some feedback. What's the worst that could happen...I would have to reorder my exact color, set aside a weekend and redo my original color..On second thought...
To the few ladies who follow my blog...I love you, and you completely make this worthwhile. If just 2 people read me, that's 2 people that read me and that makes me happy!
Tune in next time, when I might have caramel ombre highlights, and You may hear me say.."Upside down mascara? What's the deal with that Sephora?" And, you could read the answer to "Does charcoal really make an effective mask/cleanser, and does this lipstick make my ass look big?"
Remember, its about trial and error, its about the ride, its about new things and as always...Its AboutFace!

The AFTER shot..

This is the after photo pertaining to previous Before photo, after using Garnier 5 Second blur..
Anyone see a difference? Yeah, me either. Damn it, Garnier. Okay, thats harsh. Damn it, ME for falling for the instant trick. I know nothing is instant. I know there is no quick fix. I know all of this and I know I know it, but still I fall for the "instant" on the box. The same thing happened with the L'oreal Miracle Blur. I saw a new product it promised instant results: amazing, smooth, even tone skin and radiant glow and delivered nothing. Although I am protected from the Sun. That's always a plus. But the thing is I'm not looking for a sunscreen. I have umpteen million sunscreens. I want instant results.. I want the product inside to do what the box promises on the outside. Clearly now I'm not just talking about the instant blur. I know nothings instant..I knew in my heart it wasn't going to work but I still had a glimmer of hope that just once an instant promise would be just that. What I am looking for is the Colored Contacts of beauty products. The Manic Panic of skin care, if you will. That one minute this way, next minute that way kinda fix, ya heard. Its inevitable that my heart will break repeatedly and I will lose all faith in cosmetic promises, but in the meantime I will continue my search. My quest for the Holy Grail face changer in a tube -at a discount price will persevere. I know that there are extreme quality cosmeceuticals on the market that work like a champ. Maybe the results aren't instant, but they are damn near, and the changes/improvements are noticeable ones. Alas, these little tubes of happy and jars of perfection are far beyond my means. I am sure if I went one year without wasting money on "instant" promises from drugstore and medium level products I could save enough to buy one actual promise fulfilling product but wheres the fun in that? Plus I wouldn't have trial and errors to blog about. So, overall and throughout my time wasting opinions and ramblings this us what you should come away with after perusing this episode..Nothing under $20 is instant as far as erasing what time & life have done to your face. The Garnier 5 second Blur would make a fine drugstore primer, comparable to the Holy Grail Photo finishing primer from Smashbox, but do not expect anything else. It will not blur anything-unless you get it in your eyes, and the only thing it erases is $17 from your bank account. If you are hell bent on blurring imperfections just run real fast passed everyone you mert, or take selfies while in motion. Thank you to the small small handful who are reading my blig. Please soread tge word that I am awesome, and let me know you care by commenting. Please. Just a little self affirming smiley face would be fine. Soon I will decorare and link to other social sites when I figure out how. Tune in next time when I "before and after" eSALON hair color and L'Oreal Preference Ombre Touch for medium to dark brown hair and Remember, its About loving yourself, its About Embracing the now, its About Hope and as alawys, its AboutFace

Pre blurred photo..

This is going to be-HOPEFULLY- A posted blog on the befores and afters of the popular "blurring" products. The before pic is, Dear God, SANS makeup. No product at all except moisturizers. The ones I am currently using are, in order of appearance, Tarte Maracuja oil, pure coconut oil from ULTA and an ULTA intensive nightvrepair moisturizer ( Gasp! During the day, you say?! My face knows not the hour). So, if I am doing this right, here is the before photo..

This is becoming quite a habit...

Every time I start up this blog I have motivation, a driving force behind me, time and plenty of topics. Subtract the time aspect and everything still stands. I always start out with such fervor, then school comes along, kids have routines and the blog goes by the wayside. This time, I am committed. What is the difference you ask? Why now, America wants to know. well, the more people blog-a million new blogs everyday, the easier it gets. For instance, today I was looking for a picture of a dress that I wanted to sell online. I found a picture and clicked on it and a new option appeared...ADD THIS TO MY BLOG!! WHAT! No more copy/paste, add to clipboard, insert image? Just click and blog. Oh the simplicity. This will make my life and my blogging so much easier that I have promised myself to blog every other day for at least a month to see how it goes. I have stocked up on new products, re ordered old favs, been catching up on all the latest fashion shows, glossies and TV shows and will be blogging with a vengeance. I thought about changing the name, since I will be covering more than just faces and makeup, but Face means so much to different cultures, that I decides to keep it. Just wiki face for Asian cultures and it means dignity, self image and respect. In the good ol' US it means, well, I don't know how many kiddos are reading this, so just ask your parents to look it up. In a nutshell, be ready to be blogged out of your mind. Okay, maybe that's extreme, but just welcome me with warm, blog lovin' arms and please comment once I start dedicating hours to this project. Feedback is the technical hug. The acceptance letter if you will.Feedback means, "We have spent time reading what you have spent time writing" and it makes bloggers feel a little more redeemed in thir work. Thank you everyone. Remember, its about routine, its about finding time to do what you love, its about the reward, but most of all, its AboutFace....
tune in next time to see me write..5 second miracle blur my ass...

Eye BROWsing! How I learned to not fear change..

So.. For the longest time I took pride in my eyebrows..don't let that statement mislead you- I still take pride in them, I have just learned how to let them survive on their own and to let their natural shape guide me in my plucking. I had the most gorgeous plucked, clean arched eyebrows in the world. The were my calling card..the best part about my face. Or so I thought. My eye shape is not conducive to arched brows, but advice be damned, I was arching my brows! My eyes, as I may have mentioned before are hooded, deep set and droopy. not super droopy,  more puppy doggy, like Camilla Belle's and the late great Audrey's. Now when you imagine their eyebrow shape it is full and straight, with the slightest of arches and it works(ed) for them both. I fought this brow shape tooth and nail, insisting that arches were the way to go. One day I was doing a replication of an Audrey Hepburn look and filled in my brows to her exact shape. I knew when i looked in the mirror after the look was finished I would be appalled by the caterpillars that would be resting where my eyebrows once were. SO WRONG!! I had wasted so much time arguing with the best makeup artists advice pertaining to my eyebrows that I felt like I had robbed myself of years of looking fabulous! This eyebrow shape was PERFECT for my eye shape! I looked young, classic, refined and outright pretty. Not to mention with the rest of the make up, the short fringe and the ponytail I did a damn good job of converting myself into Audrey Hepburn. I was so taken aback at how perfectly suited these eyebrows were for my face that I began to analyze every detail as to why they were so right and my wonderful, perfectly arched brows were soo wrong. First of all, I have a heart shape/rounded face. It appears soft and sweet, so the dramatic arch I had competed with my face shape and took my softness into "sinister villain" territory. For the next point I need to describe my eyes in detail: they are deep set and hooded. They highest point of my lids hits almost immediately then slopes downward, almost like a comma laying on is side. Now by arching my brows in this same manner all I was doing was replicating the droopy deep set look. In order to disguise and hide this shape, I needed to bring my eyebrows almost straight across, and therefore lessening the harshness of my droop.Since my eyes are hooded as well, by arching my eyebrows I created more space in between my eyelid and brow that basically screamed "LOOK AT ALL THIS EMPTY HOODED SPACE!!" Overall the straight fuller brow works best for my eye shape. Now I will not completely put away my arched brow stencils! I will occassionally still arch my brow, just not so dramatically. Sometimes what looks best or works best for your brows isn't necessarily what you think should work. Just study your face, your eye shape and your eyebrows and try out different ways to wear them. Thin drawn on super arched or super rounded, like a half circle, ARE NOT OPTIONS. Seriously. If you are one of the ladies who draw on your eyebrows in that manner, stop right now. put the pencil down, pick up a stencil, some wax and some brow powder and learn a new technique. I say this lovingly. Another thing to consider is your age. At my age my face is changing-drastically-and I have to learn to adapt my make up routine with the newness of my face: the lines, wrinkles, sagging skin and all..( not a pretty picture, I know) If you are willing to compromise with your face when it comes to make up, the you will be a winner every time. The subject for my next blog is going to be exactly that topic. How to adapt the latest trends and hippest colors into your make up routine for women forty and over-and how to not look like your trying too hard to remain young and fresh. You know who you are ladies..still shopping in the juniors department, getting your beauty advice from your daughters teen magazines and MTV shows and flocking to the drug stores to try the cool new neon shades of glittery eye shadow and refusing to buy any foundation with the words "anti-aging" on the bottle.....

SO, I hope that someone is reading this blog..If you are, PLEASE leave a comment so I know what topics you would like me to talk about and what tutorials you would like me to do once this blog leads me into YouTube (which will be within a month) If you like how I write, let me know! If you don't like how I write or what I write about, let me know that too!
Remember..Its About finding yourself, Its About relaxing, Its About loving yourself and your look,            and as always..Its About Face

So, summer is winding down. To me, this is the best time to bring out the bronzers. I know they are huge in the summer because the sun is the devil and faux tans are safest, blah blah. I wear spf 10,000 but my freckles pop out in under 5 seconds. For this reason I do not wear a lot of bronzer in the summer because I love my freckles and would not want to hide them. Plus when you put a bronzer on heavy freckles it looks like a bad make up job from far away. So- for me my drug store Bronzer is the same as everyone else.. NYC Sunny. I love the finish, the matte-ness and the color. Great all around product. For a high end bronzer I love the Estee Lauder Goddess Gelee pure color collection one. I like the shimmer factor-not too sparkly, not too shiny, and I love the texture and consistency and for a department store brand, it may be a little pricey-coming in a $42, but hell, its over half the price of the Tom Ford bronzer. Someday I will purchase the $90 TF product, but today is not that day. If I used bronzer everyday, twice a day maybe, but I don't, so its a no go. Let's see..So , summer is winding down. Oh, wait. Said that. On to fall. I love fall. I love crisp cool weather, jumpers, leaves, jackets, and HEAVY MAKEUP! No "no make up make up" in fall. Its dark lips, dark eyes, heavy contour..I love it. I cannot do this in the summer because, how to say this like a lady..I sweat. I do not perspire, glistening, glow..I frickkin' SWEAT. I love the temperature as soon as it dips below  70 because I can wear a foundation, blush, contour, highlight, primer, shadow, liner, mascara,more contour, a pop of more highlight and lipstick and it will go NOWHERE! Ah yes..I love fall. I am currently going through every September issue magazine so that I can bring to you all the fall trends. Why I spend $50 on all of them when one will do-they all say the same thing. What I like to do is break out the Sept. issue from the year before to see what's changed and whats the same. For this year..not too much. Dark colors like ox blood for garments, prints, patterns and heavily textured fabrics. Peplums, riding boots, trench coats, fur and denim-and that was all last year, For this season re-read the previous sentence. This Fall does bring back (oh, I hate saying "bring back"-when does a dark lip EVER out of style?) the dark lip and dark eyes combo of the late 80's, late 90's and now. But basically fashion wise its a repeat of the last 3 falls before it. Except I think that fur vests are an"out" for this season. Other than that throw nothing away from last year.
    Products-The fall air is less humid than the summer's so moisturizer is a must must must. One that I have been loving is Vichy AqualiaThermal. It has that "your mother's" lotion smell, but it is a 24 hour moisturizer that really sticks around. Its creamy, but not too heavy, and for the effect the price is A-OK. Another line of products I go gaga over in the fall...Avon. That's right. I love Avon products. For some reason I tend to go for them in the fall more than any other season. I think that Avon products are sooo under-rated! To me they are all top quality with the price being so reasonable its ridiculous. Their foundations and blushes are amazing- especially the color ranges- but I am speaking more (in this blog) of their skin care products. The newer of the ANew products, Genetics, does wonders for my skin. In just one week my hubs could see a difference. I have switched out my Lancome Genifique for it, and so far so good. I mix it up during the day, with Genetics in the morning, the ANew Luminosity during the evening, then Genetics again at bedtime. Try it. If you don't like it Avon will take it back. (this post was not in any way sponsored by Avon, nor do I rep the Co.) By the way, please be patient with this blog- I know I jump around and have no swatches yet, but I promise I will get better. If you are reading this please COMMENT! Just so I know someone is reading it! Another thing you might not think to change up in the fall is your shower care routine. Summer can really dry out your skin, and with that lack of humidity fall can do some damage as well. Make sure you are applying moisturizer RIGHT OUT of the shower, before you towel off! If it helps keep your lotion in the shower with you, or put it on top of your towel so its the 1st thing you see. Johnson and Johnson make a great Baby Oil Gel, in 3 flavors-cocoa butter, aloe and lavender and all 3 are amazing for locking in moisture.
I am getting to the length where readers will lose interest soon- so remember-This fall where what you did last year, pair a wine lip with violet eyes and moisturize like your skin depends on it! Tune in later to hear me say..You want to shape my eyebrows HOW??!!

Also remember
its about family, its about friends, its about time and as always, its
AboutFace!

You wanna WHAT my imperfections?!...

So..I am all for the digital age (says the blogger who has NO IDEA how to post images of arm swatches of eye shadow colors) But what I am not down with is digital lingo in my cosmetic advertising. Recently Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation and Maybelline's Dream BB cream have promised to BLUR our imperfections. What?! I am not a logo on a reality show, or a genital shot in a magazine okay! I have no desire to have my imperfections Blurred. I want them covered, damn it! Hidden, invisible, concealed, GONE- anything but blurred. When I hear that word I think of the faces in new digital horror movies like The Intruder, One Missed Call or hell, even The Ring. What I don't envision is the pimple on my cheek digitially remastered by being blurred. I feel the advertising departments of said products failed big time on these campaigns. Maybe I'm old, maybe young girls (and middle aged women) across America can't wait to have "their imperfections blurred", but it just doesn't sit well with me. Don't get me wrong- I love the lighter feel, skin like textures of the newest foundations, but they still promise a buildable COVERAGE-to COVER my imperfections!I don't know... maybe if I use these products and run real fast passed a camera...

    In product news...Maybelline Color Tattoo has released some fall limited edition colors in their eye shadow line. I picked up two of them yesterday (at Walgreens- Buy one get one HALF OFF!) The colors I chose were recommended by a YouTube Guru, EmilyNoel83. She never steers her viewers wrong..LOVE HER! I purchased the Barely Beige and Mossy Green-per suggestion. The Barely Beige will make a perfect primer for eye shadows, and a perfect base for a smoky or ombre look. The Mossy Green is just GORGEOUS! I myself have, droopy puppy dog, deep set hooded eyes. That's right-everything that could possible prevent the smokiest cat-eye-iest looks is right here rolled into one person! Because my sockets are deep, I have a great socket line- but accentuating it makes me look hollow. The placement of my socket bones prevent a good cat eye, which I despair everyday I look at Gwen Stefani, and the hood part makes all eye shadow invisible.."Why buy eye shadow?" you ask..A. because I love it, B. it's my job as a makeup artist to have a variety of products and C. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean I won't pile it on!! Alas, my faults will not hinder my bringing the latest products to your blogasphere! I have also recently purchased a "wish-list" product I have been drooling over..Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in SX 04. I have not quite mastered this foundation/cover up/concealer/highlighting tub of wonder yet. The Great Wayne Goss recommends a wet beauty blender sponge, so this weekend I will buy a new one (my cat thought my one posed a threat to my safety and promptly destroyed it. He is still coughing up pink fluff) and master a technique so I can tell you all about it! I know you will be on pins and needles waiting, but be patient my lovelies. Monday I will also have a good opinion about the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation that has all the the UK's beauty gurus' knickers in a bunch...So, tune in Monday when Jennifer says."Tom Ford wants HOW MUCH for a bronzer?!"

remember..It's About Life, about love, about feeling beautiful and always..AboutFace!