Easy Eye Makeup, An After Photo & A Giveaway!

I love to experiment with eye color! I usually stay in my comfort zone of neutrals but at the Mary Kay color session I attended, I learned I could experiment with neutrals and make them just a little more daring!

Based on what I learned, I am going to share three steps to easy eye makeup!

First things first though.  In order to have great eye makeup, I highly recommend eye primer!

Can you tell a difference?!  Eye primer does two things; first, it makes your color more vibrant.  Second, it makes your color last all day.  (And in my case, my eye makeup was prefect the next day too since I didn't wash my face before I went to bed.... ooops!)

Here are the neutrals I experimented with. I used a combination of shimmer shadows with a matte shadow to give a balanced look.

Step 1 |  Apply lightest color, moonstone, all over your eyelid - eyebrow to lash line.

Step 2|  Apply the medium shade of color, chocolate kiss.  This is where you can start to get more daring.  When you apply your darker shades, think about applying them in "shapes." With chocolate kiss, I applied it by making the shape of a square from the center to the outside of my eye and from my brow bone to my lash line.

Step 2 | I applied the third and darkest eye shadow, Espresso, last.  I applied this color in the "shape" of a 7.  Kind of like drawing a triangle without filling it in...

Here is what it looked like when it was done!

A couple of keys to consider to applying eye shadow.  First, brushes are essential in being able to have great eye makeup, plus they make application a lot easier!  Second, if you start out light, you can always add more and go darker.  Finally, if you start out dark, you can always blend it out or add your base color to lighten the color.

The final steps are eye liner and mascara.

When applying eye liner you have a lot of choices - pencil, mineral eye shadow, liquid liner or gel.  I used gel eyeliner for the first time during this session and it is my new love!

Eyeliner should extend across your top lash line. (Nice face, huh?!)

And if you are wearing dark makeup like I am, it should only extend 1/3 to 1/2 of your bottom lash line.

Don't you just love how perfect this gel eyeliner looks?  Perfectly straight and smooth!

I didn't get a picture of applying mascara but that is pretty self explanatory! :)  I will mention my favorite mascara to you and that is the Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara!  It makes your lashes look perfectly thick and long!

After all of these steps, here is my "after" picture.  I know, it's a little random but I was messing around because I couldn't get good light, Adam wasn't around, and I don't have a remote for my camera yet.  But, this is the best "after" picture that I have! :)

I loved my makeup and felt very confident wearing it!  Thanks to Kenzie, my Mary Kay consultant, for hosting this great color session! :)  I hope you've enjoyed these posts!

Here is a list of products I used in this post:

Eye Primer

Mineral Eye Colors: Moonstone, Chocolate Kiss, Espresso

Gel Eyeliner (limited edition)

Ultimate Mascara

Mary Kay Brush Collection

Giveaway!!

As a special conclusion to this series on makeup tips we are giving away a Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara to one of you lucky readers!! :)  It's at the top of my Mary Kay favorite list!

Here's how to enter:

1. Leave a comment to tell us what your greatest makeup challenge or splurge is! (+1 entry)

2. Become a follower via GFC. (+1 entry, leave a comment)

3. "Like" Design Your Dwelling on Facebook (+1 entry, leave a comment)

4. "Like" Kenzie's Mary Kay Facebook page (+1 entry, leave a comment)

Giveaway closes Thursday and the winner will be announced on Friday, December 7!

Specials ONLY for Design Your Dwelling readers - that's you! :)

DYD READER SPECIAL:  10% off your total purchase, use the DYD as your promo code. www.marykay.com/kenz.kral

FREE SHIPPING:  Automatic free shipping on orders of $20 or more!

*You wont see the discount when it's it your basket, Kenzie will apply it for you,make sure to use the promo codes.
**Orders need to be placed via the website and paid with debit or credit

Thoughts on Love, Life, and Design

I love this quote!  It applies to nearly every aspect of life, especially some of my things I enjoy most: Love, Life, Fashion and Design.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Weekend Projects

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break!  I can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post.  To those of you who are dedicated readers of my blog, sorry for the delay... I figured everyone would be traveling, decorating, shopping or all three!
Logically my post today should be about the house projects I accomplished over the weekend, the great deals I found on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and a few snap shots of the fabulous Christmas decorations I put up.

 None of those things happened.

Instead, Adam put me to work finishing up a few projects that needed to be done before the snow arrives. Our "to do" list included putting up 100 feet of snow fence, building a ladder to get up into our hayloft and this...

....finishing the windbreak for the cows.

(Yes, I helped with the whole project... setting poles, hanging boards and hanging the tin!)

Fortunately, in return for my help around the farm, Adam helped me with my little project which was cleaning out the basement.  I am getting the basement painted this week so I can finally have my own design and office space!  Wooohoooo!!

It definietly looks like a dungeon right now but once the walls are painted and I do a little decorating I am going to have an awesome space!  You will definitley see more on this basement transformation project!

Even though I didn't take part in the traditional holiday happenings beyond Thanksgiving dinner I had a pretty fulfilling weekend.  There is something so rewarding about hard work, seeing what you accomplished in a day and working side by side with someone you love and admire.

Have a great week!

BETH 

Preserve Your Battery Life!

My blog is all about ideas to lead a beautiful life both inside and out.  Lately, I've been sharing a lot of ideas to make our homes beautiful (the outside part).  So, today I thought I would write a post that includes some ideas to lead a beautiful life on the inside.

I know that most of you, like me, feel like our life is so fast-paced and our task lists never seem to end!  Between work, friends, family and all the random demands we encounter throughout the day our personal batteries wear down quickly.  When my battery wears down I am generally not very fun to be around.  I do it to myself because I always want to do a good job, give more, do more and be more.  I need to remind myself to sit down and relax so I can preserve my battery life. 

I came across this list on the Personal Leadership Insight Blog and thought I would share it with you all!  These are some simple things we can do that will keep us happy, healthy and well charged for the long haul!

16 Ways to Preserve Your Battery Life
1. Get adequate sleep.
2. Consume nutritionally sound food and drink.
3. Maintain positive relationships.
4. Do meaningful work that aligns with your core values.
5. Have a hobby and do it often.
6. Keep harmful chemicals out of your body.
7. Remove the clutter from your vehicle, home, office space and life.
8. Stop the gossip.
9. Help others in need.
10. Stop making tiny issues into big deals.
11. Forgive others.
12. Create a cool memory often. (I.e. - new restaurant, road trip, date night, catch some live music, etc.)
13. Take vitamins daily, naps weekly and vacations yearly.
14. Clear your email inbox regularly.
15. Forgive yourself.
16. Listen to positive, uplifting music and human interactions.

I love this list!  It's hard to remember to do all of these, but by just picking a couple of them to do on a regular basis you will do a lot for yourself in the long run!

So below, I posted a picture of Adam and I  at the ISU game on October 1.  We took time out from being busy and time away from our task list to have fun tailgating, enjoy the awesome fall weather in Iowa and make a memory or two.  He is great at helping me to re-charge and preserve my "battery life."  Unconciously we do a lot of these 16 things aleardy. Adam is naturally better at doing a lot of the things on this list but continually reminds me that it's ok to take a break, relax and not make a big deal out of something so small. 


ISU Game - Oct. 1, 2011

Print this list, keep it close and enjoy! :)

Do Something For You

Yesterday I had to bring my car to the dealership to get my brakes fixed. So, what's a girl to do while she waits?! Head to the mall of course!

I am probably one of the most easily distracted shoppers you have ever met and of course, right as I walk through the door, I have to check out what all the fuss is about near the cosmetic department in Von Maur.  It just so happens that there was a professional make up artist who came all the way from Chicago to do a promotional event for Lancome cosmetics.  One of the young ladies working the promotion walked up to me and asked if I would like to sign up for a facial done by this professional.  Duh - of course I do!!!  I could have just as well had a flashing sign over my head that said "Sign me up!"  There was just one catch, you just had to spend $50 on Lancome products - no problem I needed mascara anyhow.

I sat in the chair and had one of the assitants take care of the basics - remove my makeup, apply toner, then put lotion on, then put something else on, then foundation, bronzer, blush, mascara, etc... Then came the professional make up artist - good looking and dressed in an expensive suit.  He gracefully applied my eyeshadow and lipstick and finished up by looking straight in my eyes and saying "beautiful."  (Can't beat that!) It looked awesome! So of course, they asked what I would like to take home with me.  Since the make up artist wasn't a take-home option I opted to have them put the Visionnaire Advance Skin Corrector in my bag, Hypnose Doll Lashes mascara and the Coral Crush eyeshadow pallet.  (Great sales tactic!  They had me so focused on how great I looked, I was willing to purchase without knowing the price.)  The grand total, $167.00!!  If you are wondering, I did earn the free gift... Below is what I went home with. 

So where am I going with all of this?  My random visit to the Lancome counter and purchase was a great reminder that sometimes it is important to do something for yourself.  It doesn't matter how long it takes or how much it costs, we deserve to take time to spoil ourselves.  The things I will always do for myself are having a gym membership, manicures and pedicures and spur of the moment chances, like getting my makeup done by a professional.  These are the things that help me to live a beautiful life inside and out!

Leave a comment to share what you do to spoil yourself. What is something you will never give up doing for yourself?