Hi Readers!
I hope you’re all doing so well and you’re enjoying the weekend. It’s beautifully sunny outside here in San Francisco on a Saturday so you won’t hear any complaints from me! I wanted to show two things off today: my freshly done nails and my even more freshly done face. Ta-da!
I got my nails painted at the salon the other day, and I’d been hearing about Shellac for a while and decided to give it a try (so late, I know). The whole experience was confusing for me since all the manicure steps seemed bang out of order- but that’s because I didn’t know this particular nail painting technology doesn’t require the normal drying wait times, just a few minutes under the UV lamp (which I find very threatening, after being told every day to protect myself from these rays… alas, vanity trumps health this round). The massage painting happened before the massage, the drying time was minimal, my nails were not dunked into the warm bowl of water until after my nails were prepped and ready to be painted- confusion! But, I’m very pleased with the result and LOVE this red color. I specifically chose a very bright color because those colors are most obvious when they chip, and apparently the shellac will not budge until I choose to remove. Time will tell if this is the case, and I will update if I see even a scratch!
Next, I have put together a make up look here which I’m pretty happy with! Here’s the breakdown.
Face- I moisturized, put on an SPF that has gold luminizer in it, and covered my under eyes, around my nose and my chin with a concealer. Then I added a bit of color with my Bare Minerals bronzer, and a tiny bit of hot pink blush right on the apples of my cheeks. No heavy foundation or powders, just trying to keep it natural as always!
Eyes- I plucked my eyebrows for the first time in a few weeks, LOL. I get pretty lazy about hair grooming, especially in colder weather, and that also goes for my face. Then again, my eyebrows are so thin that they barely need maintaining- if anything, they need to be drawn on. ANYWAY, I drew over them with an eyebrow pencil and combed them out, and my eyebrows don’t grow out past the outer edge of my eye so I like to extend them ever so slightly. Then, I patted on a very pretty and shimmery champagne color all over my lid as a base for my eyeshadow. I used a dark gunmetal brown on the outer edge. This next part isn’t applicable to everyone, but as you can see, I have an almond eye-shape, with a cross between a mono and double eyelid, or some call it a hooded-eye. This means that when I open my eyes, much of my eyelid folds and conceals itself, such that the area just above my lashline can only be seen if I am looking down or closing my eyes. So, my main problem with applying eyeshadow is that it’s hard to tell where to apply the color so that it actually shows up when I open my eyes. I learned from a make up tutorial by a fellow hooded eyed lady that you’re supposed to look straight into the mirror… and this is hard for me to do because I always make this weird face when I look at my reflection (eyebrows raised, pouted mouth). Don’t tell me you don’t do this too. Okay, getting to the point… I think it worked this time. What do you think?
Lip- A simple pink color. Done.
That’s all for me today, hope you’re all living wonderfully!
❤ T
Trace in the Place 