Christmas OOTD

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I enjoyed mine, I spent it with friends and family having a good time. Here's the outfit I wore on Christmas Eve. Most Hispanics do the huge celebration Christmas Eve and just relax for Christmas Day. I was in my house the whole time, hence the capris lol. They are high waisted capri pants with a loose fit. Totally comfy to wear and I liked that they hid the bloated stomach I got from eating all that good food.

 I decided to try something new and wear red. I never wear red except for lipstick. I liked how the red looked with my skin tone so I might try wearing it more often.

sheer red lace top- H&M

black satin capri pants- H&M

gold glitter pumps- Halston (buy from Bakers)

I got my pumps way back in July from Bakers. They are Halston and I've been dying to wear them and I figured this was the perfect occasion. I think they coordinated well with the red. I just loved the glitter and they were a big hit with everybody. And I am definitely bringing back the pointy toe!

For a closer look at the shoe, go here.

For my face I did one of my holiday looks. Nothing too dramatic except for the bold lip. Just click on the link if you want to see what products I used.

Looks For The Holidays

The Holidays are almost here! With that, I am providing you with two looks that you can wear to your Christmas or New Year's Eve parties. I wanted to have shimmer and sparkle in these looks. I used two main colors that you see a lot during the holidays: gold and silver. i would have liked to do a tutorial but sadly I have had no time, I've been working like crazy as well as pareting duties. So I hope you enjoy and as always, feedback is always appreciated.

Look #1: gold and bronzy eye with a red lip (click on images to enlarge)

Products Used

FACE

Latina Bella Liquid Foundation in No10

MAC Select MoistureCover Concealer in NW5

NYX blush in Expresso

EYES

gold cream shadow from Wet n Wild color icon Sumptuous palette (used as base in lid)

Jane eyeshadow in Gold (lid)

brown eyeshadow from from Wet n Wild color icon Sumptuous palette (crease and outer v)

Jane eyeshadow in Bronze (crease)

NYX eyeshadow in Highlight (highlight)

Physician's Formula felt-tip liner pen in Black (upper lashline)

CoverGirl Lash Blast Macara in Very Black

LIPS

NYX lipliner in Plush Red

Revlon super lustruous lipstick in True Red

FACE

Latina Bella Liquid Foundation in No10

MAC Select MoistureCover Concealer in NW5

NYX blush in Expresso

EYES

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Slate (lid and lower lashline)

dark silver eyeshadow from CS 88 palette (layered over Slate)

Dark grey eyeshadow from CS 88 Palette (crease)

black shimmery eyeshadow from CS 88 palette (outer v and crease)

NYX Glitter Mania loose glitter (lower lashline)

Physician's Formula felt-tip liner pen in Black (upper lashline)

CoverGirl Lash Blast Macara in Very Black

LIPS

Revlon Matte lipstick in Nude Attitude

MAC lipgloss in Feelin Dreamy

I don't know why the first picture uploaded sideways, Blogger needs to fix this glitch. I used glitter on the lower lashline, I took a picture with no flash of the eye so it can be seen. A great way to add some glitz to your look. To apply the glittr I used the liquid that came w/ my Jesses's Girl loose glitter vial. I will post a picture later on because I just remembered I didn't lol.

Carrie Bradshaw Inspired OOTD

I know I am SUPER late but here is the outfit I wore for Thanksgiving. I have a bunch of over-the-knee socks that I've been dying to wear and never got around to wearing. So I decided to wear a grey pair I have w/ a printed skirt. The inspiration for this outfit was Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and The City movie..

And here is my version of this outfit. I was just inspired by it so it's just similar in concept.

open cardigan and wrap skirt: F21

t-shirt: H&M

over-the-knee socks: Joyce Leslie

patent leather oxfors booties: Alice+Olivia

Christmas is almost here and I would like to share my Christmas Wishlist and do a tag post. If I didn't tag you, feel free to do a wishlist anyway!

So here is my Wishlist, after #1 they are in no particular order of importance lol...

1. Jeffrey Campbell Tick Wedge

2. Jeffrey Campbell Ivka Boot

3. Giftcards For Sephora & Cold Stone Creamery



4. Ice Cream Maker

5. Michael Kors Women's Chronograph Clear Acetate Bracelet Watch

7. Gold "love knot" earrings

8. Giraffe Pillow Pet

9. And last but not least...Romeo! I would love the real thing but this year I'll settle for a lifesize cutout ;)

And I would like to tag Glam-Morena, PiinkCupcakez, Chica-Fashion, Simplly Gorjess, Hell Notes for Beauty, Spiced Beauty, ...Again if i didn't mention you in this tag, please forgive me! Do the wishlist anyway :).

Or feel free to state your wishlist in a comment.

My Foundation Routine + Video

When I did my review for Latina Bella foundation, a lot of you guys asked me how I get my flawless face. My complexion is definitely not naturally flawless, there's a little faking involved. So this is my foundation routine, I have tweaked it over time and have found that this method is one that works great for me. So below is my video, hope you guys enjoy it and find it helpful.

Products Mentioned

Latina Bella Liquid Foundation No10

E.L.F foundation brush

Revlon Photo Ready Powder for Medium/Deep Tones

Maybelline mineral kabuki brush

Mineral Lustre kabuki brush

FOTD: Carribean Sky

An FOTD that I wore to an event (accompanying OOTD post coming later today!). I named it Carribean Sky because of the blues I used on my eyes. I wore a lilacy-pink lip just because I didn't want to wear a nude lip. I think it paired well together.

Products Used

FACE

Makeup Forever HD Foundation in 173

Revlon Mineral Powder in Suntan Matte

NYX concealer in Tan

Wet n Wild Bronzer in Goddess

NYX blush in Expresso

EYES

ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Medium

TFSI

turquoise e/s from coastal scents 88 palette (entire lid)

cornflower blue e/s from CS 88 palette (outer corner)

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean (outer corner and crease)

Revlon matte eyeshadow in Navy (crease and lower lashline)

NYX e/s in Brown (highlight)

NYX e/s in Highlight (under brow)

CoverGirl retractable eyeliner in Onyx (lower waterline)

Maybelline Colossal Mascara in Glam Black (REVIEW COMING SOON!)

LIPS

Burt's Bees lip balm

Rimmel lipstick in Vintage Pink

The Mysterious Bracelet + Awesome News!

So I have gotten a couple of e-mails from people asking me about the threaded bracelet that I am always wearing. So I decided to do a post on it. In a way it's kind of like a friendship bracelet. This one has a small cross weaved into one of the ends. The person that buys you the bracelet is supposed to put it on you so you can be blessed. They can choose to bless you with whatever they want: love, joy, health, etc.  My sister got this one for me so she blessed me. I guess she blessed me generally because she didn't specify lol. I'm so used to wearing it that sometimes I even forget that I have it on! So, this is the story behind the bracelet.

And...

My AWESOME news is that I bought my domain! So my blog is now officially abeautywithbrains.com! So exciting! This site will be getting  whole new makeover to go with it's new name so stay tuned for that!

Blush Haul

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying their long weekend. I was planning on doing an OOTD post for my Thanksgiving outfit but I left my memory card at my sister's like the genius I am. So instead, I'm doing this post on this blush haul. I had acquired quite a few blushes in the past month or so. I had an accompanying video but somehow the ending of it got cut off. Technology hasn't been kind to me lately.

I've been such a blush whore and I bought a couple more after I took the pictures for this post which I'll be talking about in a haul video that I'm going to post soon. So here are the swatches and pictures of the blushes. Hope you enjoy!

The Ulta blush and the two Maybelline blushes were sent to me by Rai Glam-Morena. They were part of a makeup swap that we did. Coming up in a future post as well!

(click on images to enlarge)

from l to r: Milani blush in "Mai Tai"; Ulta Cheek Blush in "Girly"; Maybelline blushes in "Precious Pink" & "Berry Sorbet"

MAC blush in "Flirt n Tease"; N.Y.C blush in "Cherry Blossom" (part of their LE 'Berry Bloom' collection), L'oreal HIP cream blush in 'Elated"

Maybelline blush in "Pinch o Pink", Covergirl blush trio

Here are the swatches, each labeled with their corresponding brand and shade. I mislabeled the L'oreal HIP one, I have added the corrected name below the picture.

(click on images to enlarge)

correct shade name of L'oreal blush is "Elated"

Hogwarts Inspired Eye Looks

The end is almost near...Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows opens tonight! I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter series so I am super excited!

The four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw & Slytherin) play a big part in the seventh book so I have decided to do eye looks for each of the houes. This was so much fun to do, a way to incorporate two of my interests. I als did a two part video series featuring tutorials for Gryffindor and Slytherin. You can watch them below.

Hope you enjoy!

And here are the eye looks...Ravenclaw won't be available until tomorow because the pics for it were in my other memory card :(.

Disclaimer: Images were taken from Google and are used for commentary purposes only.

OOTD: Can't Go Wrong W/ An LBD

blazer, tank dress and tights-H&M

boots-Rouge

necklace and ring-F21

This is an outfit I wore last Saturday night. that day, I had no idea what to wear so I decided to follow my personal fashion rule of "when in doubt, wear black". I decided to wear this little black tank dress and decided to add some grey leopard print tights for some pattern and to keep the outfit from looking too monotone. A grey blazer and black suede boots completed the look. Those boots were one of the new pairs that I bought that I tweeted about. I'll be doing a post soon on a clothing haul and they'll be included.

I love wearing black. It is so easy to mix it up with other prints and it's a classic color so it will never go out of style.

For makeup I did a basic smokey eye with a nude lip. I added a pop of color by lining my lower lashline with blue and adding some glitter but it didn't show up the pictures. I'll be doing this look again so hopefully I can get better pictures.

Products Used:

FACE

Latina Bella liquid foundation in No10

Revlon PhotoReady Finishing powder for Medium/Deep tones

NYX blush in Espresso

EYES

TFSI

lid: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean

I used the matte black (lid, shimmery black (lid) and taupe eyeshadows (highlight) from my Coastal Scents 88 palette

Physician's Formula felt-tip eyeliner pen in Black (smoked over with black eyeshadow)

CoverGirl retractable eyeliner in Onyx (lower waterline)

blue eyeshadow from CS 88 palette (lower lashline)

NYX GlitterMania loose glitter in Purple (lower lashline layered over the blue eyshadow)

CoverGirl Lash Blast Volumizing Mascara in Very Black

LIPS

mark. lip balm in Sheer Rose

NYX lip pencil in Natural

Revlon lipstick in Soft Nude

Milani lipgloss in Secret

What's your go-to item of clothing or look when you have nothing to wear?