SUGAR SCRUB FOR SOFT HANDS & FEET

Hola chicas! Happy Friday indeed! I sure am glad this work week is over! I have been so stressed. Last night I did one of my stress-relief activities...took a hot bubble bath (added bath salts, and stress/tension relief oil), lit candles all around the bathroom, turned the lights off and just relaxed in the tub for about 15-20 minutes. I slept like a baby! I have to go buy some more of that stress relief oil--it works wonders! I can't remember the brand name though; I'll get back to you on that for those of you who may want to try it. Anyway, about today's post...

I was looking at my hands the other day and thinking, "Wow, my hands could use some work." What I mean is they could look a lot more youthful, and be a lot smoother & softer. So I started looking online at things I could use to start conditioning them. I decided to try a homemade sugar scrub. Store bought scrubs are expensive, so I chose to make it myself! All you need it sugar & olive oil (or whatever body oil you use), and grapefruit. Grapefruit is the key ingredient and let me tell you why:

• Natural antioxidant: Antioxidants fight off the free radicals that our skin is exposed to everyday and cause us to age quicker; this means grapefruit is detoxifying. Antioxidants also slow down the process of aging, keeping the skin looking youthful.
• Natural exfoliator: the citric acid (which is an alpha-hydroxy) serves as an exfoliator. This loosens up dean skin cells and reveals a fresh layer of skin, making the skin softer & smoother to touch!
• Aromatherapy: the smell of grapefruit is very uplifting, and good for easing anxiety and depression! I imagine it would be good for stress relief as well.

To make the scrub, all you do is combine the sugar, oil, & fresh squeezed grapefruit juice in a bowl. I would only do enough for one or two uses though--the remainder can go in the fridge for next time. Mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula. You can add more sugar and/or oil until you get the mixture to the consistency you desire. Take a small handful and gently scrub your hands (both sides) for about 2-4 minutes. Rinse with cool or lukewarm water and notice the difference! Pat your hands dry with a clean towel and follow with your favorite moisturizer!

This is definitely a routine I'm going to start doing on a weekly basis. I notice a lot of women that may look young, but their hands tell their age and I don't want to be one of those women. Besides, I work in an industry where I use my hands 100% of the time so I need to give them special attention. SIDEBAR: I just broke a nail! Darn it! Oh well! Anyway chicas, hope you all have a wonderful weekend! My brother is coming to visit and I'm excited about a fun-filled weekend of hanging out with him! Until next time, take care & take charge

P.S. Don't forget to become a follower of this blog & the GIVEAWAY CONTEST is still running!! :-)

My First Photoshoot

Hey chicas! Sorry this post is up so late but I was so preoccupied at work today. I'm trying to plan a benefit fashion show for later this year (between customers) and I was getting the sponsorship package together. I'm praying everything pans out cause I'm really excited about it! I didn't have a post planned or thought out due to my busyness so this will be a last minute quickie, hope ya'll aren't too disappointed!

I wanted to post pics of my first photoshoot. There's no way I'm gonna remember what I used though because this shoot was done exactly a year ago! I'll post pics of the before, halfway through, and after! Check it out:















































I also had to do her eyebrows. Here are the before & afters:

My model was Falana, who is gorgeous without makeup so I just wanted to enhance her beauty with some splashes of color. Hope you enjoyed the pics! Until next time ladies, take care & take charge! :-)

The Little Things: Ways to Jazz Up Your Style!

 

Hola chicas! How was your weekend? I will say that mine was a little too short, but it was good. I was definitely NOT looking forward to this Monday morning!  

 

This will be a fairly short blog post today (although your definition of short may not be the same as mine, lol). I wanted to give you some quick tips on things you can add to your look to jazz it up a little bit. Sometimes the simplest additions can make a major difference. First, let’s start with the face. There are a couple of things you can do to add more drama and step it up a notch. I’ll do this in list form.

 

FACE:

• Use eyeliner to lengthen or change the shape of the eyes. By extending the liner past the eye, you can make your eyes appear longer. And when lining the bottom, try applying the liner just underneath the lashes instead of directly on the water line, this will make your eyes look wider.  You can also make your eyes appear slanted by angling the eyeliner upwards on the corner.
• Use a brow pencil or eye shadow to fill in and shape the brows. You can shape your brows almost any way you want to. You can make your arch higher, lengthen the brows, make them appear closer together, or change the shape of the brows completely. You’ll be surprised at how you can change your face and gives yourself a totally different look!
• Give yourself a beauty mark, Marilyn Monroe style.  Use a black eyeliner and place the mark just above and off to the side of the mouth; whatever side you prefer is fine.  Just make sure to set it with sheer powder!! You don’t want it smearing or smudging as the day goes by. This is also a great technique to use to cover up pimples, actually one of the oldest tricks in the book!

 HAIR:

• Add hair clips or pins to accent your hairstyle. You can make a simple hairstyle look very classy & sophisticated by adding decorative pins.
• You can also accessorize with headbands and clip on flowers (which are especially good for spring/summer looks). Anyone that knows me will tell you I love to put things in my hair. It’s one of the easiest ways to change your style without going overboard.

WARDROBE:

• Belts are great! Putting a belt around your waist is one of the most popular ways to transform the look of your outfit. Try using a color that compliments your outfit and not one that matches exactly. If you’re gonna do this though, make sure you have on other accent pieces (jewelry, shoes, scarf, etc) that match the belt. Adding the belt also draws attention to the center of the body and makes your waist look smaller!
• Scarves can also work wonders for your wardrobe. They are sooo versatile. When you buy them, most of time they’ll have picture diagrams showing the different ways they can be worn…around the next, around your head, around the waist, tied to a belt loop on your jeans, etc.
• High heels/pumps can add flare to a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Skinny jeans seem to be what’s hot these days, and pumps go great with them because not only can you rock the jeans, but you get a chance to show off your shoes! They give you a completely different look; try this, put on a pair of jeans and a form fitting t-shirt with a pair of sneakers…now with the same outfit, put on a pair of heels and maybe some bangles to accessorize. See the noticeable difference? I’m sure you do.

So, to sum things up, there are always easy and inexpensive ways to add some spice to your personal style. I have found that you can pretty much use things you already have at home. Get creative and have fun with it! I’m always recycling things I buy and using them for something else. See what you have that you can make use of as an accessory! And as always, questions and comments are welcome. Take care & take charge! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey there chicas! Congrats on making it through the week! I’m so glad its Friday (although I have to work in the morning). Sooo, today I wanted to blog about prepping & priming the skin for makeup application. This is especially important if you have oily skin. I can get away with not priming most of the time because my skin is dry-to-normal, but I do always set or fix my makeup after I’m done, which I’ll explain later.

First, let me explain what it means to prime/prep your skin. I’ll explain it the way I do to all my clients (I always try to put things in simple lingo so people can understand and relate better). When you paint a room in your house, you don’t just slap your color on the walls right? Any painter will tell you the first thing you have to do is put up a coat of primer. Just like when you’re painting your nails; you put a clear coat on first. This priming process helps your color go on more smoothly. When you prime your skin before applying foundation, it helps the makeup go on more smoothly by filling in fine lines and pores, which also means oil control. If you have oily skin, you’ll find yourself looking less shiny throughout the day. There’s a third benefit as well: priming the skin helps your makeup to last longer and have more staying power. Here are some face primers I have used and recommend:

*Too Face Foundation Primer: this has the consistency of a lotion/moisturizer. It has a peachy color to it, but that disappears when you rub it in.
*Ulta Foundation Primer: this is a silicone based primer and feels great going on the skin. It’s very light and airy feeling if that makes sense.
*Rimmel Foundation Primer: this has the consistency of a moisturizer as well, but I find it doesn’t work well for brown/dark complexions. This is because it has a peachy tint, so it makes darker skin look ashy. It works best for fairer skinned women.
*MAC Prep + Prime: this is a translucent powder. It looks chalky white but the powder is so fine that it disappears when you apply it. This can actually be a multi- use product. It’s also great for setting cream concealers and for blotting/touching up to minimize shine throughout the day.
*MAC Fix +: I use this to set my makeup in place. I think of it as a finishing touch.


Now let’s talk about priming the eye. Of course it serves the same purpose as priming the face, but in my opinion it’s far more important! Have you ever seen someone wearing eyeshadow that’s started to collect in the crease of the eye??? I hate that! Primer will solve this problem. If you can’t afford to get primer, using your foundation can serve as an alternative. If you’re wearing eyeshadow, you need to wear a primer…period! These are the ones I use most often for myself and for my clients:

*Urban Decay eye shadow primer: kind of like a lotion; this is my go-to primer when I have a client with oily lids [insert pic]
*MAC paintpots: these are great because they come in different colors, which can be used to contrast/brighten your eyeshadow [insert pic]
*Cream Foundation/Concealer (use a powder to set in place so it doesn’t crease): as I mentioned before this is a good alternative if you can’t afford to purchase the primer. I know they can be pricey.

So to sum things up, primers are used to create a smooth surface to work with, filling in lines, cracks, and pores. They also make it easier to cover up imperfections. You may like me and can get away with not using primer under your foundation, but you should ALWAYS prime your eyelids before you put on eyeshadow! Only your dress slacks should have creases, not your eyeshadow!

If you have any questions about any other primer brands other than the ones I mentioned in thsi blog, you can send me an email or comment on this post. Take care & take charge chicas!

*The name brands mentioned in this blog are my personal opinions. I was not paid by any company nor am I an affiliate of any of the companies mentioned.

Naturally Me: My Decision to go Natural

Hola chicas! I’m really hoping this blog post makes sense today cause I’m super tired! I was up until 2:30am this morning and I had to get up at 7am for work; I’m hoping this extra strong coffee I made does the trick. Anyway, today I wanted to do a blog post that’s a little more personal so this one won’t be about makeup or skin care tips. I really want my readers to get to know and understand me as a person, and not just a Makeup Artist. So from time to time I will be posting blogs just about me and my life in general—gotta put some excitement in here for you some kinda way, lol!

I titled this entry “Naturally Me: My Decision to Go Natural” because I get sooo many questions about why I cut my hair; sometimes it’s a little annoying but I do understand it was a drastic change for me and people have to adjust to that. I had long hair all my life and that’s how people were used to seeing me. When I cut it, I got jaw-dropping reactions from friends, family, and co-workers. No one could believe I had cut off my long, beautiful hair. And honestly I haven’t really missed it! Here’s a pic of how long it was before:














So, why did I do it? Well, I started thinking about going natural around May of last year. I was going to make a slow transition and let it be a gradual process, so I decided to not perm my hair for a while. I believe the last perm I had was around the start of June. I knew I had a pretty good hair texture so I was able to deal with a few inches of new growth. My plan was to let a few inches of new growth come in, then cut of a few inches on the ends, and so on and so forth (I read online about transitioning to natural hair before I made up my mind to actually do it, and it seemed this was the most recommended way if you’d had long hair all your life).

Well I was going through this whole process, and had actually just cut several inches of my hair off at the beginning/middle of August—I cut it just above my shoulders. I would just straighten the roots with a flat iron sometimes. Check the pic:
















(this pic is from 2007 but it had grown all the way back since that time, and I cut it this length again)

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go according to planned. At the end of August, I found out my mom was terminally sick with breast cancer. I won’t go through all the details, but just three weeks later she passed away (September 12th). My life was turned upside down and inside out. It was then that I decided to chop my hair completely off; I did it four days after my mom’s death, September 16th. My stylist was afraid to cut it cause he thought I’d wake up the next morning hating the decision I made and hating him for cutting it, but I had my mind made up. Here I am after the "big chop".















I guess doing the “big chop” versus the transition to natural hair was an expression of what I was going through emotionally at the time. And I don’t regret it at all. I love my natural hair. I love the little spirally curls. I love the fact that I don’t have to be afraid to walk outside in the rain without ruining my hair. I love it that I no longer look like what our society tells us women should look like! So now you know why I chopped off all my hair. Hope this gives some clarity to some of you who were too afraid to ask me why I cut it, LOL. I’ll leave you with a recent pic to show you how it’s grown since I cut it in September:

So there you have it! That's the story behind me chopping off my hair. Sometimes its challenging because I'm having to learn my hair and what works for it all over again, but I love it! If anyone wants any tips or how to deal with the big chop decision you just made, email me or leave me comments and I'll be happy to share more. Take care & take charge ladies!

GIVEAWAY CONTEST EXTENDED!!!

Hey ladies!!! Just a quick blog post to update on the giveaway! I'm extending the contest until March 15! Check my blog post "Giveaway For a Lucky Follower" for all the details! Basically, you have a chance to win some FAB prizes and you all you have to do is become a follower of this blog! Yup, just that simple and easy! Let me just remind you of the prizes:

-Mac cosmetics kit (eyeshadow, lipstick or gloss, blush)
-Essence of Beauty travel size brush set
-FREE 30 minute beauty consultation with me, tailored to your individual needs & concerns

Just click "follow" to become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment saying why you want to win! It could be one sentence as long as it's a comment. So good luck to all of you! I'm looking forward to giving away these awesome prizes! Until next time chicas, take care & take charge.

Stay tuned for my next blog post where I'll be talking about my decision to go natural with my hair! :-)

Tone It Down: How to Determine Your Skin’s Undertone

 

Hey chicas! I hope all of you had a great Valentine’s Day. Mine was…awesome! I got a beautiful card, roses, dinner cooked for me (this was the day before Valentine’s Day), and surprise tickets to Tyler Perry’s play Madea’s Big Happy Family (with great seats—I would post pics but I wasn’t supposed to be taking any and I don’t want any trouble from TP Studios, lol)! I really enjoyed my entire weekend. I hardly had time to think about what I was going to post today. I finally decided on discussing skin undertones. This is a key factor is choosing the right foundation shade and eye shadows. If you find that a certain color looks better on someone else than on you, then that probably means that color doesn’t compliment the undertones to your skin (this applies to your wardrobe as well).   So, what exactly are undertones? Your undertone is the pigment under your skin that picks up and reflects light.

 

There are two basic types of undertones: warm and cool. An easy test to determine your undertone is the t-shirt and paper test. Put on a white t-shirt and hold a piece of peach paper next to your face (do this without makeup on); then hold a piece of blue paper next to your face. Which looks better? If the answer is peach, then you’re a warm tone. If it’s blue on the other hand, then you’re cool tone. If the t-shirt and paper test seems to be a bust for you, then just have fun experimenting and playing with different colors. That’s actually the way I learned what eye shadow colors compliment me the most—peaches, golds, yellows, pinks, purples/plums/violets all look fab on me. But blues, dark greens, silvers & grays don’t look as great and sometimes depending on the depth of the color is a no-go, period! I’m a warm tone for sure! I find that most women of color have warm undertones. This means that foundations that are yellow-based in color look best. You’ll need to figure out whether you’re warm or cool toned in order to choose the best makeup to compliment your skin.

 

A great way to test your foundation match is to apply a little bit of the color on one of your cheekbones. Some people say to apply it to the inside of your forearm, but I disagree with that because your forearm is typically a couple of shades lighter than your face (probably because its part of the body that’s not exposed to the sun). Try different shades and blend them into your skin with your fingertips until you find the one that seems to disappear. For those of you who never wear foundation and don’t even own a compact, this may be a pricey trial-and-error process.   With eye shadows, warm tones should stick with what I mentioned for myself…cool tones can go in the opposite direction, those silvers/grays and blues will look great on you. You may find that experimenting with colors may come in handy because colors vary in depth and pigmentation. For example, you may look good in light green, but dark green throws things off a bit. So a little trial & error will help you see where to draw the line, and that line is different for all of us.

 

Here’s a color wheel to help you out…find your undertone on the wheel, the colors that compliment you will be the opposite of that color (I’m warm toned, which means there is yellowish pigmentation under my skin, so that’s why the violet/plum colors work well for me).

 

 

 

 

Hopefully this helps you understand what undertones are and how to figure out on what side of the spectrum you fall. However, with makeup, experience is the best teacher so if at first you don’t succeed…try, try again. Leave comments & let me know how you fare with the process. I’d love your feedback! And don’t forget to follow my blog! Take care & take charge chicas! :-D

 

 

Pro Pix from Change Culture Clothing Photoshoot

Happy Friday, TGIF! :-) I wanted to give you guys an update on the photoshoot I did last week with Change Culture Clothing. The professional pictures are finally back and it took me forever to download them, really almost 2 hours!! I think they look awesome though. I'm happy with the way everyone turned out. This is a short blog entry; I just wanted to give you the real pictures from the photographer. Just click on the image to make it larger and see more details. Hope you enjoy! Oh yeah, you can check out the designer's website at www.changecultureclothing.com. And I wanna give a shout out to one of my fellow MUAs Juanita for assisting me with the shoot. Thanks chica! As always ladies, take care & take charge!

"Beautiful Butterfly", Valentine's Day Inspired Look

Hey chicas! The week is almost done and Valentine's Day is only a few days away! I'm excited! So excited that I was inspired to do a Valentine's Day look. My first attempt was a dud! But I tried it again and really liked the way it came out. It's kind of dramatic, especially for me because I never wear looks like this unless it's for photography or something. At first I said it was something I wouldn't wear out on a date, but taking a second look, I changed my mind. I'd definitely rock this on Valentine's Day with my dude! Check out the pics:

Here's what I used:

EYES:

-Gesso e/s all over the lid

-Passionate e/s on the outer v

-Fig 1 e/s to cut the crease

**then I blended the Fig 1 upwards using Passionate. Gesso on the browbone

-Wet n Wild white eyeliner (doesn't always have to be an expensive brand, lol)

-Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner

-Red Cherry lashes #523

FACE:

-MAC NW45 Studio Fix foundation

-Coastal Scents 10 blush palette

-MAC Shadester, Definitive, & Sculpt sculpting powders

LIPS:

-L'oreal Velvet Wines lipliner

-Malibu Girl Strawberry lipstick

-Avon Gleaming Berry brilliant shine lipgloss

Overall it was a pretty easy look to achieve. It's just a very "tight" technique and you have to have a steady hand. If any of you try to do duplicate it, email me the pix and I'll be glad to post them on my blog. Well it's getting late for me and I have to do the whole nine-to-five thing tomorrow so I best call it nite! Take care & take charge chicas (and gents)! :-)

Home Pedicure

Hey chicas! Finally I have my wireless internet working on my new laptop. Apparently my modem was outdated and needed an upgrade. Now I'm having another major issue...trying to transfer my files/work from my old laptop onto a jump drive, the jump drive got locked somehow and requires some password to unlock...which I DON'T HAVE! So I'm praying I find a way to unlock this thing or I'm gonna lose a lot of my work :-( Major bummer!

Oh well, enough sulking. So springtime isn't far off and soon we'll be pulling out our peep toe shoes and strappy sandals, but let's do a feet-check first! I know a lot of us neglect our feet in the winter because no one sees them...but this is really the time to take care of your feet because the cold air sucks the moisture right out of your skin. So today I'm going to tell you how to give yourself a pedicure at home, and save those $30!! I don't know about you but I can think of a lot of things I could do with $30! So let's get to it.

First things first, remove any nail polish and soak your feet for about 10 minutes in very warm water (as warm as you can stand it). Add some type of foot soak crystal or even Epsom salt. This will help to cleanse and detoxify, and soften up any dead skin so it can be easily removed.

Moisturize the cuticles witha foot cream or oil and gently push the cuticles back. CAREFULLY trim to dead cuticle skin away. Clip the nails to your desired length and file evenly. You may prefer a squaqre shaped nail or a round shaped nail. My suggestion is to go with the square shaped--it looks better on the toes. Make sure you clean any diret from under the nails either before or after filing.

The next thing to do (and one of the most important) is to take a pumice stone and scrub the dead skin off the heels and any other rough areas. I absolutely hate seeing women wearing sandals when their heels are dry and cracked--gross chicas! If your heels are in this condition, you'll want to do the saking process for a little longer; maybe about 15-20 minutes. This will soften up your feet even more.

After you done all your cleaning, scrubbing and filing, moisturize the feet well. Double moisturize if you have to or even add a little olive oil. Now all that's left to do is paint them with a clear coat and the color of your choice! But don't be messy. If you get polish on the skin around the nail, put some nail polish remover on a Q-tip and clean it up. Do this is every 2-3 weeks to keep your feet nice and soft, and keep your wallet in your purse! :-)

And as I always say...until next time, take care & take charge! Later chicas!

**picture credit to spapartyevent on Photobucket.com**

Morning chicas! Sorry for no blog post since Sunday! My wireless internet card decided to NOT be compatible with my new laptop so I have to get another one I guess. I'll def have a post for you tonight though!

I am actually considering doing video blog posts...at least once a week. Of course I will be adding video makeup tutorials, but I'm thinking of adding regular blog entries by video as well! I'll be sure to give updates via twitter & facebook to keep you up to speed. 

I think I'll film my first tutorial tonight! Maybe a Valentine's Day inspired look! :-) It'll be fun to play around with pink! Anyway, I'll be back with a "real" post later. I'm actually posting this entry from my phone, so I can't upload pics or anything. Until then chicas, take care & take charge. Muah!

P.S...don't forget to become a follower & leave comments!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Change Culture Clothing Photoshoot

Hola Chicas! I'm sooo glad it's Friday...ready to get my weekend started! I have to work tomorrow but it's a short day so I can get over it.

I was going to post this blog on Wednesday, but I got the impromptu idea to talk about premature aging instead. But I am excited to share the raw pics from the shoot I did last weekend. It was for a designer of a Christian clothing company called Change Culture Clothing. This was actually my first time applying makeup on male models but I wasn't nervous surprisingly. I had been doing a lot of studying on the technique. It's different with men because you don't want them to actually look like they're wearing makeup. Aaaand I think I set a record on my time of application--I did 2 girls and 3 guys in about 3 hours! Go me!! LOL! Here are some of the pics from the shoot (these aren't the professional ones from the photographer--just with our personal cameras):

This is the designer, Markeius Coley (also known as Marc Coley, lol)

working the face of one of the models; I was starving around this time...lol.

more preliminary pics...

Those are just a few I jacked from the designer's FB page! I'm still waiting to get my DVD with the real pics. I'll have the professional ones up hopefully in the next few days! I'll let you know when they're posted. I pray you all have a great weekend, be back with another post probably on Sunday. Until then chicas, take care & take charge! :-)

**Don't forget to follow and leave comments**

Aging Gracefully

Hey chicas! Happy Humpday! Today is Monday for me though, since I was off work Monday and yesterday…back to the daily grind however.

Today’s blog topic was a last minute idea; let me tell you why. I met someone the other day and we were just chatting; she asked how I was. I told her I was 28 and she was shocked—she thought I was a lot younger than that. So naturally, I asked her age also. I was super shocked when she said her age, which was much younger than mine! She looked a lot older; if I had to guess, I would have said maybe 30! It made me start thinking about the different things that cause use to age faster than normal.

The first factor that came to mind was STRESS! Sometimes as women we get so consumed with trying to juggle all of our many jobs (work, school, kids, husband, friends, budgeting the finances, cleaning house, cooking, washing, etc.), that we take no time for ourselves. It’s important to wind down and relax at the end of every day (I am guilty of not doing this so I won’t point the finger). It’s actually been proven that stress causes premature aging. When you’re stressed out all the time, the edges of your cells actually begin to wither up, which means your body is aging faster. This shows up especially in the face (premature lines and wrinkles on the forehead, around the mouth, and around the eyes).

So what’s up with the wrinkles? Well, as your cells began to wither and shrivel, your skin loses elasticity and firmness, which means wrinkles ladies (and gents, lol)!! Yes, it’s important to moisturize everyday, but that’s only good for a while and doesn’t get to the root of the problem.

Here are some ways to help fight premature aging:

1. Decrease stress – relax with a bubble bath at the end of day, have a cup of hot tea (green tea is great) to wind down, do a puzzle…whatever eases your mind and gives you peace.
2. Get more exercise – just doing 20 minutes a day can help; make it fun to do by dancing to your favorite song!
3. Drink plenty of water – we’ve all heard this before. Need I say more?
4. Eat healthier foods – there are several anti-aging foods that you can add to your diet including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, spinach, kale, broccoli, salmon, nuts, and DARK CHOCOLATE (yum)! These foods are high in anti-oxidants, which form a protective barrier around your cells to help fight that withering process.

So, how do you know where you are on the age meter? There’s actually a test you can do to check the elasticity of your skin: grab the skin on the back of your hand and gently pull it up. Let it go and see how quickly it bounces back into place. If it goes back slowly, you’re def losing elasticity. You’ll need to get a move on combating the aging process asap.

To sum it all up, we’re all going to age one way or another. But we can age gracefully by doing some simple things. Of course I could add to that list, but I won’t overwhelm you with information. Hopefully what I’ve given you so far has been insightful. Until next time chicas, take care and take charge! :-)

**Don’t forget to become a follower & leave comments!!**

Giveaway For A Lucky Follower!!!!

OMG! I have been locked out of my blog account since earlier this week so that's why you haven't seen a post since Tuesday! And I had a very exciting weekend in Atlanta so I wasn't able to try to figure out my password. I went to the Battle of the Bands at the Georgia Dome and it was really good! They had a lot of great bands but I think Southern University had the hottest band; their performance along with great formations really made them stand out to me. I had dinner at Maggiano's later that night and it was the most romantic setting, not to mention the food was fabulous. I love that place (wish Columbus had one). To end the night, we went to Cafe 290 with my brother to check out some live jazz music; that was a great atmosphere too! Of course I couldn't go to Atlanta without hitting up the MAC store a Perimeter Mall. I grabbed about 8 new matte eyeshadows and an empty palette, and THEY BROUGHT BACK THE BEIGE-ING SHADESTICK!!! I almost got two of those! I was so mad when they discontinued it, but I'm happy again! :-) Okay enough of the babbling about my great weekend; I'm sure you want to know the details of the giveway. I need more followers of my blog so this contest is the promo for more followers!

This is my first GIVEAWAY CONTEST!!!! It's so easy and simple for you to win! First, let me tell you the prizes:

• MAC cosmetics kit including 2 eyeshadows, blush, and lip gloss
• Travel brush kit from Essence of Beauty
• Free 30 minute beauty consultation with yours truly

So, how do you win??? You only have to do two things: 1) become a follower of this blog, and 2) leave a comment on this post telling me why you'd like to win. It's that easy!!! I'll randomly pick a winner on February 15 but I need at least 50 followers to do that...so make sure you tell your friends to follow & leave a comment too! I'll extend the contest until the end of the month if I don't have 50 followers by the deadline. I'm looking forward to announcing the winner of my first giveaway!! There will be many more to come so if you're not the lucky winner, stay tuned to be informed of other opportunities to win great prizes. Good luck chicas! Take care & take charge! :-)

Next post: Change Culture Clothing photo shoot w/ designer Markeius Coley.