Before & After - Homecoming!

So yesterday was Homecoming for my little sister, Sabrina, and she was kind enough to trust me to do her hair and makeup (Okay, I begged her to let me do it.) She also reluctantly agreed to let me take pictures of her during this process and post it on the internet. What a gal!

For a full product list and more pictures, keep reading! :)

The first thing I did was have Sabrina exfoliate her face with the Clarisonia Mia and the Philosophy Purity Facial Wash. The Clarisonic is great for people with dry skin because it's a gentle enough exfoliation to use everyday. The Purity wash is also great, definitely one of my favorite face washes, but pricey. 

Next I used the Cerave Moisturizing Lotion (a great, affordable, non-comodogenic moisturizer) and then primed her face with TheBalm's TimeBalm Primer. I found this product on Hautelook, and got it for 50% off! TheBalm used to be available at Sephora, but no longer is. I'd say the best place to buy it is Hautelook or TJ Maxx because the products are always marked down. This primer is also very similar to Too Faced's Primed and Poreless Pure, which is available at Sephora.

After primer I applied the Clinique Redness Solutions Foundation (in 02 Calming Fair) with a dampened BeautyBlender. 

I wanted to take a before/after of just the foundation to show the awesome coverage it gives. I only use this product occasionally because it is very thick, but it does provide great coverage, especially for redness.

Now I'm going to go on a BeautyBlender tangent. The BeautyBlender is this cute little pink sponge that makes your foundation look like angels painted it on your face. Yes, it's definitely an investment (~$18 for one sponge) but I'd say it's worth it. One sponge should last you about a year. What's amazing about it is that It blends foundation into your skin so perfectly without soaking up half the product, which I find happens a lot with brushes. It is especially good with thicker, full-coverage foundations, that cannot be applied with fingertips alone. Sephora does not sell the BeautyBlender in store, but it can be found online or at local beauty stores.

Now for the rest of the face, I did not use a setting powder on Sabrina because her skin is already pretty dry and I thought powder would look too cakey. However, I did use Too Faced's Milk Chocolate Bronzer (Yes, it really smells like chocolate) to contour her cheekbones (using a Sigma F40), and NYX's Cream Blush in "Glow" on her cheeks. Once again, too much powder on dry skin looks cakey, so I opted for a cream blush to add dewiness to her complexion. 

To highlight, I used Benefit's High Beam. This product is very tricky. The packaging looks like a nail polish, and when I first purchased this I just used the nail polish brush to apply this to my cheekbones. However, then you are left with a glowing pink streak. I have found that it is best to apply this by putting the product on the back of your hand and then dipping your finger into it and dotting it 3 times across your cheekbones. (What I do is smile, and put the first dot under the outer corner of my eye, and then go up towards my temple). One you dot the product on, you have to blend right away because this product does dry up quickly. I also used this on Bri's browbone and down her nose.

For her eyes, I used both Too Faced's Shadow Insurance and Mac Paint Pot in "Painterly" to prime her eyes. The Shadow Insurance helps the eyeshadow stay all day and not crease, while the Paint Pot evens out the color of the lids. I then lined her lash line with Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-on Pencil in Zero.

For Sabrina's eyebrows, I filled them in with Anastasia's Brow Powder in Golden Blonde, using a Sigma E65 Small Angle and combed them through with a Sonia Kashuk Spoolie.

(Too lazy to take my own. Picture from allurabeauty.com)

For eyeshadow, I used Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette. Using a Sigma E55 eye shading brush, I applied Verve all over the lid, and Bootycall on the inner corner and browbone. In the crease I applied Tease using a Sigma Pencil E30. I added a little of Pistol to the crease and outer corner, using the E55. For liner, I used Pistol and a little of Blackout, using the E65. (All the Sigma brushes I used are from Sigma's Make Me Classy Travel Kit)

I curled her lashes with Tarte's eyelash curler and used Laura Mercier's Faux Lash Mascara on the top lashes and Maybelline's Mega Plush mascara in Waterproof Very Black for the bottom lashes. 

Finally for lips, I used NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita with Laura Mercier Lip Gloss in Desert Rose on top.  

I set her makeup with Model in a Bottle makeup setting spray in sensitive skin formula. This spray does help your makeup last longer, however this is not my favorite setting spray. It's too heavy of a spray and makes your face feel wet after spraying it, whereas Urban Decay's All-Nighter Setting Spray does not leave that wet feeling. Once I use up the Model in a Bottle Spray, I'll be going back to Urban Decay's!

Here's a close-up of the complete makeup!

For her hair, I used Hot Tool's 1- 1/4 in. curling iron and got2b's Guardian Angel flat iron balm. Instead of rolling her hair from the bottom to the roots, I started curling from the middle, slowly adding more and more hair from the bottom. This is so the ends don't get that weird crimpy thing that usually happens because the ends are exposed to the most heat if you start on the bottom. 

The curls look very ringlet-y at first but eventually fall. I also ran my fingers through her hair two hours after I curled it to loosen them up, and then sprayed Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Touchable Weightless Hairspray.

The final look! Thanks so much to my little blonde for letting/trusting me to do this :)