Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Cat Costume Tutorial

The final look for this Halloween series is how to look like a cat! 




This is actually pretty much what I am going to dress up as for a party I am attending this weekend. Only difference is that I am going to be a cat burglar and be draped in jewels. So fabulous!  


Check out the video and try it for yourself! 



List of Products used:

Eyes: 
Nars Eyeliner Stylo in Carpates
Diorshow New Look Mascara
Nars Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto

Complexion: 
Laura Mercier Universal Setting Powder
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer

Lips:
Lancome Le Lipstique in Sundried Berry

Cheeks:
Dior Blush in 

Lashes:
Red Cherry Lashes in #40 in Black


Enjoy & Be Beautiful!


How to look like a Wood Nymph Halloween Tutorial

Here is the Wood Nymph Costume idea. 


I used these amazing lashes that I got from Sephora by Paperself in Peach Blossom. I had been waiting for am opportunity to use them and the other day I thought of this costume idea and figured they would be perfect for it. 




Check out the video and try the look yourself!

List of Products used:
Eyes:
Crown Brush 88 Shade Metallic Eyeshadow Palette
Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Moonstone 12
Inglot Eyeshadow
Nars Larger than Life Long Wear Eyeliner in Via Veneto
DiorShow New Look Mascara in Black 
Lips:
Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Moonstone 12
Lancome Color Design in Love It!
Lashes:
Paperself in Peach Blossom
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Halloween Bruising Tutorial

Here is the post for how to do bruising with makeup! 



I used my flash palette from Makeup Forever and a tri-shade shadow from Inglot. 

Check out the video and try the look for yourself! 





Enjoy & Be Beautiful! 


Photography and Video by: Carolyn Thombs

www.makeupforever.com
www.inglot.com

Halloween Doll Look

Happy Halloween Everyone! 
I did a series of different Halloween Looks today. I know many of you have already gone to parties this past weekend. If you haven't here are some easy looks to try! 


Doll Look Makeup

All of the looks were based on a pair of lashes I had. 


Face Chart for Doll Look 

For the doll look I chose two sets of lashes to use (a list of products used will be available at the end of the article). I used a very full pair for the top and then a more subtle pair for the bottom lashes. Using lashes on the top and bottom gives that wide-eyed look that dolls usually have. 

Costume for Doll Look

To see how to put the full look together check out the video! 





Products used:

Complexion:
Givenchy Photo-Perfection Foundation in Perfect Vanilla 4
Bobbi Brown Cream Foundation
Bobbi Brown Cream Concealer and Corrector
Nars Blush in Amour
Laura Mercier Foundation Primer in Radiance
Nars Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base

Lashes:
Ardel Fashion lashes in #108 in black
Eylure Naturalites in Evening Wear

Lips:
Estee Lauder All Day Lipstick in Rich and Rosy

Eyes:
Nars Eyeliner Stylo in Carpates
DiorShow New Look Mascara in Black



Enjoy & Be Beautiful! 



Photos and Video done by: Carolyn Thombs

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing


Today I made my version of pumpkin muffins with cream cheese icing. I toasted the seeds into two flavors: sweet and savory. I used the sweet ones as a garnish for the muffins. It added a nice succulent crunch to the moist pumpkin muffins. So delicious! 


Raw Pumpkin
 To start off I opened and gutted the pumpkins (2 small-medium sized) I got from Ticonderoga Farms. I separated the seeds from the pulp. Then I cut up the pumpkins into large pieces and placed them on cookie sheets, skin side down, and baked them for 2 hours in a 350˚ F oven. After they cooled completely I scraped the pulp from the skin.

The next step was to puree all of the pumpkin insides, in order to use it for cooking. I have enough from the two pumpkins to make about 5 batches of pumpkin bread or muffins, YAY! 

All of this prep work was done yesterday, today was the day to actually make the delicious little treats! 

Pumpkin Puree

Sweet Pumpkin Seed mixture before being baked

Savory flavored Pumpkin Seeds before being baked
 I baked the seeds (recipe below) first so that they would be ready to top the muffins when the time came. While those were baking, I mixed everything together for the muffins (recipe below). Before putting the trays into the oven I topped the batter with some sugar to make them extra sweet.

Mixing the batter

Pumpkin seeds nice and toasted...so yummy! 

Batter being prepared to be baked
  Then I let the muffins bake halfway (about 9 minutes) and then added some of the sweet pumpkin seeds on top. I did this after they had set a bit so that the seeds wouldn't just sink to the bottom; even though I am sure that would taste delicious as well! 

While the muffins were baking I started on the cream cheese icing (my favorite). 

Finished muffins before the addition of the cream cheese icing

Finished product!!

Once the muffins cooled a bit I was able to add that beautiful dollop of icing and enjoy one. Let me tell you they were so yummy! I must say making these may be the best thing I have ever done! Well maybe not, but they are definitely in the top ten. 

Delicious! 
I hope you guys enjoy! Go make your own batch and enjoy them as well!

Enjoy & Be Beautiful!


Recipes:

Pumpkin Muffins:
Ingredients:
15 oz. of Pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400˚ F. In a large bowl mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Add dry ingredients gradually to pumpkin mixture until well blended. Pour into muffin tins, sprinkle sugar on top and bake for 18-20 minutes. At 9 minute marker take out quickly and add a few sweet pumpkin seeds to the top of each muffin.


Baking Pumpkin Seeds:
Sweet
Mix 2 tablespoons of butter, some cinnamon, some sugar and some brown sugar in a ziplock bag with the seeds until well blended. Spread on cookie sheet.

Savory
Mix some olive oil, salt, and old bay seasoning in ziplock bag with seeds until well blended. Spread on cookie sheet.

Bake in oven at 400˚ F for 10-20 minutes (about 15 minutes was perfect) or until they begin to brown.



Cream Cheese Icing:
Ingredients:
1 package of cream cheese (3 oz) softened
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
2 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar

Blend cheese, milk, vanilla and salt. Gradually add sugar , beating until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.
Place a dollop or how-ever much you want on top of each muffin.






Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Cozy Fall Sunshine

Forever 21 Maxi dress, Aldo sunglasses, White t-shirt, Jean Jacket, Talbots shoes, Forever 21 belt


I love the fall, since you can wear super cute outfits and the weather permits you keeping the whole outfit together all day! No adding extra bulky clothes to keep warm or taking off vital components in order to stay cool. You can add a cute casual jacket or sweater and even a scarf to your fall ensembles. I love it all! 

I wore this outfit this past Sunday,it was perfect for the beautiful weather! Warm, cozy sunshine and a subtle chill in the air: the perfect day! So for this fabulous day I decided to have another go at pairing my jean jacket (courtesy of my amazing friend Celesste) with a fun outfit concept. I paired it with this fun patterned dress I got from Forever 21.



 I saw the dress while I was shopping a few years ago and loved it! But of course it was not long enough to wear as a dress so I decided why not use it as a long skirt. I absolutely love wearing it and a lot of people love the idea of doing this with dresses that aren't long enough to wear as dresses. It is nice and fitted which gives the figure a nice silhouette. I decided to let the skirt shine and just paired it with a white t-shirt.


I wore my Aldo tortoise shell sunglasses, one of my favorite pairs. I added a lacy scarf to add a whimsical, eccentric air to the outfit and added a bunch of my small bracelets. The shoes I wore were ankle lace-up suede black boots from Talbots. To add some refinement to the look I topped it off with a black and white belt. 



I hope you enjoy the outfit! 

Enjoy & Be Beautiful!





Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Pumpkins, Flannel & Red Lipstick


Another amazing ensemble featuring flannel!

Two weekends ago I orchestrated an adventure to the pumpkin patch at Ticonderoga Farms. I went with two of my sisters, my amazing boyfriend and two of our friends, the lovely couple: Kelan & Sydney. It was such a beautiful day! The company was fabulous and the weather had a warm end of summer - beginning of fall feel. 

Such a cute couple! And in perfect pumpkin picking clothes! 
My awesome sisters!


Unfortunately for me I thought it was going to be colder than it actually was, thinking I could bring out my heavy flannel; but I was not able to wear my full ensemble the whole time and got a bit toasty throughout the day.



I chose a jean jacket to pair over my flannel because at times I have trouble choosing pieces to wear with jean jackets. So, since I do not do jean on jean action, I figured leggings were the next best thing!



My pumpkin picking outfit was comprised of some grey leggings from BCBG Maxazria, boots from Clark's, a flannel shirt (previously owned by my boyfriend), and of course the jean jacket. 

For the final touch a perfect red lipstick was of course in order. I chose Rouge Dior in 999, which is one of my favorite red lipsticks to wear. Dior lipsticks have an amazing creamy finish and texture and long-wearing qualities. 



Stay tuned for the delectable treats I am going to make from the pumpkins I chose! 

Enjoy & Be Beautiful!  

Friday, October 19, 2012

Beauty Bar in NYC



Beauty Bar NYC

Back in August my sisters and I went to New York City to celebrate my younger sister’s 21st birthday. We met up with my cousins and after we had some delicious Mexican food we made our way to the Beauty Bar on E 14th St.

My Manicure from the Beauty Bar
I really didn’t know what to expect when my cousin told me about the place. So I thought it would be this bright space with a circular bar in the middle with chairs around it for the customers to sit and get their nails done and drink fancy fruity drinks. I was thinking the Beauty Bar was going to look more like a salon than a bar. 

Retro Beauty Parlor Decor


When we walked into the place after having out ID’s checked (only 21 and above). I was happily surprised to find this amazing swanky bar with retro beauty parlor décor. Great music was playing and there was a nice variety of people hanging out at this bar. 

Amazing bar at the Beauty Bar

It was $10 to get in and that included the manicure and one drink (an amazing deal I know!). The drinks were so delicious, you definitely get your money’s worth! I had the one with Bourbon, since I am a definite admirer of Bourbon.


The manicurist I had was very nice and did a great job! I loved the color, which was a fun orange red. I definitely recommend this place to start any night out with the girls! Such a perfect place to get ready for a fun bachelorette party as well! 
Treat yourself! 

Enjoy & Be Beautiful!

Beauty Bar in NYC


http://thebeautybar.com/New_York/

Thursday, October 18, 2012

AOFM: Academy of Freelance Makeup Review



Beauty Look
 makeup artist: Carolyn Thombs/ Photographer: Ferny Chung


Last October I attended the Academy of Freelance Makeup in New York City. This had to have been the best decision of my life! This was truly the spark that set off my career as a professional makeup artist.

This school is based in London and now is in NYC and Paris.  I am going to recount my experience from this class, but if you want to read more about the history or why you should choose them in their own words check out their site: http://www.aofmakeup.com/whyus.html

The first day of class I got to meet Jana Ririnui, (the founder of the amazing school) and got to receive my amazing brushes and brush belt. 

In the Combined Freelance course I learned everything from Backstage Etiquette, How to be a Good Makeup Assistant, Makeup Artist Hygiene, How to Create Beautiful Skin, Ethnic Makeup, Body Paints, Film/TV Makeup, Bridal Makeup, Eyebrow Shaping, False Lash Application, Understanding of Photography Lighting, How to Build Your Professional Makeup Kit, Period Makeup, Catwalk Makeup, Mature Makeup, Male Corrective Makeup, and many more topics were covered over the 12-day course. 

We also had a shopping day towards the end of the course and were able to receive Professional artist discounts on brands such as: Makeup Forever, MAC, Inglot, and NARS. I was able to create a full kit from that day of shopping. 

Editorial Look
Makeup Artist: Carolyn Thombs/ Photographer: Ferny Chung
On the last day of the class you do an editorial photoshoot with an amazing photographer, hair stylist and fashion stylist (I worked with Ferny Chung, Cecilia Romero, and Jules Wood). They were an amazing team. For the shoot you do two looks: editorial and beauty. The photos from this shoot were an amazing contribution to my portfolio.

So when I got home I was ready to get started on my career as a makeup artist and not just do it on the side. I started contacting makeup artists to assist and made a Model Mayhem Profile so I could start building my portfolio. I have met some very nice models and photographers through Model Mayhem. 

Come February I was able to work NY fashion week on the AOFM Pro team. First I had to attend the Runway Masterclass to see if I qualified to be a part of the team. I was! Fashion week was one of the best experiences of my life as a Makeup artist! 

Other perks from attending this academy is that they offer Post-grad masterclasses for you to go to and to keep up with your education. So far I have gone to the MAC Pro masterclass where we go to see a demonstration of some of the looks they did during Fashion week. I attended the Bobbi Brown masterclass which gave me a further understanding of the products Bobbi offers. Through that class I was able to attend the Pilot class for Bobbi Brown Pro artists. 

Most recently my work with the AOFM Pro team was during NY Fashion week in September and I got the chance to assist James Vincent (one of the most amazing artists) on two shows: Suzanne Rae and Sammi Sweetheart. 

As you can see AOFM is a great school for those who want to be a professional makeup artist. If that is you don’t waste any time and lock in your spot in the class now! Trust me it is worth it!


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