Tips for the Youngsters

This is a post that excites me, people! I guess I'm so excited because for me as a teen, it felt like no look was appropriate enough. Looking back on it I completely understand why. I have always liked my makeup a little dramatic, definitely not school OR age appropriate. So I have all the information to keep you happy without stepping on your parents' feet. Quick shout out to the teens who aren't allowed to wear any makeup. Remember that it's just right now. You will grow and eventually don't have to ask anyone for permission. My tip to you all is to keep practicing your craft. Can't wear it out yet but you can improve your skills until the time comes. I know it sounds corny but practice makes perfect.

We must be real, teens struggle with acne. Having a good skincare regime is important. So I actually suggest that you see a dermatologist if you haven't already. Once you have a pretty good grip on that area, then we'll move to the foundation. If you aren't allowed to really use it, then a BB cream is for you my friend. CC creams are basically a mix of primer, foundation and often sunscreen (which is a good thing). It will give you a smoothing finish with a natural look using foundation. If you can use foundation, (I suggest you don't use foundation if you don't need it) use it for the coverage you desire but don't overuse it. Make sure you use a suitable primer under your foundation too. Next, we have blush and/or highlight and I can keep it quick. Whatever color you use, use a light hand. On the apples of the cheeks for blush and on the side of the cheeks under the eyes for a highlighter .This will give you a soft glowy look.

With the eyes, I would pop a solid color on the lid. For Fair skin, a light pink, purple maybe even a blue. For medium to deep skin complexions may use an orange or brown. A good tip, use a glitter or regular gloss on just the lids. Plus a good lip gloss or tinted lip gloss can add that fire that you need on those lips too. Then last, the eyebrows are where you can do them how you like. Keep it natural though, you want it to tie into the look. Plus the over exaggerated look isn't and never has been cute.

Hope this helps

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

Makeup Horror Story

Okay (takes a deep breath) this post is a based off of the fact that everyone has…A makeup horror story.  I mean anytime something happens that literally has you questioning whether to pick up a makeup brush ever again,  basically I'm referring to a day that felt like the end of the world.  Since I am a lover of beauty and an artist, I thought I'd be fun to do a story about me and a client. These are actually true stories.  As Kevin Hart says "I can't make this up".

So I was living in CT and I was maybe 19 years old. My cousin comes over to my house, thought it was strange because he doesn't usually come over. He says he just wanted to stop by and see me since he was on this side of town. I thought this was weird too but asked: "What's on this side of town?". This guy laughs and says he has a wedding to attend at the church down the street in a couple of hours. So we start talking about the wedding and that leads to us going into other conversations.

TWO hours before he has to be at the wedding he asks me if I can do his girlfriend's makeup! That isn't even the worst part! I didn't even know he had a girlfriend! He put me on the spot but I said yes for two reasons One, I really wanted to meet her because he talked highly of her, and two the church is literally down the street (she could walk there). 
Basically, he told me two hours before the wedding and offered me a tip on top of my regular pay, she still didn't show up for an hour or so. Then she had lash extensions that were old and about to fall off, that she wanted me to work with. I don't know what finishing powder had come out, but she was demanding I use that powder. We start arguing because I kindly told her the first time that I didn't have that in my kit and offered her other powders (high and low end) too. I wanted to quit but I didn't.

I finally finish her face and while I'm packing my makeup up, she asks can I "put a little something" on her mom! Right on time her sister calls and says her AND their mother are outside! I said to myself she can't possibly think I'm going to do her sister too after I didn't even get to answer about the mother. I was wrong. Although I was getting paid for everything, I was overwhelmed. I almost had a breakdown after the mom didn't like the shade of lipstick. Something so small could have pushed me to the edge. I pushed through it and they were only 20 minutes late and the wedding hadn't even started yet. The bride wasn't on time because of her makeup artist being late.

So that's my horror story. Comment a horror moment you've had, anything regarding makeup.

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

My Favorite Brush Sets & More

Sigma - 12 Piece Essential Kit

Now, this is the priciest of the Brush sets, but it's one of my favorite. There are twelve professional brushes for the face and eyes. They have free 2-year warranty on these brushes

Morphe Set 504 - Sculpt and Define

This brush set has 11 brushes and is made of synthetic hair fibers. Comes with a nice case. This is actually my favorite brand of brushes. Morphe has quality brushes with a decent price tag.

BH Cosmetics - Sculpt and Blend - 10 Piece Brush Set

There are 5 face and 5 eye brushes in this brush set. This the cheaper of the brands but they are really awesome. One thing about bhcosmetics.com is that you have to make sure you’re a subscriber to their website because they are always having a sale. When I say always having a sell, I would say 95% of the time there is a sale going on.

 (Image form Pinterest.com)

I found this pin on a post from my Pinterest. I figure this is the best quick guide to the different types of brushes and what they are used for.You can use a brush however you want to really. I just want to put that out there. Now off the bat I noticed that it was missing a stippling brush. A stippling brush is people is for? You guessed it, STIPPLING. I can't tell you how many people use this brush wrong, then they say the brush is unnecessary etc. I like to use a stippling brush for liquid products mostly.

Now as for cleaning your brushes, most people get a brush cleaner. I only use brush cleaner in my kit. I also use a makeup cleaning mat to gently scrub my brushes with my Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner. For my personal makeup brushes I use homemade, DIY type stuff (check it out below).

Hope you enjoyed this post

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

Here's the DIY Brush Cleaner:

1 cup of warm water

1 tablespoon of white vinegar

1 tablespoon of baby soap (whatever you want to use)

1 teaspoon of witch hazel

1. Wash using a makeup cleaning mat or you can use a plastic mesh sponge
2. Swish the brush on the sponge until all makeup is off the brush and sponge

3. Spray with 50% alcohol and let dry over night

My Favorite Foundations

So I received a gift for Christmas you guys. My mom bought me the new Burt's Bees Goodness Glows Full Coverage Liquid Foundation. I haven't tried it yet but I will soon. I thought it would be cool to give you guys a review on a few of the different foundations that I use. I use certain foundations for certain reasons. Some days I want or need a darker color. Sometimes I might want to mix them. So my shades vary, but are still pretty close. Again, these are just my opinions. Every product isn't for everyone.

Covergirl Queen Collection All Day Flawless Foundation - True Ebony

Although I don't like the consistency of this foundation it does wear pretty nice. The texture is not thick enough for me. So I feel like the foundation is wet and sitting on my skin not blending in. Another fact about me is that I like to use simplicity with certain makeup looks. In my eyes that means less product I have to use the better. So to help keep me nice and hydrated I don't bake or use many powders besides highlighter and blush. With this foundation I usually bake. I have dry skin but this foundation (in the summer mainly) leaves me a bit more dewy than I would like. I can't even lie, the foundation is just good. Its coverage isn't sheer or tint, but it will not cover your darkest or reddest marks unless you build on it.

Milani Conceal + Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer - Chestnut

This is one foundation that I believe to do what it claims. What Milani claims is that this foundation has two benefits: full coverage foundation plus concealer in one. I don't like to wear to much makeup at one time, but I always make way for this foundation. It gives you the full coverage without it getting cakey and patchy. The only thing though, I'm not sure how it holds up on oily skin. To me it has a very little amount of oil or something. For people like myself with dry skin, it's not a problem. So I suggest if you have super/excessively oily skin, stay away from this product.

Nyx Total Control Drop Foundation - Deep Cool /Chestnut

This foundation is the best out of them all. I promise you all, you won't be disappointed. It has a dropper inside so you get to control how much you want to use. I know I often talk about liking thicker foundations, but this is an exception. I use either deep cool or chestnut, sometimes I use both together. This foundation lasts pretty long depending on how often and how much you use. For the best look and coverage use a wet beauty blender. It did come with a brush when it launched but trust me, I wouldn't steer you wrong. You can go make it sheer or a full coverage finish. I would say that it's oily skin friendly.

Hope you liked this post

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

New Years Eve Outfit

Happy New Year's Eve to all. I just wanted to do a quick little outfit for tonight. So my shirt I got for Christmas from Rainbows. I think the shirt was $6 or $7 and it has lace sleeves, as well as the top of the shirt too. I paired the shirt with a blue-gray color thick legging which was from Rainbows too. The leggings were $5 and I chose the same lace type sneaker that I wore the night of Christmas. I will also be wearing a nice thick half zip gray jacket, it will be chilly out tonight here in FL. What I am most happy about, the zipper on the jacket is black so it ties in nicely with everything else. To finish it off I will be carrying my backpack that I bought myself for Christmas from Rainbows for $15, and not too much jewelry, but my choker from Walmart for $5. I didn't get to take pictures Christmas night but I plan on taking some tonight. 

Here's the outfit:

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

New Years Message

Usually, I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I'm in the spirit for change. The new year is a great time to sit back and reflect on what you've accomplished in the past year, what you hope to accomplish in the coming one, and what you'll need to do to make that happen. I'm in the spirit for change, the motivation is real. I plan on having an amazing new year. The beginning of 2017 until recently has been nothing but me taking blows. I mean blow after blow after blow. Things started to turn around because I prayed and stayed focused. So I have goals for you 2018, big things! More fun, more family, more sun, better food, better health, the list goes on! I want to get back healthy inside and out.  So with all this being said, I just would like to wish everyone a successful, happy and healthy 2018.

That's real.
See you'll in 2018

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

Christmas Series: The Outfit Part 2 - Quick Post

Kings and Queens, I have another post on my Christmas outfit. This outfit will be worn later on, at a party. I got the shirt from a thrift store in Connecticut for $6. The store is called "Helping Hands". Those aren't jeans, they're actually jeggings from Walmart. If I'm not mistaken, they were $9 originally and the markdown made them $7 (or something like that). My shoes I got a long time ago, either from Rainbows or H&M. The shoes have a nice lace pattern (I brightened the picture so you can see). I will be rocking the same wristlet.

So here are the pictures of my outfit below. 

Happy Holidays

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

Christmas Series: Decor

Okay, Here is the last post in my series. These are pictures of some of the decorations in my home. I bought everything between Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. If you care, the tree is a 7ft tree. There are gifts tucked all aound that tree.

This view you can see my mini tree in the 

sunroom, through the living room windows

Both Living Room Windows

(Sorry I don't have curtains just yet)

Hope you like this simple post

Happy Holidays

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

Christmas Series: The Outfit

Kings and Queens, I have another post for you in my Christmas series. So this is the outfit portion. The first thing I think about when it comes to my outfit is my son. He just turned two so he gets into things and he never keeps me clean. I will grab a dress in a second, so I knew where the look was going. The dress is from Dress Barn, a couple years old. I like it because the dress has lace and a full dress slip under it. Just bought my shoes from my local Salvation Army for about $10. The wristlet is the oldest item, I got that from a Rainbows in Connecticut. It was probably about $8 - $10 at the time.

So here are the pictures of my outfit below. 

Happy Holidays

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia

Christmas Series: Outré Wig Review

Hello, I have another post for you. So I just bought my Outré Synthetic L Part Lace Front Wig Dominican Curly Bundle Hair wig (my Christmas wig). I was thinking about what my holiday look was going to be. So I turned it into a series featuring hair and the outfit. I will also be posting my makeup look. I purchased the wig from my local beauty supply store for a total of $30.

(Image from glamourtress.com)

Here are the wig details:

Synthetic Lace Front Wig

Sculpting tabs form a perfect fit with a premium quality lace

Natural invisible hairline with a longer lace from ear to ear

A one-size fits all adjustable cap

Front & back placement combs

Lace L-Parting 

High Texture: Heat Resistant Fiber

Safe up to 400 Fahrenheit

I have the wig in color 1B 

My rating? I give this wig overall 5 out of 5. For a synthetic wig, it's definitely an okay wig. I wish there was just a little more lace surrounding the part. That way you can part it anyway you would like, whether it's an L part or not. So more lace on top and some baby hair. There's no baby hair and so the part looks good but rest of the hair line looks unnatural. Some of these wig companies need to do better with things like that. Just because the hair is synthetic doesn't mean it has to be so plain. Even if the price has to go up, it would be well worth it.

I have worn the wig twice. Now one day was sort of warm and hot and the other was kind of chilly and cold. With that being said, if you are someone who can't stand the heat at all, this wig isn't for you. This wig has a lot of hair on it, a lot more than you think. I have used a curling wand on the wig, I put the temperature on 350 degrees and not 400 degrees and it did fine. I washed it after the hot day,  I had no problems and minimal shedding. I also wear the part in the middle instead of a side part because it looks better to me.

Hope this review post helps anyone
Happy Holidays

Peace & Love

Nzuri Malkia