You can’t tell me anything, I know I look good!

My pearly whites!

I am too sexy for my socks

Nope, my sh*t don’t stink at all!

Such a sexy b*tch!

Oh yes, darling!

Oh those mascara spots? that’s just there for decoration

LMAO!!!!1 Yes, I really just did that…

Ok but seriously. Let’s go thru each infraction that makes this look an official “hot ass mess”. This post isn’t to deter you from being a rebel or having a mind of your own and doing your makeup however you want. This is for people who are looking for advice and tips on what to do and what NOT to do. I’m all for individuality, do you. But for those who wanna know why certain things aren’t acceptable, this is for you.

I think at some point in our lives we were guilty of a few of these things, even to this day. Nobody is perfect, makeup isn’t meant to be perfect by any means. We’re all trying to learn though, right?

10 MAKEUP NO-NO’S

• 1. The super strong, super sharp boxy eyebrows. They never look natural and they can make you look like a man. Unless you’re doing a drag look, try to avoid this. Fill in your brows according to their natural growth. Use a color close to your natural brow color and use a light hand. Remember this folks, your eyebrows will make or break your entire look. If they’re not right, the whole look is ruined.
• 2. Overdosing on a highlight color for your brow-bone area. Oh boy, do see how heavy that highlight is? I’ve seen girls actually do this and they think it’s cute but it’s not. Your brow-bone highlight should never be this frosty and out there.
• 3. Un-blended eyeshadow. I can’t even begin to tell you how many girls I’ve seen walking around with strips, literally strips of color. They don’t blend them, they don’t even attempt to. They just pile bands of color on top of each other, or they’ll wear one color alone and it just looks terrible. No matter if you’re using one color or five colors, always blend your eyeshadow.
• 4. Messy mascara. We all make mascara messes (I know I do), but clean it up as much as you can. Don’t try to tell us you were going for that “leopard look” because I know damn well that’s a lie. Also, try to avoid adding 20 coats of mascara if you can.
• 5. Over-contouring. See how the sides of my nose are just doing the most? Yea, try to avoid that. Also, my cheeks…under my bright ass blush, there’s a heavy harsh line of a contour color that just shouldn’t be there. Blending is key folks!
• 6. Which brings us to the bright ass blush. Dude, chill on the blush! You only need a tiny bit for everyday wear. The Raggedy Ann look just isn’t it.
• 7. Stark white eyeliner on your water-line. It doesn’t look natural. Try using a shade warm enough for your skin tone like a creamy beige, tan or wheat color
• 8. Fake moles. I mean really, are we still doing that??
• 9. Lipstick on the teeth. Use the finger-pop method or take a piece of tissue or paper and put the corner of it inside of your lips and press down to remove the inner part of the lipstick that would otherwise rub off on your teeth and make you look ridiculous in the process.
• 10. Last but not least….STOP. LINING. YOUR. LIPS. WITH. BLACK. OR. BROWN. LINER!!!!!!!! This is the ugliest and most common makeup no-no I’ve seen done multiple times by numerous women. Lining your lips should never be too obvious. Blend the liner out folks! It’s not hard, just smush your lips together until you don’t see a harsh line anymore. Then apply your lip color and blend so that everything comes together. Your lips should not look like a puckered booty-hole.

Ya’ll have NO idea how hard I was laughing in between each picture. A true mess, I swear.

Do you guys have any makeup no-no’s of your own you’d like to share? Post them below!

-Stay beautiful (and avoid everything I did in those pictures LOL!)

Win this brand new Urban Decay Naked Palette

Win this brand new Urban Decay Naked Palette

Giveaway ends September 6, 2010 at 12pm EDT and is open to everyone worldwide. If you are under 18, please have parental/guardian consent to receive items in the mail.

HOW TO ENTER

• Leave a comment below in this post and tell me what your five favorite beauty/cosmetic purchases were so far this year.

*Each comment will be held for moderation so please don’t submit your comment more than once.

*BOOST YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING!

You can do one or both in addition to your comment…

• Follow me on twitter and tweet this: Follow & RT @accidentalbty to win an Urban Decay Naked Palette! Info http://bit.ly/nakedgiveaway
• Follow my blog. Look over in the sidebar to your right, under FRIEND CONNECT and click “join this site“. You can join with either your Google, Twitter or Yahoo account.

*Comments will close 12pm noon on 9/6/10 and winner will be chosen randomly. I’ll announce the winner on this post and on twitter once the winner accepts his/her prize.

Pretty easy huh? Good luck you guys, and thanks for all of you wonderful support. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.

To see swatches of this gorgeous palette, click here.

Silky, smooth texture

Fine jet-milled powder

Contains Vitamin E to restore the skins balance

Oil absorbing

Provides sheer to medium coverage

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille | this is as crumbly as this will get!

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille | taken with flash

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille | swatch taken without flash

Rock & Republic Exhibition Pressed Powder in Chenille | swatch taken with flash

For your reference, my foundation shades…

• in MAC — NW43
• in MUFE HD — #173 Amber
• in Chanel Mat Lumiere — Walnut
• in Revlon Colorstay — Caramel

They come in a variety of shades that should suit most skin tones — although whatever you see on the site is all they have left. What I really love is that although this powder is a shade lighter than me, it doesn’t show up that way. It actually disappears into my skin leaving virtually no obvious traces of color, making it very blendable. I don’t look chalky or cakey or ashy at all. So if you’re shopping for one of these and you’re not sure what your shade will be, just pick whatever you feel is the closest according to the swatches on their site (which aren’t too far off) and I bet it’ll work.

The powder itself is super luxurious and fine, so it almost acts as a translucent setting powder. It’s great for touching up the face after an oil spill lol. There’s virtually no scent to these, which I like. I have moderately sensitive skin, and this powder hasn’t irritated me at all. I absolutely love the packaging — it looks expensive (and it is), but getting this powder for 50% off is fab.

Rock & Republic has burst into the makeup world heavily since their stuff has been on sale for up to 60% off. Beauty fanatics everywhere have been buying all of their inventory up like the end of the world was near. But who can blame them? These products are incredible you guys, you’re really getting your money’s worth. Their blushes are now my hands-down favorite to use (sorry NARS) — I still love my NARS and MAC blushes, but if something is better for me then it just is. Maybe one day I’ll slow down on my R&R blushes and start showing love to my beloved NARS and MAC blushes again. Oh! — I usually carry around my Urban Decay De-slick Mattifying powder, but since I’ve gotten this I haven’t had it in my makeup bag for almost two weeks. See how shady one can be when the grass is a lil greener? *hangs head in shame* I need my ass kicked…

-Stay beautiful

Availability: Rock & Republic
*not sure if the sale is still on, but try coupon code ROCKCOSMETICS to get 50% off the entire cosmetic line

And because I refuse to let my sore boobs, achy nipples and mood swings interrupt my day…I took a few silly pics lol

my poor dog LOL!!

EYES

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Brow highlight: Virgin e/s
• First 2/3 of lid: Toasted e/s (also on lower 1/3 part of lash line)
• Outer 1/3 of lid: Hustle e/s
• Outer-v: Creep e/s (also on remaining lower lash line)
• Crease: no color, just took a MAC 224 and blended the colors out
• Urban Decay 24/7 Zero pencil in upper and lower waterline
• Maybelline Falsies Mascara on upper and lower lashes

FACE

• Benefit Boi-ing concealer under eyes
• MAC Dark MSF all over face
• Facefront Half Baked bronzer
• Rock & Republic X-rated blush on cheeks

LIPS

*moisturize with your favorite balm, I used Rosebud Salve

• NYX Cocoa lip liner
• Rock & Republic Mistress lip gloss

See how my skin is just actin’ a total ass? That’s ok though, it’ll be over soon . I’m sitting here watching House for the first time, and this chick just found out that her husband used to sleep with men. Lord have mercy…I love my gays. I love love love my gays, I’m surrounded by their greatness every single day — but if I ever found out my husband used to dabble in phallic activity?? Oh, it’s a wrap!! Anyhoo, I wanna say thank you all for your feedback, and continue to submit your questions/requests, etc. It’s extremely helpful for me to know what you guys want to see here. Again, the Youtube tutorials will happen soon. Just gotta get this new camera (which will be mine w/in the next 2 weeks ), YAY!!!

-Stay beautiful

NYX Black Cherry round lipstick

NYX Black Cherry round lipstick

NYX Black Cherry round lipstick *taken with flash*

NYX Black Cherry round lipstick | lip swatch *taken with flash*

NYX Black Cherry round lipstick | lip swatch *taken with flash*

NYX Black Cherry round lipstick | lip swatch *taken with flash*

DUPE ALERT!

I did find two higher-end dupes for this lipstick So if you’ve ever wanted NARS Scarlet Empress or MAC Hang Up cremesheen, but didn’t wanna drop $14 or $24 on either one of those, Black Cherry is a suitable enough dupe.

• MAC Hang-Up – similar to Black Cherry but more mauve, with the slightest hint of microscopic shimmer
• NARS Scarlet Empress – very similar to Black Cherry, but cooler

l-r: NYX Black Cherry lipstick, MAC Hang-up cremesheen, NARS Scarlet Empress

l-r: NYX Black Cherry lipstick, MAC Hang-up cremesheen, NARS Scarlet Empress

*my bad for spelling it wrong in the pic lol

NYX round lipsticks are a great bargain for the novice to the advanced. I love them. They’re very creamy, pigmented and have a great amount of sheen. Depending on what you’re doing with your mouth (lol), you may find these to be pretty long-wearing or not very long-wearing at all. If you’re eating, kissing, etc. it won’t last too long, but if you’re just chillin, these stick around for a while. They may lose some of their sheen, but the color remains.

If you’re looking for glam on a budget, check out NYX’s entire line of lipsticks. They’re a nice little bang for your buck.

-Stay beautiful

Availability: NYX Cosmetics

**this post contains an affiliate link. To read more about the disclosure policy, click here.

Many women already use in-home hair removal products, but there’s a small group of folks who have probably seen these products and were afraid to try them. If you’re looking for a good one to try, consider using Sally Hansen Creme Hair Remover Kit (around $6) and sold wherever Sally Hansen products are sold. You get the remover creme, and a post treatment conditioner that calms and soothes the skin. You only need a small amount of both cremes, and it’s a pretty big tube so you should be good for a while — unless your hair grows back fully within hours.

I have the average amount of body hair that most women have — but mine just happens to be very dark against my skin so it’s daunting as hell. It’s something I’ve grown up with all of my adolescent/adult life so while I think it’s “gross”, I also accept it for what it is. I normally use Veet hair remover on my arms and legs…but for my face I’ve been using the Sally Hansen Creme Hair Remover Kit. I remember the first time I got my “chickstache” waxed..not only did it hurt like hell, but it broke me out. I had these super tiny lil bumps around my mouth and I’m sorry, but in this day and age you cannot go around w/ any bumps near your mouth because folks are always gonna think you’ve had your mouth in dirtier places LOL! After that, I said to heck with waxing and starting using removal cremes made gentle enough for use on the face, and I haven’t looked back.

PROS

• Doesn’t irritate my skin — and I have moderately sensitive skin
• Pleasant scent, not offensive like normal hair remover cremes at all
• Works fast (5 min for me, may be sooner or longer depending on your hair texture)
• The post-treatment conditioner makes my skin feel soft and supple afterward
• Inexpensive and easy to find
• Dermatologist tested and salon tested
• Removes the hair very well, I never feel any stubble

CONS

• None that I can think of, it does everything it should do for me. It’s not complicated, it’s just a hair remover creme

OVERALL

You all have seen pics of me with my chickstache, I make no secrets about it. I’m not ashamed of it, but I never keep it for too long. I tend to let stuff grow in all the way before I remove it because I just prefer not to waste any product on the slightest sign of regrowth. One application lasts me about 3-4 weeks before I have to use it again, and even then my chickstache hasn’t completely grown back in, but it’s visible enough for me to be anal about it if I want to. The hair also grows back soft and never prickly.

So anyway, I hope that this is helpful for those of you suffering from “chewbacca chin” or any other hair part of the face. I know someone who uses this stuff religiously because of her super-fast growing chin hairs, and she finds plucking to be painful — this stuff works better for her super sensitive skin. I’m no dermatologist, this won’t work for everyone, but it’s so inexpensive that you can probably afford to try it on a very tiny area of the face or elbow just to see how your skin reacts, if at all. If your skin does react, discontinue use. Just make sure you read the directions, because some people don’t and they end up pissed lol.

I don’t have any before and after pics, but this stuff works nicely and I’ll continue to use it for a very long time.

RATING

Availability: all major drugstores

Introducing the “official” request/feedback thread! I’m hoping that you guys can steer me into a direction that’s comfortable and realistic for all of us. Keep in mind that I can’t promise an update every single day (as much as I’d love to) just because of my harsh work schedule and undeniable need for sleeping in on the weekends. Sadly though, there isn’t enough time in the day.

So my question to you the lurker/reader/frequent commenter…what is it that you’d like to see more of on Accidental Beauty? Don’t be shy, don’t be embarrassed to say. I need your help. Do you want to see more reviews of certain products in a certain price range? Do you want to see more swatches of something in particular? Do you want more FOTD? Do you want more live tutorials? Looks with bright colors or neutrals? Let me know!

ABOUT YOUTUBE TUTORIALS

As far as live makeup tutorials go, trust me, I am this close to buying a camera that works — I’ve been saving up! My current HD video cam, after a year and a half of use, has completely died on me (F*#$!!). The last video I was able to take was of my collection…terrible. I know so many of you want me back on Youtube, and please believe I miss Youtube and being able to talk to my subscribers, but I’m very anal about video quality…and the camera I used wasn’t all that great at picking up true colors, made my vids look ashy, and now it doesn’t even frickin work — frustrating as HELL! Hopefully within the next 2-3 weeks I’ll finally have the camera I’ve been saving up for I will be returning back to Youtube VERY soon, I promise!

Simply leave your questions, requests (can include future youtube tuts), or 2-cents below and I’ll keep this post open for reference anytime I get stuck on what to cover on this blog

For those who are wondering what “inimitable” means, it basically means something that is incapable of being imitated or copied.

In a single stroke, this mascara delivers it all: volume, length, curl and precise separation. A sophisticated formula and unique brush design combine to deliver lush, long-wearing colour so precisely that each lash, even the finest, is perfectly defined and separated. Pro-Vitamin B5 hydrates and conditions lashes to keep them supple and healthy-looking.

Chanel Inimitable retails for $30 and comes in three shades — Noir Black, Noir Brun, and Noir Obscur. It promises volume, length, curl and separation. The wand is white at the tip and tapered on the end to help you reach those tiny lashes on the inner and outer corners. The bristles are spiked little rubber combs and the formula is silky and smooth. Noir Black is very black, the blackest mascara I’ve used. Check it out.

PROS

• Very smooth formula
• No clumps after 2 coats
• Noir Black is very black!
• Easy to remove
• Non-flaky (after about 8 hours of wear — haven’t worn it longer than that)
• No harsh and/or chemical scent even after having this for 4 months
• The wand is great and easy to use, even for a mascara novice
• Volume? yes
• Length? yes
• Curl? I wouldn’t doubt it
• Lash separation? yup!

CONS

• Pricey

OVERALL

I absolutely love this mascara, and after I try a few more that have been on my list, I will be buying another one. I love the formula, I love the color, I love how it makes my lashes look fuller and thicker. My lashes are already naturally curly so I can’t really tell if it holds a curl well, but I have no reason to believe it doesn’t. Sure, it’s pricey — but it’s Chanel so you should probably expect that lol. Chanel Inimitable gives me everything I need in a mascara — a wand I can really work with for both top and bottom lashes, and no crusty coating like other mascaras. Love it!

*Here’s a ‘common-sense’ truth about mascara shelf life, most people will tell you to toss it after 3 months. In most cases, you should — however, that really only applies if you use it every single day for 3 months. One, you’ll probably run out and two, because you’re using it every single day for 3 months — more and more air is getting to it, drying it out. If you have a million mascaras (okay…maybe 5-8), you’ll probably rotate their usage and find that 3 months later, one is still pretty full and smells just fine. If your mascara has passed the 3 month mark, and it smells fine and the formula isn’t gross and clumpy, it’s probably fine. I’ve had a mascara for over 6 months that was JUST FINE. Bottom line, some mascaras only last a month, some can last 6 months and more…it all depends on the formula and how fast it goes bad. Throw away any mascara that smells like battery acid and looks like paste.

RATING

Availability:  Chanel

Blinc describes their mascara as follows:

So basically, the product that ends up on your lashes are these lil vinyl lookin’ tubes that are insanely easy to remove and nowhere near as messy as a regular mascara that just smears and gets everywhere. I’ve always appreciated the tube-technology showing up in more and more mascaras, but Blinc really nailed it.

The color I purchased is Dark Blue, and after one coat, you can’t really see the color — probably because my lashes are carbon black. I added a second coat and I could really see the color a lot more. Take a look and read my thoughts at the end.

isn’t that color gorgeous??

naked lashes

one coat

one coat

one coat

two coats

two coats

two coats

OVERALL

One thing I do like about this mascara is that once it’s on, it’s really not going anywhere unless you remove it yourself with warm water and gentle yet firm pressure. I removed the tubes easily by wetting my fingers and just massaging my lashes. The lil blue tubes slip right off and there’s not gross paint residue to clean up. I’m not sure how or if you should use a makeup remover with these since they come off so easily with warm water. I didn’t mean to have this mascara on while watching Changeling (that super sad Angelina Jolie movie), but I was crying and this mascara stayed on and continued to give me that wet and shiny vinyl look.

As far as performance goes, I would say this mascara delivers. It does everything it promises. Sometimes I like to push a product just to see how it holds up, and I started manually tugging at my lashes and guess what — the tubes snatched off brilliantly. I do NOT recommend removing this mascara that way though, that was just me being a curious knucklehead. Use water, don’t just pull it off because you risk yanking your lashes out of socket and having bald lids.

I do have tiny nit-picky issues with it. My lashes are very black, so unless I pack this on I really won’t see much color. I wouldn’t blame this on the mascara at all though. The color is “dark blue” and I’m putting them on super black lashes so it’s like…duh lol. The color does show up a little better with two coats. Because of the very basic design of the wand, it doesn’t give me much lash separation. You can count about 21 very blue lashes on my eye in that last picture lol. I wish the wand was better designed to provide better separation, but maybe it’s not supposed to? I dunno, again, I’m still testing it out. On the website they give a tip of applying this to the tips of your lashes after a regular mascara so I’ll definitely try that.

I like it so far. It’s a nice change to my normal mascara game and I can’t wait to stretch out its full potential I’ll definitely try out other blue mascaras until I find my HG blue.

Have you guys tried any colored mascaras? Let me know your favorites!

-Stay beautiful

This palette has a ton of silver and grey eyeshadows of different depths and shades, enough to give you many smokey combinations. You may also find these colors appropriate for the upcoming freeze-ball months, as most of the shades are frosty/shimmery (but not a hot mess).

1st eyeshadow column, plus blushes from opposite side

lip gloss swatches

2nd eyeshadow column

For the look above I used eyeshadow colors from the second column of the palette (2, 6 and 7) and the second blush to the right. For lip color, I used Rock & Republic lip gloss in Mistress with NYX Cocoa lip liner.

PROS

• Affordable
• Lots of grey’s and silvers to choose from
• Pretty good quality shadows — I’m impressed!
• Blendable and easy to work with
• Dumb easy to create a smokey look with this palette, even for the makeup novice
• Super easy to travel with
• Convenient — packs different items for multiple uses

CONS

• None of the colors have any names or numbers to associate themselves with. So you have no idea what color you’re really using…so you have to make something up
• The magnetic closure could be better, I find this palette can open very easily and possibly create a mess in your purse/makeup bag, etc.
• The plastic divider between the eyeshadows and the blushes and lip colors is loose, and it would be better if it were enforced down the middle so that it stays in place. If it slides around, you can find eyeshadow dust in your lip products and that’s no good.
• The spongetip applicator…c’mon now…

OVERALL

I really like this palette, and I’m quite impressed with it. The one thing I don’t like, are the super gummy vaseline’y lip glosses. I don’t like the way they feel at all, despite the cute colors they come in. The blushes and the eyeshadows are equally soft in texture, and crumble easier than a higher-end product, but it’s not as bad as E.L.F. lol! NYX made it very easy to create a simple and sexy smokey eye and because of the low price, it’s also easier on your pockets. The shadows range in taupey-greys to mushroom silvers to standard blacks. For the look I did above, I used colors 2, 6 and 7 from the second column — I wish I could tell you their names, but they’re incognito I guess lol. I used my MAC brushes for this, and it came out pretty well and was so easy to do. It’s really nice to see that NYX is stepping up their pigmentation game too I packed these on top of the NYX Eyeshadow Base (white) and I didn’t have any creasing from that product, which is really good. I’ll have to review it for you guys in the future.

RATING

Availability: Rock the Catwalk