Sunday, August 25, 2013

Back to Basics

One of my favorite go to designers for an easy basic dress is Susana Monaco.  Her dresses never loose their shape or pill, they come in fantastic colors, they are machine washable, and they rarely wrinkle (making them a great travel dress).

Here is my Sunday basic church dress.  This dress is not bright blue but rather a cross between a true crayola eight box crayon blue mixed with navy.  It is not dark enough to be navy, but definitely not light or bright.  A great dress for Sunday church.

Happy 6th Anniversary to my husband, Kevin.  I am so thankful that God chose you to be my husband and am especially grateful for your strength while we battle infertility.

Jewelry - Necklaces and Pendant - Sabika
Earrings - Elena Maratos
Shoes - Earthies
Dress - Susana Monaco

LINK UPS:
Watch Out for the Woestmans
Fine Linen and Purple

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Favorite Makeup Items - Foundation and Powder

I love makeup and love wearing makeup!  I will begin outlining my makeup routine, starting with my foundation and powders.

My number one tip for overall good makeup - find a good makeup artist and take a makeup lesson - learn to create everything on your face.  A good makeup artist will be able to show you what to look for before leaving the mirror (ie - where to put that final touch of concealer - and whether that concealer should be dark or lighter) as well as the appropriate techniques to create a good look for yourself.

My two favorite makeup lessons of all time were with Gaspar Cruz and Fran Krauss (wife of awesome photographer Richard Krauss).  My most recent makeup lesson was just prior to Mrs. Pennsylvania International 2013 with Fran Krauss.  I have been mostly using her techniques, but I still revert back to the "Gaspar" eye when I want a bold and different look.

Starting with foundation and powder, here is what you will find in my makeup cabinet.

FOUNDATIONS
Budget Foundation: Revlon Colorstay


Expensive Foundation: Christian Dior AirFlash (air brushed foundation right at home without the expensive kit).  This is by far my most favorite foundation ever!  I put this foundation on and it lasts for hours and hours without even requiring a powder touch up.

Mineral Makeup: Mary Kay, but Bare Minerals and Physicians Formula make some nice products as well.

MAC - this used to be my staple foundation; I used to only use MAC products to create flawless photo ready skin.  However, given their price point, I find that they are edged out by equally performing Revlon Colorstay and flattened to the ground by the performance (but not the price) of Christian Dior AirFlash.  I still believe that MAC produces great products, but I just don't find myself at the MAC counter anymore because there are lots of companies that produce great products.

When applying foundation, I use a Beauty Blender, purchased from ebay for about $1 (they are typically sold for $10 at the beauty stores).  I will use it wet when applying Revlon and use it dry to blend out the Airflash.



Choosing a color: TEMPTALIA - use this handy tool to find your perfect foundation shade (especially useful for drug store brands).

CONCEALER
I have some favorite concealers, but I don't get as excited for these as I do for foundations.  Right now, you will find me using one of several products.

Clay Spann's Concealer

Benefits Concealer Kit (the pink is great to brighten eyes)

Amazing Cosmetics Concealer - a little goes a really, really long way.  This stuff is terrific!  Buy the smaller concealer; unless you are doing your makeup every day and using a lot of concealer, you will likely throw out this concealer before running out of product.


 POWDERS
I will grab one of two powders when my foundation and concealer are complete.  Either It Cosmetics HD Powder or a Mary Kay loose powder.  I don't see a difference between either of them.  If I want more coverage, I will use a very light hand to apply Mary Kay's mineral powder.  I am really enjoying Mary Kay's new packaging because you can turn the inside of the powder so that what is in the bottom stays in the bottom (ie - you can close off those holes so that more powder does not come to the top of the container).
My favorite purse powders:
Clay Spann's Powder
Remember the Clay Spann Tip - when you really want to look flawless, carry two powders - a lighter one for under your eyes and a powder to match your skin tone for the rest of your face.
MAC Finishing Powder - this is something I will always have in my makeup bag, but it is usually found in my purse because it removes shine without making me appear as if I just added ten more pounds of makeup.



Monday, August 19, 2013

Miss Pennsylvania American Coed 2013

I had the honor of judging the Pennsylvania American Coed pageant this past weekend.  It is an incredible program and it was so much fun to meet the incredible contestants!!!

For Saturday night evening gown competition, I wore a hunter green Reiss dress with a Sarah C Jewelry necklace.  I wore luminous green 14mm rivoli earrings, but I need to buy emerald earrings for this dress in the future (I need emerald anyway to add to my collection).  You may recognize the dress because I own it in red too (click HERE to see).  I wore my taupe LK Bennett heels to complete the outfit.

For Sunday interview, I am not photographed in the outfit I wore to judge interview, but the outfit can be seen HERE (Lily Pultizer ensemble).  For the final show on Sunday, I wore another Lilly Pultizer dress with Heather Hemingway earrings.

I really enjoyed chatting with Janise, Harriette, Richard Krauss, and all of the pageant staff.  They really care about producing a great event for the contestants!  Harriette was a terrific head judge and really knows the system well, so it was wonderful to learn from her.

Although I didn't know the contestants, I did also know two of the moms - they were both runners-up at the Mrs. PA International 2013 pageant!  It was so lovely to be able to chat with both Jill and Sarah after the pageant.

Harriette (Head Judge), Me, and Janise (State Director)

FUN FLASHBACK:
This is me when I competed at PA American Coed when I was about 14 years old.





Sunday, August 11, 2013

Altoona Curve Pirates and Princess Party - August 4, 2013

I love joint appearances!  My sister queens are simply awesome and it is so much fun to do an appearance with them!

Traveling to Altoona is also a highlight because I have seen more of my family during my reign as Mrs. PA International 2013 than I have over the past five years combined.  After I give up the title, my goal is to return to Altoona at least once every other month so that I can see family (I have 18 first cousins - 15 of whom live in the area with or near their parents (so add in aunts/uncles), a grandmother, a father and Renee, a brother and his girlfriend, and godparents and their kids.....to say the least, I can easily stay busy with six visits a year).

I loved seeing my godmother and her family at the game too!! SO excited for Brittani's wedding on New Year's Eve!

Here are the photos:



What I wore: Repeat again, white lace dress, see original post HERE
I slightly changed the jewelry this time.  I wore Heather Hemingway earrings and I used a Sarah C Jewelry necklace (it is the necklace with larger stones) paired with two necklaces from Elena Maratos.

SHOES: Because I was at a baseball field, 5 inch pageant heels all night were just not an option for me.  So I wore my white Earthies sandals.  They were a bit casual, but hey, I was wearing a cocktail dress with a crown and sash at a baseball game....I was already a little oddly dressed for the occasion, a comfortable sandal worked given the circumstances.

Godmother and Family


STYLE LINK UPS:
Style Elixir
Get Your Pretty On
The Pleated Poppy