Need a Happy Boost? Makeup That Puts You in a Better Mood

It’s a great feeling to leave the house looking good and feeling great about yourself. Skin with a healthy, happy glow is especially great. Physician's Formula Happy Booster makeup helps you have that special glow that helps you look your best. Happy Booster makeup is made with a special blend of ingredients, including Euphoryl and "Happy Skin", which come from natural plant extracts that are supposed to stimulate feelings of happiness by imitating the effect of endorphins.  The makeup is also infused with a subtle violet scent.

Bronzer

Happy Booster bronzer helps to give you a sun-kissed, youthful glow.  The Glow & Mood Boosting Bronzer and Blush compact comes with combined bronzer and blush that can be used individually or layered together for natural looking color.

Blush

The Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Blush compact has several shades that you can blend together to add brightness to your face.  It has a slight shimmer to it, which gives skin a subtle luminous sheen. I have a very fair complexion and have found that a little blush goes a long way. The first time I used it, it didn’t feel like I got enough pigment on my brush so I kept swiping the brush across. Several minutes later, I looked in the mirror and realized that I surely did have more than enough color.

Lipstick

Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Lipstick has rich, creamy color that lasts throughout the day. It also has collagen-boosting peptides and plumping power to help lips look fuller.

Physicians Formula Happy Boosting makeup helps freshens up a dull complexion and gets skin glowing. Does Happy Booster make you feel happy? Each person will have to judge that for themselves, but I do know that when I look in the mirror and feel good about what I see that I feel happy. I get a spring to my step and a feeling of joy from looking my best, and I love having a healthy glow to my skin.

updated 3/24/2014

Getting Ready for a Wedding

Planning hair and makeup for a wedding is exciting for a bride and her attendants. I look back on my own wedding and sort of wish that I could do it over again. My makeup looks great in the photos I have, even though I did it myself. My skin was glowing and my eyes sparkling. My hair in most of the photos looks alright, but is was done as an afterthought. I didn't want an ornate updo, and in the process it was put together at the last minute. Many aspects of my wedding fell into place without much planning beforehand.

My brother is getting married in a couple of months, and it's such an exciting time.

If you're planning an upcoming wedding:

Hair

How to Create Updos with Fine Hair

Edwardian Hairstyles for Updos

Makeup

Five Things to Know About Bridal Makeup

Alternative to a veil and train - fascinators If I were to get married again - which I don't plan to, unless it's for renewing my vows, I would wear something elegant and sassy like this:

Buying Discount Cosmetics

I love a bargain when I'm shopping. Makeup is no different. Cosmetics can get quite expensive, siscount cosmetics are a good way to save money. Most of us work hard for our money and must budget it wisely. Many discount cosmetics are just as good as higher priced items. With some savvy shopping, you can look great without spending too much.
There are several ways to save money on makeup. Shop during sales — many drugstore chains have buy one, get one half-off sales. If wearing the latest shade isn’t important to your, then look for clearance markdowns of outgoing season’s colors.

Brands that cost less:

Essence
Essence cosmetics has a variety of colors for lips, eyes, blush, and nails. Their eyes shadows last throughout the day without creasing or flaking. An added bonus — they don’t test their products on animals.

e.l.f.
Popular value priced makeup company e.l.f.  offers a complete line of makeup including foundation, eye shadow, blush, lip color, and accessories. It is all very reasonably priced and good quality.

Bonne Bell
I’ve known Bonne Bell for their lip-glosses, but they make much more. They also make eye shadow, bronzer, and concealer that are lower priced.

Etsy
Etsy brings together individual storefronts of handmade and vintage items. It is also a great place to find inexpensive mineral makeup. There are eye shadows in a wide variety of colors. 

Online Stores
Buying online can help you get some good deals. When buying via the internet, it is good to buy several things at once and stock up to save money on shipping costs.

All Cosmetics Wholesale has many popular department store cosmetic brands at a discount. Many of their items are “shelf pulled” items that may have packaging ware. A good thing about their website is that they note if an item for sale is past its marked expiration date, if it has one.

Ulta’s online store has some good deals and lots of sales and special promotions.







updated 3/24/14

Physicians Formula Makeup That Can Help You Look Younger

Okay, Physicians Formula is one of the makeup brands at the top of my favorites list. They have some great products for sensitive skin, and I've long been a fan because they have foundation that actually matches my skin tone. Now they have several products that help with overcoming some of the common symptoms of getting older - loss of skin elasticity, thinning eye lashes, and thinning lips.

With our culture thriving on a youthful appearance, many women want to use anti-aging products and makeup to their advantage. Physicians Formula can help you combat the visible signs of aging through makeup.  There are several products that can help with fighting the signs of getting older.

 Lipstick

The Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Lipstick contains collagen-boosting peptides to make lips look plump and healthy. Another bonus is that it is supposed to be uplifting to your mood.

Lash-Enhancing Eyeliner and Serum

The Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner and Serum defines eyes and improves the look of lashes. It enhances natural lashes instantly and over time. It is hypoallergenic, fragrance free, and safe for contact lens wearers.

Mascara

Organic Wear 100% Natural Lash Boosting Mascara makes lashes look thicker and longer. All of the ingredients are from products with a natural origin. The mascara contains no harsh chemicals, parabens, or synthetic fragrances and colors. See fuller lashes instantly and improvement over a four-week period of use.

Foundation

Youthful Wear Youth-Boosting Foundation improves skin firmness and elasticity. It evens out skin tone and texture. It provides coverage that lasts all day that looks natural. The makeup has a consistency that is not too thick or cakey when applied.

Concealer

Physicians Formula Youthful Wear Youth-Boosting Concealer combines two concealing products in one to help you look your best and cover flaws. There is yellow cream color to correct dark circles under the eyes and light stick for covering imperfections. It blends easily to smooth lines and has ingredients to help improve skin firmness.

updated 3/24/14

Mix a little primer with your foundation

Yesterday I was Stumbling and found this makeup trick: to mix a little primer with your foundation. It helps the foundation to blend it and have nice finish that's not too cakey. I tried it this morning. It helped my makeup to turn out really nice. I had purchased some foundation a couple of months ago and was not too happy with it. It went on too thick and I had to play with it to figure out how to make it look decent. Anyhow mixing a little primer with it right before I put it on seemed to do the trick.

Makeup Tips for Looking Younger

Makeup tips are helpful to applying age appropriate makeup and looking you best. Often we unknowingly put on cosmetics in a way that is unflattering. As the body ages, unfortunately skin gets wrinkles, loses firmness, lips get thinner, eyes can get baggy, and eye lashes get thinner. Our makeup application needs to evolve the process. There are surgical procedures, injections, and fillers that help, but not everyone wants to go that route. By taking advantage of makeup tips, we can use makeup application to look younger.

Foundation

Always use a moisturizer first to help foundation go on evenly. Use concealer to cover any flaws or under eye problems. Some foundations are thick and settle in every fine line and can end up making you look older. Using a primer before starting your makeup application can smooth the skin and prevent this from happening.

Blend gently, being careful to not tug or pull on the skin. Allow your foundation to set and absorb several minutes before continuing. Use loose powder sparingly to set your makeup.

Cheeks

Keep blush natural looking. It shouldn’t be too dark or overpowering.

Eyes

Resist the temptation to be heavy with the eye makeup. Avoid metallic, shimmery, and bold colors. Use natural looking, neutral colors — brown, beige, taupe, gray, and plum. Highlight the inner corner of the eye and right under the brow bone. Use eyeliner only on the top lid. Use an eye lash curler and at least two coats of mascara. To get thicker, fuller eyelashes use false eyelashes or try a lash booster.

Lips

If your lips are thin and you want to make them appear fuller, start with lip liner. Trace just outside the lip line with a pencil that matches your natural lip color. Then color your lips in. Use a light lips color because darker colors minimize lips. Blot your lips stick, to keep the excess from bleeding or getting on your teeth. Dot gloss in the center of your mouth.  My favorite is Sally Hansen’s Lip Inflation.

updated 3/26/14

5 Things to Know About Wedding Makeup

I love weddings. I've seen a lot of beautiful brides, glowing with happiness, on their big day. I've also seen some with bright cheeks, overdone eyes, and thick foundation that was too dark. It can be tricky getting the balance just right. But, you're not doing makeup for a Broadway production. If you're planning a wedding and hope to do your own makeup, read these tips about wedding makeup.

Red Lipstick Makeup Tips

I love wearing red lipstick, I helps me feel good on days when I need a little pick-me-up. Be Sexy, powerful, and make heads turn. Red lips get noticed. Maybe lips aren’t your best feature or you’ve been afraid of trying red lip color, everyone can get away with wearing red if they pick the right shade.
Shade
There are many different opinions about which shades should be worn by people with different skin tones. The trick is finding what works for you. You need to take a look at your skin’s undertones, which can be challenging. This is when going to a makeup counter can be a real timesaver and help keep you from wasting your money on the wrong shade.
Also consider what lip color will look like with your teeth. Some shades may make your teeth look more yellow. This may be a good time to check out teeth whitening if you find a shade that goes great with your skin tone, but doesn’t flatter your teeth.
If you have thin lips, keep in mind that darker colors can make lips look smaller. When trying to create a look of fuller lips, go for a lighter shade of red. At this point my favorite red is a blend of a few different lipsticks that I bought that were not quite right. If you have a wrong color, another option is topping it with a lip gloss that has either gold or pink tones. My favorite is Sally Hansen’s Lip Inflation. Not only does it subdue a harsh lip color, but it plumps the lips.
Application
Another makeup tip is that, bold color looks better on healthy, conditioned lips. Use a lip scrub or brush lips lightly with a toothbrush to exfoliate lips. Then use a moisturizing lip balm, consider a balm with SPF to protect your lips if your lip color doesn’t have any sun protection. Using a lip primer can help lip color to last longer and keep it from feathering. Line and fill lips in with a liner that is close to your natural lip color. Apply lipstick with a lip brush, and blot the excess with a tissue. To keep lipstick from ending up on my teeth I use the finger method — putting my index finger in my mouth and wrap lips around it. Then slowly pull my finger out. To keep the color from bleeding put a little face powder around your lips.
The Rest of Your Face
When wearing red lipstick keep the rest of your makeup simple. Since the focus is on your lips, go light on the eye makeup.


updated 3/26/14

Is your mineral make-up really mineral?

updated March 7, 2011 - Apologies for the links to the original source being dead

Here is an interesting article about testing mineral make-up. The Beauty Bunny tested 5 different kinds of mineral make-up to see if they are truly mineral. The results are interesting.

update 3/27/14