Lipstick a Day Challenge: Day 2

I would post a picture for this blog but I'm looking slightly unpresentable in my ponytail and T-shirt haha. I'm kind of taking the easy way out with this lipstick. Its actually a tinted lip treatment. In fact, it was in my purse when Darian was counting my lipsticks so it really doesn't count for this challenge but I thought since it was a lip color it should suffice on this bummy day.

Its a glorified lip balm but it is in a sleek little package and feels nice on. I got it on hautelook.com and it was at the most $2.00. You can buy them at Target for sure and I'm sure other places online as well. Google says retail is $12.00. I'm not sure I would pay that much but if it ever comes up again on hautelook.com, its worth picking up. 

Taste of L'Oreal Swag Bag!

Here is a quick video that shows everything that I got in the taste of L'Oreal gift bag over the weekend. Enjoy!

Lipstick a Day Challenge

While at L'Oreal and in New York City I went shopping with what else but cosmetics. We went to Inglot, MAC, and the L'Oreal shop which is basically an employees only discounted store that carries all of the L'Oreal brands (think YSL, Lancome, L'Oreal, Maybelline, etc.). I've been really into lipsticks lately and of course, I was drawn to some of the new colors and bright bold hues. Darian seemed to be under the impression that I had way too many of the same color pink and tried to talk me out of purchasing 4 new pinks to add to my collection. Of course, I was sure that they were in fact different and that I needed them.

Darian may have had a point because when we got back she took out my lipstick drawer and counted. I have a total of 45 lipsticks and of those, 22 are pink. She came up with a challenge for me as she still is yet to be convinced that they are different (even after swatching them all on paper).

For the next 45 days, I will wear a different color lipstick

Since she went in on my pink lipstick obsession, I only thought it fitting to start with one of those. 

Day 1: YSL Rouge Pur Lipstick in 141 Pink Satin 

This color is similar to Viva Glam Gaga but less sheer. It retails for $30. It didn't make it through eating but it lasted about 3 hours before I noticed it was gone. 

So how many of you honestly have a bunch of lipsticks you never wear? Be honest! Join me and wear a new color every day and see just how much you love the colors you own (and maybe how much you don't!)

Bye for now!

Kelsey

Taste of L'Oreal Day 3: L'Oreal Interview

So the internet at the hotel was exceptionally slow therefore I did not get a chance to post about day 2 of the L'Oreal weekend yesterday. It was a long day but so much fun. We had a case study where our goal was to revamp the L'Oreal Paris Studio Line of styling products. We went to visit drugstores around the hotel and observed product placement on shelves and compared the packaging to different competitors. When we returned to the hotel we brainstormed ideas and presented a product idea and marketing campaign to a marketing director at L'Oreal. It was like a super condensed version of what I could be doing for the rest of my life!

Later that evening we went to dinner at Grand Central Station at this stake house where everything looked great but being vegan, I couldn't eat anything. I'll try to find some pictures of it and post them when I can. It was a great opportunity to network with other students who were participating in the Taste of L'Oreal weekend.

This morning I had my final interview. (All yesterday they had an HR person watching and observing, taking notes on you etc.) Can you believe my interview was at on 5th Ave!? I would literally be working on the same street as Tiffany's and Sacks 5th Avenue. I'm feeling a little superstitious so I don't want to give away too much about the interview but I did mention this little bloggy and my youtube channel.

The whole thing was done by 11:30AM and I was (and am) free for the rest of the day. I took advantage of the free afternoon and hit up the Bliss Spa at the W. Let me tell you... the BEST waxing service of my life! So painless! I have a manicure appointment in 45 minutes with my friend Darian (see post below). Maybe I can sneak some photographs of the spa for an upcoming post! We have dinner tonight with the recruiters at an Italian restaurant and I can not wait because I am so hungry. I'm doing the most with this here bag of nuts and granola bar.

Tomorrow will begin the agency day for the L'Oreal Brandstorm. Ok Starbucks is kicking me out....

Your very hungry friend,
Kelsey

Taste of L'Oreal Weekend Day 1

I blogged about the Taste of L'Oreal weekend back when I got invited in December but now that I am sitting in the lobby of the W New York, its real. I'm here under the consumer products devision and it is my dream to join this firm! I'm so very lucky that I get to experience this with my partner in crime Darian. 

We left on the train this morning from DC and slept the whole way up. When we got into the city we had to wait in a long line for a taxi to the W hotel... little did we know that are several W hotels in New York City. We pulled up to the W Times Square and they couldn't pull up our reservations! Thank goodness L'Oreal had sent us an email yesterday with the CORRECT address. and we were off to the W on 49th.

The hotel is beautiful and I was lucky enough to get a suite. Its gorgeous! 

I'm a little sad that we are not rooming together tho :-(

At the actual event tonight we had a student networking reception followed by an hour of general overview of L'Oreal and then we broke up for another hour and a half of our individual devisions. The consumer products devision had a panel and really cute presentation about all of the brands under the consumer products umbrella. 

• L'Oreal Paris
• Maybelline NY
• Garnier 
• SoftSheen Carson
• Essie 

After, we had a networking reception with recruiters and they served some yummy looking food but being vegan I couldn't eat any of it. Thank goodness the W has free apples! So I'll leave you with a few our of my window on the 7th floor of the Waldorf Astoria. Iconic NY.

TLC's My Strange Addiction

I know I said I was going get back to the roots of my blog with today's post but this is way better... I'm watching TLC's My Strange Addiction with my roommate and this poor woman is addicted to makeup! I really wish it was posted on TLC.com because I would definitely show a picture of it here. The woman wore makeup 23 hours a day, only taking it off to shower. It says she spent $4,000 a year on products and had over 1000 items in her collection. 

I don't know about you... but does not sound as extreme as I would have hoped. Maybe its a sign I myself am on the road to a makeup addiction! Except for the fact that I wash my face and feel comfortable without my "face" on. The addicted woman was considering getting green eyeliner tattooed on her lids and again I thought to myself... whats wrong with that!?! A very close family friend of mine has had her eyeliner tattooed (in black) and it looks very natural. Here is the very lovely Diana!

Its not for me but I think the eyeliner tattoo thing can be a great option. Would any of you ever consider getting it? What about tattooed lipliner and eyebrows? 

Your Inked Friend,

Kelsey

Bloggy Makeover

For my loyal 4 followers this may come as a surprise but I am giving my blog a makeover. Yes it is well overdue. If you can recall back when I had the original green polka-dot, it was painfully obvious I was using a lame template that was offered on blogspot.com. Earlier this week I revamped it and made it pink with stripes but I went one more step beyond that tonight and created this here header...

I just downloaded Photoshop's free 30 day trial on my laptop for my Marketing Communications class this afternoon, which I used to create this image. Getting Photoshop was like getting a package of makeup in the mail, I had to test it out and play with it. Unfortunately, its pretty expensive to purchase. Even with the student discount I'm still looking at shelling out $199. I'm going to take full advantage of the next 30 days to play with the program. If you want to download the trial yourself, click here. 

And since the blog is coming up on its one year anniversary, why not give it a makeover now? 

I hope this inspires you to go back to your blog, resolution, or hobby that you once committed to and give it makeover. Putting a little extra elbow grease and love could be just the trick to making whatever goal a reality. (Shout out to my mother who lost 6.5 pounds since she started her New Years fitness resolution. Now that is the type of dedication that I'm talking about! Yay Ellen!) 

I'll be back with an extra special post tomorrow that gets back to the root of why this blog is here in the first place... to land me a gig in the beauty industry. 

Much Love,

Kelsey

Makeup Organization and Storage Solution

Organization is the key to life... and a kick ass makeup collection! I wanted to make this video for a long long long time and I re-recorded it at least twice as well. After watching several other beauty gurus shell out major $$ in the name of storage I wanted to share my picks for affordable organization that will grow with your collection.

The set of plastic drawers on wheels can be found at Target... in fact everything can be found at Target. I really like this set because it came with a combination of both small thin drawers and deep drawers. It cost $18 and you can also purchase additional sets of drawers to stack on top. Here is a link to order it online. 

The clear organizer on top was also from Target in the cosmetic department. It was $17. Here is the link for that. (actually, the link is of a less expensive bigger version. I wish I had seen it at the store)

The drawer dividers were from the kitchen section of Target and came in packs of 2 large, 2 medium, and 4 small sections. I ended up getting two sets at $9 each. I also really like that they lock together they don't slide around if the drawer is slightly bigger. Click here to purchase online. (I couldn't find the one I purchased online but its pretty close.)

Full Report on the Blind Date

So although this is a stretch to make this post beauty related I knew there may be one or two out there who wanted to know how this terrifying blind date went. It was everything I feared! No, worse! He showed up with another girl!

I'm kidding....

It was nothing like I feared. He was very charming and we stayed so long, the hostess had to kick us out (which was actually very rude considering we were only there from 8-10...). We went to this chocolate bar downtown DC called Coco Sala (I'll post a link to their website) and it was a chocolate lover's heaven. The cocktails were all chocolate themed and since I just turned 21 I ordered the "fetish" which was a chocolate strawberry drink. They have a fantastic desert menu and everything was delish! I would definitely suggest this place to anyone in DC looking to impress a girl.

http://www.cocosala.com/

Before going out I stumbled upon this makeup artist on YouTube and I am in love. Check out her video about a first date look. I am addicted to all of her videos and since she does work for Elle, Vogue, etc. the quality of the videos are fantastic.

Enjoy the superbowl today! (GO PACKERS!) I will be watching for the commercials.

Lets Talk About Date Night Makeup

As much as I love going out on dates... and trust me I do... I have to admit I always fear the worst. For example, in my head, my date is not going to show up tonight for the dinner reservations he made. Lets hope that does NOT happen! 

The point of this post is... what the heck type of makeup do you wear on a first date?!

Think about what your favorite feature about your face is. What type of date is it? Is it during the evening or afternoon? For the purposes of this post let me explain my situation. 

We are going out to dinner to a chocolate bar downtown. I did my research and checked out the place online and it has a very sophisticated atmosphere and its on the pricier side (read high heels are a must). This is our first date and I have never actually met him in person, its basically a blind date. 

So what do you want to wear to an event like this? Focus on the eyes.

There will be drinks and chocolate involved so stay away from lipsticks and lip glosses that transfer. Instead go for a really soft brown smokey eye. Choosing a brown eye instead of black is more natural and also less intimidating. I would also suggest breaking out the false lashes. Here is my video about how to apply false lashes. Also, play up your bone structure with contour and highlight. The goal here is to look like you but a really gorgeous you. I will update with a couple photos of what I ended up doing. (And how the date went!)