Marriage Is Beautiful

I LOVE THIS QUOTE.  It speaks volumes that everyone who takes the sacred vow of 

marriage should abide by.  Simple and true. Love no matter what, never take advantage of that love.

As you saw in my previous blog, the family and I just got back from a beautiful family wedding in Mississippi.  There is nothing that turns me into a blubber fest more than a wedding- especially a family member's wedding!  I turn into complete mush, tear up, my heart races, because I know what a big deal it is to say those vows and how much it truly means to take on that commitment.  So the whole thing makes me emotional- happy emotional, but with tears.

Me and my family all dolled up for the wedding!

I know marrying my husband was definitely the BEST decision I've made in my life.  I second guess a lot of things, but never did I second guess this one when he asked me to marry him.  And I took that decision to be his wife and take his name very seriously.  The preacher at this past wedding said something that completely stuck with me (forgive me if I don't get this quote exact!).  He made sure that the couple was agreeing to marry each other for who they were at that moment, and that they should not be marrying each other in order to change one another down the road.  For better OR for worse, to the max.  I know after 10 years of marriage, that trying to accomplish the "perfect" marriage or mate is exhausting, useless, and unimportant.  Nobody is perfect, and perfection is boring and unrealistic. So marrying someone for who they are deep to their core, is the best way to love.

My hubby w our daughter dancing together.  

He told me that weddings now take on a new meaning bc he thinks of her walking down the aisle one day and how hard it will be for him.  Here goes the blubbering...

 All 5 of us cutting a rug with the band, The Atlanta Allstars.

They had my kids (and the adults!) hooked to staying on the dance floor. Major energy!!

I am happily married, through the good times and the bad, and I am so happy that through the ups and downs,  I have Scott by my side.  My marriage makes me feel beautiful when I feel ugly.  No makeup products necessary!  Thank goodness for our marriage because my kids wouldn't be here if I didn't marry him- they were a really nice, beautiful, and loving bonus!!  And our lives would not be as exciting as they are now!

My 2 out of 3 who make my marriage more beautiful in so many ways. 

Even though I think they were going for wacky, not beautiful;-)

What about your marriage makes you feel most beautiful??! 

Makin Pretty In Mississippi

Traveling over 7 hours in a car with 3 kids isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but it was surprisingly easier than I had expected and it was for a great cause!  We have just gotten back from an amazingly fun time in the state of Mississippi for a beautiful family wedding where I had the honor of working with the bride-to-be who is now part of our family!

{Me and the stunning bride Jayme! Sorry, this shot is slightly out of focus!} 

I'm working on very little sleep from having to spend the night in the same room as my baby so I am going to be quick in posting some really great photos of Jayme's bridal face.

Thanks to Gloss Salon in Ridgeland, Mississippi for allowing me into their salon.  I've included a couple pics of their space bc it was so fab with all sorts of big gold mirrors, purple walls, animal prints galore, and red leather chairs!

This place was a dream to work in with tons of natural light and the cool vibe.  Here's my makeup arsenal set up!

So here was Jayme's before picture with just primer applied.  Are you kidding me, she is so naturally beautiful, she could have just walked down the aisle like this!

And here is Jayme's after makeup shot. We applied tons of individual lash clumps (Ardell medium lengths in brown) along the upper lash line for extra added eye oomph!!

Some of the main components I used on her look were:

1. L'Oreal True Match foundation in N3 and N4

2.  Too Faced Cosmetics Natural Eye Palette

3. Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in "bourbon"

5.  MAC blush in "fleur power"

6.  MAC bronzing powder in "golden"

7.  L'Oreal Infallible lip gloss in "modern mauve" 

She had this sparkly hair piece made to fit along one side of her updo- it was super pretty in combination with her lacey veil!  And you know I'm loving lace these days...

Here's a close up shot of the eyes once we were done - they turned out gorgeous!  Some of her makeup inspirations were Katherine Heigl and Hayden Panettiere, so we found a middle ground combination that she ended up being happy with.  My finishing sparkle touch is by Bare Escentuals id Bare Minerals eye glimmers in "nude beach."  I apply this right along the tear duct area and slightly along the lash line for a subtle shimmer.

I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "Well it's not difficult to do makeup on a bride this naturally gorgeous JennySue??"  And you would be right, I totally agree.   Full on bridal pics from the big ceremony and party to come.

Now I'm off to bed to rest up from the weekends events!   BIG CONGRATS to the happy couple Jayme and Kevin!!  I'm so happy for the both of you and for being able to enjoy such a fun family filled weekend.

Two Trends I Like For Fall 2011 :: Lace and Pink

I'm headed west to the Mississippi area this weekend for a family wedding (yes, I get the honor of working with the bride, I can't wait!) and have been packing up a storm.  It takes days to get my family of 5 ready to go on the road, even if it is just for the weekend!  So while I've been planning what we will all wear to the festivities, there are two trends I've really gotten into that will definitely be traveling with me.

My 2 faves shown at once, can you guess them??

The first thing is PINK blush.  I'm sure this doesn't come as a shocker to any of you since I always talk about what a big deal blush is and that it makes the biggest difference in brightening up a dull pasty face!  My newest purchase is another blush by Sonia Kashuk for Target.  Her blushes are faboo and very inexpensive.  This pink hue is called Flamingo ($8), pretty perfect name for a pretty perfect pink!!  I've done tons of looks including pink cheeks including this Rainbow Brite one that is one of my faves done with an actual pink eye shadow

The second thing is LACE.  Lace gets a bad rap sometimes as looking "cheap" or "floozy," but when done right, I think it can be super chic and classy!  I love the Daily Candy website, and found a great tiny look book of some runway designers that used lace in their fall 2011 collections here.  (What I love about this posting is that it gives you real world clothing options to the designer ones!) So since I haven't had the chance to buy any new lace garments lately, I decided to sport this lacy look on my fingernails!  Nails can always be once of your best accessories in my opinion. I used the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail stickers ($8.50) again bc I was so impressed with the first ones I used here.  And since it's a wedding, I need to be a bit more dolled up and what better way then with black lace!

How do you feel about lace on the nails and pink cheeks?? Are you a fan?  What are you loving now in the beauty world?!

4 Ways To Brighter Eyes

I have been feeling the effects of some massive sleep deprivation lately and worry it's starting to show on my face.

Bright eye tip #1 which will be explained below!

This is because my oldest has started kindergarten (as I'm sure you all remember here) which is causing the whole family to get up much earlier than usual in order to get him out of the door.  On top of that I've been staying up way too late at night to respond to emails and getting back to people while also doing all those daytime chores that couldn't be done during the actual day.  The reason I can't do daytime chores anymore, is because my youngest is ALL OVER the place, and I literally cannot do anything but play defense to her offense when she is awake.

This is what I mean by she is everywhere- she's even in the dishwasher!

  Yes, that's my foot holding down the top so she doesn't try to shut herself in the dishwasher while I load and unload.  I wish I were an octopus at times.

So in order for the early morning and late nights to not show on my face, my first recommendation is to wear a hat- preferably a cute one like my Target fedora here, to take some of the spotlight off your face and onto your accessory!

No, but really, here are my top 4 tips to getting brighter looking eyes with makeup- no hat necessary:

*note, all 4 tips not used on my face in these pics, only the first two!*

#1.  If you must wear neutral shadows and are scared to try color, try picking a shimmery version of your basic browns and taupes.  Apply this shimmer or metallic version as close to the lash line as possible to appear as if you have a twinkle in your eye that someone can't exactly tell where it's coming from.  This also keeps you from appearing too glittery or overdone if you applied it all over the lid.  I used "bronze edge" metalliner ($6) from mark cosmetics here, and of course flicked it up right at the corner of the eye for an instant eye lift without the knife!

#2.  Try lavenders or light plum shadows.  If you aren't opposed to color, this is one of the easiest shades to pull off.  I used a medium plum shadow underneath my lower lash line here (Lancome's "Snap" Color Design eye shadow $18). It is a most universally flattering and brightening shade to ANY eye color.

#3.  Apply white.  White eyeliner that is, and use it along the inner waterline of your bottom lash line and in the inner corners of your eye near the tear duct.  My best post of how to use white to brighten your eyes is from my older blog, Wow'em With White.  I think this is a great example of how to use white to your advantage and it's got lots of how-to pictures!

#4.  Buck the boring black and brown liner and try NAVY or PLUM!  Once again, the slightest bit of color makes a huge difference in how bright your eyes are perceived.  I'm not telling you to do electric green or yellow liner, so just try these two colored options of dark blue and purple.  I promise, they won't scare or disappoint.  Here's a look at what simple navy can do for you.

Uh oh, looks like someone is trying to grab my attention again as I sit here at my desk to type- how could I resist this face??  This little girl totally brightens my day!! (By the way, this blog was not created in one sitting.  As a matter of fact, I've sat at my computer 3 different times today until I was finally able to complete a thought! Oh the patience a mother must have and ability to multitask- I amaze myself sometimes!)

What brightens your day??

Let Them Eat Cake

"On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered, "Life will never be the same." Because there had never been anyone like you...ever in the world."

"On the Night You Were Born" by Nancy Tillman

My Vivian a few hours old exactly one year ago!

The birthday girl at her 1st birthday party this past weekend.

A year ago today my sweet Vivian was born into our world.  When I got pregnant with her, it was a complete shocker, COMPLETE SHOCKER.  My two boys before her, had been a long time coming and the result of multiple IVF cycles.  Even though it's a shock every time the miracle of a pregnancy happens, me becoming pregnant with her was the ultimate shock.  My reproductive specialists exact words to my husband and I when we were going through tough times conceiving, was that I had a "2% chance of ever conceiving naturally." I guess Viv wanted to be included in that 2%!

God knew that I needed this little girl, and that my husband and two boys needed her too!  She has brought such a neat dynamic to the family already in one year of life and it has flown by so fast.   I feel like a broken record and it sounds so cliche, but I'm always telling new moms who have their first child, to savor every moment of every day with these precious babies because they grow up before you can blink.  I literally cannot wrap my head around the fact my little girl has been on this earth for a year now.   

Little miss center of attention about to dive into her yummy cake.

I got a glimpse into what joy I could be experiencing as a mother of the bride many many years from now, hopefully;-)  I worked with a repeat customer (family) this weekend, which in my eyes is the ultimate compliment when a makeup client hires you to work with them again!  It was two sisters, the first I had done her wedding over a year ago and was now working with the second one, along with their mother.  Before a year ago, every wedding I did I thought, "I'll always only be the mother of the groom, and never get to experience planning a wedding with a daughter and all the fun that comes with it."  But now, as I worked with this family again, I got really excited at the thought that I could now have the chance to be the mother of the bride one day!  The MOB from this weekend had sent me the sweetest email saying that she was looking forward to having their makeup done again because "that was the most fun part of the day with the first daughter's wedding because they enjoyed being girly together!"

But for now I will quit planning in my head what kind of flowers Viv might pick out for her bouquet on her wedding day, and just enjoy the butter cream flowers that she smashed in her face on her birthday party!  I've never seen a child enjoy a cake as much as she did- no fork or spoon necessary, fingers worked just fine. And the fact that she could have cared less that cake and icing were literally all over her body and under every fingernail, was just too precious and made me wish I had a little one year old in me to where I could just thoroughly enjoy eating cake with reckless abandon!

Happy birthday to Maybelline Great Lash mascara!

And another someone that's enjoying a birthday, is Maybelline Great Lash mascara (you know the famous green and pink tube!) who turns 40 years old this year.  I found a great posting here done by Beauty Junkies Unite website that goes into detail about the limited edition tubes created by a few designers like Vivienne Tam, Tracy Reese, and Max Azria along with some other cool "did you know?" info about the cult mascara.  Apparently these limited tubes were supposed to be in Target as of today, but I was just in there this morning and didn't see them in mine, and you know I was looking to get my hands on one!! But I will keep checking back since I'm there once a week as a mom of three anyway;-)

Are you going to try and grab up one of these limited edition Great Lash tubes for your makeup collection??

Blogger Awards Are Nice!

Hello Hello Everyone!  Happy Friday!!

I just LOVE the blogging world because everyone is SO kind and thoughtful and we're like one big happy lipstick family!! So I was given a blog award by Cotton Candy Ink,  so just like she put it to me, I felt the need to pay it forward by also awarding some of my favorite blogs. Along with some useless information about myself - it's Friday people, let's have some fun!

Me and Viv having fun making silly faces in the mirror!!

Rules:

Link back to the person who gave you this award
Complete the form below
Share 7 random things about yourself
Award 15 bloggers this award and notify them of the award. 
(I actually only truly follow about 7 at the moment, so you get those 7!)

Questions:

Name your favorite color- It changes often. But turquoise right now.

Name your favorite song- Michael Jackson "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"

Name your favorite dessert- Krispy Kreme donuts.

What ticks you off-  Politics.

When you're upset you- cry and internalize it.

Your favorite pet- my papillon Sophie

  

Black or white- White

Your biggest fear-  I can't utter the words.

Best feature- My hair.

Everyday attitude- positive and thankful for another day.

What is perfection-  Unrealistic. 
Everyone has a different view of perfection, so there should be no concrete answer.

Guilty pleasure- Gossip Girl and reality TV- all of it.

7 random things about myself:

1. I could eat macaroni and cheese everyday. 

2. I cried everyday the first week my son went off to kindergarten.

3. My company name is after my granny's siamese cat JennySue... 

4. And that cat's name is a short version of my real name, Jennifer Suzanne.

5. I am a self taught makeup artist.  

6. I would die to meet Heidi Klum and makeup artist Pat McGrath.

7. I fell in love with my husband at first sight at a Halloween haunted house.


7 blogs:

1.  Cheryl's Beauty Blog
2.  City Girl, Island Living
3.  Copacetic in Carolina
4.  Keiko Lynn
5.  Miss Natty's Beauty Diary
6.  Get Gawjus
7.  Lipglossing

HAVE A WONDERFUL FRIDAY EVERYONE!! 

JennySue Makeup Product Review :: KIM Makeup Brushes

Everyone that reads my blog regularly knows how I feel about makeup brushes.  The cheap ones that come in those free gifts from the department store brands...they aren't gonna cut it for me.  An artist is only as good as the brush she paints with!!  I'm a true believer that quality makeup brushes make a huge difference in the way that makeup is applied.

Since you now realize how I feel about brushes, then imagine my joy and elation when I received a few new makeup brushes from KIM Brushes to play with!!  I guess you could relate new brushes to a chef receiving new paring knives for their kitchen.   New tools are always fun.

Brushes from L to R:  Hair mix round F251, Eye medium shader E112, Narrow lip L311

Of course in JennySue Makeup fashion, I dived right into trying out my 3 new brushes, and after my application, realized I might have used two of them the wrong way...oops.  However, they still performed quite well with the products I used- Ha!!  These brushes range from natural hairs to synthetic depending on which one you get. Here are the descriptions of each brush and the way I used them, and the way the KIM website describes they should be used.

This was my everyday look using these 3 brushes:

1.  KIM E112-  (eyes) medium shader brush- $20.  This was the only one I used correctly!  It is just what it says, it is a great flat oval shaped shading brush that I used to apply my two colors from lash to brow (cream) and my (taupe) darker color from lash to crease.  Great size for my eye bed space.

2.  KIM L311- (lips) Narrow lip brush- $9.  This is where I went wrong.  I should have noticed that the first letter in the description of these brushes correlates with the part of the face it goes with (L=lips, F=face, E=eye), duh.  However, I used this lip brush to sweep my crease color underneath my lashes, which actually working quite well and was the perfect sized head to do this without getting color all over my lower lash line!  After doing this and reading over my brushes again, I realized what I'd done, then took my lip gloss and applied it correctly- after cleaning off the shadow first of course!  This narrow brush was also the perfect size for my tiny lips (see lip gloss applied correctly below!).

My comparison of my old Prescriptives bronzer brush (silver on top) to the new KIM one (below).

I liked that the KIM one is a bit smaller so I don't get bronzer all over my face and I can be more precise.

3.  KIM F521- (face) Hair Mix round brush- $39.  I also went wrong here.  Apparently this brush is to be used with wet foundation, however, I used it as my bronzing brush, oops. It just looked so much like my old school Prescriptives bronzer brush I got a long time ago, I just assumed it was for bronzer.

But guess what- it worked with my bronzer and I actually loved it bc it has a smaller head on it and I was able to be more precise with applying my bronzer right underneath the apples of my cheeks without it interfering with my blush color.


OVERALL OPINION.  Overall, I think these are great brushes and the prices are very comparable to say MAC brushes which are some of my favorites.
My only beef with them, (and this is me being really picky) is that I found where the handle (black part) meets the silver brush attachment that the bristles are secured into, is not a flush smooth transition.

Handle comparison pic.  KIM brush on top, my MAC brush below. It sticks out slightly. 

All 3 brushes stuck out a bit at this area which I had to adjust where I was holding my brush bc it bugged me that it wasn't flush.  But once I held it elsewhere, I was happy!!  The bristles on all 3 brushes though were wonderful, soft, and blended beautifully.  Check out the complete KIM website here to see their brush sets which take the confusion out of which brushes to buy for yourself! They come in basic, full , and professional.

And for all you ladies that have been questioning how to clean your beloved brushes (yes, not only do quality brushes apply makeup better, so do CLEAN brushes!), you can check out my previous blog here on that subject.

Have you tried KIM?  What did you think?  How important are good quality makeup brushes to you?


This product was sent to me for consideration only from KIM pr department.  I was not paid for this review.  All opinions are my own- as usual;-)

SuSTAINable Eco-Friendly Cosmetics

I must admit, I don't own, nor do I know enough about eco-friendly cosmetic products as I'd like to.  

We do our part in my house to be as environmentally conscious as possible- we recycle (is there anyone that DOESN'T these days??), my husband constantly reminds me to turn off the lights when I'm not in a room (more to save $ from skyrocketing power bills than anything though!), and I try to go without washing my hair every 2-3 days to save water (let me specify something- I shower, I just don't always wash the hair which is actually really good for it to have a break every now and then!).   So I decided to do a little investigating into the world of eco-conscious beauty products.

My suSTAINable cheeks and lips thanks to eco friendly Tarte cosmetics!!

Did you notice my little play on words here in the title? I'm also going to include a "how to get the most natural looking "stain" on your cheeks and lips" at the end of the blog after I fill you in on some great cosmetic and skin care companies who have a commitment to "sustainable" products.

So what constitutes a "green" beauty product??  Weellll, there are a few things that can define a product to be green, however, I'm pretty positive I won't list them all, but these are the heavy hitters:

• Proven commitment to sustainability ( hence, my play on words title!). This means the product has the capability of being continued with minimal long term effects on the environment.  Basically this product was created without doing major harm to our precious environment.  For a more descriptive long winded version/description, go to Wikipedia here.
• Never tested on Animals.  The FDA doesn't require most cosmetics to be tested on animals anyway, so why would anyone do it??  Animals aren't a good judge of what a lipstick can do for my complexion, so don't test on that cute white mouse please.
• Doesn't contain chemicals such as sulfates, parabens, and phthalates.  These are three of the major hard hitting chemicals that are supposedly not very enviro friendly.  So they (the eco-pros) suggest you stay away from products that include these ingredients if you want to stay green.

Former model, now cosmetic mogul, Josie Maran in front of her eco-friendly line in Sephora.

Alicia Silverstone, celeb designer for Eco Tools and their vegan friendly beauty tools!

Check out this description of her collection on Ecouterre.com- an amazing online source for 

everything fashion and beauty focusing on sustainability!!

After some research, here are some of the top cosmetic/skin care companies you could take a look into if you want to do an eco-friendly overhaul of your makeup stash:

1.  Tarte Cosmetics - for all things color and cosmetics with let's face it, really cute packaging to boot! It's a full makeup line devoted to healthy and invigorating ingredients that allow you to "be green, be smart, be tarte!" What a witty company! 

2.  Juice Beauty- (thanks Jeannice for the heads up on this one!)  This company was actually featured in InStyle's Best Beauty Buy section this year for best eco friendly moisturizer- their Juice Beauty Green Apple Moisturizer w SPF 15.

3.  Eco Tools- they recycle things like aluminum and bamboo to create their affordable line of beauty brushes with professional quality.  InStyle also featured them in their Best Beauty Buy section for 2011!  

4.  Face Naturals- (thanks Stephanie, my skin guru friend- for this heads up also!) Apparently this company has awesome organic deodorants with skin sensitive ingredients- and we all know how sensitive under arms can be!

5.  Josie Maran Cosmetics- this is one model who went cosmetic mogul and designed her own eco friendly line of cosmetics down to packaging and ingredients.  Her magic marker lip and cheek stain gives you the suSTAINable look I created below- (even though mine was with tarte products-same idea though!!)  Notice her products don't contain any of those yucky ingredients I posted above when reading her formulations.

So here's how I used my eco friendly Tarte Jewelry box to create my organic looking natural cheek and lip stain!

Lined my lips with an herbal lip liner by Palladio (not a tarte product)- "nearly nude" to keep my stain from spreading all over my face!

This is the color I used from my tarte box (a punchy pink color), for my lips and cheeks.  I used my finger for the most natural looking of applications!  Really any of these colors could have been used tho.

 I took my pinky to apply this because I have pretty small lips and didn't want it going everywhere.

I pressed the color in really hard, blotted with a tissue, then pressed the same color in again.

This repeat step keeps the color truer, longer.

 Same idea for cheeks.  I used my middle finger this time to apply two dots on the very top of each cheek.

Rub those two dots into the skin in a circular motion to give the most flushed dewy look!

Final product.  

This tarte gloss did double duty while doing good for the environment with their products!  

So did I miss some of your favorite environmentally sound cosmetic products?? Let me and my followers know!  

My Makeup Wish List For August

There are a few makeup items that I'm really dying to get my hands on this month.  Without further ado, here they are:

1.  Lancome has two products I feel like I must have.  The first is their new Hypnose Doll Lashes mascara ($25) that claims to give you the doll-like look.  What a beautiful way to describe lashes I would definitely want.

Ad campaign for the Lancome Doll Lashes mascara.

Y'all know I've always voiced my opinion that cheap mascara is the way to go, but I have a feeling this one might prove me wrong- just because their Definicils is one $$ mascara I have actually paid department store prices for and liked.

The second Lancome product, is their new red lipstick from their fall 2011 collection, St. Honore ($29) that was reviewed here by one of my favorite lipstick gurus, Michelle from Lipstick Rules.  I know 40 bucks sounds kinda ridiculous for a lipstick, but from her review, kinda makes you think twice and that it  just might be worth it!!

Poppy King for J. Crew tube of the perfect colored lipstick.

2.  Onto one more lipstick...do you see a theme here??  J.Crew has teamed up with the real Lipstick Queen, Poppy King, for a universally flattering coral/red shade that is on the sheer side (which I just talked about how sheer is the way to go when wanting to look youthful here!).  I was fortunate enough to get a mini interview here with this fine lady right when I first started my blog (how nice for her to take time out for a beginner blogger!).  This tube is the only color offered, but apparently once you buy it, you wouldn't need anymore choices, this is the perfect shade for fall.

Who wouldn't want to resemble a J.Crew model anyway??  They always look so effortlessly put together and polished without overdoing it.

3.  Benefit's Cha Cha Tint ($29) sounds like the perfect sister, or maybe cousin, color to the original deep raspberry Benetint I wore for years.

This product is the same idea of a stain with a fingernail polish- like brush to apply with, but is a more punchy summery sunny mango color!  It sounds lovely and might be an easier color to wear for most skin tones than the original.

4.  And one thing that was on my jewelry wish list (makeup for my fingers!), but I actually fulfilled it, is the big bold knuckle ring done in a hammered metal. 

I remember coming across a pic of Vanessa Hudgens wearing one in a magazine like this above, but I couldn't find one here in town that went quite as high up the knuckle as hers does. But the one I got will do!

I love it bc it has a bit of bling (fake of course!) in it.


What items are on your makeup or jewelry wish list this fall season?  Is there a trend I'm forgetting??