{Guest Series} The Best of Me-A Little Slice of Special

Welcome to today's Best of Me guest!

I'm excited that today's post is about makeup!  I love makeup and thought this would be perfect since Valentine's Day is around the corner...so take a tip or two and spice it up this year!

Well hey there- my name is Lori and I blog over at A Little Slice of Special.  

Jennifer asked me to write up a guest post and I right away suggested I write up a best of post on beauty... I was so happy to hear that was what Jennifer was hoping I would do!  

Now, you might be wondering, why should I be writing anything about beauty?  Well, I am by no means a professional, I haven't had any training, and I've never even read a book about makeup techniques (when it comes to makeup I'm a magazine, blog, and pinterest kinda gal!).   All I do know is I love playing with makeup.  I have since I was about 13.  I've always had a daily makeup routine and been willing to try new products and trends.  

Ok, back to the best of.  Since before I committed my blog to being a structured beauty and style blog about 8 months ago I would often write up posts and share pictures about fun new products I got or a look I tried to copy or create.  About 10 months ago my best friend asked me for a makeup tutorial from the most basic steps, everyday methods, and then super funtastic out there eye makeup.

Eventually this turned into a 10 part tutorial series and since then I've been doing lots of eye tutorials...but first...the basics.

Lesson 1:  Getting your face ready for makeup application.

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/02/make-up-lesson-1-starting-from-base-and.html

Lesson 2:  Primer, Concealer, Foundation Variation, etc.

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/02/makeup-lesson-2-foundations-concealers.html

Lesson 3:  Mascara

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/02/mas-scary-nodont-be-afraid-its-your.html

Lesson 4: Liners

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/02/not-all-liners-are-created-equal.html

Lesson 5: Understanding different kinds of liner

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/03/liner-swatches.html

Lesson 6:  Cream and Gel Blushes

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/03/trickycream-and-gel-blushes.html

Lesson 7:  The basic Cat Eye

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/03/cat-eyemeow.html

Lesson 8: Brows

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/03/brows-and-easy-purple-eye.html

Lesson 9:  Contouring, highlighter and bronzer

Coming Soon...because apparently Blogger ate it?!

Lesson 10:  Working with eyes of different shapes and sizes

http://lorilynn-alittlesliceofspecial.blogspot.com/2011/03/help-i-cant-find-my-eye-lids-eye-shadow.html

I'd love to do more specific tutorials about makeup tips and tricks in general but I need some requests to inspire me (hint hint wink wink!)  Just a few weeks ago, I committed to Makeup Monday, and I'd love to feature some general tutorials amongst my unending need to play with eye makeup and lipstick!  So leave a comment here, on my blog, on facebook, e-mail me or tweet me with your requests and/or questions!

***

Because I wanted to create something new and special to be posted on Vintage Gwen I decided to tackle two of the trickiest eye makeup looks.  The smokey eye and the cat eye...both of which are perfect for that Valentines Day Date (and in my case-whenever the heck I feel like it!)

The first step is to prep your lids, this holds true for both options, I like to add concealer or a really creamy foundation to my entire lid, another option is primer, feel free to use both!  Then I like to dust a thick layer of translucent loose powder below my eye (this will catch any dark debris while doing your eye makeup and can easily be brushed away when you're done!  When doing a cat eye it's best to stick to a neutral shadow palate.  Sometimes I wear a single neutral color but for a little extra drama I chose to do a very light 3 color neutral eye.  To take some of the matching guess work out I'm a big fan of the maybelline 3 color shadow sets.  I apply the lightest shade from lashes to brow, the second darkest color to just my lid, and the darkest in the crease.

When you're happy with your line just add several coats of black mascara.  I love the drama of black but it's absolutely legit to use a brown shades of liner and mascara!  Now all you have to do is finish your look with a lip product of choice...

And now for the smokey eye...

And there you have it...two awesome kinda fancy Valentines Day options!  Thanks so much for letting me guest post on Vintage Gwen, I hope I've done you proud!  XoXo Lori Lynn

Ah! I'm prouder than proud! I really need to try the cat eye and setting spray!  Wasn't this so fun?

Be sure and check out Lori for more beauty fun!

Happy Thursday!