Brow 101

Wow those brows.

Eyebrows have been trend setting recently and I have totally jumped on the  bandwagon. 

No shame here. 

I actually never thought twice about my brows when it came to my makeup routine until Pinterest informed me of all the possibilities.  

Now I can't get enough! 

Eyebrows are what frame your face! Think about it, you would never hang a picture on the wall without a frame.. Why leave the house without your eyebrows done????

This is an easy 3-step tutorial on how to fill your own brows. 

My biggest tip to make sure they still look natural, and not over done, is to just follow the shape of your brow. 

If you do not like the shape, see a professional and have them shape then for you! 

Below are my favorite go to brow products. 

Half & half = Sonia k & elf. 

Both purchased at target. 

Elf eyebrow kit- this kit has 2 tones for you to custom blend & match your brows perfectly! One is a liquid gel base, and the other a powder consistency. 

Sonia k brow gel- is applied on a mascara like brush, it is availabe in multiple tones. I bought the one closest to my brow color. 

Brushes:

Sonia k- is the gold one, with a brush & comb. The comb side is usually used for your lashes, and I prefer to use the brush side to tame your brows. 

Elf- is the white one, and I like the small tip of the brush! I find it easy to use when applying the elf brow gel & powder. 

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Now for the DIY part ! 

It's as easy as 1,2,3 !

In this photo I currently only have foundation and mascara on. 

Nothing else. 

Step 1: I take this time to use the white side of this brush, and comb all of my eyebrows up towards my forehead so that I can get underneath my brow easier when I begin filling them in. 

This is after I have combed the brow. You can clearly see how thin, patchy & not cute; my eyebrows are. 

They look so naked. 

Step 2:  now that those crazy brow hairs are out of the way I use my elf brush and the darker color, which is the gel based product to fill in my brow working from the bottom up! 

Viola! Already looking human again !! 

Step 3: lastly I use this brow gel brush to comb the crazy hairs down, and fill in a little more around the top better while giving my brows a setting product. I love this gel as it last all day & finishes the eyebrows nicely keeping them looking soft and subtle. 

See? It's that simple! 

Here is the comparable of one brow done. You can see the difference and how it just finishes a face. It makes my eyes look bigger & fresh. 

I did no extra shapping, I just followed the lines of my natural brows. 

I can't imagine going a day without filling them in now. Aside from mascara it's the ONLY thing I must have done to leave the house. All other make up routines are debatable! 

Hope this quick fix helps & you enjoy it!

Xoxo-Molly. 

Hair Extensions

Long hair don't care! 

We all want what we don't have, especially when it comes to hair.
If you have curly hair, you wish it was straight.
If you have brown hair, you wish it was blonde.
If you have short hair, you wish it was long.

Or vise versa!

My hair history consists of being naturally blonde, but has seen every spectrum of the color wheel thanks to beauty school and experimentation. I had longer hair growing up, and like most cosmetologist I chopped it all off the first chance I got in school. It has been an uphill battle ever since. My hair is very fine and honestly, looks it's best at a medium to short length, however that does not grant my wishes of wanting long, luscious, Rapunzel hair!

So thank God there are extensions!

I personally have done my fair share of them. from clip ins, to glue to micro link beads.
For those of you who don't know the difference, take a chill pill, I will totally fill you in.

Clip in extensions:

I am a fan of clip in extensions the most, due to the fact that
I change my mind as much as I change my clothes.
First things first, make sure when purchasing you only buy the kind that are 100% real human hair.
Remy hair is the best in my opinion. Remy, just meaning all the hair strands are flowing in the same direction giving you soft, shiny, luxurious locks.
I like having the option to take them out whenever I want, but they can still be used like real hair.
You can color them, cut them, wash & style them. I recommend using certain shampoo and conditioners that cater to the needs of extensions, as well as specific BRUSH.

Here is a before an after of clip in extensions I did on my friend krystin.

The key when applying them is sectioning & teasing. 

Work your way from the bottom up. Most packs of extensions come with 4 large strands and 4-6 little pieces. Use the larger ones in the back for the round of your head, and the smaller ones in the front to fill in around your face. Tease as you go! I think you will see best results when you tease your natural hair before clipping in the extension hair. It will secure the strands and allow them to stay in longer, as well as feeling more natural. 

This is my favorite brand of clip in extensions that can be found at Sally's beauty supplies. 

I used my clip in extensions for my own wedding. Even though my hair was all up, like I mentioned before my hair is very thin and fine. I needed more hair than I had on my head to complete the style I was wanting for my big day. 

Glue extensions:

I did glue in hair extensions as a quick fix before going on a vacation. I personally did not have the best experience with these. However it was most likely my own fault. I purchased a cheap set of hair that had some synthetic hair woven in with human hair. Which is why I recommend 100% human hair. I couldn't flat iron or curl them without some of the hair melting.  YIKES!

The removal process was also tragic. I used the recommend glue removal products, but I still lost a lot of my own hair when removing the individual strands of extensions. It was also quite painful at times.

micro link beaded extensions:

These are my 2nd favorite. They were a good solution for me when I was getting my engagement photos taken and wanted to add some length to my hair, as well as test out a more permanent option for the wedding day. Obviously I went with the clip ins still, but that was because I ended up choosing a style that was all up. I would have done the micro link's if I chose a style that left most or all of my hair down. I feel the micro link hair looked more natural than clip ins when left down. 

It was a time consuming process, as it took 4 hours to apply them. These extensions are secured one strand at a time with a bead that is simply pressed flat with what looks like needle nose pliers. 

Above you can see the process and how they are actually attached near the scalp. The last photo is after they were cut and styled, as I showed them off at a Jason Adean concert with my husband. Below is how they turned out in some of our engagement photos.

xoxo- Molly.