Beauty Queen of Only 18

Flowers blooming, bees buzzing, and finals right around the corner; let me welcome you to the spring semester of my freshman year. During that time, Nicole and I were bored out of our minds studying for midterms and trying to cram everything into our brains. All of the things that we were learning started to sound like "blah, blah, blah, blah". And like usual, I came into Nicole's room to bother her as she clicked away at her Tumblr. I had this grand announcement of a contest that I wanted us to enter where the grand prize was an Ipad. She was like, "Ipad!?" and I nodded a satisfied "yes!!!" We were totally in. 

The contest was for an up and coming online clothing store. The only rules for the contest were to take a photo of yourself with a product from their store or to dress fashionable with the store in mind. And of course, harass your dorm building mates to vote for you.  I thought to myself, "How hard could that be?" 

So with a borrowed camera and with amateur camera-woman/stylist skills, we crammed a photo shoot on our campus within a span of 3 hours. Not too shabby for beginners at all! 

The next step was pleading and begging for votes, which we did for a month straight. Constantly parading around each dorm that we had access too and asking (forcing) our fellow freshman to vote for us.

So you're probably wondering if we won or not. We didn't. BUT my excuse is that we had finals to study for and got super lazy about asking for votes. But nonetheless, here are the leftovers from the days that we were 18 years old. 

Making Hips Stir Since 2010

I basically took my inner hipster and threw it up on Nicole. That poor girl. But here were the results of what I would like to call "not appropriate for school or work"; complete with the hipster trademark at the time, the beanie, while paired with upcoming trend of corsets.

Child's Play
I aimed for something a little more whimsical with this outfit. I wanted a touch of childhood with an Alice in Wonderland feel and a dash of a modern touch. Thinking about it now, it would be a perfect outfit for a music festival or a carnival! 

Sasha Not-So-Fierce
I believe this is when I started to experiment more with more "hardcore" & "edgy" pieces. Me? Hardcore? Ha! The pleather jacket definitely toughens up the look, along with Nicole's expressions of "take me seriously."With the tank top and heels, the outfit still remains girly and feminine. 

The Starlet
This has to be my absolutely favorite look. The lighting was awesome. The poses were awesome. The entire composition, I feel like, really draws you in. And of course, the awkwardness of taking these photos were awesome as well.

For you guys that attend the same university as Nicole and I, you may recognize the location to be the bathroom of the cafeteria. I have no shame in picking this place, seeing that it is the most beautiful bathroom in the entire campus. I have no doubts that the mood lighting, clean stalls, fancy sinks are all apart of the university's scheme to lure naive potential students and parents alike to pay thousands of dollars for an education here. 

I hope that you guys enjoyed this throwback into our past of when we thought we were so cool for being the dynamic duo that strutted around campus, lugging around accessories and clothes with a huge camera; cause nothing says "cool freshman" like two science majors running around like we worked for Vogue.

Make Up Basics

What was I like in middle school and high school? That's right folks. Awkward and gawky as f$%!. Maybe it was the transition from child to teenager that I never really truly grasped the concept of, but it was definitely a learning process to be the person that I am today, still awkward and gawky. Maybe just a little less so.

While growing up I always had seen my sister apply her make up for school and was fascinated by what a transformation make up can do. How is it that you can look sweet and fresh one minute to look like you're going out for a night on the town? I wanted to know this super lady secret. So slowly and gradually, I experimented. Fumbling through the world of mascaras, lipsticks, eyeliners; I was the definition of a hot mess. Most of the time it looked like I drew with a pen underneath of my eyes and had obnoxious lip colors that made me look like a pale and frigid mannequin. How cute, right? I rather not show you pictures or else you may never look at me the same again. I learned my lessons though, like that blue eye shadow up to your eyebrows was not a good idea or the fact that just doing eyeliner on the bottom half of my eye came off a little strange.

Anyways, since I learned a little bit about makeup since I was 13, here are some of my favorite products that I use on a daily basis no matter the occasion, (and mainly cause these are the things I mainly know how to use).

NYX Stay Matte But Not Flat Powder Foundation in Beige($9.50) - This powder is so silky and smooth and to be honest, it's feels like I'm applying nothing on my face at all. But like magic, all of a sudden my face looks airbrushed and like I had the skin of a 4 year old. It really does it's job. Warning, use with a gentle hand or else you will end up looking like you ran through a beige version of the Color Run. 

E.L.F Essential Eyelid Primer in Natural ($1.00) - I used to be the type of girl that was a brand snob when it came to eyelid primers. I swore by Urban Decay's Primer Potion and did not stray from it for two years. But when my tube of that goop broke, causing contents to dry out, I knew I needed to search for a less expensive alternative. That's where I turned to E.L.F. The company is known for making makeup that is extremely affordable. And at a dollar, I didn't have much to lose. And after about a year of using this product, I would say it's pretty awesome. It holds my eyeliner pretty well and keeps on my eye shadows for a pretty decent amount of time. It definitely doesn't have 24 hour staying power, but it will get you through work day just fine. I purchase this product about every 3 months. So the total cost for an entire year is only $4.00; proving to be a much better deal than any name brand. 

E.L.F. Studio Cream Eyeliner in Black ($3.00) - Here's to another of one of my cheap thrills. Gel eyeliner has always been an essential in my cosmetics bag, and for good reason too. Without it, I feel like I don't look awake, or even alive for that matter. Without it, I get an influx of "you look tired" comments a day. Sad that I now depend on a black line above my eye to avoid looking like a corpse. This eyeliner in particular is super easy to apply and ultra smooth as well. The color payoff can be a little bit watery, but if you wait for the first coat to dry, you can always apply a second coat to get a deeper color. 

*Here's a tip: when shopping around for gel eyeliners, especially if the container is see-through, look for the product to be touching the entire surface of the container. Gel eyeliners that show gaping in between the container and the product itself are usually liners that are already in the process of being dried out. These types of eyeliners typically "shrink" when they lose moisture, causing harder application due to its dry nature. Try and think of using a sharpie that barely has ink left, that should give you a mental picture. 

NYX Slide On Pencil in Jet Black ($8.00) - I'm not too particular when it comes to pencil eyeliners other than the fact that I like my pencils to give a bit less color payoff in general. That may sound strange to any makeup guru, but it's the truth. I only use pencil eyeliner on my bottom lash line and I have grown to notice that the eyeliner stays on longer when the product isn't too creamy or slick. NYX Slide on Pencil does the job well for me. It's easy to apply, and doesn't budge throughout the day. It's truly a perfect fit. 

MAC's Blush in Melba ($21.00) - This has to be the priciest item I have on my list. Funny thing is, it was actually a hand-me-down from my sister. Ever since she gave me this, I have been in love with this product. I never really believed in the power of blush before. I used to think that it was unnecessary and a waste of money. But my friend, Connie, showed me otherwise. One day, I begrudgingly let her put blush on me. With a quick glance at the mirror, I was shocked. From looking like a corpse to looking gorgeously flushed, I was sold. And ever since then, I have depended on my trusty Melba to give me that boost to my skin tone of beige-yellow. It makes me look sun-kissed and like I spent all day looking through antique shops and taking scrolls at the beach. When in reality I have been slaving over a paper for 8 hours in the library. Magic, I tell you. 

Revlon Super Lustrous Cream Lipstick in Berry Rich ($4.50) - Last but most importantly, one of my favorite lipsticks of all time. When I first started off with makeup, lipstick became an ultimate comfort product. I experimented for a while with different shades and they all didn't work for me at all. On a whim when I was at the store with my mom, I decided to pick up this bad boy. I got lucky. The application was smooth. The color was bright enough to lighten up my appearance. Yet it was dark and subtle enough to wear everyday. If I could only choose one lipstick to wear for the rest of my life, this would be the winner. No doubt about it.