Genie in a bottle..

Seriously.. I know I've been quiet lately, work has gotten crazy busy, and I've also been gearing up for a little special something of my own, which will be announced later this week. 
I talked about a great concealer palette not too long ago, but I must confess.. I have discovered something 10 times better -- and WAY cheaper! I cannot say enough about the Maybelline - Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser Treatment Concealer.

It's really like an eraser.. no bull.  I use it to conceal everything.. and it blows every other concealer I've used out of the water.  It's a pen shaped tube with a little puff applicator on the tip that the concealer flows out of.  You twist the red ring directly below the puff to make more concealer come out.
A small amount of product comes out of the puff, so when you swipe the applicator across your skin you aren't getting that cakey look. It's very lightweight so you can't even tell you have anything on.

I wish I would have discovered this concealer ages ago.. it is SO awesome.  I love applying it and watching imperfections disappear instantly! 

If you've ever taken my advice on a product.. this is it.. you won't regret it.  The color I use is Medium 130 which looks dark in the tube, but comes out perfect on the skin. You can buy this fabulous concealer at places like Target, Walmart and Walgreens for around $9. 

Hope you lovelies have a great Monday and stay tuned for my big announcement later this week!

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard

Foundation Frenzy

I don't know about you ladies, but finding a good foundation that works for me has been a HUGE challenge over the years.  I've never had good luck with a liquid that has the coverage I want, doesn't make me oily looking, stays on all day and has a good color match.  Welp, those days are gone!!  A little over a week ago I was browsing the makeup isles at Target and decided to try Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup with SPF 20.

This makeup is absolutely perfect for me! It's affordable, provides medium/full coverage, is lightweight (meaning you don't feel like you even have makeup on) and goes on easily.  I was a little unsure on what color I should try, so I went one shade lighter than what I would've normally chosen (because you can always add bronzer for a sunkissed glow.. instead of having a too dark face and white neck)  Turns out, the color I picked matches perfect and I don't have to do any crazy blending to make my face match my neck anymore!

Some people think liquid makeup is scary.. mainly because they don't know how to apply it properly.  Below is a video I found on YouTube that breaks down different ways to apply liquid makeup, and which one works the best.  Sponge vs Fingers vs Brushes.

Stippling is my preferred method.. and I use is the Sonia Kashuk Hightlighting Brush.  It's a flat top, dense, duo fiber brush (with white and black fibers) -- also known as a "skunk brush".  Keep in mind when using a brush like this.. you only want the makeup to touch the white fibers, so your black ones should never get dirty.

So if you want to try out this foundation, it can be purchased at places like Target, Walmart and Walgreen's for around $12, and the Sonia Kashuk stippling brush can be purchased at Target for $13.

My color is 60 - Natural Beige

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard

DIY Makeup Magnet Board

Happy Monday!  I've had several requests for a tutorial on this, but I made mine before I had my blog (so I didn't take pictures of every step) but I will explain how to do it.  This is probably my favorite DIY project that I've done, because I use my makeup board daily.

 

What you'll need:
- Empty frame (use an old picture frame or you can buy empty ones at Hobby Lobby)
- Fabric of any color/print measured to cover the open area of the frame
- Sheet metal
- Hot glue or super glue
- Magnets (I used small and large round magnets from Lowes)
- Spray adhesive
- Makeup

Measure your frame's opening (where the glass is.. or just measure the glass you took out).  This measurement defines the amount of fabric you'll need, and what size sheet metal you will need to purchase.

Put it all together:
1. Spray the spray adhesive all over the piece of sheet metal, then place your fabric directly on top of it.  Be sure to smooth out all the wrinkles and bubbles before the adhesive dries.

2. After your fabric is secured to your metal, you can now place your metal into the frame (just like you would put a picture in a frame).  You can either run a line of hot glue/super glue/gorilla glue along all of the edges before you place the metal in, or do it after.. whatever you prefer.  The glue will hold the metal into place. If your frame has old prongs on it, then you may not need glue at all.. you can just bend the prongs to hold the metal in place.

3. After your glue has had enough time to try, you can flip your frame over and admire your work.  I shook mine back and forth a little bit to ensure I had a secure connection. The metal is a little bit heavy and can wobble a little bit.

4. Now gather all of your makeup, magnets and glue!  For large eyeshadow palettes, I used four large round magnets (1 in each corner) and for everything else I used one or two small round magnets.

5. After all your makeup is magnetized.. add them to your board and hang it on your wall! 

I absolutely love my makeup board.  I can now see all my beautiful palettes, powders, mascaras, etc.. and they stay much cleaner!  I hope this tutorial helped.  I plan on making a few more of these in the future, so when I do, I'll take pictures of each step and revise this tutorial.

Hope you lovelies have fun with this project. :)

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard

Window of opportunity

Whew! This has been a busy week, and I haven't had much time to blog about new products or projects.. so I just wanted post a few items that I have for sale.  I have a few extra old window panes lying around that I haven't designated for projects yet, so just incase any of you are having trouble finding any good ones, I have three available. I tried to clean the glass panes up on them and get off the excess paint chips that were dangling.

This one is probably my favorite -- a two pane window, and on the top is the metal lock for $15

This one has the perfect amount of paint chipped off and a missing pane in the left corner *which adds more character, in my opinion.* (I have an identical one in my living room -- along with the missing pane) and it also has two ropes on each side and a metal lock on top for $20

This one has a significant amount of paint chipped off, so you could really sand off the rest and paint it whatever color you wanted, and all glass panes are in place, a piece of rope on one side, and the metal lock on top for $20

If you are interested in purchasing any of these old windows, email, text or shoot me a message on Facebook.  Also.. feel free to tell me about any items that you may be on the hunt for.. I'll be glad to help!

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard

Are you THready..

or not? Stop laughing at my title, I'm just trying to make you grin on this lovely Tuesday afternoon, okay? :)  Today I'm going to hit on the latest eyebrow shaping trend (at least the latest in my book).. Eyebrow Threading!  I was way late jumping on this bandwagon, but I'm so glad I did.  I remember walking through the mall and seeing those little kiosks with girls getting after some eyebrows with tiny pieces of thread, and I always thought "Gee, that's kinda cool, but I have no eyebrows as it is.. so it wouldn't work for me."  I totally thought wrong. 

I finally tried out eyebrow threading a few months ago, and oh my gosh, I love it!!  I have crappy, thin, poorly shaped eyebrows (or at least.. I used to) and I figured I'd fork out a few bucks to see what girlfriend could do, and she worked some magic!  It takes a little longer than waxing, but the results are gorgeous.  She shaped my brows better than any wax ever could have.  I now have an arch, for real.  Granted, I do still use my Smashbox Brow Tech To Go to color in the thin areas, but I no longer have to draw on a shape, if that makes sense. 

They take two pieces of thread and twist them back and forth all over the skin to pull out multiple hairs at once (similar to waxing) but without the heat, stickiness, or potential skin damage.  The sensation is similar to plucking. Check out this YouTube Video for a better idea. (this video is not from the place I go - it just explains how it works). 

If you want to try it out, there is a kiosk at Central Mall, directly across from Victoria's Secret.  It costs $11 for this treatment. 

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard

Palettes for a princess..

Hello beautiful girls.. I hope you all had a productive weekend!  As you all know, Chris and I were in Nacogdoches, TX visiting his parents for the weekend.. so I didn't tackle any projects, but I did find some great items for future projects!  Nac is antique central, so their prices were crazy high, but we went to a place in Redland, TX called Paul Nerren's Junk Barn.. and the title fit perfectly!  This place was a huge junk pile (literally), but it was the mecca for DIY craft/repurposing projects.  I nabbed a bunch of goodies for minimal moola.  I'll show you what I got later in the week.  Also.. hello, the guys from American Pickers had been there! :)  Anyway.. I have something fabulous to share with you today.

I'm a sucker for eyeshadow palettes, I never can have enough!  My favorites are from Coastal Scents.  They feature 88 color palettes for around $20!  They offer a multitude of palettes (matte, shimmer, bold colors, neutrals, etc) and you can combine multiple palettes for a great price, too.  These colors are all very wearable and offer endless looks!  They stay put and are vibrant on the skin. 

I own the following palettes:
Metal Mania
Mirage
Original 88
Warm

They also have blush, lip and face palettes as well.  I have yet to try any of these.. but I have a few on my Christmas list! :)

I've shopped around on different websites, but I usually purchase directly from Coastal Scents because their pricing isn't any different from what I've found on Amazon or eBay.  So check these palettes out and let me know your thoughts!  As always, I have a link posted under the "Product Links" tab.

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard

Everyone needs a guardian angel

As you all know, I'm super hard on my hair.. especially with hot tools, and today I'm going to tell you about two affordable and yummy smelling hair products that will help protect your hair from the blow dryer and flat iron.

Got2Be has a line called Guardian Angel which is a trio of heat protectant hair products.  Blow Out Lotion, Flat Iron Balm and another one for curling irons (I've never used it, so I can't speak for it here).  The packaging has changed slightly.. so they may be named something else, but you get the drift.

After you get out of the shower, towel dry your hair then saturate it with the Blow Out Lotion (black bottle) then blow dry as usual.  Before you use the flat iron, spritz your tresses with the Flat Iron Balm (yellow bottle).  Both of these products smell SO good.. I love them.  They are priced well and really work.  You can purchase any of the Got2Be Guardian Angel Trio from places like Walgreens for around $6 a piece.  I can't remember if they carry it at Target.. I've always gotten mine from Walgreens.

The hubs and I are in Nacogdoches this weekend visiting his parents, so hopefully we'll find some good future projects while we're here this weekend.  Keep your fingers crossed!  Hope you lovelies have a wonderful weekend!

Lots of love.
-- Kali @ The Pink Leopard