Cranberry Love

As the leaves start to change shades and fall to the ground, that warm and fuzzy feeling of seasons changing from summer to fall arises and memories of cozying up next to the fire with a hot chocolate flood my mind.

What I also love about seasons changing are the sultry and warm fashion and beauty colors. One of my favorites this season is a deep cranberry hue, which has been majorly trending in stores and magazines this fall. Dark lips are the 'it' statement for beauty followed by cranberry accessories, dresses, and sweaters for fashion.

Check out some of my fave choices below:

Cranberry Love by pumps-and-lipstick featuring Butter London

Butter London nail polish
beautybar.com

Vegan purse
$48 - shopmozzypop.com

Elizabeth Arden cream lipstick
beauty.com

Matte finish lipstick
etsy.com

Beauty Trend I'm Tempted to Try: Matte Lipstick

I remember first dabbling into makeup. At age 11, sneaking into my mom's makeup bags in the morning when she wasn't looking and snatching a tube of lip gloss. Riding shotgun in the car on the way to school, the stolen gloss burned a hole in my jacket pocket. Was it worth stealing borrowing? Absolutely! As soon as she pulled up to the school, I bolted out of her car and dashed over to the girls' bathroom to layer on the pinky sheer gloss. Oooh I thought I was bad!

Many years have passed since my borrowing days and I ventured on to lipsticks. I never strayed too far away from a super moist and glossy look that had captured my heart before my tween years. With the matte lipstick trend on the rise from the Spring 2013 runways of Michael Kors, Burberry, Missoni, Donna Karen and more, I may-- just may-- give matte lips a try. 

The key for this look is for your lips to appear dry, but not chapped, crackly dry. To get it right, apply a matte lipstick in your favorite shade, to avoid cracked lip lines, apply a lip liner, and lastly, gently apply lip balm to keep your pout a tiny bit moist.

Scroll down for matte lip looks:

Images via shefinds.com, hudabeauty.com and fashion-ation.blogspot.com

Look of the Day: Boyfriend Blazer + Short Boots

Ass-kicking workout + Django Unchained + Lunch with a pal = great day. 

lipstick: Media by M.A.C, blush: Gentle by M.A.C, eyeshadow: Corduroy by M.A.C, foundation: Bare Minerals in Tan, mascara: Clinique 'High Impact Mascara', eyeliner: Smashbox

blazer: H&M, tank: Old Navy, jeans: Gap, boots: Enzo Angiolini, scarf: H&M

Leather + Leopard + SF Mission District

Every now and then I like to get lost in my surroundings. Whether I'm in the city, suburbs, parks or even in my own neighborhood, the explorer in me takes note of what's going on in the world. 

When shooting for last week's Friday Feature, we came across amazing artwork alongside a building on the smallest street in SF (not sure if it's in fact the smallest, but it seemed pretty damn small to me!). 

Here are several shots of the artwork and yours truly sporting my favorites: leather and leopard. 

Makeup Fun

Over the weekend, my M.A.C makeup artist friend, Sherena Mercer, and I had a ton of fun. The type of fun I'm talking about includes dabbling with shadows, swirling powders, lining lids and blotting lips. As I approached her home, she warned me that she had a dramatic look in mind. I assured her that I was game for anything since I knew that her work would turn out fabulous. Girl, was I in for a treat!

So here's the dramatic transformation from start to finish:

Face:

• Foundation: Bare Minerals in 'Tan'
• Primer: Laura Mercier oil free foundation primer
• Highlight: M.A.C 'Whisper of Guilt'
• Blush: M.A.C 'Gingerly'
• T-Zone Primer: M.A.C Prep + Prime Skin Refined Zone

Eyes:

• Lid: M.A.C eyeshadow 'Black Tied'
• Crease: M.A.C eyeshadow 'Sketch'
• Under Brow: Tarte eyeshadow in 'Georgia Peach'
• Top Liner: Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in 'Stage Dive'
• Top Liner: Makeup Forever black Aqua Creamliner
• Bottom Liner: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil
• Mascara: M.A.C False Lash in black
• Primer: Urban Decay Eye Potion

Lips:

• Lipstick: Sephora in 'Pop Star'
• Lip Gloss: M.A.C Dazzle Glass in 'Funtabulous'

Stay tuned this week for more on SF native, makeup extraordinaire, Sherena Mercer this week!

MAC Impulse Shopping

MAC is a dangerous place. Not sure why I can't seem to just buy the one thing I intended on buying. Instead, I leave with two additional items as well. It's the same situation at Target too! Ain't I right, ladies? 

In my post on Black Cherry lip shades, I mentioned that I lost one of my lipsticks in that beautiful deep shade. So you know I just had to replenish and share:

In the bag: eye shadow in Corduroy, satin lipstick in Media, and eye brow pencil in Spiked. 

Happy girl in satin lipstick in Media shade.

All photos are original. All rights reserved.

Fall Makeup Trend: Black Cherry Lipstick

My most favorite lip shade for Fall and Winter is Black Cherry-- a deep burnt red blended with plum. It's the epitome of sultry, velvet and sexy. Every woman that wears this shade, has a 'come hither' look about them. It took me some time to get used to a darker shade on my lips since I'm used to brighter hues, but it turned into a beautiful relationship. And of course, when I want to blog about Black Cherry lipstick, I lose my friggin' lipstick! You know what that means...off to Sephora I go! 

Peep the shades below:

Maybelline New York - Plum Perfect

Bobbi Brown Big Rich Color - Crimson

Images via Allure.com

Makeup Look For Tonight...

Thinking about recycling this look for 'girls night'. Thoughts?

Please excuse the flyaways :)

Powder: Bare Escentuals in Tan

Blush: MAC in Gentle

Eyeshadow: MAC in Woodwinked

Mascara: MAC False Lashes in Black (don't get confused, these are my natural lashes.)

Lipstick: Satin MAC Red

Photo is original. All rights reserved.

Move Over Red

In a super-confident and fearless mood, selecting a red lip is a great lip color to choose. When looking for a change, try a tangerine lip color this summer! There's a wide range of tangerine so, don't say 'no' yet! This particular lip color looks best as a super slick and wet look, which simply needs a coat or two of a high shine lip gloss. Try Nars lipgloss in Wonder or Dolce & Gabbana Ultra Shine lipgloss in Secret for fabulous, high gloss tangerine lips.

For the smoothest lips, try the following steps to get an irresistible pout:

1. Cleanse: when washing your face, work your cleanser into your lips to lift up makeup and oils.
2. Scrub: exfoliate your lips with one of the following to scrub away dead skin: lip exfoliating balm, a soft toothbrush, a power-cleansing brush like Clarisonic or a wet face towel.
3. Plump: to pump up your lips, apply a lip plumper to tickle your lips to full-size.
4. Moisturize: take a swipe of balm to seal in lip plumper and to hydrate. No one likes chapped lips, honey!

Feeling tangy for tangerine? Loving the summer lip look? Let me know in the comment box!