DIY Bronzer!

Good morning everyone! I'm actually up before 9am today, which is insane, but despite how much my eyes hurt I kind of enjoy it. I made this bronzer about two weeks ago and I've just been taking my time with posting the tutorial. No reason for that, just being lazy. I definitely didn't come up with this myself but I did alter it a bit to what I saw. Meaning I couldn't find what actually inspired me to make this so I just decided to go with the flow. Worked out well though.

Just gunna let you know now, I only made one variation of it (the very light one) so if you want more colour or depth etc you're gunna have to experiment with your ingredient ratios.

And so we'll begin. 

You're gunna need: 

1. Corn starch/Icing sugar 
2. Essential Oil
3. Nutmeg
4. Cinnamon
5. Cocoa
6. An empty bronzer container

Ingredients

1. Start out by cleaning out your bronzer container. You can make a loose variation of this, so if you want to do that just put it in a small jar or tupperware thing.

RIP

 2. Start by adding:

1.  1 tbsp cinnamon
2. 1 teaspoon nutmeg
3. 1 teaspoon cocoa 

This step is where you can alter it to the shade you want. Remember that cinnamon = glow, cocoa = darkness, and nutmeg = browny golden colour. Add more/less accordingly. I ended up adding another half teaspoon of cinnamon and a bit more nutmeg.

Used my fancy square bowl for aesthetic purposes.

3. Add 2 tsp corn starch or icing sugar. I had icing sugar pictured, but I changed my mind half way through because I was afraid I might break out because of it.

I hate buying no name brand stuff because I think it's hideously packaged.

 4. Mix 'er all together.

Yup.

 5. Don't keep your laptop too close by if you like to listen to music or whatever while you do this.. I still have ingredients all over it.

ps: If you like folk/acoustic music, I'm listening to this right now, check it out it's good http://8tracks.com/northernground/early-mornings-vol-3

 6. Essential Oil... Let's not talk about why I have this, but this is all I had in replacement for essential oils at home. Yeah it's massage oil, what can I say. It smelled like cinnamon so I rolled with it. I was nervous that it wouldn't harden the way it would if I used essential oils but it did the trick. However, when I make this again (which I will) I'll make sure to get some of the real stuff.

Add 10-15 drops of whatever 'oil' you have. Just get it wet, but not too wet. No pun intended. Moisten it. Goddamn it.

If you want the loose variation, skip this step. Obviously. 

Yeah... just.. yeah.

 7. Pack it all into your container and flatten it out with a spoon or your fingers. Try to make sure it's flush with the edges of the container or once it dries you'll have a hard time closing it.

You're gunna have to let it sit for a couple hours to dry, I put mine on the window sill so the sun would help.

That's it.

Voila!

 So that's all it takes to make bronzer at home. It's cheap, easy, and I'd say it works pretty well. Mine is really subtle but it's nice for days when I don't really want to wear makeup. And it smells unreal.

I wear it every day, haven't noticed any substantial breakouts or anything. It's holding up well for the most part. I feel like if I used essential oil instead my brush would be able to pick it up better. Next time I might try it as a loose powder.

Here are some obligatory selfies over time to show you how it looks. I'm not really sure how to take pictures that emphasize bronzer so.. yeah. This is what you get.

Just bronzer.

Wolf shirt.

Me at this very moment. So happy to be awake, you can see. 

There you have it, kids. Make your own bronzer, save yourself 14 bucks.
Happy Friday :)

ChelC-3P0

Braid Crown & Side-pinned curls

Alas, another made up name for another random hair shpeal I did. I must be pretty darn creative since I still have so many hair ideas that I'm dying to try and see how it looks in real life. That being said, if anyone wants to be a hair model for the purpose of our blog, please let me know, my hair isn't nearly long enough to do ANYTHING with and I don't always get the chance to see Chelsea and Kaitlyn.
Anyway, here's what I did to my hair last night. I was bored a week ago waiting for people to come over for a girls night and ended up doing something similar to this, so last night I tried to recreate it. I came pretty close.



So basically I did one french braid at the front of my head then did three normal braids that just chilled in my hair.. I don't know how else to explain that bit.



For the most part I hid the elastics by tucking it into the curls. Anyway, what you'll wanna do is pin your hair to the side of your preference and then curl it.



Et VOILA! A braid crown with side-pinned curls!



Side note, this is what I did a few weeks ago that I tried to reproduce.


taken via Instagram

Four-Braid Low Bun

Sure, I'm making up names for most of these hair styles, but I think they're relatively appropriate.
Anyway, my cousin's having an engagement party this weekend and even though it's nothing particularly formal, I thought that since I'll probably just wear a summer dress with comfortable flats, I may as well have a presentable head of hair considering it's too short to ever do anything to it on a regular basis. So I tried this number on my own head, and I think it turned out fairly well. I might just point out that my hair is only shoulder length, making it really hard to do waterfall braids and standard french braids or "only grab from the bottom strand" french braids (I don't know what they're called but that's what I did for this). Also my hair was still wet and to be honest, I didn't brush it, I just ran my fingers through my hair to get out the tangles so it doesn't look as great as it should, but bear with me.

You gotta give me credit for getting this shot. I had to pull some crazy yoga business to get my arms in the proper position for my dslr to focus and what not; turned out fairly decent though.

The "Somewhat" Instructions

Okay so I can't explain exactly how I did it step by step, but essentially, the two top-most braids on either side of the head are waterfall braids that I tied at the middle with a black elastic (because it can hide with my hair colour). If you have blonde hair or whatever other colour hair that black elastics wouldn't be ideal with, just use clear ones.
Okay, So given the fact that it's a waterfall braid, you'll have all that hair chillin at the bottom so with that I did a french braid on either side, but this is where it gets hard to explain. If you notice in the picture, it doesn't look like a french braid because only one side is connected to the braid itself. That's because you only pull hair with the bottom strand. I guess that makes absolutely no sense without a visual but whatever. I'm bad at explaining how to do hair. Deal with it.

Anyway, because there are four braids--two on either side--they connect in the middle. If you have short nasty hair like me, then you tuck it in behind the counterpart braid. I know that doesn't make sense either.. I apologize for my crappy, somewhat instructions!
Anyway.. Once the braid-ends are tucked into the counterpart braids, you just pin it so that it's secure and HIDDEN. None of that prickly braid-end bullocks; after doing that, it'll naturally form a bun
So yeah, it should look similar to what I have. If you have longer hair, you'll probably end up with a larger bun. If you have shorter hair then me, I'm sorry to say, but you won't be able to do it. 

Et Voila! Four-Braid Low Bun!

ENJOY! :)

czaR2-D2

DIY: Facial & Body Scrub

Good morning (not really). I'm at work right now, but I don't have anything else to do right now so I'll share this recipe for a facial/body scrub with you guys. I'm a huge fan of exfoliants and scrubs in general, but they can get pretty expensive if you're buying them in-store. So what I started doing was making my own. I can almost guaruntee you'll have all the ingredients in your kitchen, and it'll deliver the same results. This one you can use for face or body, I used it for both. Just keep quantity in mind when measuring ingredients because it sucks when you run out mid-shower. 

You'll need: 

• Honey
• Olive oil (preferably extra virgin)
• Cinnamon
• Grapefruit (or a citrus of your choice)
• Sugar (you can use brown or white, whatever you've got)                   

Like I said.. there's a bit of freedom with this recipe.



Honey, EVOO, Cinnamon, Grapefruit, Sugar

1. Artfully line up all your ingredients and take a moment to remember your life (and skin) before you made this scrub.

 

The cinnamon has several awesome skin benfits. I forget where I first learned that, but it's a favourite trick of mine. It's good for acne, eczima, and it just generally smells good. I have a million uses for cinnamon so I'm sure you'll see those soon.

 2. Start with dry ingredients. I never measure anything.. (it all comes from the heart) so just add ingredients accordingly. A bowl this size had just enough for my face and body. Anyways, add the cinnamon into the bowl. Pretty complicated stuff.

The sugar is good for a few reasons. Obviously it works as the main exfoliant, but it also doesn't clog pores, it fights blemishes and it doesn't fuck around with your skins oil balance.

3. Add a fairly large amount of sugar... this should be proportional to how much scrub you want to have, cause this is the scrubby bit of it. Less sugar, less scrub, oui?

Citrus time. Obviously has a great amount of vitamin C. Also helps to unblock pores, prevent blemishes, etc. Grapefruit in particular is good for anti-aging and sunspots. So if you're gross and peeling like me, it's a good choice.

4. Squeeze about half a grapefruit into the mixture. Or a whole lemon. Or two limes. Or whatever you want really, this is a blog it's not the law.

Honey is relatively good for acne treatment, but it's also an awesome moisturizer.

5. Add quite a bit of honey into the bowl, the honey makes it easier to apply, and if you use it as a mask on your face after exfoliating it'll be less drippy.

Olive oil is an amazing moisturizer. This and the honey combined are what will make your skin feel so awesome and smooth after. It lasts too, which is the best part.

                          
6. Throw some EVOO up in there. You don't need too much, just a teaspoon or so. 
                   

Don't forget to tell your friend to take creepy pictures of you through the mirror!

                        
7. Apply all over your face, and with any exfoliant don't scrub so hard that you rip your skin off. If you have any specifically peely areas like I did, you can focus on them but still only scrub gently so you don't damage anything.

Yeah... yeah.  

                         
8. Leave it on your face for your desired amount of time. If you have to do laundry, keep it on and go throw a load in. If you feel disgusting, wash it off. Again, you've got some freedom here.

Once you wash it off I guaruntee your face will feel brand new. The olive oil makes it feel suuuuper nice after, and it'll smell great too.


Legs:
When you're in the shower, give your pores some time to open up. Use the scrub on your legs until you feel sufficiently scrubbed, and then shave them. Rinse, scrub and shave one more time and after you will have the softest legs on the planet. If you have a hair respawn rate of 4mm per second, then it'll be short lived, but if you're lucky enough to have good genes then you'll be a happy camper for at least 24 hours.

Body:
Just go to town with the leftover scrub and enjoy the results.

* If you have any essential oils at home (if you're one of those people who has stuff like that lying around) then feel free to throw a couple drops of that in there too. If you own them I'll assume you already understand their benefits so I won't rant about that.

There'll be some more DIY spa treatments up eventually so keep checking up! Until then, happy scrubbing. Now go make people touch your legs.

ChelC-3P0

ChelC-3P0's every day makeup tutorial

Alright! So I did this a while ago... "did" is kind of an overstatement, but bear with me. I tend to get compliments on my makeup fairly often, so I thought I'd spread the love and let you guys know what kind of products I use and how I use them. I intended to make it a Lana Del Rey inspired look, but I fucked up my extensions and could only do half my hair, and I also really have no idea how to actually make them look nice... but I tried, and that's all that matters. Here is a relatively half ass tutorial for how I usually do my makeup, all the products I used will be pictured below. 

 1. Obviously start with a cleansed/moisturized face. If you have a primer that you really like, then go ahead and use it. I've had a couple that I really like but the one that I currently have isn't the best (super greasy) so I just opted to go without it.

 2. If my skin is bad, I'll put a really thin layer of foundation on before my concealer just so I have a relatively even skin tone. It's not always a necessary step, and sometimes it feels a bit cakey, but I hate when I'm blotchy so I just deal with it. I use a 5-shade concealer pallette because I almost always need brightness and redness corrector (dark circles, acne scars, etc) So, use the light purple sparingly underneath my eyes, and the green over top of any scars or pimples or general redness you want to be covered up. Over top of that DAB, don't spread the other concealer that matches your skin tone. I usually use a makeup sponge and just spot it around until everything is properly blended.

 3. Go over everything lightly with a powder. I'll usually use a loose translucent, but I have a loose tinted one as well that I like. Pressed is fine too, it's really just personal preference.. or whatever you find in your makeup bag. It's just to make sure the concealer doesn't look make you look greasy.

 4. Bronzer and blush! DO NOT go crazy with bronzer. I don't care if it's the middle of july and you bake in the sun for 12 hours a day, nobody looks good when their entire face is the same shade of orange. I usually use a large powder brush, and I'll take a very light bronzer and go on the tops of my cheeks, my nose, forehead and chin... basically all over. I'll put a little more emphasis on my cheeks, and using a smaller powder brush I'll use a little blush right where the sun would normally burn my face (I don't know what that spot is actually called, just put it wherever looks natural)

 4. Eyeliner. I have one specific eyeliner I LOVE and unfortunately I couldn't find it anywhere, so I had to make due with some random ones I stole from my sister. My eyes are usually what I get the most compliments on. I'm a fan of the cat eye, because I rarely wear mascara on my bottom lashes and my eyes are already massive so it just emphasizes them a bit more. If you have small eyes, it'll help open them up.

 5. To get a good angle going, just extend from your bottom lashline upwards until you reach a spot you think is good. I usually extend mine pretty far out, and depending on the occasion you can make it more/less dramatic.

 6. The worst and most frustrating part about this is getting your eyes to match! Despite several emotional breakdowns, I eventually got better. Start from the inner corner of your eye and bring the eyeliner all the way across the top, thickness is up to you, and stop right when you get to the outer corner of your eye. Then, connect the line you drew outwards before. I like to make mine straight because I think it looks better when my eye is closed.

 7. Do your other eye to the best of your abilities.

 8. Cursed with Romanian gypsy eyebrows, I have become an obsessive compulsive plucker. So lately I've had to fill in my eyebrows just so they look relatively decent. I usually use a pencil, but if you have an angle brush and a powder (sometimes I'll just use eyeshadow) that works too.

 9. So this is where I attempted to do my hair... This is more or less my natural hair.

 10. Obligatory "I don't know how the fuck to use these" picture. I actually lucked out finding extensions that were my exact hair colour, and I got them with the intention to make my hair less boring.. I've used them once, and it was for a bun. Great investment right?

 11. I managed to do one side of my head Lana Del Rey-ish. I couldn't make the other side look right, and these ones barely did. I tried though! Don't even bother asking me how I did this because it was just a shit ton of trial and error. I used a wand though, if that helps.

 12. Take pouty mirror face pictures of yourself. OH for my lips, I actually just blended concealer and lipstick together because I didn't have a good colour... but usually I use a specific lip gloss that just corrects itself to your lip colour. 

                                      Voila, I look socially acceptable.

Portfolio Professional Correctors, Lise Watier, $31 online (I think I bought it for more in store)

 Best concealer ever. Kinda pricey, upwards of 30 dollars I think... But definitely worth it. I got mine at shoppers drugmart.

O Gloss Intuitive Lip Gloss, SmashBox, $22

 Favorite lipgloss. It tastes good, and it'll change your lips to a really nice colour that compliments your skin tone. It actually changes to a different shade depending on who wears it (I've tested it out) so it always looks right for you. I forget how much it is, but it's Smashbox so again a little pricey in comparison to most lipglosses I'd be willing to purchase.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush, Physicians Formula, $12

For all my facial cosmetics I usually use Physicians Formula. It causes me the least breakouts, it has really great coverage, it looks super natural and they're just great products overall. This blush is really awesome, it isn't obnoxiously pink and it gives you a nice glow. According to the box and the website, it is  "Infused with our Happy Boost Blend, featuring Happy Skin and Euphoryl, natural plant extracts which have been shown to promote a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effect of Endorphins and helping protect the skin from environmental stress."  I have yet to see the effects of that, but for a blush it's great. 

Bronze Booster Glow Boosting Pressed Bronzer, Physicians Formula, $15

 Also physicians formula, this bronzer comes in several shades and it also has that nice radiant glow when you use it. I can usually use this one all over my face because its relatively dull, so it doesn't make me orange or anything. I've tried several of their bronzers but this is the one I'm using right now.

Extreme Art Liquid Eyeliner, Gosh Cosmetics, $16

 The BEST liquid eyeliner I have ever bought in my entire life. It goes on super well, and it stays on forever. Taking it off is kind of an inconvenience, but it's well worth it to not get gross chippy bits or smudgey under eye black circles throughout your day/night. Only downsides are that it takes a little while to dry, so if you have massive eyes like me, blinking too quickly after applying it can be a pain in the ass. Other than that, 5 stars.

Fineline Brow Pencil, Physicians Formula, $5

 I only got this because I'm a fan of the other products, but for the most part an eyebrow pencil is an eyebrow pencil no matter where you're getting it. It lasts, it isn't too goopy.. it's good.

Mineral Wear Talc-Free Mineral Illuminating Powder Duo SPF 16, Physicians Formula, $14

 This is the loose powder I use, it has two shades in it so you can use one side for when you're feeling a bit pasty, the darker side for when you've been in the sun more, or blend them for a perfect shade. Goes on super light and doesn't ever feel too makeuppy.

Great Lash Mascara, Maybelline

 I'm pretty sure everyone that's ever applied mascara has owned at least one of these guys. Always does the trick. I usually use it for just my bottom lashes if I put mascara on them at all, or when I just need to give my eyelashes a pick-me-up I'll throw this on because it's not too obnoxious.

Volum' Express Mega Plush Mascara, Maybelline

 Latest addition to my widely diverse mascara collection. It's great for my top lashes because although they're very long, they're super straight. So it helps them keep their curl and add volume.


Hopefully this was somewhat helpful to you guys, definitely try these products if you get the chance, I swear by them now.
Happy Friday :)
ChelC-3P0