Brazilian Keratin Treatment

Sooooo....yesterday (11/2) I went ahead and got my Brazilian Keratin Treatment done (woohoo!). I wanted to share my experience with my followers because...well...I don't know! Maybe it'll help someone?! Haha. Anyway...moving forward. First off, let me explain what the brazilian keratin treatment is *switches page to go to google's search bar* ahem, it is- also called Brazilian Keratin Treatment, BKT, Brazilian Blowout, Escova Progressiva, Keratin Cure or Keratin Straightening) are a method of temporarily straightening hair by sealing a liquid keratin and a preservative solution into the hair with a flat iron. There are rumors of it being unsafe, but I know formula's have changed and what-not so do your own research and make your own decision. This is my second time having this done, and I obviously didn't die the first time. (: This lasts about 5 months depending on how well you take care of it and the cost of it depends on your hair type, length, and texture (mine was 250$), using sulfate free products and keeping your hair as healthy as possible really helps. I don't recommend this for everyone, my hair is curly, frizzy, BIG, unmanageable, BIG, damaged, and BIG. If your hair is none of the above listed, then this probably isn't for you. The process is really simple, the stylist washes and blow dries your hair. Then she sections it into tiny sections to begin applying the product until the hair is completely saturated. After that she blow dries the hair again, and flat irons it to seal the deal. The WORST part about the entire experience is the fact that I can't wash my hair for FOUR days because the product needs to sit and penetrate. I'm currently on day 2, I can't put any clips or pins in my hair and to avoid denting, I'm sleeping on a satin pillow case. My hair feels AMAZING. Its soft, silky, and super duper shiney. I went from wash-n-fro to wash-n-go. I don't really have much more to say other then its awesome and that I'll post pictures time to time to update everyone on my progress with it! Here's a pic from earlier, excuse my face, I had just finished work and shopping but let me tell you my hair is NEVER that shiney. Its normally very dull and yucky looking :)

How to: Clean your makeup brushes (my way).

Hey everyone! and welcome back to my blog :) It's been a while since I posted a blog but I reaaaallly felt the need to do a blog post on this. I get asked a lot about how I clean my brushes so following this intro will be a detailed post on how I give my little babies a bath :) (try to contain your excitement).

First, to begin we need dirty brushes (check). 

Next two products we are going to be using are normal household products, no need for a fancy brush cleanser. I like to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil (say what?!) I know, you're probably thinking I've gone a bit off the deep end but fear not, I promise you this stuff works miracles. Next thing you will need, well...you dont NEED it but if you want your brushes squeeky clean and sanitized like mine, then use this next product. Dawn Dish Soap with Olay hand renewal. Again, WHAT?! I promise, I'll explain as the blog goes on...just bear with me :)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is like the magic oil when it comes to washing brushes, it breaks down the makeup that is packed tight into your hair of your brushes. Without this, my brushes don't come out half as clean. I don't use this on all of my brushes, only on ones with heavy, built up makeup. Such as, eyeshadow and eyeliner brushes. As for the dawn, I use this A) because its antibacterial, B) because it has the olay hand renewal which serves as a conditioner for my brushes and leaves them soft/fluffy. I love fluffy. C) because I wash my dishes with this and I don't have to go out and buy a fancy, expensive brush cleaner that doesn't work as good! Yay for household items with multiple uses! :)

Now, lets begin cleaning...shall we?!

Take your dirty brush, and dip it in a little bowl that has a small layer of EVOO at the bottom...

it should look like this...yum

Next thing you are going to want to do is grab a paper towel, fold it in half (so the oil doesn't seep through to your table) and GENTLY swirl your brush onto it. I emphasized gently because you don't want you be too rough with your bristles, prolonging the life of your brushes is good for saving money. What you will see is something like the picture below, kinda gross to think that stuff is being distributed onto your face, huh? Pimples, breakouts, blackheads, noooo thank you !! Moving forward...

Once this step is finished we can move on to the washing part, so we will need to go over to the sink...the first thing you should do is make sure you use luke warm water. Not too hot, not too cold. Give the brush a good rinse to get the oil loosened up, (on the brushes that don't have oil, its still a good idea to get them damp before using the dawn). IMPORTANT; do not get water in where the metal meets the handle of the brush. This can cause the wood to rot and your brush can fall apart right before your eyes :'(

  

Next, I take my dish soap and fill a bowl (small one like the one I used for my oil) a little at a time. With my damp brush, I dip it into the bowl with my dish soap. After that, I again, gently swirl the brush in the palm of my hand then rinse it clean. Give a thorough rinse because you don't want any oil or soap left over on the brushes. If the brush feels slippery or isn't rinsing clear water then repeat the cleansing step and rinse a little more. There is no such thing as too much rinsing...scouts honor. :)

The final product should look like this. . . 

squeeky clean lookin' right? told ya...

last but not least, squeeze excess water out of brushes so that they look similar to their original shape and lay them babies out to dry! 

Happy brush cleaning :)

Beauty Tip Blog!

HI!, I guess you can say this is my first official blog, YAY :) and I'm dedicating it to sharing *some* of my beauty expertiseeee with YOU.

I'm going to break it down into categories: Hair, Skin & Makeup!

I know, I know, you are probably trying *SO* hard to contain your excitement right now :p

Lets begin, shall we?! 

So, starting with HAIR <3 

Who *really* wants to walk around with straggly, untamed, lifeless hair? besides my jack russell, I'm guessing NOBODY...haha.

....moving forward.

It's a shame that the beauty industry gives off the vibe that if you don't spend millions, you can't look like a million bucks.

WRONG.

Ditch the idea of spending hundreds on your hair (unless you got it like that) haha.

With a few simple tips and tricks, I can help you and your hair, look fabulous :)

LET THE TIPS BEGIN!

1: drink a lot of water, EVERY DAY!

the adequate intake for a woman is 2.2 liters (8-9 cups) a day.

2: avoid heat as much as possible, no not the heat from the sun, hot tools.

Let your hair dry naturally as much as possible, and if you HAVE to use heat, use a heat protectant EVERY time. I've found a lot of heatless ways to style my hair, and they have helped me avoid the urge for heat styling for the time being. I'm trying to give my hair a rest.

3: get on google, and look up all natural hair treatments, you will find thousands of inexpensive, do it yourself, hair treatments specifically for your hair type. My person favorite at the moment is the honey mask. Before I shower, I put some honey (i dont measure it, sorry) in a small bowl, and heat it down to a liquid. Then I apply it root to end, and place a shower cap on for about 15 minutes. Then I rinse it out with a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner. My hair has never been so soft, and shiny. If you try this, let me know :)

Let's talk SKIN.

1: again, back to basics, drink a lot of water.

2: put together a skin regiment, make sure it includes: a moisturizer with at least SPF 15, exfoliant, toner, eye & lip creams are optional. Exfoliating your skin weekly removes all of your dead skin cells, and leaves your skin refreshed. Toners help balance the Ph of your skin after using a facial cleanser. There are also all natural remedies for all of this, so get your butt on google or ask me if you are interested :)

3: WASH OFF YOUR MAKEUP, I can't stress this enough, allowing your makeup to sit and seep into your skin is allowing foreign oils and dirt to clog your pores. Mascara picks up all kinds of bacteria during the day, you don't want that hanging out on your eyes while you sleep. >.<

Last but not least, MAKEUP <3

1: my number one tip for makeup is practice, practice, practice...no, I'm not saying practice to be a makeup artist but if you like to wear makeup, make sure you aren't walking around with eyeliner so thick that you resemble a racoon, haha. Unless of course, you love racoons then more power too you. 

2: like all things, find what works for YOU...if thats just some mascara and some foundation thats fine. But make sure your foundation is the right shade, do you have warm or cool undertones, is it the right formula, all of that stuff. In order to find the right shade of foundation, the BEST place to swatch is on your jawline. You don't want your face a different color then your neck, right ?! 

3: Before you spend hundreds that you don't have, on makeup...look around. There are SO many cheaper (high quality) alternatives on the market now, you just have too look. 

I hope that this helped someone out there, hope you all are having an amazing day/night :)

Welcome . . .

hello there & welcome to my blog :)

first off, lets get started with the basics of who i am and what this blog is going to be about, shall we?!

My name is Briana (for those of you who dont know), and I started this blog for a couple of reasons, one of them is for networking & the other one is to spread my knowledge of hair, skin, and makeup to those willing to learn.

( sound good so far? ;] )

As for my backround, I attended beauty school in 2007 & esthetics school in 2009, both were great experiences but your probably wondering where i actually learned how to do makeup....here is the answer;

I GOT MY BUTT ON THE COMPUTER & RESEARCHED.

i found a gillion makeup artist's on youtube & i got inspired.

i started recreating looks step by step, and i eventually branched off into creating my own stuff. I started free-lancing about a year ago & from the minute i met my first client, i knew this is what i wanted to do for the rest of my life, i love feeling like i've brought confidence out in someone, that they didn't even know existed :)

I could talk about why i love this industry so much for days but i'll stop here for now haha :). FYI- anything i write in this blog is strictly based on my opinion & knowledge, so either take it or leave it.

I'll be updating this pretty often so keep an eye out <3