Hello Readers,

A little, unknown fact about me is that, besides makeup and skincare, another passion of mine is working on film projects. I have worked on many student film projects and have worked in a variety of different film production roles. I've been a makeup artist, an actress, a director, and a film editor just to name a few. Below are two music videos I have co-directed/wrote/designed/edited/etc. with my good friend, Julia Rodriguez for the Boomtown Music Video Races. 

"Waiting" by Frail (2016)

"Once Were Young" by Dolly Rockers (2015)

I am proud of creating these music videos in only two weeks splitting the work between two people (and having only one actress)! Do you have any hobbies or skills people don't really know about? Let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, readers!

Skincare Woes, Is It Me or My Surroundings?

Hello Readers!

Long time, no blog! I've recently moved to an entirely new area and into a new job, which has really slowed down my blogging. Well, I now have my routine down, and I'm back to talk about makeup.

So recently, I've moved from a humid, warm climate to a much less humid, but still warm climate. I never realized that a three and a half hour move from my hometown would give me so many skin issues! In my hometown, I had my skin routine down to an exact science and my complexion was nearly perfect (with only an occasional blemish). Now I'm breaking out with painful papules (more information on acne), and it's been a mess to figure out what went wrong with my skincare routine.

Now, if you're new to skincare and want some amazing resources I'm a big fan of the Asian Beauty subreddit! The resource links on the side bar have amazing information!

Part of me is wondering if it has anything to do with my reintroduction of the Clarisonic back into my skincare routine. Though many claim it's gentle enough for daily use, I just can't bring myself to believe it. Partially, I feel that's due to my sensitive skin. However, as gentle as some of the brush head attachments are, it still has some exfoliation qualities and over-exfoliating the skin can always lead to trouble.

So, here's hoping to figuring out my skin care issues in this new environment and adapting! I plan on doing a large post in the future of my favorite skincare products.

That's all for now!

My First Makeup-Based Podcasts

Hello readers!

So, for my college class I have to record a series of 5, two minute long podcasts and add them to my blog. I did my podcasts over the Kylie Lip Kits by Kylie Cosmetics and my general distaste for Kylie Jenner and her products! So if you like makeup and a little bit of humor, please give them a listen and let me know what you think!

xoxo,

Amanda

My First Brow Tutorial

So, after years of people telling me I should do tutorials, I did one! It's really quick, because I did it for a class. I could only make a 3-4 minute video, and it ended up taking me forever. I actually filmed 2 different brow looks, but for times sake I edited down to just one!

So do me a favor, comment on my video and subscribe to my youtube channel, I plan on giving this tutorial thing another go, maybe something on eyeshadow!

That's all for now!

A Successful Boomtown Film & Music Festival

Last week, I discussed my involvement with Boomtown Film & Music Festival! Well, yesterday was the last day of the festival, and I was so excited to get to meet and hang out with Hollywood MUA (that's short for Makeup Artist) Ignacia Soto-Aguilar!

A cute selfie with Ignacia!

Ignacia's "Secrets of Film Makeup" panel went very well! She did a beauty makeup demonstration on how to achieve that "makeup no makeup" look! She also did a quick wound (which she asked me not to post because she only had less than 10 minutes to do it, and the humidity didn't allow the material to set right, lol). We were all really impressed with it, though! In an upcoming blog post, I plan on posting the footage from the panel.

Ignacia chatting with the model, McKenzie.

A picture of Ignacia, her model, McKenzie, and I.

One of my favorite parts of the panel was seeing her makeup set-up. It was so drool-worthy!

This is what dreams are made of.

When she arrived she told me this was a bag she just "threw together," I was thoroughly impressed, but what could you expect from the woman who's client list includes Nicholas Cage, Robert de Niro, and Jessica Biel.

Goals!!!

She was a pleasure to work with, and if you're interested in seeing more of her work, she's on Instagram as Ignaciamakeup!

To end this post, I'm going to share some looks I wore at Boomtown this weekend. Readers, let me know which look you would like to see me do a tutorial on, in an upcoming post I am going to do my first makeup tutorial!

A weird angle, but I was proud of the shape of my lipstick.

Thanks for reading!

Boomtown Festival: Something For Everyone (Including Makeup Lovers)

Besides being a makeup-obsessed, skincare junkie and student at Lamar, I am also an intern to the non-profit, Boomtown Film & Music Festival!

Boom, baby!

What is Boomtown you ask, completely ignoring the link, because your time is precious and you want answers now? Fret not my friends, here is the quick and dirty on Boomtown!

Boomtown Film & Music Festival is a nine year old, 3 day long, festival dedicated to showing Beaumont, TX the best of local music, film, and arts, while also giving them a taste of some fabulous films and artists from around the world!

This annual festival will be February 25th-27th, at multiple venues in Beaumont, Texas. I can not even begin to describe all exciting happenings that will occur on these three fabulous nights! However, I will spill on the thing I am most excited about, and if you know me or my blog, you can bet your bottom dollar it's makeup-related!

So, wanna know what I am most excited about?

Well, Boomtown is hosting an actual Hollywood makeup artist, Ignacia Soto-Aguilar! Her works include The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and MTV's Scream: The TV Series! Click her name to see her official IMDB web page!

Look how natural and flawless she looks!

This Saturday at 3:45 P.M. at the Jefferson Theater in Beaumont, TX, Ignacia will be doing the panel The Secrets to Film Makeup. She will be answering any questions we have regarding makeup in the film industry, as well as do a beauty AND special effects makeup demo! I can't wait to see what glorious, gory creation she will make for us!

If you are interested in buying tickets and witnessing this makeup professional at work, please click here !

Before I say my goodbyes, I must ask my readers, what sort of questions would YOU ask a Hollywood makeup artist? Or, if you could work on ANY film, past or present, what film would you work on?

That's all for now, my lovelies!

My Go To Makeup Look

I'm going to be very honest with y'all. I am a super procrastinator and definitely not a morning person. I'm the type of person to press the snooze button until the very last minute. That being said, one of the goals I have recently set for myself was to start doing my makeup more often.

So, today I want to share with you my go to makeup look for days when I don't have tons of time to apply makeup.

A good example of my daily look.

If I don't have a lot of time, and I can only choose a couple of features to focus on, my brows come first. Nothing make me feel more put together than putting my brows on. I use Anastasia Beverly Hills' Brow Wiz in Soft Brown. I have used Taupe in the past, but I just love a dark, bold brow. Over that I use Benefit's Gimme Brow Eyebrow Gel in Light/Medium, to hold them in place and define the hairs on my brow.

Cute, natural-looking brows!

So little product does so much work!

After that, I only put on two coats of mascara, because I know that if I start doing eyeshadow or eyeliner during a time crunch, I WILL mess up and be very upset. I am currently using Too Faced's "Better Than Sex" Mascara. It only comes in black. 

I love the formula of the mascara and the brush shape!

For my face makeup, I apply a primer, then follow up with NARS tinted moisturizer in Terre Neuve. I add concealer where needed. Next I do a quick contour with a taupe colored eye shadow, followed up with a dusty-rose colored blush. I finish my face with a highlighter on the top of my cheekbones, my chin, my nose, and a lot on the cupid's bow of my lip. My favorite highlighter I have used thus far is NARS' Albatross. It is a gorgeous white-gold, shimmery powder. 

I usually don't have time to apply a pigmented lipstick during crunch time, I usually opt in for a tinted lip balm or gloss. However, when I do, I love liquid lipsticks! In this look, I'm wearing Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II. 

Here comes the smolder. Ha!

So there you go, a quick look at my quick look! If you have any questions regarding this look, or have any suggestions on what else you would like to see, let me know in the comments below!

Until next time!