My 1st trip to IMATS LA 2010 at the Pasadena Convention Center

Today is the last day of IMATS LA 2010 at the Pasadena Convention Center. I heard about the tradeshow last year and was bummed that I missed it, I had never been before and when I found out that two of my favorite YouTube Gurus were going to be speaking I figured I couldn’t miss this in addition to getting the chance to try products I’d seen in magazines, blogs, and TV. I attend Saturday and Sunday but since I’m not a pro Make-up Artist I had to constantly remind myself not to buy stuff that I don’t need right now! None of my friends are into make-up like me so I went by myself and had the best two days of my life in a really long time! I made sure to wear flat shoes, bring a bag for my purchases, and a clean face. I figured “Why put on makeup, there will be a million MUA’s to beat my face! “ Unfortunately I looked a hot greasy mess in these pictures. Lol

 The first person I met while waiting in line to buy my Exhibition Hall ticket was Petrilude. I was so excited to meet him because I enjoy his Youtube videos and I’m also a fan on his Facebook page. About one month prior to IMATS he did a video on the “Nude Lips” and mentioned some helpful tips for women of color. I usually watch tutorials/videos on my blackberry or on my laptop when I have free time but after I saw his video I ended up making my very first YouTube response video. I had no idea he would be there because I didn’t see his video on IMATS so when I saw him I gave him a hug without asking first and accidentally got his face wet from my wet hair! (Who does that!... he probably thought I was a “Psycho Fan” but he was gracious and kind enough to take a picture with me! Lol)

Immediately after purchasing  my ticket I was on my way into the Exhibition Hall where all the vendors were unfortunately I didn’t have my bracelet so I had to turn around and grab it otherwise they don’t let you in the door, so as I was searching for the line I saw Lauren aka the Queen of Blending. Hers were some of the 1^st makeup videos that I ran across on Youtube I admire her work and she often stresses that you don’t have to only use MAC products, in fact one of the brushes she uses in many of her videos is a Sonia Kashuk brush that you can get from Target. Not only is she is talented, she is just as beautiful in person and although she was busy working at the OCC booth  she gave two suggestions that would match my complexion in the OCC Lip Tar for a nude lip. Yup I’m still on the search for the perfect color J

As soon as I walked into the Hall who do I see? Ren Ren aka MakeupbyRenRen. I couldn’t believe my luck, she was one of the reasons I decided to attend! I’ve been subscribed to her channel since 2008 along with Lauren. Last Friday Ren Ren posted a video on preparing for IMATS and after seeing hers and EnKoreMakeup videos I was even more excited about going. Ren Ren is gorgeous in person as well and I have to say she is just as sweet in person as she is in her videos. Yaaaaay, Team Ren Ren! I was really happy that I got the chance to met her and the person who took the pic was no other than Leina aka MakeupByLeinaBaaaby, hot damn can the day get any better?

Once again talk about luck! Heres the backstory: A couple of months ago I made a Nicky Minaj playlist (videos, interviews, and even threw in 2 makeup tutorials), when I first walked into the Convention Center I headed straight for the longest line which turned out to be the “Will Call” line. I saw a girl walking past that looked familiar but I paid it no attention. Well the same girl offered to take the picture of Ren Ren and myself and I thought again “this girl sure does look familiar and damn her makeup is bangin!” It turned out to be MakeupbyLeinababy the same girl who did the Nicky makeup tutorials! Wow what a coincidence, I didn’t expect to met her but boy was it a treat to meet such a sweet and talented girl.

As I was watching airbrushing at the Dinair booth I saw Kandee Johnson. I had just fanned her Facebook page on Friday and here I am getting a chance to met her! Meeting Kandee was wonderful because she is extremely personable and down to earth, here is a picture Kandee’s mom took of us. “Yaaay Kandee & Mama Kandee” Lol

While waiting in line to purchase some lip gloss (no surprise that it was yet another attempt at finding a nude lip color) from the Eve Pearl line I got a chance to meet Eve herself. 

Once again another nice and talented lady who took the time to meet / take a picture with me, suggested which of her foundations would match my complexion best, and encouraged me to go to her Sunday class called The flawless Face: Women of Color. By the way it was a great class because I learned lots of helpful tips on applying everyday make-up using her products for high def cameras (salmon concealer, ect). After the class I got a chance to met one of the models Eve worked on and the makeup was blended well, looked great in person an hour later, matched her complexion well.

Sweets are a girl's best friend!

A friend and I had been making plans to go to lunch at the Farmer's Market. We ended up going on Tuesday and we had a great time. I got my lunch from the little Cajun place called "The Gumbo Pot" and my friend got a French dip from "Phil's". I have to say that both of us enjoyed our food which was good because there is nothing that I hate more than to get excited about trying something new and it be a total let down! After we ate our food I tried to convince my friend to stop by Pinkberry to get a sample but it was a no go! This ended up being a good thing because he had just mentioned last week that he watched a show that talked about a place that made great coconut cupcakes that wasn't far from the Farmer's Market. I whipped out my blackberry to get directions and started driving. I ended up down the street at Joan's on Third and boy was I amped. First off, I didn't trip off the fact that the parking sucks because I was just excited to get some dessert! As soon as I walked up to the door I fell in love. The store is so cute and the set up reminds me of Meryl Streep's store in that movie "It's Complicated". Joan's on Third has all kinds of gourmet stuff but what caught my attention was all of the sweets. I settled on a strawberry cream puff and damn it was good! My friend got a Coconut cupcake and he also got a Snickers cupcake that I couldn't seem to snag a bite of for the life of me! Lol I did however get a bite of the coconut cupcake and I even took a picture of both cupcakes to taunt all my Facebook friends with.  The cream puff left me wanting more so I found myself driving to Inglewood. I ended up at Harriet's Cheesecake Unlimited for a slice of Praline Cheesecake and all I can say is "Daaaaaaaang it was good!" I was told to ask for all the "fixins" which is carmel and nuts on top of this big hunk of cheesecake and I totally think its worth the 6 bucks for slice.

How I personalized my make-up brush

Every time I go to the make-up counter at the department store I notice that some make-up artists have nail polish on the tip of their brushes. One day I asked a girl putting blush on me "Why do you have polish on the tip of your brush especially after spending good money on it?". She then explained to me that it helps identify her brush if it got mixed up with another MUA's brush while working. I started thinking and decided it would be a good thing for me to do the same, not that I'm a MUA but because I wanted a cool way to personalize my brush so here is what I came up with.

My two favorite birthday gifts and Infatuation with Hello Kitty

So, besides my early birthday gift of my new “President Barak Obama” I also got these cool Hello Kitty Floor Mats for my car. My mom presented me with them before my b-day dinner at Taylors Steak House here in LA (yum yum). I had been eyeing the mats for a while and told myself that my Hello Kitty Air freshener would be lonely if there were no mats to accompany it! I absolutely love Hello Kitty, I’ve had this love since I was a little girl.

At one point I even had the Hello Kitty Water Cooler

at my desk at work along with matching mouse and mouse pad…crazy right? Is there anybody out there who loves the kitty as much as me? I mean I know I’m not alone here! Is it a little over the top for me to check my lip gloss by grabbing my Hello Kitty mirror from my purse, or covering the Verizon logo on my cell phone with a Hello Kitty sticker, or even pay bills using Hello Kitty Personal Checks?

China Glaze Mom’s Chiffon

Ok guys, as promised here is a picture of the China Glaze Mom’s Chiffon. I think this is definitely one of my fave pink colors because it reminds me of one of those vibrant colors they use for lip and clothing colors on African American Barbie and Skipper dolls! I applied 3 coats and noticed that it dries slightly darker than bottle color. I also applied 2 coats of the No-chip top coat. What I love about China Glaze is that it dries quickly and it truly does seem to have the “Hardners” that they mention on the bottle, I mean my nails really feel strong!

P.S. I have been taking “a million and one” pics using my goofy camera phone and I promise that I will offer better pics once I get my digital camera….but with paying rent, car note, and all the other monthly bills not to mention my car registration is due this month a sista had to weigh her options! Lol, Thanks for reading

Beauty from the Earth Mineral Pigments/MAC Dupes

So I decided to get some pigment samples of Beauty from the Earth since I saw a couple of videos on Youtube using some really vibrant colors. I placed my order on 1/26/09 and received it today 1/29/09. I got 10 samples along with a complimentary sample. My order inclusive of shipping and handeling was $14, $4 for S& H. The colors I got are:

Lemon, Sunshine & Carribean

Crush, Harvest & Tangerine

Raspberry, Isis & Chocolate

Sage & Emerald

After applying the pigments with a dab of Visine I realized that three of the colors are good dupes for MAC colors! The following are my suggestions:

• Crush can be substituted for Expensive Pink
• Raspberry can be substituted for Hepcat
• Harvest can be substituted for Coppering

Hope this helps and have a great day!

My Eighty Eight Beauty Supply Haul

Yay, I finally got my shipment from Eighty Eight Beauty Supply. I placed my order on a friday afternoon (1/9/09) and received it on friday(1/23/09). I would have received it on Thursday but I was at work so the mailman sent my package to the post office, Grrrrr! If you are looking for a great prices for China Glaze Nail Lacquer then you need to go to this website because a bottle of the Nail Lacquer is only $2.68 compared to $5.99 which is the sale price at Sally's Beauty Supply! My total order came to $43.63 which included $12.00 Shipping and Handeling and I received:

• 10 bottles of CG Nail Lacquer


• 1 bottle of CG No-Chip Top Coat


• 1 Nail buffer

So far, I tried out the nail buffer and painted my nails with For Audrey and I must say that I absolutely love this color and I will definately be buying more of the nail buffers.

The name of the nail buffer is Flash Shiner by Design Nail it's only $1.88 and this buffer is the bomb! My nails looked like they had been painted with a coat of clear polish after buffing with the 3 step system and the total time to get both hands buffed was less than 8 minutes. The other colors I got were:

• Secret Periwink-le
• Mom's Chiffon
• Second-Hand Silk
• Heirloom Organza
• Japanese Koi
• VIII
• Liquid Leather
• Rich & Famous
• White on White

I'm excited to wear Secret Periwink-le because it's almost an exact match to one of the colors in my Obama t-shirt.

I have to say, I think my haul has some great color choices because they are bright and bold. I prefer to post pics of the colors on my nails instead of in the bottle which I will do soon. One tip that I think will help you out with ordering colors from this site or any site is: If you want to see what the true color of the nail polish is

1. go to Google
2. click Shopping
3. type in the name of the product Ex: China Glaze Liquid Leather

Hope this tips helps and thanks for reading!