My Two Favorite Concealers

My Dearest Beauties,

Concealer is not an easy thing to find for most of us oily girls. A lot of them melt off and others don’t cover up our blemishes enough. I was always in the hunt for the best concealer, I fortunately finally found two instead of one.

The first one is Makeup Forever Full Cover. It is a waterproof concealer that literally doesn’t move. A little bit goes a very long way and it covers the darkest blemishes. I love that, even though, it is very thick it doesn’t look heavy and creasy. It comes in a full range of 12 shades.

My second favorite concealer is Benefit’s boi-ing concealer. This brand isn’t available in Lebanon but you can get hold of their products through their online store. This concealer is heaven, it isn’t as long lasting as the full cover but it still gets the job done perfectly. It doesn’t crease on me at all and it looks exactly like skin. I sometimes use this one as foundation. I apply a very thin layer all over my face; it covers all my imperfections while still looking fairly natural. It is available in five shades.

Tell me which concealers are your favorite in the comments below.

Bisous,

Samar xxo

<<Beauty tips for your 20’s                                                                Reem’s outfits: SequinTouch>>

10 Habits to Start in your 20's

My Dearest Beauties,

Here are my ten tips on habits us young women should get used to. It is never too late to start these but make sure you start ASAP.

1.      Drink water. Water is everything! Make sure you drink your two liters of water daily. It will keep you more beautiful and fabulous than ever.

2.      Exercise. Taking an hour of your day to work a sweat is crucial to staying healthy and beautiful. Investing time and effort into your workout routine is time and effort invested into loving yourself. You don’t have to become a perfectly conditioned athlete in one go but the idea is that you commit and put in all your effort.

3.      Don’t over pluck your eyebrows. Some of us young ladies love a pair of tweezers. Keep away from them! Your eyebrows will get thinner as you get old so don’t throw them out of the party early.

4.      Wear sunscreen. Sun rays can permanently damage your skin. For that reason invest in a high degree sun block and apply it religiously every day. By every day, I mean winter and autumn time included. You may not be able to see the sun beams but they are still present and it is your duty to protect yourself from them.

5.      Take your makeup off every single night. Taking your makeup off at night is crucial for you moisturizer and all of your skin care to do their job (correctly) at night. A clean face has better chances of recovery and reparation.

6.      Dress to impress. Grow into the habit of dressing to impress. I know that confidence starts from the inside but dressing impeccably is a pick me up. You reflect a better version of yourself and people will notice it; people will give you back what you put out there into the world. That doesn’t stop on what you wear.

7.      Moisturize your skin. Your skin is the biggest organ in your body. It takes care of all of those other organs inside and it deserves a lot of attention. The least you can do is moisturize all of your body and face daily. Hydrated skin gets wrinkly slower. You have it in your hands to make time pass by slower, so do it!

8.      Get out of your comfort zone. This is a big one. Don’t fall into the loop ladies. We are here to bring all that we got to every instance in our lives. Build yourself with strength and do things that you otherwise think you can’t and watch how you can surprise yourself. You may discover new passions. You will exhaust your options and therefore live a more fulfilling life. It was only when I got out of my comfort zone that I lost weight, became healthy and took on a different lifestyle.

9.      Love yourself. You are all you got, so admire and love yourself. Nothing wrong with that. You owe it to yourself, your loved ones, your family and friends. Don’t be afraid. You are beautiful no matter what.

10.  Smile! Do it as much as you can. Smiling will make you beautiful from the inside and out. Show me those beautiful pearls!

Hope these are helpful. Leave those habits that you believe are important in the comments below.

Much love,

Samar xxo

<<Outfitinspiration

 Gift idea for your man>>

Reem's Outfits: Sequin Touch

My Dearest Beauties,

If you want to be a diva concentrate on being fabulous and dressing to impress. Reem wore this to a birthday party last night.

Reem's Wearing:

Cotton Top from Stradivarius

Blazer from Stradivarius

Sequin skirt from Pull & Bear
Black Pumps from Carvella (available at the ABC Department Store)

Lancome lipstick in #134

Revlon nail polish in Valentine 730

Sequins is still in! It is so much fun to wear it for your nights out.

Leave your comments below. Tell me how you would style your sequins pieces.

Much love,

Samar xxo

When Makeup Goes Wrong: Nude Lips

My Dearest Beauties,

Let us talk about another very common makeup mistake. Nude lips are beautiful, they are my personal favorite. But, your lightest concealer cannot replace the shade of the right nude lip color. The trick is to choose a nude shade that is at least two shades darker than you skin tone. Think of the natural color of your lips or even a muted version of it. As you can see in the images below it looks a bit off. Lips are supposed to look inviting and luscious. Our lipsticks should make us look healthy, even on those days when we actually don’t feel healthy whatsoever. 

Can you catch the difference? I think the natural muted nude lip on the second set of pictures is more natural, realistic and youthful.

Tell me about makeup mistakes you have noticed on other people or yourself on the comments below.

Much love,

Samar xoox

Denim Shirt for the Gents

Charming Gents,

The denim shirt in booming right now! And by that, I mean that it is not only on trend but it is also very flattering on men. Yes, men! I love how it looks layered or on its own. It evidently is a casual piece but I think it is very practical and it adds a touch of stylish to the least stylish men out there. Find yourself the right cut for your type of body and you are set. Layer it on top on colored T-shirts or wear it on its own with your favorite colored or even nude/black casual cut pants.

In the pictures below, you will see some very stylish celebrities rock their denim shirts. From Kanye West to Scott Dissick, Pierce Brosnan, David Beckham and Usher.

You may have noticed that I am kind of obsessed with this trend but I am sure that if you try it you will soon join the club. Denim shirts are extremely easy and versatile to style. For some reason I find them extremely flattering on the opposite sex.

Try it! Charming gents, and tell me what you think on the comments below.

Gros Bisous,

Samar

Red Manicure

My Dearest Beauties,

My nails this week went back to their usual square shape. I loved the almond/claw shape but I just missed the elegance of my old nails. In order to be able to change colors more often in spring I decided to go for a normal nail polish from Samoa. Let me tell you ladies these nails polishes are just great. They are very affordable, they have great formulation and they come in a great color selection that satisfies all tastes.

This is how my Sensationail manicure looked after exactly two weeks. I could have kept them for a couple more days but I just wanted to change the color after having the French manicure for two weeks. As you can see in the picture the shine is incredible and the best part is the zero chipping.

This week I used my favorite red shade from Samoa. It is just perfect, it isn't too orange neither too blue and it brings the most amazing glow to my skin tone. The shade is part of Samoa’s Professional Institute line in the shade #116.

Ladies, a red mani will never fail you. It looks classy and will look great with all of your outfits.

I would love to know which nail polish is your favorite. Please leave the brand and shade name/number in the 

comments below.

Much love,

Samar

Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Miracle

My Dearest Beauties,

Healthy and beautiful hair is better than any accessory or piece of jewelry. As ladies our hair can go as far as performing like a trademark. We sometimes are recognized by our long dark luscious hair or may be by our bouncy fun perfect curls. Whether you are a red head or a blonde; making it look healthy will only add to our beautiful selves. Even if you sport a short hair cut; you need to mask it regularly and take care of it like a baby.

What you will need to do is get yourself some apple cider vinegar and rinse your hair with it. Do this, ones a week for maximum results. I usually start with dirty and untangled hair. I run water through it to get it really wet and then go in with about a quarter of a cup of apple cider vinegar mixed with a whole cup of water (mind that if you have more and longer hair you might need more). I distribute the mixture evenly throughout my mid-length hair to my ends. Whatever is left I just pour on my roots, right onto my scalp. I leave this on for around an hour. I usually do my work out or organize my room and closet. As you know vinegar has a very strong scent, for that reason I always shampoo and condition after I am done with the treatment.

Apple cider vinegar gives your hair shine like you haven’t seen before. It is also really good for maintaining your ends in good shape and decreasing split ends. Vinegar also decreases breakage as it increases your hair’s elasticity making it more resilient to breakage. I personally find that this rinse is better that using a clarifying shampoo. After I am done treating my hair to some vinegar, my hair is squeaky clean, all the build up from hair products is flushed at ones. Your scalp will feel so airy and fresh.

Try it and please leave your comments below. I love to know what you think, it makes my day!

Gros Bisous,

Samar xox

When Makeup Goes Bad: Eyebrows

My Dearest Beauties,

Our eyebrows are very important, they really frame our faces. For that reason, it is important to know how to perfect them with makeup. Eyebrow powder, pencils, and tinted gels were made to make our eyebrows look more polished and abundant.

A makeup slip that I often see on a lot of girls is lining and filling of eyebrows using BLACK. Ladies, black is not the right color for filling in your eyebrows. Have you ever noticed that all Disney witches have black thin eyebrows? They give a very somber, malicious and unnatural look. 

Can you see the difference?

Try to, always, go for a neutral medium brown shadow or pencil if you have dark hair and for a light brown if you have a lighter shade of hair. Also, make sure that the shade you choose doesn't have any red undertones as it will also make your eyebrows look drawn on.

I hope this was helpful. I would love to read your comments below.

Until next time,

Samar xxo

Reem's Outfits: Ripped Denim

My Dearest Beauties,

Going to the movies in style! Bring your ripped pairs of jeans out ladies because they are definitely trending.

Reem's wearing:

T-shirt from Tommy Hilfiger

Jeans from Stradivarius

Belt from Pieces

Cross bag from Aldo

White Converse Sneakers

On the lips: Lancome Juicy Tubes

Nails: Seventeen nail polish in #544

Ripped jeans bring edge to any outfit with barely any effort!

Gros Bisous,

Samar xxo

Take your Makeup Off with Me

My Dearest Beauties,

Taking off all of your makeup off every night before going to sleep is a tedious task. Unfortunately, it is essential that you do! This will be my advice on taking off your makeup on those nights when you have a lot to take off (foundation, concealer, blush, bronzer and highlighter, among other things). If you want to find out how to take the day off your face, then keep reading.

I will have to warn you that this starts pretty and gets pretty ugly along the way.

1.       I start off by massaging onto my face about a tablespoon of sweet almond oil. Do it in circular motions, all over your face. Don’t be afraid to run over your eyelids and lips. This will breakdown all your eye makeup and foundation. 

2.       Wash the excess oil off of your hands. Then, give your face a good wash with your favorite cleanser. I use Uriage Crème Lavante. Wipe that all off with a wet sponge followed by a good and refreshing splash of water.

3.       I finish off by soaking a couple of cotton rounds with Bioderma Solution Micellaire water. I place one of them on my closed eye and dab onto it for around 15 seconds to make sure that when I wipe off, everything would have come off easily without any tugging. I repeat that on the other eye. At last I wet one last cotton round with my Bioderma Solution Micellaire water and run it all over my face to make sure I am completely clean.

4.       Voila! You have a face free makeup that is ready for your night skin care.

When you think that it is all off. Well, it turns out that a lot more was left.

Taking your makeup off, completely, is very important to maintain a beautiful skin. You will see less acne break outs. Your skin will be able to do its night rejuvenating duties better, once it is perfectly cleansed. Even your skin care will work better because it will be able to penetrate your skin easier.

Hope you found this useful and practical. Tell me how taking your makeup off went or your current routine in the comments below. My routine doesn't take me more than five minutes. But then again, it is totally worth it.

Gros bisous,

Samar xxo

Reem's Outfits: Put Together Chic

My Dearest Beauties,

As usual, Reem looks stunning in her little effort outfits that always look so chic and put together

Reem is wearing:

T-shirt from H&M

Leggings from Zara

Blazer from Stradivarius

Combat boots from Steve Madden

Purse from Calvin Klein 

Watch from Fossil

On the lips she is wearing Maybelline Pink Punch #175

Black is always chic when paired with other fun pieces. Leave comments below about your favorite black outfits!

Gros Bisous,

Samar xox