Once Upon a Time: Mary Margaret

In honor of the ABC show starting its third season this month, I thought it would be fun to showcase the beauty of one of the show's main characters: Mary Margaret/Snow White

Credit: ABC Studios

• Mary Margaret's makeup look is natural with defined brows, soft winged liner and slightly flushed cheeks. The look is much sweeter than that of Snow White's.  To begin with her look, perfect the skin with a foundation that allows your skin to still peek through and doesn't look at all cakey (Revlon's Nearly Naked leaves a beautiful natural glow to the skin). Next set the t-zone with a powder to keep it in place and mattify slightly (Nyx's Stay Matte But Not Flat Powder Foundation is fantastic & adds coverage). On the cheeks, use a creme blush in a natural flush shade (Revlon's Photoready blush in Pinched is the perfect slightly peachy shade). Sometimes Mary Margaret has on a slightly red toned blush. For this use Nyx's Cream Blush in Red Cheeks sparingly on the apples of the cheeks.  For the brows, I would suggest using a brow powder, as a pencil would be too harsh. Mac's eyeshadow in Charcoal brown used with an angled brush will give Mary Margaret's perfectly defined brows. For the eyes, create a slightly curved wing on the upper lash liner (not so angular) with a black or brown liquid eyeliner (Physician's Formula eye booster liner is extremely easy to use) and coat the top lashes with a mascara. Finish off the with a tinted lip balm to complete her look. 

Beauty Wish List

1. Bourjois Bronzing Primer: Supposedly very similar to the Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel ($48!) Can't wait to try this out as a creme bronzer

Photo Credit: ASOS.com

2. Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer: Heard nothing but great reviews about this product and I'd like to see what all the hype is about.

Photo Credit: Superdrug.com

3. Barry M Gelly Nail Paint: Cheap and super long wearing. Any nail polish advertised with the word "gel" or "gelly" I am immediately interested in because of the high shine that usually comes with these.

Photo Credit: ASOS.com

4.  Max Factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush: Head about this through Fleur de Force on YouTube.

Photo Credit: Superdrug.com

5. Sleek Eye Palettes: Heard nothing but great things about these palettes and I cannot wait to try them for myself! 

Photo Credit: Sleek.com
Oh So Special Palette 

Real Techniques Brush Collection Part 1: Thoughts & Reviews

Blush Brush

• The blush brush is the first brush I owned and probably my favorite out of the bunch. While on vacation, I double (or even triple!) my use out of this brush by using it for blush, bronzer, and powder. The brush itself is incredibly soft and the egg-shape allows you to pick up just the right amount of blush and seamlessly blend it into your skin.

Contour Brush

LE Duo-Fiber Contour Brush 

LE Duo-Fiber Powder Brush

Pointed Foundation Brush

Deluxe Crease Brush

Base Shadow Brush

• The contour brush is a small, tapered brush that is perfect for sculpting cheekbones, giving your face an all over sweep of bronzer, or applying cream products in targeted areas. 

• The duo-fiber collection is the newest trio available from Real Techniques. Overall I'm impressed with the quality and ability of these brushes to use for multiple steps in your makeup routine. The duo-fiber contour brush is perfect for giving a lighter application of blush/bronzer. I could even see this being good for setting the under-eye area with a brightening powder or even highlighting your cheekbones.

• The duo-fiber powder brush is incredibly soft and is quickly becoming another one of my favorites out of the line. I love it for setting my foundation with a sweep of translucent powder. I have also found myself using this with my NYC Sunny bronzer. It gives me a sun-kissed effect without being too much.

• At first, the pointed foundation brush was something I didn't know what to do with. It was clearly too small to apply my foundation. So I decided to try it for my under eye concealer and I love it for this. It blends my concealer perfectly while still keeping the coverage that I need.

• The deluxe crease brush is my favorite for spot concealing after foundation. I dab concealer where needed and then buff it out in a circular motion with the crease brush. 

• The base shadow brush is an overall good brush to have in your collection. I've recently found it to be perfect for packing on sheer cream shadows, but it is also perfect for blending out shadow and applying regular powder eye shadow to the lid.

Saving Big Money on High-End Beauty Products

As a self-described "beauty junkie", I love exploring both high-end and drugstore makeup. High-end makeup is something that is not as easy for me to purchase though. I find it hard to justify spending a ton of money on something I could easily find at the drugstore for way less. There are exceptions of course. The Naked palette, although not extremely high-end, was something I made an exception for because of the use I knew I would get out of it. I've manged to save on more expensive makeup by following a few simple rules:


1. Wait for coupon codes:
-Sephora does 20% off your entire purchase a couple times a year. Make a list of what you want and then snag them for a good discount (Hello Dior bronzer!)
-Ulta sends their rewards members good coupons in the mail (the 20% ones are usually good for high end products)
2. Don't forget to use EBATES:
I stumbled acrouss this a year ago and have since earned some decent cash back on things I was already planning to purchase online. Ebates also does daily doubles which doubles the usual percent of cash back for a limited time.
3. Become a member of Hautelook
One thing I love about Hautelook is that you can score products that have just been released. Case in point: I was interested in The Balm Jovi and Nude 'Tude palettes by The Balm and was able to get them for around $19 each instead of the usual $39.50 and $36.00 retail prices.
4. Check the brand's website:
Some brands, such as The Balm, will offer a discount code just for your first order. Others want to you to join a newsletter.


-Marissa