My mini makeover

Liza can now add makeup artist to her resume—she has her first job at a shoot this weekend! Makeup is something she's always enjoyed as a hobby, and now she's turning it into a part-time gig. Hello, inspiration! 

Normally I jump at the chance to have Liza do my makeup, but getting it done at 10pm, only to wash it off again isn't as much fun. Plus, I was a sweaty beast last night—our apartment gets so hot in the winter! But, Liza wanted to do a trial run before the shoot, so of course I helped my sis out.

She was going for a fresh, simple look and I think she totally achieved it. My lips (per instructions for the shoot) were supposed to be purple-ish black, so obviously she's going to have to rethink that one. It's so weird how lipstick can look one color in the tube, and then something totally different when you apply it! 

Like our impromptu photo shoot in the bathroom? Of course I had to do one serious face. Would you have even guessed that I'm wearing fake lashes? They are subtle since we were going for a natural look—no Kim Kardashian spider lashes for me! I thought it would be really hard to apply them, but Liza was a pro. She cut them in three parts, and then applied them separately—apparently it's a lot easier than doing the whole thing in one go. 

I never wear foundation, but the oil-free one Liza used, Laura Mercier, felt really light and gave my skin a pretty glow. I also really liked the e.l.f. cosmetics dual under eye concealer and highlighter. It's hard to tame my under eye circles, but this did the trick! Liza used just a touch of the highlighter at the top of my cheekbones for a little extra shimmer. I love e.l.f. products—they work great and are dirt cheap! 

I hope Liza will do my makeup when I have somewhere to GO next time. She is the queen bee of the smokey eye—a look I love, but have no idea how to do. Is it terrible that I contemplated (only for about five seconds) leaving it on overnight so I could wear it to the Job Hunt press conference this am?

So tell me: What are your favorite makeup products? And how often do you get your makeup done professionally? If you live in the NYC area, you know who to call next time ;)

FREE Makeup+FREE Alcohol=Bliss

You guys know how excited I get by anything that has the word FREE attached to it, but a night of FREE makeup and booze? Now that is beyond my wildest dreams. So when fellow blogger Camila invited me to Shecky's Beauty Night Out last night, I couldn't believe my luck. 

I got to bring a guest, so I invited my girl Kateri along. As soon as we entered the event, we were overwhelmed—in a good way. I have never seen so many beauty products in one place in my life!

It was a madhouse, and we hardly knew where to get started, so we headed toward the lip gloss. (I've been wearing clear lip balm for the past month, so I needed to check out some new colors!)

There were lots of beauty experts at the event giving women manicures, hair consultations and makeup tips, but the most interesting thing I saw was this:

This woman was getting eyelash extensions. I didn't stick around to find out exactly how it was being done because I'm very squeamish, and it looked a bit uncomfortable to me. Next stop: Alcohol!

We came across this beer tasting presentation that paired different beers with party foods. The idea was to prove that beer can go well with anything—not just pizza and fries. My favorite combo was the Hoegaarden and apple tart.  

The last stop of the night was to collect our goodie bags! Kateri and I wanted to rip right into them, but we refrained.

As soon as I got home, I sprawled out on the floor and dumped everything out. I felt like a kid going through my bag of candy on Halloween, except there was no trading or giving away going on here.

Razors, deodorant, teeth whitening kits, moisturizer, body spray—I won't have to go to the drugstore for months! SCORE! This was definitely more exciting than the time I got FREE soup (although that was a pretty awesome moment in its own special way). 

What are your favorite drugstore products? (Mine are Maybelline Great Lash mascara and Cetaphil face wash). And when was the last time you got a really great deal—or better yet, something for FREE?