Let's Talk Eyebrows

Here is a post I wrote for another blog a while ago. This is one of my favorite beauty tips and so I thought that I would share it over here too.

 

 

 

Even as a baby I had eyebrows

I was born with dark and bushy eye brows. I used to think it was a curse until I realized how to wax them and now I love them.

Well even after all these years of waxing, tweezing, and plucking I never really thought about coloring them in. They are so dark and thick that I just didn't see the point. Even after countless make-up classes suggesting that that everyone should color in their brows I still didn't think the rule applied to me.

Last summer when I was playing with my make up, I randomly decided to lightly color in my eyebrows. That night my husband came home from work and couldn't figure out what was different about me... but he liked it.



I wondered if it could have been the eye brows because it was the only thing I had done differently that day, so I did it again the next day and got the same "you look great" results. I still didn't tell him what I thought it might be that was making me look like a goddess in his eyes (wink) so the next day I didn't color them in and my husband didn't say a word. Okay. Well the 4th day into my little eyebrow experiment I colored my eye brows in again, waiting to see if just maybe he'd notice, he did.

I couldn't believe it! By the simple task of adding a little color into my already dark eyebrows I was able to "wow" my husband of (then) 8 years who had seen me with every hair color, make up style and other beauty technique out there. It took less then 5 seconds to add dimension to my face and frame my eyes in a way that would make them stand out. It is the best and easiest beauty tip I have found.

Here is why: Quite often peoples eyebrows are a dull and ashy version of their hair color. In my case my eyebrows were dark and thick enough to frame my eyes but the color was wrong. Another problem is that peoples eyebrows do not match. There is always one that is thinner, higher, lighter, better arched or uneven.

By lightly shading in your eyebrows with a color that matches your natural color you will brighten the eyes natural hue and help make the eyebrows appear to be more symmetrical and even.



Look at the difference in these 2 pictures of me





I prefer to use a powder that is similar to an eye shadow over the commonly used eyebrow pencil, I think it looks more natural and gives you more control over the shade.

 I use Anastasia's eyebrow kit.   This kit offers:

•  2 Brow Powders- having 2 colors makes it easy to blend and customize a shade that looks natural
•  Angled Brush- makes applying the color easy and even
• Cream Highlighter- to use under the eyebrow on the brow bone, this lifts and accentuate the eyes
• Wax Cream- this is like gel for your eyebrows, it holds your eyebrow in the perfect shape all day and gives it a nice finished look. 

If you have never tried coloring in your eyebrows, try it! It is easy and will give you instant results.

DISCLAIMER: Always start out light and you can add more if you need. Remember you want it too look natural so that people can tell that there is something different but can't exactly tell what it is. It is more about adding a little color to your brow then it is adding darkness to your brow. Look for a color that matches you eyebrows already so it just brightens and fills in. 

I would love to see before and after pics if you try this!!

Father's Day Fun

On Saturday while I was finishing up my Father's Day shopping for my sweetie and my pops.

I got this text from the Mr. 

Earlier that morning he had been telling me that he needed a new pair of Sanuk's (for those of you that don't know, Sanuks are possibly the best summer shoe ever for beach-bum-wannabes like my husband and boys).

So at first glance I thought he was showing me the rip in his shoe to prove to me that he really does need a new pair (& he does). But then I noticed that righty looked a little off and that his naturally thin ankle kinda looked like my ankle when I'm 7 months, okay more like 6 months ;), pregnant.

By the time he got home from work his ankle was even bigger and just looking at it made my stomach churn and I felt that familiar dizziness that encompasses me when I see any sort of bodily injury. (Honestly, the only time I truly struggle with being a mom is when one of my boys gets hurt and I'm the only one there to put them back together. I get sick, dizzy, and can't catch my breath...and that is just when they scratch their knee. It is going to be an interesting 18 years.)

So he puts it up, ices it and hopes that it will feel better. It doesn't. This is man who has no fear of pain and has spent his whole life happily sacrificing his body for the thrill and fun of life. He has broken countless bones, has twisted and torn everything that can possibly be twisted or torn, has more little random scars on his one hand then my {cautious} sibling and I have on our whole bodies combined. It is insane how the possibility of pain never stops him from doing something fun. When I was a kid I wouldn't even walk on the curb because I wouldn't want to chance falling those steep 3 inches to the cement below.  I tell you this to emphasize the point that this man knows pain, knows how his body reacts to different injuries and doesn't become over dramatic and babyish when he gets hurt.

As his ankle got worse and worse over the next few hours he knew it wasn't a typical ankle twist. And by the next morning it was turning black and was at least 4 times bigger (I'm dry heaving as I think about it). At this point he has no idea if it is broken or sprained but he does know that it hurts like hell and it is worse than he would like to admit.

After a fun (for us) and painful (for him) Father's Day, I talked him into going to the ER (I may have promised milkshakes afterwards). I couldn't imagine moving on with the week without knowing exactly what was going on and having a game plan to help him heal as quickly as possible.

After we got checked in to the hospital we had a bit of a wait until he was able to get in for X-rays. All the nurses and doctors there instantly fell in love with Mr. Swollen Ankle. People always do. He is naturally quite charming without even realizing it. So the whole time we had people in our little "room" made of sheets just kind of hanging out with us. They were serving me drinks as if I were out to eat and telling jokes like I was at a comedy club, on amateur night. Who knew the ER could be so much fun?

The final verdict. MAJOR and deep sprain. He has to wear a boot when he walks and keep it elevated as much as possible while "icing the hell" out of it. Doctors orders. He was given a note saying he cannot go to work or school, but how do you miss school during finals week? You don't. So he took the next few days off work and is taking it as easy as possible.

And I am *lucky enough* to get the job of driving Miss Daisy, I mean driving him around.

 

Here he is wearing his little boot this morning when I dropped him off at school. (& I use the word little very loosely).

If this was a video you would hear him say... "Meg, hurry this is embarrassing". 

Hopefully he feels better soon! He has a 100 mile charity bike ride planned next month, we have a fun swimming party we are supposed to go to this coming up weekend and we were hoping to go backpacking in a few weeks.

Yesterday

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh, I believe in yesterday"

Yesterday ROCKED my world!

My BFF picked me up around 1:39(ish) ;)

And we spent 3 hours at the spa. Massages and pedicures while sipping diet Coke (with a splash of root beer) and chit chatting about anything and everything.

Then we headed to Cheesecake Factory and Nordstrom to eat and shop a bit. And of course over my "The Incredible Grilled Eggplant Sandwich" (which is amazing btw) and while browsing clothes, jewelry and make up we chit chatted some more, laughed and maybe even cried a little. 

{Everyone needs a good girlfriend. They are like therapists but funner to hang out with and do a better job at helping you pick out the perfect polish color or deciding what iPhone case is the cutest.}

I came home to sleeping babies, a clean house and a husband who was whistling in the shower.

The Mr. and I spent the rest of the night enjoying each others company, put on our pjs, lit some candles and curled up on our bed to some mindless TV and ate the "thanks for being so fabulous" cheesecake I brought home for him.

Cheesecake anyone?

My Husband is Such A Nerd

Yesterday was "nerd day" at his job. So I threw this little outfit together for him and guess what...

He won BEST nerd costume and got himself a nice $10 gift card to the big Micky D's. 

Such a great award for such a great honor. 

P.S. I love this guy! He is on the top of my *favorite people* list. Usually he sits at the very top, but sometimes, especially  if he leaves his socks in the middle of the living room, I will bump him to 3rd for a few mins. #watchout #imruthless