My Birthday Hello

Last week in Bahamas

Hey Everyone!!

I miss all of you very much! I have been so busy lately with work, life events, and a little vacation :-) that I have neglected one of my favorite things - blogging! Today seemed an appropriate time to reconnect because it is MY BIRTHDAY!

I am thrilled to see what my 24th year in life will bring - especially in the beauty inspiration department. While being 23 I have attempted to keep the glamour look while kicking it down a notch. I have learned that less is more (at least for a day look). Sometimes a tinted moisturizer is better than foundation, transluscent powder plus bronzer is at times prettier than powder foundation, chap stick/lip gloss is sexier than lipstick. These are just some of the lessons learned.

Since I have been gone for so long, do you have any special requests? I promise to respond to every one of your requests within just a few days.

XO,

Yelena

Recent FAVORITES

I have been a busy bee recently with so many great and busy things going on. Besides work and family events, I have been involved in a fabulous COUTURE FOR A CURE Fashion show in Washington DC, which raised money for Nadine Namoff's Woman of the Year Campaign (money goes to leukemia and lymphoma treatment and research). I have also been going to sporting events and spending very much valuable time with friends :-)

With that said, I missed you all very much and would love to update you on my recent favorite/Go-to products!!

Foundation/Base
Almay Nearly Naked Touch-pad Liquid Foundation - this is incredible...and funny enough, I used to use it in High School. I put just a little bit of this on before concealer application and final look is flawless!

Concealer
Almay Smart Shade Concealer (in Light/Medium) with a breakthrough shade-sensing technology, which "starts out white and adjusts to right." So perfect under eyes and everywhere else. I've fallen for this one.

Mary Kay Concealer (in a black tube) color Beige 2 - This one is thicker in texture than Almay and still looks amazing under the eyes and everywhere else!

Eye Liner Pencil
Cover Girl Perfect Blend
MAC Smolder
Eyeliner Pen (Dupe of MAC's Penultimate)
Jordana's Eyeliner Pen (only $1.99 and amazing)

Eyeshadow/Eyebrows
MAC Charcoal Brown - This color is perfect (for me). Instead of using a lot of different taupe's and browns on my eyelids at one time, I now only use a light nude color all over and this Charcoal Brown in crease, and it looks better than anything I've tried before (as far as neutral browns). This is also a great color to fill in the brows (for the light brown/medium brown hair).

Lips
Barry M 101 Lip Paint - Perfect pale/nude pink :-)

That's all for now, but please expect more Favorite Products Posts coming up shortly!

Kim Kardashian Queen of Kims Contest

Being the huge Kim Kardashian Fan that I am, I went ahead and braved up to enter her Queen of Kim's contest. Have you heard about it? Ladies and Drag Queens will be battling out for number one spot to be Kim's look-a-like. The winner will receive a phone call from Miss Kim herself as well as a bag of her favorite products.

I was going to go all out and re-create her look to the Nth degree, but because of the lack of time, I took one of my photos and did some work on it. The photo is 3 years old, and although my hair was darker then, I had to use a bit more of photoshop to tone the color down even more :-).

The end result is not completely like her (and why would it be...she is a unique girl), but at least I entered, right?

Has anyone else entered the contest? I'd love to see your photos!!

Also, what DO you think of the darker hair color? Maybe its time I go back to the natural dark, no?

My Apology!

My fellow bloggers,

I am truly sorry for not updating you much lately. I actually have so many pictures to show you and products to review, but I have been so busy for the past 2 weeks. So I apologize to you. The good news: I will post a few fun things very soon for you! Hold tight :-).

Sincerely,

Yelena

2009 Healthy Beauty Awards - SELF Magazine

Hey!

My very good friend Jess, who happens to also be my beauty hero (CHECK OUT HER GIJess blog to find out why) has brought the following to my attention last night: 2009 Healthy Beauty Awards by Self Magazine.

This is the 10th annual list of 86 best beauty buys that were selected by 1,370 SELF readers. Some of the picks are considered steals ($10 or less) while others are splurges ($20 or more).

I won't list the products here as I really encourage you to check out the website!
However, I will list the products out of the 2009 Healthy Beauty Awards that I own and give you my personal recommendations.

I am looking forward to trying a few other products that have been voted as the best beauty products of 2009, some of which include:

• Best Hairspray - L'Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray
• Best All-Around Conditioner - Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Instant Melting Conditioner
  
• Best Concealer - Almay Smart Shade Concealer
  

What about you? Do you own anything from the list? Anything you want to try?

Kim Kardashian = BLONDE!

DID YOU SEE? DID YOU SEE?

Kim's Twitter photo

Miss Kim is now a blondie! I love her as a brunette because it is so exotic, but because my current hair color is very similar to her new one (and I feel a bit biased as a result), I am beginning to like this look as well! Her new hair color reminds me a little bit of Jennifer Lopez, and I know Kim is a huge fan of hers.





P.S. It is actually a wig!!!! She fooled all of us :-)

Favorite Drugstore Lip Glosses - Look Hot Saving Money

Who said that you have to spend a lot of money on beautiful lip glosses? Drugstores have a number of great choices that are comparable to MAC, NARS, and other upscale brands. And please trust when I say, I am very picky. Qualities that I particularly avoid in lip glosses are: sticky, watery, oily, too sheer, and too sparkly. Also being the fan of nude/light pink lip color that I am, I am very particular about color payoff. My lips are naturally red, so I need a very pigmented nude color in order to achieve my signature look :-).

Please let's give a round of applause for the three Drugstore lip gloss winners: L'Oreal Bubble Gum, Neutrogena Groove, and Neutrogena Whisper.

(From Left to Right in Both Photos) L'Oreal - Bubble Gum, Neutrogena - Groove, Neutrogena - Whisper

What do you think of the colors? I am in awe :-).

Bubble Gum by L'Oreal is a very light peachy pink and a perfect dupe of MAC Underage! I just put them side by side and they are identical. What an easy method to save $7. It is also a huge plus that the gloss has a yummy hint of a fresh and fruity scent.

Groove by Neutrogena is a typical baby Barbie Pink color, which is VERY similar to Kim Kardashian's favorite NARS lip gloss in Turkish Delight. I like this product even better due to its price, consistency, and smell. I have read positive and somewhat negative reviews for this lip gloss, but I love it completely. Turkish Delight would disappear on my lips, whereas this product stays :-). And once again, you can save about $14!

Whisper by Neutrogena probably resembles another famous and more expensive lip gloss, but I have not thought this far. I just really like the nude lip look that this gloss provides. Simple as that!

Do you have any drugstore favorites?