How to Take Your Makeup from Day to Night

By messybessyhairart from Flickr

We've all found ourselves with less time than we'd like to get ready for a fun night out. And while showing up fashionably late may be an option, it has its limits. Fortunately, if you don't have time to scrub your face clean and start from scratch, you don't have to. Save some time with these tips on how to glam up your day look fast.

1. Freshen up your skin. Blotting papers are your best friend. Use them to soak up excess oil in your T-zone and around your nose. If your eye shadow is creasing (time for a new primer!) you can wrap the paper around your index finger and smooth it over your crease to pick up the excess oil and clear out any clumped eye shadow. Blotting will remove some of your foundation, so spot cover any blemishes with a liquid foundation or a concealer that matches your skin tone. Don’t go for another full layer of foundation, unless you want to look like you applied it with a spatula.

By by its all about Lizzie... from Flickr2. Accentuate your eyes. The best way to glam up any look is with dramatic eye makeup. If you aren’t wearing eye shadow, start off with a primer. Otherwise, you can easily play up your existing look by deepening the colors you’re already wearing. Try wetting your brush to get a more dramatic color on your eyelid, and select a darker shade for your crease. Carefully fill in (and if necessary, lengthen) your eyebrows to create a finished look. Swipe on some liquid eyeliner and a fresh coat of mascara and don’t skip the eyelash curler.

3. Highlight your bone structure. This step is super easy. Refresh your blush, do a little contouring with your favorite bronzer, and sweep on some highlighter to make your face glow. Since you probably don’t rock anything besides blush during the day, you can act like you’re working from a completely fresh face.

4. Glam up your lips. A pop of color or a little shimmer will go a long way towards making you look ready to party. In fact, If you have time for nothing else, blot your nose, slap on your favorite shade of red and go.

5. Don’t forget the finishing powder. This is going to fight oil, extend the life of your newly refreshed makeup and generally make you look flawless. Brush lightly, grasshopper. The last thing you want is cake face.

By It's Holly on Flickr

Ladies of the World… Pamper Yourselves!

FlickrAs you may have noticed, I had a birthday earlier this week. And while 26 isn’t a landmark birthday, it’s always nice to do a little something to celebrate the passing of another year. For me, it was a spa day (my masseuse worked some crazy magic, I felt so good) and the final day of a short Blueprint Cleanse. I may do a full review of the juice cleanse in another post sometime soon, but today I want to focus on the more indulgent aspect of my big day—the pampering.

As gathered ladies, we focus a lot on presenting our best selves to the world, and this is very important. But I also wonder if we sometimes forget to take care of ourselves on a more basic level in our efforts to be fabulous. I recall my mother—an absolute force and quintessential gathered lady—calling me into the bathroom one day, shortly after I reached puberty. It was a weekend, and she was getting ready to soak in tub that she had likely spent part of the morning scrubbing. What followed was a conversation on the importance of regularly pampering myself as detailed as those she had given on the virtues of good hygiene or perfect posture. Her thesis: every woman should have some recurring personal time, during which she should do things to relax, de-stress and feel good. Now this could be a standing massage appointment, but for me, I usually pencil in some time with my tub. Inspired by my mother, I am now a strong advocate of the weekend soak. Draw a hot bath, drop in some bath salts, light some candles and set some mood music. Really make an event out of it and disappear into your bathroom for a half-hour or two. The great thing about pampering is that you don’t have to burn up a bunch of your disposable income to enjoy yourself. Below are two of my favorite recipes for cheap spa days at home:

Flickr

Easy (& Delicious) Hand & Foot Scrub

You’ll Need:

• Raw Sugar
• Oil
• Honey
• Lemon (optional)
• Essential Oil (also optional)

I’m lazy and impatient, so I just eyeball these concoctions rather than measuring out exact amounts. That said, it’s really hard to mess this scrub up, since it is so easy to make. All you need to do is dump a fistful of brown sugar in a bowl and drizzle your favorite oil over it until the sugar is wet, but not floating. I prefer either almond or coconut oil, but you can use whatever you like. Mix in a dollop of honey (don’t go too crazy with it since it will get sticky) and you’re ready to start scrubbing. This is great for buffing hands and feet (I slather it on after using my pumice stone). You can also use it as an all-over body polisher, but I usually add a little more oil to make the scrub a smidge thinner, so it spreads easier over the large surface area (your sugar still should not be floating in oil!). I’ve also added some fresh lemon juice for extra exfoliation, and I’ve heard of people adding a few drops of essential oil to add fragrance, but I personally love the natural smell. Your skin will be super-soft and hydrated after using this scrub, you can use it as often as you want and it is really cheap to make!

FlickrHydrating Yogurt & Honey Hair & Face Mask

You’ll Need:

• Plain full-fat yogurt
• Honey
• Lemon (optional)

As you can tell, I love DIY beauty recipes with multiple uses and this mask is great for hydrating both your skin and hair. Honey also has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, so it’s a good option for acne-prone skin like mine. My natural aversion to measurements aside, you’re looking for a ration of roughly two parts yogurt to one part honey. How much you make will depend on if you’re treating your face and hair, and how much hair you have. Upside is you can eat any leftovers!

Have any tips on how you like to pamper yourself? Or perhaps an easy DIY beauty recipe that you love? Share it with us through email, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook!

P.S. Just wanted to send a quick thanks to Bree and Danni for their lovely post on my birthday. Thanks ladies!

Dating & Mating: How To Make Yourself More Attractive

So our friend Jackie shared a interesting video on the science of beauty. Yes, there's a science to it! Quite fascinating to ponder the math and science of your face, but how does that translate into what a regular woman can do to increase the recognition of her beauty? I've scoured lots of research and articles, and combined that info with my own personal findings.  Here are the easiest and most essential tips to help out! Share your thoughts on the video!

• Figure out your best haircut and hair colour for your face. Don't know? Ask your friends, ask some men, ask a professional. Too afraid to cut or change your hair? Try on wigs and take pictures, then share the pic collage with close friends and ask them to vote. This way you'll notice which styles draw the most attention.

• Get your skin clear. This is a sign of health. Buy a moisturizer for day (with spf 15 at least) and night and apply religiously. Hydrated skin is happy skin.
• Look well groomed. Being neat is more appealing than being trendy. Nobody is attracted to sloppy or disheveled attire.
• Enhance your eyes and lips. Make your lashes bold. I recommend a mascara with fibers for additional length like Loreal Million Lashes.  For your lips- try lipstick (not just a nude or pink tone). There is plenty of research that shows men are attracted to red lips!
• Get healthy. Again, the health part is important. Health is not only fitness and figure related, but it's mostly about good self-care and wellness. You know when you're on your health game and when you're not, so I won't preach. But I will say: water, fruits & veggies, plenty of sleep, get an outlet for stress (exercise, a hobby, a pet, a club, etc.)

Simple right? Now all you have to do is keep your personal style on point and you're a knockout. Try reading What to wear on a first date, and other Dating & Mating articles! Click on the tag "dating" for more articles!

Update on Wed, February 4, 2015 at 4:42PM by The Gathered Lady

In Our reboot of this fabulous blog we're reposting all the juicy articles you may need to re-read! Here's our first one!

How to Rock a Trend: Emerald!

Happy May! This is my favorite month, and for good reason. Spring is in full swing, the weather is consistently great, and both my sister and I celebrate our birthdays. Another awesome thing about this month is its birthstone: the emerald. Its intense green color, which made this gemstone one of the most valuable in the world, has become very popular in clothes, makeup and accessories, especially this year. The world's leading authority on color, Pantone, declared emerald the "Color of the Year" for 2013, so you'll definitely want to work it into your spring/summer style. And while I'm definitely in favor of adding a few jewel-toned pieces to your wardrobe, the easiest (and cheapest!) way to add a pop of green to any outfit is with makeup. Below are some of my current favorites:

 

Nail Color

Both of these are Sephora brand nail lacquers: Green Generation is the shimmering color, while Picnic in the Park is the flat color. They are only four bucks a piece, and a great way to start experimenting, if you're nervous about wearing this color on your face. Any skin tone can pull off green nails, and the short, fat brush that comes with all Sephora nail lacquers makes it easy to do your mani yourself.

Eyeliner

Eyeliner is a good first purchase if you want to try an emerald eye color. You can wear it alone or with neutrals and golds for a natural, yet sexy look with a twist. Later, you can layer it with more dramatic looks and pair it with a green shadow for a really intense concentration of color. The pencil here is from Urban Decay, while the liquid liner is from Stila.

 

Eyeshadow

If you're feeling adventerous, an emerald shadow is a must (Goodness, does that rhyme?!). Makeup Forever has two of my favorite emerald eyeshadows right now. The first is a loose pigment, while the other is a more traditional eyeshadow. Both are highly pigmented, which is exactly what you want in an emerald eyeshadow. The trio, by Smashbox, is great because you get the green shadow (this one is called Serpent), plus two other versatile colors that you can--and should--wear both with and without the green.

 

All off these items are available online from Sephora, which did an entire emerald collection with Pantone featuring eye shadows, liners and brush collections.

Fab Summer Color: The M.A.C. Fashion Sets

My fellow gathered fashionistas, if you're a M.A.C. lover, you need our newest find in your life ASAP. M.A.C. released a new collection of Fashion Sets earlier this month, and they're banging. They took seven classic colors inspired by fans from around the world, and created a matching Lipstick, Lipglass and Nail Lacquer for each. The seven fabulous and regionally inspired colors are Chestnut, Girl About Town, Myth, Rebel, Russian Red, Snob (pictured above), and Spice. The colors are gorgeous. Even if you aren't a M.A.C. fangirl (the foundations can be rough on sensitive ethnic skin), these palettes are worth a gander. You should be able to find at least one you absolutely love no matter your skin tone. I'm all about Myth at the moment. The lippies and glosses (or glasses, in this case) retail for $14.50 each; the nail colors come in at $16. You can get a full set for $45. maccosmetics.com

 

palettes