Nail Polish of the Week: ESSIE

I took a trip to the CVS store the other day and found Essie nail polish being sold, so being an Essie fan, I couldn't pass it up! :) I am currently wearing "Essie: Chinchilly". It is a wonderful cement grayish with a hint of lavender. A nice cool color that isn't too dark and not too light. What I love about Essie Polish is that the colors are always a nice even coat and even the pastel colors are never too light or iridescent. The most coats I ever lay on are 2 coats of polish and each coat goes on evenly.

If you are into polish check out Essie and you will fall in love with the product in ANY color! heres what it looks like.

ESSIE: Chinchilly $ 7.99 @ CVS 

When I paint my nails I always use a base/nail thickener: Thickener by Nutra Nail" to keep my nails strong and protect the nail polish from staining my nails and also helps the polish adhere better. Then put whatever polish I am using and let it dry for about a minute or a few minutes then I use Insta-Dri anti-chip top coat by Sally Hansen. Which is a VERY wonderful product!! :)

Happy shopping!

Nutra Nail Thickener: $5.65 Amazon

Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat:$5.49  Walgreens

Essie Naip Polish: Amazon

LIGHTS! CAMERA! BAD MAKEUP..???

Have you ever done your makeup and looked in the mirror when your done and loved it? You get dressed and ready to start your day BUT  then you go outside and see your reflection and realize "OMG I have WAY too much makeup on?". You notice that it looks too dramatic? I know there have been a few times, I shocked myself in the car and realize: my eyeshadow is not blended or my foundation is too thick and heavy or everything is too much! Stumped on how that happened? The KEY in makeup application is LIGHTING! I want to share my answer for this problem that works best for me!!!

I am still in the process of figuring out what lighting is best for me and doing makeup for shoots you have to understand lighting a bit or try to. Where the light will be landing and where to highlight and contour. Even the simplest makeup can be thrown off if you have bad lighting. Most lights around us are Fluorescent Lights, which washes out the skin and also brings out blemishes out more think of dressing room lights...NOT flattering at all! Ideally you want to put makeup on with natural lighting, the problem is we all do not always have access to a window or lighting with natural lights. Best bet is to get coated light bulbs that will throw off light that is too soft and warm. But who really want to go through all that trouble?

My old makeup mirror.

I have been researching and looking for a Vanity where I can set up my little makeup corner and have great lighting. At this point in my life I do not have room for a vanity accompanied with all the accessories I want to go with it and nor do I have the $$$ to spend on the type I want. My conclusion to this problem is a lighted mirror! But this also can be a process because you have to take a lot to consideration when picking the right one. I had a ConAir round Mirror that had a light only on one spot of the mirror and I just didn't like it. When looking for a lighted mirror, even just looking into proper lighting for makeup application you need light evenly hitting your face at all angles so you wont have shadows hitting your face.

On my search I was lucky enough to stumble onto a treasure find that I'm completely happy with!!!!!! I was in Costco and was surprised to see a lighted mirror! Its is called "LED Lighted" Round/Oval Vanity Mirror" Making me extra happy was it was lighted around the sides of the mirror also it is a double mirror and both sides have lights! Its a nicely durable mirror. It has natural lighting, dual mirrors: a normal mirror and a magnified mirror on the other side. It was packaged neatly and protectively

"LED LIGHTED" Vanity Mirror/Costco

      

Happy with my find I suggest people to look and search for what works best for you. There are great lighted mirrors all around, I know Revlon has a great mirror that has different settings on the mirror itself.  Its a process on finding what works for you. I like this mirror because it was at a good price for me and it works amazingly. I am happy with the lighting I get from it, it doesn't give off an orange or yellowish lighting it gives me a true lighting. I also enjoy the look of it all together, its a bit heavy and sits nicely. I use it with the light on and off very handy. My tip for looking into a mirror like this is look around see what you are comfortable with and what your budget is. Lighted mirrors can range up to 19-100$. Its all on what you like. This works amazingly for me! I would really love to see what other people use and what kind of lighting you have. please share.

Beauty is skin deep!

Beauty on a Budget: Drug Store Goodies!

As I stroll around at the CVS store around my area, I always find myself getting sucked towards the beauty aisle instantly comb through all the affordable goodies they have. Its hard not to get pulled towards all the cosmetics that are lined up back to back and its also easy to get confused on which items to buy. As we all have gone through before we buy a certain lipstick or foundation and mascaras, just to name a few, and when we get home and try them we suddenly realize we bought what we paid for. Then there are times where we buy some cosmetics and say "WOW this was a great find and buy!". The current economy hasn't been too kind to our wallets and we cant splurge on cosmetics or all the little nicknack's we didn't mind spending more then 10$ on, so here is a quick beauty on a budget list that I'm happy about. 

Now I have many different items in my Makeup collection as well as in my Makeup Kit. I have drug store products to high end named brands and its all in what I think it a great pay off in pigments, color stay and finished look. I have had my hits and misses with affordable drug store makeup AND high end name brands. But when I find goodies that is worth the money I paid for then I become a buyer for life! These few items I bought and instantly became a fan of are worth going out and trying out. 

I am really happy with purchasing these items and will be going back to getting more!! A few are comparable and dupe's on some name brand cosmetics, which is always exciting! 

I bought...

Maybelline: Define-A-Line: $6.99

-Brownish Black on the top. (Dupe for MAC Stud) 

-Chestnut Brown on the bottom. (Dupe for MAC Strut)

Which may I add are dupes, well at least in my opinion, to MAC Eye Brow pencil's. Works just the same! This will be added to my kit most defiantly! 

Revlon ColorStay Lip Liners: $7.99

1.Rose 2. Mauve 3. Pink/Rose

  -Rose   -Mauve    -Pink/Rose

What I instantly loved about these lip liners are that they STAY! It didn't bleed and once its on your lips it will not budge! Goes on smoothly and easy to feather in to the middle of your lips. I did swatches of these lip liners and i have tried to wipe them off and it wont rub off easily! I had to bust out the makeup remover for these puppies!!! 

Revlon Lustrous Lipstick: $6.99

Top: Blushed 420  Pear Shade  Middle: Teak Rose 445  Creme Shade

Bottom: Champagne on Ice 205

*Champagne on Ice is very iridescent and you cant see very well in this picture but it is a Nude/frosty color. Great for any skin tone!

All a smooth payoff and stays put! The Creme Shade is a great kind of matte smooth look with a hint of shine velvet finish. The Pearl Shades are great iridescent with a hint of color finish. Champagne on Ice reminds me of Gel lipstick from MAC. Teak Rose reminds me of a lighter Impassioned from MAC and Blushed reminds me of Angel from MAC. Great Buys!!!

Revlon ColorStay: Liquid Eye Pen $8.99

This is my favorite! After one use of it I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT! It is like a felt tip pen and goes on nicely! The one thing that made be love it the most is, IT DOESNT SMUDGE! I have tried it ALL: Cream/Gel/Pencils Black liners and out of ALL of them this one does not smudge under the corners of my eyes! I find that is the biggest complaint I get from clients and friends that are Asian that after an hour or so their eye liner smudges under the corners of their eyes! This has fixed that problem for me! This is my #1 pick!! Out of all the goodies I got this is the one I will for sure stock up on!

These are just a few goodies I got from the drug store, my suggestion on finding great products for less is to pick and choose the ones you think you'll like to try and see how it works for you! And look for reviews on them. You will never know if it will work or not if you don't try. I'm happy I bought these goodies on impulse! Just find what works or you, everyone is different these are just my opinions and what I like that I hope will help out makeup lovers. Enjoy!

MY WEDDING!

 DECEMBER 4TH 2010 WILLIAM LOMU SIU AND ALEXIE RAE FRANCISCO'S WEDDING!

Last Saturday was the best day I could ever imagine, I married my very best friend, my lover, my partner in life. The past few months have been very stress full because I had been planning and stressing over the wedding and making sure everything was done. I am grateful for my sister, Valerie, and our good friend Elaine for being such organized people and making my wedding go on without a hitch. Also I am so thankful for my family who were my clutch players and help me get things done and for bills family for doing the same! It was a beautiful day. Full of love, support and beautiful families together and WONDERFUL MUSIC!!! I miss my wedding and wish I could go through the whole day again, not the planning LOL, and just soak the love and support from everyone that showed up. The music filled the air and dancing people filled the dance floor! For a young couple that doesn't have much money to have a flashy wedding, I wouldn't trade my wedding for anything in the world!

The BEST bridal party!

I caught myself through out the day sitting back looking and everyone and feeling so much joy and happiness and it brought tears to my eyes. I'm blessed and fortunate to have had one of the best weddings that could have been put together, my meaning in that is: Bill and I were able to FUSE two different cultures and race together and they became one! It wasn't Filipinos and Tongans divided EVERYONE came together and became family. Yes we have been together for 5 years and know each others family but it was the first time we had BOTH families in room eating, dancing, laughing and crying together. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! Friends came and gave love and support! It was so wonderful to feel the positivity and love in the air that night! Bill and I feel blessed for having such wonderful people in our lives!!!!!!!

I wish i had more photos but I took some of the night and early morning of.

MY FAMILY HARD AT WORK

GO JO GET IT DONE!

THE FAVORS ALMOST COMPLETED!

NOW THE POMPOMS! HAHA

DONE!

MY DRESS! :)

MY MOM GETTING HER MAKEUP DONE BY ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING MUA'S EVER! JILLIAN MARKER

SISTER GETTING DONE UP AND BREAKIN IN HER SHOES!

December 4th was a day to remember and I am just so happy that it went so well!!!  Theres no words that can explain or describe how much Bill and I loved our wedding. Thank you to everyone who helped us!!!

BILLEX 12042010

Brush Washer and Dryer

Have you ever tried to find a way to clean and dry your brushes ? Without having to lay them on a towel to dry over night? Then once its dry one side of your makeup brush is flat and out of shape? Well theres a tool that I found at my local arts and crafts store that was less then 10 bucks.


As I was browsing through Michaels, an arts and crafts store around my area, I always stop by the painting section and try and find things I can use for my makeup kit and my own makeup collection. I have found certain paint brushes that can be used in a makeup kit that works just as well and is very comparable to MAC brushes.  Not really needing anymore brushes, I started to look for palettes I can reuse for mixing product, then I stumbled upon this helpful tool for cleaning brushes. Instead of pulling a Martha Stewart and creating my own brush washer/dryer so I figured why not try it out. It is called Brush Washer $8.99 from Michaels arts and crafts.

Brush Washer with Drying Rack from Michaels arts and crafts $8.99

It is made of course for paint brushes but cleaning both paint brushes and makeup brushes have the same idea, meaning while cleaning the bristles of your brushes you never want to get water/brush cleaner passed the neck of the brush where the metal holds the bristles and the brush handle together. Doing this helps the bristles stay attached to the brush and avoid rusting on your brush. Hanging your brushes after cleaning them are a great way to make sure water doesnt seep into your brushes. This tool is perfect for this because it has a spiral wire to hang the brushes upside down until it is dry, so no more flat sided brushes and water stuck in the neck of your brushes.

I love using Parian Spirit Pro-makeup brush cleaner. BEST brush cleaner  dry's quickly and thoroughly cleans my brushes.

The only thing I dislike about this product is that the spiral wire cannot hold as much makeup brushes as is can with paint brushes. Paint brushes have a skinny end to it while makeup brushes stay the same size on the tip making it harder to put ALL makeup brushes on there to hang. That was the only down side I found, a better option I found is to put different sizes on the spiral wire.

Helps to put different sized brushes next to each other to fill up as much space with out it falling out.

To me this was a great under $10 investment and find it helpful and wanted to share. I am still in a search for a different type that could hold more brushes at one time but as of right now this will work and I'm okay with it. Yay for Michaels!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite time of the year because its when the Spirit Store is open and selling Liquid Latex and fun face painting products and costumes! Whoo hoo!!

Most of all my family has gotten into dressing up and being characters, meaning i get to paint their faces and be creative with them. This year we did not plan as well as last year but it came out pretty funny! My husband, brother and boy cousins we The Blue Man Crew and to see how much fun they had painting themselves blue was HILARIOUS! I on the other hand decided to do something very different and did a sugar skull type look on my face. It came out better then I expected and was challenging! I have gotten so used to doing other peoples faces in all different ways that doing my own was a bit challenging, all in all I did it and it was fun!

Heres a Look at my Halloween:

The Boys, My Cousin and Judy!

My Halloween Look 

The boys

The Ladies!

The Products I used for this Look are:

The Skull Side:
-The Makeup Forever Flash Palette

 The White and the Black

-Translucent Powder to set the white and black
-Use dark browns, grays and black for contouring

The Plain Side:

Face:
-Makeup Forever HD Foundation
-Mac Mineral Pressed Powder
-Peach bluch MAC

Eyes:
-Stay Dont Stray Eye Primer from benefit
-Soft Brown e/s MAC
-Nylon e/s MAC
-Cake eyeliner
-False Lashes


The Boys used Blue clown paint from Ben Nye and translucent powder to set the look.

This was a fun look I wish I could have recorded it to show it step by step but it was a fun tedious look!
Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!!!!

QUICK UPDATE: RECENT SHOOT :)

PHOTOSHOOTS!!!

I have been working with two wonderful female photographers named Maria del Rio and Heather Rudloff. Wonderful women to work with and very very very talented! Thankful for working with them!

Photographer: Maria del Rio

Makeup Artist: Alexie Rae Francisco-Siu

These are just some pictures from this shoot. 

Photographer: Heather Rudloff

Makeup Artist: Alexie Rae Francisco-Siu

 Thank you Maria and Heather for the wonderful new friendships and WONDERFUL work we do together! 

QUICK UPDATE ONE MY LIFE:

1. Graduated Esthetician program at paris beauty college, concord ca! 

2.Then took my State Board Exam and.....PASSED! I am now a licensed esthetician! :) Now looking for a job, which has been challenging but im pushing through!

3. Celebrated my brothers "DIRTY THIRTY" bday in HAWAII! 

Now im back and ready to get down to business! After finishing school and passing my state board exam i have became a bit lazy. I have been working and booked a few weddings to do and some shoots. This is a VERY quick update for the past couple months....!