Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts

Friday

Styled Boudoir Sessions

We are so excited about our upcoming Boudoir Sessions this weekend with Lori Waddell of Lori Waddell Photography.  A Glamour Affair is teaming up with Lori to do the styling for the photo shoot.  We are going to have three different set options.  One will involve snow (soooo excited), one will include our infamous purple wall from "The Raven" shoot and the other will be a leopard curtain backdrop.  We are supplying many bustiers and accessories to choose from that are going to be absolutely beautiful!  And of course we will be doing hair and makeup for everyone.  It is going to be sooooo much fun!!!!!  We will definitely share with you some samples from the shoot so that you can decide if you want to sign up with us for some future boudoir shoots.  Here are some samples of inspiration photos that we are using for our sessions this weekend.  We are thinking beautiful sexy winter shots!!!
winter white boudoir photo shoot

























winter white boudoir photo shoot
ideas for boudoir photo shoot
ideas for boudoir photo shoot
ideas for boudoir photo shoot
XOXO,

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We are so excited to be teaming up with Lori Waddell of Lori Waddell Photography for a fun Boudoir Photo Shoot Marathon on December 8 & 9.  The event will take place in Dallas, GA.  Believe me when I say that these will be amazingly styled photos!!!  We hope you can join us!
styled boudoir photo shoot in Atlanta area December 8 & 9 2012 with Lori Waddell Photography & A Glamour Affair
XOXO,

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Monday

Hands Down The Best Anti Aging Skin Care: Onsen Secret From Japan

I love to talk about great products, because as you know we all waste a lot of money on products that just don't get the job done.  I was contacted by Onsen to choose 4 products to try, and if I liked them, blog about them.  I haven't just liked them I LOVE them!!!  The best overall word I can use to describe what they do is "refresh" my look.  They just give your skin a fresher more youthful look.  I am only 32, but sometimes people guess that I am older (yuck) so I am a little self conscious about my skin.  Sometimes genetics don't exactly afford you the luxury of having that youthful glow with your skin texture.  I feel like these products have helped give me that more youthful appearance.  The only problem with these products is that they will eventually run out, and they are priced higher than most skin care products.  A good way to weigh the advantages is to ask yourself how much you are going to spend trying different products that don't work.  Another advantage is that you do get a lot of product in each container.  Most eye creams come in those little bitty pots and don't last very long.  I would say that this will probably last me about a year.  Maybe not the moisturizer but eye cream, serum, and mask should.  You will find my description of how each product works in the picture below.  Onsen is also offering a 20% discount by using the promotional code "beauty 20".  All in all hands down this is the line I choose as my anti wrinkle cream and to fix the fine lines that I already have!!!!  
My review for the Anti Aging skin care by Onsen Secret:  The best anti aging skin care

best anti aging cream for fine lines and wrinkles.  see me without makeup
Under normal circumstance I would absolutely never put up a picture of myself without makeup.  This is right after I used the the Instant Line Lifter:  Wrinkle Plumping Cream Mask.  I have a really uneven skin tone but the mask seemed to even my tone out and give me a really fresh look.  This is a picture of the time I was telling you that my husband agreed that he saw a difference also.  I hope this post is helpful to others who are looking for great anti aging creams.  If you have any questions about these products please feel free to leave them in the comment section below.  I would be glad to help!

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Breast Cancer Awareness Styled Photo Shoot

We are so excited to share with you our Breast Cancer Awareness Styled Photo Shoot.  We have already featured my Aunt Brigette as a photographer along with an interview with her in the past.  Not only is she a photographer but she is also a breast cancer survivor.  So we asked Brigette (In Focus Photography) to participate as our model and photographer for this special styled session.  We lost a very special cousin, Susan, last year to breast cancer and also have many family members, including my very special Neesie and Aunt Ann who are breast cancer survivors.  That is what makes this photo shoot extra special, especially the fact that Brigette is a survivor and our family is so grateful to God that he has helped her to fight the cancer and......WIN!!!!!  We hope that these pictures are a reminder to you of the beauty in a woman's strength.  Please remember to donate to the cause, us girls have to stick together and fight for "our girls"!  If you would like to donate through Brigette's team to Hope Walks Atlanta just visit www.hopewalksatlanta.com and make a donation through paypal.  This team is part of the Susan G. Komen 3-day.  Please show Brigette and all the other women in our lives your support by donating what you can no matter how small.  I would love to help Brigette meet her goal of $5,000.
breast cancer awareness styled photo shoot A Glamour Affair pink hair and makeup
breast cancer awareness styled photo shoot A Glamour Affair pink hair and makeup
breast cancer awareness styled photo shoot A Glamour Affair pink hair and makeup
For the second half of the session we decided to spice things up a bit and added pink to Brigette's hair and enhanced the pink pigment on her eyes and lips.  I used Kevin Murphy's pink color bug on her hair, which washes out, and pink real hair extensions that I bought at Sephora for 1/2 off (yay!).
breast cancer awareness styled photo shoot A Glamour Affair pink hair and makeup
I absolutely love this picture and think that Brigette is absolutely gorgeous.  We had so much fun at this session and were so glad to get to do this with Brigette!!!!

breast cancer awareness styled photo shoot A Glamour Affair pink hair and makeup
This last picture just sums up what a good time we had that night!!!!!  And I think that my aunt looks absolutely adorable in this picture.  I also have to mention the fact that she was rockin' those leather pants.......She's still got it!
breast cancer awareness styled photo shoot A Glamour Affair pink hair and makeup
With much love for all of the survivors and those who didn't,

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Thursday

Nicki Minaj Puts Pink in Everyday

Everyone knows that October is breast cancer awareness month.  Why not try out some of our favorite recommended products and buy them at Ulta where they majorly support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  You can donate at checkout and get a free tumbler, bag, or umbrella depending on the amount that you donate or with just a dollar donation you are entered to win a beauty bag full of awesome products.  And also they are offering a lot of discounts on special edition breast cancer products like my favorite dry shampoo, Rockaholic Dirty Secret dry shampoo, that you can buy at 1/2 off (for sale only in stores and not online at Ulta).  This is a great time to try a new product to see if you like it (which I know you will because I've tried many and it is by far my favorite!).  
ulta breast cancer research foundation support
So while we are talking about all this "pink" we have to mention Nicki Minaj who is very involved with Susan G Komen for The Cure.  She is already associated with the color pink, so it is natural to think of "pink" and think of Nicki Minaj.  So in whatever way that you are supporting breast cancer research, whether it be by participating in a walk or any of the many other events, show some support and fun involvement by adding some pink to your hair with Kevin Murphy's Color Bug (temporary of course) or real hair clip in extensions that are colored pink like these from Sephora, which I just bought for 1/2 off (awesome deal right now).  If there were anytime to try out pink in your hair it is the month of October, so go for it!
Nicki Minaj pink breast cancer awareness month

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Tuesday

Hair and Makeup For a Night Out in Atlanta

In order to celebrate for my sister's dress design making the cover of Parenting Magazine (that I posted about yesterday), we had a celebration dinner at Ra Sushi in Atlanta.  I had a lot of trouble getting directions from Siri on my iPhone because I thought the name of the restaurant was "RAW" Sushi instead of "RA" Sushi.  I thought it was weird for it to be named "Raw" Sushi but kept asking Siri for directions to "Raw" Sushi.  My sister kept saying, "say Ra".  I thought she was just telling me to say "Raw" in a less southern accent.  So I kept repeating the word "raw" in my most unsouthern accent as possible.  We went back and forth with this until my sister finally spelled the word for me before I ever understood what she actually trying to tell me.  Soooo, needless to say we did finally get the correct directions and successfully made it to the restaurant for my sister, Alisha's, celebration.  One of the best parts of the evening was Nisha, my glamorous partner and makeup artist, and me getting Alisha ready for the evening.  I also did Nisha's hair for the night.  We had a full out girl's afternoon getting one another ready.  Here is a bit of a tutorial on how to get these looks.
tutorial on vintage waves and messy ponytail with bump
1.  This is Nisha's before shot.  The body she got in her hair was from twisting her hair up in a bun after drying it and leaving it for awhile.  I have done a tutorial on how to do this before.  Click here to see how to do this.
2.  Section hair and clip on top of head so you can curl sections.
3.  Wrap the hair around a 1-1/2" curling iron while being sure to hold the iron horizontally
4.  Once you have finished curling all layers let hair set until it has completely cooled.  Then brush hair out with an anti-static paddle brush (click the link to see the one that I use).
5.  This is what it looks like.  Notice the nice vintage horizontal waves.  If you want to make sure it stays very defined you can't add plenty of hairspray.
6. Now bring up layers and tease underneath making sure to leave a section on top to smooth over the teased portion.
7.  Add Big Sexy's Backcomb in a Bottle to each teased section, after you tease each section.
8.  Just a pic of me and Nisha having a good time with her messy teased hair.  I will finish with the next picture set.
tutorial on bump with messy ponytail and half up half down hairstyle
1.  More of the teasy mess!  It's just a fun pic!!
2.  First we tried a messy ponytail.  I used Redken Wool Shake for that messy matte runway look.  Click here to see my tutorial on how to do this ponytail with a bump and make sure it stays.
3.  Front view of the messy pony.
4.  Back view of the messy pony.
5.  And Nish decides that pony is just to messy for her taste so we changed to a half up half down do.
6.  Just take the top portion of hair, after smoothing the top layer over the teased portion, and spray Redken's Wool Shake (which is buy 2 get 1 free right now at Ulta) and use your fingers to sort of brush throught the top portion (after the spray has dried).  Now twist hair and insert bobby pins underneath the twist in an upward direction until hair is secure.
7.  Here is a back view.
tutorial on big sexy hair 
For Alisha's hairstyle I used a 1-1/2" curling iron to just add some flip to the ends.  Then I used my 1-1/2" curling iron to wrap hair framing the face around the curling iron holding it in the vertical position. I then teased the hair at the crown then sprayed teased sections with Big Sexy's Backcomb in a Bottle and finally smoothed the top layer over that for sexy height.  Nisha went for a natural look with Alisha's makeup and lined her eyes heavily.  I think Alisha looked so awesome for her big night!  See the side view of her "big sexy" hair pictured below.
tutorial on big sexy hairA Glamour Affair makeup and hair{It may be obvious that while getting everyone else ready, there wan't much time left for myself}A glamour Affair makeup and hair
{Having too much fun!!!!}

I hope you enjoyed seeing our pics and our getting ready process for a night that was big for all of us!
XOXO,
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Part 2 of Back To School Hairstyle Tutorials 2012: The Messy Side Bun, The Messy Side Braid, & The Ponytail With A Bump

So this is part 2 of my Back to School Hairstyle Tutorial Feature.  For the first 2 looks I just did a continuation of the front french braid look from yesterday and just built on that.  Once again, the corresponding numbered directions to go along with the picture tutorial are below each picture set.  Good Luck trying out your new hairstyles!!!  First, here are 3 stars with the hairstyles I am going to teach you how to do.

Look # 3:  Messy Side Braid
1.  Tease length of hair with a teasing brush.  Make sure not to get it tangly but just tease it enough to make it look thicker so you can have a "fatter" braid.  If you happen to tease it too much just lightly smooth back over it with the teasing brush.  It's also a good idea to lightly spray hair with a very dry hairspray like Redken #23 Finishing Spray (my favorite for that particular use) once you have finished teasing it.
2.  Make sure all hair is pulled to the side and separate into 3 equal parts and braid.
3.  Secure braid with a small clear rubber band.
4.  Pull braid in opposite directions in order to loosen the braid and again make it look "fatter".
5.  Now to make it even more messy, take the teasing brush and lightly brush in opposite direction.
6.  I know you can barely see my other hand, but what you do now is lightly pull on shorter layers of hair to pull them loose and again get the more messy look.
7.  Now you have the Messy Side Braid!
Look # 4:  Messy Side Bun
1.  Pull all hair to one side.
2.  Tease length of hair to make it appear thicker.  Then lightly spray with a very dry hairspray like Redken's #23 Finishing Spray.
3.  Loosely and lightly twist hair so that it still looks very thick.
4.  Keep twisting hair to the end.  No need to secure with anything just make sure to hold end.
5.  Loosely wrap hair around in the shape of a loose bun and secure edges of bun (all the way around) to head with bobby pins.
6.  Take your braid and loosely pull it back to wrap it around your bun.
7.  Secure braid with bobby pins.  The you can lightly pull on hair to get the shape you want from the bun so it's not too perfectly circle.
8.  And now you have the messy side bun with braid.


Look #5:  The Messy Ponytail With a Bump
1.  Depending on the thickness of your hair choose a plastic uncoated rubber band.  I use rubber bands for braiding when I do this.  Or you can use horse rubber bands.  Now attach two bobby pins to the rubber band just like in the picture.
2.  Tease roots of layers of hair on top of the head and down to the crown to create your bump and smooth front hair over teased portion.  Then pull hair into ponytail position.  Pull sides and underside tight with a comb but leave front portion loose.
3.  Reach in directly below ponytail and pull out a portion of hair that will be long enough to wrap around the ponytail holder.
4.  Get your rubber band with the 2 bobby pins and slide one bobby pin in snuggly against one side of your ponytail.  Then pull rubber band around completely encircling the ponytail and slide bobby pin in opposite direction that you pulled the rubber band from.  So if you are coming from underneath with rubber band, pull it tightly upwards but push bobby pin downward and diagonally through the center of the ponytail.
5.  Now take the portion of hair that you pulled out of the ponytail earlier and wrap it around the base of the ponytail.  Stick a bobby pin just before the end of the hair and wrap the end of the hair around the bobby pin and slide bobby pin diagonally through the base of the ponytail.
6.  Run fingers through your bump to make it look messy.  Then spray with Redken's # 23 Finishing Spray.
7.  Now the front is finished.
8.  Now begin teasing the ponytail with a teasing brush.
9.  Spray teased portion of ponytail with Redken #23 Finishing Spray.
10.  And now you have a Messy Ponytail With a Bump!
XOXO,


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Wednesday

Back to School Fashion 2012: Backpacks and School Bags

For day 2 of Back To School Fashion I wanted to cover the biggest back to school item that everyone must have, and that is The Backpack.  If you're going to spend the money anyway why not buy the most stylish bag you can find.  So here are my glamorous finds and all you have to do is click on the picture of the one you like and it will link you right over to where you can order the item online.  I hope you like these bags as much as I do!  This first set is from Victoria's Secret......
Most stylish and fashionable backpacks for back to school 2012 including Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, and Juicy Couture

These are from Urban Outfitters
Most stylish and fashionable backpacks for back to school 2012 including Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, and Juicy Couture
For something different you can try these french vintage looking bags from Etsy
Most stylish and fashionable backpacks for back to school 2012 including Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, and Juicy Couture
This next set is from the Juicy Couture Outlet site, so you are getting a deal on these next 2.  Now they are grouped under diaper bags but are listed as "bag" and "daydreamer bag" which means they are larger bags.  All you really need to know is that they are 80% off, and they carry a bunch of stuff!
Most stylish and fashionable backpacks for back to school 2012 including Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, and Juicy Couture
Here are some more Back To School Juicy products including 2 binders (I know they look small in the picture, but they really are binders), and a set of 2 binder folders and a notebook.
Most stylish and fashionable backpacks for back to school 2012 including Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, and Juicy Couture
And now for the best one of all (in my opinion anyway).  So I have to admit that it is a bit of a splurge, but after all this is A Glamour Affair Blog so we have to at least look at the really good stuff......right?
Most stylish and fashionable backpacks for back to school 2012 including Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, and Juicy Couture
And the most important thing to remember for back to school is (I just read this quote somewhere) "KINDNESS is always in FASHION"
XOXO,


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Friday

Working on a Styled Photo Shoot With Kristina Eaton

Today Nisha and I will be doing another photo shoot.  It is a continued session from this Monday.  We are shooting with Brigette Carruth of In Focus Photography, who I must say is quite amazing!  She shoots all of my personal and family photographs.  Brigette contacted us to do hair and makeup for product photography for Kristina Eaton of Kristina Eaton Limited Bridal Veils and Headpieces.  This has been a very exciting experience for us.  Kristina's line is carried in stores across the United States and also in Ireland.  We are so excited to see the pictures and will share them with you once we have been given the ok to release them.  If I could go back to my wedding day I would definitely have bought a Kristina Eaton Ltd. bridal veil.  She does these awesome embroidered cathedral length veils.  They are real heirloom pieces with your initials on them.  All of the embroidery is done by hand and the detail is so intricate.  This picture is just one of many from her website.  She also carries all lengths and styles from fun cutting edge to one of a kind heirloom pieces like pictured below.  So while your reading this we will be doing hair and makeup for the lovely girls modeling these veils and headpieces or we will be up in the trees hanging chandeliers for the shoot.  Think about us while you are sitting in the air conditioning reading our blog!  Just kidding we will love every minute of doing what we love even if it is in the hot Georgia sun!!!!
Kristina Eaton Ltd. embroidered bridal veil





XOXO,


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Thursday

The Dark Night Rises Premier: Hair and Makeup

So all of you batman lovers know that The Dark Night Rises premiers tonight at midnight.  I know I can't wait to see the movie.  My cousin Chase is going all out for the premier.  He will be attending tonight as, of course, Heath Ledger's version of The Joker.  I was excited to be asked to do his hair and makeup for the premier tonight.  We had our practice run last night so I have to share with you the pictures. I have some better ones that my Aunt, Chase's mother, who is a photographer took.  For some reason I can't get them to load, but I will figure it out and post those with our tutorial that we will post when it gets closer to Halloween.  They are much better and show way more detail!
Heath Ledger version of the Joker how to get his look for The Dark Knight Rises premier how to make a wig look more real
 Notice how real his wig looks.  It looked so bad fake before I tweaked it.  So if you need to tweak your wig this how I did it.  First, I cut it making sure to cut in angles and layers so that it didn't look chopped.  Then we needed it to look dirtier and greasy.  I started off trying to use hair products, but don't waste your time or product on this synthetic stuff.  Just go to the kitchen and grab the olive oil.  And no it's not time for a snack, you're going to add it to the wig.  Although the smell reminded me of a smell from when I was pregnant and my husband and I would grill chicken until I couldn't handle the smell anymore.  So I was pretty much gagging the entire time I was doing this.  Don't worry it doesn't stink it just triggered an aversion for me.  Getting to the point, just pour it in your hands and rub it in, pretty heavy amount, and put it throughout the wig sort of scrunching at the ends so you keep that wavy look.  Then Chase suggested adding some black to the wig.  I grabbed my gypsy sticks and used the black to color in at the roots so it looked dirtier, more dimensional and like dark roots.  I also selected random strands and put the black down the entire length of the strands throughout the wig. You can also just use chalk pastels from the art supply store to add the black to the wig.  Even Walmart's arts and crafts section has them.  Finally, I sealed it all in with some finishing hair spray.  I thought it turned out great!!!!
Heath Ledger version of the Joker how to get his look for The Dark Knight Rises premier
When it gets closer to Halloween we will do a detailed tutorial on how to get this look and do the scarring and all.  Hope everyone enjoys the premier tonight.  Feel free to leave comments below and tell us what you thought about the movie.
XOXO,




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Wednesday

Little Girl's Fashion Show Birthday Party

We are always excited to do hair and makeup for ladies, but it is a real pleasure to do hair and makeup for little ladies.  They are so easy to please and so excited about everything you do to them.  We were asked to do hair and makeup for my cousin Finley's 5th birthday party.  Finley's mother Beth pulled out all the stops for this fashion show party with a real runway and dressing table, rack, and dress up shoes.    For makeup Nisha used fun glitter colors, lip gloss, and mascara (false lashes for the birthday girl).  For hair I used Gypsy Sticks to add temporary colored strips.  The girls couldn't get enough color in their hair.  Some little girls wanted one of every color.  Then I used a lot of hairspray to give the girls little poofs on top of their heads.  They looked so cute when we were finished (honestly they looked pretty cute before too)!!!  The fashion show was at 655 West in Hiram, GA.  It is actually a wedding venue owned by Finley's parents and grandparents.  Finley and all the girls were so cute twirling around dancing and strutting their stuff.  The announcer for the fashion show was Finley's dad Johnathan.  His interviews for the girls were so funny.  He'd ask things like, do you prefer hunting or fishing?  It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!!!  We took some pictures with our iPhones so they aren't the best quality but we wanted to share this party with you.



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