How to Get Katherine Webb's Contoured Look: The New It Girl

For those of you who watched the BCS National Championship, or any television at all today, noticed the beautiful Katherine Webb, girlfriend to Alabama's quarterback A.J. McCarron and also Miss Alabama.  Hmmmm, this story sounds familiar.  Kind of reminds me of that new show Nashville.  For those of you who don't watch, Hayden Panetierre's character dates a football player to play up her image.  I'm not saying that Katherine's image needs to be upped but it is quite a match for Miss Alabama to be dating "Mr. Alabama".  It sure has gained her a lot of attention becoming an overnight twitter sensation and getting on every morning show in America.  Anyway, she is BEAUTIFUL and the thing that stood out most to me, as far as makeup goes, was her  highlighting with her makeup.  Just search her on google and you will see what I'm talking about.  She just had that fabulous glow that comes from playing a good highlighter like MAC Cosmetic's Cream Color Base in Shell, off of a good matte bronzer like Too Faced Matte Chocolate Soleil Bronzer.  I used the picture of the other girl so you can see a more dramatic use of this in order to really get the point of where to highlight and where to bronze.  It takes practice but by using good products and a good contouring brush you will get it no time.

XOXO,

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Review for Batiste Dry Shampoo With a Hint of Color

Those who read my blog know my love of dry shampoo.  When I talk to a lot of my customers their complaint about dry shampoo is that it is white.  While the white is easily worked into the hair and disappears easily, if it bothers you Batiste offers dry shampoo with a hint of color.  It is offered in Light & Blonde, Dark & Deep Brown, and Medium & Brunette.  I used the Medium & Brunette and it is a great match for my hair and the victim of today's post pictured below.  The model/victim begged to remain anonymous with her greasy hair.  I won't say any names but she did give birth to me 33 years ago today hahahahaha!  In her defense I rushed to her house before she could take a shower and immediately after she woke up so I could show just how great this product works.  I just sprayed it all along the hairline and lifted sections spraying each one at the root.  As you can see the results are fabulous!  You can buy Batiste with a hint of color at Ulta, Kroger, Ingles, and Bed Bath and Beyond, among other places.

I will add that the tinted dry shampoo is great for men.  My husband and I recently went on a couple's trip.  One of the husbands overslept and didn't get to wash his hair because we all rushed him out the door.  By the end of the night we were all playing games and his wife was like, "go wash your hair it is nasty!"  Then I was like wait a minute I have just the thing.  So I ran upstairs and grabbed my batiste and everyone was amazed at how clean and good his hair looked.  He kept doing the Justin Beiber thing with his hair all night long.  We all got a good laugh out of it, but seriously it really did look good!

Batiste Dry Shampoo With a Hint of Color
XOXO,

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How to Make Your Face Look Thinner With Contouring

Contouring may seem like a job only for makeup artists, but with our secrets you will find that with practice you too can have that beautiful contoured look.  Even if this is something you wouldn't want to do everyday, it is a great idea if you are having professional pictures made.  If you don't know which products to buy to get these looks, check out our faves from SOHO's Contouring Brush, that you can buy at CVS, and Too Faced Cosmetics Kabuki Brush & Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer that you can buy at Sephora.  Of course any brand will do, just choose your favorites and start practicing!

Secrets to Contouring

with
Too Faced, SOHO

XOXO,

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Our Top Picks For Makeup That Lasts All Night

Many brides and bridesmaids ask the question, "are you sure my makeup will stay put all night?"  The answer is always yes.  On top of that we always get the response that our clients could hardly even get their makeup off when they were actually trying to.  While we have many choices for "all nighter" products these are our top of the line picks.  So try these out and see for yourself how your makeup can last all night and even through the next morning if you are just too tired to wash it off the night before.  

Photo by Reflective Images Photography Model:  Christina Alls
Makeup That Stays Put

with
Make Up For Ever, Urban Decay

XOXO,

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A Glamour Affair does.......The Raven: A DIY Tutorial

Nisha and I just LOVE Halloween, so you can imagine how excited we are to blog about "Halloweeny" hair and makeup.  So we decided to do........ The Raven.  So first we set out to find an outfit.  We knew we could get a good price on something at Marshalls so that is where we went first.  Luckily, we found the PERFECT dress.  It was black and had sequins and did I mention perfect?  The best part was that it was only $16.99.  Then I wanted to make a capelet with feathers to go along with the dress so it looked more "raven-ish".  Below the picture set you will find a DIY tutorial on how to make the raven feather capelet, along with a hair and makeup tutorial.  Our great photographer friend Lori Waddell of Lori Waddell Photography was the photographer for this fun little photo shoot.  Click on the link to visit Lori's website to see more of her work.  I hope you have as much fun with your Halloween costume as we did with this one!

 

 

 

 

Here is my tutorial for getting "The Raven" hairstyle.  Feel free to post any questions below.  I would be happy to answer!

Pulling off the Raven Makeup Look

Tutorial on the Raven Capelet

Once you have finished the steps above you can just hot glue two ribbons to the inside edges of the capelet and tie it in a bow to keep it on.

XOXO,

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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.

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.

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.

 

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.

{It may be obvious that while getting everyone else ready, there wan't much time left for myself}

{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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A Glamour Affair's Top Pick For a Kate Middleton Updo 2012

When it comes to elegance and class you can't go wrong with a Kate Middleton Hairstyle.  So if you are getting married or going to a special event and are looking for something "royal" here is our top pick worn by Kate Middleton in 2012.  In order to achieve this updo read the instructions beneath the picture.

1.  The first thing you should do is to curl the hair with a 1" curling iron in order to give bend to the ends so you don't have any straight ends "poking" out of your elegant hairstyle.

2.  Part hair on the side and section this piece off by going about an 1-1/2" backwards.  Lightly tease under this portion to give volume like seen on the front portion of the hair on Kate.

3.  Then you will want to tease the crown with a teasing brush for 5 thin layers of hair in the crown section being sure to leave a top "unteased" layer to smooth over the teased portion.  After teasing each layer spray underneath each section with Big Sexy Hair's "Backcomb in a Bottle".  This will hold your tease and give it bouncy padding.  Now lightly smooth top layer over teased portion with your teasing brush.  

4.  Now separate 2 sections on each side of the crown and move them to the front of the shoulders.  

5.  Taking your bobby pin and slightly opening, push pins upward at the base of the teased portion.  This will just give it that extra bump.  Continue inserting pins upward like this for the entire width of the bump.  

6.  Take the remainder of the hair in the center section and begin to fold and tuck pieces and pin them into place low at the nape of the neck.  Be sure to criss cross your pins to ensure that they won't slide out.

7.  For this last part, the portion of hair that appears to be braided, you are actually going to do a 2 piece braid instead of a 3 piece braid.  All you do is take a small section from one side and take a small section from the other side and lay one on top of the other.  Then grab a piece from the opposite side and lay it over the previous piece and adding it to the section beneath the piece from the other side.  Continue this pattern until your have used all of the hair from each side.  Hide pins pushing them upward to secure the base of the braid into the hairstyle.

8.  Now take the length of the remainder of the hair that was braided in the top portion and work it into the bulk of the bun.  Making sure to pin it in such a way that it doesn't look like it was the bottom portion of the braid, but part of the bun.

Good Luck with your Kate Middleton updo.  Feel free to ask any questions!

XOXO,

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How to Revamp Your Hair in Very Little Time

So you've been at work or school all day and you come home and your hair is flat, but you've got somewhere to be.  You don't have time for a shower so what do you do?  Grab a spray bottle filled with water and just wet the roots of your hair.  Not soaking wet, but just enough to dampen them.  Then spray the roots with a volumizer.  The one I have mentioned that I like best right now is by CHI.  Then take your large round ceramic brush and dry your roots upward.  This will make your hair look like you just stepped out of the shower but in way less time.  I know this may seem obvious, but sometimes we are just too busy to think of the obvious.

XOXO,

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How to Get Smooth Silky Waves Like Sophia Bush

To get smooth silky waves like the ones seen on Sophia Bush just follow the steps below.

What you will need:
1. 1-1/2" Curling Iron
2. Paddle Brush
3. Aerosol Shine Spray

Get This Look:
1.  Section hair off and start with the bottom layer and wrap hair around curling iron horizontally all the way to the root.  Be sure to hold iron in the horizontal position and leave hair on the iron until the outermost hair feels hot.
2.  After you curl each piece grab the end and pull on the section while it is still hot.  This will give it more of a wave instead of a curl.
3.  After you have done the final layer let hair set for a few minutes allowing it to cool.
4.  Now brush through hair with your paddle brush (preferably an anti-static one).
5.  If your hair needs more shine just lightly spray it with an aerosol shine spray.

Feel free to leave any comments below if you have any questions.

XOXO,

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My Choice For The Best Volumizer For Your Hair

I have used a lot of volumizers and I do like a lot of them.  However, right now my new favorite find is by Chi.  It is called Volume Booster Body Liquifying Glaze.  I like that it is a liquid volumizing spray because this saves me a lot of time in the mornings.  I don't like foams because that means I have to spray it in my hands first and distribute it into my hair and then I have to wash my hands.  Anyway, that is why I prefer the liquid sprays like this one.  Also, to help you better understand the product and decide if this is one you would like I wanted to tell you that it does not make the hair feel that sort of thick pasty feeling that some volumizers do.  It gives your hair a sort of dry texture instead of a pasty texture, which is one of the things I love about it.  So I just spray the Volume Booster on my roots by lifting sections and spraying underneath.  Then I spray it along the hairline framing my face to take care of fly aways and it also keeps my hair out of my face once it's dry.  Then, with this spray, you also spray it on the length of your hair.  It's great for volume, body, and texture.  What more could you ask for?!?!  Finally, I just use my large round brush and section my hair off, drying the bottom layer, the middle layer, and lastly the top layer.  You will have amazing volume with this spray.  Even I was impressed with the height in my hair, and I've tried EVERYTHING!  You can buy Chi's Volume Booster on Amazon or at a salon that carries Chi products.  You can check your local Wal-Mart salon to see if they sell it in there.  See the picture above to know what you are looking for.  Now go get your "high" hair on!

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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Back to School Hairstyles: The Uneven Side Part & The Messy Front Braid

You can't go wrong with braids and messy hair.  So that is what I am going to show you.  I know that I don't make the best model for "back to school" looks but I have two sons and one is my camera man so I'm as good as it gets for these tutorials.  Below each picture set tutorial are the corresponding #'s with directions.

Back to School Look #1:  The Uneven Side Part
1.  Take a clip or a comb, use one pointy edge and go in the direction of an uneven sort of zig zag along the scalp.  Make sure to start on the side then go even farther to the side and then back towards center.  This makes sure that you don't have too much hair going to one side assuring that your hair doesn't look extremely fuller on one side than the other.
2.  Once you reach the crown pull the clip or comb upward separating the hair on one side of the point from the hair on the other side of the point.
3.  Let hair fall to each side and smooth.

Back to School Look #2:  The Front Braid
1. Separate 3 equal strands of hair.
2. Make sure that the strand towards the back of your head is not going to be pulled forward too much as to show the part.  Showing the part where you pull the rear strand is a definite NO NO!
3.  French braid until you've used the last strand of hair right above the ear then finish out with a regular braid down the length of the hair.  Secure with one of those little clear plastic rubber bands. 
4.  Loosen the braid if you want a more messy look.  If you would like your braid more poofy loosen it by sticking the pointy end of your teasing brush under the braid strands and pulling gently upward.  
5.  Then you can take the teasing brush and gently brush over the braid.  Do this in the same fashion as shining shoes.
6.  Then push the braid upwards against the scalp towards the start of the french braid and secure with bobby pins in the opposite direction of the braid to hold it in the poofy position.
7.  Now tease underneath sections of hair to give volume in the hair around the braid making sure to smooth a layer of unteased hair over the teased portion.  Repeat this around the top two layers of the entire head.  If your hair doesn't hold tease then be sure to spray the teased portion with hairspray of my favorite to use on teased hair which is Big Sexy Hair's Backcomb in a Bottle.
8.  Now spray with a finishing spray that is very dry.  My two favorites are Redken's #23 Finishing Spray and  Kenra's #26 Finishing Spray.
9.  And VOILA this is the finished product.

So these are two must have know hows for back to school hairstyles 2012.  I'll be back tomorrow with 2 more.   Remember if you ever have any questions or I didn't explain something well enough, feel free to leave a comment asking any questions.  I am glad to answer!  I want our blog to be interactive with our viewers.

XOXO,

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Back to School Makeup Looks

With back to school right around the corner I thought it would be a good idea to give some makeup advice. Although, whether you are in high school or college or just a working girl the advice is still good!  Today I want to talk about general makeup looks without getting into too much detail.  So there are two important rules when it comes to makeup and they are.......
1.  If you are wearing heavily lined eyes and heavier eyeshadow you should go with a more natural nude lip color like the stars pictured below.

2.  If you want to go with a bright lipstick go with a more natural look on your eyes like these stars.

So as you see you can't go wrong with either of these looks.  Just make sure that if you are doing a nude lip that you don't actually go with naked lips.  If you do, it will just look like you forgot to put on some lipstick.  You can choose a lightly tinted gloss or an actual nude colored lipstick then you will have perfection!  Stay tuned for more detailed instructions on these looks.

XOXO,

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Pads For Your Hair.....Say What?!?!

While trying to keep myself up to date with the latest in hair fashion I have been studying Sharon Blain, an Australian who has won over 500 industry awards.  Her work is amazing and plays a big role in what you see on the red carpet and the catwalk.  So while studying her DVD's I learned about Sharon Blain's hair padding.  You know when you see all of those perfect looking hairstyles where it looks like the person has the hair of 3 people?  Well, either they do or what you see is a hairstyle where hair padding has been used.  Sharon offers different shapes and colors of synthetic hair wrapped in netting.

All you do is choose the shape and pin it in your hair and smooth your own hair over it.  You can even pin multiple pieces together to get new shapes.  And because the padding is made of hair your bobby pins work perfectly and do not destroy the shape for future use.  I love learning how to do these different styles and then adding my own twist to them.  Here is a hairstyle that I did yesterday for a photo shoot using hair padding.  The model is Megan Burdett, who I love working with!!!

I ordered these hair padding pieces from Australia because apparently they don't sell this quality of hair padding in the United States.  I found foam like pieces, but I don't feel like I could get as much use out of them because of the foam eventually getting "holy".  After searching extensively for somewhere around here to buy hair padding I discovered that in the "old days" women used hair padding.  They used to call them hair rats.  After seeing them don't you agree that you could see why they might be called hair rats?  They used to use horse hair to make them.  I don't know about you, but I would've never guessed.  So don't get too down on yourself the next time you see the actresses on the red carpet and become envious of "all that hair".  Just remember when it comes to hair everything may not always be as it seems.

XOXO,

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