The lovely ladies over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas is having a contest where you can win a $50 gift certificate for some Loose Lips New York makeup. I absolutely had to try my hand at entering since I just LOVE makeup but now-a-days can’t seem to find the time to actually put any on anymore. Maybe it is because I am 36 weeks pregnant, big as a house, completely exhausted, utterly uncomfortable, or just plain tired but I haven’t been able to “primp myself up” now for quite some time. I miss my “pretty days”. The days that my feet weren’t swollen the size of boats, days I could go 5 minutes without having to pee or have someone watch me pee, where I didn’t think I was going to go absolutely crazy from the “baby eating my brain”. As I complain about being pregnant for the second time, I know that this is just a phase and that soon enough I will be back into my old routine and back into my “hot mama” skin and not this oversized ballooned out body I’ve been sporting for 9 months.

During my “hot mama” times I do have some really great makeup tips that I’d like LOVE to share with ya’ll….

Tip #1: Exfoliate!!!

To get the Look:

* I use a facial scrub like St. Ive’s Medicated Apricot scrub to sluff off dead skin cells at least 2-3 times a week.
* I also apply a mud face mask once a week to draw any toxins and gunkies out of my pores.

Tip #2: Tone, Moisturize, Prime, and Cover

To get the look:

* After washing my face, I immediately sweep toner all over my face to make sure I have gotten all of the residue or extra makeup that my soap left behind.
* Secondly, after the toner has dried I apply a moisturizer all over my face. I use the basic Oil of Olay beauty lotion that has been around forever.
* Thirdly, I apply a makeup primer on top of my moisturizer that keeps my makeup in place and smooth.
* Once the primer dries, I conceal my dark circles with a regular stick concealer. Then I buff in a powder foundation all over my face. I love powder foundation because it doesn’t look masky or cakey. It helps my skin breath and not to mention feels alot better than liquid foundation. I don’t have to worry about my foundation melting off of my face in the dead heat of summer when I’m wearing powder foundation.
* Lastly to set everything I apply a translucent powder all over the face. The translucent powder will then help my eye and lip makeup to stay on longer.

Tip #3: Make your Eyes appear larger than they actually are.

To get the look:

* First apply whatever shade of eyeshadow you like or look best in. The choose the next two shades up and define the eye by placing it on the outside of the eye and in the crease.
* With Black Eyeliner, Line the top lashes only, all the way across.
* With black eyeshadow and an eyeliner brush go over the black eyeliner to give it a smokey not so “done” look.
* To make your lashes look extra thick, apply black eyeliner to the inside of the top lid.
* Apply Mascara to the top lashes only. This draws the eye upward. Applying mascara to the bottom closes the eye in and makes it appear smaller, same with the liner.
* If you want to go the extra mile, you could apply WHITE eyeliner to the inside of the bottom lid which will make your eye appear even larger.
* Apply a shimmering powder to your brow bone and the inside corner of each eye.

Tip #4: Create the illusion of hollowed out cheek bones. [I personally get commented on this one all the time]

To get the look:

* Place your blush instead of at the apple of your cheek, place it just under your natural cheekbone all the way back to your hair line.
* If you want to do more, you can add a shimmering powder on the cheekbone itself to highlight it and create that dewy appearance all the celebrities are doing.

Tip #5: Trick #3: Create the illusion of fuller lips

To get the look:

* Always line your lips with a neutral shade no matter what shade of lipstick you are using and do it correctly. My secret is that I use a very light brown/blonde shade of an eyebrow pencil and use it both to “shape” my brows and line my lips.
*To line your lips properly: Place your pinky on your chin to stabelize your hand. Go from each corner upward. On your upper lip, going from the top down, makes the mouth look droopy. Do the same to your bottom lip.
* Finish off with gloss. Gloss is Key! Gloss can do so much more for you than lipstick ever could. I mean look at Jennifer Lopez, she is always glossing it up!!! Make sure you blend your liner into your gloss so you don’t have a “lined look”.

I know this routine seems sort of extensive for the average Stay at home Mom that doesn’t have alot of time on her hands. This is the routine I take whenever I do get to have just a couple minutes to myself for a special day. Usually I just wear mascara and foundation. But once you get the hang of the “full look” it really does go by quickly and you can look “Domestic Diva” good in no time.

The past couple of days my mother has been in town helping me get ready for the baby. We made a cast of my belly, sewed some curtains for the babies room, and also I started on making my homemade baby wrap.

My mother left this morning to go back home and all day today I’ve been in the kitchen baking things from scratch. On todays menu we are having homemade pretzels, homemade pizza for supper, and I will make a batch of rice krispy treats for dessert. YUM! I’ll post recipes for the pizza and pretzels later on tonight after I take a few photos of the results.

Upon reading my blogs this morning I came across a very interesting post that talks about ways to reduce your energy bill…..read this

So I’ve been very crafty busy the past couple of days. Yesterday I made my very first floor pillow…

Isn’t it cute. I love the colors and the buttons. Pnut thinks that it is his new bed and KoJo our dog thinks it is his new bed. I don’t know where or what we are going to use it for but I just had to make one. The floor pillow is stuffed with an old body pillow and 2-3 other old pillows that had gotten ripped. The fabric I had bought initially to do another project but upon reading the pattern discovered that I hadn’t purchased enough and floor pillow was next on my list of things to make. I would like to make a couple more to go in the living room for the kids to lay on and watch tv or play their games on. We shall see.

Also, today my mother and I cast my pregnant stomach. Click the scrap-page below to go to my belly casting post on Belly Bean.

Above is a photo taken from today of me and my son, p-nut, showing off our “baby tummys”. LOL. We are both sporting our elmo gear. Pnut has his vintage sesame street shirt on and I have my sesame street pj bottoms on. Pj bottoms seem to be the most comfortable thing for me to wear now a days. I am so LARGE! Grief, could I get any bigger? OH and pardon the storage boxes behind us that hubby has neglected to put up into the attic. *hint, hubby, hint*

To read more about the current state of my pregnancy, visit Belly Bean: my life as a pregnant woman part II.

Also for all those who care, hubby has started to blog again. I promised I’d give him a little linky love so here it is. Go Check it out! Over there you will find alot of talk about American Idol, one of hubby’s favorite shows and various other ramblings about music and the goings on of his life. Please comment and make him feel welcomed back into the blogging world again. This time I hope he keeps it up.

One of the books that I purchased for pnut’s easter basket is a book that teaches him opposites. He is loving learning the difference between up/down, big/small, long/short, and…

Over/Under

In the photo above you can see pnut pointing out which one is under. He has caught on really quickly.

Above is a photo of pnut with his new “toy” that he received in his easter basket. It is a playdough set that makes french fries from his favorite restuarant….McDonalds. He loves his “cheese fries” and since he loves to cook I thought this would be a great activity for him. So far so good.

I just came across a great blog post that talks about a way to reduce your energy bill. I am all about trying to save money on our energy bill. It seems that every month, I can hear hubby groan as he opens our energy bill. It pains for me to hear that groan since I don’t even use that much electricity. Frankly, I’m the “greener” one of the two of us. I’m always nagging hubby to turn off the lights when he leaves a room or stop running the water so long. I forwarded this post to my husband’s email and we will give it a try hopefully when he gets home. We shall see. Go check out the post and start thinking of ways you can save on your energy bill.