thankfulness

Thanksgiving weekend has been a break I won't quickly forget. Here is a quick list of things that I'm thankful for:

•crisp nights spent outside with my family surrounding our little fire pit
•photography
•my morning playlist
•the occasional warm day thrown into bitter cold ones in late November
•multiple mugs of coffee and tea throughout the day
•loud, hearty laughter
•falling asleep in the cabin listening to the fire crackle and waking up to find a thin layer of snow dusting the mountains
•hot cocoa with whipped cream
•inside jokes
•long conversations with my friends, talking about anything and everything
•getting up early to go to mass with my family
•the official start of the holiday season

What are you thankful for?

xo,
hannah

electro eyes // a review+tutorial

Today I bring you the Wet n Wild Idol Eyes Creme Shadow. I received the colors 'Graphite' (left) and 'Electro' (right) to review.
These retail for $1.99 and I must say they are totally worth the investing in. They glide onto the skin smooth and creamy, but will crease like crazy if you don't set them with a powder eyeshadow. That's really my only complaint! They are pigmented, smooth, and last as long as you need them to if you set them with eyeshadow.
All the shades in the line are frosty (from what I hear), and aside from these two colors I have two other ones, in "Pixie" and "Techno".
They have no fragrance whatsoever and are extremely light on the eyes. All in all an awesome product :)

From left-to-right: Electro, Graphite, and Pixie.

Here is a tutorial using "Electro". I had so much fun with this because I rarely use blue shadows and I don't think I've ever done a tutorial with blues, so enjooooy!

Step 1: Prime your eyelids. I'm using the original UD Primer Potion.

Step 2: Smudge "Electro" or any other blue cream shadow that you have onto your upper lashline and bring it about halfway into your lower lashline. Don't be too careful, just blend it a little if it's messy. Wing it out slightly, not too far.

 Step 3: Set the cream shadow with a blue powder shadow. This one is from the Coastal Scents 88 Original palette.

Step 4: Set the cream shadow on the lower lashline with a darker blue. This shadow also comes from the Coastal Scents palette

Step 5: Let's start adding warmth to this look! Smudge a copper shadow on the remaining half of your lower lashline.

Step 6: Apply a light shimmery color to your inner corner. This one is from the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip palette for green eyes.

 Step 7: Draw a thin line of copper eyeliner on your upper lashline. Let it follow the wing of the shadow, but not all the way out.

Step 8: Line your waterline with that same copper eyeliner. This one is by Wet n Wild in 'Bronze'.

Step 9: Add mascara and guess what? You're done with ze eyes! (The mascara I used was Covergirl's LashPerfection in Blackest Black.)

Keep the rest of the face pretty neutral. After I did my foundation I actually used Milani's eyeshadow in 'Coffee Shop' for blush/contouring. It's a warm burgundy-rose color that's pretty dark so I used a light hand and applied it to the sides of my cheeks as well as my temples. For lips I just used NYX's xtreme lip creme in 'natural'.

Zat is it! (In case you couldn't tell, I was going for a French accent there)

Any requests for future tutorials? Leave a comment and I'll throw something together :)

xo,

hannah

best friend part i

The photos above are of one of my best friends in the entire universe, Emily. This girl is my sister. Not by blood, but by spirit. It's sort of an un-spoken fact (ok... maybe spoken) that everyone just knows about. We are best friends. We have never fought, and we always make each other crack up along with our other 'sister' Jorden (who I have yet to stick in front of the camera :P).
Emily is a photographer, videographer, basketball fanatic, great listener, and is a fierce protector of her friends and family. Not to mention beautiful and smart.

I can trust her with anything. Anything. I can always count on her to be there for me when I need a 2am vent session. Guess how long I've known her? One year 3 months and 23 days.

I am sooo blessed to have Emily in my life. This is part one of my best friend series. Because I want to brag about Emily and her pure awesomeness.

Do you have a best friend like this?
xo,
hannah

the girl named chynna // portraits

I met Chynna last year around January. It was a new semester, and she was put into almost all of my classes. I am so glad I met this girl. She is funny, sweet, gorgeous (as you will soon see) and an all-around trustworthy friend. Here are her portraits. We got together on Sunday to shoot them, and I rather like the way they turned out :)

xo,

hannah