Why so special?

This week’s beauty blog post features two special contributors, Juliet and Sarah. For my latest beauty blog post, I wanted to include two other beautiful ladies who I know love beauty as much as I do. In high school, we were all on the same dance team. In the Fall, we were the color guard (AKA flag twirlers) and in the Spring, we competed indoor dance routines, which is why we were called Dance Guard.

I fell into the dance world kind of by accident. I didn’t grow up doing ballet or performing, but when I heard about try-outs for the dance team, I was immediately interested. I associated the dance guard team with being in parades like the New Year’s Rose parade. To my disappointment, our band instructor was very anti-parades, but I ended up LOVING everything about dance guard nonetheless. Performing helped me overcome my intense stage-fright and being on a team of tight-knit girls gave me a sense of identity. I was by far from the perfect dancer, but to me dance was much more than just competition. It was all about expression, growth, and sisterhood.

Competitive dance also introduced me into stage makeup. The first time I ever put on a full face of makeup was for dance competitions. Finding the perfect foundation and false eyelashes was a journey in itself. Luckily, my teammates were always so supportive and there was always a teammate or two who could help make sure your eyelashes stayed on during a competition. By senior year, I became Co-captains with one of my other teammates. Who would have thought a girl with crippling stage fright would ever become captain one day?

So now to the good stuff. I will take you through some of my favorite Fall beauty trends starting off with skincare.

Skincare

Solutions to avoid the Winter skin blues.

To start off as a base, I used a combination of Smashbox makeup primer, body lotion (Trader Joe’s has some great options that are so affordable), and a few drops of Colourpop foundation. Since I was lazy, I just mixed them all together and applied all over my face. During the Fall and Winter, my skin goes through a bad dry spell. The eczema patches on my body tend to get extra dry and flare up, so I have to use A LOT of creams and lotion just to keep my skin moisturized. Cetaphil is usually my go-to. It’s not a glamorous cream or anything but it always works.

In terms of skincare, I’m a huge fan of serums and face oils. I alternate between using pressed The Ordinary’s Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil and Glossier’s Futuredew. Both are super affordable :) Note, I am not purchasing any new Glossier products due to the statements made by @OuttaTheGloss. Glossier still has a ways to go to make amends with its internal staff and making sure that its retail employees are treated with respect.

So don’t hate me, but I still haven’t seen the show. BUT I can still appreciate the aesthetic. For this look, I used tiny star shaped sequins around my eyelids and kept the rest of the face clean with only a little bit of blush and lipgloss. This look also reminds me of Nylon or Wonderland magazine. Very whimsical yet fresh.

Look #2: Jewel Tones

Only the Queen’s jewels will do.

Very rarely do I ever wear colored eyeshadow. I usually prefer peach or golden hues when it comes to eye make-up, but when it comes to runway or red carpet looks, I do love a bold eye. Shimmery blue eye shadow is always eye-conic (see what I did there?) and I depending on how you apply it, you can do a look that’s very 80’s or very contemporary. I tried to do a more contemporary look that’s not too overpowering or heavy. Something more shimmery like a butterfly. For this look, I used eyeshadows by MAC.

I was obsessed with floating eyeliner looks this year. Everything from Ariana Grande’s white floating eyeliner look in the “Rain on Me” music video with Lady Gaga to Paloma Elsesser’s painted white winged tips, I just love how modern these looks are. I didn’t have any white eyeliner, so I ended up using a plum eyeshadow color from the Soft Glam Anastasia palette. To make my floating eyeliner look, I just used a small angled eyebrow brush to apply the shadow over each eye. The trick was trying to make them look as symmetrical as possible.

Look #4: Berry Bite

She looks cute but she bites.

A bold lip is always one of my favorite looks. Red lipstick is usually one of my go-to looks whenever I want to feel dressed up, but for this blog post I wanted to do something different. For this look, I’m wearing a liquid matte lipstick by MAC in the shade “High Drama”. This formula is super long lasting but I feel like it’s not perfectly even when it comes to application. For me, it takes a few coats to try to get an even shade throughout.

Special Guests

Featuring Juliet and Sarah.

An ethereal angel, Juliet’s look is hyper romantic yet modern. She used little pearls to accent her eyes and paired her look with a berry pout. These are some of the products she used below:

Eyes:
- Glossier’s Skywash in Valley
- Stick on pearls
- Colourpop’s BFF mascara in black
Lips:
- Pat McGrath Mattetrance Lipstick in blood 2
- Glossier’s Balm Dot Com in Berry (also used as blush!)
Face:
- Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Balm
Brows:
- Glossier Boy Brow

When I asked Juliet what are some of her favorite products and Fall beauty trends she said:

“ I’m currently loving the sky washes (by Glossier), because with mask wearing, I really am only doing eye makeup right now! I love products by Pat McGrath. Her stuff is so luxurious and beautiful. I also have a lot of Youth to the People skincare on my wishlist this year.”

“If we weren’t wearing masks, I’d really be into lipsticks which is why I did the dark lip. I also did the dark lip to make this more of a Fall look, because I tend to associate pearls with Summertime and the ocean.”

Sarah’s look is dewy skin perfection. She took a minimalist approach to her look and mainly focused on showing off her glowing complexion. These are some of the products she used below:

When I asked Sarah what are some of her favorite products she’s currently using said:

“ My two go to products for this Fall season are Chanel Les Beige Water-Fresh Tint in light/medium and Chanel Rouge Coco Gloss in Caramel. With the cooler weather approaching, and heaters being turned on again- my skin is definitely feeling a bit dry. The Les Beige skin tint is a gel that is 75% water and suspends pigmented microdroplets, creating a tinted look. The barely there makeup (which I love for a natural moment), also hydrates my skin and gives me a glow that's comparable to my favorite highlighter! For a more dramatic look, I’ll use the les beige as a primer for my other makeup.

My other fave Chanel product is the caramel (not flavored ☹️) lip gloss. It is literally one of the most beautiful natural, nude colors I’ve ever owned. The feel is as luxurious as you’d imagine from Chanel- from the perfectly shaped doe tip applicator to the lightweight, high shine feel. It creates an early 2000’s look that I’m absolutely living for.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this latest beauty blog post. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading and I hope this has inspired you to try some new looks this Fall. Please let me know what you think and I would live to know what products or trends you’re loving this season as well!

xx

Ella Kol

Note: This post like all of my post thus far are NOT sponsored by any brand or company. As of now, I do not get paid to create my blog, so it’s truly a labor of love. I am open for brand collaborations, but I will let you know if any of my content is sponsored :)