See Beautiful Art on Display!

Hello everyone! Wanted to hop on the blog to tell you about an event happening this week where you can see some beautiful works of art- and meet the artist... my sister Kelly, a.k.a. Pup! Not sure if any Beauty Broadcasters live near northeast Missouri, but my sister has a one woman show happening in that area, and it kicks off this Thursday. She'll showcase her amazing watercolor paintings... and let me tell you, it's one thing to see pretty pictures on the internet, but something totally different to see them in person. Remember when one of Pup's incredible paintings brought me to tears?

DETAILS:

• Culver-Stockton College, Canton Missouri
• August 25th through September 23rd
• Mabee Art Gallery, in Herrick Foundation Center
• OPENING RECEPTION (meet Pup!): Thursday, August 25th, 7pm
• (Click here for more information on the event)

A few reasons why my sister's show will be a MUST-SEE...

• Pup is one of the funniest, prettiest, nicest people you'll ever meet.
• She paints everything from flowers to people to GELATO (shown above)
• This show is 100% her AMAZING work! (no riff raff)
• I'm guessing there will be snacks!
• Scratch that shopping itch! There will be artwork for sale!

Can't make it to Canton, Missouri? Look around at her amazing selection of paintings at KellyEddington.com. You can also keep up with Pup on Twitter, Facebook, and her awesome Blog. I wish my schedule allowed me to make it to the opening of Pup's show, but if you're in the area, I certainly hope you'll check it out! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, and have a great day!

♥

Emily

Vacation to Panama City!

Hey everyone! You haven't heard from me in awhile, and that's because I've been on vacation! This past Wednesday Tyler and I traveled to Panama City, Florida. We made the 12 hour drive and had a great time. Our travels took us through southern Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and finally- Florida's Gulf Coast! Just got back yesterday (Sunday) night. I was able to capture a lot of our trip down on my camera... then had some memory card issues and took pictures for the rest of the time. Feel free to check it out here!

Daily Nuggets *Vacation Edition*

• I love the Waffle House- and it seems these restaurants are ALL OVER the south!
• Not exaggerating... almost every car we saw on the interstate in Alabama had some sort of label (usually a sticker) identifying themselves as Alabama or Auburn fans!
• I have some pretty severe tan lines and splotchy burns where I didn't apply my sunscreen evenly enough.
• One of my biggest day-to-day concerns was whether my alternating swimsuits would be dry for the next time I needed one. (don't you love vacation problems? lol)
• My parents graciously watched over Cupcake during a couple of the days we were gone.
• My co-anchor Kevin held down the fort, anchoring News 3 This Morning solo during my time off. He rocks!
• With the exception of a couple of nights, I had a pretty minimal makeup routine while on vacation, consisting of stuff that wouldn't noticeably smudge off if I went swimming.
• I loved all the palm trees!!!
• I now have a nice shell collection! I'll have to share that in a future blog!

Kim Kardashian Inspired FOTD

Hey everyone! There's been a marathon on E! today of Khloe & Lamar and Keeping Up with the Kardashains... so inevitably, I was inspired to throw together a Kardashian makeup look. It's characterized by carefully highlighted skin, smokey eyes, long lashes, and peachy nude lips. I did use quite a few high-end items that I just haven't messed with in awhile. I was really happy with the way it turned out, so I thought I'd share the products I used! :)

FACE:

• Revlon Colorstay & Rimmel Match Perfection foundations - my Colorstay shade is a bit light right now, so I used it in the center of the face & on top of cheekbones, and used Match Perfection everywhere else. I'm so please with the finish!
• Mally Cancellation Concealer System- it's a cream that you set with a powder- very brightening for the under-eye area, and really anywhere.
• MAC Studio Fix powder- lightly over T-zone
• IT Cosmetics "My Sculpted Face" palette- used it the same way as the demo in my face contouring video.
• MAC Cream blush in Posey- patted into the apples of the cheeks and upward.
• Milani Minerals blush in Mai Tai- very lightly, to set cream blush.
• LORAC Perfectly Lit Powder in Spotlight- on cheekbones, down the nose, and center of forehead.

EYES:

• NYX HD Eyeshadow Primer - smeared all over the lids, into the crease, and onto the brow bone.
• MAC Shroom- shimmery white, patted on all over the lid, and lightly under the brow.
• MAC Handwritten- matte brown, patted on the outer half of the lid, and smudged on lower lashline.
• MAC Cork- warm light to medium brown, all over the crease- and to blend out any harsh edges at the end. Definitely a key shade in warming up the deep colors in this look.
• MAC Carbon- matte black, used to deepen up the outer corner area.
• Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner in Black- all across upper lashline and winged out at the ends. Also blended onto the outer third of lower lashline.
• NYX Slide On pencil liner in Black- on the waterline.
• Rimmel Extra Wow Lash Mascara- upper lashes
• Maybelline Lash Discovery Mascara- lower lashes
• Select Lash S42 False Eyelashes- These are $1.25 from Dollar General! I LOVE them. Mentioned them in my latest video- Dollar Store Beauty Adventure!

LIPS:

• MAC Creme d'Nude- all over lips
• Hard Candy Automatic lip liner in Natural- blended on the outsides of top & bottom lip to create some dimension, as opposed to one flat color all over.
• Rimmel Stay Glossy lip gloss in Endless Summer- light shimmery neutral- all over lips.

♥

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog, and have a great week!!

Maybelline Pop Sticks!

Hello everyone! I'm so excited for a week of vacation! Before our little getaway, I have a couple of days to enjoy all things beauty-related, including hitting the drugstore to see what's new. One thing I found were these interesting lip products from Maybelline... they're a limited edition line called Shine Sensational Pop Sticks. I found them at my local Walgreens. The idea is that they'll give your lips "popsicle shine"... they didn't make my lips overly shiny, but they did give it a tint that reminded me of popsicle-stained lips.

As you can see, these are packaged just like the Color Sensational lipsticks, only the caps are neon pink. Hopefully you can tell by the pictures that these pop sticks are transparent- they make me feel like I'm looking at a Jolly Rancher or some sort of hard candy. You can see right through them! Of course I was intrigued, and had to pick up 2 of the four shades!

On the left is Raspberry Ice, and on the right is Fruit Punch. The other shades were what appeared to be a lighter pink and a coral/orange color. The scent is just what you'd expect- lightly fruity, sort of like candy. The taste they leave on the lips isn't nearly as appetizing- in fact it's slightly bitter. Although it does help you resist the urge to lick them right off your lips! haha :) I can get past the taste though, because I love the way they look. It's a light tint of color that reminds you of a lip stain, but you get a nice amount of moisture as well. You know the red tint you get when you use a Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker? It's that kind of concept here.

Raspberry Ice - light pink

Fruit Punch - medium pink

You can't necessarily judge these shades by the way they look in the packaging, or even the way they might appear in a swatch on your hand. I think they really play off of how much natural pigment you have to your lips. I don't feel like my lips are super naturally pigmented... they have sort of a mauvey-neutral look with nothing on them. That said, I was impressed with the color I had after using these, and ladies with even more pinky pigmentation to their lips will see even more color from the Pop Sticks.

Daily Nuggets...

• Just heard some claps of thunder here... Cupcake is on high alert!
• Still eating ice pops like they're going out of style!
• Speaking of ice pops, I had a legit Margarita ice pop and it was awesome.
• I plan to take my camera & laptop with me on vacation!

Limited Edition Wet 'n Wild... How it works

Hello Beauty Broadcast family! The release of Wet 'n Wild's limited edition Dream Weavers collection has prompted many people to hit their nearest drugstore in search of these lovely trios. Some people have been lucky in their search, others haven't. The collection was supposed to launch in mid-July... so why are some areas still waiting? And will it be a late arrival to some stores, or no arrival at all? These are the questions I asked one of my contacts with the company, and in less than 24 hours, I had a detailed reply. Here's the story in a nutshell...

It is up to the retailers as to whether they want to take these limited edition collections. I'm told every one of Wet 'n Wild's promotions is offered to every retailer they work with, and then the retailer decides the following...

• If they want to take the collection
• The quantity they want
• When exactly they want to put them out
• And which individual stores they'll be distributed to

Wet 'n Wild says some retailers might opt out entirely when it comes to limited edition collections, others might put them in only half of the stores. I'm told they sometimes get overlooked for bigger name brand collections.

Wet 'n Wild says while they advise retailers of their designated release date for such collections, some will put them out on time, others will go early, late, or sometimes they're just missed altogether. I'm told Wet 'n Wild doesn't have any say or control over this phase of the game.

So what is the solution? How can these limited edition collections become more widely available? Here's a direct quote from the company...

"Our best solution would be to advise all of our fans to let their retailers know they want wet n wild. While we are constantly in their ears, the consumer voice is 10 times more powerful than ours. With us trying our best with our retailers and with the added help of our consumers, we can make wet n wild much more available."

♥

While many of us might not be pleased with the way the system works, at least we can all understand how the process goes, and what role we might play in getting more of our favorite products readily available. If you're reading this thinking- "what the heck are dream weavers?" -here's my video describing the six limited edition Wet 'n Wild eyeshadow trios. Thanks for stopping by the blog, and have a great day!

FOTD: My Basic Work Look

Hey everyone! I wanted to do a Face of the Day (FOTD) blog post on a basic look for work. Depending on what kind of work you do... it might be more or less dramatic than necessary. I'm a morning news anchor, so I need something that's long wearing, makes me look wide awake, and doesn't make me look washed out under bright lights. These pictures were taken after a day at work... my makeup had been on for about 11 hours and the only thing I touched up was my lipstick (promise!)

I often switch up the products I use because I'm always testing out new things, but today I caught myself doing a pretty classic look that I've been gravitating to more & more. It's a basic taupe eye with soft peachy cheeks, some contouring to create more angular features, and a medium/neutral lip. I know this look is still a bit "glam"- but I think it's still appropriate for a professional setting. Here's what I used!

Face

• ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer (not shown)
• Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Fresh Beige & Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse in Natural Beige- mixed
• Mally Cancellation Conditioning Concealer in Medium (under eyes, around nose)
• Laura Geller Balance & Brighten powder- Regular
• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer (contouring)
• Milani Baked Bronzer in Golden (light dusting all over)
• Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Peaceful
• ELF High Definition Finishing Powder (not shown)

Eyes

• NYX HD Eyeshadow Primer (not shown)
• Tarte Eye Couture Day-to-Night Palette (explanation below)
• Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eyeliner in Blackest Black (upper lashline)
• Mally Evercolor Automatic Eyeliner in Onyx (smudged, lower outer corners)
• L'oreal Double Extend Carbon Black Mascara
• Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye pencil in Pure White (waterline)
• Revlon False Eyelashes - Intensifying (applied w/ Revlon Precision Lash Glue)

Lips

• Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Sunset (dupe of MAC Viva Glam V)

I was looking to try some new Tarte eyeshadows (I love them), and happened to be at an Ulta this past Friday so I treated myself to the Eye Couture kit. Not only is the packaging adorable with purple quilting and a little lock & key detail... but I love the shades inside. This palette is also small enough to toss in my makeup bag for work... and speaking of work- these color options are just great for getting a pretty look that doesn't go overboard. Here's how I got the look shown above...

• Pale shimmery color- bottom row, second shade-- apply this all over the lid, also as a highlight
• Deep grey-ish brown- top row, third shade-- apply on outer half of the lid, and blend into the outer V area
• Medium bronzy-brown- top row, fifth shade-- use it to blend out the deeper shade in the outer V
• Sparkly black- bottom row, fifth shade-- smudge over lower liner

These swatches correspond with the way the shadows are placed in the palette. I'm really pleased with the pigmentation and variety in this 10-shadow kit. I used this palette for an even more dramatic look Saturday night- so it allows you to pull off a smokey eye- no problem! It also came with a mini Tarte eye primer, a double ended liner, and a double ended brush. The shadows are all full-size, so at $44 I think this is a great value! :)

Daily Nuggets...

• I love watching the beauty shows on QVC (watching one right now!)
• I answered a bunch of random questions on Formspring
• There are Peeps Marshmallow flavored ice pops at Walgreens for $1 a box. Run, don't walk. These things are AMAZING.
• 5-year Anniversary for Tyler & I this Friday! Thank goodness Facebook is there to remind him. Kidding!
• I swear, I have some of the nicest viewers ever on YouTube. As if it wasn't enough to take the time to watch, the kindness in the comments section is so appreciated. ♥ you all :)