I moved to Wordpress!

Hi Everyone!  I finally made the move to wordpress and have been blogging there. Please give the updated blog a look and follow at http://www.shinyhappypretty.com/!

Check out the recent posts:

Haircare Haul
Sleek Makeup Lipsticks
NYX Liquid Suede Lipsticks
Ben Nye Luxury Powders
30 Day Green Smoothies
Bobbi Brown Calypso Coral
Murad Intensive C
Becca Champagne Pop

Thanks!  See you soon!

Eyebrow Tutorial for Sparse Brows!

Product Spotlight - Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Glitter

That moment when you find a treasure you forgot you had!  I purchased some glitters months ago from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and there they sat in my makeup collection buried under blushes, eyeshadows and other random products.  This one is so pretty that I just had to post about it and they are currently on sale for 40% off until Monday, June 22, 2015 so go get you some!

OCC Cosmetic Glitters
Shade Purchased:  FAE 
Price:  $14.00
Purchased from: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
Site Description: "A selection of micronized metallic glitters for face and body.  Delight in the smoother, more even finish yielded by micronized particles. This ultrasmall particle glitter comes in a wide array of fashion-forward colors that photograph beautifully."

Gorgeous and everything but please note that these are not for use in the immediate eye area and should be used with a skin primer if you really want the product to stand out and last. 

Cheers!

Skincare 2015 - Kiehls and Coconut Oil

Yes, I finally made a new video!  I really hope you like it.  If you have any suggestions on future videos, let me know.  Thank you!

May 2015 - 3 Hair Products I'm Loving

Cutting my hair off was amazing.  Yes, I had natural hair before the cut and didn't need to big chop but I wanted to cut my hair so I did.  I think at some point I fed into the hype of growing longer natural hair and forgot to just have fun with it.  Length isn't my main objective to wearing my hair natural.  My main objective is to keep my hair from breaking off and looking a hot haggard mess at any length.  For me, this means keeping heat away from my hair therefore I have been only wearing it curly and have been trying out some new products to see what works for my short curly hair.  These are some recent discoveries that I'm loving.

1. Kohala Spa Coco Mango Conditioner
Price:  $18 for 8oz;  $30 for 16oz;  $48 for 32oz
Purchased from Kohala Spa

I used this exclusively while on vacation in Hawaii and my hair loved it.  Thanks to those hotel samples I was winning!

2. Eco Styler Gel Clear
Price:  $5.19 for 32oz
Purchased from Sally Beauty

I've tried both the Clear and Green versions and my curls seem to love the clear one better.

3. Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancer
Price:  $7.50 for 1.4oz;  $24.00 for 6.7oz
Purchased from Aveda

I was not a huge fan of this product when I used it alone but when I use it in combination with the products previously mentioned my curls pop and look so shiny and moisturized that I had to put it on the list this month.  Love the trio.  My stylist introduced me to quite a few Aveda products and I am really loving the product line right now. 

Cheers! - Sabrina

Sephora & Beauty.com Haul Spring/Summer Face Must Haves: Nars, Make Up Fore Ever, Urban Decay

I forgot how much I love shopping at Sephora.  The one in my city is located inside of JCPenney's and has amazing customer service people that are really helpful.  Now because I love nice people, they really made it hard for me to stick to my goal and my budget but I did it!  I purchased the Make Up For Ever Step 1 Mattifying Primer and the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray. 

For reference I have dry skin in general but my t-zone has turned into an oily mess these last few years and I needed a primer for the center of my face.  After reading about the MUFE primer on Addicted to All Things Pretty I really wanted to try it out and so far it's been really helping me maintain my dewy foundation look without the oily appearance (it's a thin line between oily and dewy.) The Urban Decay Setting Spray is just something that I received a sample of a while ago and wanted to really give a true test run.  I like it thus far and have added it to my every day makeup routine.

My Nars products were purchased from Beauty.com because they are one of the few retailers that carry all 20 shades of the Sheer Glow and their shipping is always timely and I have never received a damaged product.  I purchased Nars Sheer Glow foundations in New Guinea and Benares along with the Nars Illuminator in Laguna.  I love Nars and these products are my favorites.  I started mixing the Laguna in with my foundation but I prefer the shade Orgasm because of the different undertones in my skin.  Therefore, I have switched to mixing the Laguna in with my body moisturizer and I love using it on my collarbone and legs on warm days to give my skin a glow.  I also use the Laguna on my cheekbones when I forgo foundation and just want to have a healthy glow on the skin.  

Make Up For Ever Skin Equalizer
Shade Purchased: Mattifying Primer
Price:  $36.00 each
Purchased from Sephora

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation 
Shades Purchased:  New Guinea & Benares
Price:  $45.00 each
Purchased from Beauty.com

Nars Illuminator
Shade Purchased:  Laguna
Price:  $30 each
Purchased from Beauty.com

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Setting Spray
Shade Purchased:  All Nighter
Price: $14 for 1oz. size or $30 for 4oz. size (I purchased the 4 oz)
Purchased from Sephora

Cheers!

Everyday Makeup - Get that Glow Breakdown

This picture is the basic look that I do most days.  I have calmed down on my eyeshadow and liner lately in order to really focus on skin which I think is the most important thing in a makeup look.  Hope you like this look and let me know if you have any questions.

Face:
     MAC Studio Finish Corrector - Pure Orange
     Nars Sheer Glow - New Guinea mixed with MAC Studio Fix Fluid - NW45 and Lustre Drops - Barbados Girl
     MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NW40
     MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Medium Deep
     Clinique Stay Matte Sheer Pressed Powder - 20 Stay Nutmeg
     Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer - Ebony 8
     Bobbi Brown Highlighter - Bronze Glow
     Nars Blush - Taos

Eyes:
     Too Faced Shadow Insurance
     Make Up For Ever Eyebrow Corrector - #4
     MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NW40
     MAC Eyeshadow - Texture
     Wet N Wild Gel Eyeliner - Black
     Red Cherry - DW
     Mascara

Lips:
     Nars Lipstick - Dolce Vita

Updates and Foundation!

Bridal Bliss with Lover.ly

Lover.ly recently contacted me with a great idea of pairing my makeup looks with some of their dresses and I was like HECK YEAH!  What is better than looking at wedding dresses, besides eating cake...nothing!. So I put on my Sex and the City movie and started obsessively looking at all of the wedding dresses on their site.  2 hours later, I realized that I wasn't actually getting married again and I needed to start working on look ideas.

Since I could not bring myself to narrow my search down to one dress I decided to create 3 different makeup looks.

Look 1:

Wedding Dresses

These two looks scream beachy, glowy, dewy skin to me.  Think Gisele Bündchen or Nia Long.  I would pair the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation with their Illuminator to achieve the dewy skin.  You will also need bronzer for the face and a highlight for the cheekbone, nose and cupids bow, I typically use Guerlain and MAC for those categories.  A little bit of bronze eyeshadow and mascara (or some individual falsies) on the eyes and some sheer lip color on the lips complete this look.

The Bronzed Collection by sabsrobinson on polyvore.com

Look 2:

Wedding Dresses

Everyone knows, or should know, that I  love a red lip.  I would definitely tap into my retro vibe with this look.   Think matte skin, defined brows, winged liner, and matte red lips.  I would also do Dita Von Teese hair but that's just me. 

Retro by sabsrobinson on polyvore.com

Look 3:

Wedding Dresses

These two looks definitely make me want smokey eyes and pinky nude lips.  These looks are romantic and glamorous.  I chose the Nude'Tude Palette from theBalm because with this palette you can easily create a variety of smoky eye looks.  Pair this look with dramatic lashes, peachy/pinky cheeks and some "my lips but better" lip colors. 

Brown Smoky Eyes with Pinky Nude Lips by sabsrobinson on polyvore.com

Now that you have seen my makeup looks, run over to Lover.ly and obsess!  Also, in case you guys were curious about my own wedding, I did my hair and makeup, wore a glamorous mermaid style dress and had a ratchet reception!  Cheers!

 

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipsticks - 4 Shades Swatched

Props to the bloggers with focus because ya girl is struggling over here!  I'm still trying to get it together for you guys and post more frequently in between unpacking, meal planning and laughing with my babies!  Recently, while on vacation in California, I visited San Francisco and met up with some old friends of mine and while I was there, I picked up some makeup of course.  I've been really wanting to try the new Marvelous Moxie lipstick line from bareMinerals and so I chose 4 shades to test out (well I actually had 5 but my little sister took one!)

The four shades that I decided on are as follows:

Lead The Way, Live It Up, Risk It All and Raise The Bar. 
Each shade retails for $18.00USD and are available at most Bare Escentuals retailers including the links provided below.
Bare Escentuals
Sephora
Beauty.com

Now all of these lipsticks glided on like butter and felt like silk on the lips.  You need to apply very little product to get great color on the lips and they lasted over 5 hours before I started to see any fading.  These lipsticks do transfer easily though so I had lipstick on every cup of coffee I have and of course all over my kids faces after cuddling with them.  I did like all of the shades but none stood out as a must have.  My favorite of the bunch was Risk It All simply because I love a good pink lip.

Overall, I really enjoyed this formula and I would definitely recommend these, just be careful not to over apply or you will have lipstick on everything! Also, these make great lipstains if you blot them lightly on the lips.

Lead the Way

Live It Up

Risk It All

Raise the Bar

Cheers! 

The Mane Choice Hair Products

Why did I cut my hair?  Whyyyyyyyyyy?  Oh yeah I had a mullet and I have real friends who let me know that my mullet game was not cute!  So basically in order to preserve my sexy, I had to get rid of my little ponytail game and get a short bob.  Every few weeks I've also been cutting my ends in hopes that the crown of my hair will catch up to the rest of it.  I'm hecka frustrated now so I've started to get more serious about my hair regimen.

Because I've seen a lot of pictures and testimonials about the Mane Choice hair products, I purchased the vitamins, the straightening system and the deep conditioning treatment.  I'm currently on my second bottle of vitamins and I have noticed that my hair seems thicker so I'm hoping that if I stay on task and stick to my regimen, I can see some results asap.  I'll keep you guys updated!  Let's hope that I can get this hair grown out!

Products Purchased:
The Mane Choice Thermal Defense Silkening Collection (5 Steps)
Price: $72.95

Green Tea & Carrot Deep Conditioning Mask (Not Pictured because I left it in my shower)
Price: $17.99

Manetabolism™ Vitamins (4-Month Supply)
Price: $87.96
 

Cheers!

Vacation Makeup

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my mommy makeup travel stash.  I've been traveling with my children a lot lately so I decided to consolidate my travel case in order to make room in my bag for kindles, toys and snacks!

Face Products
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer
MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance
MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter - Peach Lustre
YSL Touch Eclat - #7
Make Up Forever HD Founation - 175  (My Nars was backordered)
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer - NW30  (I mix this with my foundation for a highlight color sometimes)
MAC Lustre Drops - Barbados Girl
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural - Dark and Medium Deep
Clinique Stay Matte Sheer Pressed Powder - 20 Stay Nutmeg
MAC Pro Conceal and Correct Palette - Medium Deep

Cheek Products
Guerlain Terracotta Bronzing Powder - Ebony 8
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish - Comfort
Nars Blush - Taos

Eye Products
Make Up For Ever Eye Brow Corrector - #4
MAC Brow Pencil - Spiked
MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NW40
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Palette x4 - Self made
MAC Palette x4 - Rimal Dahabia
Wet N Wild Gel Eyeliner - Black
MAC Eye Kohl - Smolder

For lip products (not shown), I always bring a red, a pinky nude, a traditional nude and a bright pink shade. I also brought lots of lashes.

Some of the products may seem redundant but since I'm trying to shop my stash, I brought similar products in case I run out of something that way I don't have to spend money!

Cheers!
 

Foundation Chronicles with Nars Sheer Glow

Life!  This combo right here will give it to you.  I have a ton of different foundation shades, as I'm sure all makeup addicts do, but I always come back to my Nars.  Recently I've added the Clinique Stay Matte Powder to my mix and it has been absolutely amazing.  This is the only combo where I get complimented all the time and it looks like fresh, dewy, glowy skin.  I typically mix the shades New Guinea and Benares with my MAC lustre drops and then I set it very lightly with my Clinique Stay Matte powder.

Here is an unfiltered picture of me wearing the combo and it looks like skin and photographs beautifully.  Love. 

Bruh

There is no excuse for me being a lazy a** blogger so I'm working on not being one anymore. Like for real I've hella missed blogging and talking makeup with you'll4! During the past several months I've been completely zoned out and focused on other aspects of my life and I'm trying daily to find a balance between doing what I love and hanging out with the people I love.  In order for that to happen though, I have to be myself and to have fun with this blogging thing. So now I'm going to tell you guys the truth about my absence and again, this is not an excuse, it just is what it is.

Top 5 reasons I've been MIA!

1.  It was hella aggravating moving.  Like a complete miserable experience except for the fact that I got to come back to America.
2.  My hair fell out and now I'm insecure about taking makeup pictures unless my hair is straight and I'm trying not to straighten my hair that often in hopes that this ish will grow!
3.  I'm trying to get to know Jesus in real life everyday so my husband and I are re-reading the Bible.
4.  My kids are hilarious and sometimes I just like rolling around on the floor with them. 
5.  I'm trying to actually decorate this new house instead of just chillin' like I've done in the other houses!

With that being said, now I need some inspiration and feedback!  What do you guys want to see from me?  Let me know in the comments section and yes, I will reply!  Also, since I've been gone from the blogging community for a while, if you have a blog or tumblr, leave it in the comments so I can check those out too.

And I'm out!

Instagram Look of the Day - #NoFilter vs #Filter

 
Just wanted to do a quick Instagram Look of the Day post.  I decided to do two pictures so that you guys can see what the unedited/unfiltered picture looks like versus the filtered version.  The picture on the left is unfiltered and the picture on the right has a Valencia filter.  Do you guys mind when makeup artist or makeup enthusiast filter or edit their pictures?  I personally only mind altered pictures when they are super photoshopped and blurry to the point where you can't even really see the makeup and it looks so unrealistic. 

Lipstick - Nars Dragon Girl with MACs RiriWoo
Necklace - Primark in Saarbrücken, Germany
Earrings - House of Harlow 1960
Sweater - Skies Are Blue

Cheers!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade Swatch - Chocolate

I'm feverishly writing this post because my daughter is currently playing with her dolls but eyeballing me which means that I have about five minutes to get my thoughts out into the universe before I am summoned!

I was asked to do a brow swatch using the Dipbrow so I tried it out this morning.  In the picture above I have on the Chocolate shade which I think looks good but goes a little taupe/ashy on the tail of my brows (which are super sparse).  Now keep in mind that I have about 15 minutes to get ready in the morning so this was a rush job and I used too much product (which may account for the fading).

Also, even though I do like this product, I still prefer my Make Up For Ever Eye Brow Corrector because the ABH Dipbrow does fade.  This is a major thing for me since I no longer carry a makeup bag for touch-ups when I go out, therefore, I need all of my products to be locked in for at least 8-10 hours.

I'm going to keep trying the product though and I will try different techniques to see if I can get the product to last longer.

Let me know if you have tried this shade and what you think about it.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade - 3 Shades with Swatches

Now this is a beauty post for all of you brow addicts!  When I heard about the launch of these pomades, I immediately knew that I had to have them, so of course I ordered some for my kit and some for my personal use as well.  Today is the first day that I've actually had the time to check them out and they are amazing.  My Make Up For Ever Eye Brow Corrector is so hard to get and Sephora doesn't have all of the colors of the Aqua Brow either so this is a perfect substitute for me.

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS DIP BROW POMADE
Shades Available:  Blonde, Auburn, Chocolate, Dark Brown, Ebony
Shades Purchased:  Chocolate, Dark Brown & Ebony
Price: $18 USD
Available at Anastasia Beverly Hills

From LtoR:  Chocolate, Dark Brown, Ebony

This product is amazing, long-lasting and it has been waterproof and smudge-proof for me as well.  I've had the product on for about 5-6 hours and it has not budged.  Once it dries, it is on which is amazing for people like me who have super sparse brows.

UPDATE:  The product started to fade after 5-6 hours and was completely gone by the 7-8th hour.

From LtoR:  Chocolate, Dark Brown, Ebony

I used the shades Dark Brown and Ebony on myself and I preferred the Dark Brown shade.  However, I really want to try Chocolate out too.

If you would like to see the swatches on my brows, let me know and I will do a separate post on that.

Thanks!