27 of the Best Beauty Hacks

I love a good hack. I love reading about them, trying them out, and even the failures I get some sort of sick pleasure out of. I've put together a Holy Grail List of my favorite hacks. Let us know in the comments if you have any really good hacks, or if you've tried something and it failed you. I'd love to get some feedback from this!

Hair

• If you are prone to static rub your brush or comb on a dryer sheet before you brush your hair.
• Use mascara to cover gray roots between hair appointments, use brown or black depending on your hair color. Also, if you are someone who constantly needs this, there is a product made for this that comes in more shades. You can purchase it at your local beauty supply.
• Buy a small spray bottle, fill it with water and then add some conditioner to it. Shake it up well and use it for a homemade detangler. 
• Use hairspray on a small toothbrush or spoolie to tame flyaways.
• If you love to flat iron your hair, but hate that it takes away your volume, first blow dry your hair as smooth as you can get it, especially at the roots. Instead of using the flat iron from roots to ends, only iron your midshaft to ends. This will give you ends that smooth look without compromising your volume.
• Another idea for static in your hair, put some lotion on your hands like normal and before it dries completely run your fingers through your hair. 
• If your bobby pins slip out of your hair easily, try spraying hairspray on them before you put them in your hair. 
• Use an old tic tac container to store bobby pins. This is especially good for your purse!

Makeup

•  If your mascara is drying out (before it expires, of course) add a few drops of original Visine or contact solution to the tube and then shake it up. It will bring life back to your mascara instantly. 
• The worse is when we are applying mascara and the wand always seems to find your eyelid. I promise you, IF YOU LET THE MASCARA DRY it will flake right off with a q-tip without smudging all over the placce. 
• Ever notice that blush is the first thing to disappear from our face? Do you carry blush in your purse? Cause I don't. But I do carry many lipsticks. Use your finger and dab some lipstick to your cheeks to bring some color back.
• Use hairspray on a small toothbrush or spoolie to tame eyebrows or set eyebrow powder. 
• If you tend to get oily throughout the day, try using your thicker moisturizers only at night, and go for a gel moisturizer during the day. 
• Use ice on your face in the morning to close pores down and depuff your tired eyes. 
• A natural way to plump your lips is using peppermint oil on them. Use your ring finger and dab a little on before your favorite lipstick. 
• Can't get the perfect winged eyeliner? Try using scotch tape. Before you put it on your face put it on your hand to remove a little of the stick. Then line it up on your eye where you want your liner to go. This will give you a perfect line everytime. 
• When it's time to blend out your undereye concealer, dampen your beauty sponge in cold water. This will aid in depuffing. 
• Mix vaseline with sugar for a homemade sugar scrub for you lips. 
• Running late in the morning? While blending your concealer go over your eyelids as a primer and cover any little veins. Then use your bronzer in your crease to add some definition. 
• Like the look of highlighters but don't know if it's for you or don't want to spend the money on them? Try using a light, shimmery eyeshadow on your cheeks. Same effect, different product. Also you can use the same color over a lipstick to give it a metalic looking finish. 
• If you have problems with black mascara smudging on your lower lashes, try using clear on your bottom lashes. This will give them the look of mascara without any color to smudge.
• The last makeup hack I have is probably the most important, this will help you get ready faster. Keep your makeup ORGANIZED. And always in the same place. You will know exactly where everything is, and won't be looking around like a made woman for your favorite warm brown eyeshadow. 

Extras

• Store your beauty sponges in one of those plastic easter eggs. This will help keep them clean and germ free. 
• Use a sugar scrub on your legs everytime before you shave. This will help remove all the dead skin so your razor will glide easily, and also give you super-smooth shave.
• Store your face sheet masks in the fridge. This will not only feel super refreshing, it will help close all your pores.
• Instead of buying those expensive makeup brush cleaners, use a bar of Dove soap. Dove is really gentle and won't ruin your brushes. Just swirl your brush on the soap, then rinse really well. I always lay my brushes flat to dry overnight. 
• To help make bright nail polish more vibrant or give sheer colors a base so they aren't streaky, use a white base coat.

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

"Beauty, to me, is being comfortable in your own skin or a kickass red lipstick." 

Blending & Smokey Eyes Like a Pro!

Everyone knows the key to any eyeshadow look is perfect blending! We also know how hard this can be, and how long it can take! I've put together a couple of steps to help you out. And yes, for sake of saving time tonight, I did two different eye looks at the same time. My right eye has a purple smokey eye, my left side has the traditional black smokey eye. I hope that these steps help you with your eye looks! I'd also love to see any creations you do!

SEND THEM TO ME! 

So, first, when doing any intense eye look, I like to start with my eyes, that way if there is any fall-out from the shadow I'm not ruining my foundation and concealer. When I'm done with my shadow I can just take a makeup wipe and wipe underneath my eyes. Another little trick, fill in your brows before you even do your eyeshadow. This will give you a better guideline of how far you want to take your shadow out, especially if you are doing winged eyeliner. I first put on an eyeshadow primer and then dusted it with some translucent powder to set it. This is important to help your eyeshadows go on smoothly without any patchiness. 

I started with a light shade of brown and a fluffy crease brush and dusted this on my crease and slightly down to my lid. It is always easiest to blend from light to dark. You can add color a lot easier than you can take it away. 

Next, I went in with a medium brown shade and did basically the same thing. I swept in in my crease just a tad lower than the first color and blending them in together. You can use the same brush or a new one, just swirl it on a paper towel to clean it in between shades. Also, if you cover up the lighter shade, just dip back into it and sweep it over the darker shade. You want to use windshield wiper motions along with circular motions to blend. 

Next, you are going to take a dark brown color and add it mostly on the outer corner of your crease and lid, this will add a ton of definition to your eyes, and help create the smokey eye look. Again, if you find you are losing your lighter shades, just go back and add some more. 

You can keep your eyes just like this for an everyday light smokey eye if you'd like. Spice it up with some black or brown eyeliner and some mascara and you'd be good to go. Obviously, from the title of this blog, I'm going to show you how to create 2 different smokey eye looks. 

After you have your transition shades down, you want to take a cream eyeshadow, or an eyeshadow cream base, or even some concealer, and add it to the center of your lid. Use your finger to help smooth it out and blend it into your transition shades. After that, you want to set the cream with a powder so it does not crease. I used a purple cream eyeshadow as my base and set it with a purple powder eyeshadow. I used two different colors of purple to create more definition. You don't have to, but I had them in front of me, and I wanted to. ;) After I blended them out, I found that the brightness kind of disappeared so, on my ring finger I applied some eyeshadow primer to the center of my lid, let it dry, then used the brighter purple on top of that. 

After I blended for a year (kidding, kind of) and I was happy with how the colors looked I moved on to the rest of my makeup. I did basically my whole face, except for my lips, because for some strange reason, I HAVE to do my lips last. So, the face is now done, I did my lower lash line. I first did black eyeliner on my water line. Then, I took a dark brown eyeshadow and smudged that in right under the black, and then I took some dark purple shadow and smudged that in on the outer half. Don't forget to add a little highlight to the tear duct area!

For the black smokey eye I started off with the same transition shades. I then took a cream brown eyeshadow and put that on my lid, then took the blackest shadow I had and blended that right on top of the brown. This will help make the black stay put, and deepen it up. I went back and forth between the black and medium brown in my crease and blended for another year. ;) Again, I did the eyeshadow first, before my face makeup, and especially when working with black shadows, because there is a ton of fall-out. I used a makeup wipe to clean it all up and did the rest of my makeup. For the lower lashline, I packed on the black eyeliner. I even smudged the liner right under my bottom lashes. Then using a dark brown I blended it in and used a black shadow on the outer portion. 

I worked really hard on both of these looks for you, and I hope that I gave you enough information so you can create this look on your own! Sometimes, I feel like I'm writing a lot, but still not giving you all the details. Let me know in the comments down below if these little tutorials are helpful, or if I need to add any more information, or even take it away. I'd love to hear feedback from you! Also, if you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see me write about comment down below, or you can e-mail me at bjborghi@gmail.com.

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Check out my other blogs to help you with the rest of your face! Foundation, Concealing, Bronzer, Blush, Highlight and Brows :)

Foundation: tips & tricks!

Since foundation really sets the tone for all makeup looks I thought it was only fitting to start here. 

Choosing the right color is not only the most important, it also can be the most difficult. I suggest going with a friend when buying foundation. Also, if you can go to a store the offers sampling you are sure to find the perfect match!

To make sure to get the best out of your foundation, be sure to start with a clean, moisturized face. If you like to use primers or pore fillers do so about 2 minutes prior to foundation. Give it time to set in, and get tacky. I will do a blog dedicated to to primers later on, if you would like.

Step one: decide your coverage.
     Cream foundations are typically the most full coverage, they are also the thickest. You won't see your own skin peek through. This is good for photo shoots as you lose a lot of makeup on camera. If you have oily skin, I don't think cream foundation will be your friend.
     Liquid foundation is what I prefer. You can get them in light coverage, but most I'd say are medium coverage that are buildable. Meaning: if you put one layer on your skin, let it dry for a few minutes, then you can add a second layer to problem areas. There are literally hundreds of different types of liquid foundations, and so many formulas for oily and dry skin.
     Powder foundations are going to be your lightest coverage. (Although I have seen a few that promise full coverage. hm...?) They will come in loose powders or pressed powders. If you have dry skin, you might want to stay away from these.

Step two: pick your brand.
     This is the hardest for me. I am on a constant see-saw on what I want to put on my face vs. what I can actually afford to put on my face. If you are brand new to foundation my advice to you: go to your local Ulta, they have low end to high end foundations. And always have samples out! You can touch and feel and getting a better idea of what you want. In my opinion the drugstore has really stepped up their foundation game. My current favorite: Maybelline Fit Me! Matte + Poreless. Also, if you are a researcher like me, go to YouTube and watch as many reviews as your little heart desires. I do this. Every. Single. Day. The best reviews in my opinion are the drugstore v. high end dupes. If you love a brand, but not the price tag I recommend you watching some dupe videos!

Step three: color match.
     First determine where you are on the fair to deep tone range. Ex. Fair, light, medium, deep. Then you want to figure out your undertone. Do you have neutral undertones? Pink? Yellow? Or olive? As a rule of thumb, if you are fair to light you will probably be pink or neutral. Medium skin tones are usually yellow or neutral. If you sunburn very easily most likely you have pink undertones. When swatching colors you should always match them to your neck, so there is never a line where your face ends and neck starts on your jaw. This is where shopping with a friend comes in! Especially if you can't swatch the colors (because sadly, if you are buying from the drugstore they never have samples out.) My go-to advice if you are unsure is to go for a shade that maybe is a tad lighter. You can always bronze your face up after to add color and dimension back. 


Step four: application.
     There are so many ways to apply your foundation: fingers, brushes, and beauty sponges, oh my! My favorite is the beauty sponge. First, wet your sponge and then squeeze out all the extra water til it is just damp. I like to pour out a little foundation on the back of my hand and then apply to my face. The sponge should soak up some of the extra makeup so give you a flawless finish. If it is soaking up too much then it's time to find a new sponge. And beauty sponges is a whole blog in itself! You are going to use your sponge by pouncing it on the skin. Never swipe or wipe it across, you will not get the coverage your foundation is supposed to have. You will just cause streaks and uneven application. Brush application would be my next favorite. And there are so many options for this. You can go the traditional route and use a flat brush, or use a buffing brush, which will cover more surface area, and I feel blend everything out smoother. Even if I'm using a brush, I like to blend with a sponge when I'm done to make sure there are no streaks. Fingers are good for very sheer coverage or BB creams.If you opt for a full coverage foundation you will not get an even application using your fingers. Definitely use a brush or sponge for fuller coverage.

Step five: to set or not to set?
     I always set my foundation with a powder. I have an oily T-zone and would be a slippery mess without it. I also find that other powder, ie. bronzer, blush, and highlighters, go on smoother when it's on top of powder. My opinion: if you are wearing full coverage foundation opt for a light wearing, translucent powder. This will keep you from getting cake face. If you are wearing a sheer coverage foundation, I say to add a little staying power to it, use a powder with a little color. If you have dry skin, you could probably get away with a translucent powder in only problem areas (t-zone, chin, forehead, what have you.) Oily skin should definitely be set all over to help with shine control throughout the day. There are matte finish foundations out there, but I still suggest setting it in any problem areas you have.

Now you should have a beautiful base to start your makeup routine! Stay tuned for the next tips & tricks to learn about all areas of the face! Next up will be about concealers and color correcting. As always, if you have any questions or need help, please feel free to comment on here or send me an e-mail!

Goodnight my loves, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Why I am here!

I thought my first official blog should be a little bit about me and why I chose to do this.

My name is Bobbi Borghi. I work in a spa as hairstylist and makeup artist, and occasionally a nail technician. I absolutely love what I do.

A few days ago I did my friends makeup for fun sitting at home. She wanted some tips, I wanted a picture for my lookbook, so win-win, right? Ri

ght! After I finished she looked at herself in awe! What a difference makeup can make on a person. I told her about some really affordable products she could use to create the look at home. After we talked for a little while, she told me I should start a blog, or video channel, or something to spread my knowledge. So, that's exactly what I'm going to do!

It's been hard to figure out where to start, and what exactly I'm going to be doing because I feel like I have a lot of ideas I want to share. My main focus is going to be on all things beauty, and I thought I could also add some cooking tips and tricks, and also just chat about life.

I hope that somewhere, someone can find what I have to say useful. If you have any questions about anything beauty, please ask me! I'd love to get inspiration about what I should write about from you!

I am very much a night owl, and most likely I will be posting at night. I work full-time, so I don't think I will have time during any day to post. I'm going to try to post at least 5 times per week. Gotta aim high!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!