Glam Geek 1K Giveaway! CLOSED

Hey Glams and Geeks! First, I want to thank everyone who tunes in each time I post a new entry here on the blog. It means a lot to me that you would take time from your day to read about what I have to say in regards to products, skin care, and beauty. I am someone who is very passionate about beauty and writing, and deeply enjoy what I do here on The Glam Geek Confessional, and it means so much to me that everyone truly enjoys what I post. Second, I’d like to thank everyone who keeps up with me on Instagram. It truly warms my heart when someone tells me that they enjoyed reading my post, or that they were able to learn something new from my blog, and gives me a sense of accomplishment as I feel that is the purpose of social media and the beauty community: to inform, to educate, and to inspire one another while bonding and connecting over a mutual interest and/or passion. Lastly, I’d like to welcome you all to participate in my very first giveaway as a Thank You to everyone, both dedicated readers/followers, and new ones, for taking an interest in me and my blog!

RULES

In order to participate, please read the following and be sure you understand the rules, as I will be making sure everyone is taking part fairly. J

This giveaway will be held from August 22, 2014 until 11:59 pm on September 12, 2014! The winner will be announced Monday, September 15, 2014.

1.       In order for me to provide a better experience for my readers here on The Glam Geek Confessional, I would love to hear from you guys! In the comment section below, please leave three recommendations of what you would like to see me write about here on the blog. It can be anything along the lines of beauty products (Comparisons, dupes, recommendations, reviews, etc.), skin care, hair care, DIY, or even something new that you think would be a great segment/addition to the blog! Also, please be sure to INCLUDE your Instagram name within your comment, so I can be sure to include your entry in the giveaway. Please be sure to leave three recommendations as I will be keeping track of everyone’s suggestions to be used in future posts.

2.       This is open to U.S only! I plan to hold more giveaways in the future that will be open internationally, so don’t worry my overseas Glams and Geeks! ;)

3.       NO GIVEAWAY ACCOUNTS! As I spent my own personal money for the items included in this giveaway, I think it is only fair to have dedicated readers/followers participating.

4.       Only ONE entry per person! You can be awarded a second entry by following me here on Blogger. I will be posting a photo of the prize on Instagram, so be sure to leave a comment under the photo with your Blogger user name to have it counted as a second entry.

5.       Participants must be 18 and older to enter in this giveaway. If you’re under 18, you can participate with a parent’s permission.

6.       NO PRIVATE ACCOUNTS please! In order for me to see and include your entry, your profile must be public until the end of the giveaway.

7.       Also, on Instagram, please be sure you are following me @TheGlamGeekConfessional, like the giveaway photo, and repost it with the hashtag #GlamGeek1kGiveaway and tag me in it.

8.       If you have any questions, comments and concerns, please email me at GlamourGeekxo@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram.

PRIZE

ONE lucky Glam Geek will receive the following goodies in their prize:

1.       Simple Skin Face Care Starter Kit

2.       E.L.F 2 Piece Body Shimmer Set

3.       Wet n’ Wild Shimmer Shadow in Bleached

4.       Wet n’ Wild Shimmer Shadow in Brass

5.       Wet n’ Wild Shimmer Shadow in Spiked

6.       Inglot Sample Lipstick in #96

7.       Inglot Sample Lipstick in # 98

8.       Lush Bath Bomb in Butterball

9.       Bath and Body Works Mini Body Spray in French Lavender

10.   Bath and Body Works Mini Body Lotion in French Lavender

11.   Bath and Body Works Mini Body Wash in French Lavender

12.   Too Faced Candy Bar Palette

13.   Lorac Rockin’ Red Hot Lipgloss Collection

 Once again, thank you all! I am very excited for everyone to participate and to read your recommendations for the blog! Good Luck and play fair everyone! 

Makeup Brush Guide- Other Tools and Brush Maintenance

Hey Glams and Geeks! Today is the third and final part of my Makeup Brush Guide Series. So far, we have talked about face brushes to help you prime, prep, and enhance your face. Then, we looked at brushes that help to create your desired eye looks from a neutral eye to a smokey eye. Now, we will be discussing a few more tools that are essential to helping you achieve your best face yet. Let’s begin!

 Brush: Lip Brush

Purpose: The purpose of the lip brush is to apply lip products (lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm, etc.) to your lips without needing to use your fingers.

Tips: A lip brush is a great tool to have on hand for a few reasons. If you have reached the end of your lip stick, but there is still a bit more product left in the base of the tube, use a lip brush to gather the remaining product and apply it to your lips, or if there’s enough, transfer the excess into a plastic container. Another great use is to achieve clean, crisp lines when working with some brighter or darker colors, line your lips with a lip liner, and apply your desired lipstick color to your lips, using your lip brush.

Recommendation: Eco Tools Detailed Lip Brush, $3.99, can be purchased online at EcoTools.com or in stores at your local Walmart, Target, or participating Eco Tools retailer.

Brush: Shield Brush

Purpose: The shield brush is meant to protect your face makeup from shadow fallout or mascara smudges. Simply hold it under your eye during your eye shadow or mascara application to prevent any mistakes.

Tips: Before using the shield, try applying a generous amount of setting powder beneath your eyes and let it sit. Apply your shadow or mascara, then remove your shield. Now blend out your setting powder to finish your look!

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Mascara and Shadow Shield, $3, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Tool: Lash Curler

Purpose: This one is also pretty self-explanatory, but is such an important step prior to applying your mascara to achieve lengthy, curled lashes!

Tips: To get a curl that lasts all day, heat up your lash curler by holding it before a blow dryer for no longer than 5 to 10 seconds. This will have the same effect that a curling iron would on your hair, creating a long lasting curl. After, coat your lashes with 1 or 2 strokes of mascara to complete your look.

Recommendation: Revlon Extra Curl Eyelash Curler, $6, can be purchased in stores at your participating Revlon retailer. Details of this tool can be reviewed at Revlon.com

 Tool: Tweezers

Purpose: Tweezers are an essential beauty tool as you can use these to clean up any sparse hairs on your brows, between your regular brow grooming appointments.

Tips: Tweezers are a great tool for applying lashes! Whether applying strip or single lashes, simply grab your lashes by the tips of the hairs and apply a layer of lash glue. Let this sit for 20 to 30 seconds, and begin applying your lashes at the center. Make sure its settled just above your lash-line and that its secured in place, then proceed in applying it to the inner and outer corners.

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Gem Tweezer with Pouch, $4, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or at your local Target location.

Tool: Spray Bottle

Purpose: The spray bottle is meant to be filled with water, and used for various beauty techniques, such as to wet your shadow brush prior to applying metallic/shimmery shadows or pigments or to mist your beauty blender prior to blending out for makeup.

Tips: Fill your bottle 2/3 with water, and 1/3 with Rose Water for a gentle rose aroma every time you mist your brushes/sponges. Also, Rose Water is great for the skin so you have the added benefit of applying antioxidants to your skin while you apply your makeup!

Recommendation: Spray bottles can be purchased at your local Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc. and can be found in the travel section. Bottles should not cost more than $2.

Tool: Towelettes

Purpose: These are good to have on hand to wipe off any excess makeup from your hands or brushes, and are great to quickly clean brushes before applying your makeup.

Tips: Keep these towels close by, by storing them near your designated makeup area. That way, you’ll always have them near you when you need them most! To clean your brushes with these, mist your brushes with your brush cleansing spray and gently wipe your brush back and forth to remove the makeup, then dry it on a separate towel.

Recommendation: Equate w/ Chamomile, Vitamin E, and Triple Tea Complex Cleansing Towelettes, $3.97, can be purchased online at Walmart.com or in stores at your local Walmart location.

 Tool: Brush Cleansing Spray

Purpose: Brush cleansing spray is great to help maintain your brushes clean between washes.

Tip: If you like DIY projects, here is an opportunity to make your own brush cleansing spray! Using a spray bottle to hold your cleanser, mix 2 cups of distilled (or filtered) water, ½ cup of Isopropyl Alcohol (with a high alcohol content to sanitize brushes!), 2 tbs of Dish Soap (or baby shampoo for a gentler formula), 2 tbs of Leave-In conditioner, and this last one is optional, either 2 tbs of Rose Water or your choice of scented essential oil to make it smell lovely!

Recommendation: Sonia Kashuk Brush and Sponge Cleanser, $6.99, can be purchased online at Target.com or at your local Target location.

 Tool: Brush Shampoo

Purpose: Brush shampoo is extremely necessary in the maintenance of your brushes. Shampooing extends the durability of brushes, as well as prevents breakouts, so be sure to have some on hand!

Tip: If you want to save some money or prefer a gentle cleanser for your brushes, go for baby shampoo. It will leave brushes super soft and clean. If you have sensitive skin, go for Antibacterial soap. It will deep clean your brushes and remove any bacteria that could be buried between the bristles.

How-To: For anyone who may wonder how you should shampoo your brushes, here’s a quick step-by-step explanation.

You will need a sink, your brush shampoo, a towel, and a space to leave your brushes out to dry overnight.

Start by running your brushes under lukewarm water. Place a quarter-sized amount of shampoo into your palm and begin to swirl your brush into the shampoo. Once you’ve built up a good lather, use your fingers to scrub between the bristles as you would your own hair. Rinse, and repeat to really get all of the product out from your brush. After, gently dry your brush with towel, and lay it out to dry. Do not place your brushes to dry upwards in your brush holder as water can seep into the bristles and prevent the brush from drying or can make your brushes shed, or even worse, come apart at the base. So always make sure to lay them out to dry overnight.

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Brush Shampoo, $3, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Thanks for reading my Makeup Brush Guide series! I hope this was able to provide some knowledge on the essential makeup brushes, their intended purpose, some tips to help you use them to their full potential, as well as which brushes offer amazing quality for affordable prices. Be sure to follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on upcoming posts, for quick product reviews, swatches, and beauty tips, and much more. @TheGlamGeekConfessional

Makeup Brush Guide- Eye Brushes

Hello Glams and Geeks! I hope yesterday’s post was very helpful in giving you a good enough description of each brush and their purpose as well as providing some useful tips and affordable brush options. Today’s post will be much like yesterdays, only that today we will be talking about eye brushes. Since the eyes are the focus of the face, it is very important to use tools that will allow you to pat, blend, and shade your eyes in a way that will make them sparkle a little brighter and be noticed in a way like never before. So, without further ado, let us begin!

Brush: Lid Brush

Purpose: A lid brush, which can go by other terms such as an eye shadow brush or a shader brush, is intended for applying shadow directly to the eyelid. This brush contains densely packed bristles, which allows for more product to be picked up on the brush and applied to the lid.

Tip: When working with shimmery/metallic shades, mist your brush with water, and pat the color onto your lid to pack it on. This will guarantee the best color payoff for your shimmering shades and will make them sparkle and shine brilliantly. I suggest not to use swiping motions (left to right swishes) when applying eye shadow, as this actually swipes away the shadow rather than allows it to be placed on the lid, making for a dull, faded color that barely lasts on the lid and seems poorly done.

Recommendation: Real Techniques Shading Brush, $6, can be purchased online at RealTechniques.com or in stores at your nearest Ulta location.

Brush: Crease Brush

Purpose: The crease brush is intended to help you directly apply color to the creased section of your eyes. The purpose of this is to compliment the lid color, as well as define the shape of your eyes.

Tip: Be sure when using a crease brush to lightly pat your brush onto the surface of your shadow, then, before applying it, tap your brush on the edge of the shadow casing to get rid of any excess product. By doing this, you will be able to keep your crease clean and can build up to your desired color. Too much product applied to the crease makes for a messy application and a harsh color.

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Essential Eye Crease Brush, $1, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Brush: Blending Brush

Purpose: The blending brush is meant to blend the lid and crease colors together, making them seem as if they are transitioning smoothly along the space of your lid.

Tip: Always go for a neutral color that compliments and balances both the lid and crease colors. Try selecting a color that seems most like the natural color of your crease when your skin is bare and free of any makeup.  

Recommendation: Sonia Kashuk Pointed Blending Brush #109, $3.99, can be purchased online at Target.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Brush: Smudge Brush

Purpose: A smudge brush is great to have on hand as it can be useful in creating any look. You can use it to apply shadow along the upper and lower lash lines, the inner corners, and in the crease. Its pointed tip makes it easy to get into hard-to-reach spots and transform your makeup.

Tip: To achieve a quick and easy smokey-eyed effect, try using whatever color you applied to your crease and apply it to your lower lash line with your smudge brush. Just go along the shape of your eye, and bring it up to the corner, and into your crease, and blend it in evenly. This will give you a sultry look in 2 minutes or less!

Recommendation: Eco Tools Sharpen and Smudge Duo, $3.99, can be purchased online at EcoTools.com or in stores at your local Walmart, Target, or participating Eco Tools retailer.

Brush: Eye Liner brush

Purpose: This brush is pretty self-explanatory, but to put it simply, it is a brush, either pointed or angled, that is meant to line the shape of your eye.

Tip: Since applying eye liner can be such a pain, I recommend starting at the edge of your eye with the wing. Create the slant extending outwards, without bringing it too high up. Then, go to the inner corner of your eye, and keep the brush right on the lash line, connecting it to the end of the wing. Now that you have this line created, go to the top of the wing, and start to bring it inwards towards the inner corner of your eye. Now, fill in the space, and voila! You have mastered the winged-linger!

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Small Angled Brush, $3, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Brush: Brow Grooming Brush

Purpose: The brow grooming brush is meant to tame your brows and prepare them to be shaped or filled in. I recommend finding one that contains an angled brush on the end as this can be your go-to tools to prep and dress your brows with!

*Note: Can't find a double-sided brush? No problem! You can always use your angled eye liner brush to shape your brows as well! This is part of the "Knowing your tools" thing I mentioned in yesterday's post and now you see how being familiar with each brush can come in handy!

Tip: To create a great shape when filling in your brows, first start by dipping the brush end into your preference of brow powder, gel, liner, etc. Begin tracing along the bottom part of your brow, all the way from the base of your brow, to the tail. Next, fill in the tail, and use the excess product to trace along the top part of your brow. Now, you want to lightly apply product from bottom to top on the front part of your brow to fill it in without making it look too obvious. Lastly, use your spooley or comb to brush through your brows, and make them look a bit more natural.

Recommendation: Ardell Duo Brow Brush, $4.49, can be purchased online at SallyBeauty.com or at your nearest Sally Beauty location.


As always readers, thank you for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed reading this whether you are a beginning beauty, a curious artist, or just in the market for some great affordable brushes! Check back tomorrow, same time and place for the third and final part of this review focusing on Other Beauty Tools and Brush Maintenance! Also, if you have not done so already, be sure to follow me on Instagram to keep up with upcoming blog announcements, quick product reviews and raves, look of the day, beauty tips and inspiration, and much more! Follow me @TheGlamGeekConfessional