That’s right, I’m giving away the entire line of Moroccan Infusion hair products from Suave to one very lucky winner.

What You’ll Win

The Moroccan Infusion line features Moroccan argan oil to make your hair soft. And, my favorite part: it smells like yummy, warm and sophisticated vanilla sugar. Delicious, really.

One randomly selected winner will receive the following:

• Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Color Care Shampoo
• Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Color Care Conditioner
• Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Deep Conditioning Shine Mask
• Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Shine Shampoo
• Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Shine Conditioner
• Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil (check out my B- review of this one)

This prize package is worth over $25.

Excited?

Contest Rules

The Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion giveaway starts right now and ends Thursday, June 6th, 2013 at 12:00 AM Mountain Time.

To be eligible, you must be 18 years or older and a US resident. I’ll pick one random winner from the eligible entries and they will be contacted. If I don’t hear from the winner within 48 hours after I contact them, I’ll pick a new winner. Remember to get back to me! Then, Suave’s PR team will send you your prize in the mail.

How to Enter

Want to win? Just use the widget below to enter. You have 4 possible entries, though only the first is mandatory.

The post Enter to Win the Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Giveaway appeared first on Makeup Files.

I wasn’t originally going to show these nails to you guys. It just didn’t seem cool enough to bother my readers with. But then I got compliments from people off in the “real world.”

“Whoa! Cool nails!”

And then I changed my mind. You get to see them now, thanks to fun comments from real life people.

I used a base and top coat of Essie 3-Way Glaze and Sinful Colors Nail Polish in Snow Me White in two coats.

Then, over the white, I added two coats of Mother of Pearl from Pixi. It added an opalescent sheen over the white. Thus, white opal nails were born.

It’s hard to capture on camera, since it was so subtle. You’ll just have to trust me here.

Hey, didn’t I say I used some nail stickers? I almost forgot!

I’m a nail stickers newbie. I’d always seen them at the drug store but never really thought about using them.

Last time I was at Walgreens, though, I couldn’t resist. I picked up the Kiss Nail Artist Flat Stickers in NS28. It has three sheets of flowers and butterflies in either black or pastel colors.

Thus I ended up with this doozy on my thumb nail.

I like it!

Have you ever used nail stickers before?

What do you think of the trend? Is it too trendy or over-used? Maybe too ‘90s?

Or perhaps you just think it’s awesome! Let’s chat about it in the comments!

The post Nails of the Day: White Opal Nails and Nail Stickers appeared first on Makeup Files.

I got the opportunity to try something from the line: Suave’s Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil.

There are two things you need to know about Suave:

1. It’s a super inexpensive drugstore hair care brand.
2. The Suave Professionals line is usually pretty awesome. In fact, their Captivating Curls mousse got a very rare A+ review from me.

With that said, I had high hopes from the Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil.

To use, just work some of the oil into your damp hair from mid-shaft to tips. Or, you can use it on dry hair to make it shiny.

Before I get into its performance, I want to tell you my favorite part: this stuff smells amazing. I’m serious. It smells like vanilla sugar. Like real vanilla. And warm brown sugar. But, sophisticated.

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.

Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil: The Final Verdict

As for performance, I like it. When I first wash my hair, it can feel to light, flyaway and frizzy. The styling oil, featuring Moroccan argan oil, weighed it down just enough to make it look nicer than normal. It wasn’t a miracle product or anything, but it was certainly better than nothing.

Plus, it smells great!

For these reasons, I give Suave’s Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil a…

B-

You can pick this up at drugstores, big box stores and Amazon for $6.99 suggested retail price.

Speaking of Fashion Star…

One of the mentors of the competition is the ever-beautiful Nicole Richie. She has her own fashion label called House of Harlow 1960, specializing in accessories. Her jewelry uses a lot of gold and fun borders.

What do you think of these White Sand Sunburst stud earrings from House of Harlow? I think they’re pretty and different, although I always prefer dangly earrings to studs. Still, the texture of the white in the sunburst is pretty awesome.

Would you wear them?

The post Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Styling Oil Smells Like Vanilla Sugar appeared first on Makeup Files.

If you’re like me, you eye a lot of things at Target. That place is a goldmine.

Anyway, back to the subject…

The Pixi Daylight Glow Collection is a kit that comes with a cute pink makeup bag, a nail polish, a lip balm and an eye shadow quad.

The makeup bag is just plain adorable. It’s a soft pink that works for just about everyone. Plus, that zipper pull is awesome.

It’s about 6 inches wide, 5 inches tall and 2.5 inches thick. In other words: this thing has lots of room. It can fit way more that what comes with the kit.

Speaking of which…

The collection comes with:

• Pixi Nail Polish in Mother of Pearl
• Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Lucent Glow
• Pixi Mini Shade Quartette in Shades of Daylight

The eye shadow quad is travel-sized while the other two are full sizes. Let’s meet them individually, shall we?

It’s hard to capture the iridescent shimmer of the Mother of Pearl nail polish in a photograph. You’ll just have to trust me here.

This sheer polish has a very pretty shimmer and glows pink when the light hits it just right. If you prefer opaque nail polish, then you probably won’t like this. Then again, you could always put it over a white base.

The Tinted Brilliance Balm in Lucent Glow is a bit of false advertising. It really isn’t tinted. As you can see from the swatch above, it doesn’t have any color. Just shimmer.

However, I love this thing. It’s my favorite from the kit. I have tried several of Pixi’s Tinted Brilliance Balms and this is by far my favorite. The shimmer is super pretty and I got compliments when I wore it out.

The Mini Shade Quartette in Shades of Daylight is mini indeed.

While the colors are perfect for a daytime eye shadow look, they weren’t as pigmented as I would like. Still, they glided on and blended super well, as is usually the case for Pixi eye shadows.

The Pixi Daylight Glow Collection: The Final Verdict

My two favorite things about this kit are the makeup bag and the lip balm (despite the lip balm not actually being “tinted.”) I loved them. While the nail polish and eye shadow quad were nice, they weren’t as impressive as the other two. For these reasons, I give the Pixi Daylight Glow Collection a…

B-

You can pick this up at the Pixi website, Target and Amazon for $28 suggested retail price.

PS: Happy early Mother’s Day! Are you doing anything awesome for the big day? I’m totally taking my mom to The Great Gatsby.

The post The Pixi Daylight Glow Collection is Pretty in Pink appeared first on Makeup Files.

I hadn’t heard of it until just recently when I was perusing the Nail Polish Lovers community on Google Plus (you can get a lot of awesome nail inspiration there, so I suggest joining.)

A member posted this 31 day challenge:

31 days of nail art! You do your nails differently every day for a month and post about it on your blog or social media accounts. Or, heck, you could just do it for yourself for fun.

I was intrigued. And, during my research into finding who started this challenge (I was unsuccessful. Do you know who made this?), I saw that a ton of beauty and nail bloggers had taken up the challenge

Here are some nail bloggers who have done the challenge:

• 31 Day Nail Challenge: Recap from Leona Carolina’s Closet
• 31 Day Nail Challenge from Nail Art 101
• 31 Day Challenge from Chalkboard Nails
• 31 Day Challenge from Nailside (Holy moly, she does amazing nail art)

There’s some good inspiration right there.

Would you do the 31 day nail challenge?

Would you really do your nails differently every day? And would you post pictures of your creations online? Tell us your answers in the comments below!

And, if you’ve done this already, I’d love to get a link to your challenge pictures.

Personally, I’m seriously thinking about doing this. As you know, I love doing some cool nail polish. Of course, I’ll let you know if I do the challenge so you can see it all in action!

The post Would You Do the 31 Day Nail Challenge? appeared first on Makeup Files.

Bobby Dazzler is described as an “opaque silver chrome.” In the bottle, it has a bit of a bronze tinge, but that’s not so apparent once on the nail.

After two coats of this, I just couldn’t help staring at my nails all the time. That’s a good sign!

I found myself thinking…

“Look at how shiny it is! Look at it when I move my hand around. Wow, it’s even shiny and metallic in low light. It looks pretty awesome from the glow of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone emanating from my TV. Shiny, shiny!”

And it’s true. It does look cool in different lights. The above picture is in indirect sunlight.

And here it is in direct sunlight. Different, right?

Bobby Dazzler is awesomely opaque in only two coats and doesn’t chip right away. Just like with the other butter LONDON nail polish I’ve tried, it’s pretty high quality. Still, the shade isn’t super original, despite being awesome.

For these reasons, I give Bobby Dazzler an…

A-

You can pick this up individually at butter LONDON’s website, Ulta, Nordstrom and Amazon for $15, or as a part of the Summer Vacation Collection trio at QVC for $28.

The post Butter LONDON Nail Polish in Bobby Dazzler is Like Liquid Metal appeared first on Makeup Files.

I love makeup tutorials. I love creating them and I love learning from others’. After all, no matter how good you are at makeup, you can always get better. Practice makes perfect!

Well, after I made a list of the 5 best makeup tutorial artists on YouTube a few years ago, I asked my readers for suggestions on other great makeup channels. Boy howdy, I got a lot of responses!

Now, I’ve gathered five more artists based on your suggestions. Use these makeup tutorials to get even better!

xSparkage

Leesha of the xSparkage blog is two things: super adorable and really good at makeup tutorials. She posts some really great tutorial videos every few Tuesdays, plus beauty reviews and other cool stuff. And did I mention she’s adorable?

Here, Leesha demonstrates the bright pink/red eye shadow look from the Catching Fire trailer:

petrilude

I’d be lying if I said I never got makeup inspiration from a drag queen. I mean, really, they know how to apply some foundation! While there are a fair amount of guys wearing makeup on YouTube, I like petrilude for the sped-up makeup transformations.

Here, you can see how masterful he is at contouring and applying some seriously smoky eye shadow:

Mother.MakeUp.MuffinTop (aka danalajeunesse)

In the mood for some extreme YouTube makeup tutorials? While Mother.MakeUp.MuffinTop has some more traditional eye shadow tutorials, she’s the best at her extreme looks. So, if you want a cool look for Halloween, she’d be the person you’d turn to.

Here, you can see her create an awesome green and black swirly look that would be perfect for an evil fairy costume:

Bubzbeauty

Most of the makeup tutorials on Youtube feature super bright, vibrant looks or crazy dramatic dark creations. But what if you want to get better at everyday makeup instead? I recommend Bubzbeauty. She has pretty and subtle eye makeup tutorials that can improve both beginners and those with experience.

Here, she creates a subtle smoky look inspired by rainy weather:

Jordan Liberty: Give Good Face

Professionally made videos. Makeup tutorials for all kinds of people. So many awesome tips. That’s what you get with Jordan Liberty’s YouTube channel. He’s a great makeup artist and he demonstrates his skills on many different models. It feels like a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the runway makeup world.

Here, he creates a romantic look in this bridal makeup video:

What do you think? Are you going to try these makeup artists’ tutorial videos?

If you haven’t seen your favorite YouTube makeup artist in this or the original list, I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments!

The post The Best Makeup Tutorial Artists on Youtube, Part 2 appeared first on Makeup Files.

This, of course, had me intrigued. I have pretty sensitive skin, especially when it comes to facial skincare products. Since Simple is all about sensitive skin, I wanted to try it.

And here we have it! I got to try the face washes, cleansing wipes and moisturizer from the Simple Skincare line. We have…

• Simple Eye Make Up Remover Pads ($5.99)
• Simple Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes ($5.99)
• Simple Radiance Cleansing Wipes ($5.99)
• Simple Foaming Cleanser ($6.99)
• Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer with SPF 15 ($10.99)

All Simple products have no artificial perfumes, harsh irritants or dyes. Let’s have a look!

The Simple Cleansing Wipes

I love cleansing wipes. By the time I’m ready for bed, I really don’t feel like going through a long, drawn-out skincare routine. I know, blasphemy, right?

So, all of Simple’s Cleansing Wipes are awesome. The Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes are good for those with oily or combination skin. The Radiance Cleansing Wipes are good for any skin type. Both work well and don’t have a cloying scent like other wipes. They’re just fresh and awesome and didn’t bother my skin.

The Eye Make Up Remover wipes are good for, well, removing eye makeup. The downside is the size. They’re about 2 by 3 inches in size. While using the front and back is more than enough for regular eye makeup, if you’re really loading up on the eyeliner and dark or vibrant eye shadow it may not be enough.

The two cleansing wipes each come with 25 wipes, and the eye makeup remover wipes come with 30.

The Simple Face Wash and Moisturizer

The Simple face wash is my favorite of everything I tried. It’s called a Foaming Cleanser because, surprise surprise, it foams. You pump out a load of foam into your palm and work it into your wet face.

It’s brilliant. Rather than my skin feeling dry, tight or overly perfumed, it made me feel fresh. Seriously, this was my first reaction:

“Wow. This is fresh.”

I think this is the best cleanser I’ve tried.

Now, the Protecting Light Moisturizer isn’t as impressive. Unfortunately, it uses an SPF ingredient that irritates my skin (octisalate.) And, when they say “light,” they mean it. If you have dry skin, this won’t be enough for you.

The Final Verdict

I like when skincare brands create products for sensitive skin, and that’s all that Simple Skincare does. That’s their schtick, and I appreciate that. I loved the foaming face wash and cleansing wipes. Even the eye makeup remover wipes were great for most makeup configurations. The moisturizer had an ingredient that irritates my skin, though, so that’s a bummer.

For these reasons, I give Simple’s new line an all-encompassing…

B+

You can pick up Simple Skincare products drugstores, big box stores and Amazon.

The post Simple Face Wash and Cleansing Wipes Keep it Simple appeared first on Makeup Files.

But, I love you and I love Makeup Files. I’m not going anywhere!

Here are some of the best posts of the last year:

• 10 Reasons to Get Off Your Butt and Exercise
• DIY Three Color Swirl Nail Art
• 4 Ways to Protect Your Hands From Aging
• 10 Simple Reasons Why Your Eye Shadow Sucks
• DIY Framed Ribbon Art
• Nutrisystem Nation Week 72 Results and Final Tally for This Leg of the Journey
• Face of the Day: Happy Halloween From Demon Trisha
• Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation is My New Best Friend
• Nails of the Day: Mod Duo Manicure in Brown and Blue

Here’s to another 5 years!

The post Wish Makeup Files a Happy 5 Year Blog Anniversary! appeared first on Makeup Files.

That’s right: I’m not sitting at my desk in my home office writing this right now, wrapped in a blanket and sipping on pop while listening to Macklemore’s Thrift Shop like always. Because today is special. Right now, I’m actually on vacation in Florida, walking through the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Ahh!

That’s the plan, anyway. Thus, I wrote this last week so there’d be something fun on Makeup Files while I’m gone.

And today’s nails are actually kind of related. See, I wanted to do a Harry Potter manicure. I decided to do red nails with yellow tips, like a French manicure, for Gryffindor’s house colors.

But it didn’t work out.

This is how it looks in the end.

See, the yellow I used turned out too sheer for a solid-colored tip. Rather than give up and start over, I decided to use that yellow (Deborah Lippmann’s It Girl) in many layers to create a gradient over the red (Wet N Wild Megalast Nail Polish in I Red a Good Book).

Close up, you can kind of see the gradient better. It’s super subtle, though you can see it better in person. In the end, the yellow turned the tips orange. I sort of made lemonade out of a botched nail polish idea, didn’t I?

It doesn’t scream “Gryffindor!” but at least it’s pretty, right?

Do you ever do your manicure to match your vacation? I can’t be the only one!

The post Nails of the Day: Red and Orange Vacation Nails appeared first on Makeup Files.

I tried them all so you could see if you like ‘em. After all, I am your guinea pig!

Cover FX has 4 primers to choose from. Each has its own focus. Of the 3 face primers, you have the SPF 30 Protection Primer, Anti-Aging Primer and Mattifying Primer With Anti-Acne Treatment. There’s also the Anti-Age Smoothing Eye Primer for when you just want to prime your eyes.

Before I get into each primer individually, I have to say that the best thing about all Cover FX primers: they aren’t tinted.

Normally, face primers have a tint to them. Usually a light beige. So, darker-skinned gals would be like, “Oh bummer! No shade for me!” But these primers are clear. Yay! They have a slightly greasy base that reminds me of Vaseline.

The Cover FX SPF 30 Protection Primer ($38) uses octocrylene (11%), homosalate (7.5%), octisalate (5%) and avobenzone (3.5%) to provide SPF 30 sun protection. It works for all skin types.

I was bummed about the octisalate, as that tends to irritate my skin. Sadness.

I will say that I liked how it smoothed out my skin and, like all the primers in this list, it made my foundation look better. Plus, it’s vegan, so that’s always good.

The Cover FX Anti-Aging Primer ($38) uses Coenzyme Q10 and MultiPeptide Complex for its anti-aging powers. It’s best for people with normal to dry skin.

I can’t tell if this primer actually anti-ages. That’s a really hard one to verify. But, it did do well as a primer and it worked well with my sensitive skin. So, that’s a plus!

The Cover FX Mattifying Primer with Anti-Acne Treatment ($38) features salicylic acid (1%), which has been known to help those with acne. It’s best for those with normal to oily skin.

Is this better at a matte finish than the other primers? Yes, but not by much. Since you can mattify any primer by applying a powder over it, this is only helpful if you’re using it without makeup. Then you’ll like that it’s mattifying!

The Cover FX Anti-Aging Smoothing Eye Primer ($34) is just for the eyes and uses Peptide Flash Complex to firm skin, making it look younger. This is good for all skin types.

While this eye primer had great staying power and my eye shadow looked great all day, it did crease. Yeah, that’s a bummer. And since there are eye primers out there that don’t crease, you might want to go with something else.

The Final Verdict

There are definitely good sides to these primers. All the face primers made my foundation look great. They also didn’t have a tint! But did they live up to all of their promises? Not as much. Did I like the Cover FX primers as much as I absolutely loved my best friend, Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation? Nope.

For all of these reasons, I give all of the Cover FX primers, collectively, a…

C+

You can pick up these primers at the Cover FX website or on Amazon.

The post A Quick Review of the Cover FX Primers appeared first on Makeup Files.

For today’s nail polish swatches, I tried the Big Smoke shade from the “the stones” nail polish trio and the Tea & Toast shade from the “starkers” nail polish trio.

The stones trio features three jewel-toned shades. Here, Big Smoke is a nice shimmery blue. It has almost a metallic quality, and the shimmer stands out in shades of blue against a dark blue background.

It took 2 coats to get the color above.

I loved this shade. While you can find something similar by most other nail polish brands, this one seemed a lot better quality than a drugstore nail polish. And there’s just something decadent about butter LONDON’s dark, shimmery blue. It reminds me of midnight.

The starkers trio features neutral, nude colors. Tea & Toast is a dark tan shade bordering on brown. It is a solid color without any shimmer or sparkle.

Best of all: it took only one coat. That’s right. It went on so buttery and opaque that I was done with just one coat of the stuff. That’s super rare!

Tan nail polish is a lot harder to find than the shimmery dark blue shade. Since butter LONDON does this so well, I’d say it’s a must-have for those who love neutral nail polishes.

Where can I get it?

You can pick up butter LONDON for goop nail polish at the goop website for $40 for each trio.

What do you think of these shades? Personally, this was my first tan nail polish, so it was a bit of a special occasion for me.

The post Butter LONDON for Goop Nail Polish Swatches appeared first on Makeup Files.

No, today isn’t my birthday. It was actually Saturday. Not only that, it was my 30th birthday! I thought I’d show you how I did my makeup for that oh-so-special occasion.

My birthday face of the day features gold eye shadow. Why? Because, not only was it my 30th birthday, it was also my golden birthday since it took place on March 30th. Thus, a gold makeup look!

See that smile? That’s totally an “I’m about to get presents!” smile.

Face-wise, I used Cover FX Mineral Pressed Foundation on my nose and around my eyes and the Tarina Tarantino Dollskin Cream Blush & Pressed Sparklicity blush compact in Coral Cameo for some shimmer and shine.

I had a lot of gold eye shadows to choose from. In the end, I used the slightly peachy gold shade from the Maybelline Eye Studio Irresistibly Ivy Palette at the outside third of my eyelid. Then, I used the Flash eye shadow from the Stila Glamour Goddess Collectible Red Carpet Palette in the middle portion of my lid. Finally, I used the white shade in the Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette in In the Heat at the inside corner of my lid.

It turned out pretty golden!

Also, I used Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Stingray, Pixi Lash Line Ink in Black Silk, and NYX Doll Eye Volume Mascara.

Aww, golden birthdays…

I have this feeling that some of you might not know what a golden birthday is. Basically, it’s when you turn the age of the day of the month when you were born. So, since I was born on March 30th, my golden birthday is when I turn 30 (which was Saturday!). If you were born on the 7th, then your golden birthday was when you turned 7.

Got it?

And, typically, some or all of your gifts have a golden theme. For instance, I got this gold leaf ring from Etsy from my mom for my golden birthday. It’s awesome!

Have you celebrated your golden birthday yet? Did you do anything special?

The post Face of the Day: Golden 30th Birthday appeared first on Makeup Files.

If I asked you what the big beauty fad is right now, how would you answer? I think many of you would say something like “fun manicures.” Well, today’s giveaway is all about having an awesome, beautiful manicure.

One lucky winner will get an awesome prize package filled with nail-friendly products!

What You’ll Win

One winner, randomly selected, will receive the following:

• 2 tubes of Aquaphor Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy
• Pueen Deluxe 9-piece Manicure & Pedicure Kit in a cute pink case
• Essie 3-Way Glaze
• Essie Nail Polishes in A Crewed Interest, Madison Ave-Hue, Pretty Edgy and Avenue Maintain
• $25 Visa Gift Card

Exciting! This prize pack is worth over $100!

And, with all of these products, you can take Aquaphor’s #PerfectlyPolished spring challenge. See, the Healing Ointment not only softens hands, but hydrates cuticles as well. Here’s what you can do:

1. Use the Aquaphor Healing Ointment on your hands and cuticles overnight.
2. Use the Pueen nail kit to fix up your nails.
3. Apply a layer of the Healing Ointment around your nails to prevent stray polish from sticking to your skin.
4. Create a pretty manicure with the Essie nail polishes, or any other brands/colors you love.
5. Share a picture of your manicure on social media using the #PerfectlyPolished hashtag. Aquaphor will share your manicure if you post a  Twitter Vine video or share a picture of it on Pinterest with that hashtag.

I took the challenge, too, and this is the spring-inspired manicure I came up with:

Spring is finally here, and I was totally inspired by the seasonal colors, hence me clutching my sea-foam green sherpa blanket. I used the Essie A Crewed Interest peach color over my nails, and then alternated Pretty Edgy (green) and Avenue Maintain (blue) on the tips.

Contest Rules

The Aquaphor manicure giveaway starts right now and ends April 10th, 2013 at 12:00 AM Mountain Time.

To be eligible, you must be 18 years or older and a US resident. I’ll pick one random winner from the eligible entries and they will be contacted. If I don’t hear from the winner within 48 hours after I contact them, I’ll pick a new winner. Remember to get back to me! Then, Aquaphor will send you your prize in the mail.

How to Enter

Use the widget below for a chance to get up to 4 entries for this prize. (Only the first entry is mandatory).

The post Enter to Win Aquaphor, Essie, Pueen and a $25 Gift Card #PerfectlyPolished appeared first on Makeup Files.

Is she going to tell you which boy she has a crush on? Did she see your other friend kissing someone under the bleachers? Did she finally find out who her secret admirer was?

Yeah, in junior high and high school, all the best secrets were about boys. Boys!

What kind of secret could a beauty blog have, though? That’s the mystery.

Go to Makeup Files’ new Google Plus page to find out what may be happening later this week. And, heck, while you’re there, you might as well follow the blog! Just give MF a little plus action and you can always hear new secrets.

Secrets!

The post Are You Learning Secrets From the Makeup Files Google Plus Page? appeared first on Makeup Files.