We are so close to the 4^th I can almost taste the freshly melted cheese blanketing a juicy burger, see the vibrant red, white, and blue all around, and smell the dusty smoke after the fireworks have ended. (Even though the fireworks end signal my mom to stand up and clap while shouting, “GOD BLESS AMERICA!” In the past I’ve yelled, “Moooom!!!” in the distance out of embarrassment until one of my friends pointed out that no one knew that MY mom was doing the yelling until I called out. So now I keep my mouth shut and smile. I suppose it’s grown on me. =))

My sister claimed this holiday as her favorite when we were younger. As a kid who wouldn’t love candy being tossed from a bright red fire truck while watching a parade? And how about snacking on Twizzlers while laying on a blanet and watching the purple BOOMS and the blue SNAPS fill the sky and your ear buds? It’s pretty magical. As an adult I realize that running to the street to grab candy for yourself is shunned so I like to keep the festivities alive by playing with fun makeup colors. I feel like on the 4^th we can get away with more in the name of spirit and creativity.

Until that creativity betrays you….like last week when I experimented with these colors while trying to attain a pretty look for Independence Day. I bought this gorgeous NYX Liquid Liner in Extreme Blue and was so excited to try it out! I got all my red, white, and blue colors out and went to TOWN! A little white here, a little blue there, and a whole bunch of red and BAM!…Anna the Clown. (You’ll notice this time I kept the rest of the face muted aka no red lip in worry of making the same mistake…)

I wouldn’t have been so frustrated with my makeup blunder normally, but me and Dan had somewhere to be and were already running late which left me no time to redo it all. So I walked out of the door with this makeup fail and dodged every camera in sight (okay…there was only one camera…) and vowed to try again the next day. I did try again and got this and loved it! My husband even said he thought it was cool, which I now realize could have been because it reminded him of Captain America, which he loves, but still! So to all my peeps that are trying new things with their makeup or look: We ALL make mistakes! The fun part is trying over again and that exciting moment you get something you’ve worked at finished and looking good. The best thing about trying new makeup things? It’s easy to take off and go again. =) Anybody have a fun makeup look, outfit, nail color, or accessory that they love for the 4^th? Please show me and post it on Almost Her’s Facebook Page or the Instagram account to share the love! I wanna see!! (And also, please follow me on there as well.)

Okay, here is my fun final and much loved 4^th of July Look!

1. Prime the shiz out of your clean eyelids with an eyeshadow primer (Urban Decay’s Primer Potion) for extra staying power. After it sets blend a cream colored matte shadow (UD’s Foxy) all over to set it. Add some taupey color (Smashbox’s Doe) in the crease for blendability later on.

2. Add your white eyeshadow base on 2/3rds of your eyelid. Then smudge a black base on the outer corner for more dimension.

3. Set the white base with a pretty sparkly white eyeshadow. Also apply this under your brow bone for a highlight effect.

4. Take your red eyeshadow and apply it to the outer V and blend up along the crease along with your taupey color.

5. Lightly line your eye with a black gel eyeliner in the upper and lower waterline of your eye. Then apply a thin black liquid liner right along your upper lash line.

*6. For this part I used the Electric Blue NYX Liquid Liner above the black and HERE’S where I ran into trouble the first go-round. The applicator was hard for me to use to get my liner the way I wanted. It was hard to draw a good line with it. I still love the color so this time I put the liner on the back of my hand and used a small angled brush to dip into the liner and apply it that way. It gave me a better and more precise line. I traced the black line and slightly winged it out at the end.

7. On the bottom lash line I applied white, then blue, and red. Make sure to blend them together and soften the edges.

9. Curl those pretty lashes, throw some mascara on, and add a fake lash if you’d like! Ta-da!! Eye look complete =) If you have any questions feel free to ask! Or if there are any looks/tricks you’d like to see please let me know! Thanks and I hope you enjoyed it!! Have a Happy Fourth of July!!

Products used (in order):

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion- Original
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in “Foxy”
Smashbox Eyeshadow in “Doe”
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in “Milk”
Ulta “Iceland” Eyeshadow
NYX Eyeshadow in “Wild Orchid”
NYX Studio Liquid Liner in “Extreme Blue”
IT Cosmetics No-Tug Waterproof Gel Eyeliner
IT Cosmetics Hello Lashes Extensions mascara
Almay Liquid Liner in “Black”
Ardell Eyelashes in “Demi 120”
Duo Dark-tone Eyelash Adhesive

Other products used:

IT Cosmetics Brow Power in Universal
IT Cosmetics “Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+”
IT Cosmetics “Bye Bye Under Eye” in Neutral Medium
Almay Clear Complexion Concealer in Light
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in “Sunset Strip/Bronzer”
Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in “Translucent Pearl”
Laura Geller- “Baked Blush Catalina”
IT Cosmetics “Bye Bye Pores” Powder
NYX Pencil Lip Liner in “Dolly Pink”
Victorias Secret Gloss in “Pink Goes Pop”

XOXO

ALM