I am very excited to write this post. People that know me know that I LOVE makeup. And for the past couple of years I have spent time and quite a bit of money exploring this wonderful avenue. I have not gone to cosmetology school although I really want to and hope that one day I am able to, I just really love experimenting with new things and learning new tricks of the trade. I also love sharing tips that I've learned and of course always learning new tricks. With that being said I thought I would share some of my top tips to getting a flawless eye makeup look. Every. Single. Time. Notice I said tips. I am not telling you that you NEED to do these or else your makeup is going to turn out look bad. I am just saying this is what I've learned and I want to share it with you! There is nothing better than having your makeup look natural and by natural I mean no harsh lines or cakeyness. Everything is blended together seamlessly and beautifully. So lets get started!


My first point will probably be my most stressed and most important tip I could tell anyone. Blend that eyeshadow/eyeliner out! I can not say that enough!! Blending out eyeliner or eyeshadow doesn't mean you have to wear light makeup. It means there is no harsh lines and everything looks flawless. And depending on what your goal is for your makeup that day its not going to take but a few extra seconds to blend blend blend! Blending can also help you look more awake and fresh and not look so tired

Second tip is to get a transition shade for blending out shadow or eyeliner. Which means its needs to be as close to your skin color as possible. If used first, it will help blend out darker colors and help make your eyes pop and look more awake. Doing this will also give your eyes more dimension which can make them look bigger. (if that is the desired effect) I know it doesn't sound like a big deal but just try it! It will help! :)

My third tip is to make sure that you have good eye brushes. Now I'm not telling you to go into a Sephora and spend $200 on new brushes. Over half of my brushes are from the drugstore or extremely cheap. But they are good quality. I have an assortment of brushes but I think every girl should have a flat shader brush, a blending brushes and a eyeliner brush. These are good basics especially for people who want to start experimenting more with makeup. E.L.F, Morphe brushes, (find online at Morphebrushes.com) real techniques and Sigma have some good brushes for a decent price. These are a couple of my favorite brushes. I have a ton, but these are the basics and good starting out brushes. From left to right. Smashbox two in one brush ( the bottom is not shown because it isn't a favorite) E.L.F eyeliner brush, Shany flat shader brush and a soho blending brush. ( which I purchased for $3)

Number four is find a primer! This tip is important especially for oilier skinned girls who have problems creasing or if you going to an important event. Not only will it help it last longer but it can also make your eye shadows more vibrant! I like to use a concealer or foundation most of the time because lets be honest, I'm lazy. I use mac pro long wear. Its about $18 for a tube buut last longer than a year for me and I wear it almost every time that I wear makeup. So I think for the price its worth it. If you do use a foundation or concealer please make sure you set it with a powder or light eye shadow. If you don't it can cause you makeup to be streaky.  E.L.F has a good primer for only $1. You can't beat that price!


My fifth tip is if you're going for a smokey or darker look try building up the colors instead of piling on a straight dark color. Going from lighter to darker and slowly building up your colors will make it look more smokey, better put together and as mentioned before give more dimension and spice up your regular smokey eye.


And last but not least, invest in some good quality eyeshadows. Again I'm not saying that you have to spend an arm and a leg because there are some eyeshadows with drugstore quality that I actually prefer better than high end ones. Just because its expensive doesn't mean that its good quality. I've returned  high end makeup because it was really crappy. Good quaily just insures the eyeshadows with blend out good, be better pigmented, and not streak up on you. Makeup geek, morphebrushes, and loreal are some of my favorites.
All but the blue are makeup geek and I purchased them for $5.99 a piece, and the blue is morphe brushes and was purchased for $2.00.

Well, as usual I could go on and on. But I think I better wrap it up. Makeup is my passion and I love being able to share it with anyone! Also remember that you can experiment as much as you want with makeup. If you don't like it or mess up you can always start again. Thats the beauty of makeup! It's also a fun learning process.  So, tell me. What is your favorite eye brushes? Leave me a comment and let me know!
XoXo,
Brooke

My Skincare routine

Hi there! Today we are going to talk about skincare. I do want to disclaim that I know there is more than just skincare routines that go into getting your skin looking beautiful and healthy. But today I am only talking about skincare. I also wanted to mention that I am not a skincare expert. So, these opinions are just mine from trial and error. Take what you want from it.
 Skincare is the most important step when it comes to make up because what you need a clean moisturized surface to apply your make up or it could start looking cakey and cause your skin to be extra dry or oily depending on your type. I happen to have sensitive oily skin. So I have to be careful with what I use or after just a few hours of applying my makeup it will start crease and slide around my face. Over the past few months I have discovered a skincare routine that I am LOVING! And the best part? Its affordable and very easy to get your hands on. (There is one item that might be considered high end and isn't the easiest to get a hold of but its still pretty affordable. I'll talk about that soon) You can find almost all of these at most drugstores and of course if you're lucky enough to have a ulta near by you can purchase them there. But just a little word of advice, most drugstores are cheaper than ulta. At least where I am at anyway. Most of these products are from the line Garnier. But I do have a mix of different items. So lets jump into everything.

I try not to wash my face more than once a day. For me it drys out my skin causing me to produce more oil and breaking my face out worse. So I normally wash it at night to get all my makeup off.
So, in the mornings I use Clean & Clear deep cleaning toner for sensitive skin.

Just pour a little on a cotton pad and thoroughly wipe my face. Next is what I feel like is my secret weapon as far as skin care goes. I use a blend of essential oils from doterra.

 I freaking love this stuff! It is honestly the best thing since sliced bread. It helps prevent break outs, dry out existing acne and clear up scaring. It comes in a roller ball for and I just glide it over the areas that need it. This is the product I was referring to being a little more on the pricier side. But I really think its worth it.
Next I put on moisturizer which is so so important. I use garnier moisture rescue refreshing gel-cream for combination to oily skin.

Whew what a mouthful! This stuff is awesome for spring and summer. Its a gel so its not going to make me overly oily but its moisturizing enough to keep me hydrated during the day. During the winter months Ive switched a cliniques moisture surge gel because hello. North Dakota is like very dehydrating on the skin. But again I'm sticking to gel to prevent it from making me to oily. I feel like I used that word a million times in this post. lol

This is where I feel I get very high maintenance. I have three different face washes that I use one a regular basis. But I only use two every night if I'm wearing makeup. Let me explain. Two of the face washes I use claims that it washes off eye makeup, but it just smears it all over your face. but it does such a good job on my face I can't bear to part with it. Its the Garnier clean + line and I have both the
lotion and the gel face wash. One is obviously more moisturizing the other. So I whatever I feel like my skin needs that day I use it.

On my eyes I use Cetaphils gentle skin cleanser. This stuff isn't made for makeup removing but it works great at removing eyeliner, eyeshadow and even waterproof mascara! 

So how I use these products is pretty self explanatory. I just wet my face, beginning with my eyes i put the cleanser on them and then rub the garnier into the rest of my skin and wash with luke-warm water. After I pat my skin dry I follow up with my clinique moisturizer as stated before and than I'm good to go.
I really wanted to add in some other tips for keeping your skin clean but I feel like this post is already longer than I wanted it to be. So maybe I can make a part two and include some actual tips for keeping skin clear. Please let me know down in the comments what you think and thank you so much for stopping by!
xoxo
Brooke
p.s I wanted to mention that you can subscribe to my blogs on your smartphone! You can download an app called rss reader or pockets. So that way you can keep up with all your favorite blogs a lot easier :)
I'm also including a picture of me and my handsome hubby. I was trying to do it on my first post but I couldn't get it to work. :)

My Introduction

Hi there! Thank you for taking time to stop by and visiting my blog! This is going to be my first post so I thought it best to introduce myself so you can get to know me a little bit.
 I travel around a ton for my husbands work. So there is no telling what all this blog is going to include. I want to base it around beauty and fashion and throw a bit of my crazy lifestyle. Enjoy!!
My name is Brooke Lei Boettcher. I am newly married to my husband, Devan. I married young, right out of high school.And I am very happy with my choice.
I come from a big loud crazy family. But I wouldn't change it for anything. I have two sisters and three brothers. I'm right in the middle.
  I was homeschooled my entire school time ( minus one semester where I went to a strict Christian school) and contrary to what people thought we didn't grow up having any problem socializing or making friends. I have a very friendly and outgoing personality which I have inherited from my dad who bless his heart doesn't know a stranger.
My love for all things beauty started young. I have a cheap makeup kit with bright colors that I thought the world of and would do makeovers on anyone who let me. As I grew older I started caring more about my clothes and hair, I would steal my sisters makeup and clothes and thought she would never notice. ( but she did every time!) While I love buying new items such as makeup or clothes I am very thrifty and probably 90% of my closet is thrifted or bought at a very deep discount. Thrift store shopping is so much fun because you never know what you're going to find.
  I have a crazy obsession for Mexican and Chinese food. Actually I have an obsession for any food. I'm from the south, what can I say?
Well, hopefully this brief introduction has allowed you to get to get to know me a little better and piqued your interest to come back and see what I post next!
xoxo,
Brooke