The Second Blog Post I ever wrote here: BRUSHES

*I thought I'd do my THROWBACK THURSDAY POST a little differently today...I thought I'd just show you the 2nd blog post I ever wrote on this blog, over 4 years ago! The first was about Mascara and the second was this about my BRUSHES...enjoy....hee hee

i have a LOT of brushes...these are just my personal brushes...not my kit brushes.....
but they say..."you're only as good as your tools"...
so here'e my top 5 must have tools.......

#1- (i know it's not a brush but......it's right at your fingertips...ha ha ha)
your fingers- yes, i read an article a long time ago by a famous make-up artist from Hollywood's glamour days (40's-50's)...that said his fingers were the best tools he had...
foundation and concealer are best applied with yor fingertips (they are soft and warm...and help emulsify the make-up and "melt" it into your skin...where a sponge, brush, even airbrush...can't duplicate what the human hand an do.... But as a make-up artist, for sanitary reasons, you wouldn't want to really use your fingers, although I do know of lots of make-up artist that do!

#2 fluffy eyeshadow brush-i use it to put the base color all over the lid, blend, and to do the crease blending

#3 rounded blending brush-use it to soften up the edge of your liner and to do the corners of the eye....(making a sideways triangle from the outter corners of the eye)...and to to the crease of the eye...and for a soft smokey effect under the eye

#4 angled brush
i use it to do my eyebrows....and to go over liner...or just dampen the brush with water, dip it in my eyeshadow and draw on liner with it...and to darken the rims of the eye with black shadow

#5 flattish curved blending-this brush will blend colors for a smokey eye..i use it to dab on a highlighting color on the eyelid.....towards the inner part of your eye (where the lashes start)

all of these are MAC brushes...the numbers have long been worn off, but I think they are 223 (big fluffy), and then 220 and maybe 210.....I really can't read em' anymore.....or for an even cheaper option....my favorite angled brush is from the art store and cost a 4th of the price.....you can get good ones at any art and craft store like Michael's...

happy brushing!

*and happy thursday....I'm off to edit a new video for you guys! hugs!

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY NEW VIDEO THIS WEEK- (I play football in it!)

How to Make The Superbowl Pretty: Superbowl Makeup

 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
You might not even know what teams are in the Superbowl (pssst: it's the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens), or when the Superbowl is. (Hint: it's this Sunday!)...but I'm gonna make sure your Superbowl Sunday is gonna be pretty!

Here's how to put some beauty into game day...and it's just a fun video to watch, especially the part where I try to catch the football...and the "team lips"...even if you can't stand football! ha ha ha

MY GOAL: fun and beautiful + team spirit = this SUPERBOWL 2013 MAKEUP LOOK

LIP TRICKS: Not to take sides, the 49ers colors are Red and Gold
The Ravens colors are dark purple and gold...so I did a half and half team lip!
I used the GAME DAY LIPS TATTOOS from Violent Lips! (they make them in ALL team colors!)

And the gold eye look is just pretty, you could wear it anytime!

Now let's get ready to have some fun....and yes, that is not a "stunt double" that's all me "catching" the football...ha ha ha (ps. the bloopers at the end are my fav!)



I don't even know how the scoring in football works and I ate half a bag of yogurt covered goji berries while I typed this, your kandee

How To Add Some Whimsy To Winter Nails

Winter can get grey and dreary ...so I wanted to add some Razzle Dazzle Whimzy to my nails, to make them look like a little fairy tale and a lot of awesome.

WHAT I USED:

 1. 1 coat of base coat (I think I used Seche Vite)

 2. 2 coats of L'Oreal nail color in Royalty Reinvented (I am in love with this shade of lavender- not too pink, not too blue))

 3. And I spread, Twist of Fate, from Nicole by OPI (a gold glitter), from the cuticle of my nails upwards toward the tip.

4. Applied another coat of the Seche Vite on top, as a top coat.

5. Prepare to just want to start at your nails. I'm doing it even as I tap these babie on my keyboard right now.


*and exciting-ness, I'm going to be uploading a NEW video today! I almost cried when I realized 2 scenes didn't get recorded, so I'm off to re-film them right now and add them in, finish editing, then upload! PS. You're going to get to see my "athleticism" in this video...ha ha ha ha

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IF IT'S UP YET!

Why Make-Up and Traveling Don't Mix:

I not only place a Kleenex tissue on top of my shadow before closing the palette lid, but I wrap them in fluffy towels and place them in the center of my suitcase- all to insure that not a speck of shadow should be torn away from it's preciously, pressed shadow pan, self.

And then my palette looks like that.

You should have seen my suitcase...there is now a hole ripped in the back of my suitcase. It looks much worse than my eyeshadows.

If you're wondering, the adorable, magnetic zebra print palette, is from Z PALETTE.

Poor, BRULEE, eyeshadow from MAC, took it the worst.

And if you've never seen it...here's how to repair BROKEN EYESHADOWS:

And yes, before you even ask....I will re-make this video with better lighting and new, this video is over 3 years old- back when I had my squeaky old video camera! ha ha ha

And my favorite quote of the day:

True Beauty Comes From the HEART, NOT the Face.- your friend, Kandee Johnson

Go shine that beautiful heart of yours everywhere you go. Because their are many people in this world that look pretty on the face, but their heart doesn't match. Face beauty fades, but heart beauty just gets more beautiful as the years go on.

hugs and happy monday...go make it amazing!
I heart you, kandee

PS. I'm gonna try to work on a fun video I have for you guys!

Wizard of Oz Make-Up and London Calling!

Hold onto your ruby slippers....Urban Decay is launching their new "Oz The Great" (the new Wizard of Oz, inspired Disney Movie)  palettes, one palette for Theodora (Mila Kunis) and one for Glinda (Michelle Williams)

This is what the backside of the palettes look like!

 

Here's Glinda's junk in her trunk (AKA goodies in the palette)

 What Glinda gives you: A Full Size Super Saturated Gloss Lip Color in Glinda (a sheer nude)
*6 eyeshadow pots (but one you get 2 colors in 2 pots!)

And a travel-size eyeliner in ROCKSTAR- a deep eggplant hue.

SIX SHADOWS: 

TORNADO- deep vibrant purple shimmer

AURA- 2 shades: iridescent white with blue hints/ iridescent white with red hints

MAGIC- pinkish-blue purple with golden shimmer

ILLUSION- pale peach satin

OZ- 2 shades: gold with gold glitter / silver with silver glitter

SOUTH- warm pale grey shimmer with silver micro-glitter

HERE'S HOW THEY LOOK ON MY HAND:

 AND THIS IS WHAT THEODORA HAS FOR YA:

 Palette come with Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Theodora (a bright red cream)
And a travel-size eye pencil in ZERO, a dark black.

Here's swatches of both lip pencils and eyeliners- Theodora on left, Glinda on the right:


THEODORA'S EYESHADOWS:

 TOP:
BROKEN: pale cream satin *   BEWARE: warm brown matte  *  BEWITCH:  dark chocolate brown
 BOTTOM ROW:
WEST: deep metallic brown shimmer  SPELL: 2 shades: black with green and gold shimmer/ gold metallic with tonal glitter  JEALOUS: 2 shades: pale green pearl/ dark green pearl

And here's how they look on my hand:

 8 SHADES of she shadows are totally new!
Both Palettes will be $49 and you can get your hands on them at ULTA, Macy's, Beauty.com, SEPHORA, and ofcourse at urbandecay.com (before they sell out that it!)

Now that you have heard OZ calling....maybe you'll hear LONDON calling too!!! Here's your chance to win an all-expense paid trip to LONDON to BeautyCon, and you'll get to meet me there!...CLICK HERE TO ENTER (I'm so excited! I can't even stand it- cartwheels of excitement!!!)

Happy Saturday everyone...Ruby Slippers, your kandee

And if you missed my FLAWLESS FOUNDATION video yesterday, you an watch it here: it will change your make-up foreva:

7 Steps To Flawless Foundation Face

 Here it is! My much requested re-make of my FLAWLESS FOUNDATION VIDEO!
And below, here's how it looks with make-up on top:

Ever wonder why celebrities look so great all the time?
They have a make-up artist that will probably spend more time getting the skin (AKA foundation) to look perfect than on anything else!

With these 7 Steps (and you don't have to do them all, just take what ya' like and leave out what you think is too much!) to a FLAWLESS FACE will leave people wanting to know the secret to your amazing skin.

Watch the video to see how to do and I'll put all the steps and links to what I used below:

h

STEP 1- MOISTURIZE
1. Apply Self-Tanner to clean face (optional- I didn't use any myself)
2. Moisturize Your Face
3. Apply lip balm to get lips plump and soft for make-up and lipcolor later

STEP 2- PRIME TIME
I actually like using BB creams (Beauty Balms), because they act like a primer but do even more!

STEP 3- FOUNDATION
I suggest buying 2, one that matches your skin perfectly and one that is a couple shades darker to make you like more "alive" and it will slenderize your face when applied how I show in the video!

STEP 4- CONCEAL IT
This is where you want to really conceal any blemishes, under eye circles, discolorations, sun spots, age spots, or maybe in freckles if you don't like them, like I don't like mine! ha ha ha
*make sure you get around the nostrils, mouth and eyes really well!

STEP 5- POWDER
YOU must powder your face to "SET" your make-up- if you don't, that's how it looks liek all your make-up vanished a few hours late!
*If you don't want to powder your whole face- at least powder your eyelids to make sure you have a dry surface before you apply eyeshadow!

STEP 6 -  "BRON-TOURING" (yes, I made that up, in case you hear others use it!ha ha ha)
This is basic contouring, which will add depth and slenderize your face, make your cheekbones pop and so on. I just use a MATTE (no shimmer or sparkle at ALL) bronzer to contour as I show in the video.

STEP 7- CHEEK DAZZLE
Your face will "come alive" as you do this last "icing on the cake" step. Just add a peachy-pink blush for a healthy glow and a pinky-shimmer highlighter on the top of your cheekbones and down the center of the nose (if you want)...and your face is ready for any make-up look, or just mascara if you want!

Here's some linky-dinks to all the stuff I used in the video:

BEAUTY BLENDER MAKE-UP SPONGE- it makes the biggest difference!!!

 Lip Balm: I love TREAT BEAUTY, the OLD FASHIONED JUMBO SOFT CANDY BUTTERCREAM LIP BALM

BB CREAMS (you can use them as primers, because they have even more ingredients that regular ol' primers):

DRUGSTORE PRIMER- L'Oreal Magic Skin BB Cream:

LUXURY BRAND PRIMER- Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm

FOUNDATIONS:

Drugstore Favorite Foundation- L'Oreal True Match Lumi Healthy Skin Foundation

HIGH END FOUNDATION- Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation:

PRO FOUNDATION PALETTE- RCMA 18 Color Foundation Palette (I have the Kehoe KO one):

FACE POWDERS:

Drugstore Fav- L'Oreal Naturelle Translucent Powder

High End Fav: La Mer The Powder (it is pricey, but amazing!)

POWDER CONTOUR COLORS:

DRUGSTORE FAVS: Revlon PhotoReady

HIGH END: MAC- I just use a dark powder to contour

BLUSH~
ANY ROSEY-PINK-PEACH COLOR
*I used a limited edition color from MAC, that I wish they'd make again, called LOVECLOUD, but some dupes from MAC POWDER BLUSH are:
WELL DRESSED
&
FLEUR POWER

CONTOUR & HIGHLIGHT CRAYONS:

I used L'Oreal TruMatch Super Blendable Crayon Concealer (I'm kinda in love with these!)

HIGHLIGHTER:
*I used another limited edition BEAUTY POWDER from MAC (that I wished they'd make again, because it's amazing!) but another dupe is:

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk

DARK POWDER CONTOUR:

DRUGSTORE FAVE:
Revlon PhotoReady Bronzer

HIGH END DARK CONTOUR:
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Dark

Go ahead and pin this, share this, tweet this, and share the beauty tricks with everyone too!
Huge hugs and flawlessness....your kandee

Once upon a time I looked like this- ha ha ha ha:

 I thought I'd spice up this weeks' blog post with a Throwback Thursday "grab bag" of pics...
Above...you will see me without one drop of make-up...ha ha ha
Some awesome bangs and I'm sure, a side pony-tail.

 High waisted shorts....I'm so over that trend, which I started way back when...bwaaa ha ha ha
Side ponytail- CHECK!
Little booties- CHECK!
Shorts up to my ribcage- CHECK! - Because making your torso look as short as possible is always great!

AND...I had to save the best for last.....Can you find, your favorite friend, named Kandee, in this picture below...
*HINT: I look like I escaped from an episode of Little House On The Prairie:

EXTRA HINT: my sister is in the pic too, but she has a way more modern dress than me.
Look at that poor girl crying...do you think she wasn't in love with her dress choice?!?
 ha ha ha ha ah

Hope this made you feel glad that your shorts were never worn that high...
hugs and side ponytails, your kandee

CLICK THIS BABY to see my NEWEST VIDEO.

I cut my hair even shorter:

Yes, I went even shorter than this first short hair cut!
I lived with it for a few days, and it was fun, then I said to myself, in total "mind talkingness"....:
It needs to be shorter....I'm feelin' shorter.
I called, no actually I texted, to see if  Joseph could cut my hair shorter....
And he did and I LOVE it 270,739 times more than I did before!

And he didn't even blowdry my hair! I love it! I feel like I'm back! My stylish, fun hair is back. No more spending all that time drying all my hair, curling or straightening all that hair....
I git ready so fast today...I love it!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY:
SHIRT- Forever21
LEGGINS/SKIRT COMBO: All Saints
SHOES: Dr. Martens
STUDDED COLLAR: Foreva 21

I love my hair so much I want to bite it! Ok, I don't want to bite it at all, but I DO love it!
A huge thanks to Joseph Marzioli, for giving me the best haircut I've ever had...and for checking even detailed things like the shape of my head, to see how to cut the hair so it falls correctly- he's seriously a hair genius/artist!

Man, if you've been thinking about cutting your hair, just find a great person to do it...and DO IT! You will love it! I love, love, love my hair!!!

love from me and my shorty shorts hair, kandee

PS. If you missed seeing the video of ALL my hair getting chopped off, or you just want to read all the awesome comments about how much girls are now, in love with Joseph (ha ha ha ha) watch this:

Behind the scenes of MY NEW SHORT HAIRCUT:

 Here is my the other day, about to get my "gone-bre on" (as in no more Ombre and no more long scraggily hair)....
ABOVE: my new HAIR-AMAZER (AKA Hairstylist extraordinaire) Joseph Marzioli-
he's not just a hair stylist, but also Creative Director for Toni & Guy Salons, and he travels all over the world to speak and educate on hairstyling.

BTW: I also had no idea so many people would go bananas over Joseph in the video saying he was "so hot" and that his voice was "so sexy"! ha ha ha
He is taken my by sweet friend, Rachel...we had dinner with them last night and she was sitting in front of me while we did this whole haircut! ha ha

SO HERE'S THE BIG NEWS....here's the video for the haircut and if you like it, Joseph tells you at the end what to tell your hairstylist if you want the same, short asymmetrical bob haircut.

Watch it here and just reading the comments last night was so fun:




And the BEST PART......after a few days of my NEW SHORT HAIR, I wanted to go even shorter.....so tomorrow I'll show off my new EVEN SHORTER HAIR...and I LOVE IT a THOUSAND TIMES MORE THAN I LOVED THIS ONE!

I have no pictures and I just woke up so I'm not takin' a picture of me yet! ha ha ha  but I'll show ya tomorrow!

YAY! See you tomorrow for my new and "i love it even more" shorter hair!!!

huge and piles of hair...ha ha ha your kandee

My yesterday: make-up on planes and amazement

Before I even get started...about my yesterday...I have to interrupt myself.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr day...and I want to honor such an incredible man, who was taken from this place, to be in the safety and amazement of heaven many years ago...and I love ALL of his quotes, and this one I want to share with you:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 

(amazing man that was a blessing to us with his heart and mind)

Ok, now back to my-no-where-near-as-important-as-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Day-post:

YESTERDAY....

as we flew out of cloudy Seattle...we rose above the clouds and the sun was shining- that is like life..sometimes we may be going through a cloudy time, but the sun is always there shining above...waiting to come out and warm us up and add brightness to our lives!

 

 this was what my "tray" in the plane looked like:

we woke up so early to leave for the airport to head back to LA...leaving Seattle from my dear friends wedding (more pics from that, when I can get the pics of my fancy camera- all these are from my "fancy iphone", because that's how I do it)

#1. Task I didn't know what possible: I applied fake lashes on a plane- Demi Wispies from Ardell...are amazing, just a lil FYI! ha ha

  

#2. I tried to edit a video (my haircut video) on the plane til my computer ran out of battery!

My laptop has zero battery power, and Ellie kept helping hitting buttons! ha ha

But she did share headphones! ha ha h

(more on Ellie traveling on my KANDEELAND blog)

#3. I met, Chuy (Chelsea Handler's sidekick), as we walked off the plane. We were waiting for Ellie's stroller, he was waiting for his scooter...and he's soooo nice! Ellie loves waving at him.

 #4. Curled hair with my flatiron at the airport in LAX before we raced straight to IMATS (international Make-Up Artist Trade Show) for our meet and greet (aka meet and hug)...

#5. I was worried that no one would show up to meet me and I would feel so embarrassed to even have a meet and greet....and my heart about exploded when I walked and saw this line of amazing people waiting to let me be honored to hug them....

 I could not believe that so many people had come to see lil' ol' me....it meant so much to me, was such a blessing to my heart, and I cannot put it into words enough in this post....I will do a separate post about it because it was so amazing!

 All I can say is, the love, the tears, the hugs, each precious soul meant so much to my heart...I can not thank everyone enough for being there to share love with me!

I had an amazingly fun dinner, with old friends and new friends that was just so much fun...I'll post about that later too...because I've gotta race to finish editing my "haircut video" to get it up today!

So many hugs...and I'm off to edit as fast as my lil' brain can, your kandee

Short & Sweet, Sundance to Seattle and my hair:

Styling my new shorty short hair....that I love!!!
(studded collar and tiger shirt from Forever21, incase anyone loves it, if not, read on....)
Me all jacket-ized for my last night, which was really last night, at Sundance...

Short and sweet can be the name of my trip to Sundance, the name of my trip to Seattle today...since I'll be leaving in less than 24 hours to go back to LA...

this is what my trip has looked like:

YESTERDAY: Sundance Film Festival (Park City Utah)

TODAY: Seattle (just got here a couple hours ago)

TOMORROW: flying back to LA for IMATS (International Make-Up Artist Trade Show)

And if you're there you have to come let me hug you at my MEET & GREET from 3:30-5pm

CLICK HERE FOR THE DEETS

 

 I got to have the tables turned...and feel all fancy having my make-up done by the L'Oreal Paris Make-Up Artist, Brandy. Because I was gonna be fancy, and not just film my own video, but film a spot for the Sundance Channel, about  the 2013 Sundance Film Festival beauty trends...
as seen below, waiting for them to tell me what to do...

and then you know how I love funny things and props....they had a photo area at the L'Oreal Paris suite...I bet you can't see my in my disguise! ha ha ha

 I have to say, thanks to the amazing people I met and worked with in Sundance, this was one of the most fun, 2 days I've had in a loooooong time!
Me with some of my new bff's...I was seriously sad we won't get to eat, hang out and dance together! ha ha ha ha

I saw the last movie of the night, and had to say goodbye to everyone and Sundance,

   and I felt like when you leave all your friends at the end of school or something...I don't know when I had so much fun. (I'll blog more about it later....I just can't download all the pics)

And this morning I woke up very, very early to get on a flight to Seattle for one of my dearest, friend's wedding tonight... if you want to see how we look CLICK HEE-YAH to see my kandeeland post.

Off to go to try to figure out what I will wear to my friends wedding...my suitcase looks like the craziest mix of clothes and I don't think anything looks wedding-y. Stay tuned for what I end up wearing! ha ha ha ha

Man, I can't wait to go to Molly Moon's here in Seattle and get some homemade ice cream!!!

I'm only running on 3 hours of sleep, so if this post makes no sense or is filled with errors, you know why.....hugs, from your homegirl, kandee

 PS. I tried to edit a video I filmed, and realized I left the whole end of a videon on a memory card at home.....ha ha ha ha

Travel Diary: Sundance or Bust

yesterday....I looked like this:

(awww, you can see good ol' zebra suitcase showing off in the corner)

photo courtesy of my Mamarazzi (aka mom)

 I love the, I LOVE LA stores in LAX.....I do love LA, and not just because I was born there, well maybe that's why...ha ha ha

And then we arrived in UTAH....or we actually landed in Salt Lake City, to be exact, then we drove to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival.....

this picture is going to look totally un-exciting to you...but at the very first film of the festival...that light is shining on Robert Redford, talking about Sundance... don't you love the zooming capabilities of my iphone! ha ha ha

 And after the first movie which was called, May in the Summer, which was awesome...the cast and writer, who starred in it also, came out and talked about it and answered questions from the audience, it was so cool!

 I had one of the most fun nights I've had in a loooooong time!!!

At today, I get to go film for the Sundance Channel, and I am so excited that L'Oreal is the official beauty sponsor of Sundance!! I am getting my hair and make-up done by the L'Oreal team- for my shoot today and I'll show you what the Entertainment Weekly and L'Oreal beauty suite looks like inside- so we'll all feel like celebrities together!

I can't wait to see everything and to get to show you guys everything, so you all know what it's like!!!

huge hugs and very, very cold weather here....yes, I had no other shoes to wear, so I wore my Uggs out, don't make fun.

cozy hugs, your kandee in the coldee

And if you didn't see it, you need to try these lips out for the weekend: