Come on a Tour of The Urban Decay Headquarters (Wonderland)

I've been a fan of Urban Decay since I bought my first eyeshadow, called Strip, it was a steel-blue grey, that I still have to, try to recreate the same color! It's been discontinued, but that's what happens to all my favs! It's was the late 90's, and they were only brightly colored and edgy cosmetic company in
Sephora!

Wendy even let me take a sneek peek at their holiday palette!!


I have become friends with some awesome peeps at Urban Decay and when I first came to see their offices I said I had to come back and do a tour for you guys! They have an Alice in Wonderland bathroom with mad hatter chandeliers for crying out loud!

Come see where all these get names, where they mix colors and the questions you guys tweeted me to ask Wende:

So come with me and take a glittery tour of the Urban Decay headquarters with my friend, and founder of Urban Decay, Wende:


Huge hugs and lots of make-up, your virtual bestie Kandee

How I Light, Film & Make My Videos

After years of people asking me questions like:
*How Do You Light Your Videos?
*Where Do You Buy The Lights For Your Videos?
*What Camera Do You Use?
*How Do You Set Up Your Make-up Table To Film Tutorials?
*What Do You Use To Edit?

I've made a video showing you how I make my videos! It's like going behind the scenes of the "making of a youtube tutorial"!

So come take a peek at my make-up table and I'll show you around, how I set up to film my "beauty tutorials", "costume looks", and just how I set up lighting for all my videos. What camera I use and how I take my selfless for my videos! ha ha ha

Here's a list of all the places I got my lights and camera equipment:


DIVA RING (AKA BEAUTY RING LIGHT) - Stellar Lighting (AKA Beauty Ring): TO BUY

OCTOCOOL LIGHT with 9 Lightbulbs: CLICK HERE FOR INFO

I GOT THE OCTOCOOL PACKAGE WITH 2 LIGHTS: CLICK HERE FOR INFO

OCTOCOOL LIGHT WITH 6 LIGHTBULBS (it's cheaper): CLICK HERE FOR INFO

MY CAMERA IS:
CANON REBEL EOS T3i - CLICK HERE FOR INFO

MY TRIPOD: I can't stand my tripod so I don't want anyone to get the same one I have, it's awful!

Now come and watch me show you all my "tips" and "tricks" for filming youtube videos, or just any old videos....here's HOW I LIGHT, FILM & MAKE MY VIDEOS:



Huge hugs and happy Wednesday from your virtual bestie, Kandee

My Weekend in 10 Pictures

 1. Because everyone needs wants a giant donut. SIDE NOTE: the sunglasses, which are were on of my favorite pairs of sunglasses- of course, I lost that day.

 2. Then this was my outfit of the day for Saturday.
With my special assistant, Ellie.
Star Jeans from Frankie B, Shirt (a DIY  creation), vest, I got it at my fav "thrift/vintage" store, shoes - old Jeffrey Campbell's.

And we'll call this picture "#2 and a half

3. I got to hang out with Kelly Osbourne, who not only smells amazing, but she also has awesome style and is one of the most down-to-earth, and kind celebrities I've ever met! We talked about hair coloring, hair breaking off, and had to make some silly videos!

4. I hosted a panel with Christina Milian the other night, and we didn't get a picture, si we got to get another one! And I had to ask what her lipstick was...the lipliner was Nightmoth from MAC, I love that color and need to go dig it out! ha ha ha She's so beautiful and so nice!

 5. I got to chat with Carol Shaw, the founder of Lorac (pronounced: Luh-rock) Cosmetics. We were on a panel together and she's awesome! She fell in love with make-up as a teen, who had really bad cystic acne, and a makeup artist, made her not just look beautiful but FEEL  beautiful. And makeup became her passion after that.

 6. Me + Mr. Kate (my friend I hadn't met yet) sending kisses to everyone! She is beyond awesome and gave me some awesome jewelry from her jewelry line too!

 7. Don't be blinded by the whites of my legs. As you know, I don't have much time to go hang out by a pool or beach! ha ha But Kelly Baker of Kelly Baker Brows was at The Platform pool party, and she offered to remove some hairs from my eyebrows, that I haven't even had time to shape up!

 8. Awwwww SpokenReasons!! I'm so proud of him- he's gone from Youtube to a huge movie!  I even made a video about, talking about him being in it (click here to watch it), with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

9. This is Cameron Pulido, who is awesome, has super cool hair and style and he looks like he should be in a famous boy band....he won one pf my giveaways and it's so amazing to actually get to hug him in person. And his mom is amazing too and thank you guys so much for my bow necklace and ring!! I just love you guys!

10. Me saying...."heyyyyyyyyyyyy" my purse weighs 20lbs, how bout yours?


Ok, and this picture is a free bonus....
Please just look at the sheer look of panic on my face and I was still telling P'Trique and my crazy friend, Jeannie Mai, that I will make P'Trique throw his back out if he tried to hold me too!

I loved getting to give people "real live hugs"! Thank you to everyone that let me hug them, my heart loved and cherished every hug! And one of the best things I heard all weekend was: "you're just like in your videos!!!!!" Huge hugs to everyone and happy Monday....

LET'S TAKE THIS WEEK BY STORM AND MAKE SOME THINGS HAPPEN!!!

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The Perfect Recipe For Blondes and Hosting With Inspiration

As you all know, I am not a natural blonde, but I play one in life. Ha ha ha

You see, there's me in my dark-haired state. I've been blonde several times in my life and without the right "blonde recipe" it's gonna be orange-palooza!

Blondes are tricky, if you don't use the right toners, you will look orange, coopery or too gold.

Here's my blonde hair toning  ingredients:

(and this was after I have already fried my hair to a "baby chick yellow" level- with Goldwell Blonde Me lightening powder and 40 volume)

PERFECT COOL BLONDE RECIPE:
WHAT I USED:
 1/2 Schwarzkopf Igora Royal in 9-1 Extra Light Blonde
1/2 Clairol Soy 4 Complex - 7A Medium Cool Blonde
with equal parts 20 Volume Developer

Applied with a brush in sections, and let sit without heat for 10 minutes.
Shampoo out and the perfect wheat-colored, cool blonde!

And last night I got to be on a panel for BeautyCon at the Youtube Space in LA.

You can't see my face or my blonde hair but I'm the one in the striped pants and hat!

And then I got to host a panel of amazing ladies who've gone from their day jobs to dream jobs that included, Leslie Blodgett the creator of Bare Minerals (who is just amazing!), Wendy of Wendy's Lookbook, Mr. Kate, creative, artsy and super cool girl, singer-songwriter and actress, Christina Milian, actress, Sophia Bush,  Alisa Gould-Simon, of Pose, and the amazing, and uber stylish VP of Rachel Zoe, Inc, Mandana Dayani.

Me with Leslie Blodgett, she is such a powerhouse of inspiration and so kind, she made tears fall from my non-waterproofed eyes.
When I was a teenager, I worked in a mall, and I would wander through the Bare Essentials store. It was such an honor to meet her and get to ask questions to all these amazing women and here their storied of inspiration...

The bottom line was:

go after whatever you love

prepare to work hard

be the one that shows up first and leaves last

we all feel like failures and giving up- but it's the ones that keep going that reach success

don't listen to the haters, because theirs a hater speaking every second of the day trying to stop you

And never spend time on a door that closed because, you might miss the new door of opportunity because you're "boo-hoo'ing" over the closed door!

Happy weekend guys!

If you're in LA I'll be at Beauty Con tomorrow speaking:

 on a panel called "Vision to Visionary" at 11am

11:45-12:30 Photo Booth Picture Time with ME

3:30-4:30 "Kandee's Candy Bar" Happy Hour

(*no drinks just a bunch of candy!)

5-5:30 Hosting a Panel "Not Your Average Mom" Panel

Get ready because I've loaded with hugs to give out!

PS. After two weeks of me being sick and my videos getting ruined, re-fliming, ruined again, and refilmed again, the "How I make my Youtube Videos- lighting, setting up, camera, a peek into my make-up collection"- will be up the beginning of next week! Hooray!!!!!!! 

* Watch my YOUTUBE videos by CLICKING RIGHT HEEEE-YAH *

Las Vegas: Fancy Drinks, Waffles, Hats, Hello Kitty Purses,and Hotel Rooms Like Ice Cream Parlors

This is what I look like after a day of driving to Las Vegas, to get to Blakey's BMX Championships, and setting up, when it was 113 degrees outside. I was pretty much the sweatiest, dustiest person at the hotel.

 Me and Ellie doing Vegas Show girl arms, kind of like jazz hands but bigger. I was kinda in love with how our room at The Flamingo, felt like we were in an ice cream parlor. We got a room upgrade! Our first room was not that fancy, the air-conditioning wasn't working, and when you opened the window you just saw a wall! ha ha ha

I also brought my hat, it's made by Epoch, which ended up being my accessory of the weekend. When all else fails just put a hat on- cute quick and bad hair days are gone...even though I don't have much hair to make bad!

And I loved the pink walled, bathroom! And the tv in the mirror, again! Vegas is so fancy!

 Sharing a Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity 3 in Las Vegas (if you've been to Serendipity 3 in NYC, you will be very disappointed, it's not cute and charming like NYC and they don't have my favorite Sand Tarte Sundae!), with my favorite lil' guy, Blaker!

And I must say they had THE best collection of Hello Kitty things in the Flamingo gift shop!
This mug came home with us....

 I love everyone of these Hello Kitty purses....

 We did go to Serendipity 3, twice....and the people who were willing to sit outside, well , they were really hot, it was like 109 outside! I had to try the Balsamic Strawberries and cream waffles! SO good, it was like I just ate dessert for breakfast!

And me and the Ellie-meister, sharing a Frozen White Hot Chocolate, we both decided the original chocolate is better though! That's what Alani and Blake got!

 And that was our weekend in Vegas..., what I wore, what we ate, and

The Best, Yummiest Berry Cocktails Salad Recipe with Homemade Orange Vanilla Syrup

BE WANRED:
this recipe is highly addictive and dangerously delicious. You might want to make bathtub-full-size, batches of this.

THIS IS THE BEST, YUMMIEST BERRY COCKTAIL SALAD RECIPE 

with Orange Vanilla Syrup 

(CLICK TO WATCH THE COOKING VIDEO BELOW)

SERVING SIZE: 6 dessert size bowls (or 1 Kandee Size serving, as in I'll eat the whole bowl myself)

TIME TO PREPARE: 5 minutes unless you're way faster than me at cutting fruit

Time to cook orange vanilla sauce: 20 minutes (most of that is the simmering though. You could have that simmering while you ate dinner or lunch and when you're done,. so is the saucy)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of sliced Strawberries

1 package (or 1 cup) of fresh Raspberries

2 cups of red or green grapes (cut in halves to prevent any lil ones from choking)

1 cup fresh blueberries

Ingredients for Orange Vanilla Syrup:

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

juice of half an orange

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut strawberries in half or quarters and cut all grapes in half.  (Cutting the grapes is what takes us the longest!) Put all berries and grapes in medium bowl and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, pour in water, sugar, vanilla and squeeze your half an orange. I used a flour sifter to catch all the seeds and "feathery" orange parts, that I don't' like.

Place sauce pan over medium heat on the stove until it reached a boil. Turn it down so simmer for about 15-20 minutes and looks like pale maple syrup, it will get thicker and syrupy. Remove from heat and let it cool, until it's cool enough to put in the fridge until it's all the way cooled down. Then pour it all over the berries and gently move all the berries around so they're all coated the in the syrupy goodness!

You can place in the fridge and let berries marinate in the orange vanilla sauce, or you can just eat it right away, which to be honest, it's so good, we can't wait and just eat it as soon as I'm done stirring.

COME CLICK THIS TO WATCH OUR "COOKING WITH KANDEE VIDEO OF US MAKING THIS":

I hope you  love this as much as we do!

Here's me and my little sous chefs......

 Add we made a "fruit cockatiel foodimal" as a "berry cute garnish"....

Huge hugs and even bigger bowls of this yummy berry salad and the best part the orange vanilla saue, your Kandee

PS. This video is not on my regular youtube channel, so feel free to subscribe to this fun one too!

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7 Ladies Who Will Inspire You To Show Off Your True Style

Hello My Kandee Kanes!

Young Fashionistas and Fashion Bloggers could take a few tips from these ladies.

And may I remind every set of eyeballs reading this: 

Age ain't nothin' but a number and a sign that you are wiser than those with smaller digits in their birthday. It doesn't mean you can't have style, it doesn't mean you have to slip into boring, ugly clothes and have boring "old lady" hair styles. It means you have confidence that you didn't have in your teens, boldness from life's experiences, and fearless style that doesn't require the latest trend handbag or fashion "must have" of the moment. 

True style is NOT a trend, it's what you LOVE!

Here's 7 ladies who aren't in their 20's, but have more style, confidence and individuality than most teens and 20 year olds. Let's all be inspired by their fearless and fabulous style!

All these pics are from my friend, Ari Cohen's amazing blog, Advanced Style. If you haven't seen it, I've gotta say, he showcases the most truly amazing "fashionistas"- and none of them are a day younger than 50!

Now this is fierce fashion! Leopard print love, look at those glasses, and even her nails are amazing!

I'm in love with her arms full of bakelite bangles and rings!

The glasses, the hat, the gloves...amazing.

This is the fabulous, Lyn Dell, who I met in NYC at Fashion Week, who owns the vintage and re-sale shop, Off Broadway. I love her quote that everyday should be stage, your red carpet moment to shine!
How amazing is her hat?!?

Fearless, Fabulous and Fashion-full-of-genuine-style:

All I can say, is not even young hollywood celebrities who think they are "fashion icons" have the courage or unique style to pull of outfits like this! I would give this woman a high five if I saw her on the streets!

This is Christina Viera...she is amazing and makes her own outfits out of re-purposed things like the skirt below is made from dog toys, and her hat is a stuffed had she made herself! Talk about fashion DIY!

I want these ladies to inspire you! Inspire you to live out loud. Live more daringly. I don't care if you live in a town with 5 people, who cares, you are getting dressed in what you love, not for them. If they are small minded, let them dress boringly.
Style is not wearing the latest fashion trend, it's wearing what you love, because you LOVE it, not because it's the hottest thing of the moment!

Today, let your inner style wander, what would you wear if you didn't care and no one would say anything negative, except that they loved your style?!?

Free yourself from what others think, This life is short. Let everyday be your stage...now it's time to get dressed for it!

If you feel like you don't know what your true style is....
it's what you love, what looks fun to you...
Do you love vintage things?
Do you love the classic and timeless looks of Audrey Hepburn?
Do you love edgy looks?  You don't need to be a rockstar to rock a cool edgy look?
Do you love fun bright colors?
Do you love cowboy boots and frilly skirts?
Whatever you love, whatever you probably loved as a kid too, that is your true style, and just years of people's opinions have probably torn you away, or maybe you haven't dared to find your style.

It's what you love.
What you feel most confident in.
It's what you're drawn to in a shop or in pages of a magazine.
It could even be a celebrity style from the 40's or now that you love and wish you could wear! You can!

Huge hugs and I hope today, you leave with a little more inspiration in your heart, to shine who you are in the world, love your Kandee


PS. A new video will be up tomorrow on youtube, it will be a peek into my make-up table and how I film my videos! Sorry I've been sick and my computer was broken this week, so I couldn't edit a video sooner!

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