Girls Night Out

Decided to break in this new jacket last night. I've got a thing for studs and zippers.

 Not to mention the tapered hem of these slacks, which is pulled inward by a pleated and inverted zipper.

Pants: Asos, Heels: Jeffrey Campbell, Top: Nordstrom, Jacket: Elie, Necklaces: JewelMint and Unknown Boutique

You can never, ever, have enough black.

With Love,

Noa B

Cozily Stylish

I'm getting back into layering cold weather clothing as the nights continue to cool down here in the Central Coast, (naturally I'll hate them in about two months but for time being, sweaters are fun again)!

 I think for me the key to making them feel cute is adding heels, (so I also feel less like a polar bear).

Oxblood Mary-Janes from back in '08 make their reemergence, coupled with oxblood leggings. (Best seasonal color of late 2012)!

Sweater and Beret: H&M, Leggings: Free People, Heels: Marc Fisher

And a cozy beret always keeps you chic and masks a weird hair day.

With Love,

Noa B

Sex-Pot Eyes: Tutorial

Happy Monday All!

I hope you all had a great, holiday weekend. I spent mine with a dear group of friends who came to stay overnight. One such friend asked me to follow up last week's cat-eye tutorial with a smokey eye interpretation. So here it is!

Meet Emily. Emily is a big fan of liquid liner looks. But she wanted to amp up from cat-eye to smokey eye. So we decided to break it down together.

The first step was to clean up her eyebrows. Marking excess hairs for plucking and shaping is crucial to getting a groomed brow. And a groomed brow is the perfect frame for a smokey eye. I like to outline the intended shape by highlighting hairs to remove with concealer or a white pencil.

Once the hairs to remove were marked, we tweezed moderately and opened up her arch, creating a clean line to support the heavier makeup.

 Voila. Brows are shaped and makeup is ready to be applied.

 Place concealer all around under-eye area, as well as under and above lid, crease, and brow bone.

Blend into place and seal with loose powder.

Place cake or creme liner along lash-line as thickly as is necessary based on eye shape. (This will get blended out later).

Next, grab a creme shadow in a mid tone color and blend out from lash-line to crease, buffing your cat-eye out into the shadow. The darkest line should remain visible along the lash-line.

Blend a highlighter into the inner eye corners and center of lid. Add mascara to top and bottom lashes.

Blend in further depth by adding an accent color to the corners and crease area of the eye, as well as to the bottom of the lashline. I like using neutrals like golds, chocolates, plums and deep greens. For Emily, we added gold on her lid,  and sage green along her upper and lower lash-line to soften the original black.

Final product: A smokey and sophisticated eye for an evening out, using the original cat-eye as the makeup base. If you want to try this out, don't forget to enter my giveaway before the end of the month for a chance to win some primo makeup here!

With Love,

Noa B

Thankful for Friendship

For the past ten years my husband and I have made a tradition of celebrating anything and everything with a party in our Los Angeles apartment. The Oscars, the Emmy's, the Superbowl, Passover, Chanukah, and even some Thanksgivings in past years. But this year we decided to inaugurate our new home in Santa Barbara with friends who came to eat, play, and stay over for an adult, slumber party!

We had so much fun. Every moment felt like it deserved its own Polaroid.

Including this fella we named "Steve".

We ate. We danced. We got down Gangnam style...

 We draped decorative lights that helped set the tone outside as well as in.

And even though the water never got above 60 degrees, we all jumped into the chilly, Friday afternoon pool with frequent trips to the hot, outdoor shower!

We stopped to smell the roses.

 And took our guests out to explore the trails behind the house.

It was the most rewarding and wonderful way to spend the holidays, complete with sleepover, PJ party, cooking, swimming, dancing, games, and good, old fashioned talks late into the night. I hope we get to continue this tradition every year!

Photos courtesy of Andrew Hall.

Happy Holidays to all and thanks to our amazing friends who joined us to make such great memories!

With Love,

Noa B

Holiday Makeup Giveaway!

Happy Friday all you makeup mavens! 

This week we've covered some topics of interest for those of you who enjoy makeup as much as I do. To spice up the Friday before Thanksgiving, here's a fun, little giveaway to get you revved up for the upcoming, holiday season!

In keeping with this week's beauty themes, I'll be giving away a little beauty pack filled with the following items:

• Mac Fluidliner in Blacktrack, to achieve that perfect, "Mod" cat-eye. 

• Becca Bambi cake liner to replicate this week's Liz Taylor/Marilyn Monroe, chocolate, cat-eye, complete with lining sealant. 

• Mia Mariu mineral blush in Maria Bonita, for a soft, healthy flush.

• Becca blush brush for plush, perfect, cheek application.

• Additionally, I'll be adding a corresponding Mia Mariu gloss in Dulzura. This lovely, baby pink is the perfect add-on to complement a defined eye.

 

• And of course, what eyeliner giveaway would be complete without a definer brush for easy definition!

This package, with two eyeliners and sealant, two brushes, a gloss and a blush has a retail value of $165.00 but it can be yours just by becoming a reader and leaving a comment. Here are your official rules of entry.

Official entry rules:

1: You must become a follower of Sunsetand5th via Google friend connect, (found on the upper, right hand corner of my blog).

2: Once you have, (or if you already are) comment back here about your favorite tip for rocking a cat-eye, or tell me why you'd like to use these products to give it a go.

3: For an additional entry, simply twitter this giveaway and let me know about it in your comment line.

Entries are open for US and Canada submissions.

Deadline is Friday, 11/30/2012, 11PM PCT.

With Love,

Noa B

Cat Eyes 60's Era: Tutorial

One of the most persistent questions I get on a daily basis is "how do I create a cat-eye"?

The simple answer is that there are as many ways to create a "cat-eye" as there are stars in the sky. First, there are different types of cat-eye shapes.  They range from the clean and narrow, late 50's-early 60's era width you may be familiar with if you've watched a lot of MadMen, (in which the liner remains very subtle and close to the lid without extending out almost at all) to ferociously thick, mod styles populated in the swinging 60's.

There's the classic, "swoosh" liner favored by Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, in which the line curves alongside the natural shape of the lid and thickens to an up-curved,  tail. Typically, these ladies used a chocolate brown rather than a black to soften the edgeing around the eyes.

There's the Cleopatra eye, popularized by gals like Barbara Streisand, where the tail edges dramatically close to the end of the natural browbone. Notice in this case, the tail pulls straight outward as opposed to upwards, elongating her eyes to a near point.

And there's of course the Mod line, which usually is thicker, heightened by lashes both above and below, and brought all the way inward, with a heightened angle away from the natural end of the lid.

Finally, there's the "contemporary" cat eye, in which often the line is smudged and softened to a feathered finish. (This is a style perfected by Kevyn Aucoin in his numerous, beauty books, and can be achived with creams, gels, or liners).

But today I'm going to show you my personal take on a modern-"mod" eye. Meaning, I'm not using any false lashes or frosty tones, but I'll demonstrate how to achieve the "mod" shape and interpret it in a contemporary way.

I always begin with a clean, primed, eyelid and a light coat of mascara.

 

One short cut is to purchase a liner pen, but I prefer different textures ranging from cremes to gels and inky, wet pots of color. So I favor using a skinny, liner brush that will work with any product. I like a flexible, animal hair such as sable or squirrel. (Cruelty free of course)!

One of my favorite liners is a pan of jet black color called Barbarella, made by Becca Cosmetics. It doesn't smudge or run, and you activate it with a drop of water, so it stays stable and doesn't dry out or crack. Other good ones to consider are made by Makeup Forever and MAC. I start with a single drop of water and mix an inky consistency.

Next, I pick a spot somewhat above the point where my natural lash-line stops. Begin your line about a 1/4 cm above that point, and then slowly draw the line inward, pressing as closely as possible to the lash-line.

Don't worry if you make a mistake or something smudges. You can go back later and fix it with a q-tip! Notice the amount of space I've left above the end of the lash, and where I meet the line to my natural lid. (We'll fill that in later).

Next, fill in the open area with more color, until a little triangle is created.

This will ensure that when you open your eyes, your line will appear straight across, rather than sloping downwards.

Begin thickening the point both on top as well as underneath. Make sure you continue to thin out the line as you reach the inner corner of your eye.

Fill in the space underneath the lashes as well, so that no skin remains uncolored.

Bring the thinnest part of the liner all the way into the inner, eye corners and fill in gently until the line is solid across the entire lash-line.

Dot in between lashes to complete the depth of the line.

Finally, add a touch of neutral, contour color in the creases. If you want to avoid frosty, light tones, use your natural lid tone as the highlight and just deepen the crease.

I love a bit of dusty mauve to add tone.

Add an additional coat of mascara, and throw in some brows and bronzer, coupled with a pink cheek.

And Voila!

A modern twist on a retro, cat eye look.

Remember, there's no right or wrong way to build this look. Try experimenting with all shapes and you'll find with time, the perfect shape to compliment your eye.

With Love,

Noa B