Bangs or No Bangs, That is the Question

Women struggle with this all the time. We want to change our look and sometimes cutting bangs seems like a good option. But sometimes we immediately regret it. Some people are just bang people and some are not. I could go both ways, but I prefer to not have bangs. Cowlicks can be an issue as well as texture and thickness of hair.

But you really don't have to choose. If you only want bangs sometime or you just aren't sure if you can pull them off, get some fake ones. They sell clip in bangs now. I'm not going to put a link because there are so many places to get them. Buy the real human hair type so that you can use heat tools if needed. Also, to make them look more natural, get them in blonde and have your hair stylist color and cut them to match your hair. You can buy a few pairs and have all types of different lengths and styles without the commitment.

The bangs I have are not the right color and I cut them myself with clippers. Here is a good tutorial from Cherry Dollface on how to cut Betty bangs yourself with clippers.

Christmas Present Ideas for the Pin Up in Your Life

Do you have a pin up girl in your life? Not sure what to get her for Christmas. Here are some ideas.

You can't go wrong with a Sephora gift card: http://www.sephora.com/

She will love anything from Pinup Girl Clothing:
http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com/

Every true pin up girl needs proper undergarments:
http://www.whatkatiedid.com/en_us/

For the extra special girl, go big with the Whirling Turban:
http://whirlingturban.com/

She will love this vintage hair styling book:
http://www.hrstbooks.com/vintage-hairstyling

You could also buy her a subscription to this pin up magazine to give her inspiration:
http://www.pinkbowcity.com/

Marilyn Inspired Glitter Eyes

For this look, I was inspired by Kevin Aucoin's version of Marilyn Monroe. It's actually Lisa Marie Presley. It's from his book "Making Faces."

Here is my before and after. I didn't have a Marilyn wig, so I just went with a blonde wig that I had from when I was Miss Piggy for Halloween.

I started this look by moisturizing my face. I use EmbryoLisse Lait-Crème Concentrè. I then contoured my face using Makeup Forever flash palette white (because I'm so white that I need a white for a highlighter) and Makeup Forever concealer palette in dark for the shadows.

You can see here where I added the highlights and shadows. I blended it all with my foundation, Makeup Forever HD in 117 and a Real Techniques blending brush. You don't want the contouring to be obvious. It just add dimension.

Next I worked on the eyebrows. I use Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil in caramel. I created a strong arched brow for this look because Marilyn was known for her brows. I also used the flash palette white again to highlight the brow bone and make the eyebrow sharp around the edges.

To add more dimension to the brows, I added a golden brow gel on top. I then primed by entire eyelid with Urban Decay eyeshadow primer.

Next is the part that really makes the look. You may have noticed the Marilyn has a distinct eye shape. Especially her eye lid. It's a large lid with a crease that starts high on the inner corner and tilts down on the outside. This is one of the reasons she had such wonderful bedroom eyes. I copied this shape on my own eyes. You can use shadow and highlight to alter the shape of your eyes.

Again, after applying the primer to help the eyeshadow last longer, I used the three colors below circled in red. The white on the brow bone and the inner corner of my eye, the brown to create the shape and the yellow on the lid and to blend them together.

This is the shape that you want to achieve. It will seem strange at first and you will even feel like you are making a mess of your eyes, but try to keep the line clean and blend upward. You can use a lighter brown to help blend. Just keep blending. I used MAC brushes 230 and 217 for this.

One you have the right shape, time to apply the glitter. I used highbeam highlighter to make the glitter stick. I applied it to the lids where the lightest area was located and then packed on the Makeup Forever diamond powder on the left. It is a very fine glitter. I then applied a nude shimmer, not sure of the name or where I got it, to all the areas with brown. I then applied a heavier clear glitter on top of the first diamond powder and a copper over the nude shimmer. Finally, I applied the diamond powder to the brow bone.

You can see the effect it creates below on the left. It really helps to highlight that large eyelid. I then applied a MAC liquid eyeliner starting at the outside lower lash line and extending out to create a cat eye. I also added just a flick of black underneath on the outside to help give the illusion of a shadow. This will help with that heavy lash look.

I applied lots of mascara, Eye of Horus, and some glitter eyeliner around the black eyeliner to help define it. And I added false lashes to the outer corners of the eyes. I finished the look off with rosy cheeks and Makeup Forever HD powder.

Here is the look before lips. I added a few photos of the eyes so that you can see the shape from different angles.

Marilyn's lips were also one of her signature features. I used five different lip products. I started by powdering my lips lightly to help make the color stick. I then use a MAC lip pencil in beet to line the lips. I lined them a bit outside of my natural lip line and rounded them to make them look more like Marilyn. I just filled the liner in on the corners of the lips though leaving the middle bare. I then took a dark red lipstick and went over the outside corners. I took a lighter pinky red and filled in the middle. I then took a nude and put ad dab of that right in the middle of my upper and lower lip. I finished it off with just a bit of gloss in the middle as well. All of this helps create that dimensional pout.

Here is the final product with a blonde wig and a beauty mark, because you can't be Marilyn without those.