get your game face on

Football season has officially started with the NFL opening game last night, and I couldn't be happier (Go Marshall and  go Panthers!). Football and all-pumpkin-everything combined with the perfect weather, easily make Fall my favorite season.

For some, football season means wearing your favorite jersey and heading out to a tailgate and game every weekend. For others, it means yummy food and beer in front of a TV. Regardless of your preference to watch the game you want to be focused on the game and having fun, not worried about how you look.

Football games often mean spending all day outside in the sun drinking, and the last thing you want is to head somewhere after the game with a face full of smudged makeup. You know the girls who wear a ton of makeup to sporting events and look silly? Don't be that girl. You aren't there to make a statement with your bold lip or smokey eye, you're there to have fun and cheer on your team (or at least pretend like it).

In order to ensure you go from tailgate to game to post-game festivities looking flawless, stick to minimal, neutral makeup with staying power. This way, you can feel good about spending all day (and night) supporting your team and beer-drinking habits and leave all cosmetic products at home.

game face necessities

My favorite long-lasting products for game time are:

1. Tarte BB Tinted Primer: I've said it before and I'll say it again: this stuff is amaze balls. It's lightweight (read: doesn't look like you're wearing makeup on your face), but covers extremely well. A little bit goes a long way and the best way to apply is to put a small amount on your fingers, rub your fingers of both hands together, then smear all over your face and blend.

2. The Body Shop Concealer Stick: It's no secret that this is my favorite concealer. The reason I like it so much is because it covers under-eye circles and blemishes well, so I don't need two different concealers. Apply this under eyes and on blemishes where needed, but don't worry too much about covering every little spot.

3. Josie Maran Waterproof Cheek Gelee: Waterproof blush means this stuff doesn't budge. It'll stay on until you take it off, even through the hottest day for a game. Apply lightly to get a healthy flush; once again, don't go overboard.

4. Benefit Hooola Bronzer: This is a recent purchase of mine from the #FlyBenefit vending machine at the airport, and I'm already obsessed! This bronzer is perfect for game day because there's no shimmer in it (matte=natural). Dust a little on your forehead, sides of nose, chin and hollows of your cheeks for a natural-looking glow.

5. Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Black: Stila isn't lying when they say "Stay All Day" because this stuff doesn't budge. If you haven't mastered using liquid eyeliner (yet), not to worry. Draw small dashes as close to your lash line as possible then connect them and you'll have a straight line! Since I have small eyes I like to add a small flick to the outer corners of my eyes, think mini cat-eye, but it's still appropriate for game day.

Tip: if you have lighter eyes or hair, stick to brown instead of black - it looks much more natural.

6. Make Up Forever Aqua Cream for Eyes in Warm Beige: I definitely don't recommend wearing eye shadow to sporting events, especially if it's outside in the heat, because you're basically asking your shadow to crease and look horrible within a few hours. However, I do like to put a tiny bit of this on my brow bone and at the inner corner of my eye.

7. L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara: No need to get waterproof mascara for football season, unless your favorite team loses a lot and it makes you sad.

These are my favorite picks to create a minimal game face that will last all day long!

Makeup Genius by L'oreal

It's Monday. Mondays are slow. Mondays I am bored.

Naturally, the answer is to try on makeup.

I've been hearing buzz around L'Oreal's new beauty app, Makeup Genius, for quite some time but haven't gotten around to downloading it until I reached the point of extreme Monday-ness today.

Upon opening the app, your camera quickly scans your face to get a good idea of your features. You can then try on various products in eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, lip gloss, lip liner (wtf?) and blush categories. Some eyeliners, such as the gel one, are drawn on as a cat eye and some (like pencil) are drawn on smoky. 

Even though I was trying SO hard not to bust out laughing in my cubicle, I am so impressed with how real the products look. It looked like I was actually wearing the products! Not only does the color look real, but the texture was even there - my lip gloss was shiny. As if this isn't advanced enough, the products move with your face! I moved all around and made different poses, opening and closing my mouth/eyes and the products stayed on the entire time. Unbelievable. 

Besides being able to switch color swatches and from product to product easily, you can share your looks on social media or save them for easy product reference next time you're at Walgreens and remember the awesome lipstick you tried on at work without actually trying it on.

Besides a couple of the eyeliners being drawn onto my eyeball(s) at times, this app is freakishly accurate and awesome. I'm not going to lie it has definitely convinced me to go out and buy a couple of L'Oreal products I tried on now...

Now photos, for your viewing pleasure:

As you can see I am new to this and wondering what is going on while trying not to laugh. But I do like this lipstick!

Things are getting fun. Always wanted to try blue eyeliner, but I'm not sure I would apply it this heavily...

Love this look. It's the most symmetrical cat eye I've ever had. If only my eyeliner could look like this in real life...

Things turned ghetto for a hot sec

My favorite look: clear gloss, light pink blush and brown eyeliner applied with a heavier hand than I usually do.

Next time you're bored and have some time to kill, play around with L'Oreal's Makeup Genius app and send me some pics!

splurge vs. steal: mascara

As much as I love buying expensive beauty products because of the luxury associated with them, there are some amazing, cheap drugstore options.

The one thing that deters me from trying a new product at a drugstore is that you can't test out the product before purchasing because everything is sealed in its package. However, Walgreens will allow you to return a used cosmetic product if you're unsatisfied with it. 

Some times I stumble upon amazing drugstore products when I'm traveling and forget to pack something important, like eyeliner or concealer. Most of the time when I purchase a drugstore cosmetic it's because it was recommended to me personally, was mentioned on a blog or mentioned in an article.

I have two favorite mascaras: one is They're Real by Benefit and the other is L'Oreal Voluminous. They both make my eyelashes look longer and thicker, but L'Oreal is less than half the price (and maybe even better). I don't usually purchase They're Real - it's given to me as a gift about once a year but I wouldn't buy it myself because it's not better than some drugstore options.

battle of the wands

It's more difficult to justify buying expensive mascara because mascara is something that you should throw out about every three months, so it doesn't last long. For now I'm loyal to my drugstore L'Oreal mascara, but then again, I haven't tried DiorShow yet.