MUSE: Ayana

Ayana was such a beautiful spirit and lovely to work with. She was taking family photos and wanted to look more refined for the shoot.

Little Things...

Been around the whole world, still aint seen
Nothin' like my neighborhood...


All of the fancy satin and silk
My white cotton feel so good...


Searched high and low for a place
Where I can lay my burdens down...


Aint nothin' in the whole wide world
Like the peace that I have found...


Its the little things (the little things)
And the joy they bring...


Its the little things (the little things)
And the joy they bring...

Dress: Vintage
Song: India.Arie Little Things
Photos Taken by Mary DeBoise of iKandy LLC

TUTORIAL: Pink and Gray

Face: MAC Select SPF 15/ MAC Mineralized SkinFinish Natural/MAC Plum Foolery Blush
Eyes: MAC Smoke and Diamonds/Silver/MAC Spiced Chocolate/StudioFinish Concealer/Vanilla Pigment
Lips: MAC Sweetie/MAC Lavender Whip

Friday's Cocktail

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what's happening."

Coco Chanel

Shoegasm: Tick Wedges by Jeffrey Campbell

Tribal prints are definitely hot this summer but these shoes right here have my name written all over them. They also come in a solid black and solid white, I was leaning toward the all black but this print is becoming more and more appealing. Check them out here!

Friday's Cocktail

I don't like standard beauty - there is no beauty without strangeness.

Karl Lagerfeld

Apple Pear Martini
Vox Apple Vodka
Brillet Pear Brandy
A splash of Lemon Juice

MAC's SuperGlass

MAC debuted its new lipgloss creation called Superglass. The new lip products takes shimmer to the max with “snowflake-shaped helicone pearls” immersed in the product creating an intense sparkling effect on the lips. Superglass will be available in nine shades, and will only be available for a limited time.

Tunnel of Love (Deep blue brown), Sugar Overload (White beige), Disco Blend (light tan), Sweet Tart (baby pale pink), Gift Wrap (light pinky peach), Totally Bang! (fuschia), Cherry Electric (bright cherry pink), SuperFlash (mid-tone yellow pink), Fab Frenzy (deep blue purple). Each gloss will retail for $18 at MAC Counters and retails stores.

I not a huge fan of lots of shimmer on the lips but these new lippes look super fun!

My Office

So its time for me to start working on the laundry list of projects that I have for Lola (my house). I'm used to living in one bedroom/one bath apartments that I couldn't/wouldn't do much to because I was renting. Now I live in a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath house and I am OVERWHELMED! Well I was, I finally have furniture in every room and the whole first floor have been painted and furnished to my liking, I'm just waiting to find the perfect pieces of art to take it to the next level. My bedroom is also furnished with art on the walls but its just lacking paint. I bought my home brand new which allowed me to have a blank canvas to do whatever I want. Which takes me to my office:



Yes I know the paint is HIDEOUS. I called myself giving the paint a faux finish to make my walls appear silver. It was complete FAIL and it has to be fixed before I go any further with decor (I swear HGTV really makes you believe you can do anything LOL) but in the meantime I decided to unpack the boxes that have been hoarding my closet and move some furniture around. Here's how it turned out, I think I like this layout much better.

Things I need to complete this room:

A new paint job. I will have my faux silver walls professionally done this time
A chic chair for my desk
A cute chandelier for lighting
Art (I'm pretty sure I will be hanging some of my work from my portfolio)
Something to cover those wires and boxes
Accessories

Any suggestion?

Ughhh I am so embarrassed by my walls they don't look as bad to the naked eye LOL!

Timeless Beauty: Lena Horne

As you all know, Ms. Lena Horne, the beautiful sultry singer and actress left us a couple weeks ago. Ms. Horne helped break racial barriers by changing the way black women were represented in film by refusing to play roles that represented African-Americans disrespectfully. Ms. Horne electrified audiences with her beauty and rich, emotional voice.

She also became involved in civil rights activities. She protested racial separation at the hotels where she performed. She took action so that she and her musicians would be permitted to stay in those hotels.

Ms. Horne had the voice of an angel and was the epitome of glamour. Her witty personality was always fun to watch and she always carried herself with class and grace. RIP Ms. Horne.

Just Do It!

I like to think of myself as a pretty creative person. I have projects listed in my mind, created vision boards, filled binders with inspirational quotes and photos all waiting to come to fruition. I've researched, explored, taken classes, even reached out to people for help to make these things happen but as I look over notes/vision boards/journals that I compiled over the past few months I realized I have a ways to go.

The past year of my life has been a serious roller coaster. In August I was involved in a car accident that left me in the hospital for weeks with injuries that still bother me until this day and probably will for the rest of my life. I remember every detail of that day like it happened just a couple hours ago, from the moment I woke up to the moment it happened. I was slapped in the face with my own mortality and it left me feeling scared, alone and helpless beyond words. Exactly 24 days after that I closed on my first home. I was feeling high again and it felt so good. Soon after iKandy LLC went into business. I was finally pursuing my passion for makeup and I was on cloud nine. Then I lost the man who had influenced my life the most, my grandfather. Talk about a blow, it hurts bad, real bad. A couple weeks after that my beloved home was broken into, I never felt so violated in my whole 25 years of living. This chain of events left me feeling weak, confused and down right broken. I do a such a wonderful job of hiding my feelings that the people closet to me would never know. I mean you would have to REALLY know me.

So I said all of that to say, I'm no longer wasting time. Its time for me to revisit the notes, take another look at the vision boards and make it happen. I haven't been myself for a long time but I'm back and so much stronger than before. I'm going to document my projects on this blog. This will still be a beauty blog but just with a little extra flava. Hope you like!