My Most Used Brushes

Brushes I can not live without

I have tons of brushes, way too many one person should own. I also have a handful of brushes that I can not live without and I wanted to share them with you. Now if you watch my videos you would know them, or have seen them tons of times so this wont be too surprising.

I really just wanted to show you the brushes I need and use. And ultimately to save you money. If you are not going to be a makeup artist you probably will not need a full set. Thankfully Sigma Beauty is now selling their brushes separately so you can collect them without breaking your budget.

We should just get to it...

FACE BRUSHES

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Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki Brush F80

This brush is the most used brushes of the bunch. It is the perfect liquid foundation brush. If you buy any brush it should be this one. It has never let me down and it does not streak.

Angled Top Kabuki F84

I use this bad boy to apply pressed highlighter powder and liquid/creme highlighter to my cheek bones. The brush hairs are sooo soft. I cant say enough good things about these brushes.

The angle of this brush will help you apply your foundation around the nose area as well.

Buffer F45

My new favorite brush to apply my bronzer has to be the last brush you would think. Bronzer is an all over product than is supposed to give you the appearance of a tan. This brush gets the job done quick!

EYE BRUSHES

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Eye Shading E55

This one is perfect for packing on eyeshadow to your lids and getting right under the lower lashes as well. If you spray it with a mixing medium like MACs Fix+ its not too shabby for applying glitter or pigment.

Pencil E30
My go-to brush for smoking/smudging eyeliner and shadows on or near my lower lashes is this pencil brush.

Large Shader E60

This is the only brushes that I use for apply my highlight color to my brow bone.
Tapered Blending E35
This brush does it all. If you need a brush that you can pack and blend shadows this is the one for you. I think this would be the brush I would pick if I was told I could only have one (next to the F80 of course). When I first started my collection, MACs brush that is comparable to this one was the first brush that I purchased. Its a definite must have!


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I hope this post was helpful for those of you who were wondering what brushes you might need for a starter kit or the kit you have and was missing a little something!

*Latina Kisses*
-Sonia

Sally Hansen's Salon Effects : 220 Cut it out - Demo

Lets get creative...ill show you a short cut!

Well, I take that back. The short part anyway...this is very time consuming so take a seat and get comfortable. Jude is with his daddy for a couple of days so I decided to do my nails and film for you all among other videos.

Sally Hansen's Salon Effects: 220 CUT IT OUT

This mod flower pattern along with the following are available at drugstores. I purchased mine at CVS for $9.50 USD.

Ive tried the animal print style already. I was planning to do a demo using them but I was excited and did them without my camera handy. Booo!
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Here is what you will need:

Polish Remover- even if you don't have polish on your nails you want to make sure you get rid of any to all oil on your nails to allow the strips to properly stick.

Top Coat - This will help seal your new design and give a high gloss shine.
Salon Effects Kit - Comes with Strips, Cuticle stick, and Nail file.
Push those cuticles back, if you have them...cochina lol, this will ensure the polish strip will cover your entire nail. The white side of the nail file will be used to press down the strip to rid the nail of any bubbles or lumps. By far the most important part. Smooth is ideal. This file is tiny but it gets the job done. The colored side comes with two degrees of roughness. Texture if you will haha. I have to much fun writing these posts.

Okay, so when you crack open the little containers of strips they come with 8 sizes to choose from for each hand. Some of these did not fit perfectly, but it was easy to cut down.

Lets get down to business: First things first...size those bad boys up. Make sure the polish strip covers your entire nail. If it doesn't, this will look like a hot mess.

When you find the perfect size there are two different layers you will have to peel off.

First layer is the clear film that protects the design.

Second layer is the sticky part. Make sure you washed your hands because once
you dirty the adhesive side of the strip its a goner.

Use the white part of the file to smooth out the design. Use the flip side of the file to trim
off the extra material. Then use light force to pull off extra polish.To seal the new polish design, paint along the tips of your nails with a clear coat. Finish this process by covering entire nail with a clear top coat. I used OUT THE DOOR.

Drum roll please...

TA - DA! I think they look pretty cool if you as me. I want to try the glitter style next. What do you think of this process? At first it was a little intimidating and time consuming. Once you get a few nails down, it starts to get easier and I felt more comfortable and confident.

Interested? Not really? Let me know ladies.

*Latina Kisses*

-Sonia

Growing my nails out - TRYING

In with the real out with the fake

...well we will see how long this lasts. As most of you know I am obsessed with my glue-on nails, but I am surrounded by thick healthy nails thanks a lot Carly. As I would glue on my nails Carly and now B would be slapping on a few coats of nail strengthener. I decided to join the club.

OPI - Matte NAIL ENVY Nail Strengthener
Ive had this polish for sometime now. I originally bought it for Kris because he has a nail biting problem and I thought this would help. It just collected dust and I forgot I had it until I came across it one day. I bought it at a salon for the ridiculous price of $15 USD.

You can find a nail strengthener at the drugstore for about $7. Carly uses one by Sally Hansen and can be seen in her nail tutorials.
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This is what my nails look like after I cut off the cuticles and washed my hands. I need some moisture in my life, I know lol. This is day 3 and I wanted to share my journey with you all.

After 2 coats of NAIL ENVY

As they dry to a matte finish

I challenge myself to at least 2 weeks. I want to see if its worth the mula and time. I have really thin nails that need some help. I like the glue-on nails for the thickness so I hope this will work.

Lets do this challenge together! I would love to show your before and afters if you would like to participate.

What do you recommend for thick strong nails?

*Latina Kisses*

-Sonia

OOTD & Baby Shower

How to keep your hair curly all day long...

I have 2 secret weapons:

1.) GHD Flat Iron

2.) Garnier Fructis 'Flexible Control' Anti- Humidity Hairspray

To get a little added volume I flip my hair and spray.

If that is too much product for those of you who are new to hairspray,

lift sections of your hair and lightly spray.

I bought a few new hair sprays at the drugstore recently but this one is by far the most used of the bunch. I feel like such a hoarder at times but I am in search for the best of the best.

You know what I mean...right ladies?

Today's Outfit:

Cream Bulky Crochet Style Sweater - BOA

White Slinky Cami - FASHION Q

Hammer Dark Stretch Jeans - FASHION GAL

Nude Suede Strap Heels - FOREVER21

These shoes were made for sitting. I almost killed myself in WalMart buying wrapping for my gift and felt like I was walking on stilts lol.

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Brigitte's Baby Shower: ITS A BOY

We are celebrating baby Noah who is due any time now. I am so excited for my good friend of many years...Brigitte. We have always said that we would be in each other's weddings and have babies at the same time. Well things don't always go as planned, but soon she will be a mother :)

I took some pictures, then my camera was acting up so here are a few I was able to salvage.

Brigitte and her Grandmother.

She was such a sweetheart! She said to me 'I'm a little shrimp next to you' haha.

I'm not sure the type of punch this was but it was displayed and decorated so sweet with orange slices. The crystal bowl and matching glasses were her grandmother's that were passed down. When I planned my baby shower I wish I saw these really cute name confetti.

She found these at Party City for those of you that were wondering.

The food was good, small and perfect for snacking. There were the cutest little pickles! I wanted to eat them all. They were not sweet either haha.

WHO WORE IT BEST?

Brigitte and her cousin Jamie wore the same dress lol. This was too funny. It took about 30 minutes at the party for everyone to make a little comment about it.

It wouldn't be a shower without a few games:

Nursery Scramble

Animal Mom / Animal Baby Matching -This was a tough one

Don't cross your legs!

Guess the Size of her Belly with a String

And how many Jelly Beans in the baby bottle - Which I lost but the winner was nice enough to share with me :] Thanks Jen haha.

Brigitte looked so beautiful.

She made me miss my baby belly. She is going to be so happy when she meets her little creation. I am so honored to be apart of this special time in her life. We share the same doctor and she will be delivering at the same hospital. It will be too weird if its in the same room.

I have never been so scared in my life when I found out I was pregnant.

I have never been so happy in my life when I saw my son's face for the first time.

I LOVE YOU BRIGITTE!

*Latina Kisses*

-Sonia

Lunch at the park with my honeys

I have a ton of great memories at the park

My sisters, neighborhood kids, and I would walk down to the park and play in the cement castles that were there for years. Now I get to make memories with my son.

We have a good size backyard but nothing beats getting out of the house.

Jude is the light of my life, my everything.

I missed him so much over the weekend. I want to start doing more with him. I took a ton of pictures and I know these are personal moments but I couldn't help but share some of them with you all.

My god daughter Denise needed to get picked up from school and I thought it was perfect timing for lunch at the park! She loves McDonalds, Jude loves it too haha, so happy meals all around!

Denise is a huge fan of Shrek and she never goes anywhere without this head band.

Jude looks so cute with the little ears!

Ive always said God blessed me with a boy because I already had a Princess.

I got this cute necklace of Jude's name from MyNameNecklace. I was super excited when I checked my POBOX and saw this little beauty in there. I like...love anything that has to do with, or reminds me of Jude.

My honeys

After they ate up their food and had a little treat, Jude and Denise were ready to hit the safer-than-sand matted playground. I'm glad they changed out the sand. I try to avoid the beach because I hated dealing with sand getting in places it shouldn't...and now I don't have to worry about that when we make a trip to the park. I have read tons of stories about kids getting stuck by needles left behind by drug addicts. Glass among a lot of other nasty things in the sand are no longer a concern at the updated parks. Can I get an Amen?

Jude is in love with trucks right now...this was the first thing he ran to.

Hes such a chunky monkey, he still had cookie crumbs on his little face.

Of course no trip to the park would be complete without ice cream!

I had to control myself. Candy is my weakness. Id choose candy over food any day of the week. I was good and walked away proud of myself that I didn't get any candy.

Jude had an accident at the park so our fun was cut short. Since I had to take Denise back home, we picked out a few extra ice cream characters for all the other kids back at her house.

Now to introduce something amazing to those of you living under a rock...

LUCAS came out with chile ice cream! Anytime I see it I have to have it. It sounds weird but its super delicious I promise!

Back at home

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Now that Jude has a fresh diaper and lost the dirty shorts...he was set free in the backyard to be one with his messy batman ice cream bar.

These characters usually come with gum eyeballs...I had to get rid of those before he choked on them. He got it everywhere! Its part of being a kid. He had a blast chasing his buddy Bella (our dog) and even snuck her a few licks haha.

I know he wont remember any of this, but I will. Its the little joys in life that make my world go round. It warmed me up knowing he was having a great day.

After a nice bubble bath, Jude had a nice long nap.

*Latina Kisses*

-Sonia