1. Start with your hair in a high ponytail. I like mine to be really tight, but you could definitely rock a looser, more bohemian style too!
2. Break your ponytail into 4 even sections. To make it easier to follow, I used a different color hair tie to mark each section.
3. Begin the braid by crossing the left-most (green) section over the adjacent (yellow) section. Next, cross the right-most (blue) section over the adjacent (red) section. Then, cross your middle sections, left (green) over right (blue).
4. Repeat this process, crossing the left-most strand (now yellow) over the adjacent (now blue) section.
5. Cross the right most section (now red) over the adjacent (now green) section.
6. Cross the middle sections, left (yellow) over right (red).
7. Repeat the process above, criss-crossing your strands all the way to the ends of your hair.
8. When you reach the end, secure your braid with a clear elastic, which will be easier to hide and give your bun a clean look. Then, pull the braid up, and wrap it around the base of your pony to create a bun, securing with bobby pins or hair pins as you go.
9. When you reach the ends, tuck them under the bun, and pin them in place. To make this part extra-secure, cross two bobby pins over one another to make them stay.
10. Finally, lock your hair in place and tame any fly-aways with a bit of hair spray, and be on your way!
11. Secure with a few more bobby pins, if necessary.

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Whether you’ll be on the prowl, on a romantic date, or out to dinner with the gals, looking hot on Valentine’s Day is a must! The key is to look chic, but not overdone. Here’s how to get the sexiest makeup look, inspired by classic Valentine’s Day hues, that will have even Cupid trying to snag you as his date. The key points to this sultry look are dramatic eyes, a pop of pink on the cheeks and a red hot lip:

1. Apply lightweight foundation: The first step to getting any flawless makeup look is to even the skintone. Using a lightweight, liquid foundation is best because it will even out your skin without making it look cakey. Use your ring finger (which has the lightest touch) to pat foundation onto the face and then blend it down the jawline and neck.
2. Conceal imperfections: Choose a concealer in your exact shade to conceal blemishes, dark spots or other imperfections. This can be done using a concealer brush or your ring finger.
3. Banish dark circles: To make your eyes look wide awake, apply an under-eye concealer (which should be a shade lighter than your skintone) below your eyes with your ring finger.
4. Contour: Suck in your cheeks and dust a light brown (non-orangey) bronzer across the hollows of your cheeks, temples and hairline.
5. Add a pink flush: Sweep a Valentine-inspired, pink blush across the apples of your cheeks. Don’t be afraid to smile at yourself in the mirror to find proper blush placement.
6. Neutralize eyelids: Because this look embraces a bold lip color, the eyelids should remain neutral. To even out the eyelids, use a skin-toned eye shadow and apply it on the base of the lid.
7. Get catty: Using a liquid liner, start in the inner corner of the eye and slowly line the upper lash line, winging the line out once you reach the outer corner.
8. Define lashes: Apply two coats of lash-defining mascara to the top and bottom of your upper lashes.
9. Line lips: Using a reddish toned lip liner, carefully trace the shape of the lips. Try to be as precise as possible when doing this; you don’t want to change your lips’ natural shape.
10. Add some red: Nothing says sexy like a crimson pout; use a red lipstick to fill in your lips—remember, this is a time when drawing inside of the lines counts.

Voila! The perfect Valentine’s Day look!

The post A Full Valentine’s Day Makeup Look appeared first on Kouturekiss - Your One Stop Everything Beauty Spot - kouturekiss.com.

Who doesn’t want bigger looking eyes? Unfortunately a lot of women don’t apply eyeliner correctly, making their eyes appear smaller than they really are. The key is to make your top lash line appear thicker and the whites of your eyes seem larger. The purpose is to open up your beautiful eyes, not enclose them.

1. Gather your tools (see above).
2. Start off by curling your lashes with an eyelash curler. Curl them from the base moving it to the middle of your lashes to get that perfect curl.
3. Line your upper lid with black liquid liner by applying it along your lash line in small stokes as close to you lash line as you can get. This will give you more lid space, giving the appearance of larger eyes. To give your eyes a lift, thicken the liner towards the corner of the lid and extend it a bit, sweeping it up and out. This will help elongate the shape of your eyes and make you look more awake.
4. Using solid black eyeliner, tightline your upper lash line making sure you fill in the roots of your lashes well. Don’t forget to get the outer corners. Tightlining gives your lash line depth and lashes a full appearance before even having mascara on. Dense lashes define and open up the eyes. The reason I don’t use the gel liner to tightline is because mine tends to transfer to my waterline and we want to keep that area clean. Revlon’s ColorStay eyeliner doesn’t transfer or smudge.
5. Next apply a white or flesh tone liner to your waterline will give help them look less tired, brighter eyes. I personally prefer a peachy tone because it looks more natural but for this tutorial I’m using a pearly white color called Cottage Cheese by NYX. Applying a black liner to your waterline defines your eyes but doesn’t serve the purpose of making them appear larger.
6. Using the white eyeliner, wing it out to create a gap in the outer corner separating the bottom and upper lash line by a millimeter. This will also open up your eyes. Marilyn Monroe used this trick all time.
7. To define your lower lash line, use a dark brown shadow on the out corner of your lashline fading it out towards the middle. Don’t take the shadow all the way to the inner eye duct. This will make your eyes appear closer to each other. To give the illusion of a lower lashline, wing the brown shadow slightly downwards at the outer corner.
8. Lastly, finish off with black mascara on your top and lower lashes to open your eyes up. This is, in my opinion the most important step to open up your eyes and make them pop.

I just focused on liner itself for this tutorial, but feel free to use this with any look using eye shadow. After all, it’s all about being creative and making it your own.

The post Eye Poppers! Using White & Black Liner To Make Your Eyes Pop appeared first on Kouturekiss - Your One Stop Everything Beauty Spot - kouturekiss.com.

Dry and cracked lips are painful, uncomfortable and unattractive. Here’s a quick solution using stuff at home to help those of us who are suffering from chapped lips this season.

1. Gather your ingredients. Many of these can be found in your kitchen.
2. Pour out one tablespoon of regular granulated sugar into the mixing bowl.
3. Add one tablespoon of honey to the sugar.
4. Scoop out one teaspoon of Vaseline and add it to the mixture.
5. Mix everything together with a spoon.
6. Apply the mixture with your fingers to your lips and scrub them gently in small circular motions.
7. Wash the mixture off with water and pat dry with the towel, this will help remove any excess dry skin.
8. Apply a chapstick to keep your lips moisturized and flake free.

If you have some left over, this scrub works great for exfoliating hands and nail cuticles as well. It’s surprising how many beauty remedies can be found within your pantry!

The post From Your Kitchen… DIY Lip Scrub! (It’s Perfect For Winter) appeared first on Kouturekiss - Your One Stop Everything Beauty Spot - kouturekiss.com.