HD foundation by Makeup Forever

Makeup Forever HD Foundation

This is definitely a plus side of our job!  Since we are in the makeup business and we want to always use the best products available, we want to share those products with you!

We use airbrush makeup for our brides that is flawless, full coverage that goes on lightly.  Just ask anyone who has tried it!  But we wanted to be able to add a foundation that is just as effective, but not airbrush, for a different option.  After attending the makeup show in Los Angeles in January (I think), we heard a lot of buzz about Makeup Forever's HD quality foundation.  Since we are dealing with bridal beauty, and they obviously have to be camera ready, we need to make sure that all of the makeup we use is HD compliant.  Part of the package.  At the Pasadena makeup show we tried a few of the shades and loved it.  I mean ❤LOVE❤ it!!  We fully intended to buy a few shades for our makeup case.  But... the line was 3 HOURS LONG.  Needless to say, we didn't wait in that line.  Luckily, we live in the greater Los Angeles area and were able to go to Nigels later that week and buy a few shades for the same discounted price... yay!

We also bought some for ourselves.  I can't tell you how awesome this product is.  Now I am not in the spotlight and don't need to be HD ready all the time, but it is the most flawless, smooth coverage I have ever had.  At the end of the day, I look in the mirror and I am still surprised with the coverage.  Definitely a must have.  Sorry Laura Mercier, I have a new love in my life.  I think it is time we go our separate ways.

Here is a little about the product:
The line was originally created to make actors look flawless in 6x magnification of High Definition cameras.  The goal is to perfectly correct the skin and improve skin aspect.  The products innovated formula with ultra fine granulometry meet the highest standard of professionals and everyday woman.  The extremely fine texture is subtle and easy to apply.  It is enriched with moisturizing agents and it leaves the skin soft and radiant.  It is so natural it won't look like you are wearing makeup at all.  A little goes a long way, which is always good!

Makeup forever also offers a primer to go with this product and sells brushes that are used to apply it.  They also have a powder for the final finish.  Seriously, you have to get check it out.  I am pretty confident that you will love it!  Click here to go to see this product on Makeup Forever's website.  It can also be found at a Sephora near you!

This is not a paid review.  These are my own opinions after using the product for about a month, I was not paid or compensated in any way to give my opinion. 

Real Wedding Wednesday

In honor of my 3 year anniversary the real wedding that I am featuring today is... you guessed it, my own!  Three years ago today I married the best man I know and I am so happy to say that three years later I still love him!  He is perfect for me in so many ways and he is always working to be a better man.  What more could a girl ask for?  He's from Nassau, Bahamas and I'm from Simi Valley, California and we met at a small private college in Valencia, California, who knew?  We had a rough go at it while dating, but we knew if we could make it through that, we could make it through anything.  It has been a wonderful three years and Lord-willing I'm looking forward to many, many more!

Now to a few wedding details.  My colors were Tiffany's Blue and orange.  I know, it sounds a little funky.  But I loved Tiffany's Blue and having a fiance from the Bahamas, he wanted only bright colors (as you can see from the photo on the top right, his family).  I think it was a beautiful combo and different too, just like us!

I would have done a few things differently.  I would have been more involved in the planning.  My mom did a lot of the planning and I kinda just tagged along.  I gave my opinion when needed, but she handled most of it.  I have never been a real girlie-girl so I thought it didn't matter.  But looking back I realize this is the one time in your life that it is all about you and that is okay.  Take advantage of that!  Have fun with it! 

Our beautiful wedding invitations done by The Pomegranate Basket

So happy anniversary to me and my wonderful husband!  Dinner and a movie tonight to celebrate, no kiddos involved!!

Bright, Cheery, and just plain Happy!

I was perusing around the web today looking for some kind of inspiration to get to typing.  I found a few beautiful inspiration boards, but one in particular that caught my eye.  Now I know that everyone is different, but to me it is beautiful.  Sometimes I wish that I could get married over and over again to have different color schemes and use different ideas.  But then the stress of planning an entire wedding every year or so rules that idea out.  I will leave that to the wedding planners of the world and just blog about them instead.  

I think the color yellow is beautiful.  I chose it because I haven't seen it done a lot and it is perfect for the fun summer wedding.  It is bright and cheery and happy, just like your wedding should be.  I would especially like those earrings... :)

I'm happy just looking at it!

Thank you Wedding Blog by With this Favor for the lovely inspiration!  Visit their blog for more inspiration boards, they have some beautiful color combos and lovely creative ideas!

Grand Opening

Okay Bliss supporters!!
We need your help!
We are having a Grand Opening party for Coco Beach in Simi Valley and want to get as many people out as we can!!  We want Bliss to be represented in a big way, so spread the news! 

We will be having music, either a live band or a DJ, food, vendor booths including custom invitations from The Pomegranate Basket, discounted designer jeans, makeup booths, hair stylist and much more.  We will also have some awesome prizes like free tanning party, free tanning package, gift cards, movie tickets etc.  we cannot wait and would love for everyone to be a part of this.  We will be donating any profits to a charity, undecided as of yet.  We just want everyone to have a good time.  Even if you don't live in the area, come on by!  You can try a free airbrush and sun angel!  We would love to hear from you all.

Any ideas or hook ups are welcome, just e-mail us at info@bliss-makeup-artistry.com

Blogging, Branding, and Balancing

Guess where I was last night...

I'll give you a hint, I had a bad-ass time.

If you have read any bridal blogs in the past 3 years you know who I am talking about!

Yep, you guessed it...

The Broke-Ass Bride!

Don't you love it?  I do!  I feel so honored to have met her and Fresh Hubby.  It was a great night with also some great networking too.

There were some great tips that I was able to take with me for the night.  Some things I already knew but might not have been very good at it.  For example, consistency.  I am horrible at being consistent.  I guess I am not a very scheduled, organized person so it takes a lot more effort for me.  I have a lot of things going on in my life and I want to do all of them all the time.  I have a hard time balancing all of my activities.  She made some good points about scheduling her days and making time for everything. 

So here are my resolutions:

I am going to blog consistently.  Maybe pick one day write my blogs and schedule them for the week. 

I am going to set aside time during my day for my particular activities and plan days better.  I am going to be consistent with what I plan through my day and sticking to the schedule.

Get more sleep!

Read other blogs to get inspiration.

You know and a ton of other things.  And I am going to do them all right the first time and be instantly successful!  Right? Don't burst my bubble please...

Any encouragement is appreciated!!  I need a little kick in the butt or push in the right direction.  Follow me, comment to me, advise me!! I would love to listen.  Stay tuned because I'm gonna be consistent!

New Tanning Product

We have more awesome news... in addition to setting up shop at Coco Beach Tanning we now are adding a new line of tanning products.  We (mostly Marissa) have been doing a ton of research on different tanning solutions and what works best and why different products work best.  We figured out what ingredients are more likely to have an orange-y hue to them and what ingredients won't.  I don't want to bore you with all the details of ingredients, but I do want to tell you that we found one.  And it is PERFECT.  It is Norvell tanning solution.  We just used the dark solution the other night on Marissa's sister-in-law, she was our guinea pig (but hey, she got a free tan!).  It looked incredible!!  Like she had just spent a week in the Bahamas or something.  We obviously want to be expanding our business and we were looking for new solutions so that we would be able to offer a variety of shades for different skin types.  After trying this one, I think we have it.  We used the dark solution on her and she has a nice olive skin tone.  I am more, how you say, white and so we are going to try to regular on me on Wednesday.  I cannot wait. One of the perks of owning this business... :)  We are also trying out some other products from Norvell.  They have a tan extender and a PH equalizer.  The extender does just that, extends your tan.  And the PH equalizer is supposed to balance out your skin before you spray the tanning solution on so that the tan is nice and even.  So far so good, but I think we need to test some more skin types on that one!  There are some other good things about this product.  It doesn't have a nasty tan smell, it actually smells kinda nice.  This is a relief for me and Marissa.  It doesn't feel sticky or dirty after it is done.  It is more comfortable to leave on the necessary amount of time.  So far we LOVE it!  So, if you are in the Simi Valley, Ventura County area, stop by Coco Beach and test it out.  I am sure we could give you some kind of deal...

Meet your new resident airbrush specialists!

Hello, we are Natalia and Marissa.  We started our company last October and recently really started pursuing the business aspect of our company in probably mid January.  As a company we have already done 6 weddings, have at least 4 weddings in the mix, proms, special occasions, multiple wedding shows, 4 tanning parties, and now we are adding resident airbrush specialist to our ever-growing resume!  We are so excited to now be the in house specialists at Coco Beach in Simi Valley.  We have our own room, which will be decorated super cute, and the best part of all is that we can now offer packages!  We have always known that 'double dipping' as they call it, is the best, most effective way to get the smoothest, longest lasting tan.  Double dipping is when you go in the bed for 5 minutes or so and then get the airbrush applied.  Now we can not only recommend this, but we can recommend a place to do it! 
We are highly motivated people.  In the short time we have been doing business we have accomplished so much and feel like this is just the tip of the iceberg!  So we have been looking for a salon to partner with that we know will be able to do their side as far as marketing and advertising our services for us.  We met with the owners of Coco Beach yesterday and were very pleased.  We think this is going to be a really great alliance and cannot wait to get started.  So if you are local, in the Simi Valley area, please stop by Coco Beach Salon in it's new location 1720 Los Angeles Ave #I Simi Valley, CA 93065 or you can call and make an appointment at (805) 520-7800.  If you do, make sure you mention the Bliss Blog and we will be able to offer you a promotion!  Please spread the news as well!  Make sure all your family and friends know that they now can have our wonderful tanning as well as a little time in the beds.  Thank you faithful followers, we are so excited for the direction our business is going in and know that we have so much more potential.  Please leave a comment of encouragement or motivation, we always love to hear from you!

This could be you!