Video tutorial: How to curl your hair with a flat iron

With the holidays coming up, many of you will be going to parties, which is the perfect time to try out a cute new hairstyle. In this video tutorial, I demonstrate how to achieve the super curly, voluminous hairstyle pictured below using only a flat iron! It took me about 30 minutes to curl my hair like this -- much longer than it usually takes to style my hair -- but let's face it, sometimes a great hairstyle takes time.

I hope you enjoy the video! Let me know if you have any questions at all!

P.S. I first learned this curling technique from YouTuber Rosebud143. Click here to watch her video demonstrating the same curling method. 

Did you already know how to curl your hair this way? If not, do you think you will you give this technique a try?

Nail of the day - OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

You know how when you were a kid you had a big box of crayons? My favorite color was Crayola's Robin Egg Blue. Now that we're older, instead of crayons we have nail polish! And one of my favorite colors nowadays is OPI's Lincoln Park After Dark.

Today I decided to treat myself to a manicure after work. I've been doing so well all month with my goal of saving money that I felt like I deserved it. So, when I walked into the salon and took a peek at the colors, I immediately plucked out Lincoln Park After Dark. It's a deep purple -- almost black, and it's perfect for this time of year. It's just a no-brainer.

This color has been a favorite for what seems like several years now. I just can't get enough of it. Is Lincoln Park After Dark one of your favorites as well? Or, are you sick of it?

Fabulous handmade goodies found on Etsy

From ornate soaps and yummy body scrubs to chic bobby pins and headbands, Etsy has it all. It's an online community where people can buy and sell handmade or vintage items - and you must check it out, if you're not already hooked! Look at what I found: 

French chic set of 3 gold bobby pins - $9

The importance of eyeshadow primer: My scientific experiment

Pretties, I have been undertaking a little experiment for the past few days having to do with eyeshadow primer. Check out all the details below:

Abstract: I have only been using eyeshadow primer for about six months, and in that short time it has become an essential part of my makeup collection. In this experiment, I set out to prove that eyeshadow primer provides substantial benefits to makeup-wearers.

Hypothesis: Using eyeshadow primer causes shadow to be more vibrant and stay on longer.

Equipment: 

I'll take a "Lipstick Martini," please!

Hey Pretties! I just got back to New York after spending a few days in Toronto, Ontario for work.

While out to dinner at a swanky restaurant called Bymark in the heart of downtown Toronto I came across the coolest cocktail that I just had to share with all my fellow beauty addicts. It's called the "lipstick martini!"

My No. 1 most essential makeup product

You know how people ask -- if you were stranded on a deserted island but could take one thing, what would you bring? Well, in terms of makeup, what would your answer be? 

For me, the most important piece of makeup in my collection is, without a doubt, concealer.

See, I do not have perfect skin, by any means. About once a month I tend to break out. I'm actually just now recovering from a breakout on my chin. It's really annoying but it's just something I have to deal with.

Needless to say, I have tried tons of concealers over the years. Here are two of my absolute favorites:

Lancome Maquicomplet - $28.50

Beauty inspiration: braided hairstyles

With the holidays coming up, most of us will be going to parties to catch up with friends and family. This holiday season, consider trying a cute braided hairstyle! There are so many different braided styles out there. Some can add a cool, bohemian feeling to your look, while others are totally sophisticated. Check out the photos below for some inspiration.

Braided updos:

Dior "Ready to Glow" swatches & tutorial

I have been dying to do this post for a while now, but have been super busy with work! As you know, I recently picked up Dior's 5-Colour iridescent eyeshadow palette in "Ready to Glow" as part of Sephora's Friends and Family sale. I want to show you an actual eye makeup look I created using this palette, but first here's a reminder of what the palette looks like and some swatches of the colors.

Berets: get on the bandwagon!

For the past two years I have been wanting a beret. When I first started working in Manhattan in the fall of 2008, I noticed tons of incredibly stylish lades rocking these classic floppy hats. I have always had a thing for hats but for some reason I've never purchased a beret ... until this weekend! 

Pictured above, Helen Kaminski "Reisa" Sculptured Beret - $98

Found: the cutest shower cap in the world!

Oh my gosh, isn't this polka dot shower cap just adorable? I found it in a mail-order catalog that I randomly got in my mailbox this weekend. I only wash my hair every other day to keep it shiny and healthy so I use a shower cap pretty often. This is definitely on my holiday wish list!

Catalog Favorites Polka Dot Shower Cap - $22

Do you ever use a shower cap? How often do you wash your hair?

My massive November 2010 haul!

Hey all! Tonight I recorded a haul video compiling all my recent hair and beauty product purchases, including everything I bought during Sephora's 2010 Friends and Family sale. I hope you enjoy the video and thanks so much for following Prettied Up!



Products discussed in this video include:
- DiorShow Iconic mascara
- Dior 5-Colour iridescent eyeshadow palette in Ready-to-Glow
- Clinique brush-on cream liner
- Sephora Collection face & eye travel tool kit
- Sephora Collection daily brush cleaner
- Shu Uenura sheer lacquer hairspray
- Tommy Hilfiger Loud perfume and colonge

Thanks again for watching and have a great weekend, lovelies!

Come with me into Wonderland

I'm feeling like a rock star after getting a much needed haircut tonight! I'll show you my new 'do soon (it's not much different; just all cleaned up) but for now, I wanted to share some photos I snapped of the awesome hair salon I go to called Michael Angelo's Wonderland Beauty Parlor. It's located in New York City's West Village at 418 w. 13th st. If you're in need of a salon in NYC, I highly recommend Wonderland. I get my hair cut by Annastasia, and have always walked out of the salon feeling like a million bucks. 

Enjoy the photos!

How fabulous is this sign?

 An gorgeous chandelier hangs over the front desk. Also, check out the lollipops!

 I would kill for one of these in my bedroom. 

 The lobby of Wonderland Beauty Parlor. There are a million cool things to see.

 A random green rollerskate, for example. 

An etched hand mirror.

 Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

 Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics

 A stuffed cheetah guards the front door.

 The guardcat

 I want this sculpture!

The bathroom ceiling 

Label.m dry shampoo. Everyone at the salon was raving about it!

The Lipstick Portraits, a series of photos by Wonderland owner, Michael Angelo to raise awareness and support for the Somaly Mam Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on fighting sexual slavery. 

The photos feature women such as Susan Sarandon and Dita Von Teese wearing red lipstick in honor of the girls and women who are forced to wear it while being sold as slaves in brothels.

100 percent of the sales of these limited edition prints, catalogues and t-shirts benefit Somaly Mam Foundation. For more information visit The Lipstick Portraits Facebook page.  

Have a great night, pretties! 

Have you tried threading? I'm fully obsessed.

Today I want to talk about my absolute favorite method of eyebrow maintenance -- threading.

This ancient method of hair removal originated in countries such as Persia and India but has gained considerable popularity here in the U.S., especially in New York City. It involves using a piece of tightly twisted cotton thread to pluck out unwanted hair.

Unlike tweezing, whereby each hair is plucked out one by one, threading can remove an entire row of hair in a single pass.

I had never tried this method of hair removal until a friend recommended it to me some months ago. After trying it once, I was hooked.

See, I've always had problems with the shape of my brows. I still remember the first night I ever plucked my eyebrows. I was around 13 years-old and it was the fourth of July. I sat on my bedroom floor with my mom's tweezers and completely butchered my once-bushy brows. I was left with a thin, crooked line of horribleness.

Throughout high school my eyebrows remained thin and misshapen. Around my sophomore year of college I finally decided to overhaul my eyebrows and grew them back. Over the following years, my eyebrows improved but I never thought they were perfect until I started getting them threaded.

Here are some photos of me getting threaded today at Unique Threading Salon in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood. 

In professional threading salons, practitioners hold one end of the string with their mouth.

You will be asked to gently pull the skin above and below your eyebrow so your practitioner can more easily pluck the hair beneath your brow. 

Just a few more things to say about threading -- normally people can go one to two weeks between threading sessions, depending on how fast their hair grows. I like to get my eyebrows threaded every week or so, because my hair grows pretty quick. 

There are a ton of threading places here in NYC, and where I go it only costs $6 to have my brows done. You can also get your upper lip, sideburns, chin or whole face threaded. Even if you don't live in The City you may be able to find a threading salon near where you live. Threading booths have been cropping up in a lot of malls nowadays. 

Just one warning -- if you have never tried threading it will probably be pretty painful at first. I have grown used to the pain over time, but when I first started getting my brows threaded I thought it was extremely uncomfortable. However, even though it hurt at first, I didn't really mind because the results were so good.

So, pretties, do you thread? What is your preferred method of eyebrow maintenance?