Morphe (a brand of makeup) just had its biggest in-store launch at the Mall of America on Nov. 3rd. To celebrate the grand opening, makeup artist and beauty blogger, James Charles, made an appearance at the ribbon cutting, and also announced his first collaboration with the beauty brand.

There was also a meet and greet, on a first come first serve basis, and only the first 250 people received a wristband allowing them to join the festivities.

Some of the festivities included getting autographs, taking pictures with Charles, and getting some makeup advice from him.

The store in the Mall of America is the first brick and mortar mall store for Morphe. They started as an online company, and had one stand alone location in California. So the opening of this store was kind of a big deal.

Charles, is well known as the first male cover model, and he has used that fame to start a Youtube channel with over 5 million subscribers. He is known for his makeup tips and tutorials.

Halloween is one of the more spooky days of the year, but do you want to know what the real threat during Halloween is? It’s not ghosts or killer clowns, it’s being unsafe. 

It’s believed that Halloween started as a Celtic holiday with pagan origins. People believed that on one night of the year, the veil between the spirit world and our’s lifted, allowing spirits to visit us. People would leave food and drink offerings, and would wear masks so the ghouls would believe that they were also a spirit. It was also believed that deceased family members would come and visit their family.

But now that you know a little bit about the history, you should also know that safety on Halloween isn’t just for little kids. So, here are some ways you can be safe on Halloween.

Crime rates spike up on three holidays; New Year’s Eve, Independence Day, and Halloween. In Boston and Canada, they had a 50% increase in crime on October 31st. Drinking rates don’t go up during Halloween, definitely not as much as on Saint Patrick’s Day, but even then don’t go out late at night in all black.

That being said, make sure you don’t get distracted while driving if you plan on going out on Halloween. Most kids are instructed to wear reflective gear, but you never know. Just follow basic safe driving tips like don’t text and drive, and don’t get distracted in general.

Also, if you’re getting candy, make sure it’s safe for you to eat. Especially, make sure it’s free of any allergens that you might want to be aware of.

If you’re wearing a costume, make sure you can see clearly, that you can breathe, and that you won’t overheat easily.

If you’re going to a haunted house, make sure you don’t assault the workers, or ruin the decorations. If you’re a jumpy person, and you think if someone jumps out at you that you’ll bop them right in the nose, maybe don’t go to a haunted house. Don’t even punch a worker or break the spooky decorations just for fun.

Lastly, know your limits. Don’t do anything if it makes you too scared. It’s totally okay to stay inside during the night of Hallow’s Eve, and not do anything remotely spooky.

But the most important thing is to have fun. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing if you’re not having fun.

Have a fun Halloween!

By: Alivia Arredondo, Piper Gallivan, and Alani Bayon

There are many online stores out there, whether it’s for toys, mechanical parts, or something else, but most people shop online for clothes. There are a some websites that a few people have questions about how trustworthy they are. Since the prices are very inexpensive on these sites, many worry about the brands being scams, whether or not the quality of the clothes is good, and much more. We put two of the many available stores to the test: Shein and Romwe. Here are our results.

Clothes ordered from Shein:

*Note: The blue shirt we ordered is no longer available, so there is no picture for that

Clothes Ordered from Romwe: 

Shipping

Shein

The shipping time for Shein’s products can be a little deceiving. When you first add things to your cart and look how long it will take, it says 6-8 days. This seems like a reasonable time frame, and I gave it a little wiggle room so that it would come in time for my upcoming trip to New York. I got a link to track my package and I checked that every few days. After about a week, it still had not left the first processing facility, so I became suspicious and checked their shipping FAQ area, on a separate website, for information about their company. It turns out that the 6-8 days were for the processing time frame, and shipping would take another 3-7. I went back to my cart and realized it said 6-8 days to ship, which technically isn’t wrong. This was very annoying because they had laid out the information to make it seem like a much better process, and I bought into it. Even taking into account the 15 maximum days it should have taken to arrive, it still took about 20 days to arrive, a few days after I had already gotten back from the trip I originally ordered the clothes for.

Romwe

Shipping for Romwe surprised me, and actually came on time. My order was processed within the 4-5 days, as the website said it would be, and arrived one week later, which was the latest the website said it would arrive. However, once you purchased the item and it said it was being shipped, there was no way to track where your order was, so you had no idea whether or not your order was close to arriving. On some websites, you have the option to return certain items but on Romwe you cannot return swimsuits and other items listed on their website such as underwear.

Prices

Shein

The prices on Shein seemed very hard to beat, especially considering how cute and trendy the clothes looked. I would compare it to the lower side of the prices you can get at Forever 21. Most tops, pants, and accessories were under $10, and outerwear and shoes were under $20. I ordered a windbreaker jacket, 2 t-shirts, and 2 nicer tops; one cutout suede short sleeve, and a short sleeve with mesh and embroidered flowers at the top. All of this was $39 including tax, which is very cheap especially considering I got 2 tops on the fancier side.

Romwe

Prices on Romwe were very cheap compared to other stores. A normal cute swimsuit at any other store from, Target, PacSun, or Aerie, can range from $20-40 for just one part of a swimsuit like a top or bottom. At Romwe, you could purchase the whole swimsuit (top and bottom or one piece) from anywhere between $5-12. These prices were unbelievably cheap compared to regular suit prices. Also, the cost of shipping was free if you paid over $50 on that website. In general, buying one full swimsuit, from a traditional store, could cost you up to $60; on Romwe I purchased 6 suits for $60.

Fit

Shein

The reviews on the items I ordered usually suggested to order the clothes a few sizes up, so I did that for every item. The first shirt I ordered was a normal light blue T-shirt one size up from what I would usually get. It fit fine, but the only issue was that it was very cropped which I was not expecting. It was not a shirt I was going to be able to wear anytime soon in Minnesota, and maybe never because you could basically see the underwire of the bra I was wearing. I checked back at the website and there was no indication that it would be cropped, and no pictures on an actual model to see for reference.

Romwe

The swimsuits themselves really weren’t consistent with their sizes online. When you are purchasing an item on Romwe you can see the size chart and use that to help determine what size you are. However, this size chart didn’t prove to be accurate. All of the bottoms I ordered fit perfectly fine. The tops are another story. Some of the tops I ordered were way too big, to the point where I could wrap it around by body twice, and some were way too small. Two out of the 6 tops I ordered actually fit right. As for the others, they didn’t fit well and looked frumpy. Since you can’t return swimsuits, I was unable to return them and get my money back.

Quality

Shein

The quality wasn’t terrible. For getting each thing for under $10 dollars I was pretty surprised on how they turned out. Obviously, it isn’t the same quality as more expensive brands like PacSun or American Eagle. I would again say Shein is most similar to Forever 21 quality. Nothing was actually see through, which is always a risk when ordering things that cheap. The only thing I had issues with was the windbreaker. The material was something similar to a tent, and did not seem like it would protect against the cold. Overall, you get what you pay for, and you can’t expect great quality, but for what it is, Shein did a pretty good job.

Romwe

The quality of the swimsuits weren’t bad. Obviously, since they are so cheap, they aren’t amazing quality. None of the bottoms or tops were see through, and the stitching was well intact. However, there was no way to adjust the straps. On most suits you can adjust the straps to better fit your body but the swimsuits from Romwe did not have this option. Also, on many of the swimsuits, the clip in the back was very strangely placed so that once you had it on, it would ride all the way up your back and look really weird. The quality of the bottoms were all just fine. They weren’t uncomfortable to wear and didn’t feel cheap, so overall the quality was mediocre.

Appearance

Shein

The actual appearance of the items was pretty varied on what I ordered. Two of my items, the flower mesh top and the windbreaker, looked just like the pictures, but the blue T-shirt and the suede top were a different story. Like I previously said, the blue T-shirt was actually a crop top, so that did not follow the description on the website. The suede shirt was a completely different color than the rusty pink on the website, it was more just a light brown color. So, none of the items were completely different than what I had ordered, but it didn’t always completely match the description.

Romwe

Compared to their online images, the swimsuits all looked the same. They were all the right colors and patterns as they looked on Romwe. However, unlike normal online websites, there was no model or a picture of a person with the swimsuit, which would have been nice to have. For example, online the suit looked perfectly fine but when tried on, it turned out the swimsuit was much more revealing then it seemed to be, which was a problem. In general, the swimsuits had the right colors and patterns as promised but not necessarily the fit.

All-in-all, you should be cautious about how your online clothes might turn out. They may sugarcoat on how their products are. You should take these experiences into consideration before you order from Shein or Romwe. Order at your own risk, and keep in mind what measurements are listed, and that it might not turn out as you planned it to.

Shape tape concealer was one of the the best products of 2017; there weren’t any negative reviews on the concealer. The concealer was lightweight, full coverage, long lasting, and was cruelty free. It retails for $27 and contains 10 ml of product, so the concealer was definitely a hit.

It was such a hit, that Tarte decided to come out with a shape tape foundation. That’s not all, Tarte decided to come out with two formulas for the foundations, matte and hydrating. The matte foundation provided an oil-free, full-coverage pick. The hydrating foundation was for people who enjoyed a dewy look.

This information was provided in the teaser they had out, which excited everyone until it finally came out. Many believed that the foundation would be a success, and would probably be sold out fast, since the concealer was sold out in 20 minutes when it first came out. But many were disappointed by the product when it came out.

The review on the foundation tape was so bad that people figured out that the dewy foundation Tarte launched was a foundation they came out with a couple of  years ago, and just repackaged it.

A lot of light skin beauty influencers were also furious with Tarte, and they are boycotting the company until they come out with foundation for women of color. Women of color, who found shades that matched them, said the foundation was either too orange or looked ashy on them.

Another con is that the matte foundation dries too quickly so it’s hard to blend it.

The only thing people seemed to like about the foundation tape is that it is lightweight, full coverage, and it can be worn for 12 hours. Tarte has seen a lot of the backlash the foundation has received, and are working on making more shades for women of color. They have also apologized for only coming out with three shades for them. In the future, they hope that they can fulfill the expectations of every shade in the color wheel, and that they will think twice before putting anything out.

Not everyone has the time to be able to create a wonderful costume that take weeks to create for Halloween, or the money to be able to buy an expensive costume from the store or online. So, here are some ideas for those of you that have waited until the last minute, and only have a limited amount of materials to use:

The get along shirt, perfect for two people who have no idea what to do for their Halloween costume. It’s one of the easiest costume to create! All you’ll need is a super huge t-shirt, one of any color, a black sharpie marker, and a person who is willing to be stuck with you all through the night. Simply write “Our get along shirt” onto the front of the t-shirt and get inside with your partner.

Tina Belcher, the beloved cartoon character from the hit tv show, Bob’s Burgers, is another very easy costume to pull off! All it takes is a blue t-shirt, a black skirt, knee high socks, and of course some glasses. To pull it off even more, you can even try her signature groan, it gets people every time!

For this costume all you’ll need are some black pants and a black shirt or sweater, along with some glow in the dark sticks. Simply tape the glow in the dark sticks onto your body, one down both of your legs, down your arms and one down your chest and stomach! Once you’re done with that, all you have left to do is make the head; simply connect the ends of one of the glow sticks and tape it all together. Once you step out into the dark for some trick or treating, you’ll look like the best stick figure ever!

Everyone knows the saying “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!” Well this Halloween costume is brilliant and very simple. The items you’ll need are, a white t-shirt, a black marker, and a bag of lemons. All you have to do it write the word “Life”onto your shirt and carry around the bag of lemons!

For our last costume, the items you’ll need are some Smartie candies (as many as you can get), some glasses, and you’re regular clothing. If you want to go the extra mile, you could even get some suspenders to go with! Start with of course putting on your clothes, and then start taping all of the smarties onto your pants. Once you’re satisfied with the arrangement of your smarties, then you’re finished!

Have fun with all of these last minute costume ideas and make sure to have a fun filled and candy fillled Halloween this year!

On September 8, 2017, Fenty Beauty came out and changed the makeup industry’s game, and it’s all thanks to Rihanna. Rihanna launched her first ever makeup line. I know you’re probably thinking “Why do I care if a celebrity launched her makeup line?” Would you believe it if I told you she launched 40 foundation shades on just her first launch? Crazy right? The majority of makeup lines come with 10 shades when they first launch, and then later on, maybe a couple years later they launch 12 more.

Rihanna has been working on this project since 2015; it took 2 years for her to develop this line. She took notice of how the majority of the makeup brands only focused on lighter skin tones, and women of color have often been left with few color choices, with many makeup companies leaving them entirely out. She really took her time on this project; she focused on developing more darker skin tones rather than lighter tones and it came out as a good opportunity for women of color to find their perfect shade for foundation and concealers.

If you didn’t know, Rihanna’s makeup is always on point, from blended out contour, to beautiful blowy skin. So why wouldn’t makeup lovers buy what she’s selling?

The reason why the launch of Fenty Beauty was a big deal to many makeup artist bloggers was because Rihanna’s aim was to make a more inclusive makeup line, for women of every shade. And indeed, we’re shocked to see such amazing results. And as a woman of color herself she understood the struggle women of color go through to get their shade of makeup.

The launch of her makeup line resulted in many reviews. Makeup artist and bloggers couldn’t wait to create a makeup tutorial on Fenty Beauty. And most of them weren’t disappointed in the results. Most the reviews were positive, and she made sure the cost of the foundation is reasonable for the amount of product in the foundation. She added a lot of product because she wanted the foundation to last more. Overall, her makeup line was a success.

Fashion trends change every season. Summer ‘16 was full of wearing slip dresses outside of bed, bomber jackets, and baseball/dad caps. Most of these trends are still being worn, but for summer of 2017 there are many new fashion trends. Here are some of them.

Off the shoulder

Anything off the shoulder is super trendy and chic. Many brands are coming out with not only off the shoulder tops, but also with dresses, rompers, and sweaters. You can easily dress them up with a fancy neckless and a pair of heels. Or dress them down with jeans and white sneakers.

Sheer/Mesh

Some people like to show a little skin during the summer, and some don’t. Mesh/Sheer clothing is perfect because you can still see through the clothing, but you’re still technically covered up. Sheer clothing is also great swimsuit cover.

Rompers

Rompers are essential for summer. They’re super quick and easy to put on, and they’re comfortable enough for you to do all your summer activities. They’re my personal favorite.

Floral embroidery

Floral print has been around for ages, and so has embroidery. Combine the two and you have a new trend! Floral embroidery has been put on all dresses, shirts, pants, skirts and everything else you can think of! This will definitely be around for a while.

Bralettes

Bralettes are a way better version of bras. They don’t have underwire, have little to no padding and are stylish. Many people have been wearing them as tops. Styled with jackets, and nice pants, they’re good for when it’s super hot outside.  

Logo T-shirts

This is the simplest but most popular trend of all of them. People have been styling t-shirts in many different ways. More specifically, oversized and logo t-shirts. Some of the most common logos include Adidas, Nike, and Thrasher. These are easy and affordable to find and can be styled in many ways.

Many people like to style their hair in many different ways, which is also very unique. You might be interested in trying some of the styles yourself!

But, just doing your hair, in general, is also really good, because you should fix your hair before going anywhere so people won’t stare at you like something is odd about you.

Now, there are many hairstyles that are popular. They come from celebrities, what society thinks is trending, and what people do to their hair.

There are many hair trends; let me tell you about 7 of them:

1. Super Sleek: The straight, shiny, and center-parted hair is one of the biggest trends for 2017. But you should have your hair look healthy, not fried. Also, have a mist of heat protectant through your hair before touching it with a straightener.
2. High Pony: Slick your hair up, which should look all the way up. It should look nice in a rumpled texture or stick-straight. The high ponytail adds both an elegance and ease to every ensemble. Also, a bonus tip – the tighter you secure it, the more lifted your face looks.
3. Flat Waves: It should be in between beachy or bouncy; the flat iron waves are the new curling iron waves. You could also create a bend in your hair just by pushing your hair upward, then make the shape with a few clamps of your iron. Release and repeat. Also, just keep your ends straight for the finish.
4. Growing-Out Slag: The slag haircut was a hit in 2016. The hair just passes the shoulders and the bangs are long enough to be split down in the middle
5. The Hair Flip: For the hair flip,  you just have to flip your hair from one side to the other, creating tons of volume as a result.
6. Slick and Shiny: The slick, shiny hair only looks like it’s sopping wet. This is also a 2017 hair trend that looks just as good like on the runway and IRL. Mostly work with a heavy dose of the styling cream, from your roots to the mid-way length, which will hold a little bit of shine in your hair.
7. Lastly, The Golden Bronde: This color is the perfect warm-toned hair color that will be well suited on all skin tones.

There are many hairstyles that are trending, and these are just a few examples that you may be interested in. Or, you can always just do your hair however you like.

For more Information:
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/hair/g8326/hair-trends-2017/

Easter may have just happened, but that’s no reason why you can’t still be crafty. There are many treats, decorations, and baskets, you can make at home for your family, and friends.

Here is one easy treat you can do for Easter: “Easter Krackle Bars.”  The materials you’ll be needing are:

• 2 cups dark chocolate pieces
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup rice krispies
• 3 tbls shortening, divided
• pinch salt
• food dye
• pastel or Easter sprinkles
• Silicone Easter bark mold

Here are the 8 steps to make this:

1. Lay out the silicone Easter bark mold, and add a good amount of sprinkles. There would also be some sprinkles mixed in.
2. Then, in a microwave safe container, add the white chocolate chips and 1 tbsp shortening.
3. Put the heat on high for 30 seconds, and stir. Then, return to the microwave in 15 second, stirring until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Reserve around 1/2 cup of the melted white chocolate, and spoon the rest into the mold and smooth into all the crevices.
5. Then, add a few drops of dye, and drop the colored chocolate into the mold and carefully swirl it around with a fork or knife. Then, place the mold into the freezer for 10 minutes to let that layer harden.
6. While the mold is in the freezer, melt the dark chocolate, with 2 tbls shortening, and salt into the microwave just like the white chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted smooth stir it into the rice krispies.
7. Now, remove the mold from freezer, and quickly add the rice krispies layer on top and spread it evenly over the layer of the white chocolate.
8. Now, put it back into the freezer for about 30 minutes to let all the chocolate cool. Once it’s chilled, twist the mold slightly to loosen the bar and turn over gently onto a cutting board. Use a knife to cut the bars. Then, store the bars back into the fridge to keep them from melting.
9. Now, it’s all set!

One decoration you can do is, “Paper Straw Easter Bunnies.” It’s really simple and easy to do. The materials you’ll need are:

• Double sided tape 
• Painter’s tape
• Paper Straws
• Bunny template
• 2 Scissors (smaller one and bigger one)
• Frame (that you’ll like)
• CeCe Caldwell’s Chalk Paint (optional)
• Hot Glue
• Stenciled letters (optional)

Here are the 13 steps to make this:

1. Print out a template of a bunny, and cut it out.
2. Then, cover it with double-stick tape, and start sticking on the straws. The straws should go over the edges. Begin placing the straws in the middle section, covering the part in between the ears.
3. It’ll be easier to stick, and just a few sections of straws at a time, which will be easier to cut. Now, use the big scissors to cut the straw along the curve at the top of the head and along the ears, as well as along the bottom curve.
4. Then, keep adding straws along the sides, covering up most of the bunny. If there’s a little bit of the template of the bunny sticking out, use the scraps that you just trimmed off.
5. If the straws starts to come off, along with the double sided tape, then just tape it back up with the painter’s tape.
6. Once you have most of the bunny done, peel off the cardstock template, which you could also use again. Then, use the smaller scissors to clean up your cuts, mostly around the neck and ears.
7. Then, continue making more with different colors.
8. This is optional, if you want more “cheeks” or “hips” to the sides of the bunny, you can go ahead and do so.
9. Now, get the frame that you chose to use, but make sure it fits all your bunnies. You can choose to use the CeCe Caldwell’s Chalk Paint and paint the frames, but it’s optional.
10. Line up your bunnies and make them straight. Then, cover up the bunny with hot glue, covering all over the side but not with the painters tape. This layer will dry, and keep the straws together.
11. Add another layer of the hot glue on the top of the first layer, and quickly flip it over and position it in place, and press down.
12. Then, check if it sticks in a little bit, and add more glue if there are certain spots that’s still loose. Then, remove the tapes which should reveal your finished bunny. Repeat it to your other bunnies.
13. For the sign, you can use the Stenciled letters, or do creative writing of your own, and say anything that you’d like onto a fabric. Then, put the fabric over a cardboard and hot glue the sign beneath the bunnies and you’re all set!

There are so many things you can do for Easter, and just have fun!

Additional information can be found at the following cites:

http://www.aroundmyfamilytable.com/easter-krackle-bars/

https://www.brit.co/homemade-easter-candy/ (More ideas for treats if interested)

http://www.diyncrafts.com/4897/homemade/80-fabulous-easter-decorations-can-make/2 

http://sillypearl.com/2013/03/craft-tutorial-paper-straw-easter.html

New makeup trends are coming up and I’m sure some of you would want to try these looks as well. Some may be just really simple and easy, or they could be exaggerated or dramatic. No matter what, I’m sure some of the trends could be your style of makeup too. 

Blushes are really trending, and the technique of it, is to rely on colors to enhance facial features. Blush has been around since the 80’s and 90’s, and now they’re coming back as a trend in 2017. Makeup artists create the cheekbone-to a centric beauty look.

Other than blush, contouring has been around since the late 50’s, where it was used mostly on actresses. Now it has, expanded even more, and many girls continue to contour their faces; which would be below the cheekbone, near their hairline, the side of their nose, and kind of above the jawline.

Also, highlighting is a trend that goes along with contouring. It gives you a good point to look at where you highlight your nose, around the middle of your forehead, under your eyebrows, above your mouth, and above your cheekbones.

Another makeup look that’s trending, and you could try and do, is called a “Golden Gaze.” It’s good for taking selfies and for the daytime if you don’t want to wear a lot of makeup.

The steps for the Golden Gaze are:

• Apply the Amber Blake, or a copper/dark gold eyeshadow, if you don’t have a Amber Blake eyeshadow, on your eyelids, inner corners and along the lower lash lines.
• Then sweep the Espresso, or dark gray if you don’t have Espresso, eyeshadow onto the creases of your eyes, in the outer “V” of the eyelids, and the outer ¾ of the lower lash lines.
• Then blend, by using a clean brush to do windshield-wiper motions, to soften any hard edges.
• Now, use a black gel/cream eyeliner (any kind that you have) and get an angle brush to create the wing liner that you usually do.
• Lastly, finish it off with with any black mascara you have, but if you want to curl your lashes before putting on the mascara, then you could also do that too.

Now you’re all set!

There are so many makeup trends that are still trending, and there are still more to come. You can just check them out, and you’ll get an idea of the look, and maybe even try it!

For additional information, please visit:

http://www.byrdie.com/history-of-contouring/slide10 http://fashionista.com/2016/10/draping-makeup-blush-contouring-trendhttps://www.marykay.com/en-us/tips-and-trends/makeup-artist-looks https://www.marykay.com/en-us/tips-and-trends/makeup-artist-looks/goldengaze