So it's been awhile.

Hello lovely friends. It's been well over two weeks since I last posted a video, and you know what that means... EXCUSES TIME!
But really, I'm sorry I went missing for awhile. If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram you probably saw a bunch of pictures of myself and a very handsome man, who just happens to be my boyfriend. I've mentioned him a few times before but just in case you don't know, he's in the army stationed across the country from me and this was the first time I'd seen him since May. I won't see him again until December, so I was just really busy keeping up with school/work/him all at the same time. In my defense I DID know I would be this busy so I pre-filmed videos for you guys, but guess who's computer blew up?

If you answered: Loey's, you would be correct.

That means I lost a lot of footage (and pictures, which is such a bummer) so I'll have to start filming everything all over again. Which is good, it means the videos are that much more refined for you guys!

In other news, I bought a new car. He's a little white Ford Mustang convertible and his name is Leonardo. So my boyfriend, his brother and I went camping last weekend. I promptly backed Leo into a tree a month after buying him. THIS GIRL IS A WINNER. There's minimal damage on the back bumper (a hole the size of my thumb and a slight scratch beneath that) so I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to figure out how to get that fixed.

I'm putting up a vlog of a night out I had with the boyfriend, his brother and his brother's fiance as I type this, but I'm also going to post some pictures below for you guys. In the past I've been asked why I'm so open about my personal life with my YouTube family, and it's precisely that: you are my family. I like to think of you as my friends and just like with any of my other friends, I love for you to be able to see my pictures and know what's going on with me, just like I always want to know what's going on with you!

Anyways, here you go. And here's the vlog! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hApE1LqTRIE

 My future sister-in-law and her sweet baby boy! She and I have been friends forever.

 All of us. 

 He eats my face :(

 He REFUSES to smile on camera. He has a really nice smile too.

 I'm really not sure. 

Not wearing a bit of makeup as we said goodbye at the airport. Being a military girlfriend is incredible difficult, but it's also so completely worth it.

And I'm happy I get to share that part of my life with you guys! I love you all.

Your Loey

Dear Jakey...

Jake, do you remember how we met?
You were a year older than me.We went to a small high school, it was hard not to know anybody. But I really only talked to you my junior year. You sat across the classroom in Mrs. Leigh's computer class and we would sit on her couch and talk about life. I helped you with girl problems. You helped me laugh until I felt like I was going to fall over. I took your hat all the time. You were my "boyfriend" and we used to hold hands. Did you know that I loved you?

Jake, do you remember prom night? I didn't have a date so I declared you as mine, though you were happily taken by one of my beautiful friends. You were the best dressed boy there. I couldn't have imagined the night without you. Did you know that I loved you?

Jake, do you remember when you graduated from high school? Do you remember when I cried? I didn't think we would stay friends after that, without a class to keep us together. You knew that was a stupid thing to think. Did you know that I loved you?

Jake, do you remember when you enlisted in the army? Do you remember how heartbroken I was, how convinced I was that I would never see you again? Do you remember when you came home on senior night that fall? Did you know that I loved you?

Jakey, do you remember when we talked just a month ago? You had one of those "To Be Honest" statuses up on Facebook, so I liked it just to see what you would say- I've always been a sucker for those. Your reply was "To Be Honest: You were my imaginary girlfriend and then the army took me away". I genuinely laughed when I read it, and I told you that I loved you. And you told me that you loved me too. It was such a short conversation; we didn't talk much in the past half year or so. But I am so grateful that I was able to tell you that I loved you before you left.

These words are all I have to help me cope, because the one person who could make everything better has gone to paradise. Thank you for being the most wonderful friend anyone ever could have asked for. Thank you for being a ray of light in my life. I will see you in heaven, Jakey. And you know that I love you.

You will forever be in my heart.
Lauren

YouTube Glitches & Finding a Solution

Hi loves!

So it's been awhile since I've posted on my blog and I really don't like that I have to do it under these circumstances. Since the creation of the new YouTube layout, I've been experiencing a loss in subscribers. At first I thought it was just people unsubscribing... but I've learned it's actually a glitch in the YouTube system and I tested it myself by trying to subscribe to my own channel via another email account.

On my thebeautylodown@gmail.com account, I received a notification saying this new channel had subscribed. So I went to my page and checked, but my subscriber count did not update. On this new email account I logged into YouTube, and thebeautyLodown videos showed up in my subscriber feed.

When I counted all of the people who HAVE subscribed in the last month or so from my email, I should have hit 3,000 subs by now. But for now I'm fluctuating between 2,600 and 2,620.

Now, understand that the numbers aren't what bothers me. I don't mind if I have one subscriber or a million, I'm still going to make videos for those who want to see them. So here's my question to all of you: if you are subscribed to me, are my videos still showing up in your feed? That is all I honestly care about. YouTube has not been speedy about a response to the problem, and a member of their team actually told me it could take months to fix.

As long as my videos are still coming to you guys, I don't find a need to create a new channel. BUT if my videos aren't showing up, it may be time to close thebeautyLodown and open a new channel for my videos.

That is not what I want to do, by any means. In fact, I would be really sad starting over. But if it's necessary, I will. I know I'm not the only YouTuber experiencing this, which makes me nervous to start a new channel and have it happen all over again. So all I need to know is whether or not you are still receiving my videos in your subscriber box. You can contact me:
In my YouTube messages
On my email: thebeautylodown@gmail.com
On my Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thebeautyLodown
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/thebeautyLodown

Thank you guys so much. I'm sorry this is such a serious post, but I need to find a solution to this.

I love you girls!
Your Loey

NARS Danmari Blush Palette

Hey lovies!

So the UPS man brought me lots of fun presents from Sephora today, one of them being the NARS Danmari blush palette.
Initial reaction: The outside packaging is so beautiful. This could be given as is for a gift! NARS never disappoints in the packaging department.

 

Anddd there's the palette! Do you guys ever have an anxiety attack when opening packages like this? Sometimes I wonder if anything will be inside. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Haha!

 

Of course, here's the lovely palette itself, outside of the box. In a picture below I included a shot of it beside my iPhone 3 so you can compare. It's quite small, but the blushes inside are very deep.

  

 

And now of course, the part you've been waiting for... the blushes!!!!

Top row, left to right: Hungry Heart, Orgasm, Desire
Bottom row, left to right: Casino, Super Orgasm, Sin

I was rather disappointed at first at seeing how small these blushes are... exactly the size of a NARS eyeshadow. But they are each 0.12 grams of product (75% of the size of a regular NARS blush) so I assume they just run really deep. The only one I've tried so far was Orgasm, and I barely had to dip my brush in the powder to get enough pigment. Simply amazing! If you're like me and you've never tried NARS blushes before, this is a must have! It retails for $65 dollars at Sephora which may seem a bit pricey, but think about how much a regular NARS blush costs ($27!!!) You're getting 3/4 or 75% worth of the normal amount of product, which would still cost about $20 if you were able to buy it in that size. All six of these blushes would cost a whopping $120! So this is definitely worth the investment.

P.S. Until November 3, the Sephora Friends and Family sale is occurring, so go here: http://www.sephoralove.com/friendsandfamily to redeem a 20% off code. That would make this palette around $52 if you don't get anything else. Do yourself a favor, go pick this up!

I love you,
Lo

So you want to be a beauty guru.

Hey lovies.

First things first, yes, Blogtober was a bust. Sorry! I just couldn't find time to blog every single day during the month. :( But I wanted to make this post because I CANNOT tell you how many emails/messages/comments I receive every day asking me the same question.

"Lo, how can I be a beauty guru?"

First off, let me say CONGRATULATIONS!!! I'm so excited that you want to join the YouTube beauty community. I joined about four months ago, so I'm not exactly an expert just yet, but I have to say that it's been the best four months of my life (no joke). I've made amazing friends and met girls just like me that want to learn more about the beauty and fashion industry. Not too long ago I was in your shoes, creating my channel and asking myself how on earth I was supposed to get started.

Well, easy answer: There is no "proper" way to start your beauty  channel. Everyone is different and everyone's channels are going to grow differently. But I'm more than happy to share a few tips and tricks that I've picked up along the way.

1) Of course, start your channel.
Be creative with your username! I've seen too many makeupby____ or beautyby____ etc, etc. My name is Lo, so I wanted to incorporate that with my username while still letting others know that I was a beauty channel. It took me awhile to come up with thebeautyLodown. Don't be afraid to really brainstorm and ask other people's opinions on your username. :)

2) Make your first video (another no brainer)
But make it something popular that everyone seems to want to watch right now! Maybe a natural everyday makeup tutorial, or how you achieve the perfect red lipstick. Or maybe you're all sorts of daring and you want to put a tutorial out using bright yellow/pink eyeshadow combo. Do it! Nobody is telling you what you can and can't do on your channel... it is YOUR channel after all. Be unique and creative and put your all into it! For editing, I love Windows Movie Maker (the newest version) but I know iMovie is great as well. No need to spend money on an expensive editing program.

3) Promote, promote, promote.
This is where it's going to get a little tricky because I'm sure there are others out there who are going to disagree with me. But I don't think there is ANYTHING wrong with a little self-promotion through youtube. The way I've reached the majority of my subscribers has been by finding them writing on bigger guru's walls, or maybe they're even gurus themselves. See someone commenting on a beauty video on how much they enjoyed the tutorial? Reach out to them! Ask them to swing by your channel sometime because you think they'll like it. The worst that they can say is no, and I've found that the majority of the time they'll give your channel a fair shot.

4) Learn.
I cannot stress to you how important it is to actually know what you're talking about with makeup. If you want to be a guru, please take the time to watch other guru's videos (my favorites are MichellePhan, juicystar07 and amarixe). Watch what they do, take notes if you need to. Build your collection, and if you don't have much of a budget to work with, stick to drugstore brands or cheap alternatives, like Coastal Scents and Nyx. Be on top of the new releases (even if they are just at the drugstore) so you can get them quickly and review them for your viewers. I never buy makeup anymore without getting a second opinion... and I know other girls do as well. Learn about your passion.

That's pretty much all there is to it. Just be creative and show other people your talent. Good luck on your channel, and make sure to keep in touch with me at www.youtube.com/thebeautyLodown. I'd love to be your first subscriber. :)

I love you,
Lo

Target Up&Up Brush Review

Hey loves!

Blogtober, day 10! Okay, so it really isn't yet, but I want to get this post up a little early because I'm really excited to tell you guys about it. Today's review is on Target's generic line of brushes called Up&Up, they can be found at pretty much any Target store. You can see these in my newest haul video (I would upload pictures for you guys, but for some reason my scanner isn't working). Anyways, I own a few of these brushes, and I want to let you know how they work.


Medium Eyeshadow Brush:
This is a fluffy, medium-sized general application brush that fits perfectly on your eyelid. I own two of these because I love this brush so much! This one retails for right around $2.00 and change, and is no worse than any high-end general application brush I've used.

Crease Brush:

This has to be my favorite of the ones I've tried. This brush is full, fluffy and perfect for sweeping color into your crease. I have absolutely no complaints about this, especially because it retails for right around $2 like the general application brush. It reminds me a lot of a MAC 224, but since I don't have that brush personally, I can't do a full comparison!

Powder Brush:

I do like this one, but I could have lived without it. It's good for dusting powder all over the face or sweeping bronzer on your cheeks. I have a million more like it, but if you don't, I definitely recommend it. It retails for right around $5.

These brushes are perfect if you're just starting out with your collection and you really want to get your essential brushes without breaking the bank. The only con: I do notice a bit of shedding, but it never comes off on my face, only during washing. Hopefully you found this helpful! What brushes are your favorite?

I love you,
Lo

Rite Aid Beauty Deals 10/9

Hey loves,

Blogtober, day 9! All caught up... again. Haha! Rite Aid has a really good L'Oreal deal going on if you need a lot from that line. Not only is it BOGO 50% off, when you spend $50, you get $15 back. If you want a lot from that line, now is a good time to pick it up so you can experiment! Other brands that are BOGO 50% off include Maybelline, Nexus, Revlon, Physician's Formula, Sally Hansen and NYC. There's a coupon in this weekend's Sunday paper that has a coupon for John Freida Haircolor that gives you $2 off, making it $9.99. When you buy two boxes of hair color, you're going to get $5 back in UP rewards. CVS is also doing a deal with John Freida, but Rite Aid might be a little better if you need more than one box.

The L'Oreal deal and the John Freida Haircolor are the best things I see as far as Rite Aid. Everything else is kinda so-so. What are you going to get this week from the drugstore?

I love you,
Lo