DIY Halloween Costume: Mary Poppins

A holiday is not a holiday without a little procrastination, right? Here's an easy, last minute, Do-It-Yourself costume for that Halloween party that you probably "forgot about."

I found this costume idea on Pinterest (of course) and decided I would try to do a bit of a Disneybound version. If you've never heard of Disneybound, it's a blog that puts together costume ideas inspired by Disney characters that can be worn on an everyday basis. 

You can watch my full tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg71eWbjR-Y

Here's a list of every makeup product I used in my tutorial. Almost all of these products can be purchased from Ulta or Target, but feel free to use a dupe or similar product from your own collection :)

Face:

~ First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

~ Too Faced Beauty Balm (in Vanilla Glow)

~ Maybelline Fit Me Concealer (in Sand)

~ Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller

~ Sonia Kashuk Undercover Liquid Concealer (in Light)

~ Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation (in Ivory 2)

~ NYX Studio Finishing Powder (Translucent Finish)

~ Urban Decay De-Slick Setting Spray

Eyes:

~ Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion

~ Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

~ L'Oreal Paris Infallible Never Fail Eyeliner (in Navy)

~ Lancome Mascara Base

~ Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara

Lips:

~ Maybelline Baby Lips

~ Sonia Kashuk Lip Liner (in True Red)

~ NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella

Outfit:

~ Express Taupe Faux Suede Boots

~ Philosophy Black Skirt

~ Banana Republic White Button Up Blouse

~ Mossimo Opaque Black Tights

~ Mossimo Felt Hat in Grey/Taupe

{ Happy Halloween! }

xMadds

Coconut Oil Cult

Yes, I have joined the cult of coconut oil users. At first, I was skeptical. I didn't believe that one product could be beneficial for you in so many ways.

These are my before and after shots.

On the left is a picture of me from June 8th, before I started a coconut oil face regimen. On the right is me 20 days later (with only mascara on). My nose still has some scarring and I do have a few spots left, but I feel like I have a whole new face. My face feels healthier, looks brighter, and my acne has cleared up. The biggest difference I have seen is in fading my acne scars and evening my complexion. 

Here's what I did: I washed my face twice a day with my usual products. Around mid-day, I would take off any makeup I had, apply coconut oil, and let it sit for 30 minutes before rinsing off with warm water and a wash-cloth. That's it.

I'm all for a quick remedy. I did have to be patient and consistent with it, but the results I have seen in less than 3 weeks is worth it to me, and worth sharing.

3 Ways to De-Clutter & De-Stress

As I prepare to move out into a college dorm and future small apartment, I've realized the importance of living with fewer, nicer things. To me, it is better to have one long-lasting thing that can help you with many tasks than to have many things you'll only get a few uses out of. As spring is starting to transition into summer, I've been cleaning out my room and organizing my life. When you have a clutter-free life, you have a stress-free (or almost stress-free) one as well. Here are my top 3 tips to help you do the same.

1) Have a calendar or schedule and plan out your days/weeks.

Making a list or plotting out the things you need to accomplish will help you stay on task. Checking them off of your list will also make you feel more productive after you've completed them (tangible gratification?). I personally have a desk calendar, a calendar app, and a planner that I use to keep my days in order. I don't recommend taking it day by day, because there's nothing wrong with getting into the habit of planning for the future, but I would advise taking an hour out of your Sunday and planning out your week. As new things come up, you can add or remove things from the list.

{Secret: Planning out tasks and marking them off as you accomplish them actually makes you feel productive and in control. = Less Stress}

2) Clean out your phone / social media.

Nothing is more annoying than the notification saying your iPhone cannot be backed up or has run out of storage. Delete text messages from people you haven't talked to in months, videos you don't remember taking, songs you are now embarrassed you ever listened to, and those 49 selfies it took to get the one you posted on Instagram. I recommend prioritizing your contact list. Pick the top 5 or even top 10 people you talk to on a regular basis and give them some recognizing feature, like capitalizing their name, assigning them an emoji/contact picture, or both. Also, cleaning out your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram will not only make things easier to find, but it will make you seem more put together for future networks or employers who reach out to you. Remember: A person's phone/appearance online says a lot about them, whether you realize it or not.

{Secret: If you're really ambitious, clean out your Pinterest. It takes me about 2 weeks to clean out my whopping 13k pins, but I've found taking it one board at a time to be the best approach. I've also found that having more boards with less things in them is better than less boards with more stuff. More stuff = more clutter you'll never be able to find again. I know we all get bored and find ourselves on "pinning-sprees", but you should be pinning things for a reason. For example: I cut down my original fashion board to only 300 pins. I went through everything and asked "Would I actually wear this? Is it comfortable? Is it somewhat modest? Would this set a good example?" and deleted pins I did not deem worthy of my new board.}

3) Organize your living space.

No one can function in a messy, disorganized area and be completely stress free. Whether your goal is to clean out your closet, remodel your bathroom, or deep clean your entire house, take it one area at a time. If you're going all out, make a budget/layout list first to keep yourself from going overboard. Keep daily tasks separate. Put all electronics on your media shelves, all school supplies on your desk, or all beauty products in the same cabinet. This makes things easier to find and work with. Come up with some sort of filing system that makes sense to you. Organize clothes by color, style, or season. Order CD's and DVD's by genre or series. Don't hesitate to get rid of things you don't use anymore. Throw it out, donate it, or sell it, anything to reduce clutter.

{Secret: When cleaning out your bathroom or closet, ask yourself "Has it been 6 months since I wore/used this? Am I keeping this for sentimental reasons? Am I saving this for a just-in-case item?" If you answer yes to any of those questions, its time to get rid of it.}

I wish you all the best of luck de-cluttering and de-stressing your life. Here's a picture of my newly cleaned and organized desk. My room is still a work in progress, but then again, so is life.

x Madds

DIY Weekend! (Sunday)

A few years ago, when my mom was feeling really crafty and started a bow making business, she came to me and asked me if I wanted this bracelet-looking thing she called a "Hippie Tie." Of course, at the time, being an annoying, bratty 12 year old, I looked at her like she was insane. I was not wearing that in my hair. No way. Come sophomore year, though, these hair ties my mother discovered exploded into a huge fad. Only then did I want to wear them in my hair. I found, though, that the one's going around didn't quite work with my obnoxiously thick hair, so I asked my mom for any supplies she had left and I started to make my own. Recently, I've used them up (they do stretch excessively after a while if you are thrice-wrapper like me) and I've gotten back into the crafty habit.

I did not make the one above ^ but this is an example of the one's that didn't quite fit. I only use this one for certain kinds of buns or half-up do's. Today I'm just using it as an example of what the finished product should look like.

Start with a full headband like this one. It should be made of pure elastic, not the round, slim ones with rubber cores.

First I cut off the 'nub'.

 Then I measure the band around my wrist to get a good feel for the length I want.

Then you take both ends and tie a knot where the ends do not form the knot; they stay together going through the loop.

 Cut off the excess band on the end of the knot so that it doesn't stick out while the tie is in your hair.

This is what the finished tie looked like. Below are some other examples of the bands I use. I believe they can be found on etsy.com under 'supplies' or maybe 'hair accessories'. They were originally used for infant headbands, if that info is of any help.

As you can see, there are many different color options and they look great worn on your wrist or in your hair. I recommend, though, to measure them out depending on their purpose (bracelet, hair, buns, ponytails, etc.) because they do stretch according to how often you use them.

Just a little "Hi" from me... and other personal info you probably don't care about

Hello my beautiful people of the Internet!

My name is Madi Burke. Many people assume that I don't have a life because most of it is spent online, but in reality my life gets pretty hectic. I just prefer not to wallow in it and post about it instead.

Let me tell you a bit about myself: I am 16 years old. I am addicted to Pinterest... no really. It's a serious problem (almost 12K pins and counting). I refer to myself as a Broadway junkie. For example, I have spent the past three days watching the live concert of Sweeney Todd. Speaking of, I have yet to find a horror movie that has scared me sufficiently. I love music. I am classically trained in vocals and piano. I also act. I love to read but I very seldom find time for it. My favorite novel is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My favorite series is the Matched Trilogy. I consider myself a writer, as well, even though I have had a severe case of writers block for a while now. You should also know that I am an extreme geek (appearances may be deceiving).

I started a YouTube channel a few years ago. This soon became 4 channels, all straying from the original purpose. Now that I have prioritized, I have one main channel (youtube.com/vlogswithmadds) where I post everything from music to fashion advice to skits and everything in between.

The story behind my separate fashion blog and Instagram, though, is quite a funny one. One day in Geometry during freshman year, my good friends Abbey and Blaze were discussing the opinion of one girl about my advice legitimacy (particularly about my "opposing neutrals" theory). Long story short, they came up with the idea that I was a style goddess (hence the namesake of this blog). I started beauty-blogging in honor of their genius stroke of intelligence only 2 years ago.

I have decided to make this more official blog (rather than just a cluttered Tumblr) to organize and keep up with my beauty-blogging, in the hope to grow an audience and inspire more young girls like myself to develop their own style.

x Madds