Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Cranberry Eyes – The Makeup Mix-Up

It’s finally November, which means it’s finally time for me to abandon any hope of summer weather returning. But that doesn’t mean your eyes can’t be bright. This week for The Makeup Mix-Up, Cranberry Sauce is being served up. It would be way too easy for me to find a deep shade of lipstick and call it a day, but I wanted to do something more with my eyes.

The secret (I think) to keeping cranberry eyes from looking red and sickly and instead bright and vibrant is starting with a good base. It will keep everything locked in and even instead of patchy and “was that intentional?” Because “sick” is not a word I’d use to describe this cranberry eye look. Unless you mean it as in “totally awesome..”

Fall sunset eyes with golds and rusty cranberry shadows. | Gardening In High Heels

Just like when I tried the vampy look, I had something else in mind entirely, but changed my mind halfway through. I was thinking about a smoky eye with deep rusty shadows, but instead went for a fall sunset look. I want to call it cranberr-eyes.

I love how unforgiving dSLR cameras are. They pick up everything. But aside from foundation and concealer, this is my skin. For better or worse. And tomorrow I’ll be totally makeup free for #RFGoNaked Day. For every selfie posted, Rodan + Fields will make a donation to empower students in need through service and education. If you want to jump on board with me and go naked (office-appropriately of course) – this isn’t an ad, I just wanted to share a good cause.

Plus it’s good to let your skin breathe. I’ve been using Rodan + Fields on and off and I really enjoy how it makes my skin look when I’m on it.

Fall sunset eyes with golds and rusty cranberry shadows. | Gardening In High Heels

Fall sunset eyes with golds and rusty cranberry shadows. Perfect for fall! | Gardening In High Heels

Fall sunset eyes with golds and rusty cranberry shadows. Awesome look for fall! | Gardening In High Heels

Fall sunset eyes with golds and rusty cranberry shadows. | Gardening In High Heels

Products used:

  • Naked Skin Foundation
  • Sephora Baked Sculpting Trio in Sassy
  • Ulta Eyeshadow in Chianti
  • Ulta Eyeshadow in Yogurt
  • Urban Decay Matte Eyeshadow in Perversion
  • Lorac Unzipped Palette
  • NYC New York Color Angel Lash Mascara
  • MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Bare Again

What’s your favorite way to wear cranberry makeup for fall?

I’m joining in on the Makeup Mix-Up with Making Mrs. M and Miranda Writes.

Have you entered my You Guys Totally Rock so Here’s a Bunch of Things I Like and I Think You’ll Like, Too Giveaway? You should probably check it out. Like, now.

Facebook Business Page 101: Get around declining reach

Facebook is a mystery. It’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle housed in a coconut – you just can’t get through no matter how hard you try. Or can you?

It’s no secret that Facebook business pages have a declining organic reach. Just about everyone who has a business page (or reads blogs about blogging) knows that. I have found a few ways around this, though. Spurred on by this post from Think Creative, I want to offer a few more pieces of well-honed advice.

What caught my eye were their two points to “Post less, communicate more” and “Be a resource, not a sales pitch.” I say this to clients all day long at my day job.

I tell them, “You want to be inspiring, entertaining, and engaging. Make yourself a resource for your customers and position yourself as an expert. Why? Because the more someone interacts with your posts (likes, clicks, comments, and shares), the more likely Facebook will serve them up in their feed in the future. But in order to get customers interacting with your Facebook business page, we need to give them something meaty.

So how do you do that? Well, if I were to go on your page, is it 100% without question painfully obvious what you do? If it is, great, carry on. If it isn’t, let’s get you there.

How to deal with Facebook Business Page declining reach and why you should care as a blogger or business owner.

First, pick a schedule. I’ve preached about this before. It is so important to have an updated page. If I were to go to someone’s business page and see that the last post was from two months ago, I wouldn’t have a reason to click that all-powerful Like button.

Second, make sure your content is related to your business type. Are you a DIY jewelry making store? Let’s talk about jewelry, share tutorials, even post some style inspiration. Are you a blogger who writes about pie baking? You’ll want to share recipes, but also tips for making the flakiest crust and your insider secret for ensuring your blueberry pie doesn’t bubble over (I use a mixture of tapioca pearls and corn starch..you’re welcome.)

I love to take advantage of secret Pinterest boards. Whenever I find something that I think would be useful to share on my clients’ pages, I save it to a secret Pinterest board. Then when I’m ready to sit down and schedule out posts, I have a file of relevant content to pull from.

Third, be a real person. No one wants to follow an automaton. You want hearts, not eyeballs, so you have to give people something to connect with. Of course, you can highlight your Pinterest-worthy fall wreath when it’s all done, but take your customers behind the scenes and let them see your mess once in a while. It’ll humanize you a little bit and give customers a face, not just a business name, to put with the content.

So what did we learn today, kids? To succeed on Facebook, you need to post consistently, position yourself as an expert, and make sure you’re bringing some heart to your brand.

What do you do to stand out from the crowd on your Facebook business page?

Have you entered my You Guys Totally Rock so Here’s a Bunch of Things I Like and I Think You’ll Like, Too Giveaway? You should probably check it out. Like, now.

Sunday Lately, 44

I don’t know what happened, guys. I knew Sunday Lately was happening last week but I was stuck in a Parenthood marathon on Netflix and I just couldn’t tear myself away. Man that show is intense. I can only imagine how it would be if it were on HBO or something.

This week, I’m going to try something a little different. A while ago, I used to do weekly recaps called Awkward & Awesome (inspired by Sydney of The Daybook). And I loved it because, let’s face it, most days are sprinkled with both. So we’re going to try that.

Updating

Awesome: I bought papier mache pumpkins at JoAnns for 50% off the other day and I couldn’t resist busting out the spray paint and taking a crafting hour yesterday. I figured one could be gold, one could be ombre purple.

Spray paint paper pumpkins

Awkward: My ombre purple pumpkin. My purples weren’t quite the same; one was more lavender, one was more plum, so I tried to redo it. I painted over the whole thing only using one of the purples that I adjusted with black or white. Then I tried to sponge blend the seams together for a faded ombre. And that didn’t work. So it got covered in spray paint too.

Ombre purple pumpkin

Reminding

Awesome: My to-do list is getting crossed off. It’s a slow process, but I need a to-do list to remind me of the really important tasks that absolutely must get done. No work, no pay. No pay, no food. No food, no one wants to be around hangry Angelica. My lists are here for your safety.

Awkward: It’s November. How in the world did that happen?

Needing

Awesome: To catch up on other blogging friends and leave comments and support and all that awesome stuff. Blogging is no fun unless you have a community and people actually read what you write. Otherwise, you’re just pitching things into the void and wondering if they really make a difference.

Awkward: I haven’t been on other bloggers’ blogs in so long, I didn’t realize Katy changed up her header on her site. Bad Blogging Friend award goes to…..

Wearing

Awesome: A tutu! I made one quickly for my uncle’s Halloween party last night. It was inspired by Bobo. I’m not one for Halloween costumes anymore (even though I had some epic-awesome costumes like an old-timey radio and a bunch of grapes) so if I can make it and it isn’t too obtrusive (do you know how hard it is to trick-or-treat with a bunch of balloons sewn to your shirt?) I’m all for it.

Awkward: This week’s outfits were pretty awesome. No room for awkwardness in this closet. But just wait until I start taking pictures for Wear to Where. Then I’ll just feel awkward.

Being

I think being Awesome and Awkward pretty much sums it up today.What have you been up to lately?

What have you been up to lately?

Have you entered my You Guys Totally Rock so Here’s a Bunch of Things I Like and I Think You’ll Like, Too Giveaway? You should probably check it out. Like, now.
Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup with Katy, Nicole and Meghan. Use their themes or use your own. Just remember to link up with them so we can see what is happening with you lately!

Pin-up Inspired Look – The Makeup Mix-Up

I was feeling pretty good about this Makeup Mix-Up post. I had a solid idea of what I wanted to do thanks to Emily’s comment last week. So I tested the look and I was like yeah..this is it. And I did the makeup for real, shot the photos, and was getting ready to transfer them to my computer when I saw a tweet that was like, “12 Halloween looks that only require makeup!” and the photo attached was this insane iridescent mermaid scale look and that’s just going to blow my pin-up inspired look out of the water.

No pun intended. Well, maybe a little.

Anyway.. Emily mentioned that Halloween is all about being playful and sexy and suggested something like a pin-up girl. Any look that allows me to rock a red lip is cool by me.

Pin-Up Inspired Halloween Look for The Makeup Mix-Up | Gardening In High Heels

In my mind, a pin-up girl is flirty and fun and doesn’t take herself too seriously. But her lips are always on point and her eyes are bright. Instead of just a plain black cat eye, I decided to go one step further and add a little color. I chose purple because it doesn’t compete too much with the lips and it complements my eyes. I can also see this working with gold, blue, green..really anything as long as you do it with confidence.

Pin-Up Inspired Halloween Look | Gardening In High Heels

Pin-Up Inspired Halloween Look | Gardening In High Heels   Pin-Up Inspired Halloween Look | Gardening In High Heels

As much as I love makeup, I can’t do my hair to save my soul. I would have loved to rock some victory curls, but lord knows that wasn’t going to happen. So I went with a big bouffant. It totally goes with my polar-bear thermal shirt.

Pin-Up Inspired Halloween Look | Gardening In High Heels

Products used:

  • Naked Skin Foundation
  • Benefit Hi Beam Highlighter
  • Revlon Colorstay Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic
  • Sephora Baked Sculpting Trio in Sassy
  • Revlon Brow Fantasy in Brunette
  • Lorac Unzipped Palette
  • Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour Metal in Painted Purple
  • Mary Kay Liquid Eyeliner in Black
  • Benefit They’re Real Mascara
  • NYC New York Color Angel Lash Mascara
  • Forever21 Love&Beauty Lipstick in Brick

What are you being for Halloween?

I’m joining in on the Makeup Mix-Up with Making Mrs. M and Miranda Writes.

Have you entered my You Guys Totally Rock so Here’s a Bunch of Things I Like and I Think You’ll Like, Too Giveaway? You should probably check it out. Like, now.

How to know when you need a blog break

Okay. So. Not to be entirely self-pitying, but I’ve had a rough couple of months. Between moving, problems with my mom, fluctuating responsibilities at work, and trying to keep personal relationships from sinking…things around here got a little quiet. Anything that wasn’t absolutely essential to keep in the air got dropped.

I really turned inward and didn’t want to broadcast my problems for the internet. Airing dirty laundry takes on a whole new level when it’s available world-wide (not that I flatter myself that someone in Paris is reading this, buuuut….)

And while I wrote about what I learned from blogging every day, I didn’t write about what I learned from not writing when my heart wasn’t there and how to know when you need a blog break.

How to know when you need to take a blog break (and a giveaway from Gardening In High Heels)

How do you know when you need a break? When you’re heart isn’t in it. It’s that simple. You need to take a step back to reconnect with what you love doing. Creatively rejuvenate yourself. That’s a post for another day, but I know my writing struggles when it just isn’t exciting me and I can bet it’s the same way for you, too.

So what did I learn from taking a blog break?

Of course, there are the practical things I’ve learned like I should have kept up with the promotion and sharing old posts through Facebook and Twitter. I mean, it makes sense. But again, my heart just wasn’t there. So do as I say and not as I do: still go through your popular posts and promote the hell out of them. Even if you aren’t producing new material, still share old material.

Find a new outlet. I turned to Instagram to document what was happening in real life. #BecauseImKeepingItReal

I don’t want to always have this picture-perfect portrayal here because life isn’t picture perfect. And while I want this to be a reintroduction to me and a hello to a new business of sorts, I also want to recognize life’s stumbles. Yes, you need to make sure you’re spelling is correct and your pictures aren’t fuzzy, but you also need to connect with people’s hearts. That’s my belief.

If you don’t have their hearts, all you have are numbers. And what good does that do you?

Another thing I learned from taking a step back is that it’s okay to change your path. You aren’t stuck in one niche forever. You can evolve. You can pivot.

I know, these are all things that are like, “Angelica, you seriously didn’t realize that??” but there’s a difference between knowing something and getting it.

So, back to pivoting on what you’re doing. Jenny Blake is the pivot queen. (She actually wrote about what happens when you try to nail your niche.) I love that we don’t have to keep doing the same thing over and over. Especially if you want to go in another path but feel like you should stay on the route you’re on. That “should” word is a red flag that you need to mix it up.

I’m redefining what I want to write about and letting this be a place for people to learn more about me and my work in a real way. I’ll still write about makeup and the trials of cultivating a beautiful life, but on a more consistent basis again. I’ll also be focusing more on letting this be my outlet and a way to highlight my writing strengths in the hopes that people hire me to write for them (because I love sharing my thoughts with you, but thoughts don’t pay the rent, y’hear me?)

As a thank you to people who have been with me through it all and a welcome for any new readers and friends I’ve made along the way, I want to share some of my favorite things (and let you win them).

How to know when you need to take a blog break (and a giveaway from Gardening In High Heels)

How to know when you need to take a blog break (and a giveaway from Gardening In High Heels)

Of course, my favorite pens, Post Its, and copious amounts of Target dollar spot stationery. My favorite balm + stain that looks great on anyone (it’s the Revlon Balm Stain in Honey) and a few other lip products. A freakin’ hilarious letterpress notebook from Sapling Press in Pittsburgh and purchased at my favorite card shop in the city, Wildcard. And this lovely scarf, of course in gray like everything else I wear. I seriously almost kept the for myself, yo. But I love you guys, so you win. And a few other things I may pick up along the way.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Can you pick out a theme? Me neither. It’s pretty much me in a box. And hopefully if you’re like me, you’ll love this all, too.

What’s your sign to know when you need a break?

PS: You guys rock. Just sayin’.

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