A guest post from Amanda: Get Girly Girl Eyebrows!

Hey everyone! For this post you I am sorry to say that you are not getting me dear friend Erin. I know this may sound like the end of the world but trust me you are in good hands! My name is Amanda and I have my own blog "BEaYOUtiful You" where I use my knowledge from Cosmetology school to provide readers with beauty tips. So sit back, relax, and take some notes!

That's me and Erin! :]

So I decided that since Erin's blog is focusing on her journey to become a girly girl, one thing I think is important for her and any girl to know is how to shape and pluck your eyebrows.

Step One: Find your shape

1)Green 2)Red 3)Blue

The first thing you need to do before plucking is determine the shape your eyebrow should be. To do this you should follow three simple steps. First you , need something to follow a line with such as a eyeliner stick or your tweezers if they will reach from your eyebrow to your nose. Use the picture to the left for help.To start your shape you need to make an imaginary line from the outside of the nostril under that eye to your eyebrow (see green line), this is where your eyebrow should start. Next you want to make another line from the tip of your nose through the middle of your eye to your peak (see red line). Finally, make a line from the same part of the nostril past the outside corner of your eye to your eye brow (see blue line), this is where your eyebrow should stop.


Step Two: PLUCK!

After you have determined the shape of your eyebrows you can begin to pluck. Here are some tips.
   *Always pluck in the direction that your hair grows.
   * Do not over pluck! Thin, barely there eyebrows are not in style and are NOT attractive!
   * Pull your skin taunt before you puck to cut down some of the pain.
   * If you are worried about the pain, use some tooth numbing gel like Orajel or Anbesol.
   * Step back and look at your eyebrows from a distance to check your progress and keep from over plucking!

I hope that you find these tips easy to follow! Just remember, you can always take more off but you can't put it back on! Take your time so you don't over pluck!! Good luck and thank you for reading my guest blog! :]

What it means to be a girly girl in Tokyo : Guest Post by Shea Flood

Hey girls! For those of you who do not know me my name is Shea Flood and I write a blog all about Tokyo, "Guide to Tokyo." I know most of you are probably thinking well what does that have to do with being a girly girl? Actually, to answer that question, a lot. The fashion over in Tokyo is absolutely incredible and I feel like Erin's blog "Becoming a Girly Girl" is a perfect choice to write about it on so thanks again Erin!

First of all, all ladies of Tokyo are always dressed to impress. Not once did I see a woman in sweats. Majority of the women wore skirts, even in the cold weather! ( I visited early January) However, they always paired their skirts with knee high  fur boots, a collared shirt, and a cute peacoat.

Makeup is always very light unless you're headed to Harajuku then everything is different and more drastic.  Harajuku is insane fashion. High heels, gothic to preppy drag outfits, and loads of makeup. Fashion is looked at as art in that distric. Usually though, asian have such flawless skin because they keep their complexion looking very natural so they shy away from the caked look.

In the United States we mostly see Asian women rock the straight haired look but in Tokyo mostly all of the woman have their hair in lose curls giving it a very flowly look.

So, put the outfit with the hair and little makeup then pair that with a designer purse and you've got the look of a fabulous woman in Tokyo!

Line It Up

Eyeliner can be scary. A pencil moving slowly around your eye, just one wrong move and you have managed to poke yourself again, causing pain and suffering.

Until recently, eyeliner and I have never really gotten along. I refused to put it on myself and whenever one of my friends tried to help me, they just ended up with me complaining that it tickled.

However, I was always fascinated by the stuff and how it made my friend's eyes look when they were wearing it. I had just settled that it was not for me, and counted my blessings for having one less makeup item to purchase.

The first time I ever wore full blown eyeliner was when I had a girl's night out and let Zandi work her magic. I was really excited with the drastic difference it made.

First time I wore eyeliner :), ignore Lisa in the background

After this night, I often asked my friends to help me put eyeliner on before we went out. I only wore it for nights out or special occasions, and I still didn't buy my own.

Luckily, during my junior year of college, my best friend Emily saved the day by giving me some eyeliner. Her mom had stocked up, and she had so many sticks that she didn't know what to do with them. So she decided to help out her makeup challenged friend.

oh hey Emily, miss you :)

I was very excited and I instantly began experimenting and asking Emily and Zandi for pointers. I even broke down and purchased some eyeliner of my own after the one Emily gave me ran out.

Now, I am not claiming to be an eyeliner pro, I am anything but that. However, I am getting a lot better at applying it. If you don't believe me, ask Zandi. She says she is proud of my progress.

just practicing

I have even experimented with blue eyeliner that came in a special Covergirl pack made especially for girls with blue eyes. I once thought that black eyeliner was the only way to go, but the blue looks quite nice. My current eyeliner is Maybelline line stylist. It seems to work very well for me and is easy to apply.

I am continuing to practice applying eyeliner, and sometimes I even wake up and put it on for class. I guess that is the girly girl coming out in me. Girly Girls line it up!!

Stay tuned, because next week is when I take on my challenge......hmmmm what could it be?

The Ultimate Girly Girl Accessory

My past posts have all been about taking the time to learn the steps that will make me beautiful. This post is going to be a little different. We will call it a dream/fantasy post....

Today, I am here to talk to you about the ultimate girly girl accessory. What is it? I will give you some hints. It is small, very cute, has four legs, and is often called "man's best friend"......

 If you guessed a dog, then you are correct :)

I have always had a love for dogs. They play with you, let you pet them, and seem to always know when something is bothering you. Dogs are way better than people at cheering me up. Unfortunately, my dog Leroy, a Bluetick coondog, died while I was home for Christmas break. I was devastated. He was beautiful and one of my best friends. I will always miss him.

For those of you that do not know what a Bluetick dog looks like, here is a picture of one.

Aren't they beautiful dogs?

So what does all this have to do with becoming a girly girl? I am sure that if you think about it, you can figure it out.

I believe that the ultimate girly girl accessory is the tiny dog.

Girly actresses have them. Girly singers have them. Just girly girls in general have them. And I am determined to have one.....in the future when I can afford it.

My cousin Katelyn got me thinking about owning a dog like this when she bought herself one. Her name is Cricket and she is a shitzu. I went over to visit, and fell in love with her. Although she is scared of me, I think she is the cutest thing ever.

Katelyn and Cricket

My cousin explained to me that there are also many perks to having these types of dogs. Not only do they not shed, they are hypoallergenic. This was great news for me, because I do love dogs, but I am allergic to them. So in the past, I could only spend a little amount of time outside with my dog before I started sneezing and breaking out. This type of dog will not do that to me, so I will be allergy free.

Will all of this in mind, I set out to find myself the ultimate girly dog. AND succeeded!

I will now introduce to you what I hope to be carrying around in my purse one day....the yorkie. :)

I want one, I want one, I want one!!!

ok, now that my ranting is over....I just want you to admire how cute this dog is and imagine me carrying one around. The ultimate in girly right?

One day I will be the ultimate girly girl and own one of these ultimate girly girl accessories. But, for now, I will just have to continue to dream about it...

 ps- I just wanted to inform you all that I have been challenged. I have accepted this challenge and will soon be learning all about EYELINER! Stay tuned for more information. :)

Conquering The Chipped-Nails Syndrome

Fingernails. Some people bite them, some people file them, some people leave them alone and some people even have gross dirt underneath them at all times. My fingernails generally fall under the "leave them alone" category.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love all the pretty nail polish colors and the different designs and styles fascinate me. As a child, my friends and I loved all the colors so much that we painted each nail a different color (Oh yeah, we were stylin). It was just way too hard to pick just one out of all of them.

However, when it comes to me doing my nails, it is usually a fail.

I will paint my nails, and they will only be pretty for a few hours. It is like they were not meant to stay colorful and chip-free. My inability to keep my nails chip-free has even been a topic of one of my friend's jokes for years. Therefore, I gave up on painting my nails for a while.

But since I am trying to become a girly girl, I decided that I needed to conquer what I am going to call the Chipped-Nails Syndrome, and I knew just the person to help me.

Introducing the lovely Ana Cooke :)

 Ana Cooke is a very close friend of mine and an amazing nail painter. Her nails are always perfect. You won't find any chips on this young lady's hand. I asked Ana if she would show me the secret to always having beautiful nails, and she happily agreed. So I headed on over to her apartment to learn from the master.

One of my biggest problems with nail painting is choosing the color. I am so indecisive and Ana had so many beautiful colors to choose from. I had to examine her bag of wonders for several minutes before I could even come close to making a decision. Finally, I decided on a pink color and then we went to work.

Step 1: Remove all other nail polish. You know, the little chipped pieces that are hanging on from the last time you tried to paint your own nails. For this you will need some polish remover, which you can purchase very cheaply at a dollar store.

Step 2: Ana filed my nails to make them beautiful, since they were all growing at different angles. I guess to be a girly girl I need to invest in a nail filer.

Step 3: Paint on that polish. Paint it slowly and carefully. Try your best not to get it on other parts of your finger. Also, try to make it look smooth and slick. Paint over once, let it dry, then do a second coat if you want the color to be darker.

Step 4: Ok girls, are you ready for Ana's secret? Now, most girls know that you need some sort of top protective coat to protect the color. Ana uses 2 different protective coats. First, she applied Quick Dry to my nails. She said that most people apply the Quick Dry as the last step, but she prefers to do it before the top protective coat. Genius right?

Step 5: Apply the top clear, protective coat and wait for it to dry.

Ta-da! You now have beautiful, chip-free nails. These nails should conquer the Chipped-Nails Syndrome for at least 4 or 5 days.

That's my hand on the left and Ana's on the right. Don't our nails look pretty? :)

 Now that I know the secret to keeping the chips away, I can explore the different styles and colors. This also brings me one step closer to becoming a girly girl.

I can also silence that friend who told me I was a failure at nail painting...you know who you are.

The Goddess Braid: Inspired by Lauren Conrad

Do you remember LC from Laguna Beach? Or maybe you followed Lauren's journey into the fashion world on The Hills? Well LC, better known now as Lauren Conrad, has transformed herself into a fashion icon. Her clothes, hair, and makeup are all trends to follow.

I'm loving this dress

 She also has her very own book called Style. I only know this because Zandi loves her, and returned from Christmas break with a copy of the book.

The book is full of tips on everything girly, from makeup to outfit choices. However, one of the styles that Lauren is most known for is the way she braids her hair. It is called the Goddess Braid. Zandi and I followed the steps that are listed in the book to make me look like a girly goddess.

The first thing to remember is that bobby pins are your friend. Every girly girl needs a stash of them close by, because they are handy in almost every type of hairstyle. In this case, the bobby pins complete the look.

Step 1: Section off your hair, leaving the amount of hair you want to braid down and put the rest up.

these pictures are not exactly flattering

Step 2: Start with about an inch of the hair you have left down. Break this inch of hair into 3 smaller sections.

Step 3: Begin the French braid. Cross the 3 sections over each other.

I need some highlights asap

Step 4: This is the part where you add in the rest of the hair that you left down. Each time you go to cross, add more hair in. Add more hair from the right, then cross over the center section. Add more hair from the left, then cross over the center section. Braid this way about 3 times, then continue to braid the rest of the hair with a normal braid.

This step was the hardest, and Zandi had to assist me. She assured me that I had nothing to be ashamed of. The French braiding part is difficult and will take some serious practice for anyone who has never tried it before.

Step 5: Take the rest of your hair down, and use bobby pins to secure the braid to the rest of your hair.

Congratulations! You are now a goddess!!

Or at least you have a goddess braid....

Remember, practice makes perfect. Zandi had to carefully lead me through all the steps the first time, and will probably have to help me again next time. But, keep working at it, and everyone will be goddesses/girly girls before they know it!