Norah Loves Makeup

Beauty Musings From A Makeup Artist

How Do We Balance It All?

// Leave a Comment

In all seriousness, how do we balance it all? Apologies that it has been a while since I last wrote a personal post, life happens. After a very busy summer with work, children, dog fostering and doing this life/work/ balance dance, I decided to write again. Taking time off from the blog was not intentional.

Summer was productive and busy. I spent time doing various makeup/ hair projects mostly the usual video and photography plus a web series (hopefully something that may become a short film again). There were long days and hot humid situations all along. We had a very humid and rainy summer here in New Jersey. Sometimes I felt like it was more shine control patrol than makeup I was able to do. I discovered a couple of new products that I will share on a separate post, both a new foundation for matte finish and a shine control magic potion.

During the off school months, my children were at camp part of the day. They both had a swell time, doing mostly sports and outdoor activities. We watched the World Cup, filled out Panini soccer stickers and spent time with our dogs. Now I have a Kindergartner and a middle school child. Their back to school month was pretty smooth and I am happy to report they are doing very well.

I still foster dogs and was able to provide a safe home for three lovely creatures for Louies Legacy’s rescue. Our last one took longer than we anticipated, Beau our gentle giant who also fought tooth and nail with one of my dogs (it was so HARD to keep them happy). Fostering dogs and volunteering on transports or screening potential adopters takes up a lot of time and is consuming to the core. I am not going to sugar coat it, you need a lot of patience and the whole family has to be on board.

Wikipedia defines “Life work balance” as the term used to describe the balance that an individual needs between time allocated for work and other aspects of life. Areas of life other than work-life can be, but not limited to personal interests, family and social or leisure activities. This is pretty accurate, I would say.

I am going to be 100% honest, there is no real “How To” on work/ life/ balance. It’s always a juggling act and trying to stay organized with my partner. He travels a lot. Also both our families live far away, so I have the help of a wonderful housekeeper without this it would be impossible to do it all with two kids under the age of 15 years old. My job often requires long days and hours and it can be very unpredictable as I am freelance.

Top three things I rely on to keep me afloat include but aren’t limited to are Amazon Prime, Costco and a gym membership to Blink (plus a really lovely trainer). Last year, I talked about having a change of lifestyle, being more active and eating better. Fast forward to today, I am still going strong with some up and downs, still focused nonetheless. Exercise is my savior and a release.

P.S. It’s great to be back.

My Personal Hair Tricks Plus Win A Trip To NYFW With TRESemmé

// Leave a Comment

##Post sponsored by Mirum but all opinions are my own##

Styling a mid length hair can be tricky but it needn’t be. Today I am going to show you my own personal hair tricks using TRESemmé. All you will need is a paddle brush, tail comb brush, TRESemmé Compressed Micro Mist Level 3 Hairspray and TRESemmé Compressed Micro-Mist Hair Spray Smooth Hold Level 2. Working in fashion and in makeup allows me to be free and more creative with my hair. New York Fashion Week is just around the corner and I wanted to show you a couple of hair tricks to keep you looking updated and put together.

1) Switch up your part – by doing this you get to show off certain face features and ear or clothing accessories. Spray your tail comb with TRESemmé Compressed Micro-Mist Hair Spray Smooth Hold Level 2 and voila, your are already looking different. I do this all the time, especially for photos and selfies.

2) Add some texture/ smoothness with heat – everyone wants texture and the best way to do this is using a heated styling tool with TRESemmé Compressed Micro Mist Level 3 Hairsprayto seal your locks once you are done.

I also wanted to let all my readers know that you have until Aug 11th to enter the #ShopriteTRESsweepstakes. This is your chance to WIN a trip for you plus ONE (2) invitations to attend a sponsor-selected fashion show at New York Fashion Week,
two (2) TRESemme sponsored dry styling appointments, a $300 Sponsor-selected gift card, and a $250 ShopRite giftcard. I am a regular at NYFW and can tell you this is an amazing opportunity to get up close and personal in true VIP style, thanks to TRESemmé. To enter sweepstakes be sure to share your own runway looks and using the hashtag #ShopriteTRESsweepstakes.

IMG_1192 from Norah Salazar on Vimeo.

Getting Clutter Under Control With Glad ForceFlex® Plus™ Advanced Protection Trash Bags

// Leave a Comment

#This post is sponsored by Glad® but the content and opinions expressed here are my own#

As a makeup artist and a blogger, I keep a large amount of makeup, hairstyling tools, and skincare in my shelves for various purposes. Getting clutter under control is a challenge for me always, I am known to be a bit messy. I’ve had professional help with the organizing aspect of my makeup room (and it was great). But the ongoing task of keeping my space clutter free is something I have to do myself. To keep your clutter in check, you need good trash bags! Enter the Glad Advanced Protection trash bags. These bags have been instrumental in getting rid of my piles. All the Glad Advanced Protection trash bags used during my declutter, pass a torture test with the amount of stuff I have to get rid of, on a regular basis. (SEE BELOW).

Glad Advanced Protection trash bags are a must have for your heavy items and out of date products (eww the smell). Glad Advanced Protection trash bags come in packs of as many as 56 bags. One of my favorite features of this product is the Reinforced Bottom and Leakguard Protection. I deal with a lot of liquid, heavy packaging, some I recycle and some has to be tossed. Glad Advanced Protection trash bags are tough and can handle the most heavy of loads.

I put together a list of my How-To’s for getting your clutter under control using Glad Advanced Protection trash bags.

#1 Create piles (I learned this secret from my professional organizer).

#2 Once your piles are created put your Glad Advanced Protection trash bags to work and label them (recyclable vs trash).

#3 Schedule weekly or bi-weekly maintenance (I get a lot of mail and go through things fast, having a system in place helps tremendously).

I found this product at Walmart, but they’re also available on Amazon if you want to check them out here, and it is my go-to tool for my weekly makeup room clutter maintenance. Another fun fact is that these Glad Advanced Protection trash bags come in different scents to soothe your preference, how cool is that? Tell me in the comments sections, what’s your favorite way to keep clutter free?