The only products I used for this look are:

1 latex hair tie (comes in clear and black to match your own hair color)

After a bit of investigation, I found that this exact style of backwards braid is called a "Dutch Braid". For the braided fringe, I really think the dutch braid looks cuter than the traditional hidden braid, don't you think? It looks more like a headband which I really like. 

Here are some variations that I've done in the past:

headband-style strip braid

loose, large dutch braid with side pony

fringe strip braid with feather headband

Hope this tutorial wasn't too complicated! It's a bit tricky to explain but it's super quick and easy once you get the hang of it. If you guys end up trying it out, please share a pic to my Facebook page gallery. I love seeing the gorgeousness and creativity of you girls (and guys). Hehe.

Have a good weekend!

You don't need to use my link to join, but it does give the referrer credit after your first purchase if you do. I'm not an affiliate of Hautelook or Rock & Republic or anything, but I do think it's a great site and I've bought a ridiculous amount of great deals from it. :)

One thing that I really love about putting together outfits is when I find something that perfectly captures my mood. I'm a very intuitive dresser in the mornings and I feel like I have to exactly match the mood I'm in for my outfit choice of the day. I don't really have "go-to" outfits and I rarely wear any combination of clothes more than once, so this outfit was particularly memorable for feeling quite perfect for that day.

Here are a couple of photos I snapped while playing renegade blogger in a bathroom. XD

I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I am a big proponent of mixing hard and soft elements of an outfit in terms of color and texture. I'm also a huge fan of ballet-inspired pieces and rocker-inspired elements too. Mixing the two ideas is quintessential "Jen" style and makes me feel appropriately girly and stylish at the same time. ^_^

Hi everyone! Today I have another tutorial that I am really excited about because it's not only a super dramatic look, but also because I got to use my good friend Hannah as a model again. If you don't remember her she is my blonde-haired, blue-eyed friend from this tutorial and also this bb cream review.

The inspiration for this look came from the recent Disney Tron: Legacy movie which I saw a couple weeks ago. As soon as I saw the character design for the Sirens (programs that dress those entering the games) I was smitten! The contrast of eyes, lashes, skin, and hair was really thrilling to watch on screen and I wanted to recreate the look in a video.

The four Sirens. Their skin was exaggerated to be very light or dark depending on their

ethnicity. I wonder what an East Asian siren would look like? Maybe very yellow? ;)

You can see in this image how highly arched her black eyebrows were drawn in.

I added this one to show how wicked her suit is. Too bad I don't have a lighted vinyl bodysuit in my closet for Hannah to wear for my tutorial. XD

And here are the images of my Siren, Hannah:

She even did her own hair! She added a lot of baby powder to her hair to make it lighter for this look and I think the top knot looks really cool. The lady has serious hair skills.



I love this angle. I think it makes Hannah look robotic and glowy somehow. LOL! Like a real program should!


And, of course, a silly picture because when Hannah and I get together we can't stay serious for too long. <3

Gigi: A medium-opacity pale pink with silver micro glitters

Hey everyone! Today I am announcing a giveaway that will be coming up to give back again for all of the love and support that I've received for my blog and youtube.

I've recently hit 60,000 subbies on youtube as well as 5,000 followers on my blog and 8,000 on Twitter! I know I say this every time, and I realize there are so many who have much bigger numbers than me, but I'm completely blown away and never expected to receive so much love and loyalty. It's astonishing to me because who am I? I'm not cool and I don't know anyone with connections. I just like sharing and helping and I'm so humbled that anyone would want to even listen. 

Basically, you knock my socks off. Big hugs to all of you!

This giveaway I'm really excited about because it's in collaboration with 2 AMAZING youtubers, KlairedelysArt and NikkieTutorials. These girls actually have about the same-sized youtube audience as I do so we thought it would be a lot of fun to share girls we enjoy watching with each other's subscribers. If you haven't seen these girls before, let me just say it's so fun to watch them particularly because they are in different parts of the world than me. Klaire has this soothing English accent and Nikkie is from the Netherlands and is so talented for being only 16. (OMG, she is a decade younger than me!!! T____T)

Here are some samples of their handiwork :)

Obviously, they are both really amazing and you should follow them if you aren't already!

So this giveaway will have 3 winners, 2 for doing Winter/New Years looks (1 "Dramatic Look" winner and 1 "Wearable Look" winner) and 1 Youtube comment winner. We will also have a bonus 4th winner which will be chosen from the people who submitted looks to the other 2 guru's channels. In total, there will be 12 winners across our 3 youtube channels, so lots of chances to win! ^_^

Since Klaire did a fab job explaining all the rules (better than me) I'm going to copy/paste what she wrote here:

Colaberation Contest Rules

Ok so hear are the rules
(please read them carefully)
1.Must be subscribed to all three of us to enter any part of the competition.

Nikkie: http://www.youtube.com/user/nikkietutorials
Jen: http: http://www.youtube.com/user/frmheadtotoe
And me: http://www.youtube.com/user/KlairedelysArt

2.The theme will be "New Years/Winter Makeup" and there will be three categories:
-Dramatic inspired makeup
-Simple/wearable inspired makeup
-Comment entry
(for the contest entry so we don't get mindless "enter me"comments everywhere to enter people have to type in the comments their favorite song of the moment, AND who the singer/band is. You must post that on our Contest Announcement video)

-The title of the makeup video entries must say New Years/Winter Makeup Contest Entry and which section you are entering. Simple or Dramatic

-The contest will start on the 2nd of January and end on the 1st of February.

-The contest will be international :)

-Videos must be posted as a video response to Nikkie's, Jen's or my contest announcement video.

-The video must not be longer than 3 minutes long. You don't need to show us a tutorial, just the finished look.

-In the video title you MUST say which section you are entering, the simple or the dramatic section.

Comment winner:
Ok now how this is going work.
For comments you can only enter ONCE per contest announcement video.
So once for frmheadtotoe's video, once for NikkieTutorial's video, and once for my video. When the contest ends we will each pick a comment winner from our own video (so there will be three comment winners in total :)
Once we have made our winner announcement video if we do not receive a reply from the winner within 48 hours we will pick another winner.

Now for the makeup videos.

You can enter once per category, and to all three gurus if you want. The video must be a new video made for the contest (you can't just enter an old video).

Now whichever guru's announcement video you post your look as a response to, you are entered in their section of the video competion. At the end of the contest we will with each pick a winner per category out of the videos which were posted as responses to our own videos.

For example Nikkie will pick two video winners, one from the dramatic entries and one from the simple entries. Jen will pick two video winners and I will pick two video winners. So in total there will be six video winners.

Apart from this each of us, will be picking a bonus winner out of the videos which weren't posted as a response to our own video.

We're doing the contest this way so that we can get the results out as quickly as possible, and so that as many people win. So in total there will be 12 winners :)

So just to run through it one more time.....

-You can enter ONE comment entry per guru's video (saying your favorite song and the band/singer)
-You can submit one Simple video entry per guru's video (it must be a new look each time)
-You can submit one Dramatic video entry per guru's video (it must be a new look each time)


Now for the frequently asked questions :)
"Can I do the makeup on someone else?"

Yes you can do the makeup on someone else, but you must show the model holding up a piece of paper with your You Tube user name :)

"What do you mean by dramatic makeup?"

Anything which you wouldn't wear the the office or to a normal job interview. If you don't think it's your style of wearable then put it in the dramatic section. It's up to you. If you would class it as wearable put it in the wearable section :)

"Can my dramatic makeup include prosthetics?"

No it cant. The only thing you can use other than just plain makeup is rhinestones, glitter or false lashes.

"How old do I have to be?"
You have to be over 16 or have parental permission. If you win and are under 16 I will not send anything till I have an email/message from your parents saying that it's ok to send you the prizes.



I think that's everything.....have fun!! :D

*****

My prizes will be awesome and include Konad, Lioele, Pretty & Cute false lashes, NYX... You know I'm going to give you guys the hook-up. ;) Hope you guys enter and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!