Tag Archives: frosting

Love This Valentine’s Date Night Look As Much as I Love Frosting!

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I love frosting. A lot.

Love this look more than frosting!

So, to say, I love this look – created with these products – as much as I love frosting means it’s super delicious.

Two of my faves one cake stand: Makeup & cake! *makeup details below/cakelet ℅ Beverly's Best Bakery

And just in time! It’s the perfect makeup look for your Valentine’s look this year!

Easy bronze, smoky eyes with bronzed, chiseled cheekbones, full & defined brows and frosty baby pink lips.

Easy bronze, smoky eyes, bronzed cheekbones, defined brows and frosty baby pink lips

 

And did I say how easy it is?

*On the eyes:

1) Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon in Amber Haze ($27) – Apply the crayon from crease to lash line and blend with brush. Then, use the crayon to color in the bottom lash line.

2) Charlotte Tilbury The Dolce Vita Luxury Palette ($52) – Apply the glitter shadow (bottom left) over the Amber Haze pencil.

3) Charlotte Tilbury Rock’N’Kohl Eye Cheat Iconic Liquid Eye Pencil ($27) -Apply in inner corners to brighten the eyes, making them appear wider and brighter! It’s also great to apply the lower waterline when you want to brighten the eye and make your defined lash line look even more defined.

4) L’Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Volumizing Mascara ($7.99) – stretches those lashes from root to tip to extend and plump. Apply to top and bottom lashes.

*On the brows: 5) L’Oreal Brow Stylist Plumper ($8.99) – Brush it up and across!

*On the cheeks: 6) Jouer Cosmetics Luminizing Liquid Highlighter in Golden Light ($39) – applied on orbital bone and upper cheekbone

7) NYX Cosmetics Baked Blush in Passion ($7) – Apply under cheekbones and on apples of cheeks for a bronzed glow with a bit of peach.

8) On the Lips: Pixi Beauty Tinted Brilliance Balm in Lucent Glow ($14)

All together, you get one sexy, smoldering date-night look!

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: What look are you donning for Valentine’s Day? 

 

 

 

 

The Sweet Life with Dawn McCoy: A Magical Day at Magnolia Bakery

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My heart belongs to Magnolia Bakery. So when I got the opportunity to visit one of my favorite places for a little frosting lesson and fun, I jumped at the chance. Find out how the frosting experts at Magnolia get that “signature swirl”, see if I can replicate it and see what other emotions their delicious treats stir up for me. A magical day at Magnolia, indeed. Join me for a taste…

 

Now, isn’t THAT the sweetest?
xoxo,
BF

Looking Back – How BeautyFrosting Was Born

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BF Turns 2 Bloggiversary Party Co-Hosted by HomeGoods & Hope At Home - fashion illustration by Kara Endres of Sprinkles in Springs and cake by Magnolia Bakery - Photo by Takahiro Watanabe

When I started this little adventure called BeautyFrosting 2 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never written a blog. Actually, I had never even really read a blog! I mean they seemed like such a fad and, um, who had the time?
How BeautyFrosting came to be.
Then one day I found myself in Dallas sitting at our fave family spot, Mi Cocina, pondering the possibility of moving home from LA to Dallas. I was at the lowest point of my life having ended a 7-year relationship and having left my job that I’d had for years with Barbra Streisand as her personal shopper. I was down, depressed and my life wasn’t looking so beautiful.
I was searching for an answer and I found it while talking to my mom and one of my oldest, best friends – Kristin Merritt Liles. We were talking about beauty, baking and how much I love connecting with people and came up with the crazy idea of starting a place of positivity and light filled with all of the people and things I love so much. From that little, crazy nugget of an idea, BeautyFrosting was born.
Looking back, I realize that this one little leap of faith gave birth to so much. In the months following, I hit the ground running. I researched blogs that had similar aesthetics to my own, learned about the best ways to start a blog and would spend hours on Pinterest getting very clear about what exactly I wanted BeautyFrosting to be about.

Celebrating BF Turns 2 with dear friends - photo by Drunken Pixel

Introduce yourself to people, be kind and be clear about what you want.
Knowing what I know now, I realize that folks must have thought that I had some major cajones – or maybe they just thought I was naive. I was told repeatedly by brands and other bloggers that I was doing it all wrong – backwards even. I was building the brand and consulting the PR before the blog had even been written or made its online debut. But I was doing it my way and it just made sense to me. After all, why would anyone (brand, person or otherwise) want to work with me if they didn’t even know who I was? Yep, that’s where my southern sensibility comes in. Whether it seemed smart or not, pr agencies and brands that I still work with have told me since that they worked me simply because I seemed charming and honest. So there ya go, folks – charm and honesty are the way to go!
Work with the talented people you already have around you.
Rather than be yet another blog to hit the already-saturated market, I decided to spend 4 months sending emails and making phone calls to hundreds of pr agencies and brands. I decided to pool my brain trust of dear, talented and creative friends to create a blog on a budget that was literally less than $200.
I created a logo and branding template – that would shape the entire blog and brand – thanks to my talented best friend and former roommate, Vanessa York of Shindig Shoppe. After all, who could understand my aesthetic better than my best friend who had lived with me for 2 years? I asked my talented photographer friend, Amy Opoka, if she would take my profile photos for the site and she did an amazing job of executing my vision on a shoestring budget.
This early experience taught me how crucial it is to collaborate with the talents of those you know best. I learned to always ask because the worst that could happen is that they say no. By the way, no one ever said no.

With my BeautyFrosting logo and graphics goddess - and best friend - Vanessa York of Shindig Shoppe - photo by Drunken Pixel

Celebrate every milestone in life.
Ask my mom and she’ll tell you – I love celebrating and I love me a party. Even as a child, I would try to find reasons to celebrate every occasion. My Barbies were getting married? Let’s throw a wedding! I got an A on a test? Let’s have a tea party! I made the cheerleading squad? Let’s have a tex-mex party! So in true Dawn-fashion, I decided to throw a Cupcakes and Cocktails debut party here at my house to celebrate the debut of the blog before anyone had even seen it. Besides being a precious affair, we brought out the laptop and let friends and former coworkers get a sneak peek at what BeautyFrosting would be. I really think a lot of things got rolling because of the choice to celebrate this little milestone. And celebrating milestones is a great way to remember the gratitude every step along the way.

Celebrate the milestones - and little victories - along the way - Photo by Drunken Pixel

Most important lesson learned on this journey? Don’t be afraid to be a fool.
Was I fearful of starting a brand new chapter of my life? Hell, yes. But you get past the fear, accept that you may indeed be a fool and get past yourself. I asked pr companies to send samples before I even knew what that meant. I asked friends to devote hours of their time and because I believed in this so much, they believed in it and wanted to be part of it, as well. And I realized that it was more important to appear confident than it was to have 1 million readers. I have never been more proud of anything…and that’s coming from someone who was never raised to be proud. This blog has literally changed my life and I am so much better because of it.
Most Importantly…Thank YOU.
I know that I am nothing without all of you guys – my readers and social media followers – finding interest in what I write about, take pictures of and who I am. So, I want to thank each and every one of you who read this every day, like my pictures on Instagram and Facebook and tweet at me. (By the way, 2 years ago, I had no idea about what any of that was – that’s how much things can change in 2 years.) I have a feeling that the next 2 years will bring even more exciting change and I hope that you will be there for my journey every step of the way. You have made my hearts so full.

Cutting the cake and celebrating 2 years of BeautyFrosting - thanks to YOU!! Photo by Takahiro Watanabe

xoxo,
BF
BF Asks: What’s your favorite feature on BeautyFrosting? What would you like to see more of?

In-My-Tub-Tuesday: Jaqua Pink Buttercream Frosting Shower Crème

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What else would you expect for In-My-Tub-Tuesday the week of my birthday but something delicious, sweet and frosting-themed?

Here’s the thing. My favorite food on THE PLANET is birthday cake. I have loved it with abandon since I was a tiny tot while my waistline has, at times, not loved it as much as I have. But when your blog is called BeautyFrosting, listen, there’s no shortage of frosting around.

Lucky for me, my favorite taste/scent and color are all packaged together prettily in my In-My-Tub-Tuesday pick today: Jaqua Pink Buttercream Frosting Shower Creme ($18).

In-My-Tub-Tuesday: Jaqua Buttercream Shower Creme

 

This week, to celebrate my birthday all week long (as I’m prone to do), I’ll light some candles, add in some buttercream bubbles to my bath, pour a glass of bubbly and reflect on the year behind me and dream of the year to come.

Light the candles, pour in the bubbles and pour a glass of bubbly for my birthday week!

So, Jaqua, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1) Let’s start with the scent, itself. Bathe or shower yourself in the rich, creamy, buttery vanilla bean scent with a hint of banana and warm florals and go to sleep smelling like cupcakes and dreaming of sugarplums.

2) Lavish your skin with super-skin-quenching moisture. With nourishing ingredients, such as Fruit & Aloe extracts, macadamia, evening primrose oils and vitamins B5, A & E, you’ll always step out of your bathing experience with skin that feels as delicious as it smells.

3) Um, put simply, Jaqua just has the cutest packaging around. Girls of EVERY age love the chocolate damask print and it coordinates so well with the pink of the gel. And, let’s be honest – we’re girls! We like pretty things. There, I said it.

So, now you know what I’ll be bathing in all week long while celebrating my birthday…

 

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: What’s your birthday bath product of choice? 

Frosting Friday: BeautyFrosting’s Boy or Girl? CreamCup Cupcakes

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So, my sweet neighbor-friends, Hope and Jay, asked me to be part of their Reveal The Baby’s Sex Shower. Yaya! But, now, I had a verrry big secret to keep.

A secret can either be stressful or fun! In this case, it was DEFINITELY the latter!

Boy or Girl? Baby Shower Cupcakes

The hardest part was figuring out how to keep the blue or pink-hued frosting away from prying neighbors’ eyes!

I always turn to my Easy Sour CreamCup Cupcakes recipe when I have a big batch like this one! 72 cupcakes, y’all!!!

6 dozen Boy or Girl Cupcakes

So, here we go:

BeautyFrosting’s Easy Sour CreamCup Cupcakes

1 stick (1/2 c) Butter, softened

2/3 c. water

3 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 box White Cake Mix

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine water and butter. Add eggs one at a time and mix completely until a bit foamy. Add sour cream and mix well. Add cake mix, one cup at a time. Stir until baby-butt smooth.

Pour into 24 cupcake cups in pans.

Bake for 25-35 minutes.

BF Bite: If you’re unsure if they’re done, gently insert a toothpick or sharp knife into center of center cupcake. If it comes out dry, they’re ready! If it’s still wet, they need to bake some more!

BF’s Sweet CreamCup Frosting

1 c. Butter-flavored Crisco (room temp)
1 c. Unsalted Butter (room temp)
8 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream (add until desired texture is met)
Cream butter and sugar until well-blended.
Add confectioners sugar cup by cup. Add vanilla and salt.
Add heavy cream as needed, as you go, until fluffy, creamy buttercream is achieved.
Filling
Set aside 1/3 of frosting for filling.
Add 1/2 c. of seedless raspberry jam to frosting. Mix until evenly distributed.It will give the cupcakes a little zing! Add either pink or blue food coloring. In the case of Hope & Jay, it was pink!
Now, for proper filling, you really wanna have a Bismarck tip (Wilton #230).

Wilton Bismarck tip #230

Trust me. It will make life much sweeter for you.
Take the tip (which you have attached to pink/blue raspberry frosting-filled icing bag) and insert the tip into the center of the cupcake. Squeeze. And withdraw the tip.
Do this for all cupcakes.
You’ll have a lovely frosting-filled cupcake like so:

It's a girl!!!

 Next, frost with your Sweet CreamCup frosting. And decorate with an even-number of alternating pink and blue question marks.
What to do if the sex is undetermined at this point? YELLOW!!!
xoxo,
BF