Tag Archives: pittsburgh

Nov17

Living Microbladed

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Living Microbladed

Helloooo everyone and welcome to one of two follow up posts from Lil Red’s Adventures In Microblading! As you all know, I visited La Marie Brow Club in Pittsburgh in October to have my brows finessed by my cousin, Laura. And, now that my makeup routine has been literally cut back seventy-five percent and I never have to buy an eyebrow pencil again, I simply cannot believe that I didn’t have Laura do my brows when she began her business last year. Take a look at my result pics and let’s discuss:

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Living Microbladed is the best thing that ever could have happened to my face, lol. Seriously, the time that is saved from having perfect brows is second to none. I can sleep in longer or I can get up at my normal time and finish an extraordinary amount of work on my blog before I leave for work because I’m not wasting my time trying to get both eyebrows to look exactly the same with makeup.

My new eyebrows make me feel SO freaking confident. They frame my face in a way that my natural brows never could, with or without makeup, and they make my eyes pop, pop, pop! Even my boyfriend thinks that they make me look “more sophisticated” and I totally agree – I love it!

Laura is going to touch my brows up in mid December and during this session she is going to add any extra hair strokes that she might have missed. I am also going to have her darken them to the color that they were when I first got them done. The color that Laura chose is perfect because it’s the exact same color as the pencil that I was using. But, now that they have lightened to that color, I now know that I prefer them to be a bit darker. I’m excited! 😀

I cannot wait to visit La Marie Brow Club again in December and do be sure to check out my last blog post on my adventures and schedule your appointment with Laura today!

Would you ever get microbladed? What is your eyebrow makeup routine? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct19

Lil Red’s Adventures In Microblading

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Lil Red’s Adventures In Microblading

Hello! During a recent trip to Pittsburgh, I got to spend time with my super cool cousin, Laura, exploring the city, eating hella food, and having her microblade me! Laura is one of the pioneers in bringing microblading to Pittsburgh and owns her own studio, La Marie Brow Club, where she works her magic. Admittedly nervous, although I had absolutely no reason to be after the fact, I am now a walking testament to Laura’s work and am a firm believer in the power of microblading!

My nervousness definitely stemmed from the fact that I am a low key girl when it comes to my brows. I fill them in with an eighty-nine cent pencil annnnd that’s about it. Whenever I pluck them, I always end up overdoing it so, now, I just let them do their own thang. Have I wanted better brows? Sure. But, I’ve never been keen on constant waxing and maintenance and, at first, microblading sounded lightweight terrifying! But, now that I officially have amazing brows, I can’t believe that I didn’t do this sooner. Take a look at my before and after shots and, then, we’ll discuss everything further:

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As soon as we got to the salon, Laura immediately got to work preparing the space and explaining the first steps in the microblading process to me. First, we took some before pictures, which you can see above. And, then, Laura began to map out my brows according to my preferred side, which happens to be ol’ rightie. She used an eyebrow pencil to take measurements and used her makeup artist’s eye to create an outline that enhanced my right brow and made my left brow closely mimic its partner.

After a game plan was made special for my MUG, Laura applied a topical numbing agent to my brow area and we let it sit for twenty minutes before the microblading began. For those of you who aren’t hip, microblading is the manual process of implanting pigment into the upper region of our skin’s dermis in a way to mimic the appearance of natural hair. The blade that is used is dipped in pigment and each hair stroke is manually placed into the skin.

Once my brows were comfortably numb, Laura began the microblading festivities. The best way that I can describe the feeling of being microbladed is like getting papercuts on your eyebrows. Papercuts are a pain in the butt. But they are not unbearable and, although I could definitely feel some strokes more than others, the overall level of pain was extremely tolerable.

During a brief break after Laura’s first pass with my brows, a second numbing agent was applied to help ease any discomfort after wiping them down. Then, a second go was made for Laura to add the final touches and hair strokes to complete my beautiful new brows!

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^^^ Peep those results!

Spending time with Laura in her salon has been the highlight of my last few months and I cannot wait to come back to Pittsburgh in two months for her to touch my brows up. La Marie Brow Club provided a sterile and safe environment for me to get eyebrows perfectly customized for my face. Laura made me feel so comfortable and secure with all of the choices that we made together and she walked me through every step of the way with ease.

Watching my cousin display her amazing talents and doing a damn good job of it was so inspiring to me. Laura’s artistry involves immense skill and she was able to complete a task that looks dauntingly difficult with a smile on her face and well thought out answers to all of my questions. Saying I recommend Laura highly is an understatement, because she instilled a newfound confidence in me with her craft, and nothing can ever top that.

Take an inside look at Laura’s salon, located behind Lantern Rose tattoo shop!

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More about Laura:

Laura opened her business, La Marie Brow Club, in April of 2017 and received her certification in January of 2016. Not only does she offer microblading, but she also does upper lash line enhancement, freckles, beauty marks, and tooth gems (Which are so cute!). Laura has spent over ten years in the field as a licensed cosmetologist and esthetician, but enjoys doing eyebrows the most. When she is not booked at the salon, she loves spending time with her boyfriend, Victor, and beloved pets: Randy the cat and Lucille and Igor the Boston Terriers (And they are all so cute, too!).

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Interested in getting microbladed? You can reach Laura with the following:

Social Media Platforms

Thank you so much again to my beautiful and talented cousin for finessing my brows! Laura has the Lil Red Guarantee for fantastic results and service so, if you were at all on the fence about being microbladed like I was, trust in that and schedule an appointment today!

Do you have microbladed brows? How were your results? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar18

Omg Omg Omg.

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Omg Omg Omg.

HELLOOOO!! As you all know, I love Jack White. I have loved him since I was probably eight years old and my feelings have only deepened as time went on. I have all of his albums from all of his bands, I have his lyrics tattooed on me – but, sadly, I have never seen him in concert. BUT THAT IS ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE THIS JUNE!!

With Jack’s new album, Boarding House Reach, coming out on March 23rd, a tour to celebrate only seems appropriate. So, when I got word that Mr. White would be gracing Cleveland with his presence, getting tickets became an absolute necessity. And, using the old “Can I get the tickets for a birthday present” trick worked very nicely with my parents!!

After confirming that this would be my birthday gift, even though I totally would have paid for the tickets myself had it not worked, I began scouring the various ticket venue websites. I landed on LiveNation and was about to purchase two tickets for the pit in the front of the stage (Eeeek!), until I saw their exorbitant processing fees, which totaled to an extra hundred dollars. An extra hundred dollars my ass!!

I instantly poo pooed LiveNation, and decided to see if Jack White had any other performances that were farther away in the calendar that might be cheaper. Of course, I realize that this logic was skewed, but desperate times, man. Desperate times. It was then, that I discovered that Jack White was headlining X Fest, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along with AWOLNATION, Cold War Kids, Sir Sly, and other performers to be announced. I could definitely work with that!

I ended up purchasing front of the stage pit tickets on Vivid Seats and wound up saving about sixty dollars in processing fees. Suck it, LiveNation. And, now, not only will I finally see Jack White in concert, but I will get to see AWOLNATION for the second time, and Cold War Kids and Sir Sly for the first time. And, I just so happen to deeply enjoy them, too! It doesn’t get much better than that!

THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!! ❤

Five days before my June 7th birthday, I will get to attend the concert of a lifetime and I’m so excited I could cry. Now, can it hurry up and get here, or?!

Which artist would you love to see in concert? Who else is a huge Jack White fan? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct2

Monday Update: Marilyn Manson Concert Edition

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Monday Update: Marilyn Manson Concert Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! This past Friday my sister, Kristen, and I trekked to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (About a two hour drive.) to see Marilyn Manson in concert for his Heaven Upside Down tour at Stage AE. After literal months of anticipation for this show, it was finally the night and the performance definitely didn’t disappoint. ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT WE WERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STAGE!! Take a look at some low quality iPod pictures and let’s discuss:

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^^^ Lol, I love that last picture. “Ayyy”.

First of all, Stage AE was an absolutely excellent venue. It seemed like no matter where you stood in the crowd, your visibility of the stage was average at a minimum and amazing at the max. Kristen and I began our concert experience with an okay viewing for the opener (Alice Glass, who I’m not even going to talk about because she sucked.), and ended our night in front of the stage.

How, you might ask?

Well, it’s not like the crowd was intensely rowdy throughout the show. Some fights definitely did break out but nothing “major”, and some people just weren’t comfortable with it (understandably) and opted to get away from the vicinity of the mosh pit. So as soon as people left the area for safety purposes, drinks, or what have you, Kristen and I would make our way forward until we had a view of Marilyn Manson at all times during the concert.

And speaking of the concert…

It. was. AMAZING. Manson is nearing fifty years of age, and I told Kristen on our way home that this is probably the best we’re going to see of him since he isn’t getting any younger. There was no on stage self harm, no crazy gimmicks with girls, minimal audience banter, and not even an inkling of violence. This show was everything that his performances weren’t when the band was just starting out, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a lot of fun.

The Heaven Upside Down tour didn’t seem so much of a celebration of his new album of the same name, rather, an ode to some old school Marilyn Manson hits that even people who don’t even like Manson love. We’re talking The Dope Show, Lunchbox, mOBSCENE, This Is The New Shit, No Reflection, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), and The Beautiful People.

Marilyn Manson played four songs off of Heaven Upside Down and opened the show with the album opener of Revelation #12. He then peppered KILL4ME, WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE, and SAY10 into the set list. The rest of the show was filled with Deep Six (I’m disappointed that more songs from The Pale Emperor weren’t played.) and Tourniquet, which is another old love. (Manson then encored with Coma White but, alas, Kristen and I had to make the two hour drive home so that she could work early in the morning.)

^^^ Obviously the set list rocked…

And the performance that came along with it was just as good. The lighting, the different costumes Manson donned, his gorgeous speaking/singing/screaming voice – it all worked so well. I mean, a front row view doesn’t hurt, but it was a damn good show. Fans that were able to see Marilyn Manson in the beginning might think that he is slowing down (Unfortunately, I was a toddler so until time travel is invented, I will never know what his early shows were like first hand.), but, to me, he is just getting started.

Marilyn Manson dragged his last album, The Pale Emperor, through some gritty, rough blues influence and it came as a triumphant, different comeback. Yes, some tracks off of Heaven Upside Down does sound like classic Manson (KILL4ME and WE KNOW WHERE YOU FUCKING LIVE, anyone?) but that doesn’t mean that the whole album will, and I’m looking forward to exploring it in its entirety when it comes out on October 6th.

Marilyn Manson is at a stage of experimentation that is working in his favor – from his art, acting, and playing with new and unique sounds – everything seems to be a success. I expect Heaven Upside Down to reflect these gutsy changes and the fact that he is soon going to be a half a century in age. Friday’s concert brought us some old school fun mixed with new favorites, but it seems like the party is raging on just fine for Manson in a way that’s not only, dare I say, age appropriate, but totally fucking cool.

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Marilyn Manson Concert Edition! What was the last concert that you attended? How do you feel about Marilyn Manson? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct14

A music dream come true! Part 2!!!

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A music dream come true! Part 2!!!

So as many of you know, I love AFI. And if you’ve read my post A music dream come true, you’ll know that I’m seeing them in concert in Pittsburgh. AND THAT HAPPENS TO BE TODAY!!!!! Words can’t even begin to express how excited I am. I’ve been longing to see them in concert since I discovered AFI almost ten years ago. I’ve never been to a real punk concert before – like in an actual stadium with mosh pits and swarms of emo kids so I’m very much looking forward to this experience! One of the first albums I bought was Sing the Sorrow, so I’m really hoping they’ll play a lot from that album. One of my all time favorite AFI songs and songs in general happens to be Silver and Cold off of that album. I remember hearing it at eleven years old and thinking it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Here I am at twenty, and I still feel the exact same way.

There’s something so special about getting to experience one of your favorite bands live. I’ll never forget seeing U2 live in Pittsburgh two years ago with my family. That was a show for the ages and one of my most treasured memories. I cried so much during that concert, but they were happy tears. I can guarantee you guys that I’ll be crying a lot during the show tonight. I’m sure they’ll be tears of pure joy though! I’m just so excited to hear all of the songs that I’ve felt like were written specifically for me live. AFI’s music has made me feel like they flipped through the pages of my journals and wrote albums upon albums about my struggles. I think that’s why I love them so much. They understand the darkness of life and they understand pain. You would think that hearing that type of music would make me feel upset – but it does quite the opposite. It makes me feel like I’m not alone. It makes me feel like I’m understood. And that is so, so beautiful to me.

I can’t wait to tell all of you guys about the concert! Also, please send good vibes my way, as there’s a pretty bad storm passing through the area that my sister and I will be driving through. Have a fantastic day – I know I will!!!! -Sarah