Seriously.. it has to be a crime...

To be this friggin good looking. I just had to share this bit of news with yall. I discovered the TV series One Tree Hill not too long ago and I have to admit, yeah the show is interesting but the main reason I watch it is because of this piece of man candy. Always put a smile on my face.. hehehe. Chad Michael Murray is just too yummy for his own good. Now I have a reason to sit and stare at my blog 24/7. lol

Killer Smile! and those eyes Ok I just passed out for the 90th time.

It's all in the eyes

a little bit of fun..

lol.. turn up your volume..

wearable Art...

Love is kind.. Grow!.. Night V. ( abstract, chinese caligraphy) ( 2007 TP signature Apparel)

Have you ever walked into a store and saw a shirt that "spoke" to you. You couldn't resist because this shirt as interpreted by you tells you a story of your past, present, or future. No, I am not talking about the " Skinny Bitch" or” Bad Ass girl" shirts that have been made very popular by Junkfood and their celeb clientele.

I am talking about a form of wearable art that speaks to you in same language a piece of art would speak to you. Something you can relate to in your own words. I have always had a thing for abstract art, Chinese calligraphy and surrealism so the decision has been made that the next t-shirt designs coming from TP sig app.. will be heavily influence by these types of art.

There will be 2 versions of the LKG shirts called Day and Night. Self explanatory. Now, with the massive response the TP signature tanks are getting I think it won’t be a bad idea to have a few ready for the Xmas season. Kind of like the Playsation3. lol

Pictured below is male day and female night version of love is kind..grow!

To pre order online please visit www.hotntrendy.com

Basics: Loose Eye Shadow Application

I always find it very hard to believe when ladies tell me that they have no clue about makeup application. Sometimes I ask them to prove it by showing me what they can do and sure enough the their skills are similar to that of a 5 year old me. (I was on fire for a 5 year old ..lol)

I'll give basic ways to look good without the hassle.

How to Apply Loose Powder Eye Shadow ( Very Basic Steps for your lid only)

Loose Powder Eyeshadows are higly pigmented powders that give a fab finish when applied correctly. They work just as well or even better than pressed eye shadow mainly because they are richer in color. The only issue is it can be messy if not handled properly. I call it the eye shadow for "true ladies".

Below is a diagram of some areas I named. If I missed something let me know and ill re do it. Keep in mind we all have different eye shapes so you have to use this as a guide to do what works best for you.

Step 1: Carefully open your jar of loose powder eye shadow

Step 2: Take an oval shaped eye shadow sponge like the one pictured below and press down hard onto the loose pigment making sure to pick up just enough for the initial application, keeping in mind that a little goes a long way. Tap off any excess.

Note: When choosing your applicator try getting the double edged one, that way you can use one applicator for different colors. Also, keep in mind the softer the sponge, the better and ovals work better than rounds because they can get into smaller areas without getting makeup all over the place)

Step 3: At this point I am guessing you are in front of the mirror. Tilt your head upwards (can you see your brain.. lol) and stretch your lid out as far as you can making sure to expose as much of the lid as possible ( pretend you are trying to count how many lines are on your eye lid). Do not close your eyes!!!! Carefully apply color onto lid starting inside and working your way out, in a "brush strokes" motion. Feel free to dab color on lid with your sponge to get a more intence color. Always remember it is better to start with less color and increase slightly till desired shade is achieved ( This is till you get the hang of things and know what consistency works for you)

Note: You are only applying eye shadow starting at the lash line and stoping at the crease ( where you can feel your eye balls)

Step4: Without adding more powder take the sponge and in a back and forth motion go over your crease making sure not to go past the crease to create a gradient.

and you are done.... also, always remember too much of everything is never good so do not overdo things.

The key to working with loose eye shadow is to make sure you tap off the excess so it doesnt get too messy. Once you get the hang of the basic steps the rest is easy and loads of fun. I love using all kinds of colors on my lids my favs being blues, greens and golds with black on my crease. Sometimes, depending on the shade I am using, I do a light gold on my brow bone. I do lid only when I am in a hurry or when I do not want to look "made up". Its simple, its less time consuming and gives just the right added touch to your face.

Pictures from the Exquisite Mag Event

As I mentioned before Exquisite Magazine hosted a tea party in Lagos featuring Toni Payne Cosmetics. Below are some pictures from the Tea Party.. I have more beauty talk/sessions coming up this year and next, worldwide. Will post dates and locations so just in case I am in your neck on the woods you can come down to watch me speak. (I promise not to bore you). I am also planning an event in LAG for early next year. I can't release the details yet but it will be a must attend event with massive media coverage. I will update you once everything is set in stone. Enjoy!

The Exquisite Mag Pose

Product shot

Q and A with guest

Talking about beauty always grabs attention

The discussion gets intence

House of Henri model getting made up

Cracking jokes

Lovely Ladies

What color gloss should I use, Try this!

Alero of BeautifulYou doing what she does best

Ladies gathering to watch a step by step makeover

Fashion by Debbie, CEO of Every Woman

I hope you enjoyed the some of the pictures. I will most likely put some more exclusive ones up once they are done making their press rotation. A special thanks to Beautiful You makeovers for coming through, you did a fab job, also to Oka and associates for such wonderful pictures. If you need a makeup artist or photographer for your next Lagos /NIG event, they come highly recommended so feel free to email me for their contact info.

For any updates about the Toni Payne Line you can always visit www.tonipayneonline.com

They found my bag

9 days
Countless phonecalls
Countless emails
Driving back and forth
8 sleepless nights later

KLM found my bag. To say I am happy is an understatement. My phone rang at 11:50pm and it was the NWA agent I met with on Sunday calling to tell me my bag came in today and they will deliver it tomorrow. After all I had been through? I dont think so! He said they would be closing at 12:45 am, so was I sure. Of course Im sure, even if it means turning my car into a jet. hehehe. So I told him to hold it and Id be on my way to pick it up. I ran to my car and 5 minutes before they closed I had my bag in my possesion.

Note to travellers: Please always have an identifying mark on your bag that makes it stand out. Hell Im bout to go findsome neon pink bags and paint on them. Thats how the man realized it was my bag, because it had initials on it and well, its hard to forget me being adamant about a bag with large initials that cant be missed. He looked happy to be giving me my bag back and lord knows I was very happy to get it back. Going through its content, I was like whooa all these items would have gone just like that. I had sooo much paperwork inside ( very smart right?). Well now its back to business as usual. I thank God that I found my bag. Its amazing ow events like this can throw you off course. He is truly merciful. Thanks to all those who wished me luck and those who prayed. It really helped.

Signing off I would just like to sing a song by Sound Sultan called prayers.. ( chorus only)
No waste your time
No waste your time
Your weapon no fit match my own
The more you dey try
The more we dey shine
With help from the one divine.
bow bow bow
bow bow nowww
bow to the one most high
bowwww.. bow down now
or keep on wasting your time.

Natural born TV personality?

So the episode of NI aired yesterday and lord help me. My phone has been ringing and they all have the same thing to say. I need to drop everything and come be a TV presenter.. lol.

The day I was shooting the cameraman said I was a natural and he wished I could continue working with them. He said that watching me was "captivating" on such a small lens so he can imagine how the audience would feel watching on a bigger screen. Of course I laughed it off as him being extra sweet. Plus I was just being myself so I did not see the big deal in my personality.

Gen Gen!!!!!!!!!!.. the show now airs and all hell broke loose to the tune of business is great but TV is better. The general consensus is that I was born to be on TV. HA!.. Seconds after the show goes off my text message goes off and its my friend Mike aka Ruggedman. He was like "superstar" you did a good job. Coming from him i was like ehn, because I know how brutally honest he can be with me when I bomb things, so of course I had to call him right away to get details. You know, did I flow, was I fun etc etc, and how did he reaaaaly think I did, Well I got a big vote of approval from my boy. Yah me!.

People who saw the show and knew of/me have been calling the Lag store about how I was nice on TV. lol some have gone to the house. LMAO!.... My aunt said I looked like a seasoned presenter and need to move my ass to NIG to do just that. She said I'm a good business woman but from what she saw this is my calling ( now that had me rolling on the floor because she knows how passionate I am about my business). She even offered to pay for my ticket to come down. hahahahaha.

My grandmother asked how I found the time to practice before the show seeing as I was very busy conducting business during my stay, so when I explained to her that the whole show was improvised she ecohed my aunt and said I need to move and do this for a living. My dad said his friends have been calling about how they liked his daughter on AIT. Even the producer rang me up to tell me I was "fantastic" and they want me to host more episodes.

Would you beleive I still havnt seen the show? Now, I am really dying to see it and cant wait for it to be streamed online. Who knows? maybe I am a natural. I have been told several times by Innocent that I really should be in showbiz because of my "character". lol. seeing as he has been around most in the industry maybe he is right.

Anyhoo, once the episode goes online you bet I will put it in my blog and best beleive you are free to critique it as much as you want. Im still not accepting the big deal being made.lol. My aunt is trying to convince me to get a copy of the show and send it down to some shows that air on mnet she was like "ehen, shey you have mtvbase connection, why dont you stop wasting "our" time and use it. Send the tape to him" ( shouting). hahahahaha I see a prospective manager in the horizon.

The shoot was nice, the producer was hella cool, the cameraman was very sweet and the pa very attentive. In fact the whole crew was super cool and I enjoyed every second with them. Yetty you get lots of hugs and lipgloss for having them call me. hehehe. U rock chicka!

Let me marinate in the big deal being made over one show because, yeah, yeah, yeah, Im secretly enjoying all the Kudos.. Now the question is am I really made for TV?

House of Tara, Tv show NI, Mobile Rep etc..

My trip was a huge success. I was going to blog about the Exquisite Tea Party but that will have to wait till KLM finds my luggage. ( all pictures from the tea part was in it) I do not understand why things have to be so difficult for that airline. I have sworn never to fly them again but of course I did not listen to myself and went ahead did the opposite of what I said I would not do. Long and short of it, they misplaced my luggage, and of all the luggages to misplace, it had to be the one with all my important items. At this point I'm trying to stay positive because I know for a fact that they cannot even begin to compensate me. I had priceless items in that bag and it just makes me sad that I did not fly another airline, even after my numerous mishaps with KLM/NWA. Sighs!

On a good note, I hosted the upcoming episode of NI, it is supposed to air on AIT on Saturday Nov4 at 5pm Est, 2pm pacific and I think 9am GMT. It was fun shooting with them, I got to be as goofy as I wanted to be. Of course seeing as I do not have AIT, I have to find someone that does.

So, Toni Payne Cosmetics and Element5 can now be found at the House of Tara, located at 5 Ako Owo ( I hope spelt it right) street, VI. Across from Eko Hotel.

We also have a mobile rep in Lagos, who will be taking care of all personal orders, home parties, etc. If you are in lagos, and you get to meet Miss Odunayo, you will understand why she was chosen. (personality, presentation, etc) If you need someone who knows about makeup and can guide you in the right direction per using Toni Payne products she is definitely your girl. Will be posting her information soon.

So the Abuja crash happened the day I was leaving, a friend of mine was supposed to be coming back from Abuja but missed his flight so you can imagine the scare I had. I had already started wailing because he was not picking up his first one. I finally reached him his other line and was sooo relieved. Just had me thinking how horrible it would have been to lose him and I cannot even begin to imagine how the folks who lost their loved one are feeling right now.

Personally, I think majority of those airlines need to go through some sort of quality control/management every other month. They need to get rid of their 10 billion year old airplanes and stop playing with peoples lives. I mean how many crashes can one country have in a matter of months. Should send alarms ringing all over the place.

Hopefully my next blog will be a bit more interesting. :)