MUA February: Courtney Peterson

Name: Courtney Peterson

IG: @cocobeatit_

Twitter: @lavidecoco_

Where are you from?

I'm from Chicago, Il. 

What made you fall in love with makeup?

The versatility of makeup made me fall in love with it. The power that it can make people feel empowered, and show their beauty, also has been a major factor in my obsession with makeup. 

What is your go-to moisturizer?

My go to moisturizer is Nourish and Shine by Jane Carter. My skin is very dry and it gives me a lot of moisture and a silky feeling to my skin. Also it doubles for hair, and thats a wonderful bonus, because of my natural hair!  

Matte lips, or lipgloss?

Matte Lipstick is everything to me. I like when I can wear it all day and it doesn't feather on my bottom lip. And it is non-transferable ! 

 

 

What time period in beauty do you most wish you could live in for  a few days?

I will always say I wish I could've lived in the 1700's era of Marie Antoinette and King Louis. I absolutely love the pastel colors, the art and the SUPREME BLUSH! It's such a staple, along with the beauty mark. I know it's way different but I love studying that era in history! 

Favorite beauty IGs to follow:

My favorite Beauty IG's to follow are @celia_leslie, @aaliyahjay & @goldenbih 

Best way for fans to keep up with what you're doing?

Through my instagram @cocobeatit_ and my youtube which is @LifewithCourt. 

What is your advice for plus sized fashionistas who want to look and feel fabulous?

Find the silver lining in everything that happens. I love and accept who I am . I love to stay positive even when it doesn't seem like there is anything to smile about. I just do it. Stay fearless! 

What can we do, right now, to make the world a better place?

To make our world a better place, we should uplift ourselves. I feel that we should change the way the younger generation perceives us. I use my social media platform to show that there is more to me than showing my body. I believe as women we should be better role models and think before we act and change the perception that we only care about our outer features, rather than what's inside of us. Encourage each other more. Implementing positivity is always a must, and I feel we sometimes lack that whether we are male or female. It's essential that we all reach for higher standards for ourselves and do not settle for less than we deserve. 

Favorite red lipstick: BeautyByRudy Wildfire; it is perfectly pigmented and glossy lipstick.

Favorite song: Team by Lorde, I honestly keep her whole album Pure Heroine on repeat everyday.

Favorite website for buying beauty: No website, I prefer to be at a store seeing the product and swatching it. I don't like ordering online for any beauty related products unless I really have to.

Favorite nail polish: Currently chrome. Any color chrome, by the way. It's my favorite and it lasts so long without chipping, if done the right way. I get so many compliments too!

Kendry Bird's Top 4 Girl Crushes

STEVIE NICKS

 One of my earliest memories is of sitting at the foot of our baker's rack, staring at my mom's record collection. We kept our ancient record player on the bottom section of the rack, along with the small collection of records that my parents had hobbled together over the years. It was my mom's records, though, that fascinated me the most, especially one in particular... Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna. Stevie looked like a mythical princess to my eyes, wearing a gorgeous dress and holding a bird with the same doe-eyed enchantment of a Disney character. I wanted to know more about her and vowed to myself that someday I would find out where she'd come from and go there, since obviously it was a magical place.

Stevie stuck with me as a point of inspiration throughout my life. She's enigmatic and powerful, a songwriter to rival all songwriters, and she's not married. Something about that has been hopeful for me, the eternally single, career-minded writer with a taste for dresses and magic. Her song, "Juliet" is one of my favorite songs ever, because every strange, poetic and mysterious word of it relates in some fractured way to my life.

And I'd still love to raid her closet.

KATE HUDSON

Around 18 or 20, I remember picking up a copy of a fashion magazine at the library, and Kate was the cover story. She said something about how she would go to school without makeup, with zit cream on her face. At the time, that was revolutionary for me. I’ve always struggled a lot with self image and weight issues and whatnot, and still do even now (see: yesterday), but that was so inspirational. Here was this successful woman saying she didn’t have to always look 100%, she could admit to NEEDING zit cream… I mean, it was a crazy thing for me to read. It stuck with me, though, and I’ve been TeamKate ever since. She gets so much crap for a number of things, namely her personal/romantic life and her weight, and I’ve always thought it was unfair. She’s chipper, optimistic, funny and likes food and great clothes. I can get behind that! She’s pretty unapologetic about herself, and maybe that’s the problem people have with her… she’s a woman who’s not afraid to say she likes guys... a lot! She’s not afraid to say she’s weighed 185lbs. She’s also a killer cool mom and has dabbled in making kickass dresses (see: my Ann Taylor dress) and athletic wear and all kinds of other cool stuff, while not making fabulous movies. To me, that’s awesome.

Kate was also the one who introduced me to my love of designer fashion. Her iconic dress, eleven years ago now, stopped me in my tracks in a grocery store while I flipped through a magazine. From that moment, I paid more attention to designers, red-carpets and fashion in general. That dress still stands out as one of my favorite red-carpet moments.

(The legendary 2003 dress!)

 

FLORENCE WELCH

Much like Stevie Nicks before her, Florence Welch is an enigmatic, mysterious, gorgeous creature who seems to have flown directly out of a painting or a fantasy novel. Her songs are about love and life and death but they're also about magic and lights and spells. I was fascinated by her since she was first featured in Q magazine, and started listening to her waaay before she became popular in the US (there's my hipster moment for you)

On top of being all of those things, she's also the same age as me and has a similar eccentric taste in clothes. Whether she's wearing a dress from the 1930s, a peasant blouse, a short short skirt, a flowing dress made for a queen or a bathing suit with giant flowery shoulders, she's always a spectacle. And her voice could shake the foundations of the world. What an incredible woman!

HEIDI KLUM

Much like Kate Hudson, Heidi Klum is a positive influence with a lot of ambition and power behind her. I've always admired her open-minded approach to life, arms open and a big smile on her face. She's not afraid to say what she thinks about things and she's not afraid to have fun. She's also a mom to four kids (FOUR!) and has a career that most of us would die for. And hello? She's WAY gorgeous. Because of my opportunities to know so many lovely people from Project Runway, I've heard stories about Heidi from behind the scenes. She lives up to the hype, and she continues to inspire me on so many levels. This is a woman who still did her own taxes until a few years ago, revitalized the Victoria's Secret brand, helped create Project Runway AND saved her children from a riptide. Respect.

(One of my all time favorite Heidi looks!)