Two Innovative, Lovely Spring Faves

Call me a traditionalist but I want my spring makeup to be fresh and pretty - even if the runways are trending otherwise.  I mean petals are blooming about and my skin looks so GOOD (not dried out like in winter or summertime greasy).  There are two major standout discoveries on the product front this spring that I'm pretty much dying over.  First was Make Up For Ever's High Definition Blush, a highly pigmented cream that comes in a pump. Cream blushes are an obsession of mine and I don't think there's anything on the market that's quite like this.  Once applied it doesn't feel like cream.  It kind of bonds to the skin (longer lasting than any I've tried) and feels smooth and weightless.  Cream-to-powder blushes come close but end up feeling and looking powdery.  This one does not- it gives off a very subtle light.  There are no shimmery particles at all so that is the mystery.  How does it subtly glow like that?  I am already using these on my brides and they love it.  The most used and universally flattering color is #3, a rose with a touch of brown  (their site calls this fuschia but it is not even close to being that bright).  A similar color for warmer complexions is # 7, a  light warm pink  described on their site as light peach.  I personally enjoy wearing the bright  peach #14.  A little goes a long way so you'll want to barely touch it and apply in a series of rapid pats and sweeps with your finger. You cannot really judge the colors by looking at them in the bottles or the site swatches so it's best to try them in person.  

I struggle with lip stains because I LOVE the look of them but I don't like the weightless feel ones.  It feels like I'm drawing on my lips with a magic marker. Others feel and smell like lipstick, which I don't wear much.  I really want to reward the people who came up with Tarte's Natural Lip Stain with LipSurgence Technology.  This solid gel (just like their amazing cheek stain) feels like a minty moist lip balm but leaves a stain behind when it wears off.  The closes thing I've tried is a tinted lip balm, but those don't come in a gel form and don't leave behind a stain.  It feels GREAT on the lips and looks so fresh!  As an added bonus, I have finally found a gorgeous SHEER tomato red lip product that can be worn in spring . Although the color is called Lust, I don't think it's too overtly sexy.  I hope they come up with more colors.  I feel like their future cult favorite color that everyone will love is just around the corner.

My Very Own Freida Pinto

Anjali is not a model but she is one of those "regular people" that is quite a head turner!  When I first met her it was during Slumdog Millionaire mania.  Like everyone who watched the movie, I was enthralled with Freida Pinto's beauty.  Then she was featured in that pinup style photo for Vanity Fair and I totally wanted to re-create it.  I asked Anjali to be my Freida and was so glad she was into it.  As the  planning progressed, we began to lose sight of the retro theme and it took a new direction,  She wanted big hair and I wanted to use my Liquid Metal greenish gold cream shadow from Illmasqua.  What a fun night vamping it up for the camera!

 

Bowled Over

Nicole is from a family of hard core bowlers so it was no surprise to learn that she met her man (where else?!)...bowling!  And while the girls spent the morning of the wedding primping, he was (what else?!)...getting in a few frames before the ceremony.  I loved this family so much and really enjoyed spending time with them.  Nicole wanted a very classic look for herself and the wedding details so she chose a classic updo for her hairstyle.  She had been using black eyeliner with white shimmery shadow but I thought it was a bit too stark of a look for her.  We softened it with an espresso brown liner with taupe and shimmery champagne shadow accents.  She loved it and agreed that it suited her skin tone and style perfectly. Like many people, Nicole's eyelids tend to get oily so we primed them with Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion and used Tarte's waterproof creaseproof Lock and Roll Eyeshadow Duo in rose gold on the lids.  Nicole's sister (who was more nervous than her!) opted for a "french twist with a twist" hairstyle.  Nicole surprised her with a beautiful gift of custom made jeweled hair pins - perfect for an updo.  Mom went for a nice blowout to give her bob a little shape and movement and very natural makeup to show off her beautiful skin.  I heard the groomsmen were blown away when they saw the ladies.  That's what I like to hear!  Good luck Nicole!  I wish you and Frankie the very best.  These lovely images were taken by Zaven's Photography for Bella Pictures.

Meatpacking District Couple's Shoot

When I was a college freshman, my boyfriend and I decided to get our pictures taken together by a professional.  They were just a bunch of poses in a cheesy studio in Boise, Idaho- not a cool shoot like this  in NYC's Meatpacking District- but still good memories.  Capture that youth on film, people!!!

Fernanda is a half Spanish, half Arab dream-come-true to put makeup on.  Those eyes, those pillowy lips! 

Heck, I even put a little makeup on David.  I assured him he wouldn't look like one of those guys wearing makeup but just took a little redness and shine out of his skin, groomed the brows, and exfoliated the lips.  He was so fascinated when he saw himself in the mirror.  "No, you can't wear makeup every day!" I teased.  Love his cool rockabilly style.

Perfect backdrop for these two who went to the same art school...

 

 

 Thank you so much to Jang Photographers for sharing these images with me.

MAC Pro Master Class + new MAC faves

Every year I try and take a MAC Pro Master Class because I learn so much from watching these master  artists and really feel a sense of inspiration afterwards.  The New York pro store is also an amazing space that was clearly built to inspire.  Kudos to MAC for choosing Keri B to teach the bridal class which I thought was the best I'd ever attended. Keri was very  prepared and willing to share information with us, from business and social aspects of working with brides to kit essentials and techniques.  Of course the big treat for everyone was watching her "build" the model's face layer by layer.  I loved the way she moved the Tete-a-Tint eye shadow (a warm matte caramel color) throughout the crease of the eye, coaxing it up towards the inner eyebrow and outer eye.  The matte color contrasted with the shimmery pigments on the lid were such a beautiful balance.  I pledged myself to use warmer colors more often on blue-eyed blondes.  After all, as our teacher pointed out, blue and orange are complimentary colors on the color wheel.   Look how BLUE the model's eyes seem framed in the warm colors.

My super new favorite product I had to have after the demo was the eyeliner she used to line the inner rim of the lids.  Longwearing waterproof Powerpoint pencils are one of my kit staples but the burnished gold color Power Surge is amazing (downside: these are the hardest MAC liners to blend).  I'm already thinking ahead for summer when dark liner just looks too heavy and this shimmering almost-khaki will look great with my green eyes and a light (fake! :) tan.  I don't see the color listed on the MAC website...panic panic...but I found one easily in a MAC store. My other favorite from the class is Shaping Powder in Lightsweep,  a limited edition pro product that you can only buy in MAC stores that sell the pro line.  This is the most absolutely subtle highlighter I have ever seen.  It  looks just like a powder compact but it is velvety goodness!  Brides and highlighters don't always go hand in hand.  A lot of them are just too shimmery or sparkly for photographs or a long day.  When buffed into the skin, this gives you that barely discernable lit-from-within glow.  I just used it on a bride yesterday and it looked GORGEOUS.  Thank you Keri B for an afternoon very well spent!

  

Smitten Kitten

The morning of Tricee's wedding I saw her groom in the lobby by himself grinning from ear to ear. He didn't see me watching him but he was almost floating on air with happiness. I almost expected him to skip down the street and jump up and click his heels together! Out of all the grooms I've met, he wins the award for most smitten. It's easy to see why when you meet Tricee, the picture of classic simple elegance. I think she may have been a First Lady in a former life.

The wedding took place in their home on a beautiful sunlit morning. The soft rosy makeup look was perfect for this time of day. A key product for achieving this look was Graftobian's Hi-Def Creme Blush Palette. This is one of the longer lasting cream blushes I have found as it lightly stains the skin and every color in the palette is beautiful. I must admit Tricee had me losing sleep when she told me that if we did not find the perfectly understated not-too-light not-too-dark smudge free mascara she would just not wear any. WHAT?! No mascara?!! The thought of sending her down the aisle without any physically pained me. Luckily she and I both shopped it up for mascaras and found a winner. It came down to the wire with her hairstyle, as we were still not completely decided about it on the morning of the wedding. In the end, she decided too much volume on top and too much hair pulled back looked overdone for the overall feel of the occasion. I was so happy when I received an email from her saying her beloved was over the moon when he saw her and that he was glad I had "preserved her natural beauty". Yay! Thank you to David Lindner Photography for the photos. Good luck Tricee! I can't wait to hear about your second overseas wedding!

Back to the Field Makeup Solutions

My years in Washington, DC gave me the opportunity to work with amazing women who have dedicated much of their careers to working overseas. Whether they are professional humanitarians, Peace Corps volunteers, government, NGO, or U.N. workers, returning from a long stint overseas often means a big readjustment to the beauty routine. Power suits and professional makeup and hair are a must in that town so you need to kick it up a notch! This weekend I did a makeup lesson, hairstyling lesson, and guided shopping trip with a woman who works for the State Department. She will be spending the next seven months in DC for language training before returning to a new assignment in a hot and muggy Asian country so the focus was preparing a beautiful professional look to beat the heat.

A common thread amongst nearly every returnee is the toll it has taken on the skin around their eyes. EYE CREAM people! PLEASE! This woman's skin was also prone to breakouts so I recommended an oil-free budge-proof regime. She had been using mineral makeup but I convinced her to ditch it because it was the kind that needs to be buffed which would only enhance the shiny look. A nice alternative might have been a pressed mineral compact (not as messy and no need to buff) but I didn't think she'd get enough coverage from it. We visited the Laura Mercier counter where I had her try on the long-wearing buildable coverage oil-free foundation. It looked gorgeous but I still recommended that she walk around with it on to see how it felt after time. It held up well through the day and felt lightweight so she ended up purchasing it. I also recommended Laura's undercover pot which is a trio of her beautifully creamy undereye concealer (my favorite out of all brands and great for eyes that need moisture), a drier concealer for facial blemishes, and a translucent powder to press on the concealer and set it. We decided that something simple for everyday would be best on eyes so I showed her my favorite all-day-wearing cream shadows from MAC, Bobbi Brown, and Benefit. She has brown hair and blue eyes so she can wear both browns and greys. Benefit's pewter colored creaseless cream eyeshadow (a warm grey with a brown olive tinge) in skinny jeans was the winning color and the perfect middle ground. I showed her how to use her pinky to apply it darker on the outer half of her eyelid first and then keep it more sheer on the inner half. Warning! This product sets very quickly so you have to work fast to blend it properly. Waterproof mascara, some highly pigmented powder blush, and Smashbox's limitless long wearing lip gloss in infinite finished up the lovely and long-lasting look.

Like many people who have thin oil-prone hair, she does not put any product in it. That only makes it worse! We determined that her shampoo and conditioner were weighing it down from the start. Our key theme for hair was VOLUMIZING. She needed volumizing shampoo and conditioner (only use on the tips of hair if tangled-not at the scalp) and volumizing mousse to add body and help stop oil production at the roots. I begged her to blowdry it upside down in the months that weren't too hot just to give it some body. Another option is to sleep with wet moussed hair in the hotter months. It will need a little re-styling in the morning but will have much more body than just wash-n-go. I'm looking forward to getting my post-report from her on how everything is working out!

Face to Face with my Idol

I met Jeanine Lobell yesterday and I am still floating on cloud 9. When I found out that she was going to appear at the Healing Arts for Haiti event, I freaked out and made the kids trek with me into the city in hopes of catching a glimpse of her or hearing her speak. Not only did I see her, she put makeup on me!!! Seriously, it was heaven. Jeanine is the creator of Stila cosmetics and a brilliant makeup artist. I have been a Stila fan since the late 90s. I loved all of the innovative products and packaging she came up with, the seasonal limited edition palettes were consistently gorgeous, and they even had little mini booklets with step by step directions so people could learn how to "get the look" after buying the products. The weightless feel lip stains, the now famous click-turn pen style lip glosses, the wet/dry shadows, the anti-bacterial touch pad foundation, the lipstick colors named after the movie stars who wore them, the illuminating properties of the products, the multi-use stuff such as convertible color, the quotes from famous women on the inside of the shadows...all of these things rocked my world back then. Most of all, when cruising through the department stores looking at the various makeup lines, Stila's aesthetic always stood out to me as a beauty ideal. Fresh, pretty, fun. Jeanine is still a busy working makeup artist. Here are a few recent magazine covers.

I thoroughly enjoyed talking with her while she put makeup on me. We discussed what kind of projects she is doing now, a little product talk, and she gave me some great advice about integrating kids into your life as a makeup artist (she has four!). I loved what she did on my eyes especially and I wish I had a picture that did it justice. The look was dark plum but up close there was very carefully blended in shimmery parts that made the whole thing look illuminated in certain light (you can see a bit of this in the Liv Tyler cover). She used a pale shimmery mauve-y color to line the inner rim of the eye which I would have never thought to do. It balanced so nicely with my green eyes but didn't make them look smaller. I spent the rest of the evening doing a happy dance and studying my face in the mirror. What a treat!

MAC Pro fashion week class + Lady Gaga 4 viva glam

MAC flatiron store & Chic Studios NYC presented a wonderful pro class on Monday, complete with demos of two fashion week inspired runway looks using MAC's newest products. Artists were also treated to an exclusive sneak peak days before the official launch of the two new viva glam lipsticks inspired by Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga that [sidebar: I was mortified when a youngster sitting near me had no idea who Cyndi Lauper was!]. Cyndi's lipstick is a fresh strawberry red - nothing sultry or vampy - that is perfect for spring and for those who like a bright mouth or a new spin on red. Gaga's is a real baby pink that balances out a smokey eye. Both have a lustre finish (shiny and moist feeling) and come in the coolest red chrome packaging with the artist's autograph on it. Best of all, MAC donates 100% of the price to its AIDS fund.

One of the demonstrations focused on an alternative to the usual shading in the eyes crease. This look had a dark matte color shaded on the inner and outer crease corners but left the center of the eye blank. Super shimmery crushed metal pigments were pressed and buffed into the center of the lid and crease to really elongate the entire eye. I thought this was a great technique for runway as it can really be seen from a distance. I also agreed wholeheartedly with the presenter's comments about creating texture. You have to use combinations (e.g. matte + shimmer + satin shadows) to get a textured look. Drugstore eyeshadow quads often have four shimmery colors that do not allow for this. I adored every well-chosen eye shadow in the plum-themed quad used in this demo (you can see her holding it in the picture).

The other demonstration showcased all three of their new Spring Colour Forecast blush ombres (gradiated shades of color in one huge blush compact that can also be used as eye shadow). The first look paired several of the colors together in a light wash that was meant to look like someone who had light from a stained glass window reflecting on them. Clever! The second look showed the ripe peach blush used on the eyes and face, paired with my favorite pigment color of all time: melon. We were all enamoured with the way the artist, Reagan, used the 239 eye shader brush to press the pigments on and sculpt the eye and lip details.

Besides the presentation, it is always fun to network and exchange information with other makeup artists. I sat next to a budding YouTube sensation, Jinah chae , whose broadcasts focus on makeup for asians with monolids (no crease in the eye). We both agreed that most makeup books that deal with the issue (sadly) focus on creating something that looks like a crease with makeup. To me, it's the equivalent of super overdrawn lip lines - it doesn't usually look realistic or good. She has inspired so many girls to embrace their monolids instead of hoping to surgically change them or wear the dreaded little tape thingys that force your eye into a crease shape (yes there are such things). I met such a fun variety of people working in several different aspects of artistry. I also got to catch up with one of the leaders of our NYC Makeup Artists Meetup Group, Genevieve Santos, who was a model for the demos. Oh and we got to shop! A wonderful night!

I Like CT in Fall

I was looking out at the blizzardy miserable winterness when I received these pictures that instantly transported me back to autumn, my favorite season. I thoroughly enjoyed the road trip through the New England foliage to get to Laura's wedding where I was part of the hair and makeup team. I was dying over the espresso colored gowns and the GORGEOUS orange flowers. These girls were really sweet and all took turns helping to soothe and calm the groom's mother who literally cried the entire morning. She was so overcome with the thought of her son finding the absolutely perfect person to marry that her joy just turned to tears. I was repeating positive thoughts about the day while applying 100% waterproof makeup to her face but in the end my eyes filled up with tears too. "Oh no, why are YOU crying?" asked my colleague. "I just know that this is going to be me on my son's wedding day!" I said. The groom's mom laughed, as did we all. Group hug! Thank you very much to Ted Morton for the photos. If you are planning a wedding in Connecticut, look him up. And while you're up there, check out all-around great guy Glen Andrew's videography services. Good luck Laura!