Vibrant eyes... This ain't your Mother's eyeshadow!

I am loving the vibrant eyeshadow colors on the market by MAC, Sugarpill, and Medusa! They are perfect for summer, but blending is key!

 The most vibrant colors should stay closest to the lashline, fading as it reaches your eye's crease. Just know that all skin tones can't handle every color on the palette.There are some shades of eye shadow that will just work better on your skin than others. When you're shopping for eye makeup, choose colors that work well with your eyes and your skin color. Your eye shadow should make your eyes pop, but not overwhelm your skin tone. Blue shadows are great for blue eyes, and softer shades like purples and pink are fantastic on women with darker eyes and skin. If you have pink skin (as opposed to a yellow base), avoid pinks or purples.

To begin the appication, start with highlighting your brow with the lightest shade you want to use.
Since you will save the most vibrant color for next to the lashline, use a color a little lighter in the crease. For example, and vibrant blue at the lash line and a paler blue in the crease. Make sure you get the paler color all the way into the crease of your eye, as well as a little on top of the most vibrant color next to the lash line. To get rid of the line between the two shades of eye shadow, blend the two eye shadow colors together using your finger. Your eyes should pop!

If you decide to use vibrant eye shadow, the rest of your makeup has to be subtle. Your lip color should be relatively natural. Not only will this keep the attention on your eyes, but it will also prevent any of your makeup colors from clashing with your shadow. This is an intense trend in makeup and practise makes perfect, and not a clown face!

Pretty Pout

Lips are such a vital part of a women's appearance, maybe that's why women are rushing to the plastic surgeon for fillers....Before you go to the enhancement doc and come out looking like a Koi fish, try some simple techniques with lipstick/gloss and lip liner!

If thin lips are what's stressing you, trace a line just outside your normal lip line with a liner matching your lipstick. You are faking a line, so don't overdo it! Fill in with the lip liner and add gloss to the center of the lips to draw light and make lips appear fuller. Play up eyes and use a more neutral shade on lips.

If you have uneven lips, with one side fuller than the other or one lip is fuller than the other,  use concealer to balance them out. Trace lip line with liner so that the lips match up and then add lipstick in the same shade. Stay away from clear gloss as it may accentuate uneven lips. Instead, opt for a gloss in the same shade as lipstick.

If shapeless lips are getting you down, trace the "V" in the center of the top lip a little heavier when lining to emphasize it,  and then apply two coats of lipstick for durability.

If you are born with full lips, then flaunt it! A lipstain is gorgeous in all shades and lasts all day. Full lips are what we all want so use lipgloss for a natural look or leave it when using a deeper hue.... When applying makeup, feel free to down play eyes to draw attention to the beauty of your pout!

Just remember, if you feel the need to go get a filler, please don't go overboard and please be educated on the procedure! Or.....

Cat Eye

Cat eye makeup is making a huge comeback! Making up your eyes in this fashion adds to their appeal, and can make you look, mysterious, seductive and glamorous. While everyone would like to accomplish the art of  getting that feline look, it requires skill and the right techniques. A wrong step could lead to terrible results, and make you look like you were trying and it was an epic fail...and everyone knows....:)

Step 1: Use the tweezers to remove any eyebrow hairs that might stray in the way when you are working on your eye makeup. Once this is done, use concealer or foundation to minimize the presence of dark circle underneath. Everything should be clean to allow the liner to stand out.

Step 2: For a classic cat eye look, use a vanilla colored eyeshadow from brow to lid blending as you go.

Step 3: Start on your eyes with the eyeliner. Hold the outer end of your eyelid taut and with a steady hand, work your way from the inner eye towards the outer end of the eyelid. End the line by sweeping out and up slightly. Use the eyeliner to thicken the line that you have just drawn. If you do not have a steady hand, apply a few light dots with the eyeliner and then fill them in, smoothing out the dots as you go.

Step 4: Lashes!  Curl them with eyelash curlers so that there is more definition added to your eyes. Apply a few strokes of mascara, or if you have sparse lashes, add in some lash pieces. Recoat with mascara and use a little comb to take care of any clumps.

Step 5: Add the final touch by enhancing your eyebrows with an eyebrow pencil! This is such an important step in framing your face!

Why Makeup?

Throughout history women have used their imaginations to enhance their beauty when there was no such word as "makeup".  They used berry juice for blush and lipstick, as well as egg wash for foundation and even flour for powder. There are many reasons that women like to use makeup and the most important, is to feel more beautiful!  Makeup is a fantastic creation, invented to make a woman feel so much better about herself and how she looks when she sees her reflection in the mirror.

I, personally, do not go out in public without makeup on! Even if it's only some concealer, mascara, and lipgloss.... It's not because I don't feel good about myself, it's simply me, taking a little extra time to make myself feel more beautiful. So many women, (me included) have either the occasional blemish or even acne, and feel much better when they see it covered up. So, when we wake up in morning with a pimple or blemish on our face it's comforting to know that there is something out there that can camouflage it! 

When I apply makeup to a woman, I only enhance the beauty that is already there. It will bring out your top features and help hide those features you don't want to show to the world. Makeup can be used for a woman to create the desired look for any special occasion. Whether you are looking for a dramatic evening look, a sleek professional work look , a flawless look on your wedding day or even just a clean and fresh look. They all can be acheived with the correct application of makeup. Make yourself feel even more beautiful than you already are with what is on the market for us: makeup!  Or me, to help you put it on...:)

Easter Glam!

Pretty bonnets and patent shoes...Chocolate bunnies and plastic eggs...
As I focus on the day my Savior rose, in the back of my mind is also the question..."What's my Easter look gonna be?" Because I am a woman after all, and it is in our nature to put the "gussy" in gussying up for Easter!

Dress, check....Shoes, check...Makeup? I want a sweet, soft shimmery pastel look to go along with the feel of this holiday. Think, touches of iridescent powder or cream, applied to the high points of the face—namely, the cheekbones, temples and bridge of your nose.
Dusting of shimmery violet, pink, gold, or silver on lids with black liner for a touch of drama and "pop!" Blush in various shades of pinks and berries with lips that are rose hued or nude and glossy.

Fair skin is making a comeback, but there's something glam about a tan paired with the season's bright makeup colors. Warm up fair skin by dusting bronzer on your decolletage, along the hairline, and the hollows beneath your cheek bones.
Wearing a pretty Easter sun dress? Create the illusion of long, slender legs by reaching for sunshine-in-a-bottle (airbrush tanning for a perfect look) or a lotion with iridescent shimmer, down the front of your shins. The result is subtle, but sure to make your legs glow. Very important, don't forget the Easter pedicure. Play up your tootsies in shimmery, pastel colors or bright hues. I am on my way to get mine now!

Makeup and the Mature Gal

No matter what the age, when a woman sits down in my chair, she usually has to tell me everything she thinks is wrong with her. "It's hard out there for us who are not 20 anymore" or "why bother, I don't really wear makeup anyway", are things I hear alot. Insecurities don't just plague the over 30 set though. "I'm overweight because of stress", or "I have breakouts and freckles because"....
In your 50's sometimes you just give up, but you don't have to.... When doing a makeup on a mature bride recently, I took one look at her makeup bag contents (which was out of date) and realized that sometimes we need to be taught how to makeup ourselves up each decade of our lives...

If people are reintroduced to themselves and shown how they can look at 40, 50, 60, they get a new sense of excitement! When I light up a woman's eyes with color, or camouflauge some flaw that they have been looking at for the past 20 or so years, they are amazed and they start to see themselves differently. Just looking good is the name of the game and anyone can learn to play, with shaped brows, defined lips, and a  balanced out skin tone. Please don't feel like you have to resort to drastic measures to feel good about yourself, like surgery. We both know that those procedures can put you one step away from "the crazy face club!" Try things like exercise, drinking lots of water, and eating a clean healthy diet. So you have fine lines, so what? Embrace your good points and play them up! Being over 40 is not a negative thing anymore....Things are changing!

Bridal Makeup Looks: Part 3

For the bride that just can't do the other choices, the neutral look is for you! Who knew such mellow makeup application could be so stunning! Neutral makeup with just a "pop" of pink, peach, or bronze is perfect for those laid back summer weddings. Add a touch of shine on tops of cheekbones and a little under eyes to bring out radiance. Play up neutral eyes with false eyelash pieces, while tightlining between lashes and lid to create some drama. Last use a soft lipstick or gloss to top of this easy, fresh look!