Velvet Eyes

There is nothing more stunning than Smokey eyes and a nude lip to complete your holiday party look. Creating Smokey eyes on our clients was the most requested look when I worked at MAC. Many are afraid to attempt this look in fear of not blending the colors enough, not being able to properly shape the contour of the eye as well as being unfamiliar with the color scheme they should use and what order to use them in. Thankfully, the cosmetic industry has narrowed in on the demand for all in one eye shadow kits that provide you with three to four colors that would be chosen as if you had a makeup artist on hand. Many of these kits also come with detailed instruction on how to achieve this look with step by step illustrations for fool proof application. There are many Smokey eye kits on the market today that help to make this process easy and here are a few that I recommend you try :)

Sephora – Smokey Eyes Palette $50 (Includes – 4 eye shadows, mascara, eyeliner, application brush“The Sephora Brand Smoky Eyes Palette gives you the tools and instructions you need to achieve the classic smoky eye in six easy steps. It's the ultimate sexy look made beautifully mistake proof!”

MAC Cosmetics – Mac Velvet 9 Smoked Eye Palette $44.50
“Create illusion with six new shades of Eye Shadow: Fire in Her Eyes, Black Magique, Spell No. 9, Wide-eyed Wonder, Smoke & Mirrors, and Deception. The sleek, square silvery-pewter compact decorated with a whimsical pattern of coloured dots on the lid, each one representing a shade from the compact’s palette. Limited edition.

Cover Girl - Queen Collection $7-14

The Cover Girl Queen Collection has four gorgeous full pigment colors from base, lid, contour and brow you can achieve the perfect smokey eye for a very small price!

Happy Holidays!! Holiday Kits are here!

It’s that time of year again!

I love Christmas time not only for the lights, family, rum and eggnog, and endless desserts but also for the HOLIDAY KITS that flood the cosmetic counters!! This year I have spent many of my Saturday mornings perusing my local cosmetic counters for this year’s finest and here is what I have come up with :)

As usual the always inventive MAC Cosmetics have released their holiday eye, face and lip palettes as well as their famous brush kits. When I worked at MAC in University, the brush kits would sell out first, and it’s no real surprise that they do. They are a perfect travel size of four of MAC's more popular brushes packaged together in a sassy holiday bag. The average price of MAC’s holiday kits range from ($27-$58), very reasonably priced sets given that the average eye shadow sells for $16.00. Smashbox also has AMAZING kits this year, the Smashbox sample kit that has all of their signature products (Mini Artificial Light in Glow, Mini Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15 + Dermaxyl, Mini Photo Finish Foundation Primer Light, Mini O-Gloss Intuitive Lip Gloss, Mini Photo Op Under Eye Brightener, Cream Eye Liner Duo (full size!) in Caviar/Midnight Brown, Mini Eye Shadow Trio in Headshot, Mini Baked Fusion Soft Lights in Stardust, 2 Mini Lip Enhancing Glosses in Pout & Afterglow) for only $35.00! If you find yourself venturing into Sephora, Kat Von D has a gorgeous eye shadow holiday set called True Romance for $34.00, all stunning high pigment colors perfect for your holiday parties! So enjoy one of these fabulous pre christmas gifts to yourself, why not, you deserve it!

Make me Blush...

Blush is HIGHLY under rated in my opinion. Having a good blush is like finding the perfect shade of lipstick, you know, the kind you get compliments on because it just works so well with your complexion, eye color, hair, etc. It pulls together your look with one final application. Blush should be just as valuable to your daily makeup routine as your lipstick. A good blush can liven up your look in 2 sec flat! But be weary, blush applied incorrectly could have you looking like birthday party clown. Here are a few tips and tricks for finding the perfect color and the perfect application.

Find a color that matches your cheeks when they're flushed after exercise or being out in the cold. For a quick test, pinch your cheeks & use the resulting color as a guide. Another helpful trick is to match your lip color. Fair skin looks great in rose, olive in peach & dark skin in apricot or even red.

Now that you have the color, choose the right formula for your skin type. Powder is typically best for oily & combo skin. Cream is great for dry skin. Liquid and gel are great for oily skin. For even better results, combine cream & powder together. "It helps my blush stay on longer & looks more luminous," said makeup artist Laura Mercier in O Magazine.

Using a professional full brush will give you the best results. (I like MAC's blush brush No. 116), but don't use the same brush you use for your powder. Annabel, Maybelline, and Quo also offer some less expensive alternatives.

Since you want a healthy flush, it's best to apply blush only to apples of your cheeks. Keep color light & blended. If you're using gel or cream, NYC makeup artist Carlo Geraci (in O Magazine) suggests dabbing it on with your middle finger, then blend with your ring & middle finger. The clean finger will pick up any excess blush.

If you've gone a bit too heavy on the powder blush, a bit of translucent powder over it will calm it down. For cream blush, blot the color off with a tissue. Since gel & liquid blush 'stain' the cheeks, the only way to lighten them is it wash your face, moisturize and reapply your makeup, this time more sparingly.

Finish your look with a sweep of translucent powder.
Blushes to write home about:

MAC Mineralize and Powder Blushes - a wide variety of colors and finishes

Maybelline Mineral Power Illuminator - 100% micro-minerals brighten up your complexion for a year-round, sheer shimmer, healthy glow.

Clinique Blushwear Cream Stick -Convenient touch-on, stay-on, cream-to-powder cheek colour. Glides over the skin with fingertip control. Blends easily. Blush stays see-through while it builds in colour. Transfer- and water-resistant. Colour-true.

An eyelash curler like NO other!

Once you try the Shu Uemera you will understand why this tool is getting rave reviews. Having purchased eyelash curlers since a teenager, I'm deeply saddened that I have just found the Shu Uemera eyelash curler now. It may be more expensive than your typical drug store brand ($19 vs. $ 5) but this is one accessory that is definitely worth it.

Over-plucked and out of luck?

In high school it was supermodel Nikki Taylor who inspired me to shape my eyebrows into well crafted pencil thin arches. For about a split second I thought it looked alright, then quickly came to the realization that I had seriously over plucked and looked NOTHING like Nikki Taylor! Panicked I grabbed my black eyeliner and proceeded to draw in my eyebrows.... thankfully I had enough sense to realize that black eyeliner not only looked ridiculous on my fair complexion but also smudged far beneath my natural eyebrow line. Disaster! How does one fix such a tragic mistake? Inevitably I ended up picking up some tricks from the many beauty magazines I collected and remedied the situation with an angled brush and some light brown matte eyeshadow. 

To achieve the most natural eyebrows when you may have gone "tweezer happy" is to purchase a eyeshadow similar to your hair color and apply it lightly with an angled brush to your brow line. The angled brush will help to fill in the bare spots and create a thicker more natural look without the harsh pencil line that you would get with an eyebrow pencil or liner. Here are a couple of key colors that I have found match with many of the basic hair colors.

First and more importantly the brush! 

MAC 208 Small angle brow brush $23.50

Smashbox Angle Brow Brush $20.00

Fair complexions : MAC eyeshadow in Brule and/or soft brown;

                                        Benefits Brows a go-go

Olive to Dark complexions: MAC eyeshadow in Expresso; MAC eyeshadow in Embark (for more auburn tones)

Hair Dyed? Hair Fried?

Summer is coming to an end and your summer hair color is looking rather drab :( The problem is the sun and your chemically treated highlights have aided this process along quicker than you anticipated and you are worried to dye it again in fear of ultimately destroying it! Have no fear! There is a great product out there that can help you transform your dried out mane into gorgeous soft locks.

A good friend of mine introduced me to my now favourite après shower moisturizing treatment for my hair and scalp. Moroccan Oil by Moroccanoil makes your hair wonderfully soft and shiny without, believe it or not, feeling OILY. Yes, this product is an oil however if you have dry and damaged hair like myself this product transforms it into soft manageable hair without any residue! All you need is a dime size amount, rub it between your palms and apply to damp hair. This product even allows for a little smoothing cream or anti-friz serum without making your hair feeling heavy and/or weighed down. Moroccan Oil can be found in hair salons for about $47 or as I recently discovered at Trade Secrets for about $36!!! This is an amazing product that I am VERY happy I spent the money on and am so very grateful I have good friends who let me in on their excellent beauty secrets ;)

QUICK FIX

Next time you’re finished with a tube of mascara, toss the tube not the brush! The mascara wand is especially handy when you find yourself with clumpy lashes. Clean the wand with mild soap and water and keep it in your makeup drawer for those makeup mishaps. And remember, if you end up with mascara under your eye or on your eyelids, cue tips are your best friend :)

It’s a Waterproof World

Summer is the best time to give today’s waterproof makeup a great test run. Between the humidity, swimming, sweating and the occasional rain, makeup doesn’t seem to last very long during the summer months. Your mascara runs, your eyeliner smudges, your foundation melts… is there really any point to wearing makeup at all?!? Unless you are consistently going to be in an air conditioned room, refrain from swimming, or constantly hide under your sunglasses it’s a good idea to invest in some waterproof makeup. Contrary to what many people believe you can find great waterproof products that don’t take heavy chemicals to remove, trust me I have spend most of my adolescent life looking for the best waterproof mascara and do believe to have found it!!!

Check out these great finds, give them a try and let me know what you think!

Best Waterproof Mascara: Maybelline Turbo Volume Boost in Waterproof Black. This mascara, hold a curl like no other and I have yet to find it running down my cheeks.
Best Waterproof Eyeliner: Again the winner goes to Maybelline! They make an excellent waterproof black liquid liner that stays on even throughout a full day of swimming. An added bonus with this product is the application wand. Many liquid liners tend to have weaker application brushes, this liquid liner thankfully doesn’t. The firm felt application tip makes drawing the perfect line a piece of cake!
Best Waterproof Foundation: Estee Lauder Maximum Cover Waterproof Foundation delivers excellent coverage and has the tendency to last for a very long time in wet conditions. I also find that the MAC studio finish concealer is very waterproof and great in humid conditions. Combine this with some MAC studio fix and your makeup won’t budge!
Best Waterproof Lipstick: Benefit BeneTint provides you with a lip stain that will last while swimming, and sipping on Margaritas all day long. This product is great to bring on those all inclusive trips down south :)

SAMPLE THIS!

Scared to take the plunge when purchasing expensive cosmetics? Ask for a sample! Cosmetic counters are loaded with samples of their featured products. Don’t be afraid to try things out before you spend your hard earned cash.

Sample of the day: Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. This is an excellent product and has been getting rave reviews but it’s an investment as the pricing can range from $35.00 to $ 40.00.

Two faced

Let's face it at one point or another we have all been victims of a two toned jaw line. Generally I find that these unfortunate circumstances happen between seasons when your foundation no longer matches the skin beneath it. It's never easy to keep up with your tan (or in my case, lack there of) but there are a few products and a couple tricks that can keep you from getting caught with that disastrous line.

Many of the cosmetic giants today such as Cover Girl, Revlon, and Maybelline have developed products where you can customize your colour to your correct shade to avoid those awkward stares in daylight :) so here are a couple great reasonably priced picks to add to your makeup bag to put your best face forward! Cover Girl True blend foundation is great for lightweight coverage. This product goes on very smoothly and has a very light matte finish, its perfect alone or combined with you favourite concealer for more coverage. Revlon Beyond Natural is another great pick for those of us who tend to go very light on foundation however I found this foundation to be almost too light and didn’t deliver the amount of coverage I was looking for. I would suggest this product to those of us who are new to the foundation world or only wear it on special occasions. Both of these products range in price from around $10-$15.

I have always been a firm believer in using a light moisturizer as your base. Moisturizer leaves your skin softer and the act of rubbing in your moisturizer will increase blood flow to your face giving your skin a healthy glow. Another great tip from a friend of mine was to apply your makeup in daylight, bring a mirror closer to a window in your house when applying your base, bad lighting is the number one culprit for all poor makeup applications!! Finally if you are still seeing a line and are having trouble blending dab a bit of moisturizer on your jaw line and neck and blend down! Chances are you are not too far away from your actual color so by doing this you will erase the line between you and your foundation.

QUICK FIX!

Have you ever found yourself with mascara smudged on your upper eyelids after application? Need a quick fix? Take a cue tip and lightly rub it on the misplaced mascara and it will disappear without doing too much damage to your eyeshadow.

Self Tanner Extrodinaire

If you are anything like me when the snow melts (ugh! Canadian winter's!) you are counting the days until you can slip on a pair of cute sandals and flash those perfectly manicured toes.... OK well maybe not perfectly manicured but no foot is perfect after being suffocated in 2 pairs of socks and over sized brown boots for 4 months! In any case, the toes, and the shoes are never complete without a little bit of leg colour to keep your pedi bright. In the last 10 years I have tried everything from Jurgens to Shesheido in self tanners and this is what I have found to be the most long lasting, non streaky and especially as odourless as humanly possible.

For a very odorless and smooth application I really like Clairins Delicious Self Tanning Cream. Clairin's has generally been extremely consistent with their quality of self tanners, they are always delivering very close to the perfect tan without streaks and without many applications. Their self tanners (especially the gel self tanners) are easy to distribute because of their silky consistency and usually have additional ingredients like Cocoa bean extract to keep your skin hydrated! Clairin's self tanners range from approximately $28-$45 in price, but let me tell you they are worth it! For a less expensive alternative L'Oreal has a great spray on self tanner for those hard to reach spots (L'Oreal Sublime Bronze). The spray application also helps to keep your tan consistent all over your body BUT be weary, you have to hold the canister a safe distance from your skin in order to avoid concentrated spots of colour. The best trick to follow with both products mentioned is start by lightly moisturizing the skin where you will be applying the self tanner paying special attention to elbows, wrists, knees and ankles as well as anywhere where the application stops. This will help to avoid any lines or colour patches that appear later on. L'Oreal self tanning products range from $8-$15 in price.

Lastly if you are looking for a quick fix before heading out for the day or night and don't have the time to work in a self tanner Rimmel makes an excellent wash off spray tan that will last and won't stain your clothes. Again I do have to caution that with all makeup type products they do need some time to dry so its best to spray yourself before getting dressed.

Remember a fake tan is a healthy tan :)

The Product Queen

A name I was given by my mother due to the obscene amount of creams and cosmetics that I collected in my bathroom as a teenager. If there was a new product advertised in the drug store with a beautifully constructed package I bought it! If there was perfume endorsed by a gorgeous Hollywood starlet I HAD to have it (of course because I thought there was a small chance that this was a magical potion that would transform me into this glamorous beauty). Even if there was three lotions all by the same company with the exact same ingredients but different packaging I needed to buy all three. I was exactly the type of customer every cosmetic giant dreams of, heavily influenced by the advertisements that they pay millions of dollars for each year. This excessive collection continued into my late teens and early twenties. I was running out of room on my bedroom, bathroom and kitchen counters all with duplicates even triplicates of products I didn't need or use. (My first roommate complained when she washed her hands with self tanner instead of the Dove soap in the pump container that once took its place, oops!)All of this to say that there came a time when I had to limit my spending and collection of products that I was so ferociously buying. At this time is when I shifted my interest from quantity to quality. Now I don't mean quality as in expensive but more or less as very good products, you know, the rare finds that you think to yourself how did I ever live without this!?!
Which brings me to my blog, I think a good find is not just for one person to enjoy, but to share with the population that will enjoy it as I do. So enjoy the great finds, send me your feedback and happy shopping!