Must Have Make-Up Monday

Tomorrow begins the first day of Skin Cancer Awareness month. As an esthetician, it is a month near & dear to my heart- especially having seen so many clients pass through my doors with it. I promise you Beauties- it's not just 65 year olds falling victim.  One in five Americans will get it. Just last week a 30 year old client of mine had to have MOHS (I'll be touching on that this month) surgery on 2 different areas of her face & was in tears.  If not for vanity, then for your health- a SPF 30 is imperative 365 days of the year.  A lot of clients complain to me about the texture of SPF & being acne prone I understand! Until I found my beloved Jan Marini Antioxidant SPF 30, I hated the feel of anything with SPF.  That's why this limited edition kit is great for anyone who's still searching for The One for them. You just need to play with as many as you can until you find the texture that's right for your skin & this kit has over 13 face options to try for only $30!  Plus, one hundred percent of the net profits from Sephora's Sun Safety Kit will go to the Skin Cancer Foundation. It's a win win.

Peace. Love. Protection. M

Files From the Brow Whisperer

It's the start of summer wedding season & nothing pulls a bride or the bridal party together more than getting your brows done!

For this bridesmaid we didn't do anything crazy, but cleaned up her brows for a more streamlined look.  If you are going to have your make-up professionally done for an event, I always suggest getting your brows waxed at least 3 days prior.  We exfoliate the skin where ever we apply the wax- so you don't want a different skin texture on various areas of the face when getting a make-up application. Hope you have a happy weekend Beauties!

Peace. Love. Brow Whisperer. M

Must Have Make-Up Monday: Hourglass

I am powerless to resist anything involving a nude, glossy lip. Lord knows- my vanity is covered with all shades of nudes. I'm on an endless quest. When I was in NYC, I popped into Bergdorf's to investigate any new must haves. The make-up artist there from Hourglass was sporting a fabulous opaque nude lip. So we set about creating one to suit my coloring. I had already wanted to buy the Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick in Grace, since I knew it was used to create some fabulous Oscars beauty looks. Always on the lookout for the perfect lip liner, Hourglass' Trace Lip Liner in Bare also made its way home with me.Oh, did I mention I also scooped up this trio of glosses. I was totally torn between buying Child (top) or Ignite(bottom) initially, then we stumbled upon these minis- which had both shades + Imagine (center)= perfect solution!Here is the Trace Lip Liner in Bare, all on its own. It's a great your-lips-but-better shade with which to build any lip look.This look is the liner topped with the lipstick Grace. Grace is a delicious creamy, matte- but not in an extreme way. Your lips won't fall off from dryness. Plus, it's hard finding an opaque nude that doesn't wash you out. Grace is a hands down winner.Here I finished off my pucker with Ignite (top) & Child (bottom.) The glosses create 2 beautiful versions, one with some sheer shimmer & one in a milkier finish. I've been loving the multiple options I can create texture wise. The Hourglass line is quite luxe {meaning it's not cheap}, but I like the fact that I can buy refills for both the lipstick & liner. Plus, aren't we worth the splurge?

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Fabulous Finds Friday

I love Benefit Cosmetics- their cleverly named products & the fact that their products address real skin concerns & issues. I have countless highlighters from them! They have a cult following for their blushes such as Georgia, Dallas & their latest Hervana. They usually come in these whimsical cardboard boxes with a coordinating brush.

This is Benefit's best selling highlighting & bronzing duo '10.'Look similar? Hard Candy is carried exclusively at Walmart, so whenever I'm there I check out what's new. I recently spotted & scooped up their Fox in a Box Bronzing Duo in Skinny Dipping. The box houses shades that are dead ringers for Benefit's Dallas & Coralista. The color payoff of Hard Candy for a mass line is great quality. Plus, the California beachy colors in the Skinny Dipping Duo give the perfect glow as we head into summer!

One thing about the Hard Candy version is that the compact doesn't completely close, which is probably due to it being displayed open for view ability. It's not a big deal for me- as I'll probably pop the blush out & stick it in my Z Palette, anyway! For $6 vs $28- it's a steal of a deal for sure!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Polish Pic{k}s

I love me some Dita Von Teese. I think she oozes class, style & sensuality. I love her retro look - her skin, make-up & hair are flawless! She always wears a vintage inspired reverse moon manicure & I wanted to recreate the look. So I painted a base coat & then applied a coat of OPI's Lucerne-Tanly Look Marvelous.

On Pinterest, every one said this style was easy to recreate. Just apply reinforcement labels where you want the reverse moon to go. Then on to the second coat of polish.

Liars! I start to get nervous as I apply the other color. The navy polish, OPI's gorgeous Light My Sapphire was very runny for some reason. I had some serious run off into my cuticles. I'm normally very good at polishing my nails, so this 'crafty' manicure attempt had me muttering an expletive or two or five.

Yes, this is the hot mess part. Certainly, no Dita here! Though in this picture it doesn't look awful. The problem is I couldn't get the round tabs to lie flat all the way across the nail. You also have to make sure the initial coat is very dry, or removing the round tab can pull up some of the inital polish coat. It didn't help that the navy was runny, but the tabs also weren't cooperating for me, either.

My remedy was to go back & cover the unevenness with a simple 'V' shape. I still like it & love the color combination- I just wish more of the silver was showing. I'm going to buy a nail polish pen & reattempt this in another color combo to see if it's any easier. I'll report back to you Beauties! In the meantime- what do you think?

Peace. Love. Polish. M

Must Have Make-Up Monday: YBF

God Bless the woman who has the courage to go on national tv without any make-up on & her hair in curlers. Yes, this is the sight Stacey Schieffelin presents at each & every one of her Your Best Friend Cosmetics make-up shows on HSN. She then goes through each & every step, applying her products to 'put her face on' in front of the world. I give her serious props- I would never have the *ahem* we'll call it courage to do that.

When I stumbled upon one of her shows recently, they posted a lip set called Baby Lips- in the brief airing it was on, I was intrigued. It was 2 dual ended products that resulted in perfect kissable glossy lips. Any make-up artist knows to create amazing nude glossy lips a minimum of 2 products are needed, often it's more like 4. So I whipped out my credit card to check it out.

It's already a great deal at basically getting 4 products for $24.95, more like $30 when you factor in shipping & handling- oh how I hate s&h charges! The pencil (top 2) has both a neutralizing primer in a concealer tone & a nude toned lip liner in creamy consistencies. The other dual ended product (bottom 2) contains the pink toned stain and nude toned gloss.

Everything falls into the peach color family, except for the stain- which on its own is a rather alarming shocking pink. Don't be fooled by its sheer appearance, it packs a punch! I toned it down with the lipgloss on the other end- it doesn't look that intense in the photo, but I felt a bit like my grandmother in Florida.
Here is what all four products used together looks like. I would definitely use all of them, save the stain on their own in different applications. All in all, I love this set & think it's a steal of a deal. I hope YBF comes out with some other color variations of this idea!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Fabulous Finds Friday

I love a ballet flat silhouette- it's timeless. When I spotted these Chanel inspired Sam Edelman beauties, I loved the classic colors with the modern {& slightly naughty} spikes on the toes. However, when they arrived they just weren't comfy enough to justify the $130 price tag - so back they went.

So imagine my surprise, when I noticed an almost identical version at Kohls by Vera Wang. I did a little happy dance. They were on sale for $39.99, plus I had a 30% off coupon. Those extreme couponers have nothing on me- actually they do... But none the less, victory was mine!

Again, they're not the most comfortable shoes on the planet- but sometimes the deal is thrill enough! Besides, sometimes we have to suffer in the name of fashion!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Arcona Mandarin Brightening Peel

I am the Queen of exfoliation. Seriously, I always tell my clients it is an essential step in the fight against aging. It's is the key to radiant skin & your other products working more effectively. That being said I often have clients who over do it with aggressive exfoliants & come to me with red, peeling skin. There is a fine line & proper balance in terms of introducing chemical & enzyme exfoliants into your skincare diet. With prescriptions, I recommend slowly incorporating them into your skincare regimens. For those who are new to the game, enter Arcona's new Mandarin Brightening Peel. Never mind the fact that it smells like a cross between an orangesicle & a tropical drink, it's the perfect mild exfoliant as we head into summer. I think the term 'acid' in AHA's scares people from incorporating them into their anti-aging regimen. Acids can in fact be gentle for the skin & offer a host of benefits like reducing the appearance of fine lines, brightening, smoothing texture & are amazing in addressing acne. Besides Glycolic & Lactic acids in Arcona's Mandarin Brightening Peel, the anti-oxidant Lycopene & a unique patented lightening peptide round out the cocktail. Peptides are at the top of most Dermatologist's lists for their anti-inflammatory & anti-aging capabilities. Applied on my face, I felt nary an uncomfortable tingle- which makes me confident recommending it pretty much to all skin types once or twice a week. I even was a renegade & left it on for 10 minutes, versus the 4-6 outlined in the directions. What can I say? I love me some exfoliation!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Must Have Make-Up Monday: GloMineral's Alloy Shadow Collection

I often buy shadow kits or compacts because they're such a great value. Sometimes however, you favor a few shades & the rest remain untouched. GloMinerals' Alloy Shadow Compact ($44) has nary a dud in sight, rather it's full of your classic go to shades for the perfect smokey eye. I love that the compact isn't huge either- it's roughly the size of my iPhone. Does anyone else think men must design some of the compacts out there? Because there is no way a woman would make a huge compact- we want to be able to throw it in our purse or take it with us when we travel, without it being super bulky!

For a quick smokey eye, I took the 2 shades in the upper right hand corner- Enigma & Tuxedo and patted them on the natural contours of my eyelid. Then I smudged what was left on the brush along my lower lash line. I used the bottom right shade, Jet, to line my lashes & lower waterline- then topped with mascara. This compact has simple neutrals for day & the intense versions for night- it's a win win. In fact, I'll probably have this compact on hand when I teach my Smokey Eye Class next week at La Papillon- there are only 3 spots left, so if you live in the Baltimore area grab one of the last remaining seats!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M
*Compact gifted for review

Happy Easter

Peace. Love. Bunny. M

Pixi Beauty Fairy Face Kit

There's nothing like a sinus infection to make you feel less than pretty. So last week when I was constantly reaching for Claritin D, I also reached for my new PixiGlow Fairy Face Palette. Pixi Glow is Pixi Beauty's new collaboration with Disney- all in the name of Tinkerbell & beauty!

The shadows in this palette are creamy gorgeousness. Incredibly wearable for a daytime look, with the lightest & darkest shades easily enabling you to kick it up a notch for night.

This pretty pink blush trio could give any Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick a run for its money, especially since the entire PixiGlow palette is only $34! One swipe gave me a rosy glow that fooled any one from thinking I was under the weather.

All of the eyeshadows in the collection, except for the pink shade, are featured on my eye for a soft chocolaty bronze look. The baked pigment in the blush gives the most lovely flush. The lip creams, which looked a little intense for this nude loving lipgloss girl, are actually more like lip balms when applied. No one was more surprised than I, that I'm sporting the second deepest shade in this image. The Tinkerbell association with this palette takes me back to when I was a little girl playing with my mom's make-up, but I can assure you this collection is all grown up- yet still super girly & fun.

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M
*Palette gifted for review

Must Have Make-Up Monday

Usually after a long day at work giving my clients facials, I look like I am trying out for a football team! All the steam during the exfoliation portion of the facial puts my mascara through the ringer. That being said I tend to loathe waterproof versions. Their formulas don't allow me to build the product like I like to, plus it's a bugger to get off. The last thing I want to lose are my actual lashes when removing my mascara!

Enter Anastasia of Beverly Hill's Lash Genius- it's like a raincoat for your mascara! Use whatever mascara brand you adore & finish with a clear coat of this sealant. While I wouldn't submerge myself in a tank of water- Lash Genius really helps seal in the mascara without being super brittle, crunchy or difficult to remove afterwards. In fact, it helps separate your lashes a bit if you're prone to clumping. Its arrival is perfect timing as we head into warmer, humid months & the summer wedding season. It is, I must say genius!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M
*product gifted for review