Correcting Not Renovating

Some thoughts on contouring and highlighting...
Contouring and highlighting are techniques that require tact and a practiced eye. While there are general guidelines one can use like demonstrated on the chart by Kevyn Aucoin, when transforming and/or correcting a client’s features/or your own, preferences play a huge part in the decision-making. BEFORE placing dark and lighter patches across the face, ask yourself if this gives or takes from the natural features. The purpose of contouring and highlighting is to enhance one’s existing look, not creating a new one. It’s very similar to the idea of home improvement. A designer will help adjust and update the look of a place, while a remodeler will leave you with a completely different look. When correcting, identify which features need most work and which need least.

Begin by working on the features that need least amount of work and climb your way up to the features that need the most. One of the hardest techniques to master is learning when to stop. This process will help you maintain the client’s overall original appearance (with a few tweaks), and help you assess when you need to stop. It’ll be easier for your eye to determine when you are steering too far away from your starting point. Working the other way around, your eye adjusts to a major change too soon, and pulls away that bar of restraint…





…Leaving you with a picture that’s not so pretty.

Friday Facts

 

-OOTD (Outfit of the day) Navy, white, gold and hmmm... Hot pink anyone? (nails count right?)

-4/5 on my to-do list is an A+

-Trying to finish up my Lancome mascara wouldn't be so dreadful if I still liked it -.- Btw, I'm talking about the Hypnose Star

-Drinking the 8oz of water, 8 times a day that you're suppose to is hard work... Did I mention hard work?

-Bright lips will only brighten up your day IF your cracks are moisturized (haha)

-I'm having a secret love affair with Chanel's Vita Lumiere Aqua, aren't you?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday and is gearing up for the 4th of July!

MAC Face & Body

Normally, for reviews, I like to get through the WHAT part of the product first, but for this one I think it helps to know my verdict first.

It takes a while to see why many makeup artists consider this as a staple in their collection. It doesn't impress at a swatch. The coverage is nothing to write home about, and at a glance it just seems like watery substance they're calling foundation, selling it in a squirt bottle.

But give it a sec...

The heart and soul of this product lies in the sheer application of this product. Feather it into your skin and let it cook (sit for 5-10 minutes). It is just simply undetectable on the face. It looks like skin, it feels like skin. It builds a waterproof barrier as well, to prevent transfer. So what's so great about that? How does it differ than a tinted moisturizer/BB cream? While it does leave a dewy finish, it doesn't transfer like a tinted moisturizer/BB cream. It wears like a foundation, and helps achieve that Parisian effortless face without making you greasy and wanting to wipe it off on a sunny day. It's truly your skin, but better.


So now on to the scoop...

Color Range: Named differently than their NC & NW range. Cool tones stop @ C5, where as the warm tones run into N9. Not fantastic, but not bad either.

Coverage: Sheer to light. And that's pretty much it. Technically speaking, you CAN work it up to full coverage (as the Pixiwoo sisters on Youtube love to do) but I feel it leaves more texture on the face before you see coverage.

Finish: Water resistant yet dewy. (Trust me, it makes sense when it's on your face)

Size: For $27 you get 1.7oz of product, or if you're smart you'll pick up for $33, 4oz. AN ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUSLY HUGE AMOUNT for the price.

Monday Night Inspiration

Okay so this isn't much of a post, but maybe I just want another place to stare at this pic... *realizes how wrong that sounds*

Kate Winslet, on the cover of Harper's Bazaar April, looked absolutely breathtaking. Thanks to Lisa Eldridge (the mua for the shoot), I'm ready to bring back the 50's eyeliner with a bang this spring.

Origins & Shiseido Haul & Amateur Thoughts

A harmless visit to the mall resulted in a new skincare regimen -_- HOW this happens... Pleast don't ask. lol  I ended up repurchasing some old beloveds from Origins and decided to give Shiseido a try after sampling their Moisture Recharge recently. Has anyone ever tried any of their skincare? What do we think?

A couple of uses and some thoughts on Shiseido:
Shiseido Purifying Mask: Do you do anything apart from sitting on my face smelling like Arabian jasmine?
Shiseido Tinted Moisturizer/BB cream/whatever you are: I HEART YOU, for a variety of reasons, but mainly because the coverage is UH-MAZE-ING.

Project 10 Pan - Updated

April - Let Project 10 Pan Commence!

1. Maybelline Fit Me foundation
2. Neutrogena Healthy Glow tinted moisturizer
3. MUFE Full Cover concealer
4. Lancôme Translucent powder
5. UDPP
6. MAC blush in Well-Dressed
7. Wet & Wild shadow pallete
8. MAC Lipglass in Plum Fun
9. Lancôme Defincils mascara
10. Clinique Gel liner

This is my first time attempting 10 pan, and I have some pretty high hopes for myself. Here's to getting rid of junk in the trunk! :P

*For those of you who are not familiar with the idea, in brief, you pick out 10 products you want to finish (hit pan on) and don't buy any more makeup until their finished!

 

June - The Update

 

Project 10 pan could not have come at a worse time. Shortly after my post, I went into a period of hibernation from makeup. To say I turned minimalistic would be an understatement. I went for days without lipbalm *hears gasps in the background* lol I rather not dwell on my failure any longer (writing this post was enough to wound my pride for a day), but maybe put more thought into my next 10 pan... perhaps some skincare?

The Mila Kunis Look

Mila Kunis' look for the "Ted" premiere. It's essentially a smokey eye, with a strong cheek contour, and a light coral lip - but totally unique right? lol Although it was a little off-beat for this past season, the dirty purple/greyish/eggplant was a really unique touch. AND I really like it! The color REALLY brings out hazel eyes, and it doesn't look half bad on brown ones either.

And here's my take on it...

Hope you like it, and are having a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Perricon MD's Blue Plasma

What: The product claims to be a gentle chemical peel that can be used every day, without the negative side effects of a traditional peel. The product claims to work in a way to target dead skin, preserve healthy skin, and... hydrate/soothe the surface of your skin. Whew!
 
Price: $95 for 2 oz.

The Trial & Verdict: I used this product for a week and experienced:

There was no pungent smell (#1 skin irritant)
No irritation, visible or felt (#1 negative side-effect of a traditional chemical peel)
The product sank right into my skin leaving no film behind (works for all skin types)
My skin didn't feel dry nor dehydrated (none of that "I just scrubbed my face" squeaky clean feel, now I need to drench myself in moisturizer)

So until this point, since it was meeting all of its claims, I was hoping to see EYEBROW-LIFTING-OMG results from the exfoliating part of the product… but sadly, they just weren’t there. Here’s the thing with this product, if you’re already taking GOOD care of your skin, there’s not much else for this product to do. Yes, if your skincare regimen isn’t so consistent, and you don’t exfoliate on a regular basis, this could be heaven sent. But even in that case, $95 for 2 ounces of product? There are a plethora of options out there in general, and loads for sensitive skin, too. The only way I could justify this product is:

a) You just don't have the time to exfoliate, not-no-way, not-no-how, EVER! Then yes, go ahead and slap this on and call it a day, everyday.
b) Your skin keeps rebuking EVERY other exfoliator.

I suppose in the end, it's each to their own like with anything else. But I'd say, critique yourself before you go on to critique your skin.