Quick Fix! Revive your old polishes!

As summer slowly creeps up many of us are picking through our variety of old nail polishes to spruce up our toes but sadly have found that the polishes no longer glide on instead we are faced with caked, globby and thick polish that have very little life left to them. Throw them out? I think not! What I have discovered is to add a *touch* of nail polish remover to the bottle, give it a quick shake and VOILA! Your favorite polish is thinned out and ready for summer. Also to give that brush a quick fix, clean the wand with nail polish remover until it wipes fairly clean, this will help the revived polish go on smoothly and evenly :)

OP..I LOVE YOUR NAILS!!

OPI never ceases to disappoint when it comes to new color releases. This spring/summer HONG KONG inspired colors like Red My Fortune Cookie and Dim Sum Plum will have you rushing to your nearest nail salon for a mani/pedi! A valuable trick I learnt from my many nail applications gone wrong, its not too late to invest in an all in one base and top coat to perfect the look. The base coat makes it easier to remove the darker colors that we so often love to indulge in and makes a cleaner transition to the more natural nail. Happy Painting :) 

Winter getaway must have!

I stumbled upon this winter getaway must have sadly upon my arrival home from the Caribbean BUT it didn't stop me from purchasing it anyway (you can never have enough products right ;). Stila has put together this perfect little kit with all of your holiday essentials! Bronzer, waterproof mascara, cheek and lip stain, and waterproof eyeliner all for $38!!! Find this wonderful treat at your local Sephora stores and be prepared for free drinks by the pool ;)

Lighten Up!

Highlighters in my opinion are grossly under appreciated and under used! This could be because the general public is reluctant to add shine to their everyday makeup routine, however what they would love to know is that highlighters can blur the line between pretty and perfect, let me tell you why. Iridescence in liquid foundations, mineral makeups and other highlighting products can create a flawless look with the help of tiny microscopic mirrors that reflect light. Have you ever looked at a picture from the summer when your cheeks had that dewy extra pretty glow from the combination of the heat and of course outdoor lighting? Well, that is a look you can achieve by adding a touch of highlighting foundation, blush or any other lighting product to the areas where the light would naturally hit first. Highlighters can also be used to create depth and contour. My favorite irridecence product is Cargo's Eyelighter, this product can be used to give the illusion of bigger and brighter eyes by adding a touch of product on the inner, outer and brow area.

Some other great highlighting products to try:

"That Gal" - Brightening Face Primer Benefits Cosmetics $28 -Their silky pink primer takes your complexion from dull to darling! Simply smooth on for the look of brighter, smoother skin.

NARS-Highlighting Blush Powder $25 - This can be worn on top of your makeup or alone to give definition and glow to your complexion.

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.