Hot or Not Beauty

I love the Spring 2007 makeup trends. They are wearable and reasonable. Trend #1 that I wrote about was the heavy metal influence. Wearable metallic eye shadows. Spring makeup Trend #2 was a bold lip. Now, mind you, each trend isn’t meant to be worn all at once. You would definitely be a victim for the makeup police. And remember, trends are just that — fleeting. So take your pick and wear it well.

There is no better way to look fresh for spring than to add a touch of blush to the apples of your cheeks. And fortunatley, pink blush is a easy-to-apply spring trend. Makeup brands are behind this trend, as well as designers. The flushed pink cheek was seen on runways and is being featured in spring editorial makeup. Michael Kors models sported a clean fresh face that featured pink cheeks.

Carol Shaw, founder of Lorac features a soft pink cheek using her Cheek Stamp blush in Hibiscus (glimmering rose) or Pink Paradise (vibrant pink).

The pink cheeck interpreted by Lorac. Notice the soft pink lips and soft pastel shadows that compliment the soft flush of pink on the cheeks.

Bobbi Brown, the Grand Dame of natural beauty also does the pink cheek justice. Again, notice the soft eyes and mouth that accompanies this makeup trend of soft pink blush.

Long time frangrance house Guerlain does the updated pink cheek in it’s spring makeup collection.

My favorite pink blushes:
NARS Desire blush A yummy cotton candy pink. Perfect for porcelain to medium skin tones. Nars blush in Sin is ideal for deeper skin tones, olive to chocolate.
Laura Geller Pink Grapefruit Baked Blush — a sheer pink with golden luminescent light diffusers. Good for all skin tones, light to deep.
Cargo blush in Catalina for all skins tones. Lyon for deeper tones.
Smashbox blush Radiance (radiant fuschia) — perks up all skin tones, in particular deeper tones.
MAC Powder Blush in Desirious or Frankly Scarlett. Both are awesome on all skins.

Flushed pink cheeks are a HOT Spring makeup trend!

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When nude lips first became vogue, I was horrified. Even though I am a makeup artist by trade, I just couldn’t get with that non-lip look. Slowly but surely I was won over. It was sort of like when Bobbi Brown introduced the natural “browns” in lipsticks. I thought this is the ugliest trend ever. Who the heck wants brown lips? Well, that trend was here for quite awhile, and Bobbi Brown is now a household name.

The nude lip though has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for many women. For example, the girl with virtually no lips. You know, thin, where-are-they lips. Nude lipstick and in particular nude glosses have been their saving grace. Let’s go back to art school for this principal of light and dark. Dark makes objects appear smaller (that’s why we love to wear black) and light makes things appear larger (that’s why we paint small rooms in light colors). The nudes act as an optical illusion if you will. Adding that light to the lips, makes them appear fuller. Why not pay $20 for a plumping nude colored lipgloss as opposed to hundreds for collagen or Restalyn?

Stars certainly love the nude look. I remember when Jennifer Lopez sported a Bourjois Lipgloss for a certain photoshoot, the sales were off the hook for that brand. Jen has that signature nude lip. On occasion we see her with a vibrant red, but for the most part, she is that nude lipgloss girl.

Back to makeup artistry. As an artist, you learn balance on the face. So if eyes are the focal point, the mouth should be softer. If the mouth is the focal point, then eyes should be soft and fresh. This is when the nude lip became so popular with the smoky eye look. When a woman is wearing heavy, dark makeup on her eyes, the last thing she needs are lips that are fighting with her eye makeup. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and Beyonce’ are both women who rock this makeup combination of dark eyes and nude lip.

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Spring makeup trends encompass several key looks. Metallics, bold lip, flushed pink cheeks and strong brows. Remember, the key to a trend, is interpreting it so that it fits your personal style. Let’s look at bold lips today.

At the designers shows, bold lips were shown in a variety of ways. Geisha style, with a nude face, and in all colors. What can we lay people take away from this? That you can wear your bright bold lip with different makeup looks. A fresh clean face with a bold lip will be quite refreshing for Spring. Sophisticated makeup, (think Geisha) works well with a bright red lip for spring.

Dior Couture interprets the bold lip Geisha style. Lacoste, aware of their clean sporty image, interprets the bold lip real world style. Tuleh also showed the bright lip with a clean face. A trend we will definitely be seing this spring. It looks like desgners and makeup artist were on the same page. Diesel also showed a clean face with bright lips.

The bold lip look can be easily worn for day and night. For the conservative career woman, the college girl or for a night out on the town. It’s definitely a club look and it’s for the ladies who lunch.

Sephora interpreted the look with a Cargo PlantLove™ Botanical Lipstick in Maria, $20, a sheer-but-bold red shade.

Other bold lip choices:
Gloss: Stila Lip Glze Cranberry (sheer brick red)
Sheer Lipstick: LOLA Ali (medium violet red)
Lipstick: Vincent Longo Gel-X Lipsticks Enhanced With Lip Plumping Moisturizers — Coast (berry plum cream)
Stain: Nars Lipgloss Stain Rage (rose coral)

Here to bold lips — HOT!

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Bronzer has become a year round makeup staple. Where once it was used to just give that aura of having sunned in the tropics, now women (and) men use bronzer to look refresed and to fake a tan. I have worked with many many bronzers, and have my favorites.

My Top 5 Bronzer Picks:

1. NARS Bronzer in Casino or Laguna
Okay, you all know I love this makeup line, and the bronzers are beautiful. Never orange, but just the right amount or warmth. Casino is the perfect bronzer for darker skins and the best countour powder I’ve found. With the slight shimmer, skin always looks luminous.

2. Cargo Bronzer
Generous sizes and light, medium, dark and matte finishes. These pretty bronzers warm the skin without streaking or looking artificial. The option of a matte finish is ideal for those who don’t like a shimmer in their bronzer.

3. Laura Geller Bronze and Brighten
Not only is this a beautiful bronzer that works on all skin tones from light to dark, but the bronzer works double duty as an eyeshadow, eye liner, contour powder or “foundation” for darker skin. Balances the tone of ruddy and yellow skins. It’s actually a baked liquid — pretty awesome technology.

4. Guerlain Terracotta
Terracotta has been a mainstain bronzer for years. Guerlain was making bronzer long before other companies even thought about it. While their earlier versions tended to make skin look a tad orange, of late this bronzer has just gotten better and is the Grand Dame of Bronzers. I like the matte finish in particular.

5. Stila Sun
My favorite is the original, but now there are sheer and matte versions of Stila’s lovely bronzing powder.

Application tips:Use a big fluffy brush. Lots of brands sell a bronzing brush at a ridiculously high price. Sephora has a retractable brush for $19 which is a good buy for your bronzer brush. If you can find one cheaper, let me know.

Brush bronzer over the points of the face where the sun would naturally kiss it with color — forehead, cheeks, chin and across the nose.

For more intense color, buff the color into the skin.

Bronzer can keep your looking fresh in the midst of winter, so go ahead and give yourself a little warmth.

Bronzer — Hot.

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Elizabeth Arden set the model years ago for makeup sets by giving their loyal customers a ridiculous amount of makeup in kit form one time per year. That set had more makeup than one person could actually use in a lifetime, but still customers return year after year for that fun filled kit overstuffed with makeup goodies.

Every woman in your life deserves a kit that does it all. Here are my favorites:

1. Teen Princess
Hard Candy Take Out Makeup Kit – $25 at Sephora

Kit includes: Layer 1: Lip Glosses in sheer cherry, clear with blue multi glitter, champagne with glitter, sheer peach, sheer rose with glitter, and clear with pinky-blue multi glitter, plus two lips brushes. Layer 2: Shadows in golden pink, lavender shimmer, black with silver glitter, shimmering lime, white pearl, medium brown with shimmer, apricot shimmer, and vibrant turquoise with shimmer, plus a black eye pencil, mini black mascara, and two shadow applicators. Layer 3: Two shades of concealer, a neutral rose blush, and a bronzer.

2. Delicious Diva
Smashbox Beauty A-Go-Go Palette and Brush Kit – $50 At Sephora

Set includes eight .29 oz Eyeshadows in gold shimmer, ivory sheen, champagne shimmer, charcoal sheen, rich gold shimmer, taupe shimmer, plum with gold glitter, and matte black, four .07 oz Lip Glosses in golden pink shimmer, rose, nude, and berry shimmer, two .06 oz highlighters in rose sheen and nude champagne and an eyeshadow blending brush and lip brush with houndstooth handles.

3. South Beach Babe
CARGO 10th Anniversary Signature Collection – $45 at Sephora
The oversized, signature tin includes: Bronzer in Medium (an award-winning CARGO favorite), BeachBlush in Coral Beach (a soft, blendable bronzer), Lip Gloss Duo in Soho (two shades of sheer rose), Reverse Lip Liner (holds your gloss in place all day as it enhances the appearance of fullness), and Liquid Powder 01 (wear alone or over foundation for a gorgeous finish). All products are full size and limited edition.
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