Get Naked This Winter

photo: Allure

I'm seeing it everywhere! Everyone wants to be naked! Naked eyeshadow palettes, naked lip color and naked nails. I'm a fan of going nude this cold weather season (or anytime) so let's take a look!!

Starting with Nails: Christian Dior Vernis Nude Collection.

Four shades of amazing: Trench, Dune, Grege and Chamelle. *If neutral alone is too boring for you try pairing it with a maroon french tip* 
so chic and unexpected.

photo: zimbo.com

Eyes: Urban Decay Naked is a classic. New this season is Urban Decay Naked2 Both are amazing eyeshadow palettes for everyone.


Two Faced Shadow Bon Bon comes with a full sized mascara and an eye primer.











Lips: Bobby Brown the Queen of neutral pulls it all together with her Bellini Lip and Eye Palette. and Stila All Is Bright Lip Glaze Set has a color for any occasion.


(Click on any blue font and it will link you to that particular product.)

Stay beautiful in the flesh this winter and remember it's only makeup, it's not permanent so have a little fun!

the gorgeous Bettie Page wishing us all a happy, healthy and hot holiday season

travel tip(s) #3

3 fun travel tips:

• Room darkening window clips. Yes they are great...clips you can buy to throw in your bag to clip hotel curtains fully closed. However, the pant and skirt hangers in your hotel room closet work just a well. Plus they are double clipped so you can use 2 hangers for the length of the curtain!

• Re-usable canvas bags. Great for so many things, here are 3:

1. You know everything you are going to need while inflight so why wait until you board to dig through your bags and hold up the boarding process? Put your headphones, ipod, books, magazines, lip balm, hand cream, etc... in your canvas bag while you wait in the terminal for easy access once on the plane.
2. Beach bag! Tote your H2O, sunscreen, mags, wallet, etc.. to the pool and beach.
3. Dirty clothes. Perfect for keeping clean and dirty items separate. 

• Cell phone cameras aren't just for uploading pictures to Facebook. When parking in a long term lot at the airport take a picture of the marker heading for the row in which you parked....Don't want to look like a tourist with a gigantic map? Take a picture of the map with your phone. This also works for subway maps, bus route maps, etc.... Also, take a picture of the address and phone number of your hotel. This comes in handy when you are telling your cab driver your destination. (after a few drinks you might need this information) You can find this info posted on your hotel room landline phone, it's usually located right above the number keys for dialing.

BB Cream

BB huh? I know I didn't get it either. “BB” stands for blemish balm or beauty balm. The cream was originally designed and used by a German surgeon to speed healing after post-peel and laser treatments on his clients. He also designed it to hide redness and help with inflammation.  
The product was picked up by the Koreans, and their celebrities started to attribute their flawless skin to the product. It's also said that the average women's skin care routine in Asia is an astonishing 7 steps. Apparently Asia has been holding out on us girls because this cream is a moisturizer/sunscreen/foundation/concealer all in ONE fantastic tube, with soothing, healing and anti-aging benefits. It's no wonder the craze took off with feverish panic in the Asian community! 7 steps? Yeah, ok, not in our insanely fast paced world.


Now, how and where do you buy it? Looking into this further I found that different companies concentrate on different problems:

• hydration
• anti-aging
• redness
• acne control
• skin lightening (most Asian brands)

Decide what you are after and make sure you read the packaging. 


After reading many blogs, and articles a trend started to appear. Here are the top 5 brands for BB cream in the US as far as I can tell:

1. Garnier Skin Renew ~ You can get it for under 15 bucks at Target
2. Bobby Brown ~ comes in 3 different shades with SPF 35
3. MAC prep + prime bb ~ SPF 35 and sold out online! So go directly to a MAC store
4. Estee Lauder Day Wear BB ~ comes in 2 shades with SPF 35
5. Smashbox Camera Ready BB ~ comes in 5 different shades with SPF 35

Peonies Lips So Summer Sexy

Someone recently asked what's the new lip shade for the upcoming season. Palest coral and soft pinks make the prettiest pouts this spring and summer, just like a fresh bouquet of peonies brightens any room. Of course I have a few suggestions. Click the links for pictures.

• Bare Escentuals Buxom Lip Cream in Creamsicle ~ easy lip gloss type applicator
• Fresh Sugar Coral Tinted Lip Treatment ~ best part is it's SPF 15 
• Benefit Posietint ~ doubles as a cheek stain in a pretty poppy shade
• MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Fuchsia Fix ~ don't let the "fuchsia" scare you away. I wear this one all the time. It's perfectly sheer and SPF 15
• Urban Decay Super Saturated High Gloss in Lovechild ~ stain like effect with stay power

All 5 of the products listed above are light, sheer lip colors. Perfect for summer wearing when you don't want to cover too much of anything.

Hot tip: If you are someone that likes a more opaque look you might want to try applying a pale coral or pink lip liner followed by a gloss or translucent lip conditioner on top. This way your color has more punch and hold (lip liner has better wear time than lipstick) but you're keeping that spring/summer moisturized look. *See hot lips below ;)

Good Morning/Ready For Take Off! Taking your day time look to night.

This is a basic-for-everyone-technique. Steps 1-5 are your day time look. Steps 6-11 will let you turn your day look into night.

1. Start with a clean palate. Always use concealer under your eyes AND on top of your lids from lash line to brow. This gives you a clean slate.
2. Sweep a creamy neutral shadow from lash line to brow. This sets the concealer.
3. Take a neutral color like brown, bronze or whatever you like...sage, tan, gold etc... and start to build color on the outer corner of your eyes, keeping inner corners light. Work this color into your crease...remember this is daytime so use a light hand.
4. Highlight inner corner of eyes and under brow. You can use the same creamy neutral you started with.
5. Apply light coat of mascara.
6. After work function, happy hour, whatever you plan on doing here's a few more steps to freshen up for your fun night. Take a blender brush and smooth out any creases that might have formed in your eyeshadow during the day. Don't worry about blending out the color, we'll add more! Next define your brow. Nothing beats a strong brow!  Refer to my post  A Brow Raising Good Time for instructions on filling in and perfecting eyebrows.
7. Line your eyes with choice color as close to lash line as possible, and blend slightly with a brush. *We are trying to blend the liner so you don't have any harshness going on. Also this works great if you aren't the best eyeliner applier. It blends out mistakes or a shaky hand.
8. Pile on your best shimmery, smoky shadow. Remember to keep inner corners light. Work color into outer corners of your eyes. Blend shadow into crease. Imagine a ">" sideways triangle at the outer corner of your eyes. Layer and blend and take your time until you reach the saturation you want. Again highlight inner corners and brow with a light neutral...make it a shimmer.
9. This is totally "old school" but I've been lining my inner rims with black liner! This technique is often called "tightlining" I use regular old black pencil which usually smudges off but I just carry it with me. Or you can use a waterproof cake liner or similar product and apply with a liner brush. Try MAC fluidline if you hate the smudgy look. *You can also use a white eyeliner to open eyes up and brighten your look.
10. Pile on the mascara! If you put a light enough coat on in the morning you shouldn't have any problems adding another coat or two. Comb through wet lashes with a metal tooth comb if you are worried about clumps.
11. Add a little something extra by highlighting a half-moon shape from your temple to your cheekbone. Try a product like The Multiple by Nars. So fun!

Summer Festival Essentials

Hey summer jet setter, i know you have a festival or two on your list! Here's a few things you shouldn't leave behind...

1. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! Face, body, lips. Make sure you have it all! You should have a moisturizer with SPF made just for your face. On those crazy hot days when your sweating sitting down, the skin on your face can get extra sensitive from the heat and you could experience a burning feeling from regular sunscreens. These reactions are most commonly associated with para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA)-based sunscreens and those containing benzophenones. Some sunscreens also contain alcohol, fragrances, or preservatives, and should be avoided if you have skin allergies. Be kind to your face and try Aveeno You can get anything from SPF 30 up to 100!
2. Refillable water bottle. You can never have too much H2O when you are in the hot sun. There will be refill areas at your venue so hydrate, it's great for your skin too.
3. A truly multi purpose Pashmina is always my life saver at a show. I use it to shield myself from the sun, lay down on it for an afternoon snooze, and it keeps me warm when the sun goes down.

Oh so there's a sold out Black Keys after-the-festival show and you just happen to know the right person holding a ticket with your name on it? No problem! (don't you love when that happens)The next few items on this list will be all you need to freshen up for the post festival show!

1. Face wipes. Wipe off that dirt and sweat with these little gifts from The Body Shop. Reapply that moisturizer with SPF and you are almost ready for Dan and Patrick!
2. Lip & cheek stain is a great 2 for 1 product. Check out Stila they have a good array of color choices.
3. Mascara! If you read my blog you know I love love love mascara! Put on a few extra coats, you never know who'll be at a show...
4. Headbands are a great way to fix unwashed hair. Wear them with a side ponytail...sexy! Or try a headscarf, they look great on both long and short hair.

I hope you have fun hitting the circuit. I'll be out there somewhere so say HI and save me that after show ticket ;)

Pull Up Your Beach Chair It's BEACH HAIR 101

Ombre, tousled, and waves oh my! Whatever your idea of summer locks may be, they all have one word in common...sexy!!! I just love me some carefree summer hair! Now, how to get the "I just got home from the beach" look isn't exactly wash and go. It takes a tiny bit of effort. This post covers 3 things: color, product and hot tools. Relax and have fun, it's just hair!

Color:

• Ombre is staying strong on the color front and it's going nowhere soon. This practically maintenance free technique is made to look like you are growing out old highlights. Sounds strange I know, but I actually think it's pretty bombshell....proving my point with a pic of my friend Alyssa right above! It will look like you spent the summer on the sand and in the sun! Go for it!

Products:

• There are so many products on the market today it'll make your head spin. I'll give you 3 of my favorites. First was a suggestion from my friend Katrina who lives in CA. Her stylist out there had her try  Unite 7 seconds . (click on the blue link for a short video) It has UV protectors and your hairs best friend...silicone. This is a great, lightweight spray for all hair types especially colored hair. The sun will strip your hair color so protect your investment. Throw this in your beach bag for all day UV protection and detangling your wind blown hair. The silicone will de-frizz. Katrina recommends spraying, then pinning some big loose curls all around your head and letting it air dry or blow dry with a diffuser. The result is perfect beachy waves!
• Second Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray literally has salt water as a ingredient. This product adds texture so it's great for fine hair and it will also give straight hair some of that texture too. Spray evenly and then try braiding maybe 5 or 6 different sections loosely. Air dry or blow dry with a diffuser then unravel for gorgeous waves. Use your fingers and massage your scalp for some lift.
• Third I'm loving Moroccan Oils Curl Cream. Put this in towel dried hair and go. Again in the summer anything with silicone is going to help de-frizz. This product also keeps your ends from drying out.

Hot Tools:

• Fat barrel curling irons are my favorite for creating loose waves! I like the brand "Hot Tools Professional" for my curling iron choice. Mine are gold platted and they hold heat evenly. Root curls are easy to learn and don't give you that Little Bo Peep look. Basically you want to curl the roots of your hair and leave the ends out until the last few seconds. This way the curls give you some body at the scalp.

• Diffusers are great if you already have wavy hair. Apply any of the products listed above and disuse your hair to sexy tousled waves. They are also great if you want to quickly dry braids or pinned up curls without knocking them out of place. The more air you have blowing around your hair the more the waves get knocked out and the straighter your hair becomes. When you attach a defuser to your blow dryer it blocks air flow pressure and just throws out the heat...which is what is actually drying your hair.