A Beautiful Thought.
“Beauty is whatever gives joy.”- Edna St. Vincent Millay
Oh, No You Didn’t!
Oh, yes I did. I couldn’t believe it myself. It appeared as if I was finally going to be beaten by a horror-monal blemish from Hell that could actually transcend the very best I could dish out. Despite my best efforts, this pimple continued to reign supreme. No amount of zit zapping or begging and pleading with mother nature to bring about this bad boy’s hasty demise would shift it. I am sure I once even heard the blasted thing bark, “Feed Me, Seymour!” I kid you not. The very split second before I steadied myself to concede defeat, I felt a surge of unmistakable feistiness and determination that is the hallmark of a true makeup maven or the savviest of skincare savants. I wasn’t going to go down easy. Almost as if I was having a surreal out of body experience, I reached, with deft precision, for my blackest liquid eyeliner and I DID IT! Yep, before I knew it, I had put a dot of liquid eyeliner smack dab on the apex of that baby and, much to my total amazement, it looked like the most adorable beauty mark! Aw. I loved it. I know, who would have thought it? That crazy, way out, seemingly hair-brained suggestion actually worked. Yesssss! Now the pimple’s gone. Is it wrong to do this brilliant trick without one?
What’s your wackiest makeup or skincare fix? Go on. Spill…
Why Should He Be The Only Smooth Operator?
*Cue Sade* Smoooooooth Operatoooooor. Thanks to Schick, us girls can now get in on the game. Schick Intuition Plus razors deliver a smooth shave that is positively perfect for those that dare to bare this winter. Schick Intuition Plus lathers, shaves, and moisturizes in one easy step. The moisturizing solid surrounding the 3 blades creates a creamy lather that is chock-full of conditioning ingredients such as Shea Butter, Aloe, and Vitamin E. Nice!
Schick Intuition Plus All-In-One razor is currently available in two varieties: Intense Moisture (enriched with Shea Butter) and Sensitive Care (with Aloe and Vitamin E). Both Intense Moisture and Sensitive Care razors include a refillable razor handle, two All-In-One Cartridges, a shower hanger, and a protective travel cap. They can be purchased from all major grocery, mass retailers, and pharmacy stores nationwide.
Drawing The Line.
I recently received a few fabbo emails inquiring about lip liners and whether or not they were necessary or a thing of the past? My short answer to this is: Yes and No. The long answer, on the other hand, is: It depends… Lip liner done well is a sure fire way to create a wonderfully sculpted lip that will wear well, look great, and more than likely hold on to the colour applied a lot truer. Lip liners done, let’s say, a little less than well can leave you, if unintentional, looking like a preserved beauty from a bygone era. Lip liners are also not strictly necessary when you’re after a more relaxed, whimsical look like on your gloss days or when a more deconstructed lip is the aim. Personally, I only tend to wear lip liners when I am wearing a “tricky” lip colour, like a bold red or an uber vibrant pink or orange, perhaps. Professionally, when colouring up the lips of my clients, I will go with a liner, more often than not, to increase the longevity of my client’s lipstick wear, to even out or create their lip line or to prevent bleeding into any fine lines they may have. Even when using just gloss on clients, I will, on occasion, finish up with a matching lip liner to add definition to the lip and to act as a preventative barrier to lip colour feathering. I’m not really convinced this last step is 100% necessary, in all circumstances, but maybe a case of my “old school” ways sneaking through. Well, it can’t hurt to be sure to be sure, now, can it?
When lining lips, line and totally fill in the lip area with liner. Not only will a complete line and fill smooth the surface of the lip and fill in any fine lines, lay a moisturizing foundation for your lippie, but when your lipstick starts to head off to greener pastures, it will leave you with an even fade of colour, not a patchy one that leaves you with an exposed lip outline. Oh, the shame. *wink* When choosing a colour to line your lip with, should you decide liner is the way to go, be sure to pick a suitable liner colour. Red and other bold coloured lips are best lined with the closest matching bold coloured lip liner. When wearing nude lipsticks, a nude liner of the same colour is good or a liner that matches your natural lip colour will also work a treat. There are colourless liners also, but they are generally used in conjunction with your coloured liner and lippie and best used to line just outside of your natural lip line. Colourless liner’s forté is to act as a physical waxy barrier to prevent your lip colour from breeching the perimeter. They are handy, that’s for sure. Especially, if you have a mouth like mine, that has this uncanny knack of depositing a little bit of lippie just under my bottom lip. *throws hands in air* I don’t know how I manage it, but I do. Just lucky I guess.
The long and short of it is, really…that lined and totally filled in lips absolutely have a place in your makeup repertoire, should you wish, but unlined lips can also look pretty spesh too, if that’s what you’re feeling on the day. As always, it should be about whatever works for you.
That Is All.
To be perfectly honest, I think this colossal image and the name Pat McGrath, alone, are really all that needs posting, because I know you will instantly understand. But for the sake of not wanting to make the shortest post in blog history, I’ll add a few exciting extras. Yes! Max Factor is soon to release Masterpiece Max mascara in July 2007. *happy dance* Masterpiece Max continues to rage on, where its little sister left off, with its innovative Volume iFX brush it delivers even more volume to each and every lash. Max Factor reckons this beauty will give you a wild and wonderful volume increase to each lash of 400%! As I couldn’t locate my super duper lash volume detector/measuring thing-y-ma-bob, as you will understand, I can’t say for sure that I got exactly 400% more volume, but I, most certainly, did get a whopping great improvement in length and volume from what I started with and not a clump was to be seen. Just gorgeous. Masterpiece Max mascara comes in 2 classic shades: Rich Black and Brown Black.
International makeup artist (my Guru) and Global Creative Design Director for P&G Beauty, Pat McGrath knows choosing the right volume mascara can be crucial in avoiding stress and time wastage backstage.
“Full-volume, beautifully defined lashes is one of the most desirable looks, but one of the hardest to achieve. Most traditional volumising mascaras load the lashes with mascara to build volume but this often results in globby lashes. Masterpiece Max makes sleek and smooth volume easily accessible to everyone. Its breakthrough Volume iFX brush and volumising formula, create striking eyes and lashes with high volume, while still giving wonderful separation and definition.”
That’s my kind of mascara!
An Apple A Day…
Keeps a whole lot at bay, that is for sure, especially when it’s gone a bit nuts! L’Occitane will be introducing the newest member to its age defying skincare team from July 1, 2007 with the new Almond & Apple Harvest Launch. Well over two years ago L’Occitane harnessed the ultra nourishing properties of Almond in its luxe body care range, but has now upped the ante even more by joining the forces of almond protein with the antioxidant rich, smoothing, tightening and protective assets of organic apple extract from Provence. Apple more than capably fights against slackening of the skin and loss of elasticity all the while protecting against environmental aggressions and hormonal factors that can lead to premature aging. Beauty Marked!® had the pleasure of experiencing this super potent dynamic duo at work in the Almond & Apple Cleansing Oil and the Almond & Apple Velvet Concentrate.
The Almond & Apple Cleansing Oil gently removed my makeup and the day’s impurities and left my skin feeling all the better for it. The light cleansing oil turned to the most gorgeously textured milk when in contact with water. After cleansing, my skin was clean, supple and hydrated. Next, I applied the Almond & Apple Velvet Concentrate to moisturize. The Almond & Apple Velvet Concentrate has a soft fondant texture and is, most certainly, suitable for all skin types as it is not heavy or so very fluid to be only of use to specific skin types. The Concentrate contains Almond proteins, Sillicum, and coriander essential oil which are responsible for improving the skin’s firmness, elasticity, and smoothing fine lines. The organic apple extract stimulates natural exfoliation because of the fruit acids it contains and refines the skin’s texture. The last major player in the Almond & Apple Velvet Concentrate is organic apple cider vinegar, which acts as a natural astringent on the pores. My skin certainly felt nourished and protected and had a lovely smooth texture after applying. I must say, I do adore the ever so light scent of both products too. The natural fragrance is wonderfully fresh and crisp.
I will look forward to meeting the Almond & Apple Sweet Peel and Almond & Apple Toning Cider, which are also part of the new Almond & Apple Harvest range. Do be sure to visit a L’Occitane boutique near you or online for the Almond & Apple Harvest range and much more from July 1.
Curl Resistant Lashes.
The best tip I know for curling curl resistant eyelashes is to curl the lashes with an eyelash curler first and then show that curl who’s boss with absolute lashings of quality waterproof mascara. I know, for many of you, waterproof mascara gives you the willies, but it is, indeed, awesome at encouraging poker straight lashes to maintain its new curl. I suspect, the reason why most folks are hesitant to go the waterproof is that it has been known to make your lashes a bit, well, let’s say, crunchy. I’d wholeheartedly agree that crunch is best left for a gorgeous apple, but many of the newer formulated waterproof mascaras are far less hardcore, thankfully.
I remain a disciple of the school of thought and practice that says “curl before you coat”. Life’s too short and lashes too few, to risk loosing the odd lash by curling eyelashes after applying mascara and possibly getting one or two of those precious few stuck to the curler and accidentally removed. I know that there are a handful of you adrenalin junkies out there that curl after you coat and still have a raging row of lashes, but, I don’t reckon the majority of us would be so lucky. The big thing to remember about waterproof mascara, though, is to remove it. Bi-phaseal eye makeup remover makes light work of taking off waterproof mascara. Just ensure that once you’ve removed the mascara, to cleanse any oily residue off and splash with water as the final rinse before gently patting dry. Also, don’t forget to wipe your eyelash curler clean after each use. Any eye makeup used on your eyes prior to applying mascara can find its way onto your lashes and transfer onto your curler and can act much the same as mascara-ing your lashes before curling if the residue is sufficiently built up. A wipe with a clean tissue aught to suffice. Just remember, waterproof mascara and a quality eyelash curler are a curl’s best friend!
