Make up for glasses

Applying make up is a little bit different if you wear glasses. The lens sometimes makes our eyes look closer and cross-eyed. The make up application for the eyes have to make the eyes appear wider, brighter, and bigger. The best part about make up is the fact that we can always play with light and shadow. Its an illusion.

My sister was doing her homework with her glasses on and I was inspired to do a make up look that is easy for young professionals working in an office environment. (Thanks to my sister for being my guinea pig!)

 

The main concern in a professional looking make up application is to make the whole look clean and bright. With glasses its easy to look frumpy and sleepy. I focused on making the eyes wide by adding light reflective eyeshadow base with the contour on the outer corners of the eyes. The eyeliner application is also focused on lining the upper lash line with a darker emphasis on the outer corner. The lower lash line is only half lined with the emphasis on outer corner. A peach cream blush, highlighter, mascara, and a reddish-rose lipstick. I prefer lipstick over lip gloss because in my opinion it looks more polished than gloss. 

Products used to create this look:

Make up forever Sculpting Kit: I used this as a highlighter for the brow bone and high cheek bones as well as a shadow base for the eyes. I contoured her cheek bones, side of the nose, outer corner of her eyes, and on her jaw line.

The Make Up Store microshadow in xocoatl: This was used to contour her eyelid in the outer corner only.

NARS eyeshadow duo in Misfit: I used the cream base eyeshadow in this palette for her lids because it has a bit of a shimmer to it to diffuse the light and make the eyes appear more awake.

Stila smudge pot in Brown: I used this to line her upper lash line and 1/2 of her lower lash line. Emphasizing the outer corners.

Becca Cosmetics jewel dust in xantho: I tapped this glittery bronze onto the middle of her lids. This creates a beautiful shimmery 'pop' in her eyelids.

Stila convertible color in Gladiola: Though the color make scare people away this is a beautiful peach blush and when applied to the apples of the cheeks a natural healthy flush is created. I prefer peach blushes than pink-y blushes because it looks a little more radiant and natural.

NARS sheer lipstick in Gipsy: This is a beautiful rose color that looks great on most people. It has more color than Dolce Vita (another fave of mine and my personal go-to lipstick) that will read sophisticated career woman without being intimidating like a red lipstick.

 

Holiday season 2013 sets to covet

Holiday season is coming up and with that are all the amazing beauty sets that will adorn the shelves of your nearest Sephora. As a beauty junkie and product hoarder (aren't we all?), Sephora is one of my favorite stores to get lost in. I get a kick out of making a mess of my hands with all kinds of testers of eyeliners, lipsticks, lip glosses, glitter, skincare, perfume, etc.
I am excited about all the holiday sets that are coming out for the holidays. Some brands like Stila have unleashed their sets already. Here are some of my favorite ones that are coming out!

1) Stila's Tools of the Trade 5 piece 5 piece Luxe Brush Set
$28

2) Stila's Color Me Pretty Lip and Cheek Palette
$28









3) Stila's Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow
$32
Technically not a holiday set but I saw these at Sephora the other day and was super close to purchasing a couple pots of these metallic foil eye shadows. They would make the perfect holiday eye make up.

4) Urban Decay's Naked Nail Kit 
$12

5) Urban Decay's Black Market 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil set
$36

6) Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar: Metallic - in Black Metal Dahlia
$18

7) Smashbox Wonder vision lip gloss set
$24

8) Tarte's Pure Delights 8-Piece Lip Surgence set
$34



















All opinions regarding these products are my own personal opinions alone. The pictures are taken from the companies websites which are linked to this blog. No companies or product endorsements here. 

Make up Story

I saw a few Youtube videos of "beauty gurus" that were doing the make up tags... Thought I'd do something similar here.


1. How old were you when you started wearing makeup?
2 years old! I used to sneak into my Grandmother's and Mother's make up drawers and play around with their make up. I also used to get into a lot of trouble for cutting my own hair. Needless to say, my make up skills were a lot better than my hair cutting skills!
I started wearing make up for school around 6th grade, then I couldn't be bothered with make up too much in high school b/c I was too sleep-deprived from all the activities I did each day. I only wore make up for dance performances and figure skating competitions in high school.

2. How did you get into makeup?
I got into doing make up because I hated people touching my face. I used to re-do the make up that my mother did on my face for dance recitals when I was a child b/c I didn't like the way it looked. When I got older, I started learning theater make up and signed up to be on crew so I wouldn't have to sit in anyone's chair! lol. 

3. What are some of your favorite brands?
Stila, Make Up Forever, NARS, Fresh, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, Origins, and Body Shop

4. What does makeup mean to you?
Make up is a wonderful way to enhance natural beauty. It is also fun to mix it up and try a new look b/c at the end of the day, you can wash it off!

5. If you could only wear 4 products on your face what would they be?
OCC Tinted Moisturizer, Stila's Cherry Crush lip/cheek stain, Alison Raffaele's Transparent Finish to go, Shu Uemura mascara



6. What is your favorite thing about makeup?
The ability to lift a mood, look and feel fabulous, and the confidence it brings.

7. What do you think about drugstore makeup vs high end makeup?
I'm a make up snob/junkie/hoarder - I love good quality products so tend to stick with products I've tested on myself and that it works well. I'm also transitioning my make up to also be cruelty-free b/c bunnies don't deserve to be mistreated and tortured for the sake of cosmetics. There are so many products that humans are willing to try and test out if it works.

8. What is one tip of advice you can give to a beginner?
Hone in on the skills you are good at and focus your energy on that. You can't do everything.
I'm not an FX make up artist, nor a body painter, or do fantasy type make up but have tried all those things out. I'm just not good at it and there are so many more talented artists who can do that kind of work. My best skills is in beauty make up and airbrush make up applications. I like continuing to expand my skills so I practice a lot and have done some pretty interesting transformations during Halloween for clients and friends.

9. What is one makeup trend you never understood?
Eyelid taping. This is predominant in Asia, I had to tape an Asian brides lids a few times because they wanted a "double lid" effect. This changes the way the eyes look and I never understood the phenomenon of looking completely like a different person when this trend has been done as well as using make up to transform the entire face especially when it comes to weddings. Its just weird to me. I understand that you need to transform the entire face for a theatrical production or a film/tv show and embrace the joy that make up can do that but for an everyday look or a wedding?!?!?! Thats just living behind a mask.

10. What do you think about the beauty community on YouTube?
Some of the videos make me cringe but its like watching reality tv shows, you just can't help but watch it. This video is really cute though....

Christmas Wish List

I always drool at the products and gift basket beauty options that come out every holiday season. This season is no different. Here is my list...



1) Stila Holiday Dream Palette
How can you not love the presentation of this palette? All the colors, the packaging, and variety of eye shadows and blushes with an added bonus of an eyeliner.
This palette is $39.
This would also make an excellent beauty gift for the girl who loves make up.




















2) T3 Singlepass Whirl Wand

No this is not some kinky vibrating device. This is a curling wand that is perfect for longer hair to create beach sexy hair or classic finger curls. I love the T3 technology and my 1.5" inch flatiron is used for making big waves in my hair. T3 irons are the only ones that seem to be able to give me long-lasting curls on my slippery, super fine Asian hair.
Retails for $160 - I think this is a little steep but definitely cheaper than getting professional blowouts every time you want long-lasting beautiful curls.








3) Nagauta Kabuki Brush Set

How beautiful is this brush set!?!?! If I received this under the Christmas tree, I would feel like a refined Geisha performer applying make up for a performance every time I would use this. I love that this comes in a Bento Box and is held in place just so perfectly. NARS is one of my favorite make up lines ever!
$225 is the steep cost for this beauty but it is definitely well worth it to feel like a Geisha princess everyday :-)












4) White Gold Detoxifying Crystal Salt INA crystals

Bathing in white gold!?!? Wow. The ultimate luxurious bath.
"This deep penetrating detox bath contains minerals small enough to penetrate the cells and be absorbed to help the body expel internal toxins accumulated over time through pollutants in the air, alcohol and processed foods. The White Gold Crystal and the detoxifying essential oils of basil, fennel and juniper cleanse deeply whilst improving the sense of well-being." - Space NK besteller
This sounds great after a month of indulgence in food and drink.
Retails for $85








5) Muscle Relief Bath Soak Life NK

Ok, I said that this was going to be a wish list not a must-have list or an already-own list. I couldn't help myself but put this product on this list because I LOVE THIS BATH SOAK! I'm a sucker for Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary combination scents. I've been taking baths almost every day since the temperatures have dropped. I use this bath after rehearsal and I always feel so relaxed and start my wind down.
I have found my go-to bath product! (I also like Fresh's Sake bath but I'm not always in the mood to feel detoxified in a "ofuro" hot bath.)
Retails for $30 so its pretty affordable!

Cheeks & Lips

Allure has written up Stila's little convertible color compacts for being versatile in nature so that in the summer or while travelling this summer one can double up on their blush and lipstick/gloss. I was playing around with the colors offered at the Sephora on 34th st last week and deduced that peony would be the perfect flush and work with many skin tones.

I'd recommend trying out the colors on the back of your arm and your cheek before making a desicion on whether this little compact would be a useful and lovely addition to your make up, especially when you want to jet out the door early.

The reason why I picked Peony is because it gives the skin a natural look. The creamy texture is soothing and blending it into the cheekbones are pretty easy. But don't forget to add a little highlighter on top of your cheekbones and some bronzer to contour.