Ankywhoo, we’re back now and best of all I’ve found a tech person who cleaned up my mess and will be handling all the upgrades/backups for me from now on.

I say – when in doubt, go for Classic Beauty. No one has ever been dinged for looking too beautiful. Edgy can backfire if you don’t get it just right. Casual can look like you didn’t care. Beautiful is always the right answer. Here’s who got it right in my estimation.

Ashanti – Ashanti had my favorite look of the night. Her red dress added much needed color and vibrancy. The upswept hair made her look award show worthy but it wasn’t a severe up-do that made her look old. Her makeup was well defined. She had great brows, great cheeks and pretty painted lip but NOT a red lip. By avoiding the “red lip to match the dress” cliche, I feel her look was fresher and more current. Her makeup was fully appointed yet it did not overpower. The result was a look that was chic and both age and event appropriate. She looked fab!

Ashanti at the 2010 BET Awards

Ciara – I don’t know much about Ciara, but I’ve read various things questioning her taste level. Ironically, perhaps, I thought she had one of the more tasteful looks of the night. Her look for Awards night was chic and simple without looking old. With a light smokey eye and a clean nude lip, Ciara looked great both outside in the harsh daylight and indoors under studio lights.

Jeanette Jenkins – I tend to focus more on makeup & hair and not the fashions, but as I’ve said before, what you wear often affects how your makeup and hair ultimately looks. I noticed a red carpet trend towards beige-y, tan-y fashions that were about skin tone for many of the ladies wearing them. Hence, several ladies looked quite washed out on the Red Carpet. Jeanette Jenkins – fitness trainer to the stars – wore a white dress that looked crisp and fresh and accentuated her skin tone instead of washing her out. Along with her short cropped, natural textured ‘do and fresh makeup with a pop of color on the lips, Jeanette put together a look that was both casual and put together.

Nia Long – Is Nia Long a part of this Illuminati we keep hearing about? Because she is just NOT aging. LOL! Nia looked fresh and chic w/ light smokey eye and nude lip w/ trademark pixie haircut. Like Ciara, she looked great both indoors and outdoors.

Omarosa – Reality Show persona notwithstanding, most times I see her, Omarosa looks very well put together. For the BETs I loved her beautiful Veronica Lake hairstyle, simple & chic makeup with a nice hit of color in the dress and on the lips

Mowry Sisters – On the Mowry sisters we saw sides of the coin; one easy chic (Tia) and one nighttime glam (Tamera). Both look polished and put together without going over or under the top.

Keri Hilson – I picked her for the list because I love when ladies aren’t afraid to wear color on the eyes for these types of events. By forgoing a smokey eye and employing color instead, the look is younger and a bit edgier.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Marsha Ambrosius – I actually though Marsha fell into the ‘under done’ category overall makeup/hair-wise but I wanted to make an honorable mention of her for wearing a natural hairstyle. As a black woman who wears my own hair natural, it’s always refreshing to see something other than that parade of straight weaves walking down the step and repeat. Hopefully as more celebs confidently wear their hair natural to these events, more people will see that natural hair can be glamorous, too.

1 ) Don’t Over Do It – Resist the temptation to apply “more”. It’ll cake up, crease up, oil up and generally be difficult to maintain. Also, while you want to look good when the camera flashes, you also want to look good to the person you’re talking to standing in front of you. Hyper makeup looks crazy in real life. Use as much as you need, but not a drop more.

1 ) Healthy Skin Foundation – Fruit pigmented colors in a SPF 20 base, this is an impressive foundation. This is one of the better naturally derived full-coverage foundations I’ve found. It didn’t streak upon application (fingers, sponge and brush), it set to a nice non-tacky feeling finish and it lasted once it was set. Like it really lasted. Downside – color selection is limited and there are no colors for darker skin-tones. Upside – also comes in a Powder formulation which is great for oiler skins, and the Powder formula is vegan friendly and gluten free.

2 ) Cocoa Pigmented Bronzer – As the name suggests, Cocoa is the basis for this bronzer. It comes in three wearable, natural shades which are not too orange and not too shimmery. It’s also sheerer than most brands on the market so if you want a more subtle bronzing effect, this one should do the trick.

3 ) Lip and Cheek Tint – These are definitely tints not stains in terms of long-lasting-ness, but these do wear nicely (longer than most lip glosses) and the color selection is just very, very pretty (including the Shimmery CocoaBerry which works great on us darker-toned gals). Great for a sheer hit of pretty color (pro MUAs – these are also great for kids/teen grooming)

4 ) Satin Eye Shadow – While 100% also has powder eyeshadows which were very nice, it’s the cream eye shadows that were the belle of the ball, in my opinion. The colors are great (a selection pretty neutrals), but it’s the formulation that makes this product stand out. The cream goes on smoothly and dries to a powder finish without creasing, and then lasts, on and on. I’ve been using this product fairly religiously since buying it.

5 ) Gel Eyeliner – In a word: Impressive. If you’re a gel eyeliner user, you know that pretty much every brand dries out fairly quickly. That’s just a drawback of the product-type. Thus, I don’t know how these are going to do on that front since I just got them. I can tell you, however, that they more than fulfill the primary duty of gel eyeliners which is to be Long Lasting.

6 ) Pot Rouge – I normally only do lists of 5, but I’m going to go back and also highlight the Pot Rogue cream blushes because good cream blushes are difficult to find. The color selection is once again quite pretty (although on the Downside they could stand to introduce more colors for darker skins), they go on smoothly and dry to a more powder finish so there’s no gummy/tacky/sticky feeling. Combines will with the powder blushes for even more lasting power.

Side note: I keep mentioning how long-wearing certain items were so let me clarify; when I test items I purposefully test them on my hand so I can see how they act through the normal course of the day. The foundation, eyeshadows and eyeliner mentioned above lived through 1.5 (almost two) days of hand washing and the Pot Rouge blush made it through a full day of hand washing. Additionally, when I used the eyeliner gel recently on an outdoor shoot, it lasted all the hot day without needing a touch-up. Impressive for any line, even more so for a natural brand.

Second Side Note: 100% Pure is currently having a SALE on their website right now! Check the site regularly for more weekly specials!

My blog differs a bit from other beauty blogs because I’m speaking as a veteran media makeup artist. Therefore – while I always hope my posts are enjoyable for all makeup mavens whether interested in the makeup biz or just makeup for themselves – my focus is a little bit different and a goodly amount of my discussion will be industry related as this is the industry that I’m in. Likewise, my posts will often relate to services provided by Makeup to Go!, makeup for portraiture and Lessons for Performers being amongst those services.

Lastly Makeup to Go! s first service was Lessons for Aspiring Artists™, which teaches people the basics of becoming a professional, working media makeup artist. As someone who teaches aspiring artists – and having worked my way up through the ranks myself – things like headshots are most likely going to be where you start your career. Thus it’s important for new artists to know the difference between good and bad headshots, and what photographers who shoot headshots and portraiture are looking for so you can tailor your services accordingly and make yourself more marketable. Headshots pay nice money and keep you working in your craft.

Today I am participating in the Graduation Ceremony for United Friends of the Children which provides housing, education and resources for young people in the Foster system. All of the young people involved in today’s ceremony have beaten the odds and have graduated HS and will be receiving scholarships for college. The makeup team will be providing 65 girls with make-overs, as they move forward with the next phase of their life journeys.

There are a lot of great ways that you can become involved with your community as a makeup and/or hair artist. Many hospitals across the country participate in the Look Good, Feel Better program, which benefits patients going through treatment for cancer. You can also search for organizations in your area at Volunteer Match. Volunteer Match lists a wide array of opportunities so if you don’t find something that suits you as an artist, you can find some other way to contribute.

Through donating my time to charitable activities as a makeup artist, I’ve met great people, made great connections and just further deepened my connection to the work that I do and why I do it. It’s been great for me and I encourage everyone to give it a try.

Technorati Tags: charities, community service, look good feel better, makeup, makeup to go, united friends of the children, volunteer match

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