A trend that emerged from the runways of Fashion Week Spring 2011 collections was Vibrant Color. Yay! Enough with the dark Gothic look or the monochromatic “no makeup” looks. Color is playful, uplifting and makes us look fresh and young. From subtly “there” to loud and proud, there are plenty of products to get you started. And fear not, there will be many more products to come as this trend develops into the new year.

Stila – Color Wheel Palette
This is one of the most genius palettes I’ve ever seen. I think one of the reasons more women don’t wear color (or why some who do don’t get it quite right) is simply because they don’t know how. Artists working in any medium get to know color and color relationships by using the color wheel. How ingenious is it to make an eyeshadow palette based on the Color Wheel!?! Not only are the colors laid out in a way that is very user friendly, the palette comes with pro tips and tricks for best looks and ideas. Genius! Continue reading →

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If you follow me on Twitter, you know I was recently in the Bay for over a week for work and business (and some leisure ). While I was up there, I had more time than usual, so I decided to do something I’d thought about for a while, and that is to find the “happening” beauty spots in the San Francisco Bay.

Well. I tell ya. I was initially a little disappointed, particularly with San Francisco. Being the hip, “West Coast New York” that it is, I was expected to find my hip, funky little ‘off the beaten path’ stores. Instead, I was surprised to find mostly the same large beauty chains that one can find in most cities. I’m sure the hip little stores do exist and I’ll try finding them again on future trips. What I did find in visiting the big stores, however, was that these stores often carry brands and products that other stores in the chain might not. Here then is what I found on my first SF Bay beauty excursion; Continue reading →

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My friend Karen is preparing for her wedding and wanted makeup tips. Like a lot of women, she knew she needed fresh, new makeup but she didn’t really know how to go about choosing anything. When she asked me where I thought she should go, I immediately suggested Sephora. The glaze in her eyes was likewise immediate. Instead of sending her alone, I opted to go with (which was more fun anyway ) But what do you do when you don’t have access to a Pro Makeup Artist?
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It’s the Holidays! The holidays means so many different things; fabulous food, time with family, tradition, spectacle… and for the makeup fanatic = holiday makeup sets. Every year I go crazy buying 5 times more makeup than I normally would because of these delectably seductive little sets. Whether you keep them yourself, or give them as gifts they’re just the perfect little beauty Pick Me Up… here’s the best of the bunch for 2009 (IMHO )
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I am a big time coffee person. Not just a coffee drinker, I am an unabashed coffee connoisseur and snob. I’m a Twitterer ( follow me ) and I’m good for at least one tweet a day mentioning coffee. Last time I did so, my friend and business partner Kallah Maguire of Chic Shopping LA tweeted me back asking if there are any good coffee colored lip colors. I thought that was a great idea. Kallah, this one’s for you!

Brown can be a difficult color to pull off. There are many shades of brown some more cool, some with more of a red undertone, and some more neutral. In addition there are intensities of brown from the very dark to the softer more pinky brown. Coffee-brown in cosmetics tends to be more of a true, neutral, rich brown although there are some variations. I think where most women go wrong is going for a brown that’s too dark and is in too high a contrast for their skin tone which sucks all the color out of their skin and makes the skin look “cold”. Being the connoisseur that I am, here’s a selection of the best Coffees I’ve found… Continue reading →

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As a makeup enthusiast and product junkie I love knowing what’s new in makeup-landia; what the trends are, what the hot new brands are, etc. As a makeup artist, however, I have to temper my enthusiasm with what works. Sometimes all you have 10-15 minutes to do the job and it needs to look like you spent an hour. This is where your Stand By products come in. No time for experimentation; I need to reach in, grab a product, and know exactly what it’s going to do. If you’re an aspiring artist, take note as many of these products are unilaterally loved by makeup artists all over. Makeup aficionados take note as many of these products are what artists are actually using, even when they say they’re using something else.

Here then are my Top Ten products: Continue reading →

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