Camera Ready Make Up Make Over: Elly

I took these pictures in the summer when my sister was visiting. She has the best skin ever and is just so gorgeous that she rarely wears much make up, so I thought it would be fun to do the real deal and do a camera ready make over to do her up and talk a little bit about the differences of day to day make up and make up for when you will be taking pictures. 

Picture make up Do's: The general rule is that you need to apply a bit more contours and blush to make the contour of your face show up on camera. So add more contour in the hallows of your cheekbones, your temples, under your chin, and around your forehead, as well as in the creases of your eyeshadow. Make sure you apply just a tiny bit more blush than normal to make your apples really pop and you will definitely want lots of lashes, so either triple coat those bad boys, or apply some falsies. 

Don'ts: You will want to avoid shine and too much shimmer, as well as SPF which can cause a glare on camera. Don't overdo the eyeliner just because you overdid everything else, unless you're going for that look of course. 

 First I primed her skin with my all time favorite primer, Hourglass Veil Primer

Then I used a light and dark contour foundation pen to darken under the cheekbones, temples and forehead and lighten the chin, under the eyes, and above the brows

Next I used a Quo sponge to stipple the light and dark contour colors in blending with a bit of foundation being careful to not spread the contour colors to other places other than where I put them to begin with. Then I used Anastasia contour kit to set under the eyes with the yellow powder and the sandy color to further contour.

I used gel liner to line her upper and lower lashes and did a triple threat coat of L'Oreal mascara.

I added a peach blush to the apples of her cheeks as well as highlighter on the highest points of her cheekbones.

Then I filled in her brows with make up forever aqua brow and some powder and lined her lips with an aqua liner and a plumping lipgloss!

Summer Lips Suggestions

1: Maybelline Petal Rebel //  2: Hard Candy in Girl Next Door  // 3. Mac Snob // 4. Nars Niagara // 5. Smashbox Azalea // 6. Givenchy Magnolia // 7. OCC Lip Tar in Stalker // 8. Nars Cruella // 9. Stila Stay all day in brick red

Skin Solutions

Of course there are certain situations that require more assistance when it comes to the skin, but there are also lots of easy great ways to get "younger", healthier, radiant looking skin and it really starts from the inside out. Whatever you put into your body comes out and part of those toxins are released through the skin. So, if you want your skin to look better remember to exercise, eat healthy, and drink lots and lots of h2o! Other than eating and drinking, here are some more tips to help maintain youthful wrinkle & acne free skin!

1) TAKE IT OFF: Do NOT go to bed without taking your make up off!! Whip out your favorite face wash & remove your eye make up before you snooze (I love coconut oil to take my mascara off ). You don't want to be rolling around all night snoring and sweating clogging up your pores with yesterdays make up. For a DIY make up remover recipe click here

2) ROUTINE: Getting into a routine to start getting ready for bed before you're too tired to think will help. Take those 10 extra minutes to wash your face, apply toner, and a nightly moisturizer before bed and remember, whatever moisture your skin needs in the AM it also needs in the PM and vise versa. But remember that skin is not static, it is always changing meaning what worked for you last year might not work for you next year. In a nutshell, you're going to want to change up your products, but stay consistent to your routine. Pay attention to your skin and get check ups from professionals & treat yourself to facials! *wash your hands after using hair products before applying moisturizer or make up! Hair gels/sprays/treatments can clog your pores & cause breakouts!!


3) EXFOLIATE: Exfoliating your skin might be one of the best things you can do for it. It helps to get rid of dead skin and regenerate new cells, but you need to be careful not to be overly forceful with your skin you don't want to strip your skin of its natural moisture barrier, which can potentially accelerate the aging process. You can make your own exfoliant using salt, or sugar and keep it by the sink (sugar works great for lips & you can mix salt with yogurt for a body scrub, becareful not to overdo it with salt though because it can dry your skin out). I keep Beauti Control Spa Facial Exfoliating Polish in my shower. Its the perfect light scrub to use in the mornings to get the sleep off and start the day!

4) RETINOID + VIT C: If you're concerned about acne scars or wrinkles and you're not using a retinoid you should start. Certain types are only available through a doctor, but I use over the counter Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Night Moisturizer and it really helps to clear up acne, make pores appear smaller, and repair fine lines. Also, keep an eye out for skincare products that include vitamin C which is an anti-inflammatory! 

Better Brows: Make Up Forever Aqua Brow Product Review

I am always on the search for ways to improve my too blonde too short eyebrows. Eyebrows can really make or break the overall look of your face because of how they frame your eyes and draw attention to the center of the face. After years of using pencils, I ended up with two favorite brands Lancôme & Too Faced, but hated dishing out 40 dollars on a pencil that I had to sharpen almost everyday and went through them far too much. So, I decided to try a wax powder kit and really liked the effect of Benefits Brow Zings. Brow Zings is a great product if you have the time and patience to prefect the look you're going for, but when I work early mornings I was ending up with too bushy/too waxy brows and went back on the hunt for the perfect brow product and ended up with this dream boat of a brow gel....

Make Up Forever Aqua Brow comes in four different shades and is the best brow product I have ever used. It goes on so easily to create the perfect look and stays put all day. It claims to be waterproof & I'm not sure that I would go that far because it does wash off really easily, but it creates the look of full brows and is completely smudge proof. I use the small brushes from the Brow Zings kit to apply it because they are so small that they deposit the perfect amount of product on the brows & I also finish the look off using the powder from the Brow Zings kit over top of the Aqua Brow gel to darken and soften the look. Aqua Brow is only 20 dollars and Sephora workers state it should last about one year, so we will see about that. Either way, its half the price of the pencils, it gives the perfect look, and stays on all day! I'll be using this product for a long time to come!
Suggested Use:

 -Using an angled brush, pretend there is a vertical line from side of your nose (you can take a pencil & line it up beside your nose to get an idea of where the imaginary line will start on both sides) and start to fill your brow in from that line outwards, continuing towards the arch of the brow and then make a thinner line down to the tail.
-Fill in sparse areas and blend. Top with powder to set if you wish.

Tip: When you first start to fill in your brows you might think you look like a werewolf, or fear that you look like you have a unibrow.. it is normal to feel that way if you aren't used to it, but do not worry you do not look that way and any time you need brow inspiration please look at top model Cara Delevingne and her amazing brows.

DIY Eye Shadow Primer

First of all, let's talk about primer. Primer's act like a cushion between your make up & your skin allowing for smoother application and increasing wear time. The key ingredient is silicone which allows the make up to glide over your skin instead of absorbing directly into your fine lines or pores making them look enlarged. I’m not going to lie to you, some brands do work better than this DIY recipe, but the difference isn’t that big & its super easy and inexpensive unlike many brands, so let’s get down to business…

You will need:

1: 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch

2:  ½ teaspoon of Chapstick, or body butter (I went to Dollarama & grabbed a scentless Chapstick for mine)

3: 1 1/2  Teaspoon  Foundation or BB/CC cream (a silicone, or non-oil based liquid kind works best)

4: A small container to mix it up & store

      Put all the ingredients in container and mix it up really well!

Product Review & What To Do: Maybelline Highlighting Concealer

I usually by-pass concealers in drug stores because I’ve been such an avid user of the Lise Watier Portfolio conceal wheel  (that I talked about here) that I don’t tend to look at other products, but I couldn't help but notice that Maybelline has this little gem of concealer & highlighter in one! I haven’t used it too many times, so I’m not sure how long it will last and I don’t generally like twist up products for that reason, but otherwise I’m a little in love with this product. HAC-ing (highlighting & contouring) is the foundation for every make up routine and this concealer blends perfectly, gives the right amount of highlight) and provides good coverage for under eyes as well. I'm a fan! 

After contouring with a darker shade of concealer & applying foundation I apply the highlighting concealer in all the areas I drew with blue (under eyes in a pie shape, nose/forehead in a tree shape, chin, and above the tail of the brow: