• Face. The Zia pressed powder of a few posts back...meh. And I seldom say "meh." If it's not the worst powder I ever tried--and it's not--still I miss my MAC Blot pressed. What's in that stuff, that can't be replicated anywhere else? I've decided to repurchase Blot after all. Not sure what to do with the Zia...I don't like returning used cosmetics even to stores which accept them...but until I update my review...meh.



• Clothes. Made it out to the City last weekend, to visit both Golden Gate Park and Stonestown Galleria. The park has a certain amount of sentimental value; once, I lived within walking distance of it, and I've seen much of it. It's still good, though they recently decimated the children's playground, replacing funky old swings, merry-go-rounds and see-saws with sterile New Age-y constructions. I don't know what they were thinking, beyond fewer lawsuits, and fewer things for older children to play with, but it's hardly worth going to the playground any more.
  
  Stow Lake still rocks.
  
  Stonestown was surprisingly lovely. I got a couple of items--a sky blue hoodie, and an aquamarine blue skirt.



• Perfume. Still using up samples. I retried Annick Goutal's Les Nuits d'Hadrien EDT, after reading Dain's review of the EDP (I doubt they smell different, particularly, but the Annick Goutal EDT's don't last well).
  
  I can smell more clearly these days. In Les Nuits... there lies the same exquisite lemon-and-cypress heart of Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien, only prettied up with frills of more traditional perfumery. I haven't smelled Eau d'Hadrien in ages, but there was something geometrical about it, the way they managed to trap sunlight and evoke whitewashed houses, narrow streets, lemon groves, and pretty dark-haired girls, in a scent perfume mavens don't seem to particularly care for lol
  
  It's a good thing I don't do decants. I think I'd end up with a hundred, easily.

Labels: annick goutal, face, perfume, the weekend blogger, zia

1. tweezers: because unruly brows are the cosmetic equivalent to wearing cheap shoes
2. blush brush: unless you use cream blush, with a soft taper (gradated bristles) so that the application is soft and blends more easily
3. wash brush: a flat, soft, tapered brush that applies and blends shadow easily, this can usually double as a crease brush if you shop wisely
4. detail brush: a tapered, dense little brush for doing smudge work and precise, concentrated color application (such as the inner corner of the eye)
5. liner brush: flat, synthetic brush, the thinner the better, it gives you the most control, if you want something that will double as a brow brush, look for one that is angled
6. eyelash curler: unless you don't wear mascara

Labels: eyes, face, lips, the beauty primer

• Jewelry. Today we did what we do every year; we went to the Fourth of July Fair. I don't buy readymade jewelry that much anymore, but I always find something at this fair (I have for years). Particularly rings, since these cannot be made without metalworking. People have made lovely rings with wire, and I've made them too, but it's not the same.
  
  I got a ring of heavy silver set with a rough ruby. I like this style; they also use rough emeralds. By "rough" I mean a fairly low-grade stone, translucent at best, but somehow, I just like it. I also got a spectrolite ring and a blue topaz ring, both for my daughter.



• More jewelry thoughts. Making jewelry has now become almost too easy. lol! Okay it's not actually easy, but I've become better at it. For one thing, I've gotten accustomed to the idea that even a simple piece of jewelry can take all day, two days, or longer to make.
  
  And the same piece usually has to be redone several times. Unless you're copying an existing design, there are quite a few variables at play, and no hard and fast rules about anything. You have to go with the materials at hand (I've long given up the romantic notion of having everything you need at hand, because that never happens), so you need to be versatile enough to bend half-hard wire as easily as soft, and use whatever gauges you have.
  
  Tried my hand today at making post earrings. Not intentionally--I had the idea of making a hammered silver spiral to cover the ear lobe, and hanging something underneath it. I've felt in a rut; most of my earrings are french wires or hoops. I have tried my hand at making kidney wires (and should make more), and have used argentium silver leverbacks, but anyway...I made the spiral, and realized it would never sit right unless it had a post back, rather than the french wire style I had originally.
  
  It was a matter of cutting the french wire and straightening it, and digging up some earring backs, and getting them to fit the wire (I used a piece of stiff heavy wire to enlarge the earring backs slightly).
  
  For the spirals, I couldn't use too-heavy wire (this works for necklaces but not for earrings, where you need more delicacy and less weight). But I decided to hang teardrop-shaped hoops from the spirals, and these should be heavy wire. I used 18 gauge but would have been happier with 16 (as I say, you have to use what's at hand, otherwise you'll never make anything, but I have plans to try thicker wire later on).
  
  It's a sort of...gestalt (I'm envisioning dudes with elbow patches and pipes, bear with me). The spirals would be wrong without the post, or made in heavier wire (or lighter for that matter). The hoops would be wrong without the spirals (I've tried many times to make heavy wire hoops, to no avail). The shape of the hoops can't be too perfect (which would make them appear prefabricated), nor too crude (making them look amateurish, by someone who can't intimately bend wire, with tools including fingernails, mandrels, the handle of the chasing hammer). It's crossed my mind I love nothing so much as working with metal. It's my dream to do metalworking someday (silversmithing is more attractive to me than goldsmithing, though the latter would be more lucrative). It's the sheer physics of it.



• Face. The Zia pressed powder I bought last weekend...hm. It's not as good as MAC Blot pressed powder, for all-day oil blotting goodness. Yet it's not bad enough that I'd toss it and head out to the MAC counter, either. It's a decent pressed powder, better than a Dior one I have in ability to suck up oil. More coverage than MAC Blot pressed (not something I look for in powder though). I got the "Smoky Quartz" shade; it's definitely darker than my MAC Blot "Medium," but then Medium was getting too light anyway. (The "Quartz" shade might be more similar.)
  
  I'm not likely to repurchase it, but have decided to use it up.



• Clothes. One of my favorite dress shops bit the dust, just like that.
  
  I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop in and look around. Cripe! They used to have two solid aisles of dresses, each aisle comprised of stands, each stand with four kinds of dresses...and yet more dresses, further in. All they kept was the aisle bordering the display windows, and this aisle was sparse, buddy, it was sparse. I used to grab ten dresses at a pop to try on, and walk out with two or four. This time there was one that looked nice (sheer layer with a print, over a solid layer of the same print; the interplay was interesting), but I hesitated, as it was similar to dresses I already own. But that's it. One dress in the "tempting to try on" category.
  
  To replace the dresses, they'd put separates...crappy separates (this shop never had good separates, only good dresses).

Labels: face, indie, jewelry, the weekend blogger, zia

Labels: beauty notes, caron, face

Labels: face, good skin

Labels: bath and body, eyes, face, gift guide, lips, nars

STEP ONE The usual advice treats blush as an afterthought, the thing that ties everything else together, but this method of choosing colors puts blush in a primary role. My rationale is that blush has a relationship with all the colors of your face—a creamy complexion (it is also possible to sculpt cheekbones, blur blemishes, or give a sunkissed impression), eyes glow, and a balance is struck between skin and hair. Match it, intensify it, tone it down, complement it, contrast with it... any shade that references a color that so strongly flatters your face is sure to please.

STEP TWO Lipcolors that clash with your One True Blush are likely to clash with you. But one that matches it exactly is bound to be your perfect YLBB. Made richer, it becomes sophisticated, for work, for fall, whatever. Sheer it down and neutralize with lots of beige/lilac (depends), and you've got your perfect nude. Or intensify its natural tendencies by brightening it, darkening it, or adding red or orange or purple or brown, and you've got a dramatic lip without guesswork. Lips are easy: variations on a theme.

STEP THREE It feels odd to say this, because it is such oft repeated advice, but I don't find the neutral/warm/cool divide very intuitive—people are all so different and they wear their faces in such different ways. "Warm colors on warm skin, cool colors on cool skin, and brown, a neutral, works everyone." I believed it; nobody offered ever anything to the contrary, except... I have warm skin and wear cool colors exclusively and brown makes me look ill. I can only come to this sad conclusion: this is crap advice. In my experience, colors either complement or contrast with each other. Anything that falls in between usually looks dull and unfavorable, though I am not sure why this is so. Take, for example, red. It looks lovely with plum (a complement) and pleasantly shocking with sky blue (a stronger contrast). But lavender or forest green would make indifferent pairings. But switch to a coral, and the same lavender and forest green would be excellent. What the best colors do, is draw attention to something in particular, like the green of your eyes, while referencing your One True Blush, so it also generally flatters: a feedback loop.

I suspect this is why makeup artists tend to rely on the same products over and over again as "universals"—there are only so many blush shades, in spite of the fact that skintones run a much wider range. Look at the colors below, I've tried to select diverse colors and colorings, but in spite of that, they do kind of bleed into each other, do they not? These common shades are complementary by nature. Consider Clinique Black Honey: it's supposed to work on everyone, right? (Whether it does or not sees considerable debate.) Why? Because most blushes are pink, and a sheer glossy blackberry is really just a richer version of that color. Probably, those who cry against it are advocates of peach or coral. Contrasts, as the name implies, lie in direct opposition. It may be a matte vs. frost (a subtle contrast, there, but some people prefer monotone palettes), light vs. dark, warm vs. cool (this is where it's actually useful), or more commonly, the color opposite it on the color wheel (for reference, pink/red and blue, peach/coral and green, plum and gold, are perfectly opposed).

Labels: beauty notes, eyes, face, lips, philosophy, terminology

1. First Things First Learn good skincare strategies, and don't get lured by miracles: thorough but gentle cleanser + no-frills moisturizer + whatever treatments you need + regular exfoliation (these may overlap). Avoid silicones if possible. They are "filler" ingredients that give your products a luxurious texture without much real benefit, like a charmer who runs as soon as he's gotten what he wants. The best skincare is usually surprisingly basic, and requires much patience, and the occasional readjustment of your expectations. You learn to care for your skin, not punish it for flaws, which are inevitable and unavoidable with the organic. The difference is enormous. On one hand, you become ever more comfortable with the face you live in, on the other hand, is a sort of increasing paranoia that leads to such monstrosities as $300 face creams. I hate expensive face creams.


2. Wear Heels Suffer for beauty. It changes the way you walk and stand, hence, the way you carry yourself. If you are afraid of discomfort, a simple, well-made heel is not impossible to find. You needn't get overly imaginative; it's just an everyday shoe. I also like Repetto—they make dance shoes, so they are very sturdy. Though you may at first be put off by the plain appearance, the difference between a good shoe and a great shoe is the wearing of it.


3. Great Hair Days Personally, I have a very hands-off policy towards my hair, sort of like Bush and public education, but a good haircut makes such a huge difference—the right one will lend instant character to your face whilst concealing lesser flaws. Work with your hair's natural tendencies, to cut down on daily routines. A bit of color may brighten your skin and eyes. There is one thing that looks agreeable on everyone: healthy, shiny hair. I recommend Snowy's Moisturizing Treatment. The conditioner of your choice (not all conditioners will work, however), plus honey, aloe vera, and olive oil. Saturate hair with mixture (easier if hair is slightly damp), wrap in plastic wrap, blast with blowdryer on low heat. Shampoo and condition as usual. This is an exceptionally hydrating treatment, and all the ingredients are easily found.


4. The Constants Certain cosmetics should be considered a given in any makeup look, because they pinpoint spots that universally benefit from improvement. These are: the darkness that concentrates along the inner corner of the eyes (remedied by undereye concealer), defined brows that restructure the whole face, the density of the lashline (mascara and eyeliner here; more important than eyeshadow), and a bit of color on lips and cheeks (the correct color will light up the entire face). To this, you might add a fleshtone highlight on the lids to open up the eyes, but you can skip this step if short on time. These are the products that enhance without apparent makeup, for a natural look.


5. A Note on Blush This is key. You don't need half a dozen blushes, just one that matches you perfectly (rather than your other cosmetics), which may be vague advice because so much depends on coloring. The right one brings your face to life, and the only surefire method to finding it is trial and error. This may seem like undue attention to a seemingly unimportant matter—after all, "subtle" makeup like blush won't go terribly astray—but the perfect color works in concert not only with your complexion but also your eyes and hair. Blush lends harmony to the colors of the face. Not only that, it should be the jumping off point for choosing all your other colors. Ever wonder to yourself, "Why do I have a dozen of the same lipcolor?" or maybe "Why is this handful of colors particularly fantastic, while these others, equally pretty, don't see such frequent use and in fact get boring after the honeymoon period subsides? What's the difference?", take a look at your One True Blush. Chances are, those lipcolors and eyecolors resonate very strongly with your blush.


6. Yes, "Resonate" This discovery is really a corollary to my own personal methodology of minimalism, which admittedly suits the anal retentive better ; ). There are many women who switch around looks from day to day, but I am a creature of habit; I stick to what-works-best, with minor variations. My stash, notwithstanding press kits, has become very small. Minimalism only works if you stick exclusively to holy grails*, so every product is chosen very, very carefully. From a collective and retrospective viewpoint, the colors that have transcended all others do indeed "resonate" with the blush. My blush is an intense cool rose (currently NARS Sin, but I'm switching to Becca Wild Orchid). My two (I'm toying with a third) favored lipcolors are burnished raspberry and a heart-stopping blue-red, amplifications of the original shade. Eyecolors are a little less obvious. One eyeliner, a sturdy reliable cocoa with subtle embellishments: a slight violet duskiness that better suits cool colors (as mine are), and the sweetening touch of gold shimmer (which suits everyone). My three eyeshadows are a silvered champagne, an ethereal lilac, and a moody sea blue—a neutral, a complement, and a contrast. The champagne is a neutral that matches everything, more like candlelight than color. The lilac is a fresh hit of color, as flattering on brown eyes as green, but accords more perfectly with cool colors, thus a lovely complement to the roses and berries I wear on my lips and cheeks. And the sea blue is the perfect contrast, an edgy eyeliner for a bit of drama, but not dissonant, as it sits opposite the One True Blush shade on the color wheel. It all works: nothing clashes, but I don't need to settle for slightly inferior colors for the sake of "lubrication", everything with everything else flatters all the time, or looks quite singularly flattering on its own. It may be an absurdly systematic approach to something as frivolous as cosmetics, but it works.

Labels: alchemist's apprentice, beauty notes, christian louboutin, eyes, face, hair, lips, philosophy, skin, terminology

Labels: beauty notes, dr. hauschka, eyes, face, lips, montale, nars, perfume, tv