Labels: dr. hauschka, hair, indie, jean patou, just notes, l'oreal, lips, perfume

Labels: beauty notes, elizabeth arden, lips

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

• New Diamond Powder #11 - a fairy dust like powder in a champagne hue, consisting of ultra fine 'mother of pearl particles' which impart a shimmery effect on skin


• New Diamond Shadow #301 - a highly pigmented, pearly white shadow inflected with innovative micro-fine 'mother of pearl' particles


• Waterproof Lengthening Mascara - an intensely black formula that is water-proof and non-flaking, with special film-forming polymers that lengthen lashes


• Aqua Eyes #1L - a creamy, pearly eye liner that is water-proof, smudge-proof and extremely long-lasting


• Fascinating Lip Gloss #1 - a sheer, iridescent gloss with a sweet mango scent and enriched with 'mother of pearl' particles for extra sparkle and ultra shine
  

Labels: eyes, gift guide, lips, make up for ever

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

Labels: dr. hauschka, lips, music