Perfection = A Big Fat Illusion!

I came across this video about a year ago. It is a one minute, realistic look into how we are falsely led into believing that the models and celebrities gracing the pages of our favorite magazines are “perfect.” I cannot count the number of times someone on set has said “oh, we’ll just fix it in photoshop!” While I love my job with a passion, what we are seeing is not reality, it’s a beautiful illusion that I wish more people were aware of.

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Makeup Tips For the Office

Millions of people work in an office environment. We sit inside classrooms from the time we are five years old, until we are 18+. With so much of our lives spent beneath fluorescent lighting, it is a shame just how unflattering it really is!! While candlelight may not be ideal, it sure as hell would make us all look a lot better ! On a recent trip to the doctor’s office, I was visually assaulted by the powerful, cobalt blue eyeshadow beaming off of the receptionist’s eyelids. While mildly inappropriate at 8am under most circumstances, the fluorescent lighting was not doing this poor woman any favors. If you are working in an office or attending school, these next few tips are dedicated to you!  Your makeup can still look hot despite your unfortunate lighting circumstances

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1.  Avoid Bright Pinks and Reds

Pink and Reds are enhanced much more under fluorescent lights, making you look more clownish than cute. You can still wear these colors, just opt for deeper shades! If you only wear pink blush, choose a rose colored one over a fuchsia. Is red your go-to lip color? Skip the fire-engine red and choose a darker shade.

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2. Warm up Your Face

Fluorescent lights cast a bluish-green hue onto our skin, making us look sickly and pale. To counter-act this attractive, “I’m on my death-bed” look, work on warming your skin up a bit. Choose a warm shade of foundation and stay away from really pink-based ones, which will appear muddy under the lights.

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3. But Skip the Bronzer

Even though you want to warm up your face, avoid bronzing it! Fluorescent lights enhance the orange hue within the bronzer, which will make you look like an oompa loompa. Instead, use a natural shade of blush to add warmth and life to your face.

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4. Black is Whack

Black eyeliner tends to looks very harsh under fluorescent lighting. It has the ability to make you look hard, and even add on some years!  To keep your look soft but still defined, choose a dark brown or deep green/purple liner instead.

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5. Avoid Earthy Tones

Beige, taupe, sand, and umber are all colors that should be avoided while doing your makeup for the office. When put under the harsh lights, they appear very muddy and dirty. Try warmer browns, peaches, or rose.

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6. Fake a Little Moisture

Whenever I am under fluorescent lights, I feel like my face looks extra dry, which only adds to the unhealthy look I talked about above. Using a cream blush instead of a powder can add a little bit of creaminess to your skin. I also recommend dabbing some clear gloss over your lipstick to make your lips look plump, and experimenting with cream highlighters to give your cheeks a little bit of dewiness.

What is Your Go-To Look for the Office/Classroom?

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Kerli Music Video for the Alice in Wonderland Soundtrack

A few months ago I was fortunate to be a part of Kerli’s new music video for the Alice and Wonderland soundtrack, Almost Alice. It was a long day of shooting, but the costumes hair and makeup were killer and it was such a fun day on set. The video was shot entirely on green screen! Check it out and let me know what you think!!

Makeup by Me

Kelly Baker, Jessica Abeling, Tori Guarrasi, and Kristen Turner

Check Out Behind the Scenes Photos!

Paris Fashion Week A/W 2010

Chanel

While New York Fashion Week seems like a distant memory, designers in Paris are finally showing their A/W 2010 collections!

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Today, the Chanel show was an amazing spectacle. Last season, models strutted through bales of hay;  this season Karl Lagerfeld took it one (or 10!) steps further by hauling in a real iceberg from Sweden to sit in the middle of his runway!

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Just as mesmerizing (to me, at least), was the textured eyeshadow Chanel’s makeup artists applied to the model’s eyes. I love the brush stroke effect! Obviously, this look is not one you would wear to the office, but I love an artistic twist to a standard, black smokey eye. Keeps things interesting

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Love it? Hate it?

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Best Makeup Looks From the 2010 Academy Awards

I am usually not a huge fan of Vera Farmiga’s makeup on past red carpets. Usually, she wears a dark eye and a nude lip, but this look is sooo much prettier on her!! I love the bright fuchsia lip (even though I wish it were not the exact same shade as her dress), rosy cheeks and light eye makeup. She may not have won the Oscar but she looked fabulous anyway!

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Mo’Nique’s red carpet makeup was all about the contouring! She looked exquisite last night, and her sculpted brows and soft smokey eyes are to die for. Mo’Nique’s makeup artist, Derrick Rutledge, gave her a winning face that complimented her golden statue nicely ;)!

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LOVE Zoe Saldana’s makeup last night!! Unfortunately, the still photos were not able to capture just how gorgeous she actually looked, but you get the idea. She was glowing. Want to re-create her nude, glossy lip? Zoe’s makeup artist, Vera Steimberg, used Smashbox’s Ophelia lip gloss!

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Rachel McAdams looked gorgeous on the red carpet! Her makeup was a lot more subdued than other stars, but she looked stunning! Rachel’s sister Kayleen McAdams was her makeup artist for yesterday’s event. She used rose-golds and greys on her eyes, and Chanel’s Rouge Coco Lipstick in Rose Comete on her lips, with a little bit of Chanel’s Glossimer lip gloss in Futile dabbed on top for added shine.

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Ok, first of all, why was Miley Cyrus at the Oscars???

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, as much as I hate to admit it, Miley looked amazing last night!! While I wasn’t too impressed with the hair, her makeup was my favorite of the night. She looked so sophisticated and pretty.

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Who’s Your Pick For Best Makeup??

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Academy Awards-

All About the Lips!!

While smokey eyes are usually the go-to makeup look for award shows, the  82nd Annual Academy Awards were all about the lips! Berries and reds were popping up all over the smiles of the major stars!

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Love Charlize Theron’s red lip??

She is wearing Chanel’s Rouge Coco Lipstick in Gabrielle.

Prefer Maggie Gyllenhaal’s bright pink??

She is wearing NARS lipstick in Schiap.

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Note: Contrary to what it may look like above, Sandra Bullock was actually wearing a bold red lip (Chanel’s Rouge Coco Lip Color in Paris)

Star Trek

Academy Awards 2010 Best Makeup Winner

Congratulations to Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow!! This is their first nomination and first win!

IL Divo, Star Trek and The Young Victoria Compete for Best Makeup

So many important  awards are easily overlooked each year at the Oscars. We all want to know who is going to win Best Actress, or which film earns the coveted title of Best Picture. While I do understand it’s easiest for us to relate to the celebrities on screen, there would be no movie without the crew, costumers and of course makeup artists behind the scenes.  Naturally, the “Best Achievement in Makeup” has always been the award I look forward to the most.

Tomorrow, three Makeup Departments will be up for the golden statue. Take a minute to learn a little about each one before the big show!!

The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt is one of the three films nominated for Best Makeup Already a BAFTA winner, this film appears to be the one to beat. Jenny Shircore, the film’s Makeup Department Head, has also won an Academy Award for the movie Elizabeth in 1998. She seems to be a master of period films and always keeps the makeup very authentic to it’s time.

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Barney Burman, Joel Harlow and Mindy Hall are nominated for their makeup in last year’s Star Trek. This is the first Oscar nomination for all three artists! I must say, Spock’s skin and eyebrows (above) look divine

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Makeup artists Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano transformed actor Toni Servillo into former Italian Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti in Il Divo. Both makeup artists were nominated in 2006 for Apocalypto and Vittorio Sodano was nominated in 2001’s Moulin Rouge.

So who will the Academy Award go to? Be sure to watch tomorrow, March 7, 2010 on ABC.

What are your predicitions??

Paris Fashion Week A/W 2010:

Green, Blue, Orange, and Pink Eyebrows!!

It’s Fashion Week in Paris as we speak and I love, love, love what I saw on the Balenciaga runway today!!  While not practical at all for everyday wear, the colored eyebrows rockin’ the runway were lovely nonetheless!

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Pat McGrath was the key artist for the show. She kept the entire the face super clean, with just a touch of baby pink blush on the cheeks and a hint of pink on the lips. It was the perfect canvas for such unique brows!

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The subtlety is perfect. The brows are dramatic but not over the top. I love a pink eyebrow any day of the week!

What Do You Think?

Love it? Hate it?

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Obsessive Compulsive Lip Tars:

Demure and Hoochie

If you haven’t heard about OCC’s Lip Tars yet, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon!! Not even joking, these things are amazing! I have all of the older colors so you can imagine how excited I was to hear that they were debuting four new shades at The Makeup Show LA!!

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The Obsessive Compulsive booth was my first stop because they have a track record of selling out within hours. I decided to buy two of the four shades, Demure and Hoochie. The other two (Complex and Vapid) were pretty light and I don’t think I really need them in my kit at the moment. I’m sure I’ll change my mind next week

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Check Out These Swatches!!

**Also, let me add that these are even MORE pigmented than the pictures. I wasn’t able to capture their true beauty on my digital camera*