My Natural Beauty Bride

I'm here with my first bride of 2012, Mrs. Lisa Gonzalez. Lisa and her husband Dan tied the knot on April 14th and man, did Lisa looks stunning! Lisa has great skin and big beautiful hazel eyes so I was pretty excited to work with her- a makeup artist's dream! 

I love working with brides because each and every one has such different taste, and it gives me a chance to do all kinds of fun makeup. Lisa is pretty low maintenance on the daily with her makeup, and she wanted her natural beauty to shine on the big day. 

I did a light dusting of airbrush foundation and used soft shades of peach for her cheeks and lips. I kept the eye shadows to a minimum on the eyes and brought out those hazel ojos with a sweep of black eyeliner, mascara and some very natural false eye lashes. Even if you have long lashes, falsies really bring out your eyes, especially in photos. I recommend them for every bride! 

Here's Flower Girl Sam helping Lisa with her earrings. So cute!

What an angel

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Dan Gonzalez!

Summer Smoky Eyes - with VIDEO-

Hello my Summer Sweethearts! I wanted to create an easy-to-wear smoky eye look for those sexy summer nights. I went with a taupe/grey eye combo and juicy, rosy lips using some of my current favorite products below.

Too Faced Beauty Balm- Nude Glow 
This stuff is great! BB creams are the "jack of all trades" of beauty products. They provide:

1. Sheer coverage
2. SPF Protection
3. Anti Aging Benefits
4. Primer
5. Prevent breakouts

Maybelline Color Tattoo in "Tough As Taupe"
These babies are great on their own or under an eye shadow. They truly last 24 hours!

Youngblood Cosmetics  Luminous Creme Blush "Pink Cashmere"

Youngblood just came out with two more shades in their luminous creme blush. I love Pink Cashmere because it's matte (while STILL a cream blush, crazy right?) and gives you a healthy, summer glow. This product is oil-free and contains Vitamins C & E (to protect skin), Allantoin (an anti-irritant for those with sensitive skin) and Jojoba (moisturizer).

Youngblood Mighty Shiny Lip Gel in "Exposed"

Exposed is the dark grape one on the right. It's incredibly sheer and great for all skin tones. I love that these babies don't dry down or get sticky. They remain "juicy" and feel amazing! Some of the key ingredients are Momordica Grosvenorii Fruit Extract (this is a MAJOR antioxident that fights free radicals and wrinkles) and Sweet Almond Oil- YUM!

Watch the video below to see how to use all these fantastic items: 

Sofia Loren Makeover

I've got another celebrity makeup tutorial for you guys, and this time I recreated the classic look of Italian icon, Sofia Loren. Chantal, my sister, volunteered to be my guinea pig for this look. Sofia has always reminded me of my grandmother Lucy, who we lost in 2011 to ovarian cancer. The other day, I was missing her pretty bad and looked up some photos of Sofia. I realized what a pretty look she used to rock in the 60s and asked Chantal to help me. 

This video took me a full week to edit because I kept stopping to giggle everywhere. It's pretty hard to film a video with your partner in crime! Check it out below for lots of laughs and Sofia's dramatic-yet-natural makeup look....

Summer Dior 2012: Croisette

Check out Christian Dior's GORGE summer 2012 colour collection called "Croisette."  I picked my top six products to show you below....

This lip balms are so popular that most colors have already sold out!

Dior Addict Lip Balm- $30

Each eye shadow palette features five rich, pigmented colors perfect for your next beach getaway (that is, if you like to wear a full face of makeup on the beach, which I totally do)

Aurora- $60

Swimming Pool- $60

How delicious are these two long-wearing nail polishes below?! I LIVE! 

Dior Vernis in Saint Tropez and Bikini- $23 each

This bronzing powder comes in a whopping six shades, which I love. Most cosmetics companies only come out with two shades or less. Here's to more contouring!

Diorskin Nude Tan Bronzing Powder- $52

Summer Vacation Makeup

Hello my vacationing beauties! With summer on the horizon, I'm sure all of you are starting to think about getting away to a beach somewhere. The only thing that sucks about traveling to a hot and humid place is that it wreaks havoc on your makeup and hair. Earlier, I brought you a segment about what products to use on your trip, and here, I'll show you how to use them and have a waterproof, natural pretty look that you can do in under four minutes. Who wants to take all day doing their hair and makeup on vacation? Not me. Take a load off and watch the video below....

CLICK TO WATCH

PRODUCTS USED:

Alba's Face SPF 45
Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer
Fresh Pressed Powder
Youngblood Cream Blush in Taffeta
Urban Decay Eye Primer in Eden
Naked Palette- Buck Eyeshadow
Makeup For Ever Aqua Liner in Diamond Gold
Revlon Grow-Luscious Mascara in Waterproof
Urban Decay 24/7 eye liner in Perversion
Fresh Sugar lip balm in Rose
MAC Cream Colour Base in Rich Coral

Too Faced Friends & Family Sale (Code Included)

That's right, peeps! Too Faced is having a site-wide Friends & Family sale from Thursday, May 10 to Wednesday, May 16. Everything is up for 20% off using the code below. 

I just recently found my love for Too Faced and I cannot believe I waited this long to try their products. Here are some of my favorite products they carry:

Tinted Beauty Balm

Candlelight Pressed Powder

Starry Eyed Liquid Liners

Matte Eye Shadow Collection

Happy Shopping!

Summertime Beauty Products

With summer just around the corner, I wanted to show you all the best products to use in warm weather. These are great items to take with you on your beach vacations and family visits galore.

CLICK TO WATCH

Products Mentioned

Axe Snake Peel Body Scrub

Exfoliating Gloves

Neutrogena Micro Mist Tanning Spray

St. Tropez Tanning Mousse

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch SPF 70

Alba SPF 45

Philosophy Microdelivery Peel

CVS Cream Bleach

My Deodorant Cocktail: 3 parts Lush's Silky Underwear and 1 part Arm & Hammer Baking Soda.

Herbal Essences Volumizing Mousse

John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Starlit Waves

Maybelline Color Tattoos

Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

PoP Beauty Nail Polish in Tangerine Taste

OPI Nail Polish in Hey Get In Lime!

BITE Beauty

After perusing Sephora.com, I came across a new makeup line called BITE Beauty. With it's sleek black packaging, BITE Beauty is a collection of lip products made from all natural and food grade ingredients that help improve the appearance of aging. 

BITE Beauty makes a good point: your lips age too, and it's just as important to take care of them as well as the rest of your face. BITE Beauty's secret weapon is Red Wine Resveratrol (a powerful antioxidant found in red wine) which is found in all of their products. A fun fact: each Bite lipstick has the antioxidant equivalent of five glasses of red wine. 

As a makeup artist, I am always on the lookout for new and innovative products that not only have lasting power, but are good for your skin. If you're interested in trying Bite Beauty out, check out my top three picks below.

High Pigment Matte Pencil- $24
This pencil gives a long lasting, matte color using all natural products that are "good enough to eat" (literally)

Superfruit Butter- $18 
Right now this is only available via the Spring Cleaning Trio on the Sephora site. The Superfruit Butter contains concentrated whole superfruits for antioxidant age-repair. This all-natural butter is also scent-free. It comes in Acai, Blueberry, Cranberry and Pomegranate. "Use it on lips, cuticles – anywhere skin could benefit from a super boost of antioxidants and intensive conditioning." YES PLEASE!

Vitamin Gel- $18
This yummy vitamin gel is made with 5mg of vitamin C and 100% pure essential oils, helping to soften your lips, while the red wine Resveratrol improves your mood and smooths fine lines. Comes in Blood Orange, Ginger, Pink Grapefruit, Mint and Pineapple. This sounds weird but I would totally mix the Mint and Pineapple together!

Neon Shatter Nails for Summer

Yay! I'm finally back with a new nail art tutorial. This one is a neon, "summer" take on OPI's Black Shatter polish look. I had totally forgotten about the Shatter until I saw it sitting all by itself in my drawer. I've always been in love with neons and now that I have a semi-tan and summer is on it's way, I decided to rock them. The problem with neons is that to get them to show up as vibrantly as they look in the bottle, you have to apply at least four coats. I eliminated that by applying white polish on the nails first, helping the neons pop. Remember that Shatter works best when it is applied very thinly. If you put it on too thick, the Shatter won't crack as much and will hide most of the color underneath. 

Happy Watching!

PRODUCTS USED (from left to right):

Orly Base Coat

China Glaze "White on White"

Color Club "Yell-Oh!" 

Color Club "Explosive"

China Glaze "Shocking Pink"

MAC "Feelin' Blue"

OPI Black Shatter

Rush 60 Second Top Coat