Black Friday @ Sephora!

Sephora has just released a sneak peek of the Black Friday deals on their Facebook page:

The offer is 10 products for $10 on Friday November 25, 2001 only!  There's a limit of 2 of each products per person.  These would make great stocking stuffers, don't you think?  I know I'm eyeing the travel brush kit (cause you can't have enough brushes) and the Stila Glitz & Glam Palette with Lip Glaze.  Happy Shopping!

Time to stock up on... NYX!!!!

Hooray!  It's the semi-annual Cherry Culture NYX sale!  As if NYX wasn't affordable enough, Cherry Culture is offering 40% off of all NYX products.  Now's the time to stock up on your favorites and try out new products:

I love their matte lip creams and round lipsticks.  You can afford to build up your collection at $4/round lipstick and $6/matte lip cream.  Sale ends today so hurry!

Sephora Friends & Family

Hooray for Sephora Friends & Family.  Head on over to the Sephora F&F site, enter your email address and you'll be emailed your own personal discount code good for 20% your entire purchase.  One time use only, so use it wisely.  Valid October 20, 2011 until November 2, 2011.

Perfect timing too!  I've been meaning to get the Clinique Even Better foundation.  It's so reasonably priced at $24.50 and will help to preserve my Makeup Forever HD Invisible Cover foundation which is $40.  20% off of the Clinique Even Better foundation practically brings it down to drugstore prices!  What are you guys gonna get?

Currently obsessed with...

The makeup from Louis Vuitton's S/S 2012.  Can it be?!  All of my favorite things on one face!  A neutral eye, heavily contoured cheeks, highlights in the right places and you guessed it... LASHES!

 

Upon closer inspection, the lashes definitely aren't the "natural" look, but it's still something that I would totally rock for a night out with the girls.  While my first love is the individual lash, for this look you need a pretty strips of wispy lashes... doubled up.  Something like the Ardell Demi Wispies, cut in half and layered on top of each other.

And does this look not have the perfect highlight on the inner corners and down the bridge of the nose?  This is exactly what I like to do with my MAC Cream Color base in Hush. 

I have to stop looking at these images now because I have the urge to go into the studio to slap on a set of lashes, contour the heck out of my cheeks and highlight away, when what I really need to do is go to bed so I go running in the morning.  But before I go, I leave you with some more pretty faces from LV...

This is a clean, pretty look that anyone can pull off, not just the models from Paris Fashion week.  So come on into the studio and we can make it happen.

All images courtesy of vogue.co.uk

Matron of Honor Annie & Mother of the Bride Jennifer

The Tongs are very dear friends of ours.  I met them through my husband who went to high school with Annie.  Annie, Karen and Laura are three sisters and their parents Benny and Jennifer are a hoot!  I had the pleasure of doing the lovely faces of Mother of the Bride Jennifer and Matron of Honor Annie for Karen's wedding.  The wedding was held at a private estate in Incline Village, Nevada right across from Lake Tahoe!

Karen's mom Jennifer told me she didn't want to be overly made up, so I decided to give her nice even coverage, rosy cheeks and some really pretty lashes that weren't too long.

Yes, that's me with the rollers.  A wedding guest has to set her hair too!

And here is the lovely Jennifer walking the radiant bride down the aisle:

Products used for the Mother of the Bride:

• Face: Makeup Forever HD Invisible in shade #128
• Eyebrows: Sigma Beauty Bare Palette, shade Snoop
• Eyeshadow: MAC Mulch and Sketch
• Eyelashes: Ardell Luckies
• Cheeks: MAC Cream Color Base in Hush, Nars Orgasm
• Lips: MAC Faux Lipstick, NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Frosted Beige

For Annie the focus was on a nice full set of individual lashes, just to open up the eyes.  All the bridesmaids wore a different patterned floral dress with cowboy boots, so we could really choose any neutral color for the eyes.  Here is Annie's before and after, with soft pretty makeup and LOTS of lashes

Products used for Matron of Honor Annie:

• Face: Custom mix from Cinema Secrets Palette #3
• Cheeks: MAC Cream Color base in Hush, NARS Orgasm
• Eyebrows: MAC eyebrow pencil in Lingering
• Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Nake Palette
• Eyelashes: Ardell Duralash Naturals individual lashes
• Lips: MAC Faux

And here she is again with groomsman/hubby, cowboy boots and all.  Thanks again to the Tong ladies, it was a blast making up your lovely faces and celebrating Jon and Karen's big day!

Gina's Night Out

Gina and Mark are parents to an adorable 1 year old little boy.  As a mom myself, I know how hard it is to have a night out with just the hubs so I was extra excited to do Gina's face.  They were headed out to a wedding that evening, but not just any wedding.  The wedding venue was the very same place they had gotten married and this would be their first time back.

Gina is really stunning without makeup.  She has great skin and cheekbones to die for.  Here's her before, during and after :

Nine times out of ten, I prefer individual lashes.  I just know they feel better on than the strips, more lightweight, less irritating and the look is so much more natural.  On Gina, we went with the Rolls Royce of individual lashes, Thi Cosmetics Lush Lashes.  I'll do a full review on them at some point.  As you can see, a lotta lash and a little gloss go a long way...  

Mama Kathy!

Kathy is one of my oldest and dearest friends.  We actually met in the locker room during Phys Ed. in Junior High!  We've since been in eachother's weddings, helped plan each other's baby's shower and have seen eachother through the birth of our little babies.  Kathy is truly an amazing mother.  You can just tell she was made for this.  Her little man just hit two big milestones.  His baptism and three month birthday!  I'm so happy i was able to make my girl up for his special day.

Kathy chose a beautifully classic silver toned dress for the occasion so we just wanted a nice clean look, emphasis on the lashes.  Here's a nice shot of mother & baby:

She's absolutely glowing isn't she?  Products used:

• Face: Sonya Dakar Pore Minimizer for primer, Makeup Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in 128
• Eye brows: MAC eyebrown pencil in Lingering for definition, Sigma Beauty palette Hitch for filling.
• Eyeshadows: MAC Satin Taupe all over lid, MAC Soft Brown to blend, Vanilla pigment for highlight
• Eyelashes: Ardell Duralash Naturals Individual lashes in short and medium.
• Cheeks:  Coastal Scents Contour and Highlight palette, NARS Orgasm, MAC Cream base in Hush for highlight.
• Lips: NYX Cosmetics Matte Lip Cream in Abu Dhabi, NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Frosted Beige

Matron of Honor Melissa

Remember Carmel's engagement session? Well her wedding was just a few weeks ago and I was able to makeup the faces of a few of my fellow bridesmaids. Melissa was the Matron of Honor and Carmel's best friend of 17 years. She's also one of my besties and now, my mommy mentor. She's a great mom, makes up THE BEST silly songs for her little boy A, and my go-to guide for all things baby. She really made my job easy because she is just so beautiful WITHOUT makeup! How in the world was I going to enhance this natural beauty? I ended up giving her a brown and gray smokey eye with very little smoke on the bottom. Here's her before and after:

Please excuse the rollers, but here's a shot of the eyes:

Products used:

• Primed with Sonya Dakar Pore Minimizer.  
• Face: CoverFX NaturalFX in M70
• Eyes: Sigma Bare palette, colors Snoop, Hitch and Approach for brow highlight.  MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack to line the upper eyelid
• Brows: MAC eyebrow pencil in Lingering
• Cheeks: Coastal Scents Contour Blush palette
• Lips: Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Abu Dhabi

Melissa, you're beautiful inside and out and I can't wait to paint your face again. Maybe while the kiddies are playing :-)

Update: Jean's Casual Family Session

Remember my sister-in-law's casual family session look?  Well peeps, here's the finished product:

I really think Jean's look photographed well, and isn't my niece ADORBS????  Again, can't thank Debby enough for capturing the lovely Kim family.

Jean's Casual Family Session Look

Jean is the hubs' sister and she's awesome. She cracks me up, cuts my kid's finger nails (we all know cutting an infant's nails is like walking through a mine field), and can spot fake denim from a mile away. Jean, her husband and adorable 20-month-old daughter were visiting us from D.C. for the week so we thought it'd be a great idea to take family photos. Jean hardly needs makeup at all, just a little BB cream and she's good to go, so I decided to give her a natural look with just a pop of lashes. She's graciously allowed me to post her before and after pics. I'll post an update when the photos are ready from our uber talented photographer Deborah Coleman, aka, the Toddler Whisperer



Products used:

• Face: Dr. Jart Beauty Balm
• Eyebrows: MAC Eyebrow pencil in Lingering
• Eyes: Urban Decay Nake Palette
• Lashes: Model 21 Lashes #63
• Lips: Bobbi Brown Shimmer Lipgloss in Rose Gold
• Cheeks: Coastal Scents Contour Blush Palette

Jean, please come back soon! We miss the stomping, I mean pitter patter, of little feet and your charming family!!!

Carmel's Engagement Session

Carmel has been a dear friend for over 15 years now.  We met in the 6th grade and have pretty much been friends ever since.  She was actually a bridesmaid in my own wedding.  Carmel is engaged to Michael and I'm so excited for their wedding this weekend!  Back in February she entrusted me to do her makeup for her engagement session.  It was rainy day but girlfriend rocked it!  How beautiful is my BFF?!?



Photography by the talented LansangPhotography.com .  Here are a few more shots from the day:

    

Carmos, you're beautiful inside and out and we can't wait for your big day!

Hello world!

Hello World!  I guess that's an appropriate title for my very first blog entry.  Printing "Hello world!" out to the console is probably everyone's first assignment in their very first Computer Science class.  I'm a software engineer by trade with a new found passion for makeup!  I've played around a lot, done the girls' makeup in Vegas, applied lashes on the homies for bachelorette parties, and now Mama's gettin' serious.  Well, time permitting that is, with a full time job, a six month old baby, an awesome husband, oh and seemingly perpetual marathon training.  I'll be posting mostly makeup looks, some product reviews, and you may occasionally spot my little Cara Cupcake because she is JUST THAT CUTE.  So here goes...