HIYA FOLKS

Hello ladies. Its been a while. Things at ladymama have been a bit sluggish since the webmaster had a baby so meantime im gonna blog back here in the "alter heim."

SOOOO wedding season is fast approaching, and i am excited and available for all your bridal makeup needs. But.......would you dare to do as the new dutches of camberidge did and do your own makeup for your wedding? Lets have a look a Princess Cathrine's look.

Kate did a lovely balance of drama and understatement. she want soft in terms of color, allowing her gown to shine, and because it was a daytime wedding, but it was after all her wedding and a royal one at that and that calls for a little more glamour than her regular look.

Her foundation is even, matte and simple. In fact she doesn't look like she's wearing much foundation, and probably only put some on toruble areas., setting it with powder.

Kate's eyebrows are bold and well defined, very well groomed.

Her eyes are a soft smokey eye look. To get her look, apply a neutral light catching shade all over the eye. then using a blending brush or your fingers apply a  sheer wash of medium reddish brown into the crease, blening outwars and  upwards towards the outer corners.

tTke a well sharpened and creamy black eye pencil and apply a thin line as close to the lash line as you can get, the use a smudger or q-tip to smudge the line a bit especially towards the outer edge. now line the lower lashline thinly connecting the top and bottom lines at the corners. Use a q-tip to remove the excess from the bottom and thin the line out.

Take a rosey pink blush and apply JUUUUUUst a little on the cheeks sweeping back towards the ears. stop applying as soon as the color starts to show.

Kate's lips are a nude neutral. Use a lipstain just a bit darker than your natural color, and top with a clear gloss.
Add an art deco Diamond Cartier tiara borrowed from the queen and you're all set.

if this sounds too intimidating, i'd be happy to do it for you.:-)

new blog news!

I am now the official beauty blogger for Ladymama.org! i will be posting new blogs there weekly. please  sign up. i will still post here as well

Thinking about spring!

Spring will be here before ya know it and green eye shadow is gonna be abig trend then. don't get scared off. The thing about trends is making them fit YOU! while i think there is a shade of green to compliment everyone, if you feel its too vibrant then find a shade of green tinted grey or beige or a deep emerald eyeliner to ease into it. i'll do a video IYH to demonstrate how to pull of the look abnd how to balance the blush and lipcolor to the vibrant eye shade.

LET ME TEACH YOU TO DIY!

I am now offering DIY classes one on one or in groups where i will teach you how to do your OWN makeup like a pro. I am not going to try to sell you any products, this is about technique.

I'll teach you, depending on how many classes you want everything from the basics to details of several looks for your coloring and features. please email me at beautybychava@rocketmail.com or call 718-986-1211 for details. and if you host the class at your home, you will get a discount.

at $60 for a one hour class, the class pays for itself the first time you do your own makeup instead of paying $50 to $80 for a makeup artist for your next event!

Let's talk Brushes!

Most women use the applicators that come with their makeup but quality brushes are essential to creating a great even look.

good quality brushes should have soft bristles and a fimly crimped ferule that holds they hairs so they don't shed and so the stick doesn't wiggle. there are literaly hundreds of kinds of brushes but i'll go through some basics with you.

Powder brush: this is a multitasking brush and i have several made of different kinds of hair and in different sizes but you really only need one or two. it should be soft, dense and shouldn't shed. this brush is a workhorse applying mineral foundation, blushes, bronzers and finishing powders.

the kabuki brush: also a workhorse. its a Japanese style powder brush which is a must have if you use mineral foundation regularly. the short plump handle allows for great control and the britles are very dense, very soft and in the perfect dome shape. you use it to apply mineral makeup in buffing motions and it provides great even full coverage.

eye shadow brush: there are an endless number of eyeshadow brushes in various sizes, denisties and shapes. for most people i'd reccomend a standard midsized tapered fluffy brush like number 4 for general application.

crease brush/blending brush: this brush is used to add contour and depth tot he crease of the eye and also comes in many sizes, shapes and densities. one like this is a good standard one to have for application and blending on most eye shapes.

angled liner brush:  this brush is used to fill in brows and apply cake and cream eye liners.

foundation brush: a quality foundation brush is used to apply liquid and cream foundation evenly on the face without absorbing the pigment like a sponge does

angled contour brush. used to apply contour colors under the cheekbones or hilight shades above them to create a defined facial structure.

Winter Looks: royal blue liner and DIY lipstain.

People tend to associate certain looks with winter. the red holiday lip, frosty blue eyes.....i feel that it should be far more broad. in winter most of us frum ladies have paler skin than in summer. so in winter weneed to work with looks better suited to a lighter skin tone. also in winter we tend to play with cooler colors than in summer or spring. a very trendy eye combo for fall was gold and purple which i love because it is universally flattering. purple makes all eye colors pop and gold compliments every skintone, but for winter i would switch that to a silver and purple. if silver seems to guilded for you then go with something less bright like a pewter or greige. the idea is to cool the look down for winter.

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another thing i like for a quick look is royal blue eyeliner. colored eyeliner is great in a hurry because it giveds you the definition of a liner and the color or a shadow in one swipe so no other products are needed. i choose royal blue because its less wild than the sky blue ive seen around but more vivid than a navy which can get mistake for black. give it a thin winged line.

pair it with a vivid berry lipstain. i say stain, not lipstick because a full lipcolor would compete with the color on the eyes and look like too much. don't have a lipstain? make one easily but applying a heavy coat of deep berry or red lipstick and leave on for 5 minutes. then blot off as much as you can. you'll find some color remaining on your lips as a stain. the secret is that even high end lipsticks use food coloring like red number five as pigments and when you have a highly pigmented lipstick and leave it on, the color will stain your lips just like a cherry Popsicle stains your tongue,

Got Me a BREAKOUT! AAAAAAAAAH!

I have sinned! I have neglected my skin and now have a bad breakout on my chin. I didn't follow my own advice. i let myself dehydrate and there is nothing skin hates more than being thirsty.
When I'm having bad skin i stick to pure mineral foundation for several days. it gives me some coverage to hide the blemishes without cloging the pores and making the breakout worse. (I don't use mineral makeup in my kit for wedding ect, because they tend to have high spf, which is great for the skin day to day but reacts badly with camera flashes making you appear ghostly in pictures)
As for treating the blemishes themselves nothing works as well as tea tree oil imo.

   On a seperate note, i found a product which i have to recommend. i found at my food co-op, an organic market, a jar of ALBA Body polish, an exfoliating scrub made with honey and which ground sugar cane as the exfoliater. it also has a silicone primer mixed in which leaves the skin with a smooth feeling and it smells devine, like honey cake. highly reccomend it.