Holiday makeup 101

Tis the season for holiday parties and HOLIDAY PARTY MAKEUP!!!

Now we all love getting dressed up for the holidays but no holiday look is complete without makeup.

For a holiday treat I have decided to help you put your fears aside.

 I will try my best to step in and help you achieve a cool and fun look that you can wear, that will not only complete your holiday look; but have all your friends complementing you on it.

The key to any look is to keep it simple...

1st things 1st Skin care!! No look can be successful on top of dead & flaky skin, so be sure to complete your full skincare routine using cleanser, a gentle scrub, a mild toner,a moisturizer, an eye cream, and a foundation primer. Once you've prep your face, only then are you really ready to put on makeup.

Applyng an eyeshadow primer to your lids, this will insure that your eye makeup will last longer than your holiday party. I strongly suggest Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Potion Primer!

Holiday Eyes

• With a large eyeshadow brush, apply a soft champagne colored shadow from the lash line up to the brow bone. I suggest Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow in Champagne. 
• Follow up and blend in a shimmery soft brown shadow along the lid and into the outer crease. Be very careful not to blend the color near the inner crease.I suggest MAC eyeshadow in Soft Brown
• Now with a blending brush blend away any harsh line that you may have created when blending your outer crease. This step takes a lot of practice.

• Now apply a darker smokey color to only the outer crease. This color can be a darker coffee brown if you like.
• Apply a thin line of black or dark brown eyeliner as close as possible to your top set of lashes.
• Followed by gently applying the  same liner to the water line of your eyes.
• Coat your lashes with a mascara primer and apply 2 coats of mascara.
• At this point you can apply a pair of false flirty lashes or not. It's up to you.

Not many people know exactly what to do with their brows. Below are a few suggestions, I listed the quickest solution 1st.

• Have your brows professionally waxed or shaped
• Shape and set your brows with a clear or tinted brow gel
• Fill in your brows with a matching brow powder
• Using a brow pencil lightly fill in your brow shape

Holiday Face

Remember you've already prep your skin, so at this point you are ready to begin applying foundation.

•  Apply your concealer under your eyes using a flat rounded concealer brush. This will help you get as close as possible without interrupting your eyeliner.
• Neatly blend in your concealer with a concealer brush to create a smooth finish.
• Using a foundation brush apply your foundation all over your face, be sure to tread lightly over your concealer application. Try using an oil- free formula of foundation. This will help with controlling oil.
• Take a step back and be sure that you have covered all imperfections.
• Once you are satisfied smile and apply a soft golden shimmer powder highlighter behind the apple of your cheeks, blending upwards into your hairline.
• Using a blush brush apply your blush. A few suggestions of blush shades are plums, roses, and/or terra cotta. You can even use a little of your bronzer!

I used a terra cotta shade of blush on this model.

For long lasting wear set you face with a setting powder and/or a setting spray... Urban Decay, Makeup Forever, & Graftobian makes some really good ones.

 Holiday Lips

Don't get caught under the mistletoe with chapped lips!!!

A large percentage of people think that keeping your lips moisturized will keep your lips from cracking & peeling. While this is partly true, there is one other lip care step that is far more important. Yes, there is a lip care routine as well. I'll list a simple lip care routine below and then I'll talk about achieving a holiday lip look.

3 Key things to remember

1.  Exfoliate- Using a lip scrub exfoliate your lips in a circular motion. If your lips are already peeling be sure to focus a little bit more on those areas. If you don't have a lip scrub immediately on hand try using a little dap of your facial scrub. You can also dampen a little sugar on a tooth brush and scrub away.
2. Hydrate-  After exfoliating apply a hydrating lip moisturizer. Not Vaseline!! You want to use a product rich in vitamins.
3. Protect- SPF protection is just as important! Your lips endure more sun exposure than most of your body. Plus, they’re more sensitive. Take the time to make sure you’re protecting them. This step can easily be combined with your hydrating step, most lip moisturizers are now being made with SPF. Just be sure to grab one with spf 15 or higher depending on your sun exposure.

Invest in the solutions above to keep your lips soft and healthy. These 3 simple steps will keep your lips soft, beautiful, and mistletoe kissable!

Applying a lip primer is highly recommended but not necessary. A lip primer will allow you to have a smooth base for your lip color and help prolong the wear of your lip color as well.

The fun part about holiday lip color is that you can try any color that works for you. I used a vibrant red and a light coating of lip gloss on my model to give her an added pop!

There you have it!  A full step by step 2011 Holiday Look. I would love to post pic of yours, so send them to me by clicking this link----> Send me you holiday look! or at ladylikemakeup@gmail.com

Oh and before I go here is a full look at my model's before and after photos...

Got Junk?

It's 12:43am (Eastern) and I'm up researching mua techniques. Got to keep learning, but back to this post. I just remembered that I wanted to tell you Beauties about my Junk Nails. 

Chillin with no makeup on.

I was on Facebook one day and an Ad for "Junk Nails" popped up. It was a picture of the most interesting nail art I'd seen in a very long time. So I went into research mode and discovered quite a bit, and after all of one hour of research I was set on getting my nails done.

(when I use the term research, I am referring to my own Internet digging. Unless otherwise noted.)

I live in Washington, DC and it's typical to see nail art. Being in the makeup artist business you'll get your fair share of seeing nail art at photo shoots.  I've been on a lot of photo shoot set but have never see any nails like the ones pictured in the Facebook ad.

A close friend of mine had recently visited a nail salon in our area that applies Junk Nails. I was able to find them on Facebook and setup an appointment. The full set of acrylic gel nails with 10 designs and 2 nails designed with 3d junk cost me $50. As you can see I went with a fun and colorful mua theme.

I was instructed by my talented nail tech that my nails would last for about 3-4 weeks, and I should keep away from lengthy interactions with water.

What do you think??

Violent Lips??

You read the title of this post correctly... Violent Lips!
A New buzz in fashion makeup. These fun temporary Lip tattoos are starting to trend. They have already graced the faces of the Kardasians. Violent Lips are applied just like a temporary tattoo that little kids often sport.

I happened to be able to benefit from a 50% off Black Friday sale so...
Of course my mua senses tuned in and I ordered a pair. There were so many designs to choose from I had to randomly let my 1 yr old daughter pick. Lol thankfully she didn't have the same problem as me. Just as soon as the get here I'll be sure to do a haul & review video to share with you all.

Check out Violent Lips HERE

Here's a pic of Khloe rocking the Silver Glitteratti.