Category Archives: Beauty

Shopping Find: Neon Plolish

05/17/2012

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Neon is hot hot hot for summer, and if you aren’t quite brave enough to add it into your wardrobe- add a touch of neon to your nails! Sephora is offering a bunch of different brands of neon polish and this is the one I purchased by Nails Inc.

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(Sorry for the bad photo from my phone!)

So far I love it, it goes on a little thin but dies fairly quickly. I’d recommend doing 2 to 3 coats and adding a top coat to make it extra shiny. I’ve seen that China Glaze has some neon shades too, but I haven’t tried them yet. Have you hopped on the neon trend? Will you be rocking some neon nails?

R.I.P Vidal Sassoon

05/09/2012

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Legendary hair stylist Vidal Sassoon passed away in his home today. He was 84. Sassoon was known for creating the classic bob hairstyle and revolutionizing 1960′s hairstyles. Every trendy go-go girl had the “Sassoon” hairstyle! He will be missed but we will never be forgotten. Thanks Mr. Sassoon for being such a trendsetter!

    
Even I rocked a bowl cut for a little while!

Make-Up Tip of the Week: Coconut Oil

05/01/2012

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The other day I went into a store/restaurant here in Vancouver called Organic Lives and they talked me into getting coconut oil. The sales person helping me said she not only used it as a substitute for butter but also used it directly on here skin as a moisturizer. I quickly asked “You use oil on your face? Doesn’t that just make it shiny and more oily?” She said her skin has never felt better…hmmmm…It got me curious that for sure. So curious I figured I’d try it for myself. Lately my skin has been a bit bi-polar one week its dry, the next week it breaks out, so what did I have to lose trying coconut oil?

I purchased a large container from Organic Lives. This one goes for $20. (Make sure is PURE organic virgin coconut oil and not an imitation!)

I then took a tablespoon and put it into a new container for “face lotion” so that I could save some for cooking. I chose to add a little peppermint essential oil, because I prefer the smell of mint and I like how refreshing it makes your skin feel. Feel free to add in any of your favorite essential oils. Once the oils were mixed I put dime size dabs on my skin, maybe even less. You do NOT need a lot of this product, which means it will last you for a while! Start off with a small amount and work up from there.

When I came back from my Mexico vacation my skin was doing all sorts of peeling, not such a hot look, and coconut oil was the only thing that stopped it! Like I said earlier, my skin varies from dry to oily, and coconut oil not only worked well on my skin for moisture, I also didn’t have any extra break outs! I would highly recommend it.

You can use coconut oil on cracked heels, as a body and facial moisturizer and as a cuticle oil. I would not recommend using it in your hair, it is a bit too heavy for that. Have you ever tried using coconut oil before? What did you use it for?

BB Cream…Uncovered

04/19/2012

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It has come to my attention recently that all the rage is “BB” Cream. I wondered, what does the “BB” stand for? Some crazy cosmetic term? Some scientific discovery? Or maybe it has to do with a new vitamin that was discovered to help uncover new radiant skin? Nope BB stands for either Blemish Balm or Be Beautiful. Yes. Really! That interesting discovery made me dig a bit further, because it seemed like some crazy marketing ploy to get us all to buy some magic cream. I can just hear the PR offices saying, “Lets call it BB Cream- it sounds more scientific and important when you have initials!”

I decided to speak with a make -up artist about the hype behind BB Cream. She shared that it is to create radiance for aging skin, which is not really what someone under the age of 40 needs. So all you girls that read my blog- its unnecessary! If you want a product that is similar, I’d suggest a tinted moisturizer. It gives you a little color to even your skin tone, and goes on smooth.

I also uncovered that BB Cream is a mix of primer, moisturizer, liquid foundation and sunscreen. Hmmm…how many of you out there already own all of those items? Why not save yourself the $35-$60 that BB Cream can cost and create your own! I haven’t tried to make my own just yet- but here is the ratio I am planning on doing:

10% Sunscreen (make sure its for the face and that is has an SPF of 30 or higher. Neutrogena has a great product.)

10% Liquid Foundation

30% Moisturizer

50% Primer

The best part about creating your own, is you already know which products work for your skin, and you’re not introducing something new for your skin to react to. No need to worry about break outs or any allergic reactions!

Ultimately, you could make your life easier and buy one product that will “do the trick” of 4 items, you could invest in a good tinted moisturizer or you can create your own. My personal vote is one of the last two. What is your opinion?  Have you tried BB cream? Is it something you’d never go without?

*Click the top image for another great opinion on BB Cream. 

Make-Up Tip of The Week: Knowing Your Skin Tone

04/16/2012

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In reference to my previous post- I thought I’d give my ladies a few great product ideas to help you pick out the best color and shade of make-up for your skin tone.

 Cool:

Warm:

How To Know Your Skin Tone

04/13/2012

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Have you ever wondered if you have a warm or cool skin tone? Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t but you’d be surprised to find out the benefits in understanding your skin tone. For women, it will help you pick the right shade of make-up and men, it will help you pick the right color clothes to wear. Shopping will be so much easier when you know which colors you can and cannot wear! Here are a few questions to ask yourself when figuring out your skin tone:

1. When you tan, do you turn golden/yellow or reddish?

If you turn reddish you are most likely a cool skin tone.

2. What color are your eyes?

A general rule, if you have green, light brown or hazel eyes you probably have a warm skin tone. Chocolate brown and icy blue eyed people usually have a cool skin tone.

3. What color was your hair for most of your child hood?

If your hair turned a golden blonde or had any red tones in it, you have a warm skin tone.

4. Which color is better on you- forest green or hot pink?

If you answered hot pink you have a cool skin tone.

5. Could you be both?

Some people are blessed to have a neutral skin tone. This person can change their hair color from copper red to platinum blonde and have both look great. You can get away with wearing cool colors such as blue, purple and cotton candy pink as well warm colors like brown, green and gold. Drew Barrymore (see below) has a neutral skin tone.

Tips for warm skin tones:

Look for clothes that remind you of fall or summer. Think a wheat field or autumn leaves…Avoid any colors that are too unsaturated, like pastel green or light grey.

Ladies when purchasing make-up look for blush that has a peachy tone, eye shadow that is golden and coral lipstick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for cool skin tones:

Look for clothes that remind you of winter or spring. Think icy trees or Easter eggs…Avoid any colors that are too yellow or orange.

Ladies when purchasing make-up look for a blush that has a pink tone, eye shadow that is silver and pink or cherry red lipstick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still need help figuring out what your skin tone is? Here are a few celebrities that show the different skin tones.

Warm:

 

Cool:

Neutral: (Drew can wear a cool blonde and also a warm red hair color)

 

Make-Up Tip of The Week: Best Drugstore Nail Polish

04/03/2012

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For those who know me personally, know that I am a nail polish junkie. I have a basket full of probably 100+ polishes! I’ve tested pretty much every brand on the market, and recently I’ve found my new favorite drug store polish: Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel.

There are few drugstore brands that stay on longer than a day or two without chipping, but this one lives up to the name. It DOES NOT chip. The only thing it does is slightly fade around the end of your nail. For the small price of $7.99 you can get a polish to last up to 5 days (possibly longer, depending how gentle you are with your nails) with no chips. I recommend purchasing the base coat and the top coat to guarantee success.

Have you tried Revlon ColorStay Nail Enamel? If so, how did you like it?

Fashion Picks of the Week

03/16/2012

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Its Friday and I thought we’d take a peek at this weeks hottest fashion! Looking back at celebrity street style and red carpet fashion, which is your favorite ensemble of the week?

Tom Felton.

What a great edgy look for guys to try out! (**Tip: Don’t wear socks when your ankles are exposed!**)

Michelle Williams in Valentino.

She is positively glowing! Love this color on her.

January Jones in Jenny Packham.

Channeling a more 1960′s look, I am loving the ice blue on her and the pink streak in January’s hair!

Elizabeth Banks in Bill Blass and Jennifer Lawrence Ralph Lauren Collection.

The yellow is a fun bold choice for Elizabeth, and Jennifer is wearing the perfect dress to accentuate her small waist.

Liam and Chris Hemsworth.

Liam is classic with black and white, while Chris is a bit more casual with his suit. Chris has my personal favorite look of the week. Its versatile for all men. You can just modify it with jeans to make it a bit more casual, or dress it up with an unbuttoned white dress shirt.

Beyoncé with baby Blue.

Loving those sunglasses and flats Beyoncé is wearing! YES that’s Beyoncé in flats?!

Drew Barrymore with her finance.

Always a fan of Drew. Pretty sure I could make this outfit happen tomorrow, all I’d need to do is make a quick run to H & M for some teal pants!

All images provided by my favorite celebrity blogger: Just Jared

 

 

 

Make Up Tip Of The Week

03/12/2012

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Has the “Spring Forward” time change taken a toll on your Monday?? Here is a tip to help brighten tired eyes: BLUE is your magic color. Blue has been known to brighten the whites of your eyes, and there are three ways that anyone can add a little blue to your daily routine.

1. Lightly line the tear duct line. (This is above your lower lashes and under your upper lashes) You might need to pull your eyelid up or down and line away. This requires a quality pencil, because that area is a little damp and if your pencil isn’t pigmented enough, it’s not going to work. My personal favorite brand is:

The best shade is either Majorelle Blue or Incandescent Navy.

If you don’t want everyone to just see blue- I often still like my eyes with black and put blue closest to the eye (the tear duct line) that way it just gives a hint of blue and still brightens the eyes.

2. Add blue mascara over top your black mascara. This gives the hint of blue- while still accentuating your lashes with black.

3. Go bold! If you love blue and are confident you can pull it off (looks best with brown or gray eyes) grab a liquid or gel liner and do a cat eye!

Shopping Find: Sephora’s Pore Cleansing Pad

03/09/2012

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This bad boy is a great new product I just purchased from Sephora. It works great to clean and gently exfoliate the skin. Men and women will both love this little bad boy. (Yes- to all my male readers they do sell Men’s products at Sephora too!)

Here’s what how it works:

First is dampen your skin, and then place whatever soap or cleanser you wash with on top of the Pore Cleansing Pad and gently rub into your skin in a circular motion. It works great to unclog pores and leaves your skin feeling soft and clean! Its only $7 at your local Sephora store- and trust me, it’s going to rock your world!

Best And Worst Dressed at the 2012 Golden Globes

01/16/2012

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The 69th Annual Golden Globes were on Sunday, and the red carpet fashion was quite tame this year. We saw lots of pale pinks and grey as well as a few peacock blues. Here are my votes for the best and worst dressed at the Golden Globes. The best dress are in order of my favorites. Take a look and tell me if I missed any of your favorites!

Best Dressed:

Nicole Kidman in Versace.

I can’t remember the last time she looked so amazing! She looks like a beautiful Greek statue! This shape is stunning on her, and it seems like she has stopped getting work done, which means we can see her smiling again!

Sophia Vergara in Vera Wang.

It’s not that different of a look for Sophia, but she knows what works for her curvy body type. I loved the colour and the close up red carpet shots, the bottom of the dressed looked really beautiful.

Reese Witherspoon in Zac Posen.

I don’t know what was but she was glowing last night! I’m not normally a huge fan of her on the red carpet but she looks absolutely stunning here. I especially love her make up, very subtle but enough to make an impact.

Claire Danes in J. Mendel.

She was one of the first people I saw on the red carpet and I instantly loved her dress. She always opts for something pretty classic, but the back adds an edgy twist.

Salma Hayek in Gucci.

I loved the close up shots of this dress. I liked that it was a bit different from most styles that were on the red carpet. Just when you think Salma couldn’t be more beautiful she knocks one out of the park!

Charlize Theron in Dior.

At first glance I wasn’t sure about this dress, but the more and more I saw it I grew to love it. I also loved her hair and make up. It completes the overall look perfectly.

Worst Dressed:

Most people on the red carpet played it pretty safe and looked beautiful, but unfortunately there was 2 people that didn’t quite do it for me. Here are my picks for worst dressed;

Zooey Deschanel in Prada.

I hate to say this, because I am a huge fan of Zooey’s but this dress was not flattering on her petite frame, and her hair…yikes. You can’t really tell in this photo, but in some angles, one of her layers looked like side burns…not a look you want to go for. On a brighter note, her make up looked amazing!

Angelina Jolie in Atelier Versace.

When she first hit the red carpet I didn’t mind this dress, but as the night grew on she looked uncomfortable and cold. The fabric of this dress cheapened it to me, and I did not like how thin she looked last night.

 

Did you enjoy the awards last night? I felt Ricky Gervais was quite safe last night…there was a few good one liners from Seth Rogan and Meryl Streep! I’m glad The Artist won a few awards, it was a great film. Michelle Williams did a great job in My Week With Marilyn so she deserved the win, even though I’m not sure why it that film was categorized as a comedy/musical…The Golden Golbes are usually a hint as to what we will see at the Oscars, so it should be interesting to see if a few of the same people bring home the win!

5 Tips to keep the ladies and still have a Decem-beard

12/23/2011

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November/Movember brought us boys with mustaches and December/Decem-beard brings us boys with beards. Ladies could be fans of either; so for my manly readers out there, I have a few tips on how to maintain a good-looking beard without looking like a hobo.

1. Long beards looks best with short hair:

2. Maintain the neck beard!

If you have a serious case of neck hair, front and back, PLEASE shape your beard. Just because you are growing one, doesn’t mean your chest hair can attach to your face hair. Ewe.

3. Short beards can have longer hair:

4. Keep your fashion in check:

If you’re thinking of wearing that giant oversized hoodie and ripped up jeans you’ve had since high school, think again. Lets be honest, no girl will give you a second look with OR without a beard. Good hair, good beard AND good fashion equals swarms of chicks!

Vs. 

5. Comb your beard:

This is for all my men with curly beards! Take 5 min in the morning and comb it out. Even add a little wax to help tame those curly strands. If you are blessed with straight facial hair, then feel free to run wild and grow a long beard! Curly beards are best kept short.

Conclusion

Whatever you do, don’t EVER, I mean EVER let your beard be the only thing people notice about your face. No girl wants to dive in for a kiss if she can’t even find your lips! If this is the case, that means it’s BAD. So don’t let that sexy face be hidden behind horrible facial hair.  Example:

Gross Vs. Handsome

How To Accentuate Asian Eyes

12/08/2011

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Jeannie Mai has some amazing tutorials on YouTube, but this one stood out to me and thought I should post it.

I’ve been asked lots of questions on how to apply do eyeshadow to Asian eyes, this video has some great basic tips on how to accentuate them!

If you aren’t going out on the town, I wouldn’t recommend her “drag queen” lashes. What you can do for everyday is; curl the lashes you have OR if you want more length and volume, purchase a shorter pair, like MAC’s 1 Lash.

Get The Look: Jamie King

11/21/2011

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At the GQ Man of The Year Awards, Jamie King looked gorgeous. This inspired me to create a new Get The Look post!

Jamie is wearing a retro style party dress, which is perfect for upcoming holiday season. This A-Line shaped dress is a great style for EVERY body type; because of this it is my personal favorite style dress for the holiday season.

With this retro style dress, I recommend keeping the hair simple. You can do a sleek down ‘do, like Jamie did, or a french twist. Keep the accessories to a minimum. I recommend a good strong earring and a clutch. Finish off the look with a pair of black heels- either peep toes or t-straps to keep with the retro feel. For a more edgy look go with a bootie or platform shoe.

Take a peek at my Get The Look style sheet, (see below) for how you can get Jamie’s style. Everything on the style sheet can be purchased online at Mod Cloth.

Get The Look- Jamie King

 

Cocktail party dress (Black is the New Black Favorite!)
$198 - modcloth.com

Bb dakota dress
$97 - modcloth.com

Cocktail party dress
$90 - modcloth.com

Polka dot dress
$70 - modcloth.com

50 Dresses 50s dress
$108 - modcloth.com

Ruffle dress
$185 - modcloth.com

Vintage pumps
$43 - modcloth.com

Stiletto high heels
$35 - modcloth.com

Heeled sandals
$35 - modcloth.com

High heel pumps
$30 - modcloth.com

Black pumps
$50 - modcloth.com

Shoulder handbag
$70 - modcloth.com

Vintage handbag
$48 - modcloth.com

Chain clutch
$40 - modcloth.com

Onyx earrings
$18 - modcloth.com

Metal earrings
$13 - modcloth.com

Post earrings (Black is the New Black Favorite!)
$30 - modcloth.com

Teardrop earrings
$15 - modcloth.com

Get the Look: Lea Michele in Allure Magazine

11/15/2011

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Doing her best to channel the sexy ladies of the 1960′s, Glee star Lea Michele is owning the cover of Allure! She looks absolutely stunning! Dare I say, the best we’ve ever seen her?

Do you love Lea’s look? Want to create it at home yourself? Here are a few tips:

-Fill in your brows, no sexy eye is complete without a nice thick brow

-Find a good waterproof liquid or cream liner. Something that has a small pointed brush. Start your liner at the middle of the eyelid, go until just about the end of the lid, then open you eyes and use the angle of your lower lid as to were to finish the cat eye. Then go back and finish the line towards the tear duct. To find the best angle for that cat eye, take the wand of your brush and hold it diagonally against your lower lash line to meet with the outer edge of your brow. Check out a great tutorial here.

-Go for a nude lip. With such dramatic eyes, a nude lip is best.

-Curl large sections of your hair with a small barrel curling iron, do a light hairspray, then comb it out with a natural bristle brush. To avoid an overly fizzy style, finish off the look with some shine serum or mist.

This should finish off your look, so you too can be the next Sophia Loren!

Kate Bosworth Wearing Proenza Schouler at the CFDA Fashion Fund Party

10/21/2011

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Kate Bosworth made an appearance at the CFDA Fashion Fund party and looks stunning. The Straw Dogs star attend the event with her director boyfriend, Michael Polish. Kate is wearing a skirt and top from Proenza Schouler’s Spring 2012 collection. Head to toe she looks killer; from her hair, to her make up and shoes this creates an amazing outfit! This is somewhat of a fashion forward choice that we at Black Is The New Black LOVE…what do you think of this look?