Make Up Help from the Tropics

 

Dandara, the second from the left, applied all of her friends makeup for a celebratory night out.

My brilliant niece, a young lawyer who lives in Brazil and has a fabulous sense of style and a penchant for everything ‘maquillage’ has come up with her top 5 essential make up products in order to achieve a flawless and sophisticated look. 

1. Face Primer by Make Up Forever ($32) – This lightweight, oil free concoction enhances the texture of the skin, leaving it feeling smooth and soft.  It can be used by itself or before applying foundation, concealer or powder.

2. Concealer pallete by Make Up Forever ($36) – “ I’m desperate to get this palette!”

• Green concealer is a good tool to hide any red blemishes, specially acne marks.
• Yellow concealer is a great ally to combat any dark circles under the eyes.
• Mauve concealer is perfect to hide those little broken capillaries around the nose.
• Apply your skin tone concealer or your foundation on top of the colored concealer to blend in the color

3. Dior’s Airflash foundation ($60) – A mist foundation that delivers an ‘airbrushed’ effect.  This foundation leaves a polished look. Perfect for weddings.

4.  Chanel’s Particuliére, Tendresse and Inattendu nail polish ($25)– (these are fabulous shades, and you all have seen the particuliere all over blogland I am sure)

5.  Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes Mascara ($29)– one of the best mascaras ever once you get used to it. Works really well even without using the Curvex aplicator.  Believe me – it really works!

I am loving these products and am totally digging the mist foundation.  It sounds divine.  Have you all tried any of these products?  If so, I would love to hear some feedback on them.

It Is All In The Eyes

Picasso's Portrait of Dona Maar

Of all the wonderful blessings that God has bestowed upon me, long, lush eyelashes were not it.  These are my eyes about 30 minutes after I wake up in the morning.  This should be fun to look at, since each eye was photographed by itself from a different angle... But if you look past that, I actually am trying to make a point here.

Everyone's mascara needs are different, I have found.  And the same person will also have variations in their daily needs.  I, for one, mostly need something that will go on easily and prefer volume to length.  I rarely wear mascara on the lower eyelashes ( read special occasion only, to which I have a different solution, so read on).  And I NEVER curl my lashes.

I currently have in my arsenal three different mascaras.  All of which are grocery store brands (more on that later).  One is Maybelline's Pulse Perfection $12.99, which I bought on inpulse last time I had to buy my trusted Cover Girl LashBlast $8.99.  The third one is the waterproof version of the LashBlast.

Below is one application of the Cover Girl LashBlast and one of the Maybelline Pulse Perfection, both in black:

There is only a slightly noticeable difference on the results.  The CG one is a little goopier and the lashes are not as well separated as the Maybelline version.

Here are the eyes after the second coat of each respective mascara.  The difference now is very noticeable.  The CG eye is much goopier, but the lashes look fuller, longer and darker. 

The shot below shows both eyes without the disctraction of being separated by a white wall.  The right eye (the one on the left side of the screen) is much denser, albeit gobbier.  From a respectable distance, from where most people would see me, it looks nice.  I can pretty much leave the house right now and wouldn't be totally embarassed about my bald lashes.  It almost looks as if I used eyeliner at the outer edge of the eye.  For me, the CG mascara, is the perfect solution for a busy morning's mad dash out the door.  This might be a question of personal preference here, so I'd like to hear about it from you all.

yes, i'm crossed eyed in this picture.  go ahead and laugh!

I subscribe to consumer reports online, which is a great starting point resource.  You can read some of their free reports through their main website. On January 2009, they wrote a report, available to subscribers only, on 16 different mascaras.  34 women picked their favorites based on overall performance, ease of application, brush, look on lashes, durability, and ease of removal.  The top favorite was Lancôme Définicils, $24 at department stores. 

You can also find it at Sephora

Another preferred brand was the grocery store staple Max Factor's Lash Perfection, $5.89

You can also find it at Ulta

I haven't tried either one of those and would love to hear from those of you who have.  Since, for hygienic reasons, you are supposed to change your mascara every three months, the lancome one would probably fall out of my budget. UNLESS, it is really awesome!!! Oh, and by the way, the one they all hated the most was also one of the most expensive: Christian Dior's $24 Dior Show.

Another option is the lash lengthening two step mascara, where the first step is a layer of lash building white goop.  I have used it, and like the results. However, you have to be very fastidious about covering up all of the white gunk with the black mascara.  Otherwise, it just looks ridiculous.  I'd skip it if you have small children and no more than a couple of minutes to put your face on in the morning.

Now, for those special occasions when you have the extra 10-15 minutes that it takes to apply them, nothing beats fake eyelashes. There are all sort of fabulous ones in the market.  I find the Shu Uemura makes the most natural looking ones. 

I love 'my' lashes in this picture

They are mine, since I bought them here.

There is a fourth option to great eyelashes.  A dear friend introduced me to the prescription treatment Latisse.  You can get it through your doctor or dermatologist.  And it DOES work. The only drawback is once you stop the treatment, your lashes will eventually go back to their original length and thickness, so you have to restart the treatment.  Right now, that sounds like a little too much upkeep for my lifestyle.