A LADY GAGA Inspiration

A LADY GAGA Inspiration Highlights;
 MU - For Make-up, we used bright eye shadow colors!  Kryolan has a great selection of electrifying pigments for eyes. Using an angled brush, we outlined, then filled in geometric shapes and lines in contrasting hues.
 Hair- We sectioned off her bags and used a large barrel hot tool for lift and volume. We teased the middle and used a medium hold hair spray to keep it in place. We formed the bun by brush the hair back onto and around the tease area to cover the tease part and then use both bobby pins and hair pins to secure. See my video http://fface-it.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-style-puffy-bouffant.html
 on to get a similar effect. Keep inspiring, create your own Gaga and have fun with it!

Photographer: Hector  Rodriguez
 Hair &Make-up: Cassandra Celestin
Location: Miami, Florida

How to Style a Puffy Bouffant

When you have a head full of hair like me, you try to find different options for hair styles. I admire the way artist like Nicki Minaj let their hair down and allow the hair to create a life of its own.


 
Watch below as I do my “NICKI MINAJ” doo; Cassandra Celestin, on Tyra’s type F. com 
"How to Style a Puffy Bouffant"

Make Up For Ever Pro Road Show

Make Up For Ever hosted a Pro Road Show in Miami, Florida at the W Hotel and many of the artist's from Fancy Face attended!

Here is all the fabulous makeup!

What was great was that everything was 40% off and the HD line was 50% off!

Here is a demo done by one of the Make Up For Ever Makeup Artists.

Here is Shirley (makeup artist) with Marietta Carter-Narcisse after her workshop: The Business of Makeup.

Here is Shirley with MAC makeup artist Gigi.

Gigi with famed Fred Vellon and Michael Devellis

David Hernandez, Jennifer Cruz, Fred Vellon

David Hernandez hosting a workshop on body painting

Workshop on the Smoky Eye

The Make Up For Ever Team

Shirley with Michael DeVellis after his workshop on portfolio building.

It was a great experiencing meeting and learning from senior artists at Make Up For Ever. The best part was that these workshops were free! We got to meet other makeup artists and network. 

Basics: Tinted Moisturizera

READ IT HERE or READ IT BELOW

Moisturizer + Foundation = Tinted Moisturizer!

So there are two ways you can get your hands on a tinted moisturizer. The first is buy one, and the second is make it yourself! Not from scratch though!

Almost every makeup brand has a line of tinted moisturizers; from drugstore to high end. Every brand's tinted moisturizer is different as is everyone's skin type, so you must try try and try until you find the right one for you!

When you buy a tinted moisturizer, know this:

1. It it definitely LIGHT coverage.

This can be a good thing if you like that, or have decent skin and don't need to cover up red pimples or scars.

This can be a bad thing if you need full coverage to cover up scars, etc. Although a way around this is to use a Tinted Moisturizer and use a high pigmented/concentrated concealer over only the spots that need the coverage and make sure the concealer matches your skin tone.

2. They most likely have SPF.

This is a great plus because we all need protection from the sun, so this is great for a day by the pool or beach.

The down side is that if you are going out for a night with friends and taking lots of photos, you will have a white over cast/glow in your photos because the flash reflects off the SPF, so you might want to stick to regular foundation for going out at night or events where you will be taking lots of photos.

Also, some Tinted Moisturizers smell exactly like sunscreen, which is a downer. For that I might as well use Banana Boats Sunscreen!

3. It will most likely leave you with shine or oil.

This is fine for dry skin who need the extra moisture, but bad for people with oily skin. For oily skin types, set it with a powder and use blotting pads throughout the day; that's the only way around it. If you don't do this, I promise you that you will be shiny. If you're out at the park all day, then it doesn't really matter does it?

Now for making your own Tinted Moisturizer!

This is great for oily skin types because you can use your daily oil free moisturizer with your regular non SPF foundation.

I pump a quarter size of my foundation on the back of my hand, pump the same amount or less ( depending on the coverage I want that day ), take my foundation brush and mix the two together and now I have a tinted moisturizer with no SPF and oil free! I also take it down to my neck.

Personal reflection:

I own two Tinted Moisturizers. One is from Cover Girl (drugstore) and the other from Laura Mercier (high end). The only difference I see from drugstore and high end is NOT quality, it's simply that drugstore brands have a smaller range of colors for different skin tones.

I prefer my Cover Girl Tinted Moisturizer over my Laura Mercier for many reasons.

1. The price is much less than high end brands.

2. It is creamy and easy to blend.

3. It does not move after I put it on, even if I sweat.

Why I don't care for my high end Tinted Moisturizer:

1. It doesn't blend as easily and sometimes get blotchy when trying to blend.

2. Even if I don't sweat, if I touch my face anywhere, Tinted Moisturizer comes off on my fingers.

Some people swear by Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturizer which is why I want to make it clear that this is just my personal opinion and that because everyone has different skin types, it might not do to others what it does to me.

I hope this was helpful! Have a great day!

-Makeup Artist Jessica Rivera

Review: Nurturing Force blot out offensive shine

I have had this little guy in my kit for a year now, so I definitely have my opinions about it. My overall opinion in 3 short words: ONE MINUTE MAN   hahahaha!

Let me explain. I first heard about this primer from Enkore on YouTube. He gave a description of what it did in the video and it looked amazing. It takes away shine and fills in pores. And what I loved what that it can be used as a primer for airbrush makeup as well. Here is what the product claims:

This is not a gel formulated mattifier, but a cream that dries down fast with a smooth tack to the skin. It bonds immediately and invisibly with all skin types. It provides a no slip surface that enables makeup to bond to skin completely without causing any sliding, cracking, or bubbling that can happen with other anti-shine liquids or gels.

There is much more but you get the point. So here is what the product looks and feels like. It comes in a tub and is a white cream. When I say white, I mean clown white lol. This didn't bother me as long as I could blend it to a clear finish. Swiping product off with your fingers feels slippery and soft, but if you want to grab a whole chunk it's quite hard to push through.

How does it perform? Well, after trying this on myself and clients for a year, whether applying it with a sponge, fingers, or brush, it is very hard to blend and dries extremely fast! When using a sponge, it does not seem to blend the product all that well and white streaks are left behind, same with a brush. Using your fingers is your best option but even then, you have to work lightning fast because it dries quickly and becomes hard to blend out the white streaks. Many times I have used this product and just left the white streaks on a clients face and going over it with foundation covers it up no problem, but I still don't like the white streaks!

As far as oil control, this baby takes away oil as soon as you rub it into your oily skin.... BUT..... this is not a recipe for "long lasting" oil control. I was always confused by the fact that it instantly takes oil away so quickly, but does not stand the test of time. You get oily soon after so that is why I reviewed it as the one minute man, only works for so little a time.

So I went on Cosmetic Cop's website to look up the ingredients and here is what I found. 

Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis Gel (Aloe Vera Gel): There is no real evidence that aloe vera helps the skin in any significant way. There is research indicating that isolated components of aloe vera, such as glycoprotein, can have some effectiveness for wound healing and as an anti-irritant. However, when mixed into a cosmetic product, it is doubtful those qualities remain, although it may still play a role in binding moisture to skin.

Water (Aqua) The most widely used cosmetic ingredient; water is almost always listed first on an ingredient label because it is usually the ingredient with the highest concentration. Yet, despite claims of the skin’s need for hydration and the claims regarding special types of water used, it turns out that water may not be an important ingredient for skin. Only a 10% concentration of water in the outer layer of skin is necessary for softness and pliability in this part of the epidermis .

Stearic Acid: Fatty acid used as an emollient and as an agent to help keep other ingredients intact in a formulation. See fatty acid, thickening agent

Sorbitan Mono Stearate (Sorbitan Stearate): Used to thicken and stabilize cosmetic formulations.

Sorbitan (Sorbitan Laurate): No definition

Polyoxethylene: It is the basis of many skin creams. The polymer is used as a lubricating coating for various surfaces in aqueous and non-aqueous environments.

Isopropyl Palmitate: Used in cosmetics as a thickening agent and emollient. As is true for any emollient or thickening agents, it can potentially clog pores, depending on the amount in the product and your skin’s response.

Titanium Dioxide: Inert earth mineral used as a thickening, whitening, lubricating, and sunscreen ingredient in cosmetics. It protects skin from UVA and UVB radiation and is considered to have no risk of skin irritation 
Phenoxyethanol: Common cosmetic preservative that is considered one of the less irritating ones to use in formulations. It does not release formaldehyde. 

Benzyl PCA: a preservative

Butylene Glycol: Commonly used slip agent that has multiple functions in cosmetics, depending on the formula. Similar to propylene glycol but with a lighter texture. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review board has evaluated several toxicology tests and other research concerning butylene glycol and has determined it is safe as used in cosmetics products

Okay so those are the ingridients and from what I see, none of them are oil absorbing. Usually when a product is good at controlling oil, it will have magnesium as an ingredient listed, but most of these ingredients are fillers, preservative, and thickening agents. 

WILL I REPURCHASE AGAIN, NO!