Mindy really is as cute and beautiful, smart and funny, and as much fun as you’d think she’d be. I’ve been inspired by all she’s done since we first met a few years back. Plus, just being around her has made me rethink my usual uniform of solid color black, gray, navy, and white. Her love for bold color and clothing with print, pattern and design has rubbed off on me immensely.

I don’t watch television at home, so I usually play catch up on The Mindy Project when I’m traveling by watching episodes back-to-back on the plane. Recently I was in a hotel room during a particularly long travel job, missing home and feeling downright homesick, so I decided I’d turn to the television to keep me company before bed. I casually turned it on and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, when I heard a familiar voice coming from the tv, and felt so overwhelmed with happiness – it was like I was sitting in Mindy’s dining room, going over the hilarious night she’d had. I actually walked back into the bedroom and smiled at the television as if I had just run into an old friend.

In the pics above we were in Mindy’s office, and it was one of those times she’d told me to go for it and make the decisions on the makeup look for the evening event she would be attending. I was particularly proud of myself for this one.

As always, the majority of products I used for the look are from the world of the green beauty market. If you’re not familiar with them, follow the links to learn more about each one.  I’ve been focused on exploring the non-toxic cosmetics industry for years now and have found the best of the best.

On her eyes: I blended two Kjaer Weiss shadows, in ‘Divine’ + ‘Onyx’ all over her lid, and softly under her bottom lash line. I then carefully placed a bit of Alima Pure’s shadow, ‘Smoke’ – a deep blue green shimmer –  on the middle of her lid and buffed it into her lid to give her an extra pop of color when batting her lashes. I lightly lined the inside of her entire eye with black liner and coated her lashes in a ton of mascara.

On her brows: I used a mixture of brown brow gel from Eco Brow in ‘Liz’, and a brown shadow called ‘Espresso’ from W3LL people to fill in her brows and make them a little extra intense.

On her cheeks: I’m not gonna lie- I’ve had a hard time getting all-natural cheek color products to show up, and last for hours at a time on women with complexions in shades similar to Mindy. I’m not sure why this is, but it has bummed me out on numerous occasions when I thought I’d given her a really pumped up cheek, only to see photos of her from the nights’ event, looking like I’d forgotten her cheeks entirely. In this case I turned to a blend of powder cheek colors from Tarte (a not-natural, but really great color line) in ‘Tipsy’ and ‘Natural Beauty’

On her skin: I’ve tested every green beauty product foundation on her skin and have yet to find one that’s as perfect a match, and as long lasting as ones from Smashbox and Makeup Forever. Mindy also turned me onto using a foundation from Kat Von D that works really well for her complexion. I also really love using both the Secret Camouflage concealer from Laura Mercier, as well as the Bobbi Brown foundation sticks, to even out her skin on the quick. I’ve been setting her foundation with a powder foundation from W3LL People with good success in both oil control and color matching.

Finally on Miss Mindy’s lips: I used a blend of burgundy and red lip colors, including: the Aura multi use stains from Vapour Organic Beauty in ‘Lure’ and ‘Impulse’.  Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of overly glossed lips. In most cases I’ll just press a teeny bit of a gloss into the middle of the bottom lip and have my client purse her lips to add moisture and a touch of shine. For Mindy, I pressed a drop of ‘Bitten’ gloss from Vapour Organic Beauty into her pout with my ring finger and stood back to admire how gorgeous it had all come together!

 

This radiantly beautiful woman is the most amazing crossover Latina actress and singing sensation, Genesis Rodriguez. She’s GORGEOUS and the image of her on the right, with that super cute and genuine smile, is how she looks in person 95% of the time – smile central. With such a positive and loving disposition, she’s easily one of my favorite clients. I’ve seen her treat the hotel bellman with the same high level of respect and gratitude for his services, as she does her mother. It’s inspiring and impressive.

All of that aside, she’s also one of those faces a makeup artist wants really badly in her portfolio. She’s got a look that’s just so versatile, with such great features, and she really does glow from the inside out.

I ran into her in the airport recently and she told me she was excited about adding another date to the premier schedule of the film Tusk, in which she stars. When I got to her house to get her ready she adorably told me and her hairstylist that she wanted to go for a slightly Brigitte Bardot look, but would be open to whatever we thought. Gregory Russell, a master of hair, whipped her long silky brown strands into a cool low messy twist/bun thing with a bump at the crown, and I closed my eyes, daydreamed for a minute about the perfect look for the dress and hair, and then let my thoughts flow through my hands. We were all so happy with the end result!

Here’s what I used to give her the perfect look to glow her way into the cooler temps and richer tones of the fall:

 

On her skin:

Skin was toned with a few sprays of Jenette Be Happy toning mist

5 drops of Yuli facial oil was massaged into her skin, including the delicate skin on her neck.

I slightly evened out her complexion using Vapour Organic Beauty cream foundation

Under eye concealer from Mineral Fusion created a perfect canvas.

 

On her cheeks:

A cream cheek color called Courtesan from Vapour Organic Beauty was swirled onto the apples of her cheeks, atop a thorough application of Desired Glow, from Kjaer Weis.

 

On her brows:

I created the shape using Eco Brow dark brown gel and then made them even more lush using a bit of brow powder from W3LL People
On her eyes:

Since we’d discussed a Bardot look, I knew I wanted a black flick of a liner, plus a defined crease. Instead of the typical black or gray, however, I wanted the warmth of copper to be the backdrop for some serious lashes. I buffed a bit of  ‘Luminous Copper’ from W3LL People, into the crease of her eye, and a light bit of it, mixed with a shimmery gray, ‘Zen’, from Alima Pure, under her bottom lash line. (shimmery gray only went under her bottom lashes).

 

I knew we needed some serious black liner with serious staying power that I haven’t yet found in the world of all naturals, so I turned to two of my favorites: Stilla liquid liner with a felt tip, and Makeup Forever gel liner.

 

On her Lips:

This is where I’ve learned as a makeup artist that I can never expect what I do to a face will read as I’ve done it in photographs. The lipstick blend I created for Genesis to complement the rich Hughes of grey, green, and purple in her dress, was a deep reddish mulberry – and wound up looking like a bright red. Go figure!

I used: Burt’s Bees new lip crayon in Napa Vinyard, mixed with two Ilia Beauty lipsticks –‘Ink Pot’ (so sorry – ink pot might’ve been a limited edition!) and ‘Arabian Knights’.

 

Today marks the start of a beautiful partnership.  Spirit Demerson, founder and owner of Spiritbeautylounge.com, the wonder woman who introduced me to so many fantastic green lines of makeup and skin care, and I, are teaming up to bring you ‘get the look’ blog posts.

I do the makeup while on a photo shoot, take the model’s picture at lunchtime, and send it off to Spirit to pair it with images of the products I used. Hallelujah!  This will make it so easy for you to quickly ‘get the look’, because you’ll be able to see the exact products I used, read how I used them, and click on the link to Spirit’s site to buy them. Couldn’t be easier.

To kick things off, please allow me to present the lovely Canadian model, Marla Boehr.

I prepped her skin by massaging in a few drops of Ila Rose Oil to combat the in-flight dryness I saw around her eyes, nose, cheeks, and mouth (She’d just flown in from Canada).

On her skin:
On her t-zone I sparingly pressed liquid foundation from Vapour Organic Beauty in number 125 and to make the finish look like bare skin, I lightly pressed it in with a slightly dampened beauty blender sponge.

On her eyes:

1. All over the eye area I pressed Kjaer Weis’s charmed shadow in a very sheer application with a medium domed brush. I blended it from the lid up all the way to her brow, sheering it out the further away from her lid I got. I swept some underneath her bottom lashes from edge to edge, as well.

In the crease of her eye I pressed a more tightly-domed shadow brush topped with  Kjaer’s shadow, Wisdom, and used a fluffier domed shadow brush to really blend it into the crease. I took what was left of the shadow on the tightly-domed brush and concentrated the placement of it under the iris, while using a cotton swab to barely blend it towards the edges.

In the inner corner of her eyes I pressed Kjaer’s shadow, Cloud Nine, which really made her eyes pop.

On her cheeks:

2. Onto a soft-tipped fluffy, but not densely packed brush, I blended together Ilia’s ‘All Of Me’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’ and swirled it onto the apples of her cheeks. I used the same sponge I used on her t-zone to gently blend out the edges.

On her lips:

3. & 4. I used a combination of Ilia’s ‘Femme Fatale’ and Vapour Organic Beauty’s ‘Siren Ravish’ lipstick.  I first pressed Siren Ravish into her lips, and had her mash her lips together to really stain them. Then I applied Femme Fatale with a brush over top of the deeper shade, Ravish, and had her press her lips together a few times to really combine the colors.  I finished the application by gently tapping the pads of my fingers over her lips to soften the texture. Combining the two shades on the lips in this way creates a real depth to the mouth and wears wonderfully.

Finally, these are not products that Spirit has in her online boutique, as they’re not ‘green’, but I really like how they look and haven’t found an alternative that I like quite as much.

On her brows:

I used Laura Mercier Brunette Brow Pencil and Paula Dorf Brow Powder in Neutral

On her lashes

I used Covergirl Lash Blast in very black – very sparingly on top and bottom.

I’ll be testing out using different cameras for these how-to’s. This one was taken with my cracked-screen iPhone, which I think will be going into retirement.  Regardless, Marla rocked this look incredibly well and everyone on set loved it. Note: We were shooting clothes for the Fall, when lip color gets more deep and eyes become a little more intense. Try a purple, a burgundy or a brownish-red this Fall and you’ll be totally on-trend.