Back in March I spent the afternoon with Shiva Rose in her spectacular Venice Beach home. Shiva has a really fun, informative, and aesthetically beautiful blog called The Local Rose, where she writes about living her best green life, and others living theirs.

I love Shiva’s vibe.  In her backyard there were the most vibrantly colored chickens (or were they hens or roosters? Why don’t I know the difference?) running around, and her house was that perfect blend of styles: relaxed bohemian, mid-century modern, rustic, and multi-cultured. (I immediately started daydreaming about moving in and throwing parties to show it off).

Shiva’s beautiful and talented daughter shot a little video of us as I gave Shiva a face oil massage with a delicious oil from La Bella Figura, taught her how to use her eyelash curler to its fullest potential, an then gave her a little makeover using products from an all –green makeup line called W3LL People.

Thanks again, Shiva. When can we film episode two (or at least just hang out again?) I’m back in LA!

It’s always a real learning experience for me when model Angela Highsmith sits in my makeup chair.  Early on we discovered our shared passion for all things natural, and my respect for her body of knowledge grows every time we spend a day on set together.

At some point she told me that she brews up a tea for her daughter (this youthful beauty is a mom to a 10 year old) from an herb called Skullcap to ‘help chill her out before school’, and then went on to tell me about her herb garden and all the concoctions she makes to treat cuts and bruises from what she has growing in her own back yard. I recently introduced skullcap tea into my repertoire of ways to chill myself out and get ready for bed… and it actually does the trick!

Her knowledge of making her own medicines doesn’t stop there: she treats a variety of sensitive skin issues with oils, salves, and cold creams made with her own two hands, and a wealth of information she received during the many classes she’s taken at the New York Open Center, and in one-on-one sessions with herbologists.

When I asked her how she became interested in herbs, and the world of natural beauty products, she told me that she’d been interested in natural healing ever since she was a little girl, and that she used to make believe she was a Native American living off the land, with only what she found in her yard to eat, and to survive. As she’s gotten older, she explained, the natural products she uses become more and more natural: from using store-bought products with naturally derived ingredients, to focusing on searching out organic and edible products for skin and hair, to now making a good number of what she and her family uses, all by herself.  Very crafty and smart of you, Angela! Can I come over one day and see your garden?

On the day of this photo shoot I created a naturally glowing look with the following products – and even the most discerning green beauty aficionado would approve:

1.     Amala cocoa bean face oil massaged into Angela’s sensitive skin

2.     Vapour Organic Beauty liquid foundation used sparingly, starting from the center of the face, and blending outward

3.     Mineral Fusion concealer under her eyes very sparingly

4.     RMS cream eyeshadow in ‘Seduce’ on just her lids, applied with my fingers

5.     Onto curled lashes I applied a few coats of Honey Bee Gardens mascara in black

6.     Dr Hauschka bronzing powder swirled along her temples and across her cheekbones

7.     Burt’s Bees lip shimmer in Watermelon topped with a light coat of Burt’s Bees lipgloss in Spring Splendor

We both loved this fresh, gorgeous look (with just a pop of lip color) so much, that I thought to take a photo of her at the end of the day after she’d changed back into her street clothes. Can you believe this shot was captured at the end of an 8-hour day on set? Just beautiful, Angela, just beautiful!

Over the past few months, you may have seen this lovely English actress in all the fashion magazines as the new face in the Dolce & Gabbana ads(she nudged out the beautiful Scarlett Johansson), and pretty soon you’ll see her on the silver screen opposite Warren Beatty.  Felicity is a dream to work with. Not only is she really as sweet and funny as you’d hope she’d be, she also has a cool, defined style, yet she’ll let me play with her makeup a little bit to keep each red carpet look interesting.

This is one of those looks that works on many women, regardless of your age, skin tone, and comfort level when it comes to doing your own makeup: play up your eyes with a little smudgy liner, swipe on tons of mascara, (experiment with false lashes if you dare) and keep the rest of the face looking like you’ve just had some good exercise…or a little too much red wine: ever so slightly flushed in the cheeks. Not everyone will look right in a pink check and lip, but a similar pale shade to complement your skin tone  (could be a minimal bronzer on the cheek and a tawny lipstick if your skin tone is deeper) which shouldn’t be too hard to find.

As you know, I use a mixture of ‘green’ and mainstream products on most of my clients. As I’ve said before, I think it’s about limiting your overall exposure to certain ingredients, and if you have a specific black eyeliner that you adore that smudges just perfectly and stays put all night, then by all means, don’t feel badly about using it.

In all honesty, I don’t remember exactly which products I used on Felicity in each of these lovely images. I do know, however, exactly how I could create them using 100% good-for-you cosmetics. I love that the ‘green’ beauty products industry has come this far!

1. Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream Light: For this look, a more matte complexion than what I normally like is in order. I skipped the face oil massage I usually do, and spot moisturized very lightly where needed.
2. I love a smudgy black eye. Vapour Organic Beauty makes a deep black liner that smudges well and can be layered for intensity. I use a small blending brush to smudge the liner around, and into the lash line.  In the first photo I wet what’s called an ‘eyeliner push brush’ – a row of flat edged bristles that allows the creation of a sharp line – and dipped it into Alima Pure  Satin Matte mineral pigment eyeliner and pressed it along the outer edge of Felicity’s top lashes, creating a slight upturned cat eye.
3. In the final photo I used a soft fluffy brush to sweep a sheer, reflective taupe shadow called ‘magnetic’ from Kjaer Weis, under her bottom lashes.
4. In all photos, of varying degree, I swirled one of the following onto the very top of her cheek: RMS lip2cheek in ‘Smile’, Kjaer Weis cheek cream in ‘Blossoming’, and set it with one of the following: Dr. Haushka blush in Natural Pastels, Rouge Powder Duo or Korres blush in #16 Pink/Rose. . I swept the face with a large soft brush to blend the cheek color seamlessly.
5. Felicity being a fan of a neutral or pale pink lip makes this part super simple. I love that she knows I’ll ask her if she’s exfoliated her lips when I arrive to do her makeup, and generally beats me to the punch, showing me the washcloth she’s been gently rubbing against her mouth. For the natural look she likes, try using ‘Caramel’ or ‘Strawberry’ Lip Shimmer, or ‘Honeysuckle’ tinted lip balm, both from Burts Bees, the new fuchsia lip shine from RMS Beauty in ‘Sublime’, or the Tinted Lip Conditioner from Ilia in ‘Nobody’s Baby’.
6. I’m not usually a fan of a powdered face, but this look asks for a little powder in the t-zone. I like each of the three from Jurlique; they have different scents associated with different skin types, but with how minimally I tend to use them, I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in performance.

In general, my favorite part of any look is the lashes. It’s fun to layer on the mascara or really play up the drama with a strip of falsies, or with a few individual clusters spaced along the outer edge of the top lid. Send me your photos via my Facebook page of how you do this type of look on yourself. I can’t wait to see!

Thank you, lovely Felicity, for wearing my art work so well.

I’ve loved Brazilian model Natalia Costa since I first met her almost 5 years ago on what’s called a ‘test shoot’. For those unfamiliar: a test shoot is when a hair / makeup / photographer / model get together with the hope that they can create images that they’ll be proud to put in their portfolios.

Generally this is not the case, because often one or more of the parties are usually still really new to their craft and when one element is off, whether it’s hair, makeup, modeling, photography – it makes for ‘it’s almost good, but not quite’ pictures. This wasn’t the case with my test shoot with Natalia, despite all of us variables being really new to the industry.

I even credit those pictures of her as being part of the reason my agency signed me. I don’t ‘think it’s possible for a bad photograph to be taken of this woman. I chose her to make this, my first how-to video for my blog, both because I love the way she looks – particularly because she has the perfect large, almond shaped eyes for a makeup instructional film- and because I love her for who she is. I also think it’s super adorable that towards the end of the video, her alluring accent has her saying that she was “cheesed” instead of “teased” about her eyes.

There are countless ways to accomplish a smokey eye. I’m sure I’ll post a number of other techniques in the future, so that you can pick the one that works the best for your eye shape and your ability to work with shadows/liners/brushes/your fingers. A smokey eye can come in any color, density, and a multitude of shapes.

This one was created with:

• Eyelash curler: Shu uemura
• Shadows: Chanel quad, Mac Carbon (a medium black that’s easily blendable for that smokey look)
• Mascara: Covergirl lash blast, the orange tube, in very black
• Eyeliner: Georgio Armani, black (the formula is creamy and blendable, which is important for this look)

And I used these brushes:

• MAC #239 Eye shader brush to build up the base light color all over the lid.
• MAC #219 to draw the shape with the dark shadow.
• Smashbox  Definer Brush# 15, which is a little fluffier and more dense than the MAC 219 brush, which will help diffuse the edges of the shape you’ve drawn with the dark color, and to pack on more dark color where needed,
• Smashbox Crease Brush #10, which is really fluffy and airy and blends out the edges of the shape you’ve drawn perfectly,
• Smashbox Double-Ended Smudger Brush #20 used to blend the eyeliner down into the lash line and ever so softly upwards onto the lower part of the lid so that there are no harsh edges.

Special thanks to videographer, Jason Brownrigg & to Sandbox Studios.