Isla always makes me laugh. She’s definitely one of  the funniest woman I’ve ever worked with, and I love that she can crack up the room with a joke, a story, or simply a look.

During the many days of press for one of the recent films in which she stars – The Great Gatsby – I convinced her that she needed to branch out from her usual nude lip color because she looks  FANTASTIC in a bold lip.  From that day forward, she let me experiment, painting her mouth with bright pinks, deep berries, and bold reds.  Since then, every time I arrive to get her ready to walk a red carpet, shoot a picture for a magazine or make an appearance on TV, she points to the outfit she’ll be wearing and says with an excited smile: what do you think? Should we do a lip?

For the shoot above, however, we opted for a more neutral palette, one that every woman can feel beautiful wearing, and easily accomplish on herself . This is what I used:

ON HER EYES

To make her brown eyes smolder, I pressed two shades of shadow from Neal’s Yard Remedies cosmetics line in Barley and Cocoa, and into the inner corners I lightly pressed Kjaer Weis shadow in Cloud Nine to add even more dimension.

I used Dr. Hauschka Kajal eyeliner in 07, Mellow Sienna Brown, (which was just a seasonal release, so I apologize – it may be hard to find if you don’t want to order it through the link above) to smudge along the inside of her lash line, on both the top and the bottom.

On her lashes I used multiple coats of Korres mascara in Obsidian Black.

TO READ THE REST OF THIS HOW-TO, PLEASE CLICK THROUGH TO ONE OF THE BEST ONLINE MAGAZINES I KNOW: 

thechalkboardmag.com

talk to you soon! xxx

Every year the iconic designer, Diane Von Furstenberg, throws an awards event to provide recipients with the exposure and resources needed to extend their critical efforts on behalf of women’s causes. Four individuals are honored who have displayed leadership, strength, and courage in their commitment to their causes, and this year, the beautiful Olivia Wilde was a presenter. I’m always happy to get clients ready for a red carpet event, but when it’s for a cause that’s so near and dear to my heart, it makes it all the better for me.

When I got to Olivia’s apartment about two hours before she had to leave for the event, she showed me the gorgeous black pants suit she and her stylists had chosen, and said: “I don’t know, I was thinking we should play up my eyes”.  On my way to her place I’d been looking at photos of her from previous red carpet events -which I do before meeting with every client – to see which looks I liked her in the most. Olivia usually goes for a dramatic black liquid cat-eye or a rounded, very intense dark smokey eye, and in the moment she said “let’s play up my eyes”, what felt like 500 images of fun things I could do flooded my head. As her hairstylist began running mousse through her hair, I stood staring at the shadows and liners I’d laid out on her dining room table, trying to decide which colors to swirl around her eyes, and in what shape.

I knew I needed a minute to come to a decision, so I did what I usually do, and started with a face oil massage to get her circulation going, and to zone out on her face while she had her eyes closed. Within seconds it came to me, and I saw the completed look in my head, even before the oil had time to absorb.

The glowing skin is ultimately courtesy of Olivia’s genes, of course, but I also always give a lot of credit to the base layer of hydration I lay down before I draw and paint on the skin, and in this case, Lina Hanson Global Face Serum made for a truly glowing-from-within look. Plus, the aromatherapy this oil provides to my clients (and to me) during the face massage has made it a mainstay in my kit (and my medicine chest). The scent is incredible, and the viscosity is perfect.

As for her beautiful eyes: I used three simple products:

1. a pale, sheer shimmery slate gray,
2. a medium dark matte smokey graphite gray, and
3. a black creamy eyeliner.

First I mapped out the overall shape I wanted using the pale gray. On top of that I precisely placed the medium/dark matte gray along the crease and outward, extending slightly up from the outer corner of her eye, and then I blended the hell out of it so there would be no apparent edge between the two shades. Then I went in with a black liner and thoroughly applied it on the inner rim of top and bottom lid, as well as dotted in between lashes. To complete the look I smudged it into the lash line on both bottom and top lid using a smudge brush.

I really love how this look turned out… and it’s just like I saw it in my head during the face oil massage!

One final note: since everyone always wants to know the answers to these two questions about my clients,  I will tell you: Olivia is incredibly nice, and super beautiful in person without a lick of makeup.

Perhaps the most difficult part in pursuing a goal lies in the first step: identifying it.  This post isn’t about the makeup products I used to create a smokey eye on the talented and beautiful Amanda Seyfried before she walked the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards the other night (although I freakin’ loved how it turned out).  It’s about making a commitment to yourself to live your life to the fullest, and at the risk of sounding super corny: working your way towards your own red carpet walk.

Since launching this blog just about a year ago, I’ve received a great number of emails from readers telling me that I’m doing what they’ve always wanted to do.  Nine times out of ten, they’ve asked me for advice on getting into the industry. Each of those messages came from an artist who had the courage and drive to reach out and take steps towards obtaining their goal. I’m so impressed by each aspiring makeup artist who’s written me, and I can’t stress enough: continue to reach out to people who are doing what appeals to you, learn everything you can about what interests you, and keep reassessing your actions and behaviors to be sure that they remain in line with moving towards your goal.  There’s no reason for stagnation if you don’t want it. Know that you’re in charge of your path, and there’s no reason why I can be doing what I love to do, and you can’t.  I’m not saying I haven’t had really sucky times pursuing makeup – I’ve definitely endured people who were mean to me, or dismissive of me, and I have a pretty thin skin, and felt the effects of it each time. I definitely still feel my heart sink when I hear that a job I was hoping for canceled, and at times, when I’m not focused and in a positive mindset, I let that kind of news overshadow all of the good stuff that’s happening.  It’s human nature, but rarely is it productive.

I’ve read a ton of articles about the common habits of successful people. Success can be defined in many different ways, but for me it definitely isn’t rooted in money or celebrity. It has to be based in feeling happy, productive, fulfilled and connected to others – that’s when I feel my most successful.

These are some of my favorite strategies of working towards a goal:

1. Focus: Make a plan of action, thinking first about the big picture, and then outlining the smaller steps it’ll take to get me there. Write it all down, and fully visualize it happening.

2. Find ways to feel eager and enthusiastic about doing the goal-reaching work every day.

3. Manage my time, plan everything, but be open to the need for revisions, make lists, stay organized.

4. Accept that there’s a ton of stuff I don’t know and am not good at, be forgiving of my own weaknesses, and be adaptable as I strive to learn every single day.

5. Be proactive and self-sufficient! Don’t wait for someone else to lead me towards my goal. Utilize others’ who are in positions I admire; ask questions, watch and listen.

6. Build a community of support around me: know which friends and family members are best suited to offer support and love as I work towards my goals.

I marvel at the talented models, actresses, writers, singers and dancers on whom I have the pleasure of not only applying makeup, but actually getting to know on a personal level.  I’m incredibly inspired by people like Amanda, who at such a young age, has made a solid name for herself because she is driven and focused and open to possibility.

My goal with this post is to inspire you to close your computer, close your eyes, and close in on what it is you’d like to work towards. I’m going to follow my own advice now, and do the same.

xo

I’ve been on a Gwyneth Paltrow high lately. Recently Ms. GP ran a post on her fantastic blog, GOOP, that included a few paragraphs from me, on my favorite runway looks for the fall season. Soon thereafter she booked me to do her makeup for a big red carpet fete, called the Golden Heart Gala, which honored Michael Kors, and benefited his charity of choice (you know I loved this!): God’s Love We Deliver. GLWD is the NYC tri-state area’s leading provider of nutritious, individually-tailored meals to people who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. I volunteered in their kitchen at one point, and I certainly used to connect my clients with them, back when I was a social worker. They provide such an important service. I’m grateful to them, and to Mr. Michael Kors (a fashion designer, for those not familiar (who would that be?)) for making a donation to them in the amount of 5 million dollars. HELL YEAH!

Now back to Gwyneth, who I’m convinced has more energy than any other human being.

The look she rocked (sleek ponytail, fantastic Michael Kors cut out black dress) including the makeup look I concepted for her, was picked up by countless online magazines (and a few in print) and heralded as a stunning ensemble from head to toe. I agree, she looked incredible.  I’m happy to say that I pushed for the darker eye, and Gwyneth agreed to take the risk, because I thought the graphic shapes of the dress needed the complement. Do you think this much about the shape and color of your eye makeup when you’re picking out your clothes? If GP were looking down at the floor, you’d see how the sheer gray eyeshadow covered her entire lid up to the crease, and then blended heavily into the bottom portion of the crease. I then pressed navy blue shadow pigment along her lashline and along the bottom half of her lid, and then along her bottom lashes. It looked really cool, and perfect for this time of the year.

Here’s a cut-and-paste of the how-to-get-the-look article that ran on Glamour.com, written by Petra Guglielmetti (thanks, Petra!) two days after the event:

Makeup artist Katey Denno, who created this look, was kind enough to reveal her how-to. “The hard edges of the dress told me that her makeup should be minimal and focus on one feature,” she says. “She suggested a smoky eye, but I took it a touch heavier than she’s used to; luckily, she liked it! I love her in a dark smoky eye, particularly with a little navy and gray blended with black. I opted to forgo lining the inner rim, which I felt gave her smoky eye a softness.”

Here are the exact steps and products you’ll need to recreate Gwyneth’s eyes:

1. Curl your lashes and apply several coats of CoverGirl LashBlast in Very Black (that’s my fave–read all about it here!) on top and bottom, then comb your lashes once they’re almost dry.

2. Smudge Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer Eyeshadow in Navy along your lashes and blend it up into the lid, as well as along the outer corner of the lower lid.

3. Press Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow in Dark Grey into the outer V shape of your top lids, up to the crease.

4. Smudge Vapour Organic Eyeliner in Black along your top lashes and the outer 1/3 of bottom lashes.

Doesn’t sound too tricky, right? I really think this would be such a wearable look, unlike 90 percent of the red carpet stuff we see. 

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 remember when I first met NYC-based makeup artist, Rose Marie Swift, the brain and heart behind  RMS Beauty. It was at an intimate talk put on by the Environmental Working Group, geared towards makeup artists,  to educate us about their skin deep database (a site that rates cosmetics for safety based on their ingredients, and is truly wonderful, groundbreaking…and should be used as just one tool with which to determine the safety of the products you use).

I sat as close as I could to Rose Marie so I could hear everything she said. I was really impressed by all she added to the conversation, and by the really to-the-point, smart questions she asked. Of course I went home and read up on her online, and soon after, went to a party (I can’t remember if it was the launch of her line?) she hosted at which I got to play with all the fun little coconut-oil based, rich and creamy, densely pigmented pots of color. I was hooked, and since then, have turned many of my clients and my friends on to them.

RMS recently launched two new colors that I LOVE. The day I got them I used the gold on Christy Turlington’s eyes, and have been having fun experimenting with the truly unique and beautiful gray/dark brown/blackish cream eyeshadow pictured on the left. It’s great for a smudgy, unstructured smokey eye. I also love the purple and brown eyeshadows that have a great reflective quality. With all of these you can choose to use your finger or a brush to apply, and Rose Marie assures me – a serious germs-in-my-makeup-ophobe that due to the absence of water, and the coconut oil base, and with the presence of vitamin E and other essential oils, bacteria is unlikely to grow within the product. I still choose to use super clean fingers (and often a super clean brush) for application, but I see others using fingers straight into the container.

I’ve been wearing RMS cheek colors in modest and smile for quite some time and I love them. A creamy cheek color or highlighter on a well-moisturized face is my favorite look. I’m not big on glitter, and I’ve not been disappointed by any of these shades, as even the shimmery ones have small enough particles of what makes them shimmer, that you really don’t see them, you just see a luminous effect.

One last thing: I’m always a fan of a cream cheek and eye. Cream products are easy to apply and kind of fool-proof if you blend well (remember: no hard edges!). Plus they allow healthy skin to continue to glow. It’s my go-to for women of color, in particular, as I’m often disappointed by powder products that can look chalky and not as intensely pigmented as they do in the package, once applied to dark skin tones.

The only drawback to cream products that I’ve found is that on most people, the color will fade more quickly than you may like. I’ve found this to be very true for pretty much all cream cosmetics that go the natural ingredient route. The good thing about RMS Beauty is that it’s actually super good for your skin, so reapplying during the day adds hydration and glow to your face and will never look cakey or dry.

RMS beauty just launched on QVC. I’m so happy for Rose Marie for all of her success. She’s a clearinghouse of knowledge about all things in the ‘green’ beauty world. I’m anxiously awaiting a new lip color that’s in the works. It’s super good.

WHAT’S IN THOSE LITTLE POTS?
Minerals that make the color, the best organic coconut oil, organic cocoa butter, organic shea butter, organic bees wax, organic jojoba oil, organic castor seed oil, organic argan oil, sunflower oil, propolis, non-GMO vitamin E, organic rosemary extract, Centella, organic vanilla

Checkout her faq section and scroll down to the question about preservatives to educate yourself about the options she uses, and how and where to store your RMS for best results. While you’re on her site, spend some time reading everything she’s written – it’s all really informative.

WHY GLASS CONTAINERS?
They’re fully recyclable and it’s important to RMS to avoid plastic packaging which she says has been shown to leach into the products they encase.

WILL THEY MAKE ME BREAK OUT?
It’s not likely, but those of us with super sensitive skin never know about these things. I have incredibly sensitive, acne prone skin, as do so many of my clients, and I’ve never had a breakout from an RMS cheek or eye color, nor have I heard from any of my friends or clients that they have. It’s generally synthetic oils that make faces break out, and luckily this product contains organic virgin coconut oil that has antibacterial properties to protect skin, jojoba oil that’s most like skin’s natural oil, and the organic argan oil and cocoa butter are unlikely to cause an outbreak. That’s saying a lot.

note: the candle is just a cute addition to the photo, and not a part of RMS Beauty packaging. I figured you knew that, but thought I should include a disclaimer, just in case.

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.