In partnering with a brand, there were three main things that were important to me:
That the brand maintains a commitment to using only ingredients that are safe to our bodies and the environment,
That the brand has a price point within the reach of the average woman,
That the color range be extensive and include shades to flatter women of every skin tone.
I’m so grateful to Burt’s Bees for turning my ideal partnership into a reality. Together we made some videos with three great beauty bloggers, to introduce you to Burt’s newest lip lines- lip glosses, and lip shines – and to better acquaint you with their already existing line of lip shimmers, as well as their tinted lip balms – including the three latest additions. In the videos I show you how to do what I do best – layer colors and textures to create signature looks. This is a line of colors that I use on my own lips all the time now, and quite a few of them have already made their way onto the lips of my red carpet and photo shoot clients.
I really love the Lip Color Finder that the Burt’s team created – and I tested for accuracy – which is a really cool online tool that leads you through some questions to learn which colors in each of the textures will be best on you.
The video shoot was fun (but seriously exhausting. Please, have a ton of respect for models and actresses for the long hours and intense work they do. It’s definitely not as easy as it looks), but always so weird to be on the receiving end of styling, hair and makeup! Thanks to my team for making me feel great.
A special thanks to the awesome beauty blogging team, who gave their honest feedback: they loved the colors we picked for them!
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.
