Red Hot & Fabulous!!

Hi!  I have not written in a while, as I hope you have realized LOL!!  I truly was immersed in my studies and have graduated from my Esthetics course and took a few advanced certifications also, so I am on my way to finally getting my license as an Esthetician in N.Y.S.!!  BUT, I have to tell you that my true love is still doing makeup and most importantly enhancing the beauty I see in each of your faces when you are in my chair.  Along with eyebrow shaping and the fact that I am highly adept at relaxing my clients, leaving my chair with an increased confidence and a relaxed state of being is most important to me  for all of you, as I feel we all need that sense of calm. 

Today I want to tell you about a photography exhibit here in NYC in May, and here is the link:   http://thelipstickportraits.org/.  It is all about Red lips and the aesthetic power and meaning of wearing such a bold color.  Truly, if you are wearing red on your lips, that is the focus of your makeup application as you can see from the photo of one of my clients above, and you don't need much else if anything as far as makeup, so this makes it a great choice in these Hot summer months! And see how hot you can look!! 

If you are a porcelain skinned brunette or a blond with light skin, red lips are so stunning!  In the summer, of course, and all year round your sun protection factor is extremely important.  You can use a  tinted moisturizer like Laura Mercier's with SPF 20 as your moisturizer and foundation (http://www.lauramercier.com/store/product/productListing.jsp?catId=cat160012), as well as Revlon's Age Defying Spa Foundation SPF 18, which is mineral based.  I would definitely add an eye cream around the eyes and brows and on your upper lips, as these are all the thinnest skin (try HydroPeptides Eye Cream/Anti-Wrinkle Dark Circle Concentrate which has Peptides, Vitamin K & Pearls in it!  Fantastic for brightening the undereye area and it feels delicious!).  But if your skin isn't too dry and you tend to get moist and dewy in the heat of the summer, that should be enough under the tinted moisturizer to keep you looking put together and not greasy during these hot days.  Otherwise, add a light moisturizer under the foundation of your choice, but keep your skin looking like  healthy, moist, dewy and glowing reflection of your inner being!

If you are blessed with long, lush lashes that are dark, and beautiful brows, you needn't add a thing!  If not, brush a few coats of your favorite mascara (Covergirl has new LashFusion in their Lash Blast product line which lengthens and thickens and absolutely does not clump or flake!)  Curl your lashes if needed beforehand.  If you wish to add some eyeliner, do, as a cat eye or Audrey Hepburn look is fabulous with the red lip...add a little cream or powder blush, and DO NOT got the route of using lots of bronzer with this look....it truly doesn't go together! 

Add some brow color in pencil, powder or whatever product you feel enhances the density and shape of your brows if needed.

Lastly, to make application easier and last longer, I would suggest trying NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils which come in a variety of reds (http://www.narscosmetics.com/Velvet-Matte-Lip-Pencil-C26_makeup_7.aspx) i.e. Dragon Girl or Cruella, which I love, and other browner based or warm based reds.  You can line and fill in with these pencils and they stay on well.  You might also want to look for a lip stain in a red...Vincent Longo has a wonderful one in Baby Boo & Liquid Kiss (http://vincentlongo.com/content/original-lip-cheek-gel-stain), and you might find other formulations in red that you prefer.  I would suggest that using red is best on fuller lip shapes, and with the pencil, you can fill out your lip and correct any 'imperfections'.  As red is obviously a deeper tone, it will minimize thin lips, which look fuller and poutier with lighter tones and glossier textures as light enlarges and fills features out bringing them forward.  Dark colors on a thin lip will minimize and set back the feature...

I hope this a blissful day for all of you, and it is Mother's Day, so all of you Moms are most deserving of some calm and fun treatment and perhaps a gift of RED HOT color for the summer!!  Enjoy, and please feel free to add your comments, questions and/or ideas for future posts that you would like to read about...