5 minutes = Gorgeous!

So often I hear from women that they only have five minutes to get ready in the morning.

Five minutes.

Therefore, lots of makeup gets left behind.  They throw on some mascara and concealer and head out the door. Ladies, to me, this is the equivalent to wearing sweats to the grocery store — while it’s entirely acceptible and sometimes unavoidable in a pinch — is this really what you want to be wearing when you run into your future?

Trends in makeup and clothes often reflect our lifestyle, and you’ll find there are some killer jeans and heels out there that you can throw on for a casual dinner and look like a fashionista while you still have time to put dishes in the dishwasher and flip through your mail.  Just like that concept, there are quick makeup tricks that can make your skin glow, your lashes flutter, and your lips pucker.

In short — it doesn’t take more than five minutes.

Doing makeup for NY Fashion week taught me that you simply CAN do gorgeous, flawless makeup in 5-10 minutes.  You won’t have a stage manager screaming “FIRST LOOKS!!!! Models line up NOOOOOOW!!” to remind you that you’re running out of time, but if you’re anything like me in the morning… you have a little stage manager in your head screaming things like, “If you don’t finish your coffee and find your keys you’re going to be SOOOO LATE!!!”

The main trick to spectacular, quick, makeup, is to pick a feature — and here are the steps to fast and fabulous:

• Perfect skin – Tinted moisturizer with your finger tips and a bit of concealer where needed.
• Flush skin – Blush, bronzer or both, you only need  a little color, but you need a little color.
• Focus on a feature – Eyes? ~ Cheeks? ~ Lips?

Most women will say eyes, because 9 out 10 women fear the brightly colored lip… but that is a post for another day (and trust me, we’ll get to that).

EYES: There are lots of options to a quick, gorgeous eye. (Or eyes, if case you’re not a pirate and actually still have both)

• Liquid liner with a cat wing: It’s classic, it’s clean, and it makes anyone’s lashes look full and lush.
• Heavy, smudged, liner — the quickie smokey eye: This can be black, charcoal, dark brown, or a blackened color, ie. navy, plum, forrest green.
• Sparkle! – swipe a shimmery shadow across the lid that makes your eyes catch the light.
• POP of color; a bright eyeliner or a colored mascara draws attention without taking too much time.

CHEEKS:

• GLOW! Add something shiny to the top of your cheekbones, use a cheek cream, or a blush with a slight sheen
• Color! Be bold and use a bright pink or creamy orange.  If there’s nothing else but soft gloss and lush mascara, there’s nothing for it to clash with and it gives you that just-went-running flush!

And frankly… my favorite trick is just some good old fashioned RED lipstick…. but we’ll leave that for another post…. 

Tags: eyeliner, fashion week, makeup tricks, quick makeup

You + Makeup = Still… You.

When I was 12 I fell in love with makeup.  There’s something about lipstick that gives a girl such a sense of control about her life, her day, her face.  I have come to feel after nearly two decades of working in the beauty industry that SO many people see makeup as this mysterious skill only some of us have.  Not true — they can be taught!  And frankly, great makeup happens when we can still see what’s underneath.  Great makeup is like a great mural, it should be a part of whats underneath it, whats around it, and what made it.

Don’t get me wrong, Zombie makeup is awesome too — and I’m sure I’ll come across some in my travels, but every-day-gorgeous is the mystical unicorn that I intend to hunt, capture, and give to the masses.

I intend for this blog to be my adventures in makeup padded with as much helpful information as I can possibly give.  Girls (and guys!) empowered with the understanding of their bone structure, skin textures, and the wealth of amazing products out there have the ability to make their day a little more shiny and fun.

I plan to hand out that ability and empowerment.

YouPLUS … makeup should be more math than magic.