Bonjour Belle

My first three weeks of beauty school was a true test of patience, devotion, and a dose of humility.  Why?  Because the topic was makeup.  And for the last eight years, I have worked for one of the world's leading artistry brands of cosmetics.  So I hoped for the best but had to give myself a dose of shut-my-mouth when I walked though the classroom doors.  When I saw my teacher, I was shocked.  She was older and [I can respect experience] but the neon green eyeshadow I just cannot respect!  Especially for someone in their 70's!  It's just not a good look.  Sadly, she was still a practicing makeup artist.  And for the next three weeks, I painfully suffered through her tales of working on celebrities and how she came to be a makeup artist.  She asked if anyone had experience in cosmetics and I slowly raised my hand, like an automatic car window not properly functioning, squeaking the whole way up.  From that moment, whenever she would need consensus on a makeup topic, she would look at me and shake her head yes and say "don't you think?".  "No" is what I wanted to say but already knew that a debate would only make the class longer.  So I would give her a half smile in acknowledgement and she would move on with the lecture.  Every class, when she wasn't raving about her own experience, she would rave about mineral makeup.  I started thinking she was a network marketer and we would all soon be converted to minerals through her subliminal messages, or should I say, not so subliminal.   
 
Have I mentioned the tapes?  Because there were tapes (yes, that's right, VHS tapes) of dated makeup applications, circa 1980.  I gasped when I saw how they were trying to "fix" the faces of the models.  According to the video, the desired face shape is oblong.  For the rest of the 90% of the population, you have to fake the funk via contouring of the foundation.  For example, for a round face, the makeup artist on the VHS tape advised the model to use a darker foundation along her jawline to minimize the roundness of her face and make it appear more oblong.  Of course!  That's it!  No one should accept who they are and feel pretty!!!  I've been teaching women wrong for so many years.  (If you haven't detected it, this is sarcasm).

On the days we were to do "makeovers" (I loathe this word) on each other, I did learn something.  I learned that when women confessed to me that they do not know how to apply makeup, they weren't lying.  I watched the Gilligan's stumble around, not knowing how to pick color, match skin, etc.  This was the best lesson I received from these three weeks.  In teaching other women how to apply makeup, I need to watch them apply it to themselves and see how their application can be tweaked.  I digress.

Makeup section complete and now onto skincare techniques and clinics.  Two months down!! 

Hello {again} beautiful!

It's been quite some time since I posted here. I missed it. I've had a few changes in my world o'beauty. First, I launched my own makeup portfolio online. Geeeeesh, it's about time! I spend so much time slingin' eyeliner and not enough time writing about it. Secondly, I started beauty school. I have yet to say this without hearing the lyrics from Beauty School Dropout (Grease) playing in my head! But unlike Frenchy, I'm financially invested into this venture and will not be dropping out. I should clarify that it's technically not beauty school. I'm working on my skin care license. I'm fascinated with the eyelash extension industry and am adding this onto my menu of makeup services. I'm also toying around with actually doing something in skin care. I love the medical side of aesthetics and am contemplating doing something in that field. I'll keep teeter-tottering with this for the next 5 months, carefully analyzing every detail of my future before I make a decision! Until then, Jamie's beauty blog is back and I'll be journaling my time in beauty school (dang, there's that song again!).

I'm about one month into my school so I'll have to catch you up a bit.......I've started my 5 month course to be certified as a skin care specialist. It's a small class of 6 since it's a summer session. I tried not to snob'ily judge the facility by the exterior of the building. It's old, dated, and there was no curbside appeal. That Flipping Out guy from the t.v. show would have a hay day with this one! The inside looked....well, pretty much like the outside! And my snob-o-meter went from zero to shoot-me in 5 seconds. Our first day was orientation. I looked around the room at all my new classmates. This group was about as diverse as the cast from Gilligan's Island ( all future posts will reference my classmates as the "Gilligan's").  All women, yet all in different phases of their lives. I"m sure I'm here for a reason.....

Looking fresh in 4 steps

I worked in Birmingham this past week with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics teaching dozens of women to apply makeup. While I believe in addressing every detail of the face, I realized 4 things that anyone can do in five minutes or less to give you a quick pick-me-up:

1. Undereye Concealor- more important than foundation is concealor. Your eyes are the first thing people see when they look at you, so why not spend a little time concealing darkness and "lifting" the eye? I met this woman who was 12 days away from delivering her second child (the first child is only 13 months- God bless her!). She had severe darkness under her eyes but she was so beautiful and glowing (I know it's cliche to say a pregnant woman glows, but she did! Plus, I seriously love pregnant women. I think they're beautiful!). I'd imagine that the next couple months, she will be even darker under the eye due to serious sleep deprivation. I fixed her up with the most wonderful combination of concealors and she said was ecstatic. In fact, she told me she was so happy, she could french-kiss me!! I've never been told that before but it was a compliment nonetheless!

2. Mascara- After concealor, dabble on a little mascara to open up those eyes. Remember mascara wears away with the day. If you're going to be on the go, throw a mini-mascara in your handbag to touch-up (oh, I just got a new DiorShow Mini Mascara- it's so cute!).

3. Blush- I LOVE blush. It's the perfect way to pick up the face and rock out a fresh look. Try a pale pink on the apples of the cheeks (powder blush or cream blush are both good options).

4. Gloss, gloss, and more gloss- My favorite makeup staple! I was in Sephora this weekend and found 5 new glosses I needed. Let me just say, I need a new gloss like I need my leg cut off! I must have over 25 glosses already. Anywho, I digress. Apply a fun, pinky gloss, roll down the car windows, and jam out to the radio!

Best of all, these products can be easily stowed in your handbag or makeup bag and keeping you looking fresh throughout the day.

I recently did makeup for this beautiful woman pictured here. For those of you that know me, please excuse the following statement as you have heard it a million times over. I love Asians (and Jews, but that's a whole other story). Something about dark hair and warm skin tones make me want to run to my nearest spray tanning salon for a "summer glow". O.k., sorry, I digress. Here's the deal.....makeup for Asian women is quite unique. Because of the shape of the eye, it is difficult to create a "smoky eye" as she requested. Typically, the eye has a hooded shape and a smoky eye pulls the eye down. In this case, eyeliner is everything. Asian eyelashes and brows are typically made of fine, thin hair. For this reason, I used lashes by Mac in #7 to create a more open-eyed look and defined the brown with dark eyeshadow color brushed through the hair with an eyebrow brush. Her lips had such a beautiful, natural cranberry tone to them that I asked her if she had lip color on previously to which she replied "no". (grrrr.....jealousy set in!) I added a defined lip color and a touch of gloss and topped her off with a plum cheek color. She was insanely gorgeous and captured so beautifully by GwenMark Photography.

Now you C it, Now you don't

I am currently obsessed with Obagi Vitamin C serum. If you don't know anything about vitamin C, know this: C=Clarity. And girls, I mean clarity. You "C", I typically have nice skin but I don't wake up looking like Selma Hayek (I recently saw her spread in InStyle, she was so gorgeous) every morning. I began using the vitamin C serum last year but ran out. In between purchasing a new bottle, I consulted my estetician Sally at Destin Plastic Surgery (skincare clinic) and we decided to up my dosage from 10% to 15% solution. This just means the product is slighly more active (I'm not getting any younger!). From using my serum for just about two weeks now, I can say with a "clear" conscience that the texture and glowy-ness of my skin has dramatically improved. Minimal peeling may sometimes occur when first using Vitamin C, but girl, let it peel away show a more radiant you.