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A Look Inside My Makeup Kit – What Products I Use and What’s Most Essential

Posted in MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP BRUSHES, PRODUCTS I LOVE, FACE, MAC MAKE-UP, SKINCARE, SHOPPING, LIPS - LIPSTICKS, LIPGLOSSES, LIPS, EYE MAKEUP, POWDERS, FALSE EYE LASHES, FACE PRIMER, EYELINER, MAKEUP BRUSHES, SKIN HIGHLIGHTING, FOUNDATION, TINTED MOISTURIZERS on June 17, 2012 by stylebymeli

Here is a photo I took of my kit after setting it up from this past weekend. As you can see, I’m set and ready to go!

So I realize it may seem that I have taken an extended leave of absence from my blog and I’m going to try to make up for it as much as I can from now until the end of the month! I thought it would be nice to share some information regarding my professional makeup kit and what I stock it with.

Skincare - I always like to emphasize that skincare is a necessity as it will make or break the foundation application. I keep a handful of moisturizers depending on a person’s skin type (normal, dry, oily) including tinted moisturizers from MAC and Korres. I also have a full range of foundation primers and not loyal to any brand in particular. Other good skincare products to have are eye creams to decrease puffiness underneath and for brightening.

Face - In terms of foundations, I currently carry MAC and Face Atelier. I carry every shade that MAC offers so I’m not left having to mix shades (unless of course I can’t find a true match).

With powders, I carry all of MAC’s mineralize skinfinishes. I also carry some of MAC’s studio careblend powders which I’m also a huge fan of and in time would like to get every shade. I also have blot powders, both pressed and loose.

With concealers and color correctors, I have MAC, Bobbi Brown, Cinema Secrets, and Shiseido.

With blushes, I mainly carry MAC blush palettes, but also have some loose ones from NARS and MAC’s mineralize blushes.

With bronzers and highlighters, I’m using MAC and NARS mainly.

Eyes - In terms of eye shadows, I ONLY carry MAC as they offer an extensive color range with different textures and beautiful pigmentation. I have over 150 colors in my kit!

With eyeliners, I carry liquid, gel, and pencils from MAC and Korres.

With eyeshadow bases, I only carry MAC’s paint pots. I’ve tried many others including Urban Decay’s primer potient, but still find myself incredibly faithful to MAC.

With brow products, I mainly use eye shadows to fill in the brows but also carry brow powder kits from Urban Decay and Anastasia, which are truly great.

With mascara, I don’t have any brand loyalty. Currently, I am carrying Clinique, Mabelline, and MAC.

With false eyelashes, I’m actually a fan of Revlon, Kiss, and Salon Perfect’s demi wisps are fabulous!

Lips - I carry a ton of lip liners which I like to use for coloring the lip for staying power along with double-ended long-wearing lip products such as MAC’s Pro Longwear (I’ve been obsessed with these for myself for years), but also finding other brands that carry similiar products such as Lorac and Covergirl. I also have a handful of MAC lipsticks and lip palettes.

With lipglosses, I carry pretty much any brand. I’m not loyal to one specific brand because to me, a lipgloss is a lipgloss. Plus, I just like keeping a variety for my clients to choose from.

Besides makeup, what’s most essential in one’s makeup kit are the tools. It’s really important to find the best brushes and ones you feel most comfortable with. Personally, I absolutely cannot blend eyeshadows without a MAC #217 (seriously!), so it is for this reason that I carry a few of these in my brush belt.

[Do you have any kit essentials?]

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[Makeup Trend Focus] – Soft Smokey Eyes with Bright Cheeks and Nude Lip

Posted in BLUSH, EYE MAKEUP, EYELINER, FALSE EYE LASHES, LIPGLOSSES, LIPS, LIPS - LIPSTICKS, MAC MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP, MAKEUP TREND FOCUS, SKIN HIGHLIGHTING, SMOKEY EYE on May 20, 2012 by stylebymeli

I wanted to share a soft smokey look I created with shimmery greys and a touch of lavender. I added some brightness to the cheeks and finished the look off with a nude lip color.

How to wear this trend:

- By default, I almost always wear heavy black eye liner and false eyelashes (even with a soft daytime look), but with a smokey eye, it’s also essential to go heavy with the eyeliner and add drama to the lashes (which can also be done with a good mascara if you’re not into false eyelashes). With the choice of eye shadows, I like to build a smokey eye with a dark color on the lid mixed with a lighter inner crease and dark (black typically) outer crease. It creates a nice hybrid when you have two contrasting crease colors (light and dark) that meet in the middle. I also like a strong, bright highlighter under the brows to contrast the overall smokey effect.

[Beauty Confession] - I am truly not a fan of a nude lip (on myself) the majority of the time, but I do like to step out of my beauty comfort zone and wear a light lip every so often. Ironically, I own a lot of nude lipsticks but rarely wear them because I don’t feel like I can carry it off so effortlessly being that my skin is so fair. It requires lip liner for definition (or else it just blends in with my face) and lots of gloss for add dimension and shine.

- In terms of the cheek color, I always make sure the cheek is bright to add balance to the nude lip. Personally, I won’t wear a light lip unless there is emphasis on both the eyes and the cheeks at the same time!

I’m using MAC’s “Nude” cream color base on the lips as my lip color and also on the tops of my cheekbones as a cheek highlighter. It’s great to find a product that serves multi-purposes and it’s very rare that I find myself doing that. MAC’s “Nude” CCB is one of my favorite light lip colors! It’s creamy and also long-wearing.

[Does anyone have some favorite products they like to share for creating a smokey eye and/or nude lip?]

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How Many Brushes Do I Use for My Face Makeup? – Here’s a Look…

Posted in BLUSH, FACE, FACE PRIMER, FOUNDATION, MAC MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP BRUSHES, MAKEUP BRUSHES, POWDERS, SKIN HIGHLIGHTING, SKINCARE with tags crown brushes, MAC, MAC Cosmetics on April 6, 2012 by stylebymeli

From left to right: MAC #224 brush, Crown Brush IB107 oval foundation brush

I was going over with a friend recently the importance of choosing the right brushes and knowing when to use them for what. I thought it would be great to share what brushes I use for my face makeup and you will see that no single brush can do it all! I use a total of seven brushes for just my face makeup alone!

Starting with all liquid and cream products…I use two brushes:

Skincare: In complete honesty, I do apply my skincare products (serum, moisturizer, eye cream, and primer) with my hands. I do advise using a basic foundation brush to apply these products but if you apply with your hands, it’s okay. Also, for cream/liquid highlighting products, I will apply with fingertips (but then go back with a brush to blend).

Foundation: For liquid foundation, I personally like a small and thin foundation brush. The one that I’m using is by Crown Brushes, specifically the IB107 oval foundation brush. It doesn’t leave the foundation too streaky and just blends the product beautifully leaving a natural, flawless finish to the skin.

Concealer and small areas of the face: For concealer application such as blemishes and under eye area, I actually like to start off with my finger tips, but then I will use a MAC #224 (which is essentially an eye shadow brush, but many artists including myself like to use it as a face brush) to blend the edges seamlessly.

I want to point out that the MAC #224 is EXCELLENT for the small areas of the face: under eyes, around the nose, around the lips, around the eye brows. Basically, when I’m dealing with the perimeters of specific features of the face (nose, eyes, lips), I use the #224 because it’s small enough to get around those areas whereas the regular foundation brush is too big to cover the surface area. The more delicate features of the face need to also be approached in a delicate manner, hence why I switch to a MAC #224 when I’m applying foundation to those areas.

When I do my clients’ face makeup, I also ALWAYS use a regular foundation brush to cover the majority of the face followed by a MAC #224 (or any fluffy small head brush) for the finishing touches.

Moving onto powder products…I use a total of five brushes:

From left to right: Crown C107 powder dome brush, MAC #138 brush, Crown BK3 chisel brush, MAC #129 brush, MAC #165 brush

Powder: For all over the face setting powder, I always like to use a large fluffy brush. I have been using a C107 powder dome brush from Crown Brushes. I also have a MAC #182 kabuki which is also really nice.

Contour: Specifically for contouring the cheekbones, I use a large powder brush with a tapered tip. I personally LOVE the MAC #138 brush for the cheeks. For someone with smaller and more defined cheeks, I may opt to use a brush with a smaller head (such as the MAC #129).

Bronzer: I also like to have a separate brush for bronzer. I add bronzer mainly along the hairline. I’m using a medium sized dome shaped brush. Specifically, I’m using the BK3 chisel brush from Crown Brushes. Their brushes are great value and great quality.

Blush: I typically like bigger brushes for blush because it gives a much softer application, but currently I have been using the MAC #129 brush which is their standard blush brush.

Highlight: For cheek highlighting with a powder product, I LOVE the MAC #165 brush. Unfortunately, this brush is discontinued which is sad because I only own one and do not have one in my professional brush kit. I’m sure there are many duplicates available, but basically it’s a smaller version of the MAC #168 (which I just shared I used as my contour brush). It’s a small headed brush that tapers on the end.

As you can see, I use a different brush for every powder product. I personally just like to have a separate brush per makeup application step. If you have a powder brush you are using as a blush and bronzer brush, this is okay. For an all over powder brush, I do suggest this brush be used for this step only.

[Do you have any brushes that you like to use that I did not share here? If so, please share!]

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Skin Enhancing Techniques Revealed: How to Achieve that Glowing Effect Like Jennifer Lopez

Posted in CELEBRITY MAKEUP, FACE, MAKE-UP, MAKEUP BRUSHES, POWDERS, PRODUCTS I LOVE, SKIN HIGHLIGHTING, SKINCARE with tags cheekbones, face, highlighter, Jennifer Lopez, MAC, MAC Cosmetics, makeup brushes, Nars, Stila on January 29, 2012 by stylebymeli

I would say that the majority of my clients request one of two things when it comes to their skin. Either they want a very matte finish (mainly those that tend to have a more oily skin type) OR the opposite extreme which would be that they want that extra glow to their skin with a shiny, dewy finish.

The Benefits of Glowing Skin:

- The skin appears incredibly youthful, fresh, and dewy which ultimately translates into the appearance of a beautiful and flawless complexion. (Who doesn’t want that?)

- It typically photographs magnificently given that it’s done correctly and placement is essential.

- Although the whole face can have this look, when the highlighting effect is emphasized on the cheeks, it magically accentuates the bone structure of the face. I cannot stress enough how essential this is in creating what I call, “the perfect face.” A face is ALWAYS more physically attractive when the cheekbones are defined. The beauty of makeup is, you can actually visually change (or enhance I should say) the shape of the face tremendously and create this definition with the right cosmetics and correct product placement.

Let’s look at the beautiful Jennifer Lopez, which “highlights” this skin glowing effect…

Although her whole face appears to have a healthy glow, if you pay extra close attention to this image, you will see that the main emphasis is on the tops of the cheekbones and the brow bone area (under the eye brows). These are the main focal points you want to be highlighting the skin for the best visual impact.

How to Achieve This Look:

For the Makeup Beginner: The easiest way to add a “glow” to the face is to purchase a shimmery bronzer that is a shade or two darker than your natural skintone or powder with a golden shine to it, preferably in a loose form. (In my professional opinion, loose powders tend to adhere to the skin much more smoothly and naturally although a pressed version is also acceptable). For application, use a big fluffy brush to apply softly onto the entire face. That’s it, quick and easy!

For the Makeup Advanced: For those that are already wearing makeup and have a basic knowledge on makeup application, I want to focus more on the placement and choosing the right product(s).

With product selection, I advise picking up a highlighting powder and also considering a liquid or cream based luminizer. I personally use both.

With the the liquid/cream luminizer, you will incorporate this step as a part of your foundation application regime. Although a thin layer can be applied onto the entire face, I highly recommend placing it on the tops of the cheekbones and brow bone area. This can be done before or after the foundation, but ABSOLUTELY before any powder application comes into play. Afterwards, you would set all your cream/liquid products with an all over powder.

To take it a step further, you can now emphasize the highlighting effect even more by finishing it off with a powder highlighter, again same placement: top of the cheeks and brow bone area.

My Skin Highlighting Combo:

1- Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer (#3) : I LOVE this product! I like to apply a tiny amount of this (a little goes a long way) along the top of my cheeks after I apply my liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer. I typically apply this with a brush (currently using the MAC #282 SE from this past holiday’s brush set) or sometimes I will blend with my fingers.

2- NARS “Albatross” : Upon setting my face with an all over powder, I use a MAC #165 brush (unfortunately, this was a limited brush) and dust this highlighting powder again on the tops of the cheeks.