The Beauty Sleuth

There is nothing more sexy that a head of voluminous, shiny, healthy looking hair. I personally, will do just about anything to get this look for my hair and anyone else I may be working on. But let’s face it, it rare to have a head of “virgin” hair. Is there a solution for color treated hair look to it’s best? This question tends to open up a Pandora’s Box of hair issues including hair that’s dry, brittle and lackluster—Hair that tends to become way too unruly for its own damn good. In order to baby color treated hair, you need to recognize the special needs of your newly color treated hair—And a new arsenal of hair care must come into play if you want to achieve a head of luscious, downright sexy, looking hair.

If you are looking for something that’s not only kind to your color treated locks, but is Vegan and earth conscious, turn to Pureology. Offering an array of hair care that is completely 100% sulfate free, full spectrum UVA and UVB sunscreens as well as a host of organic botanicals to soothe and protect your hair, Pureology will treat each strand with the TLC it deserves. Two stand outs from the Strengthening AntiFadeComplex product lineup are: the newly re-released Radiance Amplifier and the Root Lift volumizing cream spray mousse. Both of these products work to hard to keep your hair (and the color) looking its absolute best and the formulas are super concentrated so a little goes a long way. Both are gentle yet effective formulas that give serious care for delicate color treated hair.

For my road test, I selected two models who couldn’t have had more different hair types— one being having a head of fine bleached blonde hair and the other, a course and curly head of hair with mahogany highlights. For each I wanted to have smooth, shiny voluminous hair. Using the Volumizing mouse first, section the hair and apply this very dense and thick mousse from the roots to mid-length of each section, blowing dry as you go with a large round brush for maximum volume. When all the sections are finished, spray a light veil of Radiance Amplifyer all over the hair. For both of my test subjects, the results were outstanding. The hair had a gorgeous overall sheen yet remain supple and soft.

Pureology not only has a great track record for creating innovative, vegan hair care but they support Global Green USA the U.S. Affiliate of Green Cross International, and its national environmental initiatives.  Founded in 1993, Global Green’s mission is to help solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Pureology Serious Color Care: Radiance Amplifier and Root Lift are available at Pureology.

I don’t know for sure but I don’t think I am the only one who LOVES a quality Member-only sale site ( I know you love your Gilt-y, Haute Look… pleasure!). I for one, am a member of at least three of these discount sites, where I shop and save some serious green to my hearts content anytime, anywhere I can jump onto the internet highway. It’s true Bliss. For fashion, home and even travel, it’s really a no brainer. You get topnotch merchandise at great prices, which is all well and good. But on the beauty end of the spectrum, it has been a bit flat to say the least. A hot cosmetic brand here, a cutting edge skin care brand there, these can be found from time to time but with no real consistency and certainly no dedicated area in which to frequently get one’s beauty groove on.

That is all about to change tomorrow, November 15th at 12:00 EST. Enter a relatively new player, MyHabit.com, which launched last May (and is part of the Amazon family). Not satisfied with offering consumers just another Fash-Pack club, MyHabit.com is set to break out by launching a new area in its portal dedicated to all things Beauté. Oh! what music to my ears! This comprehensive site currently offers a plethora of international fashion and accessories for all, as well as distinctive home goods and now with the addition of beauty, its sure to become a one stop shopping experience for all.

Aside from a wide variety of coveted beauty products and brands, they will also showcase guest editors from an array of well known publications on a regular basis — For tomorrow’s inaugural release, the lovely Eva Chen from Teen Vogue will curate a collection of her favorite beauty finds. Look for top brands such as Oscar Blandi, Dr. Hauschka, Baqu and Boscia skin care to name a few coming to MyHabit.com. As you would expect, being an Amazon venture, shipping is free within the continental U.S. but if you just can’t wait for a few dollars extra , you can get it overnighted right to your door.

Sounds like perfection to me. Register today so you can beauty shop ( an more!) tomorrow….I feel a new obsession coming on!

www.myhabit.com

I must apologize. First of all, for being remiss at keeping up with this beauty blog, it’s been nearly four months since my last entry. And secondly, for keeping you all in the dark as to my absence!

I have been working very hard on a new venture, one that I hope to become a huge success. While I cannot divulge too much information on it right now, the drive needed to develop this new entity has literally gobbled up all of my free time and energy, leaving little time for anything else. That said, I will be launching very soon. I hope you can all stay tuned until then. In the meantime, I have carved some time out from my hectic freelance schedule and the building of a new beauty brand (oops, did I SAY that out loud?) and will be back online with more beauty news, reviews and insights. In the coming posts, I will be showcasing a selection of products that I have feel are new and noteworthy. Hope you all find them informative and useful.

From me to you : In beauty, as in life, Enjoy it!

You know it’s time to get a new hairdryer when that burning hair smell won’t go away even after you’ve cleaned out the filters! So what are you waiting for? I know. With all the choices out there, the selection process can be tough. Ceramic this, Tourmaline that, etc…who’s to know what really works, anyway? That’s when someone with hands on experience like David Yoon and his company Prosilk step in. This marshall of professional supply, Mr. Yoon will bet his FAR Infrared hairdryer will not only dry your hair to perfection but maintain and protect and improve the overall quality of your hair.
How so?

FAR infrared is a cutting edge professional series styling tool, that employs ceramic conduction heating for instant heat transfer, negative ionization to break down water particles and seals moisture at the follicle and infrared technology to gently dry the hair from the inner follicle more quickly. What does this beauty tech speak mean for you and I ? It stops hair damage, infuses moisture , leaves hair with a silky shine and dries the hair 60% faster than conventional hair dryers.

“We have borrowed technologies from a broad range of industries to create our new proprietary applications for the professional hair care industry.  It is our great pleasure to be able to offer our Professional styling tools to salon professionals.  Our FAR Infrared dryer exceeds expectation, and provide professional stylists with a unique opportunity to actually improve the quality of their clients hair” states David Yoon

The dryer is lightweight, and easy to handle. The red light ring at the end of the nozzle is a conversation starter if you are using it in a professional environment for sure but the dryers overall performance will be the thing you’ll remember most. It feels tidy and streamline in the hand and with its drying power, you won’t be spending a ton of time just on blow outs. Try using a medium to large sized round brush or flipping your hair over your head while gently pulling the hair straight to create awesome volume, smoothness and sheen. Overall, the performance is excellent and is well worth the $130.00

ProSilk tools are available through select distributors nationwide. Contact ProSilk at www.prosilkprod.com or  (866) 434-8100 for a distributor near you.

I have a video runway shoot tomorrow so I stoppd by the NARS boutique to pick up as few things for my team and I. The look will consist of a smudgy cat-eye for the eyes and for the lips, I wanted a really velvety matte lip stain. Of course I found exactly what I wanted by the name of Red Square matte velvet pencil. This chubby stick goes on smoothly and the color is incredible. I couldn’t resist testing it out on myself at home, and did a little blot test and presto: Lip print delux!

Stop by and visit the girls at the Bleeker St shop to view some of the latest Fall 2011 releases as well as the classics like the Orgasm series.
Also available online at: www.narscosmetics.com

As a makeup artist, I do believe that Beauty is Life. Why else would I dedicate thousands of hours, endless days and big chunks of my life learning all there is to learn about this business—Testing driving products, experimenting with new textures and colors and working on all kinds of amazing subjects to boot. Not bad for an art school grad who had no idea this industry even existed. In my future I imagined I’d end up curating fine art in a Canadian gallery somewhere. Funny how life is, or is it fate?

On one of my recent strolls through Barneys, I came across a beauty brand that I hadn’t heard of before— Beauty is Life. Right away I loved the brand name and was eager to see if it stood up to my expectations. I was intrigued and did a little investigative digging on the creator of the line. It was designed by the German television makeup artist, Beatrix Isabel Lie, who aside from being an accomplished artist herself, founded an academy for makeup art and image consultation in Hamburg in 1978. She’s not only prolific in cosmetic application and training development but she has also been a longtime specialist in a dermatological skin clinic in Germany since the late 60’s. Ms. Lie is testament that passion and innovation in any given field do co-exist, resulting in a cause and affect scenario that can be compelling and exciting for the industry. Her product line is based on her 9R- typology teaching philosophy, which at its core, covers all existing pigmentation types regarding tone value. This was my kind of makeup artist—As an art student I did extensive study in color theory and values and to this day, I select my color choices for all of my subjects based on this education.

As far as product goes, I am alway looking for the basics like incredible foundations, concealers and powder because in my opinion, if the skin doesn’t looking right, no amount of color product will correct that. Flawless skin has always been my beat and I work really hard to create it (regardless of whether my model has ideal skin or not, skin always needs a little love for any on-camera work) be it a super natural looking finish or full coverage glamour. For me two things become incredibly important— One: that the skin look flawless after foundation/concealer/powder application and two: that the color and texture of the products used match seamlessly to the subjects own natural skin. The finished effect creates the illusion of absolutely perfect skin and is the ideal canvas for all color products.

While perusing the BIL collection, I did a patch test on my wrist. I really liked the feeling of the cream Camouflage, Cover cream pen and loose powder but I wouldn’t know for sure until I test drove it on several different models, under numerous conditions. The opportunity was right around the corner, as I had an advertising shoot the following day. After testing on several models with various skin types and colors, I was very pleased with the results. The concealers are highly pigmented and while they tend to be quite dry (a little under eye cream before concealer works wonders) once on the skin, it stayed put and didn’t crease. I liked that it could be layered up, meaning that you could build coverage depending on necessity. For the cream foundation, it has amazing pigment and was easy to apply. I was able to build the color where I needed it and burnish it to a flawless finish. The powder is fine-milled and very silky and blends into all cream product seamlessly creating a beautiful, baby soft finish that lasted. In essence, this foundation-concealer-powder trilogy have become staples in my makeup kit.

If you are looking for a high powered, top performing beauty line, this one’s for you.
To learn more about the Beauty Is Life academy check out: www.beautyislife.de and for product availability Stateside see: www.barneys.com

It’s Summertime. This is the time of year when your makeup routine should be easy-breezy and uncomplicated. For a quick, beach-fresh makeup Jouer Cosmetics has once again put together a beautiful collection of sorbet sheer shades of moisturizing lip gloss that will brighten your lips and make them shine with shimmery goodness. But don’t stop there. Take a gander around Jouer’s ( www.jouercosmetics.com ) well appointed full collection and not only will it provide you with a stellar beauty routine, but you’ll be able to mix and match the products to help you create an abundance of beauty effects. This brand has something for everyone and I mean that in the best possible way. From body care to color product, Jouer is truly a one stop beauty shop that will satisfy and satiate your every mood. Explore the possibilities this summer.

You may find Jouer Cosmetics at www.jouercosmetics.com

It’s summer and you know what that can mean for your hair. If you are on the East coast, you know all about the heat + humidity combo. It can wreak havok on your hair, making daily washing a must if you want to have clean looking locks. This is when dry shampoo steps in to save you from over washing resulting in dull, dry, hair. While there are a few brands out there who make a killer dry shampoo ( you know who you are, and you know I love you!), those brands also have a hefty pricetag and if your like me, you may go through a can of the stuff in about a week. So what’s a good alternative? I would say head to your local drug store and look for the Suave haircare section. That’s right, you heard me, SUAVE. That cheap and cheerful pharmacy brand that’s been around forEVER! Recently, re-vamped and brought up to the hip and groovy, the company has launch an inexpensive and effective dry shampoo. I test drove it on my lovely model, Nina (above) who had just come off a red eye, heading right into the studio for a photoshoot. It not only worked a treat, but the scent , which is a mango-y-lemony fruity combo, was much prefered over the other brands that shall not be named. I found mine at my supermarket for a mean $3.25, which to me makes this a beauty steal and super hero because anything that can help hang on to your Three C’s — Calm, Cool and Collected, in my book, is a keeper.

You can find Suave brand haircare at pharmacies and supermarkets nationwide or visit www.suave.com for more info.

T. LeClerc has been a long time favorite of makeup artists for decades and recently I revisited the powder collection in loose formulations. I was not disappointed as it still held up after all these years .Aside from the traditional loose powder box, the company also has a travel box that is very handy. One of the go to colors, is Banane, which is a soft buttery yellow toned powder that reduces redness on the skin and gives a petal-soft finish. In the loose powder box version, the Abricot and Cannelle are particularly nice on the skin. Both imbue a subtle color and create a beautiful veltvety finish. These powders are a great addition to any makeup kit be it a professinoal or personal collection.
T. LeClerc is available at www.barneys.com

Oxygen is one of the key elements to great skin, but as we age, like everything else, it diminishes leaving our skin looking a little parched, and the signs of aging like fine lines, pigmentation spots and rougher texture pop up like daisies, right there for everyone to see. If you have multiple skin concerns, it seems there is a cream for that. It’s hard to keep track of all the stuff you need to put on your face, day in day out, in order to turn back the hands of time (or at least look like it!)

But don’t fret, there is help on the way, in the form of oxygen-boosted skincare brand called Dermacyte. The brand offers only two products in their lineup but they are powerhouse items that will turn your skin around in no time. Packing a one-two punch to knock out dehydration, fine lines and pigmentation spots by patented technology to infuse high concentrations of medical grade oxygen into an emollient, nurturing ingredient infused cream base. The company has not only put a lot of energy is the development of these highly effective products, but in clinical studies that document the improvement in over 97% of test subjects. Having a daily oxygen boost causes the skin to repair lost elastin, boosts collagen production and purifies the skin. What does this mean for you? Better circulation and improved skin quality, brighter, healthy looking skin with pigmentation and fine lines lessened— Your skin will just glow from within.

These two products will be the only things—post cleansing, you’ll need in order to keep your skin looking and feeling incredible. Although a regular skincare regimen can be used in addition to Dermacyte, you may find you won’t need them at all after a few weeks of using. I test drove Oxygen concentrate and the Oxygenating eye Complex for over a month, and the results were outstanding. My skin was hydrated and plump and looked overall, fresher. The texture was improved, sun pigmentation spots were lessened and my skin just glowed. I loved the smooth consistency of both the facial lotion and the eye concentrate; both were neither too emollient or slick and once on the skin, it absorbed very quickly leaving my skin supple and soft. So breathe some life back into your skin and try the little oxygen blast called Dermactye. It’s just Dy-No-mite!!

Dermacyte is available at www.dermacyteus.com