The Beauty Sleuth

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 […]

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 […]

So its time to pull out the sunblock again, but what is best and most effective? And with all the recent controversy regarding long term health risks from several key ingredients in sun protection, it’s no wonder there is confusion. But don’t fret, help is on the horizon. The Environmental Working Group (The mission of […]

I have been on the hunt for a great liquid eyeliner for as long as I can remember and have tested out so many over the years that I have almost given up on the possibility of one that didn’t involve a serious amount of expertise to use properly. Not to say that my liner […]

I know I cannot be the only one who goes through periods of monstrous breakouts. While my personal experience seemed to start somewhere at or around the time my kids arrived in my life, it’s been a roller coaster ride from mild to moderate depending on stress and hormone levels and after talking with some of my best BFF’s, we all came to a conclusion that there is a thing called Adult Acne.

When I came across a few new TARTE COSMETICS products, I have to say I went a bit gaga. First of all, the purple quilted packaging is sleek yet oh so fashionable, then, there’s the product itself. I tested Provocateur pressed mineral powder SPF 8, Femme Naturale refillable eye shadow palette (which came in a refillable, patent leather and zip palette box that could be fooled as any stylish girl’s pocket book, its just that pretty! Not to mention its filled with a perfect array of eye shadows, that you will really WANT to use and the Four Day Stay lash stain. I really loved the results of all three of these products. Not only were they extremely easy to use, but they were top performers. I used these on many phot shoots, spanning an array of skin types and it performed well in all cases. Long wearing, and vibrant, they really had staying power.

Increasingly, I have noticed that there is an influx of hair and makeup artists who are using popular brands of snowboarding bags as their kit bags when on location shoots. I was in the market for a new bag myself, (my trusted Swiss Army bag was literally falling to bits after two years of hard core location/ NYC street travel) but I had no idea where to start.

I am a sucker for pretty packaging. I admit it. But like dating a gorgeous hunk of a guy with not much upstairs, (was I too focused on what was downstairs) the pretty packaging wears off really fast if there’s nothing there to give it substance.