COTERIE A-List Smokey Eyes

Brown, smokey eyes promise to be everywhere this fall. Finally, the runways produced a look that anyone can wear! Not only does their earthy smolder suit any occasion, when the right shades are chosen, brown smokey eye shadow looks good on all skin tones and jets from day to night with minimal effort. 

To show you how it's done, the amazing makeup artists behind MUSE BEAUTY.PRO and the latest bad ass of beauty, Coterie, combined their skills to create this no fuss, step-by-step makeup tutorial. Using Keira Knightly as their inspiration, they show you everything you need to create an A-List Smoky Eye...right down to the which-brush-is-which and the what-goes-where.

BEAUTY BONUS: 

Click over here to join Coterie and get the entire ESUM 5-piece Professional Eye Brush Set for $75 (regular price $152). Move fast! Event ends Oct. 30th.

Source: Coterie blog

Shades of Grey

So much said with so little. 

Grey + Apricot = Beautiful

NARS Duo Eyeshadow Paris

Gorgeous styling and photos by Hannah Lemholt

Cold, icy, silver.

NARS Nail Polish Storm Bird

Interesting mix of metallic and matte.

Byredo Parfums Gypsy Water, Photography Hannah Lemholt

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette

There are few things in life that we can count on. Certainly not the weather, or the economy or if those awesome shoes will still be on sale when your paycheck arrives. Yet, as a makeup artist, there is one thing we can rely upon happening almost daily and that's the subjective interpretation of the smokey eye. Hmmmm, when you say smokey, do you mean subtle-smokey, with just a smudge of darkness. Or so smoked out, you'll leave my chair with a nicotine buzz? That's why I'm in love with the Urban Decay Smoked Eyeshadow Palette. Urban Decay stocks all the provisions and explanation necessary to master every smokey eye look imaginable in one portable parcel.

10 Shade Palette:
A conglomeration of colors stretching from the ever-classic black and grey to modernized jewel tones. Each one feels velvety-soft and blends like a dream. Although, I'd like to see the paler highlight colors, Kinky and Freestyle, go on a bitsy-bit more opaque, the brilliance of the other colors in the palette keep me happy.

Eye Shadow Primer:
How clever of Urban Decay to include a mini tube of their original Eyeshadow Primer Potion! As far as primers go, this one pretty much bonds shadow to lid assuring it won't mosey off during the day. If you have darker or discolored lids, to keep shadow colors true, you may want to apply a concealer afterwards or use a primer with one built in, like Kett Fixx Creme.

Eye Pencil:
This smoldering eyeliner pencil, from Urban Decay's 24/7 collection, has left me love-smacked! Meet my new BFF, Perversion, a waterproof, smudge-proof, budge-proof, blacker than black liner that glides on easy as a gel. I'll be snatching one of these pencils in every gorgeous color they make.  

DIY for Eyes:
I'm down with anything that empowers women to do it for themselves. So, hands up to Urban Decay for including this brainy little booklet that charts the course to exotic eyes. With so many different looks to learn, by sessions end you'll be stupid smart.

Lady Gaga FAME Fragrance

When Lady Gaga first broke out, I was one of her biggest fans. The insolent voice and the outrageous hand-made outfits gave hope that Hollywood could still recognize originality. And today? Me thinks a bit too much pop icon Kool-Aid has been drunk. Sorry, wearing a designer dress on the cover of every magazine in print doesn't win you points for originality. But I still pay attention to Lady Gaga because I want her to win. I beg her to terrify me and had hoped her first offering to the olfactive world, FAME, would do just that.

Excited to encounter what Lady Gaga describes as a scent reminiscent of blood and semen, I anxiously approached the fragrance display. Surely I would want to stroke, drink and maybe even drown in this potion! The packaging didn't even come close to casting the hypnotic spell I craved. Maybe if I had never seen Theirry Mugler's ALIEN, I would have been impressed. Yet, in comparison, FAME's bottle resembles a drug-store version of one of Mugler's creations.

Since the luscious liquid inside the bottle matters most, I overlooked the initial fizzle. With the inky-black fluid spritzed upon my skin (it goes on clear), I prepared myself for something deep, sensual and maybe even a bit animalic. Or perhaps it would be an aldehyde so frigid and metallic, it could cut glass. What I didn't expect was a big, sugary lick of straight up honey. Hints of warm spice and smokey incense tried to take me to the edge, but the syrupy nectar of apricot combined with flat, colorless florals kept me from falling into what could have been a lurid abyss. Yep! FAME is just another fruity-floral scent wrapped in marketing-make believe.

SUMMARY: Unfortunately, FAME delivered another disappointment. There's nothing special about this fragrance. Lady Gaga's Haus Laboratories offers us more of what already exists in scents created by other pop sensations. I'll still keep watching Lady Gaga and waiting to be surprised. In the meantime, I'll look to Comme des Garcons for my complicated, smokey incense fragrances and leave the avant-garde, gourmande types to Thierry Mugler's Angel and Womanity.

Rediscover RED

RED. A color in opposition to itself. The color of blood and fire, vitality and love. For a hero, it means honor, courage and bravery. For a sinner, judgement and isolation. Red is sensual, associated with man's most profound urges and impulses. In turn, it represents pain, war and violence. We have red letter days and red bottomed shoes. We rely on red to express who we are, spiritually or sexually. Whether we use it to embody our creative, emotional or political state, Red's energy, excitement and strength never pales.

source for painting here

Summer Skincare Survival

Apparently, I like wardrobes. And we're not just talking clothes. I have wardrobes of shoes, fragrances and makeup that cycle in and out with the change of seasons. Skincare is no exception. Each summer, winter's creamy skincare formulas are relegated to the back of the cabinet in favor of lighter formulas equipped to handle summer's scorch. 

For years, I've searched for a summer-time scrub mask that will refresh my face on those volcanic days, when my skin is left feeling all sticky and steamy. Small hiccup. Every product I tried left my skin feeling parched and tighter than a trampoline. Until now! In just two minutes flat, Rodan + Fields Daily Cleansing Mask served up all the benefits of a scrub with the luxurious feeling of a nourishing mask. The mask part uses kaolin clay to deeply cleanse and whisk away hot-weather gook. Personally, I noticed it eradicated my black heads while down grading the size of my pores. The grainy cleanser part uses delicate, micro-beads to gently exfoliate and increase skin cell turnover. Since the polishing beads are smooth and round, unlike the hostile, jagged edges of apricot seeds and walnut shells, I know its doing the job without leaving micro-tears in my skin.

Summer Beauty Tip:

If even in summer your skin tends to be dry, use Rodan + Fields Daily Cleansing Mask as your day-to-day cleanser only at night. Just spread it onto dry skin, let it set while you brush your teeth, then splash off. All skin types will welcome a DIY mini-microdermabrasion treatment. Simply smooth Daily Cleansing Mask onto dry skin, let it sit for ten minutes, then scrub with a wet Clarisonic or Olay Professional Cleansing Brush. Presto! Glowing skin.

Fall Makeup Tips and Trends

photo from here

Summer temperatures may have you melting into the sidewalk, but somewhere, designers and makeup artists are dreaming of the cooler months to come. Here's a peek of what's looming on the beauty horizon. Each fall trend is complete with makeup tips and coveted products to try.

Gucci and Rohas 

Lustful Lips:

As movies like Snow White and the Huntsman lead us to lands of goth and enchantment, fashion follows with princess-perfect porcelain skin and lips of ruby-red or mulberry stain.

Try:

The key to dark lips is a precision application. MUSE BEAUTY.PRO designed ESUM W-19 Filbert Lip Brush for just such a job. Use it to apply the deep berry of MAC's Hang Up to Shop. Clean up any mishaps with these ingeniously, teensy-tiny q-tips from Alcone - a must have for any makeup case.

Lanvin

Jason Wu

Edged Eyeliner:

The adoration for big eyeliner will follow us into the fall. This season, be prepared to hone your skills at creating more geometric and angular shapes.

Try:

Often times, different eyeliner designs call for various types of eyeliner or using more than one at a time. Right now, I'm experimenting with eyeliner pens like Lancome Art Liner and Maybelline Master Precise Ink Pen Eyeliner, to draw on the shape. Next, I fill it in with a gel or liquid liner. To save time, follow up with Fast Lash to get a deep lash line with minimal effort.

Ecclectic Eyes:

Makeup artists for Jason Wu and Cavalli mixed, matched and mastered multi-colored eye shadows like none have seen since the 80s.

Try:

Kett's Metals collection offers lots of options for motley-inspired, metallic looks. For one that compliments every skin tone, lightly layer Kett Mercury on top of Rush. If you want to try the peacock-inspired colors shown left, first apply MAC's Mulch followed by a dusting of Inglot DS 504.

YSL Forever Youth Liberator

Over the years, Yves Saint Laurent's luscious lipsticks and Touche Eclat remain some of my dearest friends. Yet, admittedly, I never introduced myself to YSL skincare. Then I saw an ad for YSL Forever Youth Liberator that read, "100 Years of research. 7 Nobel Prizes. 1 Discovery. Glycans." Curious to know if youth really can be liberated and who is this glycan you speak of, I popped over to Saks Fifth Ave. on Michigan Ave. and asked my favorite beauty expert, Elizabeth Bovino, to enlighten me. 

The Science: Backed by the big minds, and deep pockets, of L'Oreal, YSL Beaute based their new formulation on glycan chemistry. Along with collagen and elastin, there is yet another component that slows production as we get older, glycoaminoglycans (GAGs). GAGS are water-binding compounds called polysaccharides found in the deepest layer of the skin. Some research shows that when the number of GAGs reduce with age, skin goes loose, limp and dull. YSL Forever Youth Liberator delivers synthetic complex sugars that stimulate the production of new GAGs making skin appear more youthful.

The Results: My normal skincare routine includes daily, gentle exfoliation, toner and peptide moisture creams for face and eye. I began using the YSL serum after toning and before moisturizing. Since my skin is quite dry, it greedily slurped up the refreshing, silicone-based serum with no greasy or tacky after-feel. After one week of use, my skin was more hydrated and had a healthy glow. After about 4 weeks, I noticed the deeper lines around the corners of my mouth (don't be jealous) were softening. Overall, my skin felt plumper. What I like most about YSL Forever Youth Liberator serum is that it delivers the same results as a retinoid serum I had been using, but without the drying effect.

Summary: At $150 for 1 ounce, the price is a bit steep. However, if it keeps the Botox needle at bay, it's money well spent. I don't know if I would have experienced the same results if I didn't gently exfoliate each day which allows the serum to penetrate better. If you decide to try this serum, be sure to get the most out of your investment by exfoliating.

Beauty Products: Best of the Brits

Years ago, I spent some time living in the UK. While there, I quickly learned that Kate Moss isn't the only beautiful import worthy of our celebration. Like the Brits themselves, british beauty products have a quick wit and unique quirkiness that just make you smile whenever they are near. Below are some of my very favorites, all easily obtained without a passport.

1. STEAMCREAM: Mix oatmeal, cocoa butter and jojoba oil with a shot of steam, and you get STEAMCREAM. A light weight, but super-moisturizing cream with no greasy feel. I especially enjoy the relaxing scent of lavender and orange flower oil. When you're done, the adorable, teensy-weensy tins are great for storing bobby pins, paper clips and the like. 
2. BUTTER London: Nail varnish with no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP, but lots of unusual colors with cheeky names. Unlike other non-toxic polishes I've tried, this one last for a good 7 days.
3. Neal's Yard: If in London, Neal's Yard is the must-see apothecary for all things herbal. They use the absolute best quality essential oils in their natural, aromatherapy products. Often times, I can find a pre-blended potion like Remedies to Roll Energy or Relaxation online.
4. Rimmel: To me, Rimmel is just a fun line to shop. It's almost like H&M for the face - you can experiment with lots of fun pieces without spending a fortune. I'm pretty loyal to their Lasting Finish Pro nail polish, but got side tracked by the new line of Kate Moss lipsticks. The colors are bold and they feel smooth and creamy. Lasting time is about 4 hrs. Not bad for a value brand!
5. Jemma Kidd I-tech Liquid Liner: This stuff is seriously bullet-proof and intensely black. I use it whenever I have a client that needs to be waterproof (i.e. brides) or I'm going to the beach. It definitely stays and even gives you a bit of a fight when it's time to take it off.
6. REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash: These natural body washes gentley cleanse and leave the whole bathroom smelling fragrant. Rose is one of my favorites as it always reminds me of the flowers my father grew in his garden. If florals aren't your jam, the Neroli and Grapefruit is light and refreshing.

Skincare Reviews Decoded

Frustrated by reviews that lure you to purchase what promises to be a skincare breakthrough, but turns out to be a jar of fairy dust? When deciphering a write-up, how do you know what's real and what's just marketing make believe? Well, read on because I'm about to put the blitz on the beauty industry's most misleading reviewing tactics.

Truth or Press Release.
You've read the review and are about to grease up the credit card. First, google the product to find other critiques. Are several articles using the same phrases as the one you just read? Ah-ha! Those probably aren't honest user reviews, they're press releases disguised as user reviews. Press releases are marketing stories written by PR agencies and marketers. They are then distributed to beauty editors and bloggers to promote the product. If you're reading an analysis that sounds very similar to all the others, chances are the writer is just putting their spin on the press release. To know if the reviewer actually used the product, look for personal opinions and anecdotes.

Consider the Source.
Age, hormones, sun damage and daily skincare regimens all factor into how a product performs. Not all skincare critics give much information about themselves. Often times, there's a high probability the writer gushing over the anti-aging wrinkle cream is a sun-deprived, 24 year old with sci-fi genetics. Or the blogger boasting X exfoliating cleanser left their skin feeling softer and more moisturized didn't reveal that before they switched, they were using Dial soap and an SOS pad.

Time Matters.
How long did the person giving the review use the product? Some high-performance serums and creams take 30 days for the skin to adjust to the advanced ingredients and realize benefits. Due to production schedules, sometimes a reviewer only has 1-5 days to try a new skincare formula. In this amount of time, one can only determine if the fragrance is acceptable, how the formula feels on the skin and if there will be any type of adverse reaction.

Plants and Stars.
"Customer" comments appearing on some (don't send me hate mail - I said some, in italics and even underlined it) retailer websites can often be written by company employees. One skincare business I worked for habitually sent emails encouraging employees to go on websites and plant five star reviews to increase product sales. After talking with friends, those who worked for other beauty companies, toys and electronics, I found that this is a fairly common practice across the board.

Real reviews come from real people. Friends and bloggers can answer questions and reveal more about themselves and their beauty habits. Estheticians and sales associates that work with several brands are also good sources for product information. Since the best way to know if a product will work for you is to use the product yourself, shop wisely. Look for skincare brands that offer money back guarantees and buy from stores that will honor a return or exchange on skincare if used after 30 days.

Friday Fascinations

Happy Friday you beautiful peeps, you! Hope your weekends rock!

Look what I found during my traditional Friday morning stroll through Etsy.com. Leah Reena Goren's California Poem scarf! Her pen and ink illustrations on Etsy coerced me to pour another cup of coffee and dig for more treasures by this Brooklyn designer. Okay, so maybe I'm late to the party, but looks like Mizz Goren has been busy creating a line for Anthropologie. Admitingly, I became a bit unglued as I googled and clicked my way to the most fascinating Friday finds, two of my favorite things, black kittehs and worship of the written word.

Makeup How To: Bright Cat Eyeliner

As mentioned here, cat eye liner is starting to make me drowsy. Always looking for a new way to do the obvious, I ran across a great makeup how to, showing steps to rev up winged eyeliner, on one of my favorite sources for all things fashion and beauty, FASHIONISING.com. For your viewing pleasure, and my short attention span, I edited the tutorial down, adding in my two cents of advice. You can learn how to create the entire look here.

1. What's the rule? Skin first! If you haven't already, use a gentle exfoliator to smooth and prep skin's surface and treat the delicate area around the eyes with a multi-function eye cream.

Next, create a flawless base by concealing underneath the eyes. Using concealer, draw a a line that extends from the outer corners of eyes to the temple. Softly, blend the line into your skin. This added step will give the eye a lift and create additional brightness.

2. Apply a black eyeliner using a fine, eyeliner brush. Extend wing about 3/4 way up the lid, but not past the outer edge of the eyebrow. Personally, I find cream gel formulas like Noir Gel Eyeliner or MAC Fluidline much easier to use than the liquid variety.

3. Apply the neon colored liner. Again, using a fine, eyeliner brush, closely follow the shape of the blackliner. When applying, if you slightly over lap the neon color over the black color, you'll have a guide to follow and no gap between the two colors.

4. Radiate the eyes by using a shimmer shadow along the inner corners of the eyes and inner corner of the lower lash line.

5. Here's the part that frames the whole look. First, fill in browns to give eyes a lift and make the whole style look polished. Of course, for more drama, false lashes and loads of mascara are a must! Finally, finish the look with a brightly colored lip to balance out the intensity of the eye and make the whole style pop.










Tutorial: FASHIONISING.com
Photography: Kelly Defina
Makeup: Leonie Karagiannis
Model: Kate Mac

Five Products in Five Minutes

Often when teaching a busy Mom to put on makeup, I hear her say "I don't have time!". I'll admit, my inner response is a horrified "How could you NOT have time for makeup!?". After all, if I were falling off a bridge, I'd find a way to apply a crimson lip on the way down. Then my nieces came to town. For 7 days I had the privilege and duty of being Mom. Now I completely understand what my clients mean when they protest time. Within the span of their visit, I learned that it isn't so much that one can't find the minutes in the day. It's the madness that are in those minutes. When breakfast has been sent back to the cook twice, you're staging negotiations of who gets the last pudding pack and Barbie's hand needs bandaging from the savage kitty attack in the night, no one has time to create the perfectly symmetrical sculpted brow. Ahhhhhh….now I get it!

For all those active Moms, or anyone wanting a quick natural look, I give you an application that requires only 5 products and 5 minutes. Really! I timed it and will attest that even amidst morning chaos, it can be done!

You know my motto, skin first! Before applying anything, protect your skin with a multi-purpose moisturizer like Rodan + Fields Triple Defense Treatment SPF 30. It's a moisturizer, anti aging serum and SPF all in one. Next follow these steps:

1. Apply Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer with your fingertips. The sheer coverage will even out your skin tone, giving you a radiant complexion with a touch of moisture.
2. Using Laura Mercier Eye Basics in the color Buff, take a brush made for cream shadows and sweep over lids. You can also use your fingertips, but be sure to blend out and smooth the edges to avoid demarcation. Eye Basics evens out the skin tone on the lids making the color of your eye stand out more. So, no need for shadow, but if you do add shadow, this acts as a great primer.
3. Emphasize the natural shape of your eye and build your lash line using MAC's Fluidline - labeled #5 in the picture above. With a square, flat tip brush, I like ESUM Square Liner brush, push the eyeliner gel into your lash line starting at the outer corner and moving all the way across the lash line.
4. Finish eye with a sweep of MAC Haute & Naughty Mascara, labeled #3 in picture above. The brush on this product is one of the best I've come across and the dual wiper allows you to use a little or a lot depending on the look you want or area of application. For example, the first wiper leaves more product on the brush. Perfect for dramatic top lashes. The second wiper offers less mascara making it work nicely on bottom lashes.
5. The finishing touch is a bold and bright lip color. I say bold and bright because we are not using blush in this look and relying on the lip color to brighten the entire face. For time saving factors, use a multi-functional lip product like NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. It quickly defines your lips like a pencil and leaves behind full lip color in a classic, matte finish.

By Kilian

Like fine wines, luxury perfumes are still created as they were years ago, through a form of art virtually untainted by technology. Yes, I'm a modern girl, but sometimes I get all syrupy and want to toss my iPhone and just get lost in traditions like these that are centuries old. Times like this call for perfume shoooopppping! While sniffing up the fragrance counter at Saks Fifth Avenue. on Michigan Ave., I stumbled upon Daniel Vinson and the exclusive story book collections of perfumes By Kilian. Having read about Kilian Hennessy's own perfume brand, but never experiencing a single scent, Daniel knew exactly what it would take to make me fall in love. After introducing me to the darkest, sexiest, smokiest musk I've ever encountered, we moved on to By Kilian's latest scent creations, Asian Tales. Right then and there, I fell off my five inch heels and into the arms of my new summer scent, Water Calligraphy.

By Kilian, Asian Tales, Water Calligraphy


Nothing says summer quite like an aquatic scent. The trouble comes in finding a good one - not too aldehydic or metallicy and puh-leese no big in-your-face white florals. With Water Calligraphy, Kilian avoids all that stereotypical nonsense. The scent opens with a cool burst of grapefruit zest, subtly slipping into water lily, soft jasmine and magnolia. The real surprise comes from a hint of cardamom spice peeking out from time to time. Finally, your skin is left with the dewy, earthiness of vetiver and musk.

Those living in Chicago, stop by Saks Fifth Avenue on Michigan Ave. and let Daniel Vinson help you find your special summer scent. He knows his way around a fragrance and is super helpful!

Feathered Beauty

Once again, I feel compelled to mention Adele's amazing grammy eye makeup and salute her for rousing the cat eye liner craze that overtook the beauty world this year. But! Why should cats get all the attention? This week I was fortunate enough to work with photographer extraordinaire Aaron Nace. The shoot was the 4th in his Bird's of a Feather series which lead me to explore creating an eye makeup look that would be bird-like without looking too costumey or overwhelming. Above is the mood board I created for myself and below is the eye liner and lash exploration done using MUSE BEAUTY.PRO Kett Metals, Noir liner and Japonesque lashes. So, show the birds some love and use these images to discover an eye makeup look of your own.

Shirley Manson

Shirley girl! Where ya been? Garbage's lead lady, Shirley Manson is the type of friend I'd bring home to meet Mom, and then get the "you're hanging out with the wrong kinda crowd" speech after she left. Style wise, from the moment Shirley Manson swaggered on stage and angrily wailed "I'm Only Happy When It Rains", she cast a spell on the world with her sexy, tomboyish edge. At 45 years old, she's as bold and brash as ever, asserting opinions out loud that others only allow to exist in the safety of their heads. Yes, her brain is bigger than her breasts and I'm glad she's back to show us that's a good thing. Go, Shirley, Go, Go!

"I think women in pop have been declawed and defanged, and they're just meant to look pretty and sing pretty. You don't really hear a female perspective on the radio, because so many of the songs are being written by men. The girls are out there doing the streetwalking, but the pimp daddy is at home, living the life, collecting royalties. Where is the alternative voice? I want to hear from the creature who isn't blessed with unbelievable good looks and incredible genes. I want to hear from the geek girl, the forgotten girl, the invisible girl and the miserable girl."

Taken from Shirley Manson: 'I'm a loud person' posted in The Telegraph by Neil McCormick. You can read the entire article here.