Shiseido

tools of the trade: top five foundation brushes

Monday, November 4, 2013

While a foundation brush isn’t absolutely necessary to apply your makeup, I’m a big fan. I refuse to use my fingers because I have oily skin and do not want the oils from my fingertips to mix get on my face. A brush allows you to control the foundation and properly blend to avoid streaks. If you struggle with oily skin, it’s best to use a brush so you don’t mix the oils from your fingertips with the oils on your face. More importantly, I love the flawless application a brush gives me.

Here are my top picks that I use on a daily basis.

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush ($9): after seeing SO many YouTube beauty gurus rave out Real Techniques brushes, I decided to cave in during an Ulta sale. The Expert Face brush is firm and easily blends liquid foundations. I typically use a flat top foundation brush but this was able to change my mind simply because the curve of the bristles easily blends foundation around my nose.

Bdellium Tools Green Bambu 957 Precision Kabuki ($14): THIS IS THE BEST FOUNDATION BRUSH ON THE PLANET! Sorry (not sorry) for the CAPS but I truly am obsessed with this brush. I bought at The Makeup Show in NYC a few years ago and it has not left my side. It’s small enough to go in my makeup bag but packs a serious punch. Foundation goes on flawlessly. My face looks airbrushed as the brush picks up just the right amount of product. Bonus: the bristles are oh, so soft! My only gripe is that it’s flat top so I have to really buff it in around the curves of my face.

Shiseido Foundation Brush ($30): super luxe, this bite sized brush lets me use less product with great results. It’s slightly angled bristles allows for a streak free finish, especially around the nose area.

COVER FX Liquid Foundation Brush ($38): the newest addition to my brush family, this brush hasn’t let me down. The bristles are densely packed, which can make it seem like I’m working extra hard to apply product but overall - I’m lovin’ it.

Sephora Collection Pro Buffing Brush #62 ($48): this is one of the only brushes that I use that isn’t a short handle (weird observation I made while writing this post). The long handle does bother me a bit but it allows for a solid application. It does pick up a lot of product so be careful when using.

Categorized Beauty | Tagged bdellium tools, Cover FX, Makeup Brushes, Real Techniques, sephora, Shiseido | Comments (3)

holiday gift guide: for the beauty girl

Monday, December 17, 2012

’tis the season for fashionable gift giving! This year, I decided to skip the grouch factor and get in the mood. So as a friend, I’m here to help you find the best gifts to give. Welcome to the 2012 Miss Whoever You Are Holiday Gift Guide.

As your resident beauty girl, I LOVE giving beauty tips, advice, and gift ideas. I can browse for hours finding the perfect beauty item to give a friend, coworker, or family member. Since I know how arduous it can be, I’ve selected a few great items to make you look stylish (1, 4); protects and repairs (2); leaves you looking and feeling beautiful (3, 5, 6).

1. Bauble Bar x Essie // 2. Shu Uemura Art of Hair Essence Absolue Oil-in-Pearls (debuts in January!!) // 3. Laura Mercier Crème de Pistache Honey Bath // 4. “LoveBrownSugar” Nail Lacquer by LiSi Cosmetics // 5. Davines Authentic Moisturising Balm // 6. Shiseido Lacquer Rouge // 7. Clarisonic Aria™ Sonic Skin Cleansing System With Lancôme Set

Categorized Beauty | Tagged Bauble Bar, Clarisonic, Davines, Essie, Lancôme, Laura Mercier, LiSi Cosmetics, Shiseido, Shu Uemura | Comments (3)

make a wish…

Monday, September 17, 2012

I wanted to send a quick update on something I’ve been meaning to share for a while now.

To celebrate their 140^th anniversary, Shiseido is letting you make a “Wish for the World” via a virtual cherry blossom tree. For every 140 wishes made, Shiseido will plant a cherry blossom tree in NYC with New York Restoration Project (NYRP). The first tree was planted on August 6^th in Harlem. How sweet is this project?

I have a few product reviews coming from the brand but in the meantime, go ahead and make a wish.

Categorized Beauty | Tagged Fashion Gives Back, Shiseido | Comments

mercedes-benz fashion week beauty: band of outsiders SS2013

Thursday, September 13, 2012

photo from TFSThe inspiration for the Band of Outsiders spring 2013 show was “Battle Royale,” a controversial (and pretty gory from what I hear) Japanese thriller film as well as the military. The look was pretty simple as Page kept the face simple, creating a white “slash” underneath the u=eyes using a Shiseido concealer lab sample in white. I say this is a football look, so don’t be alarmed if you see me doing this at the next Super Bowl party I’m invited to.

Some weight was also added to the brows with Shimmering Cream Eye Color in Sable (BR709) or Leather (BR306), depending on the model’s natural brow shade. Told you it was simple.

For nails, butter LONDON’s New Global Colour Ambassador Katie Hughes created gorgeous, freshly buffed nails and used the brand’s Nail Foundation. Hughes described this color as “BB cream for nails” since it’s a beautiful semi-matte nude.

Categorized Beauty, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week | Tagged Backstage beauty, Band of Outsiders, beauty, Dick Page, New York Fashion Week, Shiseido | Comments

NYFW: Backstage at Band of Outsiders Fall/Winter 2012

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

This season’s Band of Outsiders collection looked a a little Mexican vacation inspired and, in the words of Dick Page, “gets little into Ennio Morricone The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” The makeup is how you would want to look if you were camping, alternating the looks slightly whether they were dressed in Boy Girl or Girl Girl.

According to Page, Shiseido Artistic Director, the look was a “little bit bronzy and toned with gold and bronzed highlights mixed together but not in the kind of Gucci way — not sculpty and glamourous. they look a little bit dusty and a little bit dirty there are little bits of white highlights and gold highlights depending on their skin tone - around the eyes, under the brow bone.”

He started by the moisturizing the face using Shiseido’s The Skincare Multi-Energizing Cream and evened skin tone with a wash of the new Shiseido Makeup Radiant Lifting Foundation SPF17 (launching Fall 2012). Shiseido Makeup Bronzer was applied on the forehead, upper cheekbones and chin. Page then applied a combination of Shiseido Makeup Luminizing Satin Face Color in Soft Beam Gold (BE206) and High Beam White (WT905), followed by a blend of Soft Beam Gold mixed with loose translucent powder. Using a large powder brush, Page combined the Luminizing Satin Face Color in Soft Beam Gold (BE206) and the Bronzer in Light (1) and applied the combo to the center of the cheek, blending across the bridge of the nose, along the forehead, and dusting a bit on the chin.

“Eyebrows are kind of amped up but still looking natural depending on their skin tone so the black girls get this [Shiseido Makeup Shimmering Cream Eye Color] Caviar cream eye shadow, the redheads get the Leather - a reddish brown cream - and the blondes get Meadow or Sable which are these blondey colors,” described Page.

There was no mascara, no liner, no eyeshadow per se as he wanted the girls to look like they live in these clothes.

With a stronger focus on skin and brows, Dick “erased” the lips with foundation and created two neutral looks. On Boy-Girl he applied Shiseido Makeup Luminizing Satin Face Color in High Beam White (WT905) along the cupid’s bow and the edge of the upper lip line. Shiseido Benefiance Full Correction Lip Treatment was reapplied and then blotted for a colorless look. On Girl-Girl, Page lined the inner part of the lower lip with Shiseido Makeup Lacquer Rouge in Nocturn (RD607), which is a new product launching Fall 2012, to create the slightest trace of “just bitten” color.

Please don’t forget that you can still help the people of Haiti, donate to the Red Cross today. Thank you.