You Say Rouge-ato, I Say Blush-oto.

Blush, Rouge, whatever you want to call it, can be a disaster if done the wrong way.  I remember first getting into makeup some HORRID mistakes that I used to make with it.  Whether it be not blending or flat out making my face look like I had some sort of condition, I have definitely had my share of bad practices.  Here are some tips to my tastes regarding the right blush for your makeup pallet of the day or night.

Choosing the right tone is the most important thing.  Usually if I am using cool tones on my eyes, I will use a cool toned blush.  For example:  If I am wearing cool violets or blues on my eyes, I will stick to a nice cool pink blush.  It makes for a youthful look.  Wearing a warm shade like a bronzer with lets say, violet, you could actually make your cheeks look really orange.

Blending is just as important.  When I first started with makeup, sometimes it looked like I had giant lines around my cheekbones that looked so harsh.  The best thing to do is to build your blush gradually.  Put a little bit of the blush powder on your brush and then tap the end of the handle on a hard surface to get the powder down into the brush hairs. That will help the powder to not go on all at the same time and as you stroke the brush, you can build and blend easier.  If you have a long face shape like I do, the worst thing to do is do bring the blush up to your temples when contouring your cheekbones.  It can make your face look longer.  The best thing to do on a long face is to hit the apples of the cheeks and maybe blend the blush towards your ear but not too close to the ear.  This will create width making a long face look a little wider to make it look less long.  On a round face, you can blend the blush towards the temples to create length in the face to try and achieve the look of a more oval face shape.  Using blush to contour your cheekbones correctly can really help bring a lively, youthful look.

Another tip is to brush a loose face powder over your blush to help blend it in and match your skin tone better. Sometimes I will use a light shimmer powder like MAC's luminescent pressed powder to add a great glow to the apples of the cheeks.  This can make your face look dewy and natural even if you have used a full coverage foundation set with powder.  Just be careful if you have large pores.  Using anything shimmery on large pores will just make your pores look larger and deeper.

All of this is based on my personal tastes. What are some tricks that you use when applying blush, rouge, or bronzer.

Prom season is here.

First let me say that I am sorry that I have not been blogging lately.  Things have been pretty busy for yours truly.

Today I did a prom trial for hair and makeup.  Prom is such a great event to help someone feel their best for. I was super happy with the results.  Sometimes I can have a pretty heavy hand, especially when I have a client who has so much makeup potential.  At first, I thought that I went a little overboard with my client today but after seeing everything in the photo, I was pretty pleased.

We are going to go with her hair being on one side held in place by a messy inverted braid.  I will post the final service outcome.  You should see her dress.  It is breathtaking.

Raven Elizabeth on StyleSeat.com

I am now offering online booking on styleseat.com.  Check out my profile below.

What's in your products?

I am a week late sharing this because I was on vacation in Florida but here is what I consider to be a very important video once again from my girl Alice @ Candifiend Studios.  It is easy to just grab a product and not pay attention to whats in it but would you do that with your food?  Ok....sometimes things get by you.  But being more conscious of not only what you are using but what you are buying can actually make the world a better place.  Would you crush beetles and use them in you beauty regime?  I don't think so.  But you might have already.  Check out the video below.

Polished : O.P.I. Colors : Nicole

I picked up a new nail color at Target yesterday called "Khloe Had A Little Lam-Lam" from the Kardashian's O.P.I. color line and alternated it with the classic "Lincoln Park After Dark" from the original O.P.I. line.  I love how the two colors look together.  I have been feeling pretty dark so far this spring with my nails.


What are your fave nail lacquers so far this season?