Archive for the ‘Advice + Q&A’ Category

I’ve had my share of Valentine’s Day beauty bloopers;  too-tight spanx, lipstick on the teeth, hair going flat or poofing in the humidity (after spending two and a half hours on it).  Date Nights are what make playing dress up fun for adult girly-girls!  This Valentine’s Day, whether it’s a night out with the girls or a romantic dinner date, learn from my past mistakes with these Date Night Beauty Dos and Don’ts!

I love an elegant updo but the 45 bobby pins and half bottle of hairspray it takes to lock it in are sooo not sexy.  Always rock a hairstyle that’s like a great date; up for anything.  Fivel’s pretty, loose waves are just as good for dinner at ABC Kitchen as they are for a long walk on the Marina.  To get this touchable look, wash and condition with shine-boosting, softening  Acure Organics Moroccan Argan Oil + Argan Stem Cell Duo, then mist it all over with Yarok Feed Your Ends Leave-In Conditioner and let it air dry while hand-twisted up in ringlets.  If your hair won’t hold a curl to save its life, give it a once-over scrunching with Amazon Beauty Rahua Voluminous Hairspray while you untwist it.  It’ll give you extra hold but still feel soft, not crunchy.

Too much foundation and powder are like armour against your date.  You’re not on camera (we hope), so let your skin shine through and glow!  To get Vanessa’s bronze babe look, treat yourself the night before to a Chocolate Sun Cocoa Glow Sunless Tanning session – the obligatory  pretanning exfoliation will make your skin softer and the tanning will disguise any flaws.  The night of, make your collarbones, calves, and decollete pop with a kiss of Vapour Organic Beauty Halo Body Spotlight.  Don’t overdo the powder or foundation!

Fact: Dates don’t like lipstick.  As sexy and confident as it makes you feel when you’re wearing it, it really doesn’t say “come hither” to your date the way we’d think.  Look pretty, polished, and attract attention to your lips and cheeks by using sheer, cream color instead.  It helps if it’s edible too, like Ilia Pure Lip Care and Kjaer Weis Cream Blush Compact.

Fragrance should always be personal. I’ve always believed that only the person lucky enough to be very close to you should smell it on you, not everyone in the room with you!  Don’t wear a synthetic fragrance that’s so common it may trigger a subconscious association with the other 100 women your date may have smelled it on and don’t wear so much of it that your date can’t smell their food.  Tata Harper Body Oil and Honore des Pres Vamp a NY are my go-to get-close, sexy scents.

Stress isn’t cute. Whether you’re worried about what your date thinks of you or your worried about not having a date, worrying about either never got me anything but extra worry-wrinkles!  Invite and attract the love you seek with a little help from Katie Hess’ magical Lotus Wei Infinite Love flower elixirs.

Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or just a night off from work/kids/school, beauty should be part of the fun, not the chore! Avoid making it anything but love-ly with these dos and don’ts and SHARE YOUR DATE NIGHT BEAUTY DOS AND DON’TS with us on Facebook!

 

I know how much you love natural & organic makeup…and I know the one thing you don’t love is when it doesn’t last or look as good an hour after you’ve applied it.  While I’ve heard some great tips (some listed here), I’ve also heard, and tried, some not-so-great ones that just didn’t work.  Here are the five things I’ve found make the biggest improvement in the overall performance of your natural and organic makeup:

1. Always start with clean, properly hydrated skin and always wait at least 5 minutes (after applying your moisturizer) before  applying any makeup. Clean, moisturized skin is the best canvas for makeup.  Apply too soon and the moisturizer may prevent the makeup from staying put.

2. Prep the face, neck and lids with a base layer.
If you have fine lines or uneven texture, use a smoothing primer like Vapour Organic Beauty Stratus Instant Skin Perfector.
If your application tends to go all shiny after a couple hours, prep with a mattifier like Amala Purifying Mattifier.
If your color always seems to evaporate or absorb after a couple hours, use a durable base layer like Vive Sana Solar To Polar Ultra.

3. Use blotting papers after applying oil or wax based products –they’ll lift the excess oil but leave the color.  These work surprisingly well on cream eyeshadows too!  If you have the time, experiment with a layering technique – apply cream shadow, blot, apply a tiny bit of powder over the cream, blot, apply more cream shadow, blot.  It sounds more step-y than it is.  If you need extra long eyeshadow wear for a special occasion, give it a try!

4. Always set powder with a facial mist to avoid looking chalky.  A fine mist will form microscopic water-color capsules and create a naturally dewy airbrushed effect.

5. Reapply!  No one here is going to tell you that reapplying isn’t part of the natural makeup routine.  Without icky synthetic fixatives and colorants, you’re not likely to get  24 hour wear but with nourishing, skin-loving  natural ingredients instead of harsh, disruptive ones, you can think of every touch-up as a pampering beauty treat, not a chore!

What tips and tricks have you discovered with natural makeup performance?  Share them with us on Facebook!

Exfoliating is fun, easy, and yet a total mystery to many of us.  When do I do it? How often?  With what?  And the underlying question is; do I even need to exfoliate (or is it just fun)?  Well, essentially, no, you don’t need to. Your skin is an amazing, living thing and does a wonderful job of sloughing, protecting, purifying and regenerating on it’s own!  Contrary to popular belief,  exfoliating once or twice a week should simply improve, not substitute, your skin’s own ability to slough and renew.

So why exfoliate?  Taking exfoliation into your own hands means your skin is clear to evenly absorb good stuff like your organic face serum, while relieving it of bad stuff like built up waxes from cosmetics that trap dirt.  So since you’re dying to get to it,  let’s talk about methods and types of exfoliants and which one is best for you:

There are two basic ways to slough debris from your skin and infinite variations af the basic two:

1. Mechanical – where abrasives are mechanically ground against the skin to remove debris or clays create a vacuum suction effect over the skin.
2. Chemical – where enzymes or acids dissolve debris from the skin.

Mechanical

Mechanical exfoliants include things like face brushes, scrubs, drying clay masks, microdermabrasion and  exfoliating pads.

SYMPTOMS OF OVERUSE: I’ve seen it many times – Clarisonic Brush abuse!  Just like the “apricot scrub” of my day, skin brushes can be addictive.  The first time you get deeply exfoliated you’re hooked because your skin never seems to feel clean again when it’s not “sparkling clean”  In reality you may be thinning your skin, reducing it’s natural ability to filter toxins and pollution and making it hypersensitive.  If you’re brushing once a day or even more, you may be making your skin dependent on mechanical exfoliation and unable to function and renew as it’s meant to on its own.  Just taking a few days off, you may start to feel like your pores just aren’t as clean and sanded down as you’d like them to be.  You may even experience breakouts as your skin struggles to rebalance until it has regulated but try, try to hold off and let your skin be skin!  As we now know is true of many skin products that make us look amazing at first, overbrushing can actually speed up and exacerbate sensitivity and signs of aging over time.

Scrubs can also sometimes have the effect of causing the clogged pores to become deeper impacted.  To avoid this, be sure you are always only gently massaging the surface of the skin with your scrub.  Tempting as it is to get “deep clean” by grinding harder, you may actually be grinding debris into the pores rather than out of them!

Clays don’t just suck the dirt and debris out of your skin, they suck the moisture out too.  Always hydrate the body by drinking plenty of alkaline water when using a clay mask – and rehydrate the skin thoroughly after removal.  Drawing too much moisture out of the skin can provoke rebound breakouts and imbalance.

SYMPTOMS OF UNDERUSE: Wash your hands and run your fingers along the surface of your skin at the end of a day when you’ve worn no makeup.  Do you feel scaly patches?  Can you scratch the gunk off the surface with your fingernail?  Is it overly oily?  Do you have normal sized pores (not enlarged) but uneven texture and/or dullness?  Mechanical exfoliation will work  beautifully for you since your buildup sits on the surface of your skin – gently sloughing it away with a brush or scrub once or twice a week will keep you in perfect, glowing balance.  Only use drying clays where the skin is most congested, pores are visibly clogged, the skin is greasy, or where pores are enlarged and gaping.

DO NOT USE:  If your skin is sensitive, avoid abrasive cleansers.  If your pores are congested, skip the scrubs, use masques to exfoliate until they are free and clear and begin to shrink.

BEST IN CLASS:  Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub A base of  organic ingredients you’ll want in your smootie and on your face; like berries, lemon peel granules, cocoa powder and chlorella, make this the perfect bi-weekly skin treat to stimulate cell growth and leave the skin looking bright

ADVANCED EXFOLIATING: Whole Truth Solutions Clay Therapy Masque Cranberry Lemongrass French Yellow Clay literally draws impurities out and away from the skin with a force of suction you can feel as it dries. This magic masque actually becomes a mechanical/chemical crossover by also adding natural alpha hydroxy acid from organic citrus orange.

Chemical

Chemical exfoliants include things like alpha hydroxy acid, glycolic acid and malic acid, papaya enzyme and pineapple enzyme peels, masques and cleansers.

SYMPTOMS OF OVERUSE: It’s easy to overuse mechanical exfoliants without even knowing it.  If you’re overusing a chemical exfoliant – chances are you’ll know!  Your skin will burn, become inflamed, or even peel if you’ve used a chemical exfolant that’s too strong or you’ve used it too frequently.

SYMPTOMS OF UNDERUSE: Blackheads, enlarged pores, congested pores and  dullness are all instantly reduced by a once or twice weekly enzyme mask or fruit acid peel.  If yo experience any pore congestion, deep or surface, start masking ASAP!  Generally enymes are underused.  Some are gentle enough to even use every day.

DO NOT USE: Never use chemical exfoliants on abraded, broken or sun damaged skin.

BEST IN CLASS: Tata Harper Resurfacing Mask  This award-winning mask gives us all the gain, but none of the pain of a professional peel.  Pomegranate Enzyme gently eats away trapped gunk from the pores while French Clay has a purifying effect. You’ll get immediate results despite how gentle it feels.

ADVANCED EXFOLIATING:  Dr. Alkaitis Organic Exfoliating Enzyme Mask Leave it to the Doc – all the organic enzymes you can attempt to pronounce in one jar – ready to be activated by a little water and eat anything trapped in your pores like a dermatological Pac-Man!

Still wondering which technique is just right for your unique needs?  Give one of our specialists a buzz on Live Chat for a free beauty consultation today!

One of the most frequently asked questions we get this time of year is “How do I find a winter moisturizer that will keep my hydrated but wont make me break out?” If you’re breakout-prone, like so many of us are now and then, the last thing you want to do is use a “heavier” moisturizer – but you also don’t want to be stuck all winter with parched, undernourished skin!  The solution is layering.

By layering a penetrating nourishing  face oil with a protective moisturizer, you don’t have to worry about using something that’s too heavy for your skin.  Face oils are the best way to hydrate the skin on a deeper level but alone can be leeched out of the skin in dry, cold environments.  Moisturizers larger molecules tend to treat on the skin rather than in, with natural waxes that stay put longer to prevent moisture evaporation.  Together, you get the best of both – a light breathable barrier and deep hydration -  without compromising on either, which could lead to breakouts or buildup.

Picking A Face Oil: Start with the right face oil for your skin type and texture.  If you’re also using a treatment serum, apply that first, then apply your face oil.  Some of our favorites:

 

 

Best for Acne Prone Skin: Kahina Giving Beauty 100% Organic Argan Oil Women all over the world swear that argan oil stops their skin from breaking out and even heals acne scars.

 

 

 

 

 

Best for Damaged Skin: Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Fruit & Seed Oil Blend Spend a little too much time in the sun this summer?  If your skin needs regenerating, this potent source of Vitamins A and E will get it done!  Important note: If you spend a lot of time outside, use this only at night as the ingredients are photosensitive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best for Dullnes: Ila Face Oil For Glowing Radiance Even the fairest skin should glow year-round!  Ila’s magical will give you a head-turning glow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best for Mature Skin: Amala Rejuvenate Treatment Oil Worth every penny if you want real results in reversing fine lines, wrinkles & dark spots, while deeply hydrating at the same time.  Amala products have an amazing way of being really potent but non-comedogenic.

 

 

 

 

Picking a Moisturizer: Your customized combination of face oil and moisturizer is the secret to perfectly clear winter skin.  Some of our bests:

 

 

 

Best for Adult Acne Prone: Amala Purifying Moisturizer Just enough moisture to keep you balanced.

 

 

 

 

 

Best for Sensitive, Reactive Skin: Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Organic Sensitive Skin Cream No one know sensitive skin like Pai does.  Finally something soothing that works.

 

 

 

 

Best Multi-Benefit for Combination Skin: Tata Harper Rebuilding Moisturizer All-day, lightweight matte moisture that plumps, hydrates, firms and protects.

 

 

 

 

Still wondering which combination is just right for you?  Give one of our specialists a buzz on Live Chat for a winter beauty consultation today!

Have you ever seen a beautiful bright , funky, shiny or sparkly makeup color and been too afraid to wear it? We asked Green Makeup Artist Rebecca Casciano to show us how this year’s hot, bright natural makeup colors can work in real-life, on real women, while looking glam and gorgeous, NOT kooky or clowny!  Real Model: Jenny Sansouci, Health Coach www.healthycrush.com Real Colors: Face: Vapour Organic Beauty Atmosphere Soft Focus Foundation in 130 Eyes: Nvey Eco Eyeshadow in 161 Cheeks: Nvey Eco Blush in 957 Mascara: Nvey Eco Mascara in Black Lip: Nvey Eco Organic Lipstick in 360 Real Model: Wendy Hope, Photographer www.wendyhopephotography.com Real Colors: Face: Nvey Creme Deluxe Foundation Eyes: RMS Beauty Cream Eye Shadow in Seduce and Alima Pure Eyeshadow in Venus Mascara: Nvey Eco Moisturizing Mascara in Black Cheeks+ Lips: Revolution Organics Freedom Glow Beauty Balm in Blushed Real Model: Betsaida Velez, Educator Real Color: Face: Vapour Organic Beauty Atmosphere Soft Focus Foundation in 135 & Nvey Eco Erase Concealer in Deep Beige Eyes: RMS Beauty Cream Eyeshadow in Spark Mascara: Nvey Eco Moisturizing Mascara in Black Cheeks + Lips: RMS Beauty Lip 2 Cheek in Smile

Real Model: Christina Pearce, Yoga Teacher Real Color: Face: Nvey Creme Deluxe Foundation in 871 Brows: Alima Pure in Java Eyes: Nvey Eco Eyeshadows in 156 + 160 Mascara: Nvey Black Cheeks: Nvey Eco Bronzer & Blush in 957 Lips: Nvey Lipstick 355

 

Aren’t they beautiful!? The next time you see a color you’re drawn to but afraid to wear, just do it! For more brilliant makeup tips and tricks, or to book a consultation and green beauty makeover with Rebecca in NYC, go to:

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