Friend Friday: My Falsie Fairy Godmother – Nami M. Scott

As I stared into my vanity mirror, struggling with my false lashes again tonight, I thought of my dear friend & false lash guru’s recent post on www.NamiMScott.com.

Her everyday false lashes are always perfect! And the fact that she applies them every morning made me realize I am lazy when it comes to my lashes. I mean she is in it to win it! Meanwhile, what do I do? Throw on a primer, curl ‘em, coat ‘em with mascara and I’m out the door.

What does my falsie fairy godmother do?
Line, apply mascara, glue and perfectly place her lashes on so they last throughout the day.

Well, I don’t know about you, ladies, but I want a lesson!

Luckily, it’s all here for our taking. And maybe, just maybe we can have near-Nami-level-lashes in no time flat. May the force be with you. (My falsie fairy godmother’s force, that is).

xoxo,

BF

How To: Falsies (Insert a Fawn-like Eye Flutter)

by Nami M. Scott

Alright, alright. Fine. I’ll do a tutorial on lashes! Geez! It’s been the thing that most of my friends have been bugging me about ever since I rose to the ranks of “Faux Lash Master”…or faux lashter…flashter? I’m just trying to save syllables here, people.Anyway, don’t take that title lightly. I can knock over trees with the sheer force of batting my lashes! (This is totally not a Hurricane Sandy reference…and for those dealing with post-hurricane hysterial – my parents included…sending lots of love!) Anyway, I’m being dramatic again. Maybe if I batted them really hard, I could create a slight breeze and also have my contacts fall out at the same time. So hot, I know. Whatever the case, if you read my earlier post (Things I’ll Admit To: My Top 5 Beauty Go-To’s), you already know my sad tale about lash loss and my path to lash salvation throughMakeup Forever’s fab falsies. But I digress…So, yes, time to teach you how I apply my lashes! After some practice, you should be able to get them on in about 5 minutes or less. However, for me, prepping my lashes is one of the most important things I have to do. What does that mean? It means you have to do the following:

note: I had to illustrate all of these steps because, um…have you tried photographing your own eyes while applying lashes before? If I kept on trying, injury would be imminent. So, here are some drawings!

Prepping your lashes is a must.

Not everyone has eyes large enough to accommodate an entire lash strip and if you do have eyes that large, I’m totally envious and you deserve a cake, a medal, and a trophy for “Best Eyes Given to a Human Being.” (Hello, I’m Asian. Have you heard that stereotype about our eyes? Well, it’s often true.) So, yes, be sure to trim your lashes so they are slightly shorter than your top lid. Why shorter? So your falsies don’t stab the inner corners of your eyes. I’ve made that mistake in the past and ended up red-eyed for most of that fateful night. I mean, yes, you look hotter when you’re lush-lashed while teary-eyed, but you look infinitely hotter when you’re not crying from discomfort.

Also, trim those lashes from the longer side. If you trim them from the shorter side, you won’t get that “natural” short-to-long look at your inner corners. Who’s lashes are super long on the inner corners? (Am I going to have to bake another cake, tinker another metal, and craft another trophy for “Longest Lashes Given to a Human Being?”)

Ok, on to the important part. Ready? Here we go!

Hope this all makes sense!

I know. It seems kind of clumsy & weird, but it works. It took a few tries, but now I can throw my lashes on in the morning like I’m throwing a scarf on before heading out the door! A really, really tiny scarf that doesn’t keep your neck warm so much as make you much more persuasive when blinking.

Three really important notes:

  • I always give my upper lid a thick, cat-eye swish of liquid liner, so my mistakes are much better hidden…if you give yourself a thin liner line, you may need to practice more. (Hey, I’m just being honest here!)
  • I use Duo Lash Adhesive in black which is basically magic in a tube! What’s so special about it? It dries dark, so it’s perfect for those of us who do the “cat-eye swish of liquid liner” (I’m totally copyrighting that phrase.) It’s also flexible and, at the end of the day, you can just pull your lashes off without fear that you’ll rip anything else off. I love keeping my eyelids on my face, don’t you?
  • Take care of your lashes by removing all the adhesive (you can usually peel it off) and cleaning them thoroughly with rubbing alcohol & a cotton swab. Let them dry and store them in your lash case! They should last you at least two weeks! (This is why quality lashes are worth investing in!)

In short, I’ll say this. Mastering lashes is like playing a sport or learning a musical instrument (and I’m talking more about curling & guiros – those ridgy, wooden percussion instruments that look like fish – as opposed to figure skating & jazz guitar.) You’ll only get better at it with practice. Some of us are naturally gifted…and some of us have fingers as nimble as mutton chops, but everyone gets better in time. So, get those falsies out! Halloween is the perfect holiday to test your lash prowess!

Go forth & flutter those falsies, my lovelies! xo!

 

Makeup Monday: Guest Blogger Nami’s Top 5 Beauty Go-To’s

Happy Monday, beauties!

As a beauty & lifestyle blogger, you meet a lot of fun & fabulous folks.

You are always checking out new products, learning new tools & tricks and being introduced to other bloggers’ trade secrets. How much fun is that?!

My good friend, Nami M. Scott, who you guys should know by now, is one of my fashion & beauty icons. She’s also my photography, photoshop and writing icon. Okay, I’ll stop gushing.

While I wish I could have her petite stature and naturally caramel-hued skin (there I go gushing again), I have learned that I can try some of her beauty staples.

Here is Nami sharing her Top 5 Beauty Go-To’s.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

 

xoxo,
BF

Things I’ll Admit To: My Top 5 Beauty Go-To’s

So, there are things we say we can’t live without…significant others, family members, pets…some get poetic and talk about the ocean, Shakespeare, the sunrise.That’s great. These are all great things. I couldn’t agree more, but let’s take a minute to talk about the things I really can’t live without for fear of turning people into stone with my unadorned face. (Insert a hard wink here…I’m trying to be better about self-deprecating remarks.)Yes, I’m actually writing a beauty post. Weird, right? I didn’t think it was my thing, but I do feel the need to tell people about a few product that are my die-hard go-to’s. These are the products that, if discontinued, may completely derail my entire existence.

Photo by Nami M. Scott

These are what they look like! And, look, I’m pointing that them to let you know how awesome they are!

Here are some super-convenient links!

  • Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm (SPF 45)
  • Smashbox Limitless Liquid Liner (Waterproof)
  • Makeup Forever Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector
  • Make-Up Forever Faux Lashes
  • Nars Pure Matte Lipstick (Carthage) / Nars Lipstick (Roman Holiday) / MAC Cremesheen Lipstick (Creme Cup)*

*Yeah, so I have 3 lipsticks! Big deal. I’m counting lipstick as one item here!!!

Ok, you have my list…my secrets have been exposed. The truth is, I don’t actually wake up looking like this. I know, I know. Hard to believe! Now to tell you why these items are so great. (a.k.a like a product review except I’ve been using some of these things for years…sooo, a product review looong overdue.)

Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm (SPF 45)

Close your eyes and imagine a world where having moisture, sheer coverage, and sun protection all exist in one product. Isn’t it the most beautiful thing? Now open your eyes and realized that it actually exists! Holy frijoles. I know. Amazing!

I live in Los Angeles, where the air is dry, so I’ll take all the moisture I can get. I layer this beauty balm over my daytime moisturizer for some extra facial love. It evens out my skin tone without covering up my freckles! Yay!

You can also layer it on for more coverage if you need!

Smashbox Limitless Liquid Liner (Waterproof)

This stuff is my jam. The liner pen is intensely precise, the liner is hyper-pigmented (it’s the blackest black that ever blacked in all of blacktown), and it stays on until you tell it not to. (Also known as “use make-up remover on it.”)

I sobbed on my father’s shoulder during my wedding (most crazy-emotional father-daughter dance award goes to Nami) and this liner didn’t budge…at all. My eyes were red, but my liner was perfect. Go team Liquid Liner!

I use it everyday to give myself a nice, thick line on my upper lash line with a flick at my outer corners for extra pizzazz. (I think we should all use pizzazz when we can because most things in life could be categorized as “pizzazzless”…if you can add pizzazz do it and do it with reckless abandon!)

Makeup Forever Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector 

I’ve mentioned this magic gel before in my earlier post (Mama Matsuo Musing #4: Brow Wow Wow) and I will continue to sing its praises. For someone who has very little in the way of eyebrows, this is just the thing. Use it with a hard bristled make-up brush (an angled one is best) and you get a product you can control with ease and that can be layered for more or less intensity.

Sometimes I go with a standard brow and sometimes I Audrey Hepburn the crap out of my brows and either way, they look great and natural. For those of you who don’t know what I mean, Audrey Hepburn used to draw in eyebrows that were much thicker than her real ones. This gives your face an overall more youthful look and, depending on how much you arch it, can also give you an instant facelift.

This brow gel will not go anywhere. For the record, I will say that since I have oily skin, on super oily days, I’ve touched a brow and had it fade a little…but, really, what do I expect? Oil removes most make-up. The bottom line is, if I don’t touch my eyebrows, they stay on all day and all night.

Make-Up Forever Faux Lashes

So, let me tell you a little tale. I once got eyelash extensions because I found this seemingly great Groupon deal. The extensions were amazing. I had the thickest eyelashes ever. They were like brooms stuck to my eyelids and I loooooovedit.

But there are a few cons about having them…

1) You can’t sleep on your face (which I’m known to do)
2) You can’t rub your eyes
3) You can’t wash make-up off your eyes properly (you have to go in with swabs & make-up remover and be really careful…so, in short, it’s like surgery.)
4) You might end up with an allergic reaction to the lash adhesive

I experienced all four of these things and ended up in a state where my contacts would fog up and I wouldn’t be able to see anything!

Cut to me at an optometrist’s office, finding out that the undersides of my eyelids were covered in tiny bumps from my allergic reaction which were releasing stuff that was fogging up my contacts. So, yes, it was a party…the worst kind of party…the kind of party where there are no goody bags, no cakes, no piñatas, and no one’s dancing. In fact, everyone is reading books and not talking to each other…and the books are in different languages…wait a second, I think I’m describing one of my horrible nightmares!

Anyway, I got those extensions removed…but what people don’t tell you is when you have extensions for a while, they destroy your eyelashes. So, when you finally decide that you’d rather deal with what you’ve got naturally instead of having eye pus fog up your contacts while you’re driving, causing you to pull over because you’re basically blind…well, you quickly discover that your natural lashes are so damaged that they are practically gone. (Refer to the earlier “party” I had mentioned.)

This observation came about right before I had to leave for Fashion Week in NYC. I had to be on-camera or dealing with Fashion Week patrons all day for an entire week and I had three eyelashes in total. It wasn’t gonna fly, so I went and bought myself some quality falsies.

I mastered the application in the next week, each morning before going to the tents at Lincoln Center and by the end of the week, I was basically waking up and throwing them on before running out the door. At the end of the day, I could pull them off, rub my eyes, wash all my make-up off, and face plant into my pillow! Absolutely fantastic!

The only problem now is this: I’m so obsessed with the fluttering, fawn-like look the falsies give me that I wear them EVERY SINGLE DAY! And the Makeup Forever brand of lashes, when taken care of properly, can last you weeks! Just be sure to remove all the adhesive each night and clean the lashes thoroughly with rubbing alcohol. Store them in their lash case and you’re good to go! I love, love, love, love them.

No more bald eyes for this girl!
(Sorry for the long lash story…”long lash”…get it? Oh, puns!)

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick (Carthage) / Nars Lipstick (Roman Holiday) / MAC Cremesheen Lipstick (Creme Cup)

Last, but certainly not least, I have my trio of go-to lipsticks. You know that book, Two Lipsticks and a Lover? (If not, read it. It’s a great book that I’ve read at least twice…a great way to get your inner French woman going.) Well, I’m part of the “Three Lipsticks and a Husband” school of thought. (Oooh, remind me to write a post about that.)

Here’s how I roll. Every day can be a sartorial adventure and in my mind, not every outfit goes with one type of lipstick. It’s just illogical. Much like if you’re wearing too much eye make-up and you wear a strong lip, you’ll end up looking like a clown, a harlot, or a harlot clown (riding your unicycle around the redlight district), I feel like the same goes for outfits and lip color.

If I’m wearing a strong color on my body, I probably won’t wear a strong color on my lip. It just doesn’t balance out…unless you’re on camera. Pale lipstick with make you look dead on camera, so just keep that in mind. However, on the day-to-day, pale lipstick is a nice way to look natural, but still have a little bit of color. (I would mention blush, by my list was only top 5, so I had to leave blush out.)

So, Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Carthage for LBDs and super neutral outfits! Nars Lipstick in Roman Holiday for a splash of girliness (and it can go with loud colors or neutral outfits) and MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme Cup for crazier-colored outfits, a super natural look, or (if you layer it on) a great 60′s mod look. I’m such a sucker for London in the 60′s. Thick lashes, short haircuts, androgynous models, and pale lips. It’s one of my aesthetic obsessions!

……………………….
So, there you have it. My top 5 beauty choices of all time!
Hope you get to try them out, suggest them to friends, give them as gifts, or add them to your event goody bags! They’re sure to be a hit! xo!

 

BF Asks: What are YOUR top 5 beauty go-to’s?

 

Mailbox Monday: New Beauty Test Tube Summer 2012

As you know, I looooove my monthly beauty boxes! And at the top of my list is New Beauty Test Tube.

New Beauty Test Tube is the beauty brainchild of the editors of New Beauty magazine. New Beauty, is the monthly beauty bible for all of us who need to know about the best, brightest and newest beauty finds.

So who better to order a beauty box from? That was my thinking.

New Beauty’s Test Tube Summer 2012 is AMAZING!

It’s always the one box where I know I can expect products that work from the best brands. Kind of like the best goodie bag you could hope to get at a party or event. Except filled with only the best of the best beauty products.

So what’s a Test Tube? It’s a cylinder filled with discriminating products aimed to delight! And at only $29.95 for a quarterly delivery (once every 3 months), it is clearly a “new beauty” itself!

Touted as the “ultimate product sampling” program, New Beauty Test Tube delivers the goods. For the second time this year, when I opened my Test Tube, I found products that made me smile and squeal with glee!

Ahava “Essential Day Moisturizer”: Rich in Ahava’s hydrating Osmoter, skin is left soft and smooth. Protects against environmental damage with Vitamin E and soothes with Aloe Vera. Amino Acids are rich in humectants. Full size: $39.50

InstantEffect “90 Second Wrinkle Reducer” 15 On the Go packets:  Touted as a fast working firming serum that temporarily reduces the appearance of crows feet, fine lines, wrinkles, and under-eye bags. Full size: $60

It’s a 10 “leave in conditioner”I tried this and LOOOOOVED it! It instantly detangeld without making my hair feel heavy or greasy. And I swear my blowout time was cut by a third.  10 hair-improving benefits to protect, hydrate and detangle your hair for shinier, stronger strands. Full Size: $20

Jane Iredale “Tantasia”: Moisturizing, natural self-tanner for face and body. Builds a gradual, natural looking tan within three days, for optimum control and customization. Full size: $36

LashFood “eyelash conditioner”: It works and it’s all natural. Just give it a little time (4-8 weeks) and you’re left with fuller, longer, lush lashes. A natural, powerful formulation that is clinically proven to produce longer, thicker lashes and transform frail and brittle lashes into healthy and strong lashes . Visible results within just 4-8 weeks. Full Size: $80

Lumene “Firming Night Cream” 0.5 oz:  Can’t wait to try this one tonight!! This velvety smooth cream works the night shift to improve skin’s structure so you can wake up to a more youthful looking you. Full size: $21.99

Mally “high shine liquid lipstick”: I received this fun lipstick in a pen in the lilacish shade, Orchid. Keep your lips shiny, hydrated and looking luscious with this long-lasting lipstick. Full size: $20

Neutrogena “healthy skin brightening eye corrector”: Perfect for the on-the-go-girl, this “click-pen” effortlessly brightens leaving you with more awake eyes. Packed with a patented blend of hard-working antioxidants and vitamins, this do-it-all product brightens, conceals, de-puffs and eliminates the appearance of dark circles. Full size: $13.99

Neutrogena “Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum” 1 oz: I have heard great things about this serum and cannot wait to try! Highest concentration of Accelerated Retinol SA available., this advances serum penetrates deep into skin’s surface to quickly and effectively deliver results in just one week. Full size: $20

Olay Professional Pro-X Clear “Complexion Renewing Lotion” 0.24 oz: This gel formula is step 3 in Olay’s new adult acne clearing system. Sheer hydration helps to fade the look of spots and redness for an overall renewed appearance. 3-step kit: $39.99

Smashbox “Photofinish”: I plan on using this on a bride next weekend. It’s perfect for those with pores they like to minimize and creates a smooth blank canvas for wedding-and photo-ready makeup. The silky blend of vitamins and antioxidants smoothes and perfects skin, while the unique formula helps to inhibit the destruction of collagen, and fills in fine lines and pores for a flawless finish. Full size: $36

SpaLook Discount Cards: A $10, $25 and $50 discount card for your purchase on SpaLook.

And the detailed product brochure that comes with every Test Tube is comprehensive and helpful! It’s like studying for your beauty routine!


xoxo,

BF

 

BF Asks: Have you tried any of the products above in this season’s New Beauty Test Tube? Share your likes & gripes on them in the comments below.