Fall 2013 Beauty Must Haves

Fall is my favorite season for beauty!! A lot of lines really go all out to have the best fall launch and a successful 4th Quarter in sales.
I have a few things I am obsessed with right now that range from skincare to hair care.
My favorite cleanser right now is by Andalou Naturals. It is the clarifying cleanser for active/oily skin. It is so gentle that it doesn’t irritate my skin. I found this at Whole Foods.
I have searched high and low for a bb cream that doesn’t irritate my skin and found one by DERMAdoctor that I will continue to use as long as it’s made! Their DD Cream 15-Benefits-In-1 dermatologically defining bb cream broad spectrum SPF 30 is wonderful. After a week and a half of use my existing break outs were healed and I have no new break outs. My skin has a nice glow and it gives me just enough coverage. This product is available at Ulta.
To keep my fake summer glow through fall I have been using Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Brick in Bronze. It highlights and warms the skin at the same time to extend the sun kissed look well into winter. Note: my sunkissed look is completely achieved with sunless tanning lotions and bronzer! No sun here! I found this shimmer brick at Sephora.
My favorite mascara right now is Chanel Le Volume. I most generally use black but they have other shades available. The brush is genius. This is available at Dillard’s.
Since lightening my hair it is a little on the dry side on the ends so for a moisture boost I have been using Yarok Feed Your Ends. It is vegan, free of alcohol, free of parabens and free of sulfates. It doesn’t weigh down my hair and I think has made my waves more consistent. This product is available at ecodivabeauty.com
Last but not least, I found a beautiful matte eyeshadow palette by Sonia Kashuk for Target called Eye On Neutral 02. As a makeup artist it is always hard to find solid matte eyeshadow palettes and they are so important to have in my kit. The pigment is amazing and they blend so nicely. The shades are the perfect blend of browns to grays. Matte eyeshadow looks so much softer on camera than shimmer if you are having any kind of photography done, this is a must have palette for your collection. Plus, it was only $20 for 12 professional grade shadows! This is available at Target.

That’s my favorite products right now! This is always subject to change since beauty updates faster than technology!

Ash

My Makeup Kit (The Face)

My makeup kit is probably one of my most cherished items I own. It’s a collection of products I have tried and love and continue to use all the time. The items that make it into the kit are ones that I personally would use on myself. I have tried so many products it’s ridiculous and I am still experimenting!

Here is a look inside my makeup kit for a flawless healthy glow!

Foundation

Primarily I will airbrush my clients and my favorite airbrush makeup to date is OCC Cosmetics. It feels weightless, is vegan, water based, and has an incredible staying power! The color system is easy to use as it goes by levels not names of colors and it’s categorized into yellow tones and red tones. Thank you OCC for making it easy!

For when I am not airbrushing, I still love Laura Mercier’s Silk Creme foundation. It is water based, oil-free, flawless coverage, you probably won’t even need to conceal after using it. It also is very cost friendly because one small tube lasts me over a year! Yes, that little tube packs a big punch! All you need is a dime sized amount to do the entire face and blend down onto the neck. It also has a little bit of a light reflecting property to give you subtle glow.

My budget friendly pick right now is the Revlon Photo Ready makeup. It’s a dupe of Makeup4Ever’s HD makeup. They have a nice color range and it films really well.

Now, for most days I wear my good ol’ Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. In the summer I am in the oil-free version and winter I like the illuminating. The colors I keep on hand are Nude, Sand, and Bisque and Warm and Natural in the illuminating.

Concealer

I love my Laura Mercier Secret Camoflauge for myself but, sometimes I find that I don’t have enough colors to work with so I also use my BH Cosmetics concealer palette. I think it’s great for contouring and cream cheek color as well. The colors are in a great variety and it works well with airbrush makeup.

Highlighting

I love my Laura Mercier Shimmer Blocks in Peach Mosaic and Golden Mosaic. I also love Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks. These are so beautiful on top of cheek bones and great as eyeshadows. Remember a little goes a long way! Too much sheen can look gray and ash.

Bronzers

My favorite category! I have used Laura Mercier’s Warm Bronze Mineral Powder as a bronzer for years. It has the perfect glow and color for most warm skin tones. I also love Nars Laguna, this works on everyone and it’s not too warm. Otherwise, I will use the BH Cosmetics concealer palette to contour and bronze.

Cheek Color

My first love in cheek color is the infamous Nars Orgasm. However, I have found a new love in Laura Mercier’s Sweet Mandarin mixed with Lush Nectarine. Best combo I have found so far! Other cheek colors I love is Natural by Trish McEvoy and Jolie ( I hope she still makes them).

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This is constantly updating and I will keep posting updates as it changes!

Peaces,
Ash

PS, I only use HD powder for setting clients because I know it won’t alter the makeup underneath.

Check in on fitness challenge and beauty product shout outs!

Sorry I haven’t wrote anything in a while! I have been super busy with wedding makeup season kicking in!

I first want to just let you know I am doing ok on my fitness challenge to myself. I will be honest it’s been hard. My kids just had their birthdays and it’s hard to eat healthy with all that yummy food around!! If I would have planned better I would have made it and made them into healthier versions of themselves. But, that didn’t happen because this time I was not organized and did everything last minute. I will be sure and not do that next time. Anyway, this week I am getting back on track and on top of my game! Please cheer me on it really helps!

I also wanted to take a minute and mention a few beauty finds I am loving at the moment. I recently bought some Nars products and I am obsessed! The Pro-Prime Skin Smoothing Face Prep as a foundation primer is amaze! This makes my makeup go on so smooth and last all day. I also recently purchased Nars Laguna bronzer. I know that everyone probably uses this already but, I finally jumped on the bandwagon and bought one. Turns out there is a reason it’s so popular, it’s awesome! Love that it’s not too orange or shiny. Just perfect. Onto some Bobbi Brown, I just ordered the Creamy Concealer kit to use under my eyes. It has a creamy concealer and a yellow based setting powder. I love this too! The powder is so light in texture that it doesn’t look cakey just sets perfectly while brightening at the same time. I also have always wanted to try Josie Maran’s Argan Oil. I bought the bronzing one because it’s summer and I love the bronze look. I love wearing this under my makeup for a subtle glow and on my arms and legs for some color. It’s really pretty and it’s benefiting my skin at the same time. Gotta love multi-purpose products!

Coming soon…

Wedding makeup tips

Kids birthday party ideas

Where to find:

Nars Face Prep and Bonzer in Laguna:

www.narscosmetics.com

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit:

www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com

Josie Maran Bronzing Argan Oil

www.josiemarancosmetics.com