Tag Archives: color

Winter time also means less sunlight, shorter days, grey skies, cold and humid temperatures, lack of sunshine exposure (which in turns means a decrease in vit. D intake ladies! Don't forget to take your supplements!) and richer hues in our make-up palettes. No wonder our complexion looks a little dull this time of year.

Are you ready to embrace colour? Take a bite out of winter with a vibrant purple lip!

 

1. BBrighten up your complexion

Mix a little bit of Golden Glow BB Cream into your moisturizer and apply on your face to make your skin glow; or use it as a face illuminator to highlight certain areas of your face (top of cheekbones, brigde of your nose, temples and cupid's bow), after applying your BB Cream Anti-Aging SPF 20 or daily moisturizer. Note: the BB Cream not only evens out your skin tone, it also minimizes the appearance of pores and fine lines and adds radiance to your skin. Three more reasons to jump on the BB Cream beauty train!

2. Open up those eyes

Even out your lids with the help of a tinted primer, such as the Marcelle Velvety Eye Shadow + Primer, before applying your eye make-up.  Then, using a cool toned neutral shade (such as a taupe), apply to the entire eyelid and blend the colour upward toward your crease.  Don't forget to tend to your brows. The eyebrows, if properly shaped, can take years off your face!  Using an eyebrow pencil held vertically, define and correct the shape of your eyebrows. As an added bonus, filling in your brows can also hide an overplucking incident! Rule of thumb: use the right shade!  And don't forget mascara! Using your Marcelle Twist Push-Up Mascara, apply a first coat using the wand at the regular/straight bristle position for amazing lash definition. Then, for added volume, turn the top of the cap to twist the bristles closer together and then apply a second coat.

3. Pamper those lips

To make your lips baby soft and give them a youthful look, exfoliate them with a homemade lip exfoliant. To complete your lip pampering treatment, follow the exfoliation with a lip balm. Psst! Don't have a lip balm on hand.  When you're in a pinch, plain old moisturizer works wonders!

4. Add a splash of colour...lip colour that is

Add a splash of colour to your lips using an hydrating purple lipstick, such as the Rouge Xpression in the shade Cleopatra (and I can vouch for it, you DO feel like a queen when wearing it!). A punchy shade, a velvety texture and hydrating properties; can you say happy lips?! Don't forget to pat off any excess product with a tissue, and reapply a second coat to ensure a long lasting lip colour. Another neat beauty trick:  to increase the wear of your lip colour even more, apply a thin layer of BB Cream to your lips before the lipstick. The BB (Beauty Balm) will act as a primer. It's magic! If you don't own a tube of BB Cream, no worries. Filling in your lips with a lipliner first, then applying your lipstick on top, will have the same effect (but, trust me, you should really consider treating your skin to a tube of BB Cream. Just a little friendly advice!).

To finish off the look, outline your lips using concealer and a thin brush. This will help seal in the color and define the shape of your lips.

 

In a nutshell, opting for vibrant shades during the cold months = instant winter pick-me-up! I can't speak for you ladies, but here this is a beauty prescription I am more than happy to comply with!  The big question is: will you dare?

 

 

I expect my men to do more than just one thing (make money and buy me presents) so it really stands to reason that I would expect my eye products to be able to fulfill more than one need!

Marcelle Lux Cream Eye Shadow + Liner offers waterproof, smudge-proof, transfer-proof and crease resistant colour that will last you 9+ hours! The formula is creamy and glides on without tugging at your eyelids which also makes it perfect for lining. What's really clever is the blending sponge on the other end to smudge the line or blend the shadow, just make sure you do your blending fast, once it sets it isn't going anywhere! And while it is a budge-proof colour, I still recommend wearing a primer underneath especially if you tend to have an oily eye area - you'll get more bang for your buck that way!

Most importantly, it comes in a bunch of pretty colours: Enchantmint - mint green; Wisteria - purple; Ballerina - pink; Vanilla Ice - cream; Sunstone - golden; Taupe du Jour - taupe; Sea Breeze - green blue; and Cloud-9 - blue. Use them to shadow, line or both - the hard-working Vanilla Ice also makes an excellent highlighter for the inner corners of the eyes or under the brow bone!

And of course they're hypo-allergenic, perfume free and opthamologist tested!

 

Lipstick or lipgloss - the popularity of each one seems to change from season to season but I have noticed something interesting, women tend to gravitate towards one or the other and psychologists would like us to believe it is a subconscious choice.

I recently read an article that claimed that women tend to wear the opposite product of what their mother does.  If your mom is a lipstick person you are more likely to be a gloss girl and vice versa. It's an interesting idea and in my own case it's actually true, my mom has always worn lipstick and I tend to prefer gloss.  Not to say I don't own four zillion lipsticks, but I do wear more gloss than lipstick so I am obviously subconsciously rebelling! I don't have any kids but it would be interesting to know if I did have a daughter if she would lean towards lipstick...

There are pros and cons to both formulations: lipsticks tend to be longer lasting, well pigmented and less messy while glosses are super shiny and can be applied very precisely.

Whichever one you like - application is the key - The Joker and Robert Smith from the Cure are the only ones who can get away with lipstick smeared all over their face, the rest of us should try to stay inside the lines!  Here are a few tips for perfect lipstick/gloss application:

1) Start with a smooth surface - gloss is a little more forgiving but nothing looks worse than lipstick on top of chapped lips!  There are several ways to get rid of the dead skin: buy a pre-made lipscrub, make your own with sugar and olive oil, or use a soft toothbrush/facecloth.

2) If you want to use a lipliner go for it but please make it the same colour as the product you will be wearing - the late 90's with that dark lipliner, light lipstick trend were dark times my friends - history is something to be learned from! I have personally become a fan of reverse lipliner which basically is a clear wax that you draw around the outside of your lips, this prevents the lipstick or gloss from bleeding outside of your lips!

3) The darker/brighter the colour you are using is, the more precise your application needs to be. If you can't be bothered messing around with this step than use a lighter colour as it's then less obvious that your application isn't perfect!

4) Have fun with it - it's makeup! Don't let anyone tell you that women over 30 can't wear gloss or redheads can't wear pink - I break both of these "rules" all the time!

Now what do you suppose those pychologists would say about women who like to layer gloss over lipstick?

The make-up industry is one which certainly isn't lacking talented workers. Passion flares in the eyes of the artists who get a chance to be paid to put colours to their brushes and enhance beauty or create art on a facial canvas. Although artists usually appreciate the recognition of their art and the exposure it brings to their creations, they are not necessarily at ease in front of a camera. We needed to find a professional make-up artist who could do both. Over and above, our artist had to be able to communicate in Canada's two official languages. And then we met Ariel.

Born and raised in Montreal, Ariel first got into makeup when she first started learning to draw. "I used to give my Barbies makeovers' in marker: red lips, green eyeshadow", she tells us. " It went on to elementary school were I use to be one of the only girls sporting pink lip gloss and sparkles; and then in high school I used to give my friends makeovers, or help them with their make-up if they were going on a date. I really love making people feel beautiful and confident." It wasn't long before we saw a special sparkle in her eyes when we started discussing make-up and playing with products. Then we turned on the camera, and she glowed.

Ariel seriously got involved in make-up and decided to make a career out of it after high school when she enrolled at Edith Serei Academy, studying fashion, photography and special effects makeup.

With no further ado, we are proud to introduce Ariel, our professional make-up artist who will be providing tips for women of all ages.

Read my lips: Real Lips Are Back! Even if they sometimes go unnoticed, lips are part of sensuality and desire. A kiss is personal. A kiss is precious. Perhaps you only vaguely remember your latest kiss, but you certainly remember your first kiss! As a kid, lipstick or lipgloss is often the first colour cosmetic item we hold in our hands and wear as the princess we incarnate in our make-believe childplay.