Blush can make you look like an 80’s throwback or bring your entire look to life. It’s all about choosing that right undertone and making sure your placement complements your features. This weeks video lesson focuses on finding the right undertone for your skin and locating that perfect placement.

Bring some life back into your face, bring on the blush!

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

It’s HUMP Day! And if you’re like me you could use a little SPARKLE to brighten up your week. Here’s a fun and smoky look to give you some inspiration for this weekend!

Enjoy!

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

This wasn’t how we expected 2020 to go. I’m sure I’m not alone in that sentiment. For many of you 2020 has been a year of hardships, the loss of jobs, a struggle with finances and for many, the loss of loved ones. As we enter another long month, the future still unknown, many of us have a hard time looking past all the negative changes that have plagued our lives. It’s hard to see anything but the negative, the uncertainty and fear in a world struggling with conflict and more a political and societal unrest that is terrifying to all of us. We don’t know what the future holds, so it’s hard to see the bright side. It’s hard to see the beauty.

I struggle every day to look for the good, the positive. In a normal year I would be firmly entrenched in my bridal season, experiencing the brightest, most exciting day in countless lives of woman as they enter a new chapter with the person who makes them feel complete. This year has a very different perspective. Most of my brides have been forced to reschedule to 2021, while a small handful have met the challenges thrown at them by 2020 and our current pandemic and embraced the idea of mini-monies (miniature ceremonies).

The first mini-mony I participated in was a very surreal experience. I still wasn’t used to working in masks and gloves, and it was strange to be around people wearing masks like I was while I worked. No hand shaking, no happy hugs at the end. But what I learned from Kimberly, was that even during these hard times you can find ways to celebrate. She and her love turned their home into their venue with only her parents and his in attendance, all in full masks. Her wedding dress couldn’t be finished in time because the dress shop was closed, but instead of losing her joy, she chose another dress that she loved. She was full of energy and joy and excited to be joining her life to the man of her dreams. What Kimberly taught me that day was that you can find light even in the darkest of times.

This past Saturday I saw how a creative and flexible bride can have the full bridal experience even while in quarantine. While I worked on her hair and makeup, again in full mask, gloves and outside in fresh air, her bridal party joined her via Zoom. All six women were there on her computer screen, watching the process, sharing in the moment – while wearing their special bridesmaid robes and sipping champagne – so that she wasn’t alone on a day when having your tribe around you means so much. She was able to have the full bride experience, even though they were miles apart. Her wedding ceremony had zero physical attendants and yet was watched by all her friends and family during a live stream.

So, even though 2020 has not gone as planned, there are so many ways to be creative, so many ways to have an experience you will never forget. So many ways to connect with your loved ones and in the end still be able to say ‘I do’.

So, to all the brides who are embracing mini-monies…Thanks for finding the color and joy while the world is so gray. And for the rest of my brides, I’ll be seeing you in 2021!

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

Video Tutorial CLICK HERE

Brands I recommend: The LA Girl Liquid Correctors Yellow & Green. They make an Orange but I personally feel this is too dark and creates more work than necessary to get a good color for your correction. The best orange in my opinion is the MAC Pure Orange. This is the best orange with a really nice bright tone that blends beautifully. I also love MAC Cosmetics Ochre which is an excellent yellow corrector.

Brushes to Use: I prefer using a small concealer brush for under eye correction & small blemish correction. My favorite is the Ben Nye DB-12. For larger area correction I like a larger concealer brush, such as the Ben Nye FCB-18.

When I was in training my mentor didn’t believe in color correctors, she felt they were a waste of time, money and product. Because of this, it was a belief I carried with me long into my solo career. However my eyes were opened and I don’t know how I went this long without it. The way it works is pretty simple. Using basic color theory, these colored correctors cancel out colors on the opposite side of the color scale. So basically, orange colors cancel out the blues and purples of dark eye circles. This little trick, takes only a few extra seconds to do, and blending a soft orange over dark circles will save your face and your clients. So, now, I am a strong believer and cannot live without this lovely little orange corrector.

I used to think that color correctors, you know the ones that come in lovely shades of orange, purple, green, etc, were a complete waste of money and time. I have since changed my tune. While I personally don’t find much use for the ones in purple, I am a very strong believer in the green and orange color correctors. It is now a staple of my Pro Kit.

There is something I really have to say about color correctors: Most skin colors can’t handle straight orange or green corrector without darkening the client’s skin or being too intense of a color. Seriously, correcting dark circles with a dark orange just makes more work for you. And smearing green all over your face and then putting your foundation over it is going to make you look like the Bride of Frankenstein on camera. So just DON’T DO IT. Ok, so the most efficient way to get the perfect coverage for your blemishes is to mix your orange or green corrector with a concealer that is 1 shade lighter than your skin color. Once you achieve the right shade of correction color apply to the blemishes, then blend out lightly before applying your foundation.

MUST KNOW: Color Correctors are NOT Concealers. Don’t expect the blemish to be 100% gone with the color corrector. Color Corrector removes undertone NOT blemish. You remove the undertone with the corrector, then use foundation and concealer to fully remove the blemish. Those steps will remove all blemishes and leave you with a light weight, natural foundation.

PURPLE: Ok, so we know there is a purple color corrector, but in the 16 years that I’ve been doing makeup I’ve never found a use for the purple. Purple Color Corrector is to counter Yellow blemishes. I’ve never had a client so yellow they needed a violet corrector. But, if you find that Purple works for you, use it. And drop me a comment and tell me how it’s worked for you.

Blemishes:

There are many places you might need to use corrector. Some areas you might find you need an orange corrector would be under your eyes or on your lids. This corrector is for BLUE toned blemishes. Use orange under your eyes for these blemishes.

For purple toned undereye circles or lids use yellow corrector. Yellow also works for women of color who might have darker blemishes on their forehead, upper lips, darker rings around the neck, darker lines leading from the edges of the mouth or darker frown lines. Yellow helps counter the graying undertone and brightens the skin.

For pimples, redness in the nose, cheeks, chin, or even sun damage in the chest, use a Green color corrector.

Remember while doing correction if you turn Red/Flush in your chest, neck or face when you drink alcohol, exerting yourself or embarrassed. If you do make sure to color correct in those areas to prevent them turning red in photos later.

Areas that you may need to use blemish control:

Darker ring around the neck – this can be found more commonly in women of color. Yellow correctors work best to brighten and counter the blemish

Darker lines coming from the outer edges of the mouth – this can be found more commonly in women of color. Yellow correctors work best to brighten and counter the blemish

Darker pigment on forehead – this can be found more commonly in women of color. Yellow correctors work best to brighten and counter the blemish

Freckles – Yellow correctors work best to brighten and counter the blemish. NOTE: Freckles are not blemishes to everyone. Some clients love their freckles, some do not. Be sure to ask them.

Dark circles under eyes – orange corrector for blue toned circles, yellow for purple toned blemishes

Pimples – green to counter the red pigmentation

Rosacea – green to counter the red pigmentation

Bright pigmented cheeks, chin – green to counter the red pigmentation

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

Hey everyone, I love me some blue eye shadow. Not the Mimi inspired blue that is an unblended mess from lashes to brow. For me it’s all about blending gorgeous shades of blue into a style that is flattering for my eye shape. Below is a step by step of a blue shadow pattern I love from my Storybook Cosmetics Little Briar Rose Palette. To watch a video tutorial of this look Click HERE

Steps for the shimmer blue:

1. Using a light skin tone matte shadow set your brow bone area. I used the Tarte be you.naturally Palette for this step with a flat shadow brush, my Kryolan Art. 3714.
2. Apply a Med/Lite color to inner half of lid, using your pupil as your mid-point. I used the Storybook Cosmetics Little Briar Rose Palette Fairies, which is a lite blue shimmer. I used my Kryolan Art. 3714 brush which has a nice flat edge.
3. Apply Dark Color onto outer half of the lid blending softly over the middle so the colors blend gently into each other. For this I used the Storybook Cosmetics Little Briar Rose Palette Castle. I used my Kryolan Art. 3714 brush.
4. Using my Morphe R39 brush to blend Castle into your crease and softly up onto brow bone.
5. Using my Crown #SS011 brush blend your dark color, Storybook Cosmetics Little Briar Rose Palette Prince, into crease and blend softly up into the medium color keeping most of it into the deepest part of the crease to help contour your eye.

Optional Step – If needed apply Highlight to inner Tear Duct and at Arch of Eyebrow.

And there you have it, a shimmery fairy tale blue shadow.

Items used:

Storybook Cosmetics Little Briar Rose Palette

Tarte be you.naturally Palette

Kryolan Art. 3714 Brush

Morphe R39 Brush

Crown SS011 Brush

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

I know a lot of people insist primer MUST be used on everyone. I mean every tutorial you see includes the use of a whole cosmetics store. However, that’s just not so. Whether or not you use primer has more to do with your skin than it does on what a tutorial or sales persons says.

You don’t have to use it. The choice is yours. So how can you determine if you need primer or not? There’s a few simple things to remember – Click HERE to watch a video demo – such as:

Is your skin very oily?

Yes? Then you probably won’t need that much primer if at all.

No? Well, that requires another question:

Are your pores tight and small?

Yes? You probably don’t need primer.

No, your pores aren’t small? They’re big? Ok, then you should consider a primer.

Is your skin dry with raised rough patches?

Yes? Use primer.

Do you have scars, blemishes, lots of fine lines or wrinkles?

Yes to all of the above means you might want to consider primer.

Are you over 45? Then you might want to consider a light primer.

Now that you’ve determined you need some primer, let’s get into a little detail about what primer is and why it works so you can determine which brand/type is best for you.

Primer is a base that acts as a smoothing agent for your liquid/powder foundations. It can help reduce the size of pours and help the makeup not settle into lines and creases.

A primer should be applied after your moisturizer and before the foundation. It’s essential to let it sink in for a few minutes to give it enough time to penetrate into your skin. Apply it with a sponge to areas with dry skin, enlarged pores or other blemishes. I find the T Zone is the area in most need of primer. A makeup primer should always be applied on clean skin. Less is always more with primer, because a little bit goes a very long way.

Benefits of using makeup primers:

• Create a perfect surface for your makeup
• Disguise skin flaws and imperfections
• Makeup primers fill in fine lines and wrinkles
• Make enlarged pores appear smaller and less visible
• Keep cosmetics out of the pores’ don’t clog the pores
• The makeup glides on smoothly and blends easily

I have two levels of priming that I use. Light base primer whenever I’m doing full face foundation on anyone. My preferred primer for this level is MAC Cosmetics’ MAC Fix+ Prep & Prime. For more extensive priming  ELF Cosmetics Poreless Primer and Touch in Sol No POREblem Prime Essence. Also for my mature clients I like to use QMS Medicosmetics Lip Line Corrector.

Now whatever Primer you choose to use, you want to make sure you are getting one that has enough silicone to make the skin smooth, but not too much as a high level of silicone will cause the primer to bead up when you go to apply the foundation with a brush or sponge and you will find yourself having to squish the little beads of silicone and pressing them into your skin! Talk about annoying!

Well, that’s my 2 cents on Primer!

Until next time!

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

Hey everyone, needed a little purple in my life. Below are the step by step instructions for how I achieved this colorful smokey eye. Follow this Link for the Video tutorial: HERE

Products used:

Coastal Scents 88 Color Eye Shadow Palette

Morphe Shadow Palettes (350M, Such a Gem & Boss Mood)

RCMA Concealor/Foundation

NYX Color Correctors

Ben Nye Loose Powder

Graftobian Setting Powder

Tarte Mascara Big Ego

Brushes Used:

Color Corrector/Concealor/Pressed Powder Application:

ELF Foundation Blurring Brush

Ben Nye DB-12 Concealor brush

Setting Powder:

Ben Nye Neutral Set Loose Powder

Eyebrows:

Morphe M165

Eyeshadow:

Kryolan Art. 3714

Morphe R39

Crown SS011

Crown 237 mini smudger

Kryolan Art. 3806

I chose purples of various levels of color but kept them all cool toned. Mixing undertones can cause your shadow to look chaotic instead of blended and flowing. Using contrasting (i.e. complimentary) colors that have different undertones is different than using the same color scheme and clashing your undertones.

1. Brow bone pale purple from the Coastal Scents 88 Color Palette. – Kryolan Art. 3714 brush (A pale purple shadow)
2. Using a flat shadow brush apply Laven-Dare from the Such a Gem Morphe Shadow Palette to inner half of lid. – Kryolan Art. 3714 brush (A light purple shimmer)
3. Using a flat shadow brush apply It’s Violit from the Such a Gem Morphe Shadow Palette onto outer half of the lid. – Kryolan Art. 3714 brush (a medium dark shimmer purple)
4. Using a round blending brush apply Grape Minds from Such a Gem Morphe Shadow Palette into the crease and softly up onto brow bone. – Morphe R39 brush (matte medium purple)
5. Place a darker color into crease, Make it Reign from the Such a Gem Morphe Shadow Palette and blend softly up into the medium color keeping most of it into the deepest part of the crease. – Morphe R39 brush (dark matte purple)
6. For added dimension and depth I used the Morphe Boss Mood Palette color Transformer. Using the Crown SS011 brush I blended it into the deepest part of the crease to contour my eye. – Crown SS011 brush (very dark purple)
7. To thicken my lash line I used Transformer (very dark purple) along the lash line and then my lower waterline in the outer half. – Kryolan Art. 3806 brush
8. Using an angle liner brush applied Laven-Dare to inner waterline, then a touch of it under the brow bone and to the inner tear duct using the Crown 237 mini smudger
9. For additional smoking out beneath the eye I smudged out Grape Minds beneath the lower waterline outer half of my eye. – Crown 237 mini smudger

And there you have it!

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

Ok, so here’s the skinny on this. It’s a SHORT review because I couldn’t wear it. For one it has rose oil in it which immediately broke me out. But aside from the breakout what really had me shying away from this product was the shimmer in it. Some people are REALLY into the glowy look and don’t mind being blingy, but as a forty year old woman glitter on my face is NOT an appealing option. Glitter and shimmer and too much GLOW makes all those fine lines and cough, cough, wrinkles that start appearing after a certain age. So this is not the face oil for me.

Now, to be honest and fair, the fragrance is beautiful, the oil applies light and even and doesn’t leave you greasy or sticky. It’s a very nice product and for those of you who like the shimmer it would be a lovely addition to your skin prep routine. Though it is on the pricy side clocking in at $42 for only 0.84oz.

Wander Beauty Glow Ahead Illuminating Face Oil can be found at Sephora or through their website at: Wander Beauty.

So, there you have it!

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004

So, I’ve been using Saturday Skin Waterfall Glacier Water Cream for the past two months to keep my skin hydrated. All in all it’s not a bad product. But I’m not wowed by it. On the plus side it is very gentle for those of you like me with hyper-sensitive skin.

Active ingredients listed on its website are pretty friendly to the sensitive skin crowd:

Key Ingredients: 

-Alaska Glacier Water: Mineral-rich water protects skin from free radicals while promoting optimal absorption of moisture.
-Xpertmoist: A fusion of ferment extract and amino acids that shields skin from dehydration while improving skin vitality.
-Iceland Moss: Calms and reduces redness while promoting hydration.
-Cha-7 es Complex™: An exclusive peptide formula that promotes skin’s natural regeneration process.

DERMATOLOGIST TESTED. NO PARABENS, SULFATES, SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCE OR SYNTHETIC COLOR.

It does nicely hydrate even my dry skin and a little bit goes a long way, so the $39 price tag won’t make you cringe because you’ll only need a tiny dab in the morning and another tiny dab each night. I’ve been using it religiously and have barely made a dent. All in all it’s a good product, but there are two things about it that I personally just don’t like.

1. It smells a little odd to meet, not bad, just more medicinal. It IS a pretty mild smell, so it shouldn’t bother most people and after a few days I did get used to the smell.
2. It feels cold and slimy. It’s a gel so for those of you who like a more creamy, lotion-y product that might be a turn off. I wasn’t a huge fan of the slimy and I’m still not a fan, but it’s not enough of an issue to keep me from recommending this product.
3. And this is the one that really keeps me from giving this moisturizer a full 5 Starts: It leaves a residue on your skin that gums off throughout the day. I really, REALLY don’t like that. I like moisturizers that absorb and leave the skin clean feeling. Saturday Skin Waterfall Glacier Water Cream leaves a gummy film over your skin. To meet that’s annoying and it affects my makeup a little bit.

So, my overall rating? 4 Stars. Which ain’t too shabby! It is super gentle on your skin, very hydrating and a little bit goes a long way. If you don’t mind a gel style moisturizer and don’t think residue left on your skin is that big of a deal this moisturizer might just be your perfect skin care match.

Until next time….

Personify Bridal, Sacramento’s On Location Bridal & Wedding Hair and Makeup Artists Since 2004