PEI Makeup Artist

"Bridal Shower" Inspired Makeup

2012-03-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

Bow Ties & Bliss recently published a photo shoot that I did makeup for. The theme of the shoot was "Sunday Brunch" and filled with several fabulous DIY ideas, lots of vintage charm, and not to mention loads of delicious-looking treats.

Here are some of my favourite "makeup" shots:

Check out the full blog post on Bow Ties and Bliss here!

Special thanks to all the PEI vendors who worked on this shoot:
Design & Styling: 5 Design / Flowers & Decor: Hearts and Flowers / Invitations & Stationery: Kim Roach Designs / Cake Baker:City View Bakehouse / Makeup Artist: Michelle Cudmore and Rachel Peters Photography captured the lovely images.

Irish Eyes Are Smiling With A Green St Patricks Day Makeup

2012-03-07T11:50:00.001-04:00

I'll admit it, I love St Patricks Day. I love dressing up in green, drinking green drinks, sinking Irish pub songs at the top of my voice (even when I don't know all the words). I love it. So when I decided to create a makeup look for St Patrick's Day, I went all out. Green, green and more green topped off with some green bling. Oh yeah, my Irish eyes are smiling now ;)

Watch my step by step youtube tutorial on this look here

This is my St. Patty's Day Diva :) Green eyeshadow, false lashes, and green Swarovski crystals!

Another option is to add one gem to the inner corner

Or another option still is green eyeshadow with no bling at all.

PRODUCTS USED:

Eyes ~
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Ben Nye Chartreuse cream shadow
MAC Lucky Green
MAC Bitter
MAC Vanilla pigment
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in El Dorado
MUFE Aqua Liner in #3
YSL mascara
MAC false lashes
MAC Stud brow pencil

Face ~
MUFE Mat Velvet +
MAC MSF Natural
MAC Golden bronzer
NARS Orgasm

Lips~
MAC lip pencil in Subculture
Face Atelier lip glaze in Peach

Gwyneth Paltrow's 2012 Oscar Makeup

2012-03-04T16:42:00.002-04:00

Check out my youtube tutorial on how to create this beautiful, bronzed and glowing Gwyneth Paltrow look!

A Winter Wedding Wonderland Featured on 100 Layer Cake

2012-03-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

Back in January, I had the opportunity to be involved in this amazing styled winter wedding shoot, that has just been featured on 100 Layer Cake. The theme of the wedding was "PEI Handmade With Love". The brides grandmother actually knit her sweater that she wore on her wedding day and on the inside was a tag that said "Handmade With Love". So sweet!

The location of the shoot was the Anne of Green Gables homestead in Cavendish, how storey book perfect is that?! Complete with photos of the couple walking along Lover's Lane. *sigh*

It was actually a freezing cold day (maybe one of the coldest all year), but the bride and groom were troopers, and we managed to get some amazing photos. It took us all about 24 hours to fully thaw out from being out in the cold all day, but it was worth it!

Here are some of my favourite images from the day:

A special thank you to Meredith and Ryan, the beautiful bride and groom.
Thanks to all the vendors who lent their talent and skills to this shoot:
Photography: Rachel Peters / Event planner: Kiss The Bride / Event designer: Modern Jane / Floral designer: Kelly’s Flower Shop / Invitation designer: Kim Roach Designs / Rentals: Coulson’s Used Furniture and Antique Shop / Cake designer: City View Bakehouse / Hair stylist: Cheryl Weeks / Makeup artist: Michelle Cudmore / Veils + headpiece: Love Charlie / DIY handmade goods: Northern Watters Knitwear / Bride’s dress: Mori Lee Blu
And a special thank you to Jewell from Parks Canada and Wayne Bernard and Bill Cameron the owner of the beautiful horse and sleigh.

Olympic Gold

2012-02-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

This past summer I had the opportunity to do makeup for Canadian Olympic gold medallist, Heather Moyse. This was the first and only time in my makeup career that I was nervous. Really nervous. And it's funny because Heather is the most down to earth, friendly person you could ever meet. I think it may have been because I went to high school with Heather (I'm a year older) and I was worried about the whole awkward do you remember me from high school kind of scenario... But it was all cool, and once I confessed my anxiety to Heather she laughed it off and thought it was funny/crazy for me to be nervous. She really is a sweet heart!

Heather won Olympic Gold for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics in the 2 person bobsled. A very proud moment for Canadians, and an especially exciting moment for Summerside, her hometown as well as mine!

So over the course of the days photo shoot I snapped a few fun pictures that I thought I'd share with you.

My makeup chair with Heather's bobsled helmut and a very shiny, beautiful gold medal!

Me wearing Heather's gold medal!!!! That medal is HEAVY!!! I was so excited, I felt like a kid in a candy store. And I also have to say that Heather is a natural, drop dead beautiful lady. I felt so lucky to work with her. And oh yeah, almost forgot to mention this, that girl is ripped, she needs to be on a Nike ad or something, seriously, her body is like a greek sculpture! A special thanks to Kenny Driscoll of Higher Design Media for booking me for this shoot and also for taking this special picture of Heather and I.

Later in the day we decided to head outside and wandered over to Spinnakers Landing. We thought it would be fun to take some shots of Heather on a Segway. And funny enough our gym teacher from high school, Emily Schurman, was the person giving Segway lessons that day. LOL, things like that happen in small towns :)

Thanks Heather and Higher Design Media, it was a fun day that will be remembered for a long time!

Birthstone Series - Amethyst Smoky Eye

2012-02-16T12:30:00.000-04:00

PRODUCTS USED:

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in Violet Ink
Ben Nye eye shadow in Amethyst
MAC Girlie
MAC Orb
MAC Carbon
MUFE Aqua Eye pencil in black
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
MAC brow pencil in Lingering
Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Med Ash
MAC Zoomlash mascara

Face
MUFE Mat Velvet +
MAC Omega
MAC Girlie

Lips
MUFE Aqua Lip in 15C
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics lip tar in Memo

Adele's 2012 Grammy Award Show Makeup Tutorial

2012-02-13T19:48:00.000-04:00

I love, Love, LOVE Adele! This makeup is an inspired look on her red carpet makeup from the 2012 Grammy Awards show. To watch my Youtube tutorial on this look, click HERE.

PRODUCTS USED:

Eyes
Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Eyeshadow in Malted
MAC Naked Lunch
MAC Wedge
MAC Shroom
MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
MAC Carbon
MAC Zoomlash mascara
MAC Lingering brow pencil
Anastasia Med Ash Brow Powder Duo

Face
MUFE Mat Velvet +
Graftobian Powder
MAC Omega
MAC Cubic

Lips
MAC Cherry lip pencil
YSL lipstick in no. 1

Red & Pink Valentine's Day Makeup

2012-02-08T11:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Hugs & kisses from me to each and everyone of you! I hope you all get lot's of love from your family, friends and loved ones this year.

Here is my dramatic red and pink Valentine's Day makeup tutorial. You can watch my step by step youtube video here .

PRODUCTS USED:

EYES
Bobbi Brown cream eyeshadow in Malted
Barry M pigment in hot pink
Ben Nye Azalea
MAC Carbon
MAC Vanilla pigment
Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes pencil in Black
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
MAC Zoomlash mascara
MAC false lashes
MAC brow pencil in Lingering

FACE
Bobbi Brown corrector in Light Peach
Graftobian corrector in Green
MUFE Mat Velvet + foundation
Graftobian powder
Nars bronzer in Laguna
Nars blush in Desire
MAC Naked Lunch as a highlighter

LIPS
YSL lipstick
Graftobian Powder

YSL Vinyl Candy Palette Makeup Tutorial

2012-01-19T10:41:00.000-04:00

Yves Saint Laurent's spring 2012 collection was recently released and I instantly feel in love with this Vinyl Candy Palette. I love the case, the colours...I just had to have it!

So this is my first creation with this palette:

To see my youtube tutorial for this look click here

Products used:
EYES
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Bobbi Brown Malted Cream Shadow
YSL Vinyl Candy Palette
MAC Blacktrack fluidline
MAC Zoomlash mascara
MAC Smoulder eye kohl
Eylure lashes in Cheryl Cole
Anastasia Brow Powder

FACE
MUFE Mat Velvet +
MAC Golden Bronzer
MAC All That Glitters

LIPS
Bobbi Brown gloss

Favorite Beauty Products of 2011

2012-01-16T20:11:00.000-04:00

My 2011 Favorite Beauty Products

Favorite Shampoo & Conditioner: Pureology Hydrate

Favorite Hair Product: Moroccan Oil

Favorite Hair Spray: Redken 18

Favorite Styling Tool: Jose Eber curling iron

Favorite Hair Accessory: Love Charlie

Favorite Cleanser: Yonka Cleansing Milk

Favorite Moisturizer: Yonka Elastine Nuit

Favorite Lip Balm: Blistex Daily Conditioning Treatment

Favorite Foundation: Make Up For Ever's HD, Mat Velvet + and Face & Body

Favorite Powder: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

Favorite Eye Primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance & Urban Decay Primer Potion

Favorite Eyeshadow Palette: Urban Decay Naked Palette

Favorite Eyeliner Pencil: MAC Teddy & Urban Decay 24/7 in Zero

Favorite Eyelash Curler: Shu Uemura

Favorite Mascara: d.j.v. Beautinizer Fiberwig LX

Favorite Blush: Ben Nye

Favorite Contour Powder: MAC Omega Eyeshadow

Favorite Lip Pencil: MAC Subculture

Favorite Lipstick: Any Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick

Favorite Perfume: Chanel Chance & Chanel Allure

Tangerine Tango Eye Makeup

2012-01-15T21:28:00.000-04:00

Orange is a fun and vibrant colour that is said to stimulate enthusiasm and creativity. So when Pantone announced the colour of 2012 is Tangerine Tango, I was pumped to create a makeup look based around this colour.

And I really wanted to focus the orange on an eye look because orange looks so amazing on blue eyes, it really makes those baby blues pop!

And this is what I came up with:

Products Used:

EYES

MAC Painterly Paint Pot

MAC Rule

MAC Antiqued

MAC Carbon

MAC Rice Paper

MAC Blacktrack Fluidline

Urban Decay 24/7 Zero

MAC Zoomlash

MAC Lingering

Eylure lashes in Cheryl

FACE

MUFE Mat Velvet +

Graftobian powder

MAC Omega

MAC Gingerly

LIPS

MUFE Rouge Artist Intense #23

Face Atelier Peach lip glaze

Check out my youtube tutorial on this look.

Birthstone Series - Garnet Makeup

2012-01-04T21:34:00.001-04:00

I'm starting a "Birthstone Series" for the year 2012, and for every month of the year I'll be doing a tutorial with the corresponding birthstone of the month. Fun right!? So for the month of January the stone/makeup look is garnet. This is how it turned out:

List of products"

EYES

Urban Decay Primer Potion
Make Up For Ever Flash Palette, Red
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Cottage Cheese
GOSH pigment in 14 Fox
MAC Beauty Marked
MAC Bamboo
MAC Shroom
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Zero
MAC Zoomlash
MAC Charcoal Brown
MAC #2 lashes

FACE

MUFE HD Foundation in 120
MAC Golden Bronzer

LIPS

MUFE lip pencil in 3C
Bobbi Brown lipstick in Natural Beige

To watch my tutorial on youtube click here

Guilt Free Bonbons?

2011-12-28T13:44:00.000-04:00

If your New Year's Resolution is to focus on your health, then you may fall in love with this guiltless pleasure.

Makeup artist Vincent Longo has launched a new holiday gift set called the Amaretti Diamond Collection. It's the ultimate in "eye candy" ;)

The 4 baked shadows in this quad are:

midnight blue fudge topped with
silver and  sapphire pearl frosting 

velvet vanilla crème treat
laced with silver sprinkles

rich chocolate brownie iced
with glistening gold

warm copperleaf cake topped
with silvery sugar crystals

Apply the shadows as you would normally, but you can intensify the colour by applying it with a slightly damp brush for the ultimate sultry smoky eye.

Pan Am Style Eyeliner with a Glittery Holiday Twist

2011-12-21T13:05:00.000-04:00

This makeup look is basically a simple add on to my recent Pan Am Inspired makeup tutorial that I posted to my youtube channel.

Click on the link if you'd like to watch my recent Pan Am Inspired Makeup tutorial

The only difference is that I added Lise Watier Eye Glitter Liner over top of my black liner, for a little extra holiday glimmer. Because the holidays are all about shimmer & glitter!!! ( I used the Black Diamond sample that I got in my November Luxe Box by Loose Button).

And here is how it turned out:

Golden Glittery Holiday Makeup

2011-12-21T12:33:00.000-04:00

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 120
Graftobian Powder
MAC Golden Bronzer
MAC Margin Blush
MAC Retrospec eyeshadow

EYES:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Espresso
MAC Bamboo
MAC Brule
Urban Decay gold eyeshadow from Book of Shadows 2
MAC Gold Glitter
MAC Retrospec
MAC Zoom lash mascara
MAC Wedge
MAC Teddy
MAC Defiantly Feline liquid liner

LIPS:

MAC Honeylove
Make Up For Ever Gold Flash Colour

The Simply Stylish PEI Makeover Team & How It Works

2011-12-17T10:54:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wished a team of beauty pros could swoop down from the sky and make you over from head to toe? Well now it can happen! Um, well maybe not the swooping from the sky part, but the make over part can definitely happen!

I have joined my makeup artist skills

(Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist)

with the amazingly talented Cheryl Weeks Hairstylist

and the equally talented Rachel Peters Photography.

So let me explain how the Simply Stylish PEI makeover works.

There are 6 easy steps to rediscovering your gorgeous self with the Simply Stylish PEI team.

Step One: You call us up and book a makeover (902-393-5112) or email simplystylishpei@gmail.com

Step Two: We arrive at your home on the planned date and take a before photo of you.

Step Three: Cheryl has a hair consultation with you. Then she creates a beautiful hairstyle to suit your needs. She also teaches you how to style your new do, and also goes through your hair products & tools and gives you recommendations on how to use them.

Step Four: We go to your closet. We determine your body shape with a mathematical analysis and tell you what style of clothing you should be wearing, and what you should be avoiding. And then we help you select an outfit for your photo shoot with Rachel.

Step Five: Once you're dressed you head to the makeup chair. After a makeup consultation, I'll create a makeup look for you. While I'm applying your makeup, I'll be teaching you how to do it as we go along. I'll also record the makeup to a face chart so you can keep it and refer back to it when you are doing it on your own. I'll also go through your makeup with you and tell you how to use it properly and what colours work for you and what colours don't.

Step Six: Strike a pose! It's picture time, and you will have nothing to worry about!!! Rachel will make you feel so relaxed. Honestly I know how it feels. I hate getting my picture taken, and I feel 100% more comfortable behind the scenes then I do in front of the camera. But when Rachel has taken my picture, I can truly say she makes me feel at ease and like I'm the most photogenic person in the world. And the great part about it, she makes every woman feel that way!

Your makeover is now complete! You'll have a new hairstyle, a new makeup look, you'll know what you should be wearing for your body shape, and you'll have the before and after photos of your magical transformation! Best of all, you'll be able to take what you've learned from us and create your new look for yourself every day!

Loose Button & Lancome Canada Contest

2011-12-06T15:22:00.000-04:00

Luxe Box by Loose Button & Lancome Canada have teamed up and put together a contest.

A special edition box filled with Lancome beauty products is what is up for grabs!

So here's how the contest works:
The top 25 voted best beauty bloggers/vloggers will win 2 of the special edition Lancome boxes. One to keep for themselves. The other to giveaway to one of there followers.

So here's how to vote:

Go to the Loose Button Facebook page
It will direct you to "like" the Lancome Canada Page
Then fill in your name, and email address. Hit the vote now button, then vote for your favourite beauty blogger/vlogger.
My logo is Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist (I'm about in the middle of the pack right now). I appreciate all your votes! Seriously I think it would be so cool for a little makeup artist in the smallest province in Canada to win a nation wide contest!!!!!
You can vote every day, so if you can remember to vote for me I'd be thrilled :)

Contest closes Dec 9, so there's only 3 days left to vote!

Thanks to all my supporters, and to everyone who voted! You ROCK!!!!

Best & Worst of IMATS Toronto 2011

2011-11-16T15:45:00.000-04:00

I'm all unpacked, and my new makeup purchases are all organized and put into their "new home" inside my kit. Here is a quick snapshot of my new goodies...

Overall, the show was a success for me. I learned new tips and tricks as well as finding lots of new products. But like every show, there are some really great highlights and some major misses.

So here are my thoughts on the Best & Worst at IMATS Toronto:

BEST BOOTH FOR PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP ARTISTS:

Alcone

WORST LINEUP:

this one is tied...

Make Up For Ever - I waited almost an hour and a half in lineup at this booth on Saturday morning!!!!!
NYX - I didn't purchase anything at this booth but the lineup was ridiculous! It was half the length of the trade show floor! It really made getting around that area, to the other booths, nearly impossible to pass through.

FRIENDLIEST BOOTH:

Velour Lashes - Angela and Mabel are the sweetest girls and just so friendly. It was a pleasure meeting them!

MOST ENTHUSIASTIC VENDOR:

Harry at the Grande Lash MD, this guy danced the WHOLE show! He IS the Energizer Bunny!

BEST SURPRISE:

MAC was actually selling product at the show this year! Last year they didn't have any product, they were just taking info for pro cards. So this was a nice change this year.

MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOTH:

The Student Competition Stage. I could stand there all day and watch those artists create masterpieces. I love it!

BEST SPEAKER:

Floraine David with Make Up For Ever. This lady is crazy talented and my heart was beating like crazy just watching her! She was so inspiring, and I just loved her work.

THE BIGGEST MISS:

I really wish this show was for industry professionals only. Even if Saturday was pro only and then Sunday was open to the public. I think the quality of the show would be so much better. Then the seminars on the Saturday could be more focused and intense for the pros, and the Sunday seminars could be more generic for the public. I really hope that IMATS will someday move towards focusing more on the professional artists. Here's hoping anyway!

Two Tone Pink Makeup

2011-11-08T13:02:00.000-04:00

Products Used:

FACE
Foundation - Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Warm Ivory & Honey
Graftobian - HD Pro Powder
NARS - Desire blush

EYES
Bobbi Brown - Long Wear Cream Shadow in Malted 17
MAC - Girlie
MAC - Cranberry
MAC - Naked Lunch
Urban Decay - 24/7 pencil in Zero
MAC - Carbon
MAC - Charcoal Brown
Fairy Drops mascara
Eyelure lashes

LIPS
MAC - Cherry lip Pencil
Make Up For Ever - Rouge Artist Intense #36
Barry M - Dazzle Dust in 85

My 2011 Halloween Costume

2011-10-30T10:45:00.000-03:00

When I was a little girl, I loved watching Mr. Dress Up on television every weekday morning. Canadians of a certain age, I know you're with me on this. But for those of you who don't know who Mr. Dress Up was, he's a man who lived with a puppet Casey and his puppet dog Finnegan. Yes it sounds a bit strange, but believe me, it worked. Anyhow, what I loved most about Mr Dress Up was his tickle trunk. Again, I know it sounds weird, but stay with me here. So he had this trunk full of costumes, and every day he would dress up in a different costume - and I loved it!!!

So my Mom started her own tickle trunk in our basement when we were young. In it was a crazy mix of her old clothes from the 60's, her old wigs (my Mom wore wigs in the 60's), some homemade costumes, and those terrible face masks with the eyes cut out of them.

So long story short, I credit Mr Dress Up for my undying love of Halloween. It's the one day a year that's ok to dress up in crazy costumes. And now I have my very own tickle trunk (minus the yucky, sweaty face masks) full of wigs (some of them I inherited from my Mom) and costumes. And my kids, although they have no idea who Mr Dress Up is, love going through my tickle trunk, trying on all the costumes and wigs.

Now my husband, he's not anti Halloween, but he's just kinda neutral on the whole thing. The very first year we were together I made him a blue lego man costume. And he was a good sport and humoured me by wearing it. I wish I knew where the pictures are, he probably threw them out! Any way, his go to Halloween costume is Captain Jack Sparrow. He was Captain Jack last year and he wanted to be Captain Jack again this year so I decided to go along with him this year and I dressed up as Angelica from On Stranger Tides (the Penelope Cruz character). In terms of makeup difficulty it was super easy. Just a dark smoky eye and nude lip. I wore Velour Lashes in Are Those Real. If it wear up to me I would have picked a more elaborate makeup based look that no one would even recognize me, but it's sometimes fun to dress up in matching couple costumes.

So here we are all dressed up for the Halloween party we were going to. LOL, he's trying to make a pirate face ;)

Did you dress up last night? What were your costumes?

Black Wedding Dresses

2011-10-18T22:59:00.000-03:00

Vera Wang has designed some amazingly beautiful, BLACK wedding dresses for her 2012 collection. Yes, I did say black. Black wedding dresses. hmmmmm. What do you think? Would you wear a black wedding dress? I think they are gorgeous, and black is so much easier to wear then white. I'd be willing to jump into a black wedding dress, but I'm not sure how many brides out there would dare to wear black. Sarah Jessica Parker did back in 1997 when she got married. God, she's always ahead of the curve isn't she!

Here are some pics of Vera Wang's 2012 wedding dress collection. And tell me if you would honestly wear a black wedding dress! I want to know!!!

Glow in the Dark Makeup

2011-10-18T10:34:00.000-03:00

Glow in the Dark Makeup, yup, that's right, and just in time to get your spook on for Halloween.

Make Up For Ever has recently released a new product called Fluo Night Black Light Pigment! ($31US for .10oz jar)

It's a transparent powder that will glow when exposed to UV light! It can be worn alone on the face or body or you can mix it in to any product (like lipstick or gel eyeliners) to create very cool effects! If you are a club kinda girl this would be so much fun. I'm not a club kinda girl any more, BUT I think this would be so fun to wear glow bowling! Especially since no one would be expecting it! My daughters are wanting this big time!!!

But if your not the glow in dark face kind of person either, you could always try the new glow in the dark nail polishes that are out right now. At Shoppers Drug Mart and Wlamart you can get glow in the dark polish by Wet n' Wild for a decent price. Or you can try the OPI Spookettes line which I have and love!

Kids Halloween Makeup

2011-10-14T12:36:00.000-03:00

Hey Guys!

Here are my kids Halloween looks from 2010. I've been busy doing adult Halloween makeup and my daughter's won't take it any more!

So starting tonight I'm going to be doing a new series of kid's Halloween makeup tutorials. But until that's ready to go, I'll show you last years :)

And as every parent out there who has attempted to do Halloween makeup on their kids knows - kids don't like to sit still, at all. So the name of the game is fast application, not perfection.

Avatar

Queen of Hearts

Frankenstein

vampire

mummy (this one cracks me up!)

zombie

vampire

Ms Spider

Dead Bride

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Halloween

2011-10-13T20:28:00.000-03:00

OK, so I think it's a given that you all know how much I love Halloween. Favourite day ever!!! So no surprise that when I was at Shoppers Drug Mart today and spotted these Sally Hansen Salon Effects Halloween, that I totally flipped out! I'm loving them!!!

I bought these two for myself :)

But there are 5 patterns to choose from:

How cute are these little ghosties!?

Tokyo Lash Bar by Shu Uemura

2011-10-13T11:07:00.000-03:00

Shu Uemura has created some wild eyes for their 2011 Tokyo Lash Bar. Their inspiration was tribal and the results - are some pretty amazing and unique lashes!

Shu Uemura describes the lash line as:
"an expert in the art of false eyelashes, shu uemura's tokyo lash bar has established itself to be a hot and trendy beauty staple internationally.

“ethnocolor-scope” features the beauty of intricate decorations inspired by artistic handicrafts. fashion your own eye décor just as traditional people once weaved and created their own exquisite crafts."

Tribal Patch $36

Green Folklore

Ethnic Charm

Oriental Arch $36

And these little ones are Mini Fancy Bonbon $32

Urban Decay Glitter Body Art

2011-10-05T19:08:00.000-03:00

I have one word to describe Urban Decay's Glitter Body Art - LOVE

Yes, I love, love, love their GLITTER BODY ART.

To make myself clear....

Glitter + Body Art = Love

So beautiful!!!

This is what the kit looks like. It comes with 5 beautiful shades of glitter, a Starlight glitter glue, a fan brush and...

and these peel and stick stencils.

The back of the box show some samples of what the glitter tattoos look like.

The kit costs $35 US.

Stick On Makeup

2011-10-04T20:52:00.000-03:00

Who came up with this stick on makeup trend? I'm not sure who came out with it first,, I think it was the eyeshadow stickers. What do you think of the trend? Do you like the stick on makeup? I think some of it is good, and some...not so good.

Stick on eyeshadow.

I think sometimes good...sometimes not so good. Can be a total hit or a major miss!

The stick on nail polish...I say amazing! Thank you Sally Hansen! (and other brands)

Stick on eyeliners by Dior.

I'd like to try these out. I like the concept. I think it could be great for those who struggle with their eyeliner. But does it stick on well enough, and how long does it last? Is it hard to get off? I'd like to research these more for sure.

OK, so I think these are the most out there of all the press on/stick on makeup. Stick on lips. I think these are awesome if you need a cool looking close up lip shot on a photo shoot. But in real life, I think a lot of the patterns would look really odd at a distance.... BUT if you're the type who likes to push the boundaries in makeup, then I think these are great. Totally depends on your makeup personality!

Have your tried any of these trends or which ones would you like to try? Let me know what you think!

Think Pink

2011-10-02T13:32:00.000-03:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. And one of the easiest ways to help support the cause is to purchase Think Pink products.

Here are some of my favourite Think Pink beauty products:

OPI has released this beautiful Pink Shatter nail polish.

Etsee Lauder has a limited-availabilty Pink Ribbon collection.

Clinique key ring with 3 shades of pink lipgloss. $6 for each sold will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Aveda will donate $4 for each bottle of hand relief sold to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Bobbi Brown will donate $10 from each lip set sold to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Essie in Raise Awareness. Essie will donate a portion of the profits to Living Beyond Breast Cancer.

Sephora has a large selection of Breast Cancer Awareness products for sale. Sephora will donate $1 from every pink eyelash curler sold.

Sultra (they have AMAZING hair styling tools) will donate $1 from each iron sold to the Susan G Komen for the Cure.

Origins will donate $5 from every jar sold to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

A PEI Princess Fairytale Wedding

2011-09-14T15:43:00.000-03:00

When the newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced that they were planning on visiting PEI during their North American tour, myself and a group of incredibly talented wedding vendors decided to create a princess themed styled wedding shoot for the occasion.

We were so excited about their visit to PEI! We worked like crazy to pull the shoot all together, and it's just been featured in Wedding Bells. :)

A big thanks to all the hard working, incredibly talented ladies involved in this shoot:

Photographer – Rachel Peters of Rachel Peters Photography (www.blogbyrachel.com)

Decor – Cheryl Jabbour of 5 Design (www.fivedesign.ca)

Stationary – Kim Roach of Kim Roach Design (www.kimroach.ca)

Cake – Jennifer Prinz of City View Bakehouse (www.cityviewbakehouse.com)

Makeup – Michelle Cudmore of Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist (www.peimakeupartist.com)

Hair – Cheryl Weeks

Flowers – Hearts and Flowers (www.heartsandflowers.ca)

Jewellery and Accessories – Love Charlie (www.lovecharlie.ca)

Bride’s clothing – Repeats (www.repeats.ca

Groom’s clothing – Green Man Vintage and Vinyl

The Muppet Show Cast Your Shadow Face Palette

2011-09-13T14:36:00.000-03:00

Woohoo!!!! I just got my limited edition Cast Your Shadow Face Palette by theBalm!!! I'm super excited!!!

The colours are fun, gorgeous, nicely pigmented and I'm loving it.

The palette features 16 eye shadows, with fun names like wocka wocks, meep meep and Hiii-Yaaa! 2 lip/cheek stains and 1 lip gloss.

The palette costs $44.50 US dollars plus taxes and shipping.

I purchased 2 palettes in the pre-order, only a limited number will be for sale. I was one of the lucky 100 people who got to pre-order it! Now I need to figure out if I should gift it to a friend...or do a giveaway....

Lady Gaga With No Makeup

2011-09-08T14:13:00.000-03:00

I love Lady Gaga, and I think I love her even more after seeing these beautiful photos taken by Inez van Lamweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Haper's Bazaar 's October 2011 issue. I think she looks so shockingly beautiful without all the typical makeup that she usually wears. What do you think?

The Muppets's Take... OPI ?!

2011-08-24T08:19:00.000-03:00

"It's time to put on makeup

It's time to dress up right

It's time to get things started

On the most sensational,

celebrational, muppetational

This is what we call the muppet show!"

The muppet's are hot this season. And I have to tell you, that makes me smile. I love the muppet show. I loved them as a kid and I still love them now. And that is why I'm super excited that this November OPI is launching a limited edition Muppet's collection.

This is the first time I can honestly say, I'm really looking forward to November! I just can not wait to get my hands on these polishes! I love the Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Warm and Fozzie, Getting Miss Piggy With It, and Meep-Meep-Meep. What do you think of this OPI collection?

September Glymm Box Giveaway!!!

2011-08-23T16:59:00.006-03:00

It's giveaway time again :) This time I'm giving away a Glymm Box for September. Have you heard about Glymm Box yet? If you haven't here is a little info on the company...

Glymm delivers beauty in a box

Glymm.com is the only Canadian company to offer an exciting beauty Glymm Box subscription, full shop-in-shop Boutique and an awesome fashion, beauty and lifestyle Community.

For only $10/month or $110/year, Glymm will lovingly curate, package and send a Glymm Box directly to your doorstep every month! An instant frown-reverser, you will be delighted to open your adorable little beauty box that is filled to the brim with 4-5 deluxe-sized, luxury beauty samples. The samples that you receive are hand-selected by Glymm’s panel of Experts according to your personal Beauty Profile. So far, the brands that Glymm promises are sure to delight; showcasing luxury, niche, and emerging brands such as Cargo, OPI, Stila, NARS, Gucci and Lise Watier.

Once you have tried the products in the comfort of your own home (without any pushy sales folk), you can continue your Glymm experience by accessing the Beauty Boutique and purchasing the full size versions of your samples. As a bonus, Glymm even offers Glymm Points! Super easy to rack up, Glymm Points can be traded in for savings towards purchases in the Boutique. You can also express your opinions through monthly product reviews, ask their Beauty Experts questions, stay up to date on the current trends, makeup do’s and don’ts and learn tips and tricks you may not have tried before!

It’s only been a month since Glymm.com opened its online doors to the public, and within two weeks the first Glymm Box sold out at record speed! Since limited membership spaces are available, make sure you order your Glymm Box today! If you would like to join Glymm Box click here

Sounds good right? Well now you have a chance to win a September box!!!

Here are the rules to enter the giveaway :

1. You must be a Canadian resident. (Currently Glymm only ships within Canada.)

2. You must "like" Glymm's facebook page

3. You must be subscribed to at least one of the following: my blog, or "like" my facebook page Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist, or subsribe to my youtube channel PEImakeupartist

4. Leave a comment below stating what your favourite beauty product is and why.

5. Only one comment per username :)

For a Bonus Entry:
Follow Glymm (http://twitter.com/glymmgirl) on Twitter and tweet both Glymm (@GlymmGirl) & myself (@PEImakeupartist) what beauty product you would like to see in future Glymm boxes.

Example: @GlymmGirl @PEImakeupartist MAC, FTW.

Be sure to have my twitter and Glymm's twitter in your tweet so I can keep track of who gets a bonus entry!

***CONTEST CLOSES MIDNIGHT (ATL TIME) AUGUST 31, 2011***

Smoky Couleur - Make Up For Ever

2011-08-23T11:40:00.000-03:00

I love the brand Make Up For Ever. I mean I really, really love their products. And I'm super excited about their new fall Smoky Couleur limited edition launch for fall 2011. In one palette you can create a blue, green, purple, brown or a classic black smoky eye.

Besides the palette of gorgeous smoky eye shadows, they are also offering 4 coloured mascaras called Smoky Lash Coulour in brown, green, blue and purple. But no smoky eye can be complete with out a smudged out liner, so Make Up For Ever has created 3 new eye kohl pencils in Pearly Deep Blue, Matte Mocha Brown, and Pearly Black Purple. I'm LOVING this!!!

Fall 2011 Makeup Trends

2011-08-18T17:47:00.000-03:00

I hate to say it, but I can feel the fall air moving in. And that has me thinking about what's trendy for makeup this fall.

The three major makeup trends that I have been seeing are:
1. feline shaped eyes with winged eye liner, which I adore.
2. colourful smokey eyes, which I adore.
3. and bold, bright red lips, again which I adore.
Bottom line, I think I'm going to have a lot of fun this fall!

Red Lips

Bold glossy red at MAC

Estee Lauder featuring bold red matte lips

Colourful Smokey Eye Shadows

Chanel's smokey gray eye look with their new Illusions D'Ombres

Dior's blue smokey eye for fall. And I love the blue nail polish too!

Yves Saint Laurent Fall 2011 smokey eye. I think I'm in love with this ad!

NARS is focusing on the colour blue but with a feline, winged out shape

Feline Eyes

NARS makes the feline eye look ultra sexy!

Lancome doing the bold red lip plus the feline shaped eye liner. Love it!

Who's on board for the fall 2011 trends? Are you loving or loathing them?

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! Win an August Luxe Box by Loose Button

2011-08-12T10:44:00.000-03:00

It's Contest time!!!! :) I am giving away ONE August Luxe Box by Loose Button to one of my lucky subscribers !

If you don't know about Loose Button yet, here is some info on them from there website:

"At Loose Button, our mission is to help customers discover, try and purchase quality beauty products through a unique shopping experience. Our team comprises of talented individuals who bring a diverse set of experiences from the fashion, publishing, retail, social media and technology industries. We are passionate about creating great experiences, and have been recently featured on Flare , Globe & Mail and National Post for our work.

Our service, Luxe Box, is an exciting and new subscription service that allows members to try beauty products in the comfort of their own home before buying them full-sized. Members receive 3-5 hand-picked deluxe sized products in a chic box every month, delivered to an address of their choice. Members also get exclusive access to beauty tips and tutorials that teach them how to make the most out of their products."

How to Enter:

***HOW TO ENTER ON YOUTUBE***

1. You must be Subscribed to my Youtube channel PEImakeupartist (just click the subscribe button at the top of the video)
2. Post a comment to this video, wherein you answer the question "When do you feel most beautiful?"
- 1 comment entry per person only

***HOW TO ENTER ON FACEBOOK***

Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist

1. "Like" my Page
2. Leave a comment under this video posting on my wall, in response to the question "When do you feel most beautiful?"

***HOW TO ENTER ON TWITTER***

PEImakeupartist
1. You must follow me on Twitter.
2. You must copy, paste and tweet the following sentence in its entirety from your Twitter account:

Follow @PEImakeupartist and RT to enter in the August Luxe Box by Loose Button Giveaway #PEImakeupartist. Full Rules and details: http://www.michellemakeupartist.blogspot.com/

You must include the hashtag so I can keep record of your tweets.

***HOW TO ENTER ON MY BLOG***

PEI Makeup Artist

1. You must follow my blog (click the follow this blog button on the side bar, just above the place where all the little square pics of people who are already following :)

2. Leave a comment under the Giveaway Contest post in response to the question "When do you feel most beautiful?"

THE CONTEST IS OPEN WORLDWIDE! Contest ends August 22, 2011 (midnight, Atlantic time.) You can enter the contest in each of the 4 ways listed above (Youtube, facebook, twitter and my blog) to increase your chances, . If you're under the age of 18, please ask parents' permission prior to entering. The one lucky winner will be announced on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 on my Youtube channel.

Disclaimer: I am not being paid for this video. The August Luxe Box has been provided by Loose Button.

Turquoise - My Favourite Colour

2011-08-09T10:35:00.000-03:00

I've talked about some of my favourite summer colours in a few previous posts, and today I want to post about my favourite colour of all, no matter what the season...Turquoise!

I love turquoise nail polish, and there are lots to chose from out there, from high end to drug store finds :)

An easy way to incorporate turquoise into your makeup look is to use it as a colourful eye liner. I think Make Up For Ever did a fantastic job with their Aqua Liner ads:

Make Up For Ever

I love this look with the fuchsia lips

Make Up For Ever

One of my favourite turquoise eye shadows is Birds and Berries, a limited edition colour by MAC

If you missed out in that eyeshadow, you could always try Make Up For Ever's Aqua Cream in turquoise:

I also love turquoise jewelry, but I find that it can either be gorgeous or gaudy, so you have to be careful on what you choose and what you pair it with. I love this ring I found on Haute Look:

Do you remember Cameron Diaz wearing turquoise jewelry on the red carpet? I loved that look on her so much. Turquoise looks so stunning paired with her fuchsia and plum colours.

How do you wear turquoise?

Road Trip To Halifax This Friday Anyone?

2011-08-09T08:44:00.000-03:00

Who wants to go to Halifax this weekend???? I sure do, want to know why? Because.....wait for it.....

Friday is the

of the Halifax

SEPHORA

Woohoo!!!!!!

And what would I be buying, if I were going? Well I would definitely check out this new mascara from Japan called Fairy Drops. Have you tried this mascara yet? I love all Japanese eye related products so I can't wait to try this mascara.

I would also check out this new tint by Benefit:

And if I was looking for an eyeshadow palette, not that I need one, I would be scooping up the new Urban Decay palette:

What's on your Sephora wish list?

A Chance to Win August's Luxe Box by Loose Button!!!

2011-07-27T22:16:00.001-03:00

OK my fellow beauty junkies, Luxe Box by Loose Button has 3 extra boxes for August and they're doing a special giveaway to beauty bloggers and vloggers. The August box will then be given away to one of that blogger/vlogger's followers!!! That means if you're a subscriber to my blog or youtube channel then you'll have a chance to win August's box. You just have to help me win, so then I can do the give away to one of my lucky subscribers :)

If you haven't heard about Luxe Box by Loose Button you can check out my video on July's box here.

Here is what you need to do:
Step 1: Subscribe to my youtube channel here and my blog too!
Step 2: Like the Loose Button Page on Face Book here
Step 3: Hit the Like button on my comment here(I'm about the 23rd post down, I'm listed as Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist) The person with the most amount of likes will be given the August box to giveaway to one of her subscribers :)

Get your "likes" going now!!! The contest ends on Friday, July 29, 2011 at 3pm EST time. I really want one of you to get this box!!!!!

Crazy About Corals!

2011-07-21T11:16:00.001-03:00

Coral is another one of my favourite summertime shades. It's easier to wear then other bright summer colours, probably because it looks flattering on most skin tones. And to me, nothing compliments a tan like wearing some coral!

If you're timid about injecting colour into your life, the easiest place to start is on your nails! There are lots of coral shades out there, I like this one from Essie called California Coral.

I also love wearing coral makeup, and there are sooooo many products to choose from. I would never suggest to wear all these coral shades at once! But pick one, maybe 2 products, to create a beautiful summer makeup look.

These two products are from the MAC Surf Baby Collection. A super easy way to add some coral into your makeup look is by using a coral blush and lipstick for a fun summer look. If you were to go with coral lips and cheeks then I would keep your eye makeup to a minimum. Maybe sweep a little golden coloured eyeshadow on your lids, lots of black mascara and you're good to go!

And for the more adventurous makeup lovers out there, try a coral coloured eye makeup look. One of my favourite coral eyeshadows is Paradisco by MAC. I find you really need a good base before you apply the shadow to really get a good colour payoff, but it's worth the extra step. I use this colour on the lid, and then use a golden brown like MAC's Cork or Soba to blend into the crease. A golden liquid liner with this eyeshadow would be fun, but you could also use a brown too.

And if you're looking for some cool coral kicks, I'm really loving these shoes from JCrew. I want them so bad!!!!!!!

Who's up for coral this summer?

Summer's Are For Yellow

2011-07-20T21:23:00.001-03:00

I'm loving the colour yellow right now. It's one of my favourite summertime colours.

One of the easiest ways to wear a bright sunny yellow is simply painting your nails, like this one from Chanel.

For the more adventurous you could try a yellow eyeshadow like these ones from MAC. I like to apply the bright yellow over the lid and blend slightly into the crease. Apply the blackest of black mascara. And depending on how dramatic you want you could leave it at that or add some black liner.

Or you could try injecting some yellow to your wardrobe basics with these sunny shorts from J Crew:

What do you think? Are you loving yellow as much as me?

July/11 Luxe Box by Loose Button

2011-07-19T10:21:00.000-03:00

Have you heard about Luxe Box by Loose Button? Well, in case you haven't heard, it's a Canadian company that you can subscribe to and each month they send you a beautiful package of 4-5 luxury sized beauty samples. I got my first box last week. if you'd like to watch me opening the box you can click here!

When you first subscribe to Loose Button you fill out a profile for yourself so your box is customized to your preferences, which I really like, so not everyone's boxes are exactly a like.

Here is what my box for July looks like:

And they also include a little card that describes each of the products as well as the retail value.

And here are the goodies :)

Stella in Two Peony Fragrance - OMG!!! I LOVE this fragrance. I will be buying this in full size for sure. Not only do I love it, but my husband loves it too! It's like a man magnet :)

Proclaim Hair Oli Treatment - I had never heard of this brand before. It's an argan oil treatment. Smells heavenly! And so far I really like it in my hair.

Essie Nail polish - my colour is called In Stitches, it's a dusty rose kind of colour. The colour is a bit "mature" for my tastes, so I think I may pass it along to my mom!

Trucco eye pencil. I love the shade of this pencil, it's texture is soft, but not as soft and smudgeable as Urban Decay's 24/7 pencil. I also have found it to be a bit crumbly when applying. Bottom line on this product, I'll use it, but probably wouldn't repurchase.

I'm looking forward to August's box already!!!

Too Faced - Eye Love Palette

2011-07-18T16:23:00.000-03:00

I recently purchased (with my Sephora VIB points) my very first Too Faced eyeshadow palette. The palette is called Eye Love, and it has 8 eye shadows and a mini tube of Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

The palette is divided into 4 individual looks: Natural Eye, Smokey Eye, Naked Eye, and Romantic Eye.

The Shadow Insurance is great, very similar to Urban Decay's Primer Potion.

My thoughts: The colours are beautiful and have great pigmentation. There are 3 matte shades and the other 5 are very shimmery/frosty. If you don't like frosty shadows, then this palette may be a miss for you. But I really like that there is a mix of matte and shimmer shadows to choose from. The palette also has a how to for each eye look, which is nice for beginners. But don't limit yourself to those combinations. A lot of these colours mix well together. And mix the finishes too, an all shimmery look can be a bit too much, so combine a shimmery shadow with a matte for a more glamorous look. I also think this would be a great little palette to travel with, it's compact and has a great range of colours.

Here are some eye looks I created with the palette:

The Smokey Eye

The Romantic Eye

Sephora Purchases for July/11

2011-07-14T16:05:00.000-03:00

Some of my favourite days are when my long awaited purchases finally arrive at my door, and this month's July order took way longer then normal. Thank's Canada Post! Oh, well, at least it arrived :)

Here are some of the samples that were included in my order:

And I had 500 Sephora points that I redeemed for this Too Faced eyeshadow palette plus a mini tube of Too Faced Eye Shadow Insurance:

The palette comes with how-to instructions. I think this little beauty would be perfect for travelling. It's really compact so it won't take up a lot of room in your luggage. But it has a range of colours that are good for day and evening looks.

And finally here are my actual purchases from Tarte Cosmetics:

These cheek stains are GOREGOUS!!! The one on the left is called Blusing Bride, and it is not at all as scary dark as it appears. It's absolutely stunning on. And so is the shade on the right, which is called Blissful.

And these are Tarte's lip stains in Enchanted and Charmed.

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Palette

2011-07-12T16:01:00.001-03:00

On July 12 (today!) Urban Decay is releasing a limited edition 15 colour eyeshadow palette.

Check this beauty out!

photo by temptalia

I have one of the Book of Shadows by Urban Decay, and I love it. All of Urban Decay palettes tend to sell really well. I'm still trying to get my hands on their Naked palette. I think I might as well give up on that one :(

I'm not sure if I'll be purchasing this one, because I have a lot on my wish list right now. But is you're interested you can purchase this beautiful palette on the Urban Decay website, Sephora or Ulta. If you get one, let me know what you think of it!

The Royal Visit: What Kate Middleton Is Wearing In Ottawa, Canada

2011-07-02T12:51:00.002-03:00

The Royals are in Canada! And I don't know about you, but I've been dying to see what Kate is wearing during her visit to our wonderful country. Especially during her visit to my home province, PEI - in only 1 more day!!!

Here she is on June 30, 2011 leaving London at the Heathrow Airport. So classy, makes me think that sporting Lululemon on transatlantic flights just doesn't cut it :) The blazer is by Smythe, a Canadian designer!

photo by Keystone Press

I don't know about you, but I so wish this is how I look when I step off a plane! (not even close) I absolutely love this dress by Erdem!

photo by Getty Images

Here she is on Canada Day, July 1st. This is my favourite look that she wore, I'm in love with her red maple leafesque hat custom made by Sylvia Fletcher at Locke & Co. Apparently she's wearing matching red shoes. And her maple leaf brooch is borrowed from the Queen.

photo by Getty Images

And here she is last night in Ottawa wearing a royal purple frock from Issa London, the Queen's maple leaf brooch and black Prada pumps.

photo by Keystone

Only one more sleep till she arrives in Charlottetown, PEI - I hope I can catch a glimpse of them!!!

Happy Canada Day!

2011-06-30T11:42:00.000-03:00

Happy Canada Day!

Have a fun, and safe long weekend!

PEI Wedding featured on Style Me Pretty!

2011-06-23T16:19:00.000-03:00

This is one of the most exciting things to happen to me as a professional makeup artist! I recently worked on a PEI styled wedding shoot, with some amazing PEI bridal vendors. And today our PEI styled wedding is featured on the destination wedding page of Style Me Pretty!!!!!!! **SCREAM**

OMG OMG OMG OMG I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Please take a look at our shoot on the Style Me Pretty website (just click on the Style Me Pretty) and don't forget to post some comments on the Style Me Pretty website too!!!! Let the world know how much we love PEI!!!

And a special thanks to the amazing, talented PEI wedding vendors who made this shoot possible:
Rachel Peters of Rachel Peters Photography
Jennifer Clark of Kiss The Bride
Jennifer Prinz of City View Bakehouse
Allan of Hearts and Flowers
Hair stylist Cheryl Delany Weeks
Kim Roach of Kim Roach Design
Cheryl Jabour of Five Design
Love Charlie
The Green Man - Vintage and Vinyl
And of course a special thanks to Laura Jane and Cameron, our bride and groom!

Prom Makeup 2011

2011-06-22T16:01:00.000-03:00

Tonight is graduation night for Colonel Gray High School and last week I had the pleasure of doing makeup for quite a few girls going to the 2011 prom.

Lindsey is one of the girls I applied makeup for on prom night last week. I've known Lindsey for a few years because she would often babysit my two daughters - and my girls absolutely love her! Lindsey is not only drop dead gorgeous but she is absolutely beautiful inside and out! So I was so excited when she booked me to do her makeup!

So here is a picture of Lindsey on prom night:

Best of luck to you Lindsey and I hope you have a wonderful grad night tonight!

(And if I did your makeup for prom night last week, please email me your pictures and I'll post them on my facebook page!)

Nautical Photo Shoot

2011-06-21T14:27:00.001-03:00

I recently did makeup for Amanda, she was getting some photos taken by the talented Rachel Peters of Rachel Peters Photography.

Amanda wanted to have her pictures taken on her favourite summer location - her family boat. And although the weather wasn't cooperating on the day of the shoot, it was rainy and windy and cold, she still looked fantastic!

Nicole by OPI Nail Apps

2011-06-13T15:18:00.000-03:00

I just tried out the Nicole by OPI Nail Apps this weekend and I thought I would share my thoughts on them with you.

But before I do that I need to give you some history. When I was in London about a month ago, a salesperson at Selfridges applied these nail polish strips and they were awesome. BUT, I didn't buy them because the salesperson was a total jerk. And now I am kicking my ass because after trying the Sally Hansen and now the OPI ones, the ones at Selfridges are way better, but I can't remember the brand name! GRRRRR!!!!! Anyone reading this from Britan, can you help me out??? Do you know what the brand name is???

I purchased the OPI Nail Apps in Argyle:

The flash from the camera blackened out the silver metallic parts to the apps...

Here is a better pic without a flash and minus the strips that I used to apply to my nails...

Ok, so here are my thoughts on the OPI Nail Apps.

The Good:
Super easy to apply
Funky designs to choose from
Easy to remove ( does not require nail polish remover, you just rub to warm them up and peel off from a corner)

The Not So Good:
I found these nail apps, thicker then the Sally Hansen ones so it felt more like a sticker then actual nail polish.
Like the Sally Hansen ones I found that the sizing of most them were too large for my nail beds so I had to trim down the sides, which was annoying
It really is only meant to last for one day, by the second day they were starting to lift around the edges and started to get caught in things.
They are more expensive then the Sally Hansen Nail Strips and the Sally Hansen has 2 sets in one package

Bottom Line: I would not repurchase the OPI Nail Apps unless it was a super cool design that I couldn't resist, but I would repurchase the Sally Hansen ones. And if I could ever find the ones that I found in Selfridges, I would definitely buy them this time!!!

Spread The Love

2011-06-10T16:02:00.000-03:00

Prom season has arrived! And next week there are 3 high school proms that are taking place in and outside of the city of Charlottetown. I have 6 prom makeup applications booked for both Thursday and Friday of next week. Busy busy busy!!!! I love to be busy :)

But my sister gave me a fantastic idea, and I took her idea and ran with it. She suggested I give a "deserving" high school student a free airbrush makeup application for prom (worth $50). I loved her idea so much that I went to both local high schools and offered a free makeup application to one lucky girl from both Colonel Gray High School and Charlottetown Rural. I put the selection process in the hands of the principals to choose who they thought were a deserving student - it could be based on high achievement, most improved, succeeded against all odds, or based on financial ability.

Honestly, I have to admit, it felt so incredibly good to spread a little good will and cheer into someone's day. And it made me feel so good to give back in this little way that I think I will make this an annual event :) !

I know how good it feels to spread the love, and I'm putting the challenge out to all my readers to spread the love, in small or big gestures, it doesn't matter. The happiness that it will give not only to others but also to you is AMAZING. I know I'll be spreading the love more often!

A Passion for Purple Eye Shadow

2011-06-06T15:12:00.001-03:00

I love colourful eye makeup, not a shocker eh?! I've gone on and on before about how much I love green eyeshadow, but purple is also right up there for me. It's easy to wear and is way more flattering on all eye colours then green shadow. It looks best on brown eyes but blue and green eyed girls can easily wear it too.

The weather here in PEI for June has been so rainy and yucky. And on days like this I can't help but reach for my brightest and boldest colours to inject some vibrancy to my life :)

Here is what I'm wearing today:

Eyeshadows used are from the Yaby Best of Both World's palette

What's your favourite rainy day/perk me up makeup colours? If this PEI weather doesn't improve soon, I may run out of colours!!!

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

2011-06-06T11:40:00.000-03:00

I haven't been to see the latest in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, but I have to admit I do enjoy the antics of Captain Jack Sparrow. Ok, I'll come out with it, I have a not so secret crush on Johnny Depp and I love pretty much every role he plays.

I even made my husband dress up like Captain Jack last Halloween (makeup done by me):

I don't know, but I think all guys look hot with a little black eyeliner. So rock n roll!

Lots of companies have jumped on the Pirates merchandising, and I've been pulled in by a couple of them.

I bought the OPI nail polish quad for the Pirates of the Caribbean:

The purple shade is my fav!

And this necklace from Swarovski form their limited edition Pirates of the Caribbean line:

Have you seen the movie yet? What do you think? Should I hit the theatres soon? I still haven't seen Bridesmaids yet...

PEI Food & Wine Show

2011-05-27T14:20:00.000-03:00

Excluding the people in my life that I love dearly, my next greatest love in life is makeup, and after that I would have to say it's food! OMG I love good food. And last night my husband and I went to the PEI Food & Wine Show at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Here I am, I chose my new Top Shop dress, no restrictive waistbands for tonight!

Every major restaurant on the Island had a booth there and they were serving the most delicious and innovative food that only master chefs could create. I'm not sure exactly how many restaurant booths were there, but I can tell you we ate at almost every one of them, and I've never been so full in all my life! I'm talking Christmas dinner full people.

And my favourite booths, with the most amazing culinary delights were..... drumroll....
(in no particular order)...

The Culinary Institute! They served lobster and goat cheese wrapped in smoked salmon with a little syringe of wine that you squirt as you pop it into your mouth! YUMMMY!!!

John Pritchard Cuisine! He served a carrot parfait (I think that's what he called it) it was so yummy, it had caviar, bacon, carrots ...

FiveEleven West! The Great Chef Emily served crostini's that where supper yummy. Plus she's the best looking pregnant chef at the show!

How cute is she???

Sorry the pics are not the clearest looking...it was a wine show too...(another love of mine...) If you didn't make it to this year's Food & Wine Show, you'll have to plan to go next spring, it's awesome!

London Baby! Part Two...ALL ABOUT SHOPPING!!!

2011-05-26T09:16:00.000-03:00

My plan was, that while hubby worked, I was going shopping. Perfect! But truth be told, I have a love hate relationship with shopping. I hate malls (gasp! I can't believe I admitted to that in writing). I just don't like the fact you can't see daylight for some reason, it makes me feel kind of claustrophobic or something. So ditto that for department stores too. However, I have never in my entire life been in department stores comparable to those in London!

Harrods, oh my Lord! They beauty abounds in that store, everywhere you look from the light fixtures to the decor right down to the sales people. All stunningly beautiful.

And if you just wanted to window shop there was tons of eye candy outside Harvey Nichols too.

I walked Regent and Bond Street. But I spent most of my time on Oxford Street, the Top Shop store to be exact. Because we're doing some home reno's right now, I didn't want to go overboard, so I bought these 3 summer dresses from Top Shop...

And I bought these cute little shoes for my daughters from Next. Can you see the insole says "I Love Shoes".

And of course I couldn't go to London without making a few makeup purchases! I went to Super Drug and Boots and found these cheap and cheerful goodies...

Cheryl Cole lashes, I wish I bought more then one :(

Barry M Dazzle Dust

Make Up Academy shadows...

The Original Sleek Palette...

Sleek Palette in Sunset...

Oh! And I almost forgot! Selfridges had some pretty cool displays, especially in their "Shoe Galleries".

This shoe was made entirely from pots and pans and lids...it was so freakin big I couldn't get it all in the picture!

And how is this for glam Cinderella????

London Baby! Part One...

2011-05-23T20:53:00.000-03:00

My first trip to London was perfect, actually more like a dream! The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot. Believe it or not, I even got a sunburn! Never thought I would need to pack sunblock for a London vacation:)

My husband was there on business and I was a tag along, so I shopped while he worked. A perfect set up!

We were wined and dined to the nines by the company who invited us to London. They put us up at the May Fair hotel. A beautiful 5 star hotel in the May Fair area, that apparently is a hot spot with celebrities and the paparazzi.

I really suck at celebrity spotting, but there were some big names staying at the hotel while we were there. There were these 2 guys who are from Britain's Got Talent or X Factor or something like that. I have no idea who they were but girls were camped out on the sidewalk for 2 days trying to get a glimpse of them. And they also just happened to be 2 doors down from our room! (And yes they like to party, believe me, I was up all night with the constant stream of girls going up and down the hall....grrrrr.....) They were 2 young guys with blond hair kind of styled in a mohawk type of thing...does anyone know who they were. Someone told us but I can't remember...something like Jude...or something like that. You can see them in the back ground of this picture...can you see their blonde, spiked hair? :) Oh and the pimped out car belongs to some famous soccer player (or should I say football player). Yup, we were roughing it!

We ate at some pretty awesome restaurants, one being Maze a Gordon Ramsay restaurant (you may know him from Hell's Kitchen). The food was awesome! And we got to meet Gordon himself!

He's actually really nice! Not scary at all! He really enjoyed our storey of how we bought his Royal Dalton dishes and how our girls put the box with his face on their heads...LOL...should I email him this pic???

The company also took us to the Mahiki Lounge for 3 nights in row. Awesome bar, but my liver was not a fan! They told us this is where Rihanna likes to go when she's in London. It's a Hawaii themed bar for the young and the beautiful.

Our table at the Mahiki bar, full of drinks, drinks and more drinks...

This is how our magnum (yes, magnum) of vodka arrived...

The treasure chest of booze...

The ceiling over the dance floor...so cool I couldn't resist taking a picture!

A wood carving on the wall...

But the real highlight of my trip was the Eric Clapton concert. The company hosting us invited us to their VIP booth at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert was out of this world!

So that pretty much sums up our trip, except for my shopping expedition. But since this blog post is getting kinda long, I'll share that in my next post!

OPI Nail Polishes

2011-05-11T16:29:00.000-03:00

Today is a quick post with some pictures of the OPI nail polishes that I picked up yesterday. I love getting the little packs with the sample jars.

The Little Romantics would look beautiful for weddings....

I love the purple shade in the Pirates of the Caribbean collection...

And since we Islanders have not seen the sun in weeks, I thought this would be a nice reminder....

Brides Maids - The Movie

2011-05-10T15:53:00.000-03:00

Girls, book off Thursday May 13th, it's going to be girls night out at the theatre! Cause that's the night Brides Maids opens, and you won't want to miss it. At least I don't!

The majority of my work is bridal makeup, so this movie is right up my alley. The characters all seem, shall we say, a little out there... But the funny thing is, weddings bring out the quirks in everyone!

Honestly I've had the pleasure of working with the most amazing and lovely women over the years. Some I still keep in contact with to this day. But I think we can all laugh at these crazy characters in this movie. But seriously, I want to know, did you have any of these types in your wedding party? Who do you think you are most like? Not having seen the movie yet, I'm guessing I might be most like the Maid of Dishonour, but I don't know I may take that back after seeing the movie!!!

So whose up with going to the movies this Thursday night????

A Surprise Birthday Boudoir Session

2011-05-09T15:46:00.000-03:00

A few weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity to work on another boudoir photo session with the talented Jill Hardy Photography. I love doing makeup and hair for these photo sessions. But this one had a little twist to it. It wasn't the women who booked it! Her husband wanted some beautiful shots of his gorgeous wife as his birthday gift, so he called up Jill and booked the whole session and surprised his wife with it! Isn't that awesome!?

So she was a little nervous but she looked so stunningly beautiful!!! I think hubby is a very happy birthday boy!

Here is that shot that we're allowed to share:

Check out Jill Hardy Photography's website for more boudoir photos. And if you're interested in booking a boudoir session, she's hosting another one the first week of June. Limited spaces are available so book with her now to avoid missing out on the opportunity!

My Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T18:07:00.000-03:00

I hope that every Mom is getting lots of love today. I know I sure did! My Mother's Day started last night because my husband had to leave this morning to drive to Maine due to a death in his family.

My thoughtful husband and 2 daughters planned and amazing day and a half for me. Actually my youngest daughter, age 8, pretty much planned the entire day about a month ago. She carried around a notepad and jotted down notes about what I would like every day for about a month. Seriously!

This is what she planned for my breakfast...

And gift ideas. First on the list was an iPhone, second on the list was MUFE (short for Make Up For Ever), and third was shoes and she even knew the right size! What a smart little girl :)

And this is a list of what she thought I would like to do on my special day...

She is such a thoughtful and sensitive little girl. She makes me proud!

So as I mentioned, my Mother's Day festivities started with a lobster dinner last night.

Then I got breakfast in bed this morning, followed by a family hot tub with lots of snuggles, and then gift time!

My girls got my this plant. For some reason they still don't know that I kill every plant that comes close to me, not on purpose I just have black thumbs. Wish this plant well! It probably doesn't have that much time left...

And they also picked all this stones up from around the mail box and washed them all in the white bathroom sink. Yup. And then dried them off on the white towel :)

And the one thing I was crossing my fingers for and hoping like crazy to get, was an iPhone. And hubby didn't disappoint!!!!!!!!!!!! I have an iPhone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I don't really have the actual phone. Future Shop was sold out on Saturday but supposedly there will be some in on Monday. So for now I have an iPhone brochure :)

How was your Mother's Day? Did you get pampered? Or did you pamper your Mom? I'd love to hear how your day was!

I Need Your Design Advice

2011-05-07T14:47:00.000-03:00

I'm currently redoing my office/studio with the help of Susan Snow from Moving Designz. I'm so excited, I can hardly wait for it to be completed! All the furniture and lighting is ordered, the new paint colour has been selected (now just need to hire a painter) and now I'm just working on some of the smaller details like the decorations and stuff like that.

I ordered these two paintings from Etsy and they just arrived on Saturday. But I can't decide on how to frame them. Should I go with white mat and frame or white mat and black frame? Some of the new furniture like the side board and credenza are white and then the desk is a very dark stained wood and there are 2 black Barcelona chairs. Please tell me what your opinions are!

This is a 8 x 10

This one is a bit larger and odd sized...

Then my other big decorating dilemma is what to do with Clarence?!

Should I spray him all white or maybe all black so he matches the room, or would he just look like a blob? Or should I leave him alone and send him down to the basement to the kids playroom? What do you think?

Gifts for My Mom & MIL (Mom & Fran do not read this till after the 8th)

2011-05-06T14:36:00.000-03:00

Mother's Day is just a few days away and I've been trying to find the perfect gifts for my Mom and mother in-law, and believe me its been no easy task. I don't know why, but I find it really hard to shop for people who say they don't want anything. And you KNOW that they want something....oh those moms can be so elusive. My husband doesn't know how lucky he is because I ALWAYS tell him exactly what I want for my gifts. (iPhone!!!)

After hitting a few stores this morning I had to run into to Shoppers Drug Mart to pick up a package at the Canada Post outlet and then it hit me. Perfume! Eureka! So after about a half an hour of me and my 2 daughters squirting and sniffing pretty much every bottle on the shelves we came to an almost unanimous decision. Since I'm paying for it, I get a little more say, cause I really don't think Grammy wants Harajuku Girl perfume, just guessing.

So I bought my mom j'adore by Dior. Have you smelled it? OMG its sooooo nice! And I plan on picking up some lipsticks for her because she hates buying them on her own.

And for my mother in-law I bought Miss Dior Cherie, which I think is the perfect scent for her. Don't ask me why, cause I don't really know, I just thought of her when I smelled it.

So what are you getting your Mom's for Mother's Day? And what are you Mom's hoping to get for Mother's Day?

Wishing all the Mom's a very happy and joyful Mother's Day. And to my Mom, when you read this AFTER THE 8TH, thank you for all that you do, I love you! xoxoxoxoxo

Make Up For Ever Haul - May/11

2011-05-05T12:48:00.000-03:00

I just purchased a whole wack of stuff from MUFE and I thought I'd share some photos of the products I purchased.

I needed to restock my Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in my kit (3 will go in my professional kit, the other 2 are for my personal use!)

So excited to try out the Face & Body formula! I also purchased the HD Elixir, I was a bit surprised at how small the bottle was. Hopefully a little will go a long way. We shall see...

An empty 12 slot case, which I plan on putting the new lipsticks into so I can see all my lip colours without needing to open up a palette.

OOops! upside down photo! Oh well, 2 Aqua Smoky Lash mascaras. LOVE THEM!!!

Some new brushes. I'm a little disappointed in the 25N foundation brush. The ferrel (metal part) is loose and wiggles back and forth. So I'm going to have to return that :(

Aqua lip liners. These are supposed to be water proof I believe, so that will be great for my bridal work!

Oh baby! My favourite part...look at these beautiful lipsticks!!! I just smile when I see this picture, something about all those pretty colours that makes me feel so happy :)

Yay lipsticks!!!!

I can't wait to swatch out these lip colours and tell you all what I think of them! It was a big investment and I'm hopping for a big payoff! Thanks for reading!

MAC Haul for May/11

2011-05-04T16:02:00.001-03:00

Just received my most recent purchases from MAC and thought I'd show you what I bought. It's not a whole lot because I have a huge order from Make Up For Ever that was just delivered yesterday, which I will blog about after this post.

So here are my MAC purchases:

My favourite makeup brushes are hands down the MAC 239 and 217. These are my must have brushes, the holy grail if you will. The 217 is my number one fav and the 239 takes a close second. I'm slowly building up a supply of the 217's because they are the best brush for crease work but the don't hold their shape very well when spot cleaned between clients unfortunately. And I have some really big bridal parties this summer (one that has 10 ladies in need of makeup) so I want to have a large supply of 217's to be sure that everyone's eyes are perfectly blended.

And as you all know from my last post on my great Winners find, you know that my favourite lash glue is DUO, which you can purchase at MAC stores. But now you can also get it plus false lashes at Winners. Awesome deal!

And MAC's Sincere blush, cause one of my fav Youtube makeup artists always uses this for contouring cheekbones.

And restocking...Teddy eye pencil, eyeshadows in Cork, Shroom and Fluer Power blush.

And last but not least, Painterly Paint Pot

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2011-05-03T16:17:00.000-03:00

May 5th is Cinco De Mayo people, so write it down on your calendars!!! You don't want to miss it!

History Alert: Cinco De Mayo celebrates Mexico's unlikely victory over the French forces on May 5, 1862.

But even if your not Mexican, I think its ok to get in on the celebration (kinda like how everyone becomes Irish on St Patricks day). And for those of you who know me well, you know I never pass up on a chance to celebrate. :)

So I thought I'd share a makeup look inspired by Mexico, featuring the colours red, white and green, taken from the Mexican flag.

And here is my Cinco De Mayo inspired look:

Products used:
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
Ben Nye eyeshadow in Ice
La Femme Blush - red
GOSH pigment in red
Bobbi Brown black eyeshadow
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Zero
MAC Undercurrent eye pencil
Make Up For Ever - green eyeshadow
MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
MAC lashes
Covergirl Lash Blast mascara

Products used on the face:
MAC Sincere blush
La Femme Blush
Make Up For Ever Matte Velvet Plus Foundation
MAC Shroom
MAC Russian Red lipstick

I hope you all rock out your red, green and white makeup on May 5th. Or at the very least join me in a margarita and toast to Mexico! Ole!

Awesome Winners Find (but don't tell anyone else!)

2011-05-03T10:41:00.000-03:00

You know when you find something amazing at a store, and your so excited about it, you almost don't want to tell anybody incase everyone rushes out to get it and your scared you won't be able to get it anymore. Well, this is my dilemma. Should I tell, or keep it to my self???? hmmmmmm

OK I'll tell!

I was in Winners the other day and I was poking around the beauty section and I found these...

For $8.99 you get an awesome quality set of lashes plus DUO lash glue, which is the best lash glue out there. All the other brands of false lashes out there come with really crappy lash glue that I always just throw in the garbage. But this is perfect! Quality lashes with a mini tube of awesome glue! Just make sure you leave some in the store for me please!

Election Day in Canada

2011-05-02T10:56:00.000-03:00

May 2nd is here and that means it's Election Day. So for all of you Canadians out there 18 years of age and older, get your pretty lil' self out to your polling station.

Let's make our voices heard!

Whether your vote is Liberal:

Conservative:

NDP:

Or Green:

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!!!

VOTE. SHAPE YOUR WORLD.

The Duchess of Cambridge

2011-04-29T10:17:00.001-03:00

No doubt about it, Kate was an absolutely beautiful, blushing bride.

Courtesy Wireimage.com

Her dress is an Alexander McQueen, designed by Sarah Burton. Kate wanted a traditional yet modern dress and was reportedly very involved in the designing process with designer Sarah Burton. I think the cut of the dress suited her so well, she looked so perfect, and such a teeny tiny waist! The lace was hand made, the tiara is a Cartier made in 1936. Her wedding shoes were also hand made by McQueen...NICE!

Her bouquet consisted of myrtle, lily of the valley, sweet William and hyacinth. Each flower has its own specific meaning:

myrtle: emblem of marriage; love

lily of the valley: return of happiness

sweet William: gallantry

hyacinth: constancy of love

Her sister looked beautiful as well, her dress was also very simple and elegant. I'm a little envious of svelte little shapes! Man, they must eat super healthy and work out like demons!

She's getting lots of comparisons to Princess Grace Kelly on her wedding day...

Life

Do you see similarities?

This is one of my favourite parts of a Royal wedding...the carriage ride. Fairy tales do come true (for some people :P) !

Jon Super / AP

Alastair Grant / AP

Her makeup looked flawless, rumour has it she did it herself. But believe me, this shouldn't be attempted by everyone! :)

Royal Wedding Hats!

2011-04-29T08:53:00.000-03:00

Loving the hats and fascinators at the Royal wedding.

Here are some of my favourites:

Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Credit: Alastair Grant/AP

Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA/Landov

Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Credit: Bauer-Griffin

Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

I think we should wear more hats/fascinators. What do you think?

Royal Wedding Guests Arrive

2011-04-29T07:41:00.000-03:00

The day is finally here!! And the guests look amazing, I love all the hats and fascinators.

The dashing David Beckham and pregnant Posh

photo by Global News

The stream of guests arriving...

Getty Images

Guy Richie arrives...

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (love the royal blue)...

Sir Elton John and David Furnish...

Samantha Cameron, without a hat....

Kate's mother Carole Middleton in a beautiful soft grey dress and hat, along with her brother James.

Global News

The princes arrive in a state Bentley...

Getty Images

What Prince William is wearing is best described on the website www.officalroyalwedding2011.org . It was an Irish Guards Mounted Officer's uniform. He looked so handsome!

And the lady we were all waiting for...

Getty Images

She wore MacQueen, simple, elegant and classic. Her hair was half up/half down. Rumour has it that she did her own makeup, which looked lovely (even on HD TV!)

Election Colours - Conservative Blue

2011-04-28T13:20:00.000-03:00

Today is day 4 in my Election Colours series. So far I have done makeup looks for the NDP, Liberal and Green parties. I've had a request for the marijauna party, but I'm not sure what colour represents that party ?!

The last party to be featured in the series is the Conservative Party (totally random selection) and their party colour is blue.

Here is todays blue for Conservative look:

Don't forget to vote on May 2!!!

Election Colours - Green Party Green

2011-04-27T13:37:00.000-03:00

Day three is here and today I'm featuring green for the Green Party. Since it's Green Party day I thought I would also use Tarte Cosmetics. If your not familiar with Tarte makeup here is a bit about them from their website:

Over 98% of our products are formulated without parabens, phthalates, sulfates and synthetic fragrances, just to name a few.

We don’t just stop at the formulas – our chic, runway-inspired cases and compacts are more then just pretty packaging. We’re helping reduce green house gas emissions one mascara at a time by creating components that are made from recyclable or post-consumer recycled material and can often be re-used to help reduce environmental waste. We like to say we’re doing the ‘leg work’ to help all of us minimize our carbon footprints.

I hope you enjoy your tarte purchase and remember:
be green, be smart, be tarte!

Are you feeling the green yet? :)

Here is my green look for today:

Don't forget to get out and vote on May 2!

Election Colours -Liberal Red

2011-04-26T11:26:00.002-03:00

Today is the second look in the "Election Colours" series and the look is a Liberal Party Red.

My red that I used turned out a little pink in the photographs, but I used a true red colour...hmmmm...I'm not a great photographer so I have no idea how that happened :)

Anyway, here is the final look for Liberal Red...

Here are some more pics with Liberal Red lips and eyes :)

Don't forget to get out and vote on May 2!!!

Election Colours -NDP Orange

2011-04-25T14:48:00.000-03:00

If you live in Canada right now, you'd have to be living under a rock if you didn't know there is a federal election happening May 2. The last Canadian federal election had the lowest number of voters in Canadian history. So in my small attempt to bring some extra awareness to the May 2 federal election, I've decided to post a blog series dedicated to each of the election party colours.

And in no specific order, (I swear!) I decided to do NDP orange today.

So for all the NDP supporters out there, here is the look I came up with...

So don't forget to get out and vote on

May 2nd!!!

Josie Maran Hair Oil

2011-04-24T17:58:00.000-03:00

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a hair product addict. Maybe addict is not the right word. It's been more like a life long search for the right product that would make my fine, limp but slightly wave hair look soft, shiny and bouncy. That doesn't leave my fine hair crunchy, frizzy or a tangled mess. That's not asking too much is it?

Oh my god, really I've tried sooooo many products. I've tried gels, mouses, powders, creams, and lotions. I've bought high end and drug store products. (sigh) I've spent a lot of money...

And I tried so many tricks and tips.

And homemade DIY remedies.

You'll LOL at this story. When I was in grade 7, my mother thought she came up with a wonderful idea of giving me a hot oil treatment. Do you remember when V-05 hot oil treatment was all the rage? Well we didn't have any V-05 Hot Oil treatment so she thought she would create a homemade DIY version. She warmed up some cooking oil and rubbed it all over my head. Then she wrapped my oily head up in an old towel and told me to sit outside and let it soak in. A few hours later I went to wash it out. You see where I'm going with this right? That oil was not coming out of my hair. No matter how many times I washed it. My hair was so greasy it looked wet (even when it was dry) for almost an entire week. Yeah, that's a never do again DIY.

Probably because of that flopped DIY hot oil treatment, when the Morrocan Oil treatment came out a few years ago I was very hesitant to try it. Who can blame me right? So when I finally caved and purchased a bottle I would only put a drop into my hands and rub it on to my ends only, and that was after I used all my other regular styling products. So I ended up just feeling neutral about it.

So fast forward to present day. A few weeks ago I just decided I had enough of all the crappy hair products that were taking up too much space in my life. I went on line and ordered the Josie Maran hair oil from Sephora.

So now my hair routine is this: wash & condition my hair, comb out towel dried hair and rub in Josie Maran Hair Oil. I gather my hair up as if I was putting it into a pony tail and just rub the oil all along the pony tail. Let air dry, and if I have time I might put some curls through it with a curling iron. This product has revolutionized my hair routine. Despite my fears, my hair is less oily (I used to use so much hair products that I think it caused my scalp to feel oily) and it feels softer, shinier and yes even bouncier!

And what's the cherry on top? I get to get rid of all these products that junked up my vanity!

What's your go to hair product? Do you have any hair DIY treatments good or bad to share? Who remembers Sun IN?! Now that's a whole other post...called Brunettes Should not Use Sun IN!

Royal Wedding Countdown

2011-04-21T09:46:00.000-03:00

One week from tomorrow people from around the world will be watching and celebrating the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

I have to admit, I didn't really care at first but I'm kinda getting swept up in all the excitement. Are you?

The couple announced their engagement in November...after 8 years of "courtship", she is obviously a patient lady! These are their 2 official engagement photos. They are such a good looking couple, so fresh and youthful.

Did you happen to notice the beautiful engagement ring? As most of you all know Prince William proposed to Kate with his mother's, Princess Diana's, engagement ring. I absolutely am in love with that ring. Want a closer look at it?

Paul Hackett/Reuters

And here is a picture of the two lovely and amazing women who have worn this special ring:

Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters/Landov; A.G. Carrick/Camera Press/Getty

Don't you just love William's face when he was a little boy? Full of joy!

I have always been a big fan of Princess Diana's. I was 5 years old when she was married to Prince Charles and I amazingly can still remember sitting in the TV room with my family watching the Royal Wedding in 1981. One of my most vivid memories was of her in the carriage after the ceremony. Doing her royal wave :)

She was such a beautiful and remarkable person. I heard on the radio this morning that Princess Diana had multiple wedding dresses designed for her and she only made her final decision on the morning of the wedding! Do you remember her dress, or more specifically that train???

But this is one of my favourite wedding day photos of Diana. I think it really captures her as we all knew her.

So you know what I'll be doing next Friday. I can't wait to see her dress, how she does her hair, and most importantly...her MAKEUP!!! She is such a fresh and natural beauty, I just can't wait to see how she looks!

Best wishes Prince William and Kate! xo

Make Up For Ever's "Tres Vichy" on Michy!!!

2011-04-20T11:54:00.001-03:00

LOL, sorry for the bad title, I couldn't come up with anything good and please don't start calling me Michy, it's the only thing I could come up with that rhymes with Vichy. :)

So what is Tres Vichy??? I have no idea what it means in French. I know tres means very, so it means very something! Please, if anyone knows what it means, let me know!

"Tres Vichy" is one of the "Get The Look" looks created by Make Up For Ever, click on the link so you can check it out. I loved it, so I thought I'd try creating the look on myself, or shall I say moi!

Et Voila! Here I am:

I don't often show my full face in the pictures that I blog about. I'm way more comfortable behind the scenes doing makeup then being in front of a camera. But some of my followers have commented to me that they would like to see a whole look, so here it is :)

I tried to use as much Make Up For Ever as I could, but I don't have a lot of MUFE eye shadows. Here is what I used:
Foundation: MUFE Matte Velvet Plus
Lips & Cheeks: Chanel Rouge Coco in Ruban Rose
Eyes: MUFE Flash colour, MUFE eyeshadow in 28093, yaby soft lotus, MAC Vanilla pigment
MAC Blactrack fluid line, UD 24/7 pencil, and MAC Carbon. As well as MAC lashes and some Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara.

When I created this look, as always, I didn't have a whole lot of time (who does right). So as soon as I finished and snapped some pictures of myself (which is a job in itself!). I had to run right out to pick up my girls from tennis practise and I didn't have time to wash off my makeup. OMG!!! I think I'm officially known as the over the top Mom at the tennis courts! :) Oh well, it's got to be someone right?!

Cleaning Your Makeup Brushes. A Rant Plus Tips.

2011-04-17T10:17:00.000-03:00

***RANT ALERT, PLEASE READ RANT BEFORE SCROLLING DOWN TO TIPS*** :) Thanks!

First of all let me address my biggest issue about makeup brushes. Please wash you brushes frequently. It is so shocking (and appalling) how many people I talk to that don't regularly clean their brushes. To me it's like this; would you use the the same face cloth to wash your face every single day and never wash it???? I'm guessing we we would all say, hell no to that. Well, that's the same as using makeup brushes every day and never cleaning them. You are rubbing those brushes over parts of your face, which picks up oils, dead skin etc and if you never wash them, those brushes become a breading ground for really yucky stuff to grow and multiply.

For my personal brush use that I use just on myself (not my professional brushes in my kit) this is my schedule for brush cleaning:
I never go over 2 uses with out cleaning all my eye related brushes.
My blush and powder brushes I wash once a week.
If I use a brush for foundation I would clean that after each use.

When it comes to my professional kit I use, what I like to call, a "spot cleaner" like Beauty So Clean, in between clients. For example if I'm doing a wedding party with lots of women right after one another, it's a great way to sanitize brushes on the go.

And then when I get home I take all my brushes and give them a "deep clean" with a brush shampoo.

Deep cleaning is so simple, and it will keep your brushes in tip top shape and your makeup application will look even better with clean brushes. Trust me, it's true! If your brushes have tons of makeup on them you will never be able to blend as well as you could with a clean brush.

So here is what you do.
1. Get a brush shampoo or even a gentle 2in1 shampoo like Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. Squeeze a little out into the palm of your hand over a sink.
2. Run some luke warm water (not hot because you don't want to melt the glue holding the bristles together in the farrel (metal part) of the brush or you'll start loosing hairs out of the brush).
3. Then dip the bristles only into the stream of water and gentle rub the brush back and forth on the palm of your hand until it lathers.
4. Rinse, squeeze out water, reshape
5. And then lay the brushes out over the edge of your counter to dry. It's that simple.

Here are my professional brushes from my work kit post wash and all laid out to dry. It's important to hang them over the edge and not wrapped up in a towel or they could get mouldy. YUCK!!

Here are the products I'm using right now: Quo brush shampoo, Alcohol to spray my handles and metal spatulas, and I also spray my brush holders down with alcohol too, for good measure. And the bottle in the back ground is organic grapeseed oil which is awesome at removing "greasy" products like lipsticks from brushes before shampooing them.

And I found this little contraption at Michael's craft store. I can hang all my small handle brushes on this upside down to dry and there is no risk of water seeping up into the farrel and loosening the glue.

Thank you, and happy brush cleaning :)

Sephora Package

2011-04-15T13:11:00.000-03:00

I got mail today, and it was the good kind! They really good kind! My package from Sephora arrived. It always feels like Christmas morning to me when one of my packages arrives at the door!

Other then Shoppers Drug Mart, there really isn't a lot of places around here to buy makeup. I usually buy all my makeup online or at trade shows like IMATS. So needless to say, the Fedex and CanadaPost guys and me are on a first name bases. :)

I feel like I haven't made very many purchases lately, I've been trying to control myself...but it's tooooo hard!

So I just bought a few things from Sephora that I was in need of. Note that I said need, not want...they're business necessities. Do I sound convincing? Not likely :)

Ok, I'm done with the chatting, let's get on with the show n' tell!

I'm not sure if you know this about me or not, cause I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm a Sephora VIB. LOL...I have no idea what that means...but I get lots of free samples and stuff when I place an order. So the samples that I got are: Clairns Multi Active Night Youth recovery cream, Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate, StriVectin-SD Eye Concentrate for Wrinkles, Korres Antiaging Antiwrinkle Night Cream (are you detecting a pattern yet???? lord have mercy I'm taking the hint!!!) and Murad Sheer Lustre Day Moisture SPF 15.

They also sent me a free bareMinerals Original deluxe foundation sample. It comes with a tube of primer, the mineral foundation and a kabuki style brush. I'm not a lover of mineral makeup, but hey, it's free so I'll give it a whirl.

Now, onto what I bought. Which is not much, but exciting all the same. I bought 2 tubes of the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. This is holy grail material, and I wanted to make sure I am well stocked up for my brides during wedding season. And I also bought the Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum (for myself, not for my professional kit). I used to buy the Morrocan Hair Oil serum at the local beauty supply center but they won't let makeup artists purchase it anymore, you have to be a licensed hair dresser. Boo! So now I'm buying Josie Maran Argan Oil.

And that is it. For now ;)

The Last in the Series of Sunset Inspired Makeup

2011-04-12T13:09:00.000-03:00

OK, I may have taken the sunset inspired makeup a little too far. But I just love the vibrant colours so much, I couldn't resist creating makeup looks from them. This will be the last (for now) !!!

So today's look is based off of this photo:

And here is what I came up with:

Pink's and Purple's

2011-04-11T17:03:00.000-03:00

I just loved all the sunset photos that were submitted for the April contest so much that I think I'm going to create an eye makeup look for more of them :)

So here is the photo that inspired my latest look. I love how the pink forms a cross in the sky.

And here is what I created...

I focused on the bright pink, blue based purple and blacks that were in the photo.

Pink Eye Makeup!

2011-04-08T18:18:00.000-03:00

Pantone's colour for the year 2011 is pink, Honeysuckle pink to specific.

I'm a girlie girl (big shock) and I love all shades of pink. But it's really never one of my first choices when designing an eye look. Lips and cheeks of course, but eyes...not so much.

So I thought I'd create an eye makeup look based on all pink shades.

And here is the final look:

What do you think? Would you wear pink eye shadow? Is it a do or a don't?