Around And Around

My week of red carpets...

On Monday I made up Sophia Bush for the premiere of Green Hornet.

Her lashes are stunning!  I used DiorShow Extase mascara with Ardell individual lashes.

Wednesday I made up Chloë Sevigny for the premiere of Big Love.  

The orangey red shade on her lips is MAC Lady Danger.

Sunday night I made up Thor actress Jaimie Alexander for the InStyle Golden Globes party. 

Her powdery pink lips are NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Roman Holiday.

I hope this gives you some fun ideas for your own makeup!

❤

Amy

Getting Prettier... (Part Three)

And now for the brows... Brows are very important, but often overlooked. The brows frame the face, so make sure they look beautiful! Would you hang a beautiful piece of art on your wall with a tacky, busted up frame?  Of course not!  Do those brows!

I'm a serious believer in NOT over plucking, but having a clean, nicely arched brow.

First step... tweezing. You MUST have a great pair of tweezers. As far as I'm concerned, nothing will ever beat a set of Tweezerman Slant Tweezers.

Check out the fun designs they are coming up with!

Next, it is time to fill in, and define the brows. For awhile now I have been using Stila Brow Set with a slant brush.

And then setting the brow with M.A.C. Brow Set in clear, using a disposable mascara wand.

I have also recently found a new brow product that I am really loving. It is the LORAC Take a Brow (tee hee).

Not only does each kit come with two brow powders, it comes with a really cool brow wax that I am loving right now! Carol Shaw does it again!

Now for eye colors... I don't want to get too detailed with this, because honestly, I could go on forever and ever and ever. I'm a big fan of eye make up. You're eyes are supposed to be the window to your soul, so accentuate them!

I will tell you a few things... I don't believe in priming the eye lid with foundation. I think, if anything, this causes more creasing. Prime the lid with a nude shadow, it works much better.

My favorite kinds of eye shadow, in no particular order are...

Chanel

M.A.C.

Stila (although you have to be very careful with them, as they tend to break)

Nars

Tarte

and

Urban Decay

My favorite eye liners are...

Chanel Automatic Liquid Liner (A favorite of Lily Allen and Paul Starr.  I would also nominate this for a Nobel prize for make up, if such a thing existed...)

M.A.C. Eye Kohl (I love how BLACK the color "Smolder" is, and I love the texture of this liner. It is soooo blend-able!)

Lancôme Le Stylo Waterproof (again, very blendable and has a great powdery texture)

And last, but certainly not least... M.A.C. Fluidline (great colors and can also be used as a shadow if you're feeling adventurous)

Open those eyes!  Curl those lashes!

I recommend the shu uemura lash curler.

The M.A.C. full lash curler is pretty great too!

As for lashes, my favorite individual lashes are shu uemura flare lashes.

At $15 they are pretty pricey. If you're not willing to spend that much, the Ardell flare lashes are nice too.

As far as strip lashes go, I prefer the cheapies! My favorites are Ardell #116.

All of the Ardells are pretty great though!

Now for mascara... If I've ever done your make up, if you've seen me do make up, if you've just been in the same room with me, you know what I'm about to say... Lancôme Hypnôse!!!!

I love it, I swear by it, I stand by it, it's the best... what more can I say? Of course there are other great mascaras... this is my favorite!

To be continued...

<3

Amy

Sweet Charity

Last night I donated my time for the Fredrick's of Hollywood Clothes off Our Back charity auction. Basically some celebrities like Gwen Stefani, Scarlett Johansson, and Beyonce designed corsets and they were auctioned off for charity at a big red carpet event in Hollywood.

Donald Simrock designed the make up look for the models:

Donald is a true artist. I saw this spread he did in Flaunt magazine a few years ago and it blew my mind!



I mean, seriously!

It was a pleasure working with him and watching him do make up. He was also a very sweet guy.

Here's the chaos backstage:

My friend Amber Kerns was doing hair:

Um... get off the phone Amber!

This looks like trouble!

This is the aftermath at my station:

Here's the finished product!

These are the two models I worked on...

Here's everybody with Dita! (She designed one of the corsets)

(can you guess which model went behind our backs and changed her lip color?)

<3 

Amy

P.S. On my way to the show I stopped off at CVS to pick up my favorite Ardell #116 lashes. Guess what, you guys... there is a special on Ardells at CVS. Buy one get one half off with your CVS card! Please believe I cleared them out of 116's, and if I had a basket I would have bought all their individual lashes too. Maybe I will go back today.

Knock Em Out

I really have the coolest job in the world.  I'm super proud to count Lily Allen as a client of mine.  I was a fan of her music long before I ever worked with her.  Not only did I love her record, I loved her style, and I loved her spunk, and I still do!

I could not be more excited to show you the cover of the new issue of TRACE magazine...

Since I've known Lily I've always been amazed at how hard she works, but when I got the call to work with Lily on the video for Common's song "Drivin' Me Wild" and found out she would also be shot for the cover of TRACE at some point during the video shoot, and oh yeah... she would be flying in from Australia the night before the shoot, and be leaving for London the night of the shoot... what? what? what?  Are you serious?  She must be wonder woman!!!

Well... not quite.  When Lily walked in the trailer that morning (hours before the sun was up), the poor girl was so sick!  Remember how I told you she flew in from Australia?  Well, guess what... she flew to Australia from Japan!  That week she had spent over 50 hours on airplanes!  That girl was worn out and very sick.  I get worn out just flying to New York!

I worked on her make up, the fabulous mister Johnny Stuntz did the hair, and Nathalie Saphier did the styling.

As soon as she was ready, Lily was whisked to the roof top of a building in downtown Los Angeles.  The sun was beating down on us and Lily was put into a space suit (!!!) complete with padding and helmet and she did her thing. She even had us busting up laughing at her jokes.  
Throughout the day she became a bit more run down... and speaking of running, she did a lot of that, running through the streets of LA in combat boots and a gas mask. 

 
At lunch, a doctor made it to the set to see her.  She was diagnosed with sinusitis and strep throat and informed she shouldn't be working at all, or traveling. He gave her a vitamin B shot and then... WE SHOT THE COVER OF TRACE MAGAZINE!!!

 
Lily was such a trooper.

As soon as the magazine shoot was finished, Lily proceeded to do more takes running down the street and then a quick change of hair and make up and the final performance shots.  Lily then went home to London and took some MUCH MUCH deserved time off!  Good for her! 

Here's the video directed by Chris Robinson.  She did such a great job you would never know how sick she was.

If you want to get Lily's look from the video, use this eyeliner by Chanel:

It has a great felt tip which makes creating a smooth line really easy and it's a true black, it doesn't go gray like a lot of liquid liners.

and Ardelle #116 lashes (they are my favorite strip lashes right now and they sell them at every drug store!):

<3

Amy