I'm an Eyebrow Girl! Part One.

Check out Megan's eyebrows. . .they don't happen by accident. I don't know where Megan's makeup artist begins but s/he really does a fine job with her brows.

The first thing I do when I begin work with any client, is reach for my eyebrow brush. It's a reflex. . . I need to see what I have to work with. I, as do many MUAs, feel the eyebrow provides the "frame" for the rest of the face. Same thing with myself: the first thing I do before applying any makeup to my own face is to groom my brows. You've heard of "good hair days". . . well, I need to determine if it's going to be a "good brow day."

Two months ago, I was having dinner with a group of other MUA's from Charleston (The Makeup Mavens), and I looked across the table and really noticed Elizabeth's phenomenal eyebrows. Elizabeth Quinton is also a former MAC artist and I quickly fell into "MAC talk" with her. She has the eyebrows I love. . . full, gracefully arched, clean. . . what I call "statement-brows." I was eager to hear her routine, products used, etc. but she quickly deferred her brow-blessing to another person: Heather Faucette of Glow Spa in Mt. Pleasant. Elizabeth swore by this gal, saying she was the brow-maker. Hmm. File that info away and fast forward. . .

This past Saturday, I called up Glow Spa and secured my eyebrow waxing appointment with Elizabeth's brow lady. Heather was everything EQ said she was: studious, meticulous, and opinionated. And that's a great thing. . . I want someone in the know, who has an opinion, and can tell me what will look great on me. Immediately I felt comfortable and knew my brows would be taken to the next level: cleaned up, trimmed, no stragglers, or "sticks." I have pretty decent eyebrows to begin with, but they definitely needed some maintenance, and Heather, in her gentle way, told me what I needed to do. . . what she needed to do to help me achieve my brow-vision.

I left Glow Spa with Elizabeth-esque brows and an appointment for a follow-up in three weeks.

Thank you, Elizabeth for your sage advice. And thank you, Heather for your guidance and steady hand.

p.s. ". . .Eyebrow Girl, Part 2" will be about the actual products I use to achieve the look I like. . . but definitely, the place to begin is with a well-manicured eye brow by a great esthetician.

MAC's Chromagraphic Pencils, an Insta-Fave!

It's easy to overlook these quiet titans. . . but they are Titans nonetheless. They sit on the display, unassuming yet asking to be picked up. . . if you do, don't put it down. . . get yours immediately, because they are selling out as I type this.

MAC's recent Pret-A-Papier launch included these Chromagraphic Pencils. They are flesh-toned, soft lining pencils, which are quickly proving to be my newest multi-taskers.

My first use of them was to clean up the outside of any lip application. They are especially wonderful on a classic, red lip. I use these after I apply lip liner, lipstick, and gloss. It helps prevent any bleeding edges or feathering of color. Lightly line the outside of the lip with this pencil. If you press hard, it will leave a noticeable skin-colored line. But I go back with either my finger or a cosmetic wedge/sponge, and blend it gently. The effect is clean and precise.

These pencils are also approved for use in the eye area. I like this applied directly to the waterline (the bottom lash line closest to the eye), as a freshener. The flesh-tone helps make the eyes "pop" and makes all makeup there appear cleaner and neater.

In a pinch, these could be used as spot concealers. They come in two formulations: NC15 / NW20 (great if you have fair skin) and NW25/NC30 (appropriate for medium to deeper skin tones).

The last time I checked, these pencils are sold out at MAC's online store. So, rush out to your nearest MAC counter and pick yours up today. This is a must-have for your makeup drawer!

www.MACcosmetics.com

Concealer Wars, Continued. . .

Chances are that if you asked a makeup artist what their favorite item of makeup is, they will not say "concealer" because it's not very glamourous. However, I'm going to say "Concealer!" because it's the one item I use that makes a noticeable difference immediately. Bye-bye blemishes, so-long redness, sayonara dark circles!

Concealer is the work horse of my makeup kit. After a little skin prep, it's the one item I spend most time mulling over. My eye is constantly looking at any imperfection and thinking "how can I minimize, or get rid of that?" My answer is nearly always with my concealer. Now, there are certainly other tricks and other factors that come into play. . . the condition of the skin (hence, 'skin prep'). For example, dehydrated or oily skin, needs to be neutralized, or brought back to a stasis so that the concealer can properly do it's job and sit evenly on the skin.

For drier skin types, I like the LORAC Double Feature concealer pictured above. It is a creamy stick on one end, that can be applied directly under eyes or on top of blemishes. A roller-ball is encased on this end, presumably to roll over and spread out the concealer. And although the concept of that roller-ball is interesting, I prefer my fluffy MAC #217 brush to blend it out. The other end of this unit houses a highlighter that has a doe-foot applicator, so you can dot it on over the highest edges of cheekbones, brow bones, or wherever you'd like a little shimmer. I would consider this a lightweight concealer, great for spring and summer.

For skin that's oilier, Make Up Forever's Full Cover Concealer, works wonders. It's main attraction for many is that it's waterproof, which especially for brides, is a huge plus. The coverage is spectacular, evening out most dark circles and covering redness. I use my #217 brush to apply this thick, creamy formulation. It's quite blendable, and noticeably more stay-put.

So, my love of concealer continues, which means, I'll always be trying new ones and telling you about the newest in my arsenal of coverage. Both of these products can be found at your nearest Sephora or online at

www.loraccosmetics.com and www.makeupforever.com

Beautiful Bride; Phenomenal Photographer

Where to begin? These two people were equally resplendent in their own right. I'll begin with Bride Sara because I met her first.

Sara is the walking, talking personification of a Country Queen. . . and I'm not talking the Reba kind, but more along the lines of the Carrie kind (as in "Underwood"). She was beautiful when she sat down with not a stitch of makeup on her face, but the transformation as we enhanced her natural beauty was astounding. Her sister, Chrissie, was with her and she wept as she saw this take place. But even all this physical beauty wasn't what was really special about her. . . it was her kind, sweet heart that shone through. This girl was Love walking.

I had had some correspondence with her photographer, Richard Ellis, days before the wedding. I knew I was going to like him immediately. This is a guy who is on it. . . no moss gathers on him. On day one of our e-mails, I had requested some photos from her bridal session, and on day two, there was a disc in my mailbox. Please check out his website and his impressive resume. However, it's his polite, calm demeanor and the easy conversation that happens with this gentleman that makes him special. That, and his assistant Gillian (his daughter), make working together a joy. OK, all that and the amazing photos he's able to get.

Thank you to the McCants and Southard families for your loving hospitality.

Thank you to Richard Ellis for your talents, conversation, and willingness to share. (And, Richard, your stationery is impeccable:)

www.EllisPhotoStudio.com

Self-Tanners: A Primer for Beginners, Like Me

I'd like to preface this entry by saying that even though I've posted pics of my not-so-even tanner application, this is about learning from my mistakes and doing it right the next time. And there will be a next time because I really like this product.

My friend Kelly wafted into our lunch meeting back in March all goldeny-bronze and gorgeous. It was a subtle tan, but it was enough to make me comment on how "WOW!" she looked. Mostly because March here in Charleston was still fickle in its weather-settings. So all at once my thought process was "she looks so good with her tan. . . when did she have time to sit out and catch some rays. . . gosh, she's a trooper with this weather." Her secret was L'Oreal Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanner.

Kelly smiled and told me about her self-tanner and gave me a quick run-down on her methodology. She's got this down, but as you can see from the photo of my own feet, I need more practice.

So, in a nutshell, if you're like me and meet any of these criteria, a self-tanner would be great for you:

1. You're heeding the advice of every physician, beauty expert, television show, and magazine article and staying out of the sun because of the myriad of awful complications that go along with overdoing it.

2. You want a tan now!

3. You just feel better/healthier/sexier "with a little color."

So here's how the rest of the story goes. . .

I went to Wal-Mart and purchased L'oreal Sublime Bronze Tinted Self-Tanning Lotion. It's in a tube, it cost around $8. This is the product my friend had used, and it looked great on her. . . no orangey stained residue.

But here are some tips that the label on the tube doesn't tell you:

* You can use this tanner anywhere. . . I started out using it on my legs, arms, and chest.

* Exfoliate first. This includes shaving your legs.

* Apply lotion to the creased areas. . . ankles, knees, behind knees, elbows, wrists, etc.

* Use latex gloves if you have them. . . this is actually very important because the tanning lotion will stain your hands. And speaking of hands, you do need to methodically, and carefully apply some tanner to the backs of your hands. This is where it gets tricky as you still need those latex gloves so as not to stain your palms or pads of your fingers. And you must be meticulous in this area. . .spreading tanner evenly. One method of applying to the backs of hands is to remove gloves, apply a small dollop of the tanner to the back of one hand, and run the backs of the hands together.

* Let tanner dry before putting on any clothes. This is vital to it not streaking or staining your clothes. So, that means, do this process when you have time; don't do it as a part of a get-ready-quickly routine.

As you can see, I have some practice to do, especially around my feet. I look at this picture and see that I should have spread the tanner more carefully farther down the sides of my feet and more evenly on my toes. I'm willing to invest this amount of time getting this routine down so that I don't have to "bake and turn" out on a beach. Those days are bygone. . . and my dermatologist is one happy lady.

One last note: this tanner comes in two formulations: "Medium/Natural Tan" and "Deep Natural Tan." I went with the Deep Natural because my skin tone could handle it. If you are fair and want the most natural look, go with the lighter shade. It's buildable and a few applications could make you look your tanned best.

Strong, Decisive Women

One of my favorite kinds of people in this world is a decisive woman. I had the distinct fortune to be around 3 such ladies a couple of weeks ago: The Bride (Allison), her FSIL (future sis-in-law, Elizabeth), and the Photographer (Liz).

Each of these ladies knows what she wants. . . how she wants it. . . and when & where. Such precision on a plethora of subjects from all aspects of planning a wedding, to makeup, to true artistic vision. It was a joy to work with these ladies.

Have you ever been with the right combination of people where you know that combo could conquer the world? That was this trio. I won't ramble on, but suffice it to say that because of this nucleus of women, one beautiful wedding was pulled off.

I could be fast friends with each of these ladies.

Photography by www.LizDuren.com

A Citadel Wedding and A Princess Bride

This past December, I was fortunate to be able to be a part of Kara's wedding preparation to her Citadel Cadet, Pete. This bride was particularly special because she had planned her entire wedding from their home in Hawaii where they are stationed. Pete is a Citadel grad and wanted nothing less than a Summerall Chapel wedding for his bride.

Even though the weather was in doubt, the sun shone through. The Citadel's photographer, Russ Pace, managed to capture not only Kara's beauty, but also the playful side of this couple. The Citadel is a sacrosanct institution here in Charleston. . . but not without a sense of humor; they love their football!

Congratulations to this wonderful couple, and as all of Kara's correspondence began and ended, "Aloha!"

www.CitadelPhoto.com