Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional Make Up Artist out of Nashville, Tennessee.  She is a very savvy and approachable professional and I am so pleased she will be contributing bi-monthly posts on all things beauty.  Enjoy her contributions to the blog, check out her crazy good website at www.amylynnlarwig.com  and follow her on Twitter:  @amylynnlarwig.

Photo by: Kristyn Hogan

Winter time skin can quickly become dry and dull. There is a super easy solution to keep your skin looking bright and soft throughout the cold weather. Exfoliate and moisturize. Easy as that! Exfoliating twice per week helps all that flaky skin slough off, leaving the new bright skin showing. It keeps pores decongested, so they can breathe freely without all that junk in them. For your body, there are scrubs with larger particles to really get the rough spots feeling super smooth. Try Aveda Caribbean Therapy Body Scrub. You can also use a sea sponge or loofah in the shower to work the dead skin off. For your face, you want something much gentler. I like Origins Modern Friction. But you don’t have to buy an expensive exfoliator. Just add baking soda to your regular cleanser. It adds just enough grit to buff the ugly right out!

Anytime you exfoliate, make sure to lather on the moisturizer to protect and nourish that new skin. For the body, I love Tantra Body Butter by Saje. It has such a sexy scent, and it’s totally natural. Burt’s Bees Shea Butter Hand Repair is also a great moisturizer for hands, but I use it on my legs after a shave for extra creamy moisture. For the face, choose a moisturizer that isn’t too heavy, unless your skin is extra dry. Origins has a variety to try out to meet your specific needs.

You can also protect your skin during the winter by wearing scarves and gloves. Make sure your shower water isn’t too hot, as it can strip your skin. And keep hydrated on the inside by drinking plenty of water.

Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional Make Up Artist out of Nashville, Tennessee.  She is a very savvy and approachable professional and I am so pleased she will be contributing bi-monthly posts on all things beauty.  Enjoy her contributions to the blog, check out her crazy good website at www.amylynnlarwig.com  and follow her on Twitter:  @amylynnlarwig.

Photo by: Kristyn Hogan Photography

There is a lot of hype about mineral makeup. And with the holidays coming, it’s likely that many women will get or give this easy to use makeup as gifts. But there are definitely pros and cons to using mineral products.

- Mineral makeup is marketed as safer than traditional foundations. This is true in some ways. Powder mineral foundations do not have some of the harsh chemicals found in liquid foundations such as parabens or fragrance. But the loose powder tends to become airborne during application, and therefore finding its way into your lungs. Some research has shown the zinc oxide and titanium dioxide to be toxic when breathed.

- Mineral foundation provides light coverage for those blessed with skin that needs little correction. For those of us with more challenging skin, it just doesn’t seem to provide great coverage unless it is applied heavily. And then, it tends to look flaky and goopy.

- Mineral makeup is great for your “running to the grocery store and to visit grandma” face. But if you are planning to be photographed, stay away from the minerals. Most mineral foundations have mica in them, which gives that “glow” they love to advertise. On camera, that “glow” becomes reflective, appearing greasy. Not cute.

- Mineral makeup is pretty fool proof. It’s easy to use, with a few taps and swishes of a brush, you can quickly apply it all over. It’s a great product for teenagers to start with, as they learn about their own faces.

So mineral makeup has its strengths, but it also has many restrictions and false claims. Be aware of these when facing the onslaught of sales people at the mall trying to gain your Christmas money.

I thought I would share with you my new favorite app for iPhone today.  I’m a long time fan of Allure’s Best of Beauty lists.  Busy ladies love this magazine’s annual editorial listing of the best beauty products on the market.  I’ve only had the app for a week and my shopping cart is full. *sigh!*

Download it here free:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/allure-best-beauty-ishopper/id391835406?mt=8

Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional Make Up Artist out of Nashville, Tennessee.  She is a very savvy and approachable professional and I am so pleased she will be contributing bi-monthly posts on all things beauty.  Enjoy her contributions to the blog, check out her crazy good website at www.amylynnlarwig.com  and follow her on Twitter:  @amylynnlarwig.

Photo by: Kristyn Hogan 

Fall 2010 is bringing with it a metallic eye trend. Think copper, gold, and bronze all over the lid. The shinier, the better! Make sure you apply primer first to hold your eye color all day. Place a bit of shadow in the inner corner to really bring light to that area. Try MAC Eye Shadow in Amber Lights, Bobbi Brown Metallic Shadow in Black Cocoa, or Makeup Forever Star Powder #957.

Bronze

Copper

Gold

I am a lover of all things cosmetics, so it’s hard to say which cosmetic item is my favorite.  However, if placed under duress, I would probably say lipstick/ lip gloss is my favorite.

Here’s a fun story:  I spent most of my high school career in braces.  In the latter part of my junior year, I finally got the all clear from the orthodontist and they were removed.  The first thing I did when up out of the chair was apply the frosted pink lipstick I had purchased just for the occasion.  The stock boy at the retail store where I worked suddenly noticed me.  He said that without my braces, I looked “just like a Barbie doll.”  Those words were pure poetry to this lanky teenage girl!  Ever since, I have adored lipstick and feel completely naked without it.

I spent years doing the lip liner and lipstick combo application, attempting to achieve the perfect cupid’s bow outline on my upper lip.  As I have aged, I’ve developed a few vertical lip lines, probably from the years I spent smoking.  (I quit over 10 years ago.)  I have girlfriends who have never smoked, but attribute their vertical lip lines to the “puckering” motion made when drinking through a straw or from a can.  Of course, there are professional cosmetic procedures to remedy this issue, but until such time when I a) get the nerve and b) win the lottery, I need a simpler solution.

I’ve found that the first thing that worked for me was to ditch dark lipstick colors.  Not only do dark lipsticks “pull” your eyes down, making them appear droopy as you age, the darker colors are more likely to bleed into any lines you may have around your mouth.

The next thing I have found that works for me is to use a lip gloss with plumping action.  These products do create a slight, swollen look on the lips and that in turn seems to diminish the lip lines.  In addition, the tingling sensation feels great, and it’s easy to know when it is time to reapply. 

My current favorite product is very affordable and is by Maybelline.  From the Maybelline website: Volume XL Lip Plumper – claims to increase the volume of your lips by up to 30%.  I find that glosses are often too sheer, so I like that several of the shades have highly pigmented colors.  My favorite is Fully Blushed – #115.  This product retails for about $7 at most of my local stores.

I have two lip gloss “plumpers” on my radar to try:

From the website:  Fusion Beauty – LipFusion’s breakthrough Amplifat™ concentrate promotes and stores your lips’ own natural fatty acids for never-before-achievable lip volume. Double-encapsulated plumping spheres deliver instant and ‘over-time’ plumping – giving your lip the volume they desire all day long.  This product retails for $29.

Next is L’Oreal Infallible 6 Hour Plumping Lip Gloss.  From the website:  Now get plumper lips, long wearing color and incredible shine for 6 hours in one easy step.  This retails for $9.99.  I’m gonna go on the record and say I don’t buy the 6-hour wear time, but I’ve found that to be true with all the long wearing lip products that I’ve tried.

What’s your favorite lip product?  Have your lip products changed as you get older?  Tell us about it.

*This article was previously posted on December 1, 2009.

Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional Make Up Artist out of Nashville, Tennessee.  She is a very savvy and approachable professional and I am so pleased she will be contributing bi-monthly posts on all things beauty.  Enjoy her contributions to the blog, check out her crazy good website at www.amylynnlarwig.com  and follow her on Twitter:  @amylynnlarwig.

Photo by: Kristyn Hogan

If eyes are the windows to our soul, then eyebrows are the shutters. Your windows could be sparkling and clean, but if the shutters are missing paint, falling off, or mismatched, then no one will notice the glory of the windows. What I’m getting at is, keep your eyebrows nicely trimmed and shaped.

If you’d like to obtain a brow that really wows, there is a relatively easy 3 step process that is sure to turn even the creepiest of face caterpillars into beautiful framing arches. All you need is a good pair of tweezers and a pencil.

Source

1- Line the pencil along the outside of your nostril up to the inner corner of your eye. Any hairs on the outside of this line, tweeze out.

2- This part is tricky. Line the pencil along the outside of your nostril to the center of your iris. This should be the highest point of your eyebrow. So anything below it, should be removed. You can leave this part as thick or thin as you feel comfortable, just make sure that this is the peak of the arch.

3- Line the pencil along the outside of your nostril across to the outer corner of your eye.  This is where the brow should end.  Anything that continues past this line, can come out.

Final touches- Sometimes our individual brow hairs are too long and can look unruly. Brush the hair straight up with a brow comb and use tiny trimming scissors, snip any hair that stands above the brow line.

When applying makeup, if your eyebrows have any holes in them, or they are not long enough, use an angled brush (ex: MAC #208) and an eyeshadow color that matches the roots of the hair on your head to fill them in. Using short strokes, only apply color to areas that need filling. Comb them out to get rid of any extra dust.

Step back and Viola! Admire your work!

“Our faces are lies and our necks are the truth.” –Nora Ephron from her book, I Feel Bad About My Neck: and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman.

Did you know that the skin on your neck contains some of the thinnest skin on your body?  This makes it more susceptible to show aging, yet we tend to only treat the skin our our faces and neglect our necks.  Here’s how to lose the turtleneck and bring in the boatnecks, v-necks and other neck baring fashions to show off your lovely neck.

*  Use the same anti-aging treatments you use for your face.  Products with Retinol and Alpha Hydroxy will also work to decrease signs of age spots and wrinkles on the neck.

*  Introduce products with collagen and peptides to smooth those deep lines known as “tree rings” that giveaway your age.

*  If you have severe age spots, sun damage or “turkey wattle” talk with your dermatologist about your options.  Your doctor may recommend fractionated resurfacing (Fraxel lasering) to help increase skin cell turnover.  Botox and Restylane injections are another option to fill in deep lines and firm up the skin.

Do you have any tricks for treating the skin on your neck?  Tell us in the comments below!

Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional Make Up Artist out of Nashville, Tennessee.  She is a very savvy and approachable professional and I am so pleased she will be contributing bi-monthly posts on all things beauty.  Enjoy her contributions to the blog, check out her crazy good website at www.amylynnlarwig.com  and follow her on Twitter:  @amylynnlarwig.

Photo by: Kristyn Hogan

The best place to start the discussion of beauty is probably with skin health. When your skin isn’t healthy, makeup can only go so far, and it affects your overall look. But with all the products available, each making their own set of too good to be true claims, it is hard to know what works. The truth is, skin care is very much a personal choice. Something that works terrific for me may be terrible for you. Here are some tips for finding the right skin care line for your needs.

- Wash your face EVERY night! I know you’ve heard this since you were 12, but I still talk to women in their 30s who don’t wash their makeup off at night. While you sleep, your body is regenerating. And that includes your skin. Keeping makeup on suffocates it, not allowing your skin to renew itself. Results: congested pores, breakouts, dullness

- Skin care is used every day, twice per day. So make sure you choose a line that you feel comfortable with the ingredients. Our skin is very absorbent, so the chemicals in your wash/toner/moisturizer/serums/night creams/eye creams/zit creams are soaked up daily and make their way through your blood stream. Visit Cosmetics Database to learn about the harmful chemicals found in our daily cosmetics. Use your best judgment when shopping and trying to sort through the ingredient list. Results: healthy skin without the worry of possible long term risks

- Learn about your skin. Just because you have breakouts, doesn’t mean you are oily. A zit zapping line may be too harsh. So make sure you pay attention to the way your skin behaves and look for products that address your specific concerns. Results: skin care that addresses your skin’s individual needs.

- Don’t believe the hype. All the anti aging, wrinkle plumping, line filling banter that covers the TV and magazines is bologna. Instead look for products that promise clean, nourished skin. If anti aging is a big concern for you, work on that from the inside out with diet and exercise and keep skin moisturized. Results: No disappointments or wasted money from failed wrinkle erasers.

- Always purchase from a line that has a good return policy. Much of skin care is trial and error, so keeping a product that doesn’t work for you or that causes you irritation is a waste of money. Most cosmetic companies will accept your return product if it isn’t a great fit. Results: No risk. If you hate it, bring it back.

- Give it time. Using something one time and not seeing results doesn’t justify bringing it back and exchanging for something else. Allow your skin to adjust to the new products for at least 2 weeks. Unless you have a serious irritation or allergy, give the treatments time to do their thing. Results: you really learn how the product works and see its maximum power.

This post was previously published on March 2, 2010.

Note from Jeannine:  Today’s post is from our wonderful guest contributor, NaShara Mitchell.  NaShara is the Owner & Creative Director of Ready to Blush, Your Wellness & Beauty Concierge.  Based out of Indianapolis, Indiana, NaShara is our Beauty & Wellness expert, contributing twice monthly on topics written with wedding and event planners in mind.  NaShara founded Ready to Blush in 2002 as a personal aesthetics company.  Services offered by Blush are a starting point to enhance, empower, and educate women, focusing on both inner and outer health, wellness, and beauty.  NaShara is a wonderful asset to The Stylish Planner and is such a pleasure to work with.  If you haven’t met NaShara yet, you should make plans to meet her at Eventology 2010, in Indianapolis in April.  Please enjoy this installment from NaShara!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Photo courtesy of : www.skype.com

Get Ready for Your Close-up!

Q. I have a my first meeting coming up with a client via Skype Video. Should I treat it any differently from an in-person interview? I mean I know I should treat it like we are together, because we are, but I am not sure if I need to do something different with my makeup?

A. Thanks to technological advances, green initiatives, and just sheer convenience, conducting meetings increasingly via Skype or other videoconference technology. You are right on target to treat a videoconference like any other business meeting, because the client really can see everything. Your face takes center stage, so let’s make sure it’s ready for your close-up.

The key is to make sure you look polished, fresh and alert. Cameras, varying computer screens types and resolutions and room lighting can easily wash you out so it is important to wear makeup, if only a little powder and lip color. If your makeup personality is all out glam, all the time, by all means, go glam. If your personality is a little more subdued, that’s ok too. Your client is expecting you, not the latest smoky-eye trend. Your everyday look will read well on your client’s computer as long as you shy away from bronzers and eye shadows that have large amounts of glitter or frost. They reflect light and can become distractions to your client.

If you are talking numbers or intricate details and want to make sure your client concentrates on your mouth for added emphasis and understanding, add a little more color to the lips. Avoid a lip gloss that is too shiny because the vividness of color may be lost in transmission but the shine may serve as a counter-productive distraction. Want to build trust or soften the blow of sharing difficult or unanticipated information? Highlight your eyes with a light eye shadow, mascara and eyeliner so your client is drawn to them. If you have dark circles from fatigue or heredity, be sure to blend in a quality concealer to the area. (Blusher:: Tired? Besides concealer to cover dark circles, add a creamy white eyeliner to the lower lash line to make the whites of your eyes appear brighter.)

Your eyebrows are another key to maintaining a polished and fresh look. Eyebrows serve to frame your face and can instantly add freshness and openness when properly arched. (Blusher:: In between brow appointments? Tweeze or blend in skin-tone concealer to cover the stray hairs can help fool the eye into thinking your brows are properly arched.)

Your clothing and room in which you conduct your videoconference can also influence the vividness of your complexion and makeup on camera. If you choose to wear a solid color white or black shirt, don’t be afraid to add a little color via accessories in order to avoid the Casper the friendly ghost effect. White wall, white shirt, eeeek! The room should be well lit. If you use an overhead light or the natural lighting from a window, position yourself so that the lighting does not create shadows across your face. Another way to avoid shadows or darkness is to make sure your webcam or laptop is positioned at eyelevel. The stack of magazines that you may not have had time to read can really come in handy when adjusting your laptop or camera to avoid the unflattering consequences of a camera and client positioned to look up at you.

The easiest way to be sure you are prepared and ready for your videoconference meeting, have a test run with an honest friend. Good Luck!

Questions are always welcome at ask@readytoblush.com.

Note from Jeannine:  I am so excited to introduce to you a new guest contributor to the blog!  Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional Make Up Artist out of Nashville, Tennessee.  I first met Amy at the Style Plan workshop hosted by StudioWed Nashville in July this year.  She is a very savvy and approachable professional and I am so pleased she will be contributing bi-monthly posts on all things beauty.  Also, tune in on Thursday of this week when I will feature Amy Lynn’s Style Profile!Photo courtesy of:  Kristyn Hogan

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Many people ask “What line of products do you use?” And the answer is “All sorts!”

Brand loyalty is very important in the beauty industry, but you have to be careful not to have blinders on. For example: I love MAC eye shadows (who doesn’t?!) but I hate their foundation. So just because I love one of their products doesn’t mean I have to stick with them for all my cosmetic purchases. If you bought all your clothes from White House Black Market, you’d have an awfully boring color palette in your closet. So don’t be afraid to branch out and try new brands to see what products best fit your needs. Here are some of my favorites.

- Makeup Forever has great products all around. Highly pigmented colors and exceptional HD products make this line ideal for creating precise, flawless faces.

- MAC is number one for color. Their eye, lip, and cheek colors surpass all others. Their brushes are super durable and will last you a lifetime.

- Smashbox has amazing base products. Their primers and especially their Halo powder pack big performance and I don’t do a face without them.

- Maybelline takes the gold for mascara. Since mascara needs to be thrown out every three months, the drugstore brands are more economical. If you are looking for a superb mascara and don’t mind dishing out the dough, DiorShow Mascara is excellent.

- Saje is my love when it comes to fragrance and natural remedies. Their fragrances are totally natural, but pack enough punch that your chosen scent will linger all day.

- Aveda has great hair products. One of my favs being their Hair Potion. And with a mission statement aimed at helping the planet, you can feel good about spending your dollars with them.

There are so many lines, each with its own strengths. Be sure to try items from various lines to make sure you are getting the best ones to fit your beauty needs.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Amy Lynn Larwig is a professional make-up artist based in Nashville, TN.  She has been in business for eight and a half years, providing makeup for all occasions, with extreme attention to detail, personalized service, and additional options including hair styling and eyebrow shaping.  Amy Lynn is available for travel.  You can find out more about Amy Lynn on her website:  www.amylynnlarwig.com and her blog:  www.amylynnlarwig.com/blog.