THE FACE THIS Ultimate Guide to Face Masques!

It’s all over Instagram: supermodels and celebrities are sharing their secret weapon beauty treatments, scary face masques and all, proving that – more or less- they are just like the rest of us with, pimples, dry skin, rosacea, etc. 

Sheet masques are ready-to-use and come infused skin brightening and tightening ingredients.  Charcoal and magnetic masques draw out pollutants and blackheads. Others are super hydrating and calming.  You don’t need to go for a facial or to a spa to reap the benefits of masques, as they are now available at every price point and so convenient to use that they should be a part of your regular beauty routine.

There are so many new options available now that it can be hard to choose just the right one,  so here is the FACE THIS Ultimate guide to Face Masques to make choosing the right ones for you easier:

Clay Masques: 

Lush Cosmetics Mask of Magnaminty – contains china clay and mint to exfoliate and calm redness.

Origins Clear improvement – contains active charcoal to draw out impurities and refine pores.

Hydrating Gel Masques:

Fresh Cosmetics Rose Face Mask – calms, tones and hydrates with rose water and rose petals.

Laneige Renewal Water Sleeping Mask – overnight masque for deep hydration.

Breakout Control Masques: 

Dead Sea Mud Mask – draws excess oils out of the skin for less breakouts.

Patchology Smartmud No Mess Mud Masque – a no-mess sheet masque infused with charcoal and volcanic ash to detox skin.

Tightening Masques: 

Kate Somerville Age Arrest Hydrating Firming Mask – wear overnight to tighten and brighten the skin, remove pollutants, and increase collagen.

Dr. Brandt’s Magnetight Age-Defier Mask – uses magnetic properties to pull out pollutants from the skin, and leaving behind skin-firming peptides.

Glowing Skin Masques:

Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment – treats discoloration and breakouts.

Korres Wild Rose + Vitamin C Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial – with “Super C” vitamin absorption for antioxidant properties.

Do-It-Yourself Natural Masques:

  

For those caught with skin troubles and no masques in the cabinet, or those who are committed to an all-natural approach, you only need to look in your kitchen for ingredients that have been applied to skin as far back as ancient Egypt.  Legendary beauties like Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Helen of Troy were some of the first women to use makeup, and they routinely utilized skin-pampering ingredients to cleanse and treat their faces and bodies.  It was such an important part of their beauty ritual that they even documented it on the walls of their tombs and temples – first recorded use of social media??  I think so!  Maybe not such a twenty first century invention after all!  These ingredients have been used throughout history to treat skin and for good reason, as they are effective and safe, and often the basis of commercially available masques:

Honey and Banana – to moisturize

Warm water + oatmeal + plain yogurt + honey – calms redness

Egg white + turmeric + orange juice – reduces pores and tightens skin

Plain Yogurt + avocado + honey – treats dry skin

Olive oil + brown sugar – exfoliates the skin

For the do-it-yourselfers who want to make a variety of natural gel masques themselves, the Beauty Juicer is just that – a juicer that gives you the option to add a collagen capsule to create the perfect gel masque, fresh and ready to use.  It comes with lots of recipes for masques, and since it is an actual juicer, you can skip the masque and simply make your own juices if you choose.  There are even recipes for things to make with the leftovers after making your gel masque, as well as natural scrubs.  Win-win.  Beauty inside and out!

  

Add a weekly or bi-weekly masque to your beauty routine and watch your skin begin to glow and absorb your treatment products so much better.  And while you are at it, take a selfie!  Just like the stars!

For my DIY Coffee Mask to Depuff click here  

For my DIY Seaweed Mask for Face and Hair click here

#facemasques #facemasks #treatmentmasks #sheetmasks  #claymasks #charcoalmasks #beautyjuicer

Model Crush Monday - Supermodel Doutzen Kroes

Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes has been a fixture on international magazine covers for almost ten years, five of those as a beauty ambassador for L’Oreal, a Victoria Secret Angel, not to mention the face of many fashion campaigns including Mugler, Gucci, Versace, Valentino, Calvin Klein and Tiffany.

Doutzen is an avid athlete, having grown up speed skating and cycling in her hometown in northern Holland.  After being raised in a household that emphasized health and fitness over fashion, Doutzen had never even heard of Victoria’s Secret when she first landed in NY as an eighteen-year-old model, and booked her first appearance in the catalogue.  Known for her physique as much as for her beauty, Doutzen is perfectly suited to her campaign work for L’Oreal, appearing in ads for makeup and hair.

Now a mom of two, Doutzen is pursuing an acting career and charitable work for HIV and AIDS awareness, education, and prevention in kids and youth.  How many models can claim their own wax figure in Madame Tussaud’s?  This one can!  Let’s hope Doutzen doesn’t tire of being in the spotlight for a long time to come, while balancing motherhood – yummy-mommy alert! – philanthropy, and a meteoric career.  4.4 million followers on Instagram and counting!  @doutzen 

  

#supermodels  #doutzenkroes  #lorealmodels  #dutchmodels  #modelmoms  #victoriassecretangels 

Rock Chic: Fall's Most-Wanted Fashion Picks

Everyone has dreamed of being a rock star - or maybe the girlfriend of the rock star - and the Fall/Winter 2016-17 collections paid homage to a few of these eternal style icons, Stevie Nicks, Bianca Jagger and Debbie Harry. Think luxurious designs in velvet, leather, black lace, and sequins, statement jewelry that is meant to be seen, and jackets with bandleader detailing.  It is the opposite of sweet and demure, and definitely not for wallflowers.

If you buy one thing this fall make it a trophy jacket. There is a style for everyone and every budget.  A bandleader jacket makes a fashion statement but retains a cool factor, goes with everything from skirts to jeans, to black trousers, to a topper over a dress.  You can wear it with anything from florals, to brocades, to leather.  It is every bit as versatile as a jean jacket or a black blazer so wear it with a laid back casual style or dress it up however you want.  It’s a classic style that repeats itself every few years so don’t be afraid to invest in your favorite one.  If you are on a budget, check for actual bandleader jackets at thrift shops and embellish it with pins or regalia to customize it. 

Bold statement jewelry is back, and has an almost eighties feel, with a major sparkle factor.  In the past few years the style has to been to pick one piece and let it speak for itself, but things just got a whole lot louder!  Wear a minimum to two pieces, such as earrings and large cuff or choker necklace, or wear gold on bare skin against black.  Just don’t be too minimal about it or you are missing the point.  Bold, Baby, bold!

Black lace is having a moment and the style this time around is to look a little racy while not looking at all vulgar.  So black lace lingerie that peaks out from a sweater, or from a jacket – leather or velvet would be nice, or even a camisole worn with pants hits the right note between “wow” and “whoa”.

 Channel your inner rock chick and kick it up a notch this fall by wearing your bandleader jacket every weekend wherever you go, add some black lace under your sweaters and jackets for work and lose the sweaters and jackets for after work, and add some jewelry that is more cool than heirloom-serious. Fall just got fun.

#rockchic  #topfallstyles  #topfallfashion  #fallsmostwantedfashion #topfallfashionpicks  #trophyjackets  #bandleaderjackets  #blacklace  #statementjewelry  #blodjewelry  #eightiesstyle  #seventiesstyle  #stevienicksstyle  #debbieharrystyle  #biancajaggerstyle 

Miranda Kerr - Model Crush Monday!

Women love her and men adore her – Miranda Kerr is the rarest of rare supermodels with broad appeal across the sexes and around the world, and her ranking as the second highest paid model in the world in 2015 proves it!

Cheeky dimples, an easy smile, and an amazing body belie the fact that Miranda is a smart businesswoman and brand expert.  Not only is she one of the few to be crowned a Victoria’s Secret Angel, she has also authored books teaching self-confidence and self-empowerment, has her own top-tier beauty and skincare line called Kora Organics, and a charming and highly successful collaboration with UK brand Royal Albert with her own line of teacups and accessories. 

Born and raised in Australia, Miranda was discovered when she won a modeling competition for Dolly Magazine at age thirteen.  Years of commercial success in Australia and Asia set her up for a big international debut, where she booked advertisements for many high-end advertisements for various brands in New York, and exposed her to international photographers and designers. 

Campaigns for Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Bally, Mango, H&M, and editorials with such star-making photographers as Steven Meisel for the cover and editorials for Vogue Italia, and Mario Testino for Vogue Japan’s fifteenth anniversary issue have made Miranda one of the most recognized faces in modeling around the world.  Over the last fifteen years she has achieved the “golden egg” of modeling - a beauty contract, becoming a spokes-model for Maybelline, and has been the face of both Clinique’s fragrance “Happy”, and Escada’s “Joyful”. 

Miranda’s brand is everywhere and it’s hard to keep up!  If you aren’t already one of her 9.8 Million Instagram followers, you are missing out!  Mom, girl next-door, amazing international beauty, smart businesswoman, champion of women and girls, and approachable beauty, makes her inspirational and a true Model Crush!   

Miranda Kerr’s website:  www.mirandakerr.com

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mirandakerr/

#mirandakerr  #modelcrushmondays #supermodels #forbeshighestpaidmodels #australiansupermodels  #victoriassecretangels  #roaylalbert  #koraorgranics  #modeslasmentors #beautymodels #celebritymodels  #modelcelebrities  #imgmodels 

Red, red wine…. THE top lip color trend for lips for Fall 2016 is a matte merlot

 

All the fall magazines are about to hit the stands and the stores are nearly full of fall fashion.  After months of casual, breezy styles, and natural, glowing makeup, it feels right to start planning our autumn wardrobe, including a more polished beauty look.

The Fall/Winter 2016-2017 runways showcased options to suit every mood and style and one of the strongest trends was a matte complexion and deep merlot-red, matte lip, which ranged from classic, to cinematic, to almost gothic. 

The deep, berry-hued matte power lip looks most current with an equally matte face, with simply a good concealer, rose blush, and mascara.  Begin by using a beauty sponge to apply matte foundation to lips.  Then use a lip brush to apply and blend the lip color, skipping a lip liner.  Set the lip color with a translucent powder. 

Lip colors to try:

• L’Oreal Paris Color Riche Lipcolor in Raisin Rapture
• Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Zealot