Matte is Back!

Hello Sunshine's! I'm so excited about August, so many things to look forward to! First, my favorite TV shows are coming back! Mad Men on A&E Project Runway (now on Lifetime) and the always entertaining Entourage on HBO, my DVR is ready to go. Now onto the Beauty! Things have been tough for everyone financially, and I've scaled back on a few "must haves" myself. However, I refuse to give up my Iced Coffee (quickly being rivaled by McDonald's budget friendly Sweet Tea) or my Mani/Pedi's! Lately all these bright neon colored nail polishes are boring me, very summer of 2008. I really loved these colors last summer because not a lot of people where wearing them, now every person I see has on bright yellow, pink, and magenta polish!


I've decided to join the new Matte Nail polish revolution, (please come with me)! Essie has created a budget friendly way to turn you current nail polish Matte with their genius product " matte about you" (how cute are their names). Other lines like OPI are coming out with all new matte shades, and reintroducing their best sellers like " Russian Navy Matte". I think Knock Out Cosmetics did the whole Matte trend the best, and offers an entire line of Matte polishes, as well as Base and Top coats for prolonging your new Matte look and I love their whole Rocker Chic, stand out from the crowd mantra. Now lovelies, if you live in NYC here are a two of my favorite places to get my much needed Mani/Pedi's: CURE BK , and Rescue Nails , now, if you don't live in New York........ then you need to pack your stuff and move now! It's one of the Fashion and Beauty Capital's and it's wayyyy cheaper than living in Milan or Paris!


XoXo

M & M

I think I love you, so what was I so afraid of?

I am not a big fan of the fake tan, mainly because it mostly ends up looking too orange, and the products tend to clog up your pores no matter how "oil free" they claim to be. So imagine my surprise when I was stalking the Dior counter for new lip gloss, and was introduced to this fabulous new spray bronzer. It looks amazing on me! the color is 002 (the darkest one) instantly dries to a soft powder finish, and has just a hint of gold flecks in the formula to make you look like you just finished a nice weekend on South Beach, and is really great for people (like myself) who's make-up melts off in the summer months. Now, it's a little pricey for the size ($60 bucks) so I was still a little hesitant. I decided to think about it while looking for shoes, and wouldn't you know it, two different women, and one fabulous man, asked me what foundation I was wearing! Sold!

xoxo,

M&M

p.s. for those of you who live in NY, this place is wonderful for a quick dose of color http://www.brazilbronze.com/our-nyc-salon

My Brows, My Life

Hello, my name is M&M and I'm an overplucker. As a Make-up Artist, I am obsessed with brows, particularly my own. I pluck, tweeze,cut, or shave my brows at least every other day. After a grueling gym workout, I caught a glimpse of myself in the fluorescent lighting hell that is the gym locker room, and decided this would be a good time to clean up a few stray hairs. Wrong! Five minutes later, and no feeling left in my face, it was an eyebrow massacre, I had comma's for brows! While contemplating wearing sunglasses to the gym for the next two weeks, I saw Laura Gella on QVC demonstrating her new Long-Lasting Color Brow Marker. This pen is amazzzzzing! I don't know what kind of beauty voodoo she put in this pen, but it does NOT run! It comes in two colors Taupe and Brown (I have brown) and the application is so easy, it's just like using a pen. It's best applied using short strokes to fill in the missing hairs, and the best part is it looks so natural. Not waxy or shiny just right. Just do yourself a favor and don't go overboard, lest you have Joan Crawford brows!


xoxo,

M&M

So fresh & So clean!

I'm soooooo over this cold/rainy/nasty weather! It's a little difficult to look fabulous while layering, and don't even get me started on what hats are doing to my coif! Normally I spray on a little D&G feminine, because it reminds me of summer and makes me feel good. Well of course they went and discontinued it! (story of my life!) So imagine my surprise when I found the new Pucci Vivara fragrance at Sephora. It's a little citrus,a little floral, and the bottle is tres adorable with his signature pattern on the top of the bottle. Now, I'm not totally cured of my winter blues, but I'm well on my way.

Highlight, Define,Contour, Repeat!

Ok, so I'm a sucker for a good deal. Whenever I see a packaged/value set, I always feel like I've won something! I purchased the "Try Me" http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P194403&categoryId=C10905

and was pleasantly surprised at how great all the products are, and I'm still using them. Smashbox has pulled out all the stops in Vol.2 Master Class Special Effects. I must have played in this stuff in Sephora for about half an hour! These colors look amazing, and the eyeshadow color payoff is fantastic. The Kabuki brush was perfect for applying the Deep Bronze/Creamy Apricot combo aptly named contour/pop, the creamy midnight chocolate eye liner was a welcome change to the Amy Winehouse black eyeliner we've seen all winter, the lipglosses are sheer, with just enough color, so even when your a heavy handed lipgloss wearer like myself, your hair will not get stuck to your lips! Don't forget to watch the instructional video which has great tips for highlighting,defining, and contouring your face. You might want to head to Sephora ASAP! because this set is only $59 dollars and the ladies that work there were buying up all of them!

M&M

Lash Blast, I am a Believer!

How sick am I of trying new mascaras! The ones I love, my allergies don't, and the ones that are OK, are still $23.00. In an effort to start to save money this year, and a very,very convincing and colorful marketing campaign by Cover Girl featuring Drew Barrymore, I decided to give their newest product a try. While "power shopping" at Target, I found the display (gasp!) with the last mascara left on it! I don't know about you, but that boosted my confidence about 10 points for this product! And the fact that it's under $7 bucks, I was willing to roll the dice. I saved the packing and the receipt just in case, (I've been burned by others before) but there was no need. This brush has so many bristles on it, you could use it to brush down your edges when your done with the mascara! I got the very black, and it looks utterly fab. I even waited a few minutes and put on two more coats just to make sure it wouldn't go all Tammy Faye on me (god rest her soul&lashes) and it didn't, YAY! Another plus is the bright orange container comes in handy when I'm searching for it in my bottomless pit of a make-up bag! The ultimate compliment was when my friend said to me: You are such a diva, I can't believe you put on individual lashes just to go to lunch with me! Ladies, Cover Girl has officially stepped up their game!

(get your $7.00 together, and go get one!http://www.covergirl.com/whatsnew/index.jsp?pageId=6)

M&M

All About Eve

Eve Lom skincare that is. I discovered this fabulous line of skincare at the most wonderful store, (Space NK http://www.spacenk.com/ it's like a grown up version of Sephora and I am officially addicted.) I tried the cleanser after a rough day of being fabulous, ( i.e, reapplying my make up all day to look "fresh") and it literally melted my five layers of foundation off. It has eucalyptus in it as well, which actually helps to open your pores, and makes your face fell like it just ate a mint, needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed. Apparently Ms. Lom has been a cult classic for years and was only available on the West Coast and at her spas. I wanted to try it after testing it in the store, however I was none to thrilled about the price. And that's when the beauty gods ( ok the sales lady) told me about a starter kit they had just for the holidays! So $45 dollars later I skipped outta there and read the whole pamphlet on my train ride home. Now I must report that after using this stuff for two days, i received three compliments that my skin looked like it was glowing! Now that may not seem like alot, but this is coming from other make-up artist who do not give out compliments all willy nilly! My response to them was that I upped my water intake (lie, unless dunkin donuts coffee=water) and I started exercising again ( almost lie, because running to catch the train, does=exercise, needing to move an old lady over so you can sit down and catch your breath for the next three stops, may disqualify that as exercise) So, now I've shared my glowing skin secret with the world, I hope your happy!

xoxo,

M&M