Brooke Moinet

It’s officially summer, thank God!  When it’s hot out, less is always more, especially when it comes to your makeup routine. So, I am going to give you a few insider tips for a fresh summer face.

1. For the perfect “fine-line” around the eyes, draw a heavy line on the lash line. Then take a makeup-remover cloth, or a Q-tip dipped in remover and wipe off the excess.  You are left with that perfectly fine-line on the lash-line.  The result is not too heavy, yet dark enough to make the eyelashes appear thicker and make your eyes stand out without looking like you have eyeliner on.
2. Dust a translucent powder on your lashes before you apply mascara. This trick gives mascara extra Oomph, to give you Ooh La La lashes.
3. A mineral based tinted moisturizer will keep you covered by, leaving your skin looking fresh, and  protect your skin from aging sun rays.
4. Try a lip tint/ stain as opposed to a gloss. This lasts longer than a gloss, and the look is a fresher take on lip color.  Plus, you can also use them as a cheek stain! Cheek stains are great in hot weather because, they don’t melt off.

If you are like me, a change of season calls for a change of  hair color. Example, I tend to go a bit darker in the cooler months and brighten up as it warms up. But you shouldn’t just change your hair color, you should also keep your lip color in mind as well.  Here are a few tips.

Brunettes : Sheer colors, nudes, and plum tones work best with darker hair.

Blondes: Fair haired beauties always look great in pastels (don’t forget a little bronzer ), pinks, and punchy reds.

Red: Lips stains are a nice subdued choice next to the vibrant hair color, as well as subtle peach tones, and rosy lip shades.

Attention all puny lash sufferer’s:

 Latisse is the answer you have been looking for! The only FDA approved lash enhancer that is scientifically proven to work. There are a lot of products out there promising to provide you with longer, fuller lashes after several applications, but this one is the only guarantee. What you need to do is, find a Derm or Plastic Surgeons office that offers the RX, and shell out the dough, and dedication for product. One trusted Dr’s office I know of that carries the lash-script is Dr. Youn of Rochester Hills, MI.

So, if your not that skilled at applying falsy’s and aren’t willing to semi-permanantly glue eyelash extensions to your lids, check out this product.

It’s as simple as painting the product on your upper lash line and waiting for the new thicker, fuller, longer lashes to come in.

Economy got you down, and drab?.. Put a little color back into your life, and on your face, and I promise you’ll forget for a night that the rest of the world around you seems so glum.

Beauty trends aren’t falling into the black hole that seems to be taking over the rest of the world. Instead of following  trends of economic times and going for drab,  blah-ness, make-up artists are going in the opposite direction and giving women a sense of fantasy, and glamour to take them away from any sort of depressing reality.

To brighten up your outlook on your next night out:

Go for a power lip, and show  optimism with a bold red. Remember to leave the rest of the face minimal for this look.

 Or, get glitzy and flashback to glam-rock days with funky colored shadow.  Try Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes liners, paired with a beautiful high impact colored shadow, or alone under a thin black liner. or just layer up the colors with shadow, and be daring.

L'Oreal's Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara

So, as of  lately I’m all about anything quick ,and the less  the mess is best.  I’m a mascara whore, I can’t ever get enough and I love trying all of them in search of the “perfect” one. So, when it comes to a daytime mascara I love my Fiberwig mascara as you may have read. I love it mostly because, it volumizes and doesn’t leave a mess under your eyes when you wash it off. Another similar mascara is Kissme, which creates “tubes” around your lashes, to lengthen, and washes off cleanly with no mess as well…

Anyway, while I was in the drug store the other day I thought maybe I’ll try L’Oreal’s Double Extent Beauty Tubes Mascara,  a less expensive mascara that claims to create tubes around the lashes to thicken, lengthen and wash off cleanly. A cheaper version/ combination of the two more expensive mascaras.  And for half the price of the other mascara’s there is no better time than the present to try to cut back a little.  So, I experimented and… Loved it! It’s a great day to night mascara that does it’s job beautifully.

For the complete opposite in mascara, the one that’s at the top of my list is Dior Show Blackout Mascara. This is a gorgeous mascara that thickens, lengthens, and creates a faux-lash effect. It also has a ton of pigment, so watch out when you wash-off. It’s a bit messy. But it’s great for a night out on the town!

Spring is officially here ,which means, fresh makeup colors are in the air! I always love a season change, because I get to play around with the latest color trends in makeup.  One thing we can always count on with spring is a “fresh face” look, which is usually refreshing after bold lips and a harsher eye for a typical winter trend. 

This spring is all about feeling peachy.  Gorgeous, apricot, coral, and peach shades are filling up the cosmetic booths for both lip and cheek colors. Thankfully these pops of color can be worn on all skin shades. Simply follow one simple rule, the lighter your skin color is, choose the lightest shade of peach, and the deeper your skin tone goes, go deeper with the coral or apricot tone.  If you can’t find the right shade in one brand, keep browsing, eventually you’ll find a perfect peachy pop for your cheeks and pout.

Now, get out there and give yourself and your makeup collection an instant update with these spring shades. And who wouldn’t want to look and feel warmer and brighter these days?

Well, the jury is out.  As a stocking stuffer, I purchased Anastasia’s Brow Enhancing Serumfor my mom in hopes that it would stimulate the inherited barley-there-brow we both suffer from. Not that we weren’t born with lush full brows, just that through the years of  “thin is in” for eyebrow’s and several trips to get a brow-wax before tweezing or threading came along, our brows have given up on us and decided to stay frail and thin.
So, when I spotted the Anastasia Brow Serum that promised to help stimulate the regrowth of our over done brows I thought, finally thick beautiful brows again. However, verdict is in and it’s a no-go. Momma still hasn’t seen results three months later. Bummer, I was really crossing my fingers on this one.

Chicken Bumps aka Keritosis Pilaris are those bumps you see on the back of your arms or your friends arms that are red and blotchy. Basically, it  is hardened cells that get stuck in hair follicles and the become raised and irritated. How can you get rid of this unsightly problem? Try a cream with glycolic acid in it. Ones that I like are KP Duty, that you can find at one of my favorite stores Sephora, or you can try Glytone’s KP Kit.

The glycolic works to remove dead surface skin, and help open pores to release blockage. It may tingle a bit, especially if your skin is dry, but trust that the tingle means the product is hard at work, restoring your skins soft and smooth texture.

An added bonus for these products is that when you use them on your feet, you get a magnificent pedicure. Simply apply to the bottoms of your feet, and heels, add socks, go to sleep or about your day and viola!  After you remove the socks instantly polished feet.

We’re nearing the end of winter, yet the heat is still blasting on the inside. Therefore, chances are you are battling dry, chapped lips.  It is important to keep your lips protected in harsh climates, because the skin on your lips is considered a type of membrane and is much more susceptible to drying out and becoming chapped.

If you are currently suffering from chapped lips, take a washcloth in the shower with you and gently exfoliate off the dead skin. After the shower apply a penetrating lip balm, such as Burtsbees with peppermint oil (my favorite, it feels so yummy), or Burtsbees with pomegranateoil, they even have a medicated lip balm specifically designed for severely chapped lips. Stay away from chap-sticks that just coat the lips with a petroleum base. Stick with natural based lip balms, some of what is on your lips does go into your mouth, and the last thing you want to put into your body is unnatural chemicals. Yuck!

Lastly, keep the lip balm with you wherever you go to touch up at the fist sign of dryness.

What I am craving right now is a serious exfoliation of my face. Now, I am a huge advocate for daily exfoliation with scrubs, and or acids but, every now and then I need to make an appointment and get a Microdermabrasion or Chemical Peel. 

Although, the kits available today for at home microdermabrasion are wonderful, they don’t quite get as deep as a MDA at a clinical spa. Microdermabrasion machines combine suction with mechanical exfoliation. This stimulates blood circulation and removes the top layers of dead skin, enabling your skin cells to renew themselves.

Chemical peels come in many different strengths, and types, and should be discussed with your esthetician as to which is best suited for your skin type. In most cases chemical peels go a bit deeper than microdermabrasion, in cell exfoliation. Also, depending on the strength of the peel you can create a combination package of MDA’s and Chemical peels, rotating as close to a week apart, to achieve more noticeable results. 

What is even better about going in and leaving with smooth, clear skin, is that these treatments cost the same or less than traditional facials. And there is no guessing as to whether or not the facial you just received actually did anything, it’s guaranteed.  So, check it out next time your skin is feeling drab and needs a pick me up.