Skin Care Remedies Found in your Pantry!

For those of you who are tired of spending money on skincare products that don't seem to work. Take matters into your own kitchen... or... wait, hands! Create your own personal skincare line using all natural ingredients that are probably sitting in your pantry or refrigerator right now! Because who knows your skin better than... you?

Fun Facts!

It is said that one of Cleopatra's favorite skin care recipes was soaking in a rose petal and milk bath to keep her skin soft. 

Marilyn Monroe's secret for perfectly balanced skin? She kept a bottle of Olive Oil in her medicine cabinet for added moisture. 

Classic beauties of all time used honey as an organic skin care treatment for supple, younger looking skin.

Recipes!

Olive Oil Facial Scrub For Any Skin-Type

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp baking soda

Measure out the olive oil first. Then add the baking soda to the oil and mix into a paste. You may also add lemon juice or honey. Rub into skin to exfoliate, then wash off with a warm washcloth, finishing up with a cold splash.

You've just washed, exfoliated and moisturized, all in one step! 

Exfoliating Sugar Scrub

• Lemon Wedge or Lemon Juice
• Purified Sugar

 Simply pour several drops of lemon juice, or squeeze lemon wedge onto a cotton pad. Sprinkle sugar on top and rub it all over the skin on your face and neck for about a minute. Carefully rinse sugar and lemon juice off of skin with warm water. Try to do this about 2 times a week.

Cleanser for Acne

• 1/4 cup Witch Hazel
• 1 Tablespoon Aloe Vera Gel
• 10 drops Tea Tree Oil

Apply cleanser with a cotton ball. Use 2 -3 times a day as needed. Tea Tree Oil can effectively help reduce acne inflammation. It it is gentler on the skin.

Cucumber Mask For Oily Skin

• 1/2    Cucumber
• 1    Egg White
• 1 T  Lemon Juice
• 1 t  Mint

Puree all and refrigerate 10 mins. Apply mixture to your face and leave on 15 mins. Rinse with hot, then cool water.

Diminish Fine Lines/Wrinkles

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon of sugar

Whisk the egg yolks until the mass is firm and consistent. Add sugar gradually and mix well to combine the two. Apply on the face and leave on for 25 minutes. Wash off with warm water using a wash cloth

Chocolate Mask 

Chocolate protects the skin by breaking down free radicals and has anti-ageing, anti-oxidant properties.

• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 2 tablespoons of heavy cream (sour cream will work as well)
• 3 teaspoons of oatmeal powder

Mix all the ingredient until the mass in consistent. Apply on the face, gently massaging so that oatmeal can start exfoliating the dead skin cell layer. Leave it on for about 15 to 20 minutes and rinse off with lukewarm water.

10 Tips for Flawless Summer Make-up!

1. Hydrate! Skin dehydration during the summer makes our skin vulnerable to sun allergies, wrinkling, dry skin, tanning and dark patches. Yikes! The best thing you can do for your skin (and your health) in these steamy summer months is also one of the hardest to keep up with: Drink water!!!! According to recent studies, you should be drinking half of your weight in ounces of water. So if you weigh 120 lbs., you should be taking in 60 fluid oz. of water daily. 

Tip: Crystal Light makes yummy 'to go' packets to make boring old H20 flavored! Go green! Buy a reusable water bottle to fill up daily (or until you reach your daily water goal). 

2. Exfoliate. The summer sun is famous for drying out our skin. This means tons of extra dead skin cells just laying around. Eck. Fortunately, this is an easy fix. Want an awesome at-home exfoliating scrub? Rub a cut lemon dipped into a half-teaspoon of sugar all over your skin. You won't believe how soft and fresh your skin feels when you're done! Repeat once a week. 

3. Get a massage! You're going to love us for this one. Body massage enhances the natural detoxification process by enhancing blood circulation and stimulating the lymphatic system. This helps the body to retain the necessary moisture and also keep it healthy. Translation? It increases blood flow, which makes your skin glow and hold on to the water you're drinking! Yup. You're welcome. 

4. Protect. Another thing that sounds easy, yet is somehow impossibly hard to remember to do? Use an SPF! Sunscreens protect skin from losing it's moisture and from those harsh UV rays. An easy way to remember? Use a tinted moisturizer or foundation with a built in SPF! 

Tip: SPF is NOT a good idea for your wedding day. Titanium Dioxide (often found in products containing SPF) reflects the flash in photos, giving your foundation a not-so-appealing "geisha" effect. 

5. Prep & Prime. Use an oil free primer (we love NARS Oil-Free Pro-Prime Pore Refining Primer) underneath your foundation. This will hold product in place without creating a "cakey" feeling. Also, be sure to prime the eye to prevent creasing (MAC Paintpot in "Soft Ochre" is a favorite of ours). 

6. Waterproofing. This is crucial when spending time at the beach or pool! Waterproof mascaras and eye liners are the best way to fight off unwanted 'raccoon eyes' caused by humidity in the summer air. Just be sure to have a good make-up remover on hand. This stuff doesn't budge!

Tip: Good rule of thumb: If you use a cream, set it with a powder. Period. This holds the cream in place and keeps color bleeding at bay. 

7. Keep the lips simple! Keep your lips light and let your natural color shine! Heavy matte lipsticks can be a bit much in the August heat. Skip the lipstick, or simply use a frost or luster finish. Work that natural pout with a flavored balm, or high shine gloss. Your summer fling will thank you ;)

8. Highlight. One of the benefits of the heat? A beautiful summer 'glow'. Fear not oily ladies! A little access oil isn't always a bad thing. Ever heard the rumor that people with oily skin tend to age better? This is because the oily skin barrier is thicker than drier skin, which helps in resisting outside elements, i.e. free radicals, weather, pollution etc. However, if you'd like a little more control over your own personal 'glow', use a little shimmer to highlight the places where the light would naturally hit your face. (See above)

9. Bronze. While we always recommend having a summer shade and winter shade of foundation in your make-up bag, it isn't completely necessary- especially on a budget. Mix your foundation with a little moisturizer (again, be aware of using moisturizers with SPF. They will lighten the foundation color even more) to thin out the consistency of the product (the thinner the coverage, the less opaque the color, i.e. it doesn't have to match perfectly). Apply the highlight (see above) and then use your bronzer to softly darken the areas of your skin that would be naturally sun-kissed. 

Tip: Make a fish face. I know it's silly. Just do it. See where the natural hollows of your skin are? That's where the bronzer color should go! The idea is to create shadow to recede light which gives the illusion that you are... (wait for it...) THINNER! ;)

10. Consider lash extensions. Hear us out. Yes, it's definitely an investment. But just think: a gorgeous dramatic eye with no mascara, and no liner! You can skip the risk of summer smudging all together! (If you're in the DC area, e-mail us for our amazing lash lady!) The lashes are applied individually (as in- every single hair applied to your lash line one by one) for longer, fuller looking lashes. They last (give or take) about a month before touch-ups need to be made. Yes, please!

dl Ethereal Photo Shoot

If there is one thing I truly love, it's working with inspiring, amazing women who are passionate about what they do.  Danielle Lavis (photographer) and Elizabeth Neighoff (stylist) are two of the most talented and creative artists I've had the pleasure of working with.  They have fearlessly launched dl Ethereal, and in their words, this is what they do:

"Inspiring strong, positive identities"

and  

"using the art of photography and styling to inspire young girls and young women"

Do yourself a favor and check out the website (http://www.daniellelavisphotography.com/).

I was lucky enough to be the MUA for their kick-off photo shoot.  I'll let her photos speak for themselves. 

xoxo   Kathy

Courtey Hale Wedding Photos!

We absolutely LOVE our brides, and have such a blast working with them and the teams they assemble. Recently, I had the great pleasure of working with Mrs. Courtney Hale. Courtney was truly a glowing bride and a joy to work with, as was her bridal party.

Her photographer, Abby Jiu (www.abbyjiu.com) was kind enough to send over some of the wedding photos, and I was blown away! All of the elements of the wedding came together to create a magical day for Courtney and Geoff (plus, their colors match our logo!! ;). I am so glad to have been a part of it!

Here are some of the incredible photos Abby took! Enjoy!

14 New Kardashian Polish Kolors!

Okay... last Kardashian post for at least a week, we promise! ;) 

The Kardashian girls teamed up with Nicole by OPI to create a beautiful and fun series of nail colors to launch (wait for it...) just in time for the holiday season! Each of the 14 'Kolors' (Yes, the over-use of the letter 'K' in this post may lend itself to an eye roll orrr five. Just go with it.) were named after the ladies of the Kardashian/Jenner bunch. 

Rainbow in the S-Kylie
Listen to Your Momager!
My Empire, My Rules
Follow Me On Glitter
Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi
Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam
Wear Something Spar-Kylie
All Kendall-ed Up
Disco Dolls
Kendall on the Katwalk
It's All About the Glam
Sealed With a Kris
Kim-pletely In Love
Hard Kourt Fashionista

All joking aside, these ladies have somehow completely over-saturated the market in every way imaginable (Did you know there is a Kardashion debit card?) and yet we can't get enough! Let's just say, we wouldn't mind if a few of these colors make their way into our stocking this Christmas!

Retail: $7.99 each

Love those before and afters

Baywood Country Club in Rehobeth Beach, DE., was the setting for the wedding of beautiful Nicole.  Nicole is such a natural beauty with porcelain skin and blue eyes.  I could not wait to get a hold of her Sunday.  She was such a calm bride, working and directing up to the moment she sat in my chair, but never once being impatient or rattled.  I just loved her!  She was nice enough to let me take a before and after picture (not that she had anything to worry about).  She was truly one of the prettiest brides I have ever seen.  Her dress was breathtaking.  All in all it was a perfect day, and worth the 5 hour, round-trip drive.  Congrats Nicole!  I'll post the real pictures as soon as I get them, so excuse the amateur shots.       XXOO     Kathy

p.s. Her hair was done, above, by Jennifer Sammons-Mitchell, www.JennSammonsHairDesign.health.officelive.com

Kim Kardashian Dishes Beauty Secrets!

Whenever we ask clients to bring along a few pictures as examples of how they'd like their make-up to look for their event, inevitably included among them is a photo of Kim Kardashian. Known (and envied) for her gorgeous olive skin, nude lip (one of Kim's fav lip colors is "Angel" by MAC) and ever-present smokey eye, she has become a go-to celeb for hot trends in beauty and fashion. Recently, she dished some of her favorite go-to beauty products! Nars, and Lancome sales are sure to spike with this glowing endorsement from Ms. K.  She says:

"I love a brown smoky eye. You really have to circle your eyes with color for the best effect. I switch to grey or black depending on what I'm wearing. I always curl [my lashes] and then wiggle Lancome mascara through twice. I love blush inOrgasm by NARS. It goes everywhere with me and looks great on olive skin tones like mine."

A Boudoir Party

I recently had the pleasure of being the Blend makeup artist for a Boudoir Party in Baltimore, Maryland.  The event was set up and photographed by the amazingly creative Cindy Alderton of Boudoir Affaire (www.boudoiraffaire.com).  Hosted by Ty Watkins for her best friend's  birthday, these girls were beautiful and ready to work it!

Here's how it worked.  Ty booked an overnight room at the Sheraton in Towson, provided plenty of yummy snacks and cocktails, invited a few of their closest friends, and the party began!  Cindy used the bedroom and her incredible imagination to set the perfect backdrop for her classy, make you feel beautiful, boudoir photos.  Each girl took turns changing and then having their private photo session.  While the boudoir shoot was in session each of the other girls got hair and makeup from me!  It was the perfect party atmosphere.  I don't think I have ever had so much fun doing what I already love.  These were the most beautiful, smart, fun women I've worked with in while.  Once they were all glammed up, the ladies had planned a night out in Baltimore, but when I left the party was in full swing and I'm not sure if they ever left the hotel.

If you'd like to book a Boudoir Party it's simple, just contact Cindy (www.boudoiraffaire.com) and she'll give you all the pricing and details.  See you there!                   XOXO    Kathy