Break out the bronze, please! July 23, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Makeup Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized.Tags: bronze, lip gloss, makeup how-to, summer
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This summer, look steaming hot by the pool, on the town, or running errands–without makeup melt away!
1) Moisturize, either with a facial moisturizer with SPF of at least 30 or noncomedogenic sunscreen.
2) Apply a tinted moisturizer or sheer mineral liquid foundation with SPF. Dab on cream concealer with a brush to obvious blemishes, but don’t feel the need to go for Mona Lisa perfect skin–some fresh off the beach vibes and imperfections are encouraged. Believe it or not, Costco offers a rockin’ combo of foundation and concealer.
3) Use a fluffy powder brush to swirl on a shimmery bronzer along your cheek bones to your temple. Highlighting the highest point is the goal here, but avoid the disco ball look. Subtlety is key.
4) Curl your lashes. Line inner rims with a soft black kohl pencil, and outer halves. Blend at outer corners into lashline for greater lasting power and a lil’ bit o’ smoke effect.
5) Apply mascara, concentrating on the lower base of the lashes.
6) Finish with a creamy, smooth bronze gloss. Opaque is preferable. Try Smashbox’s 35mm.
7) Wait til sunset and hear the water hiss as the sun hits the the ocean and you come out to play.
Soap Suds July 22, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Fountain of Youth, Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Be amazed. Be very amazed. For all those who once poo-pooed bar soap, you clearly haven’t lathered up with this gorgeous peachy keen bar. Need a quick cheapie pick me up? Try Caress Daily Silk. The Dove bar of my childhood can take a back seat with its funky smell, shrinking bar size, and rising cost to this much more feminine treat. Find it in the dollar bin at Target.
Lather doesn’t technically do anything for you, but hush, y’all! The lather from this baby feels luxurious and leaves a lightly girly perfume. I’ve discovered it also has its uses as a super soft and sudsy shampoo.
What are you waiting for? Go clean up your bathing act!
Fair ‘n Freckled May 22, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Essays, Face, Fountain of Youth, Uncategorized.Tags: essay, Face, freckles
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Freckles can be oh-so-fine... 
“You’re beautiful, Sara, but…” Uh-oh. Nothing could pull a switcharoo and ruin a perfectly good compliment like the word “but”. I braced myself for some scathing insult, something that would knock the wind out of me. I was prepared for irreversible damage and flaming scars. I held my breath. ”…Your face is too busy,” my friend asserted with the eye of a hyper-critical artist.
Eh? Too busy, she said, like the powers that be had enthusiastically gone crazy with their paint and crayon sets? I practically giggled. I thought that there would be some irreconcilable imperfection, but this I could handle. So I had a couple spots of awkward adolescent acne and a healthy dusting of freckles. When I was five or so, the freckles were declared “adorable”. My parents’ friends assured me they were “angel kisses and sun kisses”. I shrugged it off, and life continued until something else caused me to question my freckled face.
On vacation in Hong Kong, my pale skin was admired, though my freckles and acne were not. People on the streets, in apothecaries, and in shops told me so. Freckles are a tattoo of the lower classes. It means you labor in the sun and work with your hands like a commoner. ”We have some special herbs that can help you with your face,” said one shopkeeper. I wasn’t even in the cosmetics section. I was just looking for deodorant. I felt my face flush. Now not only was my face acne-prone, covered in freckles, and sweaty with the humidity, it was now bright red to boot. I politely declined and quietly rushed out the door.
I went through my fair share of self-consciousness with my freckles. I attempted to block them out with ridiculous amounts of foundation, cream concealers, and powders, only to exacerbate the problem by causing my acne to flair up. I gave up, but secretly envied the clarity of my Chinese relatives’ smooth, unmarked complexions. ”You’ve got your dad’s genes, Sara,” my mom said in explanation of the skin I clearly did not inherit from her. ”You’ve got his fair skin. Don’t worry. Just use sunscreen and they’ll go away when you’re older.”
Well, I’m almost twenty (and I’ve worn sunscreen on a daily basis for the most part), and the freckles have stuck. I have to admit. I’m rather partial to them these days. Sure, they have their downsides. I’m prone to burning. I’m never mistaken for a Hollywood celebrity (maybe that’s a plus?? Ha ha…). But they do have positive prospects.
For starters, they can be incredibly romantic. I had a boyfriend that said, “I’m sorry that you burn, but I can’t wait to see you with a tan. And freckles. I’ve always had a thing for freckles.” I kissed him on the spot for being one of the first to openly adore my freckles. He further assured me when he said, “You should see my shoulders after I’m in the sun! They look tan because they’re covered with freckles!” I was smitten. I recently met a man that said that I reminded him of his wife who had passed away, but during their hay-days he would spend long hours counting every …last… one…
Besides. They pose interesting contradictions that not everyone can work. They may be commonly seen as unbearably sweet or cute, but with just the right amount of attitude, they can sport an air of sultry appeal. They show how I’ve embraced the sun. They reflect the exotic beaches I’ve traveled to and the time I’ve slated on the slopes in the snow’s reflection. They’ve become a trademark of sorts. They make me who I am.
Blush and Bloom! May 22, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Face, Uncategorized.Tags: blush, cheeks, face beauty how-to, makeup how-to
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Look like you’ve been up to no good betwixt the sheets or taken a roll in the hay with a (fake) tell-tale glow. Invest in a blush in a color of your choice, tap on and go! Here are a few suggestions:
1. Oil slicks need not apply. Nor should dry flaky canvases. Blush is an instant tool to look perky, but it will highlight dry spots like a deer in headlights. So be warned! Start with a clean moisturized face.
2. Chances are, you don’t want to accentuate your redness (particularly the zit and inflamed-tomato varieties), so cover up blemishes with some concealer or foundation.
3. People rave about NARS Orgasm blush for its universally flattering peachy-gold sheen, but you can get gorgeous on the cheap, too. Try Jane Blushing Cheeks in Blushing Glow for a smooth, subtle peach. It’s very pretty for an innocent look. Go for a deeper wine shade for merciless sex appeal, or for something sultry try a bronzer such as Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips. Very sunny, verrrry sexy. 
4. Take a soft, fluffy blusher brush. Swirl it in the powder and tap it against your finger to remove excess dust so you don’t come out looking sun burnt or like you had a shimmer collision with a disco ball. Alternatively, you could use a cream formula. Try Nars the Multiple for a high-end product or Wet and Wild 3-of-a-Kind Twist Up Stick for a cheapie.
5. Smile. No–not so you can wink at yourself and compliment yourself on your cuteness (though you’re encouraged to do that, too). Notice the roundest part of your cheek (with the brush if your using a powder, with clean fingers if your using a cream). That’s the apple (and soon to-be apple of your eye). Blend some of the blush there in a circular motion. Notice how your cheek sweeps upward toward your temple? That’s your cheekbone. Concentrate on highlighting that delicate little ridge to make your fine features pop.
6. Voila! Instant glow. Add a bit o’ gloss or luscious balm to compliment. Try Pretty Power Props Sex For Your Lips.
7. Optional: Smile again. Glow, baby, glow!!
Classic Cat Eye May 13, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Eyes, Makeup Tips and Tricks, Retro Rebound.Tags: cat eye, cat eye makeup, eyeliner, makeup advice, makeup how-to, makeup tips, makeup tricks
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Nothing conveys sophistication and class in a single glance the way the ever-popular cat-eye look can. Unleash your vintage vixen with these steps!
1. Smooth an oil absorbing product such as a base, primer, or foundation over your whole eyelid to even the tone and hold your glam look in place.
2. To create subtle definition, blend a subtle taupe over the lid and a bit of fawn colored eye shadow at the outer corners, moving from the outer corner into the crease.
3. Use a blending brush to blend the two colors. Use a clean brush for a more subtle effect. For a more glamorous look, start just below the eyebrow to highlight the brow-bone with a fine, shimmery highlighter and work your way down. Dot a little extra shimmer at the inner corner of the eye to make your eyes pop.
4. Line the inner rim of your top eyelid with a kohl eye pencil. Fill in between each lash to make lash line appear thicker.
5. Curl lashes, pumping from base to tip of lashes.
6. Find a dark liquid eyeliner. The lighter your hair and complexion, the lighter you ought to go for the most flattering look (brown for blondes and redheads, dark brown to black for brunettes). Ones with a tapered felt tip allows for great control. Try Covergirl LineExact Liquid Eyeliner. For a cheap pick-me-up with a fine-tipped brush, use New York Color
7. Close your eyes so that your eyelid is smooth. Leaning your head back and peeking beneath your eyelashes may help with this. Starting at the inner corner or your eye, use the finest point to trace as close to the lash line as possible.
8. Trace over the first line with a smooth bold stroke, swooping upward at the end. Imagine that the upward flick is an extension of a line extending from your bottom lid. The line ought to be thickest at the outer corner. Allow a few moments for the liner to dry before you open your eyes, or you’ll risk walking around with a random streak of liner across your lid.
9. Finish the look with feathery lashes. Hold a mascara wand horizontally and wiggle through lashes at the base to create fullness and swooping upward at the tips to create length. Voila! You can now exercise your sexiest wink.
Other tips
This look is about clean lines and perfection. Start with a blank canvas. That means smooth skin. Achieve this with a perfectly matte foundation or a dab of concealer depending on how formal you want your look to be. With a dramatic eye, avoid looking washed out. Brush on some rosy or peachy blush on to the apples of cheeks. For day, add some gloss or balm. For night and full-on drama, pair with a bold red lip.
Visionary Visage May 12, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Face, Fountain of Youth, Makeup Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized.Tags: blush, foundation, makeup advice, makeup how-to's, skincare
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You’re the fresh-faced kid on the block now. It’s all about developing good habits. Drink plenty of water, eat your vitamins, wear sunscreen, yadayadayada. You know the drill. Refine it here.
1. Cleanse gently and thoroughly. What method you choose is a matter of personal preference. A bar is more transportable, but it also has the potential to harbor bacteria. Certain liquid cleansers can have harsh chemicals or fragrances. Experiment, and find out what you skin likes best.
2. Exfoliate two to three times a week depending on how sensitive or dry your skin is. Don’t choose anything too harsh. Slough off dead, ashy skin to reveal a more vibrant complexion.
3. Apply a bit of toner to a cotton pad or a cotton ball and gently swipe it over your face to pick up traces of dirt and makeup that your cleanser left behind. Witch hazel is a natural effective choice, but there are many other astringents on the market that tout their own benefits. Some claim to reduce oil, others are catered to more sensitive skin, some just smell nice. Find what works for you.
4. Use a moisturizer on your face and neck–preferably one with sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher. For a natural look that covers spots, mix in a bit of tinted moisturizer or liquid foundation.
5. For smoother skin and more coverage, dab on some foundation with a sponge, a fluffy brush, or fingertips in a swirling motion, blending as you go along. Choose a color that matches the natural tone of your face in natural sunlight, rather than choosing a color based on the color of the back of your hand or neck. Powder formulas have buildable coverage with a matte finish, but may highlight dry ares. Cream-to-powder formulas also allow for extra control over coverage. Liquids can have shimmery highlighter mixed in, can be diluted with moisturizer, or used straight from the bottle. It’s pretty versatile, and can offer a dewy, lighter look.
6. Cover blemishes with concealer. Liquid formulas are lightest; cream stick formulas are the heaviest and are thus more opaque. Set in place with a bit of powder.
7. Avoid looking ashen or pasty by throwing a fun blush or sexy bronzer into the mix. Use your fingertips in a cream formula of your blush or use a soft round blush brush in a powder formula. If you go with the latter, tap of the excess, and swirl it on the apples of your cheeks. Blend upward along the cheekbone to the temple. With the excess, lightly dust the brush across your chin and forehead to capture a glowing complexion.
Browsing for Brows May 12, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Eyes, Makeup Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized.Tags: eyebrow how-to, eyebrow shaping, eyebrow waxing, eyebrows
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Are your eyebrows looking more like Groucho Marx’s or Elizabeth I’s than Keira Knightley’s or Salma Hayek’s? Tame them with this advice.
See a professional–especially if it’s your first time
For first-timers, try seeking out a professional. A professional eyebrow shaping ranges from $8-$25. Price does not necessarily equal quality. Be sure to ask around the neighborhood for a trustworthy recommendation. There are several options. You can wax, thread, tweeze, or sugar your eyebrows. Waxing, threading, and sugaring can cover larger areas and create a perfectly smooth finish while tweezing provides more precise results by targeting individual hairs. If you go with waxing or sugaring, you will have several weeks before you need to re-shape your brows; a few days goes for the tweezing option.
For do-it-yourself-ers
Use the eye as a guideline. Aim to highlight the inner corner, the pupil, and the outer corner. Hold up a pencil vertically alongside your nose and inner corner of your eye. This is where the eye brow should begin. With a sharp pair of angled tweezers, tweeze hairs that stray into your uni-brow region until your eyebrow falls in line with the inner corner of your eye. Next, take the pencil and line it up so that it is perpendicular to the outer corner of your pupil and parallel to your nose. This is where the arch should start. To create an arch, tweeze no more than a couple of hairs at a time from this point. The eyebrow should then taper out as you go toward the outer-corner of your eye. Many people prefer the eyebrow to end at the outer corner, but an elongated tapered brow can create a very elegant, dramatic effect.
Perfecting your frames and damage control
If you already have a shape that you’re satisfied with, you can up the drama or fill in the blanks with a little eyebrow color. Use a color that is similar to your natural brow color; try to stick to a shade lighter for brunettes and a shade darker for those with lighter hair. To make the brows appear thicker, try a powder eyeshadow. Dust some on in the natural outline of your brow and brush through in an up-and-outward motion. Another option is pencil. Sharpen a kohl pencil to a fine point and use light feathery strokes to fill in sparse areas. To hold brows in place or polish appearance, try a brow gel, available in tinted and clear options. If you’ve over plucked, do NOT touch the tweezers. Use a pencil to fill in sparse spotsLet them re-grow. This could take a couple of months, so be patient.
Brow advice that will never lead you astray
Never go too thin. You don’t want to look like a hairless Chinese crested dog. By that same token, don’t be afraid to try shaping them up. Let your brows frame your face and showcase your peepers. Your eyebrows are hair. They will grow. Be prepared for maintenance. Invest in a good pair of sharp, angled tweezers. Tweezerman offers mini-sized ones that are absolutely ace for the price, though their full-sized options offer even greater precision. To extend the effect, you can trim your eyebrows with eyebrow trimmers. Invest in an eyebrow/eyelash comb and brush combo.
Smoke Screen May 12, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Eyes, Makeup Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized.Tags: eye makeup, makeup how-to, makeup tips, makeup tricks, smokey eye
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Melt a person’s heart from across the room with your smoldering gaze. Here are the tools you need to achieve the perfect smokey eye.
1. Apply a base or primer to your eyelid to absorb excess oil and make sure your your makeup stays in place. You can even dab a bit of foundation onto your eyelid with your finger. This creates a smooth canvas to work from by evening out the eyelid.
2. Take a soft brush and use a pale pink eyeshadow to cover the entire lid from the lash line to the brow bone.
3. Choose a color scheme. Go with charcoals and blacks for the traditional smokey eye. For trendier tastes, mix things up with a smokey plum or green. Select a medium and dark shade.
4. Take an eyeshadow applicator or brush. Use the medium shade. At the outer corner of your eye just below your brow bone, swirl the medium shade in a circular motion 4-5 times in the same spot. Starting at the outer corner will help you control where you create contrasting shadows and limit powder spills below your eye that will make you look like you have dark rings under your eyes.
5. After 4-5 strokes, work your way across the eyelid toward the inner corner of your eye; the color should get increasingly lighter.
6. Now use the darker shade. At the outer corner of your eye directly underneath the brow bone, repeat the circular swirling motion 4-5 times.
7. Instead of working your way across the entire eyelid as you did for the medium shade, concentrate on creating a shadow on the outer corner blending into the crease to create contrast.
8. Line the inner rims of your eyes. Line lightly below the lashes on the lower lid, and create a thicker line on the upper lid. Blend with a sponge tipped applicator or a cotton swab, with the line thickest at the end. Blend upward for a cat eye effect. Blending will soften the look and make it subtly sexier. It will also prevent the liner from smudging and creasing.
9. Use the pale pink eye shadow once more. Dust it lightly over the lid and use it to blur harsh lines. Blend, blend, BLEND.
10. Curl your eyelashes, and apply mega coats of mascara. Start at the base of your lashes and wiggle your way up to give your lashes thickness, and make an upward swoop at the tips of the lashes to create length.
11. Balance it out with bold brows, and you’re ready to break hearts!
Smokey eye for day.
Beauty and the Beat May 12, 2009
Posted by Amelie Athena in Fountain of Youth, Uncategorized.Tags: beauty, confidence, life, well-being
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Walk to your own beat.
Hello, gorgeous! Gorgeous, who? You! Even if you’ve just rolled out of bed and you’re stumbling around in your bathrobe or if you’ve broken a nail and have panda eyes from a wild night of clubbing, you can emanate your inner-goddess 24-7. Sometimes it’s not about the pristine grooming or exquisite makeup you smear on your face. You just need to do a little soul searching…
Fake it to make it…
Beauty is just as much of an inward expression as it is an outward one. Take care of your emotional well-being. Contentment and happiness really show in how you present yourself. Keep things in perspective. You may be more fortunate and have a lot more to celebrate in your life than you initially think. Whether you have a few quarters stashed away in a piggy bank, a cute pair of shoes to jazz up a rainy day, or even just a warm bed to sleep in, you can count your lucky stars because most of the world’s population is denied a lot of these things that we take for granted. Even if you’re having a day when you’re feeling less than sizzling hot, smile because of something you’re thankful for. Sometimes happiness is a choice, and it’s all a matter of how you look at the world. Learning to truly be happy reduces stress and raises overall wellness in the long run, which is key to maintaining a youthful sense of self for life (not to mention avoiding age lines).
What’s beneath the mask?
On the physical front, so what if you don’t have a perfectly svelte-physique? Embrace the soft curves of your shape. On the long and lanky side? Appreciate those graceful lines. Teeth not move-star straight? There are too many artificial smiles in Hollywood, any way. Yours gives you character. No matter what your body looks like, carry it with confidence and treat it well. After all, it gets you from Point A to Point B everyday, it allows you to run up hills, lounge in the sun, smell a rose, enjoy a caress, taste your favorite comfort foods. When you think about it, your body is a mix of beautiful strength and tensions that make your life possible.
Make peace with who you are. Learn to love yourself, inside and out; no one else can do this job for you until you’ve proved that it can be done first. Rock your quirky personality and exercise your “you-ness” to the fullest. No one else can replace your personal set of qualities. Whether you realize it or not, they’re probably a huge asset to the world and it would be a tragic loss if you wasted your talents pretending to be someone you’re not.
Be confident. Believe in your beauty, and everyone else will have a reason to do the same. You’ll glow.
The daily dose of dolling up doesn’t depend on where you’ve come from, or even where you’re going. It’s about identifying who you are on a given day and expressing that to the outside world. Beauty is an attitude. Find your personal beat, and work it.
