Earth Angel: Natural Makeup Beauty Look

Hello darlings!

The grocery store is really not the most "fab" or "easy" place to buy beauty products, but I gave it a whirl in the basement of Whole Foods today. While other people were picking up gluten-free pizza and worrying about how to align their chakras, I was on a major quest to devise a holiday-ready natural beauty look!

I blithely ignored the more practical consumers surrounding me, and dived into all the great makeup and beauty products. Here is the result.

Ingredients:

Jurlique's heaven-sent Rosewater Balancing Mist
Mineral Fusion Sheer Tint Base in Neutral
Mineral Fusion Pressed Base in Neutral 2
Dr. Hauschka Rouge Powder Accento 02
Mineral Fusion Eyeshadow Trio in Espresso Gold

My how-to:

1. First, prime your face with Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist. If your skin is a touch dry, I also recommend a solid moisturizer, such as Suki Balancing Day Lotion.

2. Next, apply Mineral Fusion Sheer Tint Base in a shade that matches your skin. I used the Neutral shade. Spread evenly and carefully across the face with your foundation brush, or fingers. Allow to set. Voila!

3. At this point, the coverage may seem minimal. I applied a few sweeps of the Mineral Fusion base powder with a cotton ball for good measure. This is up to you, ladies. (Maybe you don't wear as much foundation as Elizabeth Taylor, but lately, I do!)

4. Then, using a blush brush, sweep Dr. Hauschka's blush in Accento 02 across the cheekbone and on the apples of the cheek. The effect is just rosy!

5. Next, apply the light pink color in the Mineral Fusion Espresso Gold eyeshadow trio across the eyelids.

6. Now, smudge a bit of the smoky brown color in this trio on the outer corners of the eyelids for definition. So cute!

7. With an eyeliner brush, line the inner bottom eyelid with the gold shadow in the Mineral Fusion Espresso Gold trio. Also, you can add this shimmery gold shadow to the area right below your eyebrows too. Don't hold back!

8. Dip an eyeshadow brush in the smoky brown shade, and trace the top crease of the eyelids for extra drama.

End Result: A pretty, sparkly and lovely party-ready beauty look.

Do Tell: The best part is that it doesn't feel like you are wearing any makeup at all.

CONTEST:
Tell Charlotte about your holiday plans, and she might just ask Santa to send you a present! Write to eyeshadowgovernment [at] gmail.com to enter this giveaway.

DIY Lesson: How to Make Your Own Perfect Cheek Stain in 30 seconds

When someone says "DIY" or "Do-It-Yourself," I often imagine poor young girls with mismatched socks laboring to make homemade crackers. This is good DIY though, because it's my homemade recipe for cheek stain. The final shade is identical to Tarte Cheek Stain, popular among us makeup addict-ettes. Also, it glides on a little smoother.

4 Steps to Cheeky:

1. Rub just a little Revlon's new Super Lustrous lip sheer in Ruby Radiance onto the palm of your hand. (Use this exact color, not the other ones!)


(it's larger in person.)

2. Pick up a small bottle of HobaCare Jojoba Oil ($3, at Whole Foods) and add the tiniest dab of oil. Use sparingly.



3. Rub together and then put it on your cheeks with your fingertips.

4. If you like, lightly dust with i.d. bareMinerals powder to help it set.

You'll look sexier, I promise.

So, what else is new?

Owls. Persephone's Bees is making dizzy, delightful music in my room, especially City of Love. And I have to go.
Gather some flowers with your rosy cheeks and we'll catch up soon.








Buy it: Super Lustrous Shiny Sheer in Ruby Radiance ($7), Walgreen's; HobaCare Jojoba Oil ($3, Whole Foods); i.d. bareMinerals SPF 15 foundation powder ($25), Sephora.

What You're Digging Lately: Our Readers' Top 3 Picks!

Eyeshadow Government readers have flipped for i.d. Bare Minerals products and somersault for shimmery eyeshadows. If you haven't checked out our comments section, here's the scoop from these ladies:


Diana said....I am in LOVE with Cover Girl CG EyeSlicks in Midnight Metal, Bare Escentuals i.d. bareMinerals Glimmer in Sex Kitten (pictured to left) and Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly fragrance. They're to die for.

Talia said...Joesoef Skin care products, Olay body wash, and Pantene Conditioner. Cant live without them...

Casie Cardone said...I really love bare minerals foundation in light, Cargo Plant Love lipstick in Lindsay Lohan pink, and Tarte cheek stain in Blushing Bride. These are my staple products that I use daily.


Natalie said...Dove Energy Glow sunless tanner, Mary Kay Timewise micriodermabrasion set, and Revlon ColorStay 12-hour eyeshadow in Sandstorm are among my favorites!


KittyKat said...I love Bare Minerals foundation in Fairly Light, Cornsilk face powder in No Color Natural Matte and Bonne Bell Lipsmackers gloss in Vanilla. If only I could get by with just three products!


The Glitterati said...Cinema Secrets Ultimate Foundation is gold, baby. If gold coulhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifd conceal like silk, that is. Much love also to Lumiere Cosmetics' Veena blushes, they put the apples back in the cheeks. Finally, I adore Barry M's Dazzle Dust, which look happily like the Erth shadows, but can only be had from across the pond. They shimmer and sparkle and turn into amazingly tenacious shadows when mixed with a wee bit of water. Like Mac Pigments, without the Mac price.


Amanda said...my top 3 products are bare minerals foundation in light and fairly light depending on the season, vaseline is a staple for me as lip stuff and eye make up remover, and dove bar soap, my skin has never been clearer.


Trudi Shaw said...Kiehl's Yerba Mate Tea Lotion, Jane Iredale Bronzer in #2, and Neutrogena Lip Sheers.

Vintage Kate Moss

I did some yoga this morning alongside the Russian River. Maybe Kate Moss would be happier if she did yoga or stretched more, like in her Calvin Klein youth.



Get Kate's 90's look with a heavy sweep of blush along the cheekbone and black cotton basics. With a large blush brush, try out i.d. bareMinerals Blush Compatibles in "Escape/Lovely":



Buy it: i.d. bareMinerals Blush Compatibles ($22), Sephora.

Erth to Charlotte

Spelling may not be their forte, but there's a little pot of Erth eyeshadow in my jeans pocket. Erth's dozens and dozens of mineral eyeshadow colors really makes my day--one type of antitode to the Terminator's colorful expressions.

Favorite shade: Fern.

Buy it: Erth eyeshadow ($5.25), www.lushbrush.com.

Baked Goods

Basically, they say sunbathing is bad, bad, bad, but every once in three years, I show my legs and arms to the world. And, I just found out I was the last one to know about ChikaLicious, a dessert restaurant. Yessiree, you heard that correct, dessert restaurant.

Now instead of working, engorging myself with pastries in the afternoon sun is my new "goal." This could spell trouble. To support this effort, I am so excited about my tube of Lancome's new sunblock UV Expert 20 with Mexoryl ™ SX Face and Body Protection. Mexoryl, the recently FDA-approved European ingredient blocks out UVA (ultraviolet A) sunlight, not just UVB (ultraviolet B) sunlight, helping to prevent melanoma and other types of skin cancer. Also, the texture of this sunblock is dreamy, and triples as both a "base" and can work as an extra layer of protection with your bareMinerals SPF 15 foundation, if you're into the mineral makeup thing.


Buy it: Lancome UV Expert 20 with Mexoryl ™ SX Face and Body Protection ($35), Sephora.

Suggestive Summer: Bronze Looks

Carmindy of "What Not To Wear" has a new book of beauty tips, "The Five-Minute Face," and although it's hard to tell who's dumber--Carmindy, the makeup artist and "yang" of WNTW, or Stacy London, the cantankerous "yin"--we're always rooting for the breezy Carmindy. She looks like a pretty mannequin, but she's also way pro.

No matter how dowdy or deliciously dull their outfits are, Carmindy kinda fixes everything.

Her book recommends blending highlighter along the cheekbone, the area below the eyebrows, and in that little undereye area, right beside your nose. Now, Us Weekly also posted her bronzer tips.

But if you want to go whole Kahuna with self-tanner, remember the golden rule: think ahead (do white feet really match tan knees?) and Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate.

For a quick pop of sunkissed skin, we recommend Tarte Cheekstain in Bronze Goddess and also, Mineral Fusion's bronzers in Sparkle and Luster.



Buy it: Tarte Bronze Goddess ($28), Sephora; Mineral Fusion Bronzer ($25), Whole Foods.

How to Be Royal Blue

Way back when, there was no makeup for chicks like you and me unless you were a duchess. Life pre-diet Coke must have really sucked.

But Royal Blue is the way to go when you're up for some historical (spring!) romance. This shade is schoolgirl at first sight, but spells plain drama on the eyes. For a smoky night look, lightly line your eyes and the inner corner of your lower lid with Urban Decay's Deluxe Eyeshadow in Adore using a firm tipped brush. Then mess it up with your fingers. (Adore, pictured above).


In terms of a color-match, i.d. Bare Minerals also has a powder shade in Denim. The only problem was that while testing it out, half the pot landed on my forehead, which was kind of embarassing to be a blueberry. If you're careful with the loose powder, layer the royal blue base with a pretty amethyst shade, like Bare Minerals in Bordeaux, across the lids and then, blend Bare Minerals Eyeshadow in Blush shade below the brows to really open up your eyes.

Can we say "meow" Duchess? Off with their heads!

Buy it: Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadow in Adore ($17); i.d. Bare Minerals Eyeshadow in Bordeux and Blush ($12), Sephora.

The Sands of Time, Bare Minerals Foundation Help from Wizards, and Courtney Love

After smearing a layer of Bare Minerals foundation en route to the company holiday party, I stopped cold in my tracks and knew I could not take another step looking as matte as unglazed pottery. The Government endorses rations of the i.d. Bare Minerals product line but until today, we just didn't know how to paint it on.

In a state of utter matte-ification, I called upon the resident cosmetics wizard to remove my shoddy craftwomanship from my face.

Listen carefully girls because these are life lessons. Two words for ya: three layers. It is tempting to use the signature "tap and buff" technique encouraged by the Bare Minerals philosophy without considering the wisdom of the sands of time.

1. If you are seeking more coverage than a tinted moisturizer, simply tap a very slight amount of mineral foundation into the cap of the foundation container.
2. When applying Bare Minerals foundation, the wizard says, "Use less than you think you will need."
3. After dipping the brush in the powder, tapping the brush prevents globs of powder from setting on the face.
4. Once the first thin layer is applied by buffing the face evenly, apply one more layer.
5. And then apply one more layer.
6. And then another, for three layers.
I went from looking like a pottery project gone awry to damn sexy. (By the way, thank you.)

Aucoin (RIP) Beauty note: When Courtney Love appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in an annual Women in Rock issue, the famed makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin applied no less than seven layers of foundation to her for the photo shoot.

Makeup and Hairspray for President!

BeachBlonde John Frieda: Ocean Waves Sea Spray Texturizing Styler

For the record, cute guys have totally opined their hair woes when they saw these Ocean Wave Sea Spray Texturized locks . Wind-tossed, natural curls inspire admiration and, every once in a while, “hair awe.” Yeah, yeah, fab Mischa Barton-esque hair isn’t about making cute guys feel insecure, but it’s kind of fun when it does.
(Irrelevant fact: when you shake the bottle, the inside looks like a jacuzzi.) Methinks the secret ingredients are sea salt and jojoba oil.

Jane Iredale Liquid Mineral Foundation

Foundation’s tricky, but this one is just right. Ultra-matte formulas can make for a very dull bird; sheer kinds don’t hide enough on uneven skin. Jane Iredale Liquid Mineral foundation feels kinda shiny and sticky, but youthful glow beats crusty matte foundation, circa 1950, every time. Ingredients seem blossomy and mountainy—mica, aloe vera, lavender, and chamomile—not the usual nine-syllable chemicals.
We don't know if Jane is a born genius (in a past life, she did casting for The Outsiders), or b) just lazy like us, but anyway, the whole shebang of minerals has built-in sunblock too. Rocks are cool, especially when they make you look hotter.

Plain Yogurt Masks

Honestly, I thought this was just for girls who don’t read books. This was an egregious mistake.
If a home kitchen skin remedy, that’s all about slathering on plain yogurt, seems just too easy to be true, think about life....before TV. Gently purifying, nourishing, while leaving skin with a soft glow, yogurt is the new Botox—at least, to me. Scaring people with spooky yogurt faces is way more fun than scaring people with facial muscles that have ceased to contract.