Bronze Glow

I really like the bronzed-makeup look for summer.  It looks amazing with a tan and tend to bring out such a warm, healthy glow to the face.  I was experimenting with some warm, soft colours (perfect for Soft Autumn) and this is what I came up with:

I started with my basic face- concealer, tinted moisturizer and then used Refined's Golden Bronzer.  On my eyes I used an Olive green eyeshadow (that came in a gift I got from Lancome) and Coffee eyeliner by MAC.  I then used a Terracotta blush (by FACES) and Gina blush by NARS as a pop of colour mixed in right at the centre of the cheeks.  I filled in my lips with Bronzelle lipliner by Lancome and then applied Revlon's Peach Me.

I think this look is so pretty and warm.  Its a perfect everyday look and the colours are so pretty, yet natural.  If you want to bring out that tan or if you just like bronze shades in general, play around with these shades.  Sharizade is an amazing olive-toned eyeshadow by Laura Mercier.  MAC also makes great warm metallic shades, try: Bronze, Tarnish, Woodwinked, Sumptuous Olive, Amber Lights - these shades along with Coffee or Teddy liner will look amazing!!!  Now that the warmer weather is here, why not play around with some of the warmer, bronze-gold shades!

EGO Salon in Brampton, Ontario

I've needed a good haircut and style for a while, but I was looking to go to a place that was fun, a little on the cutting edge and funky.  I wanted a look that was still classy and sophisticated, but also young and fresh.  One of my friends recommended a salon in downtown Brampton called 'EGO Salon', where every stylist there has award winning qualifications, have worked on photo shoots, television, fashion shows etc.  I was tired of going to salons in the mall - I wanted a new experience.  As soon as I walked into EGO salon, I fell in love with it - basically, its in an old Victorian style house thats been remodeled into a salon - I LOVE the 'feel' of the salon - loud, funky music playing, all the styists dressed very cutting edge/modern, every client that I saw leave had a 'huge' smile on their face (AND every client I saw looked absolutely fabulous, beautiful and amazing - like they were leaving a photo shoot) -I knew instantly, this is the place for me.  The most important thing for me, was just how welcoming everyone was - there were a lot of smiles, hello's, "can I get you anything while you wait?" - you could really feel the positive energy in the room and that all the stylists were passionate and energetic about their work!

I had my hair cut and styled by one of the owners - Steve O - Here is a little write up about him from the salon's website (http://www.egosalon.ca/):
"When it comes to receiving the full ego salon experience nothing tops it more than an appointment with Steve O. As one of the owners, Steve defines what ego salon is about: fun, outgoing, loud, approachable, never shy to make drastic transformations. Steve's roots run deep in the hair industry from hair shows to competitive photo shoots, videos and TV. If you had to summarize what his clients love best they would say, He is a perfectionist, consistent and gives his undivided attention. Steve doesn`t loose clients, he gains them."

This is me getting ready for Steve to work his magic

Steve put 110% into his work, making sure that the cut and style were perfect to fit my needs - he cut it wet (it already looked amazing) and then spent time completing the look by continuing to texture and shape my hair when it was dry - you could tell this guy knew his craft and was amazing at it!!!

I left the salon with a huge smile on my face - I loved Steve's work and I'm definitely going back to see him!!!  I wish I had taken more pictures inside of the actual Salon - I loved the look and fun atmosphere of the Salon - that combined with Steve's work, I felt like a celebrity!!!

If you live around the Greater Toronto Area or have the oppotunity to visit this area, I highly recommend making the trip to Brampton, Ontario and visiting EGO Salon - Check out the website (http://www.egosalon.ca/) and read up on the various stylists/colourists - Trust me when I say that you will not be disappointed!!!  You can also check out the following video from YouTube about the salon, you'll get a better sense of that amazing atmophere I was taking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DRNQHSuC9E

Coral Me Crazy

Call me crazy, but I'm really starting to fall back in love with Coral shades.  I know I've blogged a lot lately about the Soft Summer shades, but I keep coming back to coral!!!  I figure, with the warmer weather and with my re-newed outlook on being good to myself - now is the time to be bold and beautiful!!!  Here is a look I created that I consider bright and cheery, but not over-the top loud coral.  I'm finding that you need to find the right coral for you.  MAC makes 2 fantastic shades - Vegas Volt and Lady Danger - these are your bold, amazingly vivid corals - I love them, but I still want to stay true to my 'soft' shades.  An in-between shade is 'Kiss Me Coral' by Revlon - for the look I created in this post, I used this shade, but blotted it on and dabbed it with my finger to get a sheerer version of the colour.  Right now I'm loving Niagara by NARS and MAC's See Sheer - In my opinion, there are the two most wearable coral shades for everyday - you can also play around with various liners to get the perfect coral shade for you - its all about HAVING FUN, so find your coral and have a BLAST!!!

For the eyes I used Navajo shadow as a base and Heather Mauve on the lid into the crease (Bobbi Brown shades). I then lined my eyes with Blooz eyeliner (MAC - I think this is becoming my favourite eyeliner shade for summer) and blended 'Mahogany' shadow by BB into the upper lash line (I 'always' like to give my liner that smokey effect on the upper lashline, harsh or precise lines don't look the best on me, for some reason they make my eyes look very small, while blending and giving a smokey effect, makes them POP). My blush - Amour by NARS (I'm addicted to this colour for summer) and Kiss me Coral by Revlon on my lips!!!

Peachy-Pink for Summer

Summer Makeup - I like to 'take it down' a notch in summer, not going as deep on the lips, but I love a nice defined 'eye' - for this look, I started with a basic concealer and light transluscent powder over the face (or use a bronzer - MAC makes a great one called 'Refined Golden'). For the eyes, I used Navajo as a base and Cement on the lid and into the crease (both Bobbi Brown shades) - I then used Blooz eyeliner by MAC and lined the upper and lower lashline. I blended Mahogany (by BB) into the upper lash-line and used it on my brows. I'm wearing 'Amour' blush by NARS (Currently my Favourite blush - I'm in love with 'amour') and on my lips I used my finger to dab on 'Peach Me' lipstick by Revlon (I used my finger because I'm still fighting this stupid cold sore and I didn't want to spread it further - its important to use proper hygiene when applying makeup and be very careful when testing products at the makeup counter, ALWAYS make sure the sales associates properly clean and disinfect any makeup before you try it on!!!)

Light Bulb Moment and Turning Point

In my last post I was overly excited about what I thought would be a new and upcoming relationship - I got all the 'sweet' talk, the romancing, the elegant restaurants etc, but after a few dates, the phone conversations turned into 'texts' and now - nothing!  Why am I sharing this on my beauty blog?  Because I think our inner beauty and how we feel about our inner beauty determines what we give off to the world AND perhaps in writting this, I can inspire and even help one of my readers!  Louise Hay is an amazing author and woman.  One of her books is called 'You Can Heal your Life':

In her book Louise outlines that at the root of all of our issues is a deep inner pain associated with our self-worth!  How many women look to relationships for men to come and rescue them from their own sense of worthlessness and how many men play on words and phrases that make us melt into their arms (or into their bedrooms) - "This is love at first sight for me", "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen", "I've never felt this way before about anyone", "I can't imagine ever dating anyone else" - Yep, we get fed these lines and no matter how confident or strong we think we are, those phrases just jump through our rational mind into our insecurities about ourselves and we FALL for it!!!  Then after these 'players' (because in reality they play with our emotions and hearts) have noticed that we bought into their 'suave words and moves' and we start expecting and wanting more and telling them 'I miss you babe' - they back off, leave, begin to withdraw - why?  Because that confidence and beauty that we had within turned into a need to get rescued by these guys - we want sooooo badly for a man to tell us these things and we get so giddy and excited when they do, that we forget that we should be the ones to give 'ourselves' these messages!
Another book I'm currently reading is 'The Greatest Secret of All' by Marc Allen

In his book Marc mentions that with his personal struggle and story, he always looked to "someone else with more experience, more knowledge, to come along and rescue me and show me what to do".  He realized "I had to be that person".  This was a huge light bulb moment for me because I have always been attracted to succesful and ambitious men - business men, men who are at the top of their industry etc - I had to step back and ask myself WHY?  Why do I keep going after these type of men - why am I waiting for their success to be My success???  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I need to be my own success story - I took out a peice of paper and wrote down my ambitions and the success that I want for myself and I decided I will NEVER again follow in the footsteps of a man's success - I'm going to create my own!!!

After finishing this book, I'm going to start reading a book that my friend recommened called 'Why Men Love Bitches' - Don't let the title scare you or make you think that you need to become some crazy 'bitch' to get a guys attention - think of the word 'bitch' as a woman who is confident and knows what she wants - and knows this to the point that she doesn't even need a man to bring her happiness - she creates her own!!!  One thing that I realized is that women are taught that they NEED a man to make them happy - that they need romance, love, sex etc etc and while all these things are great in the 'moment' they fizzle out - they still leave you feeling empty while you're alone 'WAITING" for him to call - give yourself the romance you crave - take yourself out to a great restaurant, please yourself - because God knows, not every man knows how to please a woman sexually in fact, very few do - so why not give yourself what you desire?  I don't understand why women are afraid to give themselves what they need?

Finally - WHY am I writting this on my beauty blog???  Well, how you feel about yourself is how others will perceive you - Yes, in waiting for this last guy to call, I fell into a little desperation because I wanted this to work soooo badly - I wanted a successful, good looking man who would inspire me to be my best self - until I realized after he made himself conviently busy and distant, that I don't need him to rescue me - I don't need him to make me happy or inspire me to be my best self - I need to inspire myself because a "Confident" woman is a 'Beautiful" Woman - a woman who knows her true value and worth is a true Gem!!!  I vow to never seek a man to come and rescue me again - there is no such thing as a prince on a white horse!  Instead, there is something better - a beautiful, amazing princess who decides to think for herself and create her own destiny and happiness.  I think also, never hate the men who have been in your life, for they serve as 'teachers' to show you the way to yourself - in fact, every person you meet serves to teach you something about yourself if you take the time to listen, so listen!  Learn from every romantic experience something new that will guide you towards becoming that strong, confident woman you are meant to be!!!
AND STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY:

Mr and Mrs Smith

I was recently at a friends place watching the movie 'Mr and Mrs Smith' and was completely inspired by Angelina Jolie's look in this movie - everything from her hair, her clothes and her makeup!  Throughout the movie Angelina's makeup is mainly soft, neutral colours in the warm spectrum (think soft autumn leaning towards some spring shades) - in a few scenes, she sports a more coral lip, which suits her so well - I also like the scenes where she keeps her lips in the peachy-neutral shades. 

I loved this restaurant scene - Angelina looks very elegant and classy - I love the black 'Marilyn' type dress and her hair and makeup is so sophisticated.  Even though her makeup still looks natural, this to me is the perfect evening look - not overdone and not under-done.  Don't get me wrong, I think if Angelina wore red lips with a more defined liner in this scene, she would still look sexy and elegant (definitely more on the 'glam' side), but this makeup is just right for a polished, evening look - I love it!!!

Summer Makeup Ideas

It seems like a while since I've last blogged - I've had a lot of interesting things happen in my personal life lately that have kept me busy - lol. Anyhow, I haven't forgotten about this site and I miss blogging about the things that make me happy! Now that the summer months are approaching, I've been keeping my eye out for a simple but fresh makeup look. The deeper pinks, plums, burgundies and reds are way too harsh for the upcoming humid and hot summer days. Its not so much about the colour, as it is about the consistency of the products, who wants to wear a dry, matte lipstick on a dry, hot day??? For a lot of people, this is the season on sheer lipstains and glosses - you want something that feels hydrating and moisturizing vs sticky and dry. Here are some looks and colours I really like for summer:







This model really suits the light peachy-pink shades. This is the perfect everyday summer look in my opinion - its not over-done and its not under-done. One of my pet-peeves about the summer makeup look is that people tend to go for an 'under-done' look and often look just that 'underdone'. Summer makeup is slightly more minimal, but the real trick is to change the consistency and colours vs minimizing your entire routine. For example, you may switch from foundation to a tinted moisturizer, but you still need that coverage to make your look work!!!







I really like when women continue to do a subtle smokey eye in the summer - in my opinion, it captures the romantic appeal of summer. Its important to still feel feminine and alive and a subtle smokey eye does this perfectly!!! The trick with making the smokey eye look amazing in the summer is to pair it with a very natural, neutral colour on the lip. In winter, I love rocking the smokey eye with a bolder lip, but for summer, its about making the smokey eye more subtle and going natural on the lip. Try a shade like Blonde Venus or Napoli by NARS with Buff gloss on top (by Bobbi Brown)







For a fun summer evening look, I say 'go bold' - try a brighter lip and eyeshadow - how often do you get to wear those sea green shades and coral or fuchsia lips??? Summer is about letting loose and having fun, so it shouldn't be any different with your summer makeup!!! Go with how you feel and "Work It"!!!!!!!!!!!



I love when the seasons change because it allows you to play around with different looks and makeup shades within or outside of your colour palette - this summer, don't be afraid to try a smokey eye or a bold lip or eye shade - enjoy the warm summer breeze, the pool side parties and the long cozy romantic nights - I know I will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!