A while back a rep from a new membership- based shopping site called Cut & Blow contacted me. They asked if I’d like to try some of their products and tell my readers about them.  I looked at their site and it seemed to be worth learning more about them so I agreed.

Cut & Blow is similar to sites like Coterie and HauteLook that offer members limited-time offers for deeply discounted beauty products.  Cut & Blow specializes in what their website describes as “the finest hair and beauty brands in the world.” Sales can be up to 90% off BUT only last for 4 days.

They have an interesting referral program through which members can earn up to $5 in website credit for any purchase made by a friend that you’ve referred.

Current sales include the OPI Wizard of Oz collection and a self-tanning mousse by St. Tropez.

I wasn’t given any choices about what I was sent.  So it was a little like Christmas when the box came. I was excited to see what I’d be getting.

My favorite item in the package was an OPI nail polish. OPI is one of my favorite brands. I received the color “Berlin There Done That.” I love the name almost as much as I love the color. I love all shades of grey polish and I think this may be my new favorite grey. I also love the name because it’s the middle name of my favorite little girl in the whole world.

As I was painting I got the feeling that I had a color that was VERY similar to this so I went through the polish stash and dug up my bottle of “French Quarter for Your Thoughts” from OPI’s Touring America Collection a couple of years ago. The shades are very similar but “Berlin” has a lilac undertone to it where French Quarter is more “greige”.

The other two items were hair items. I was a little concerned about this because was concerned that they may send products more appropriate for finer straighter hair textures. I was partly right. They sent two products by AG Hair Cosmetics:  The Volume Solution Trio and a multi-piece set of The Oil, AG Hair Cosmetics’ entry in to the Moroccan Argan oil trend.

The Volume trio wasn’t a good fit for my hair texture so I gifted it to a friend to try. I did ,however, get to use the Foam. The Foam is a lightweight building product.  Although it doesn’t have any hold, I found that it did add volume, lift to fine hair, and added a bit of shine that enhanced hair color.

The Oil I did try myself. I substituted it for other oils in my hair regime.  I found that it was fairly lightweight but still gave my hair the need moisture. I plan to purchase this is full size. The only problem I had was the packaging on the Oil.

The individual containers leaked all over the package. As I tried to pump out the product, I wasn’t able to get anything to come out and was concerned that it has all leaked out into the box… When I opened the bottle, I found that somehow the tube that transports the product to the pump was missing. All the tubes where that way. Very odd. Clearly this is not an issue with Cut & Blow but with AG Hair. Odd.

So fearless readers Cut & Blow has one more thing they’d like me to share with you.  They are having  a giveaway!! The Ultimate Beauty Giveaway has products from brands like Clarisonic and Jane Iredale.

The Ultimate Beauty Giveaway

Good Luck !!

One of my biggest challenges as a bridal makeup artist here in Chicago is trying to pin down exactly the look of bride is going for. The problem is that words like flawless, natural, and smoky are completely subjective. What looks natural to one person, will appear tawdry to another. The best way I’ve found to simplify things for everyone is by using pictures during a consultation. This allows brides to share looks that mirror their vision of their perfect bridal look. Here are some other tips for working with a makeup artist.

1. Be as specific.  Nearly every bride says they want to look natural or they want to look like themselves. These terms won’t be helpful in trying to coordinate with your artist. Instead, talk about what features you like best about yourself and which features you would prefer to minimize. When sharing pictures with your artist, instead of presenting a picture of the perfect bride and saying “I want to look just like her” figure out ahead of time what things about that image you really like . It is much more helpful to your makeup artist for you to show a picture of a bride that you like and say “I love the way her cheek shimmers right here”. That will allow the makeup artist to know exactly what you’re looking for.

2. Be realistic. A colleague of mine recently shared a story about a bride in her forties who brought in a picture of Emma Watson from a Lancome ad. The bride wanted  to look exactly like the picture. There is no amount a makeup, regardless of the price of it, that is going to make a fortysomething, chain- smoking grandmother look like a pampered, wealthy twentysomething actress and model. It’s a serum not a time machine.

3. Be inspired. Look outside of bridal magazines for your inspiration. You may find the perfect look for you in a Home Depot ad. Look at pictures from different eras. You may find that the perfect makeup style for you is from the 40s or the 70s. Movies are another source of inspiration. You don’t have to look like every other bride. Take your lip color inspiration from your bridesmaids bouquets. Do a smoky eye if it suits you. Having said that, be careful no to confuse inspiration with jumping on bandwagons. After Kim Kardashian’s “wedding” EVERYONE wanted her bridal look, now everyone feels a little silly.

4. Be honest. There are beauty concepts and products that just don’t suit everyone.Shimmer, nude lips and strong brows just don’t work for everyone. If there are things like these that really bother you, share those with your makeup artist before your trial. Don’t wait until he or she has burned up half of your consultation appointment doing a look that you will absolutely hate.

5. Be open minded. A professional makeup artist is going to do your makeup much differently than the way you do it at home. He or she is probably going to apply more product then you’re used to. Here she is probably going to use highlighting and contouring techniques that are unfamiliar. Many artists use product brands sold exclusively in professional makeup shops and may not be known to you. In order to get the most out of your time with the professional state those few things that you really deeply dislike and then stay flexible about the rest. I can tell you how many times brides have insisted that they couldn’t use a particular product are color and in the end they loved it.

If you’re in the Chicago area and looking for a makeup artist for a wedding or any other occasion, click the logo for more information about my services.

I’m not an actor, but I have to think that playing a real person is much more difficult that playing a fictional one.

In most cases , an actor can tap into the motivations and reactions of a character to create the way he speaks and moves.

In the case of a real person, he or she may be well-known enough that the audience for the project is familiar with the appearance and demeanor of the subject.

Makeup artists also have a tougher jobs working on biographical  films.  Below are a few examples of how well the makeup artist recreations can stand up to comparisons to a subjects actual appearance.

Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln
Makeup by Lois Burwell

Sir Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock
Makeup by Howard Berger

Jennifer Lopez as  Selena Quintanilla – Perez
Makeup by Jay Wejebe

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf
Makeup by Didier Lavergne

Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo
Makeup by Judy Chin and Team

Meryl Streep as Margret Thatcher
Makeup by J. Roy Helland

Val Kilmer @ Jim Morrison
Makeup by Ron Berkeley