I met up with Gregg Hubbard in Bryant Park again yesterday. He was meeting me to hear about my recent job offers & to offer me advice & put me in contact with a woman he knows who is high up in the cosmetic industry! AND he gave me a Sephora bag filled with cosmetics goodies…

MY DREAM COME TRUE!

The bag was filled with things from eyelash curlers, concelear, to Smashbox eyeliners & eyeshadows, Laura Mercier blue pallette of eyeshadow & an amazing kit of foundations! Gregg wanted to make sure I got the bag before the photo shoot happened… so nice of him!

I had never heard of the foundation before. It is called FACE Atelier & a woman created it. The products are also endorsed by PETA! Gregg told me that she even helped sponsor one of Beyonce’s tours so Beyonce has worn her foundation during performances. Gregg warned me it dries very glowy, so glowy & dewy that I may even want to tone it down depending on the finish I’m going for. I was so excited to use it on Rihanna in the shoot that night.

Rihanna is a model who recently got signed to Wilhemina modeling agency. Check out, Lauren Cowart’s, the great photographer I work with, site where Rihanna is featured. She is the first post so click here!!!

The foundation was amazing! It is a full kit & Gregg was so kind to give it to me. Check out the Face Atelier site here to see the amazing products. The foundation was so silky & blended RIGHT into the skin & had an amazing finish. The entire kit retails at $499.00!! WOW! I have such an assortment of skin colors – it’s amazing.

I used a MAC 188 Small Duo Fibre Face Brush $34.00. I have two of those brushes and have had them for probably two years – I wash them about once a week or more depending on what makeup I have going on that week.

Wait until you guys see this pics. Here’s a couple behind the scenes photos! Excuse the suckyness that is my camera phone – I hate the BB Curve.

Although I shy away from MAC for skin products – foundation, concealer, powder, blush – I love their products for eyebrows. I recently decided to try to grow my eyebrows out a little bit, which is a HUGE process. While I’m doing that I’m going more natural with my brow – a little thicker and lighter in color.

Check out the three products I use below

1. MAC Duo Eyebrow Powder – This is a limited edition item I got about a year ago. I’m not sure it’s still sold – if it is it’s only in the MAC Pro stores. I use a 208 Angled Brow Brush from MAC . – $19.50 I brush the powder lightly on the outline of where I want my brows to be. I usually make them thicker than what the actual hair is – it ends up look very natural with the powder.

2. MAC Eye Brow Pencil In Stud or Spiked – $15.00. I fill in my brows where they need filling. Depending on the color of my hair I switch pencil shades. When my hair was red I mixed Stud & Struct together which gave me a nice deep reddish color. Now I use Spiked with my black hair. Or Stud – I have both on hand to mix together.

3. MAC Brow Set in Show Off - $15.00 I set my eyebrows with this. Not only does it hold my brows in place, but it also coat all of the hairs and lightens them a little bit to match the pencil color. I love this because I can coat them very lightly or go heavier for a more dramatic & defined eyebrow.

Hehe… not like that! Me & Kelcie (& Zewidi too…but I didn’t find any pics easily) all LOVE Cyber from MAC. Check out the link here… it’s the richest smoothest satiniest color ever… this deep plum/purple/violet … I don’t know how to describe it but it’s AMAZING!

Tip: To be extra chic, pair these dark lips w/ just a little mascara – & nothing else!

I randomly decided I wanted to do a post on waterproof makeup verse non-waterproof makeup. I have both because some occasions you want to have waterproof makeup and others you do not.

Waterproof Makeup Occasions Include…

1. Graduation

2. Weddings

3. Funerals

4. Baby Showers…Baby Birth…Baby anything

5. Swimming

Below I have included my four favorite products, two waterproof products and two non-waterproof products. I live by these products for my eyes. On a regular day I LOVE my non-waterproof eye makeup because it comes off SO easily.

If you do NOT want your makeup to come off - trust me, these waterproof products aren’t going anywhere! Especially the eyeliner below – it takes some strength to get it off. You’ve been warned so take a look …

1. Covergirl LashBlast Volume Mascara

2. Loreal Lineur Intense Eyeliner

3. Covergirl Waterproof LashBlast Volume Mascara

4. MAC Liquidlast Liner

I went to the MAC counter in Maine with one of my best friends &  had to get my hands on this!

There are four colors & the pigments stack on one another into a 4 tiered makeup case. Check out how it looks on the MAC website. It’s $32.50 – which may seem expensive but you get four gorgeous colors. As long as you don’t spill the makeup or break the casing, it’s going to last you years and years.

I can’t wait to use the green. Dust a little green on your bottom lash line with wispy long eyelashes & deep cranberry lips – that would be absolutely gorgeous!! Pick up this, I promise I’ll love it.

Everyone knows that C-Thru is my favorite lip gloss from MAC, but how could I forget about my second favorite MAC lip gloss “Oyster Girl”. I don’t think I’ve included this lip gloss on my blog yet – so here we go.

This lipgloss is an AMAZING color – it has full coverage in this gorgeous pink-gold shade. Take a look – try it – it’s perfect on ALL skin colors (as is C-Thru).

Tinted Lipglass $14.00

Here are some more pictures from the NYU Fashion Show I worked on last weekend. The photographer, Orville ‘Coche’ Wright II, was great & captured all the moments backstage. Check out his website here.

& check out the photos below. He took TONS but I just included ones that I did the makeup for.

Let me start off by saying I had an amazing trip to New York City. I absolutely love it there as it will be my new home in May. I feel so at home & at peace there… it just feels right.

This trip wasn’t just about play…I had some business to handle. The first stop was the Stevie Boi Fashion Show at the Soho Hotel with Nyne (@nynelyves). We met some great people there who we hope to run into in the future! Stevie Boi’s glasses were great & I’ll definitely be ordering a pair. Check out the website here.

The next order of business was the NYU Fashion Show…

put together by @thelovelylou. Please hit her up on twitter. @Nynelyves debuted her vintage clothing line in addition to about give other designers who showcased their original lines. I loved watching the fashion show, but more importantly I loved doing the

MAKEUP!

I arrived at the Kimmel Building on NYU’s campus after an emergency run to MAC to get @nynelyves some eyelashes on the way there. I got there at 3pm& immediately went to work on male & female models. There were 3 other makeup artists there – I think all of them used to work at MAC, but now freelance for MAC & do their own individual projects on the side.

The male models just needed smooth even skin & some countouring. I used my MAKE UP FOR EVER foundation along with Bobbi Brown powders & concealers & used a MAC powder to contour.

The female models had the theme of color but we were given a lot of freedom to do what we want. We each did several models & worked straight through until the show started at 8pm.

I was EXHAUSTED to say the least & parked my behind in a chair next to @dctobc to watch the show.

Because I was so busy doing makeup all afternoon I didn’t even get to get many pictures – but the ones I did get are below!

It felt so AMAZING because the hair stylists & models kept giving me compliments about the makeup & asking for my cards – I hope I get some good business off of this! (Shout out to @c_lux for the business cards too.)

So this winter break I tried out some new stuff - mostly lipstick and while in DC partying with my favorite people… @_thefire_ & @zewiditujewel n co. I realized that bright lipstick just may not be for me. I feel so… I dunno… so not finished.. so… just not right.

Here is the new color I purchased from NARS the other day called Schiap… & it’s just not working out between us. I’m deifnitely not saying don’t try this color.. It’s AMAZING & I may try to make it work betweene us again :: sigh ::

So I went home to Maine (yes, I’m from Maine & yes there are black people there – & yes I’m probably the first person from Maine you’ve “met” haha) … anyway… I did a couple of my friends makeup to play around. I have this one picture of my friend Sarah Rowe & I like the way her makeup came out. She rarely wears a lot of makeup so even something light felt like a lot of makeup to her, but it was fun to play around.

I’ll be honest & say I don’t remember exactly what I used. I had a good canvas, which always make the makeup application more fun

MAKE UP FOR EVER Foundation … MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Powder.. Some MAC under eye concealer .. Some bronzer… a purple type eyeshadow & I used MAC eyeshadow with an angled wet brush to make brown liner for her ( a little less harsh than black eyeliner all around). I think the color really set her eyes off! I used a NARS lipstick as well. I wish I had written it all down, but it’d be easy to remember with all of my makeup in front of me. If you have any questions ask away & I’ll do my best to remember.

My mom is the best!! She always goes out of her way and pays attention to what I want/need. She just retired, but decided to get her CNA license… and is all aware of germs & stuff now, so she wanted me to get disposable things for my makeup bag instead of washing my brushes after I use them on other people… so she picked me up all these things. Makeup sponges, two different lip applicators, two different types of mascara wands… & eyeshadow applicators. And of course makeup remover pads.

THANKS MOM!!

is a great line that uses natural sugars in their products. This is a Sugar Lip Treatment $22.50. It has SPF 15 & it’s my new favorite chapstick. Vitamin A, C, & E and all that good stuff… try it out!!

Although it may seem like a drag… but when the season changes

CHANGE YOUR FOUNDATION TOO!

In the winter your skin can lose it’s tan from the summer & make you one or two shades lighter.  I recommend searching for a new shade foundation for the winter season & do the same next summer when you get your tan. There’s nothing worse than being able to SEE someone’s foundation color.

Try Covergirl foundations, they’re great!!

Check out the MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation colors below that I use in the different seasons.

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD INVISIBLE COVER FOUNDATION. Shade 173 (summer) and 170 (winter)

My new favorite product. It’s a must have! GET IT!! It’s worth it.

This new product is the MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Microfinish Powder for $30. You can get this at Sephora stores & it’s rated as a Sephora best seller and given 4 1/2 stars out of 5 on the website reviews. This powder sets makeup & mattifies skin slightly, but still lets the natural skin shine through. It is talc free and has silicones in it to fill in lines & areas that shouldn’t be there. It gives a super natural glow & makes you look like you have flawless skin.

I doubted the product at first so I put some on my face in the store, it’s amazing!! I bought it and use my MAC 182 Buffer Brush $45 to put it on.

Kerry Washington

L to R: MAC Lipstick in HoneyLove, MAC Lip Liner in Cork, MAC Tinted Lipglass in C-Thru

My favorite nude lip color is MAC Honeylove $14 in a matte finish (pictured above- it’s a little less pink in real life). The color is amazing & works with a variation of skin tones.

You can wear Honeylove alone for a great matte finish but I often use Honeylove as a base color & put MAC Tinted Lipglass in C-Thru $14 over it in order to get a super opaque nude color on my lips that doesn’t have a matte finish. Try it out – I bet you’ll love it – I line my lips in a MAC Lip Pencil in Cork $13.

HEY …exfoliate and moisturize your lips before you do this – it makes a world of difference!