Beauty

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

Christmas is a wonderful time of year to branch out from your everyday look and try something new. I love trying new makeup products and makeup looks during this year. Whither it is for my husband’s work party, for mine, or a special evening out with family.

There are three looks I created to help you celebrate the holidays with a little more glamour then everyday life.

Best Holiday Look – This look is a lot of fun. Instead of traditional evening colors, you use emerald green eye shadow. This look will definitely get you noticed, for all the right reasons!

Holiday Glamour Makeup – This holiday look reminds me of old Hollywood glamour. It is very sophisticated. Plus, it works for all skin tones and eye colors.

Holiday Glamour for Ebony Skin – A holiday look designed for dark skin. This look is simple yet elegant. It is perfect for every Holiday event on your calendar.

Don’t forget all the special people on your list. Beauty gifts are great stocking stuffers. Also, you can create your very own Beauty gift basket for everyone on your list. Just customize it for their skincare needs and favorite fragrance and you will have everyone marked off your list!

With winter upon us, it will probably be necessary to adjust your skin care regimen as well. Winter Skin Care is important to make sure your skin stays healthy and line free, which is all we really want for Christmas right?

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

Not only are men dabbling more with hair products and hair styles, more men are getting manicures and pedicures as well. Men have also started breaking into cosmetics and beginning to wear makeup on a regular basis.

I am not just referring to celebrities who obviously wear cosmetics for movies roles and television appearances. I am also not referring to transvestites or drag queens. I’m talking about men at you office, your neighbor, and the cute guy at the produce section of the grocery store, maybe even your husband or boyfriend.

Men today have found that we women do not wear makeup because we like it, but because we need it! Cosmetics helps us to have beautiful, perfect skin. It hides our acne problems, scars, and dark circles. It is makeup that helps our eyes appear larger (or smaller if you have prominent eyes), lashes longer, plus gives us those perfect pouty lips. Makeup not only makes us look and feel more beautiful, it also has its benefits. Foundation helps protect our skin from the environment.

Recently I found an article on my Google “How To of the Day” page, instructing men on makeup application. I find it interesting that more men, everyday guys, are out there taking this step to better their appearance.

The funny thing to me about this topic is many years ago, I think in high school in fact, I talked about how men should wear makeup. Everyone thought I was crazy. But I firmly believed that if I wear foundation, for the main reason to protect my skin, then why don’t men? Doesn’t the environment damage men’s skin just like it damages mine? Shouldn’t men be just as concerned as I am about my skin?

Finally, there are some men who have become concerned about their skin. They want to hide those nasty pimples and not so perfect scars and glam their appearance up a bit towards perfection. So what do you think? Should men wear makeup or should they leave it for the women in their lives?

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

The magazine, Real Simple, features an article in every publication called “Road Tests” in which it tries many types of a certain product and give their opinion along with a quote from the test audience. In the April 2007 issue, the Road Test was on Mascara. According to Real Simple, the best overall mascara is CoverGirl’s Lash Exact. And I quote, “For price and performance this mascara can’t be beat. The soft rubber applicator coats each lash evenly without smudging, and the formula contains provitamin B5 to condition. ‘It’s my ideal mascara,’ said a tester, ‘efficient and affordable.’”

After reading this article and having a lot of trial and error for the perfect mascara, I decided to try CoverGirl’s Lash Exact. Needless to say, I was not impressed. I thought that it went on clumpy. Even using an eyelash comb didn’t help. There was a lot of product on the wand which made it hard and messy to apply.

I did like that it was water resistant so I never had to worry about having my mascara run. One nice surprise, it was easy to take off with just your regular facial cleanser. I did find using a paper towel to wipe off excess product did help the mascara to go on better. I found that I did receive much better results after doing so. However, it does make you run out of mascara pretty fast.

Reference:

Bora Chang, “Road Test,” Real Simple April 2007: p. 219-222.

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

After many encounters with different brands of nail polish, I have finally found the one that I love. That would be OPI.



OPI is a family-owned company based in California that started in 1981. OPI has many nail products available from nail colors, manicure and pedicure products. OPI is only available through beauty supply stores and beauty professionals. To find a supplier in your area, check out the OPI website.



My experience with OPI was after a good friend of mine introduced me to her favorite nail products. I decided to purchase a couple of beautiful colors that were on sale. That night I treated myself to a manicure and a pedicure. I choose a beautiful sheer pink color to try that night because it matched my outfit I was wearing to church the next day. I also purchased the top coat as well and applied that on top of my two coats of “Argenteeny Pink.”



Normally, in my world of manicures, the next day my color is already starting to wear off on the tips of my fingernails. Now this happens if I do the manicure myself or if I go to a salon and have a professional manicure.



However, the next day after my OPI manicure, my nails still looked perfect! My manicure looked perfect for six days in fact, which is a record for me.



Just earlier today my friend complimented me on my new pedicure, which happened to be a pedicure I gave myself two weeks ago, but my OPI nail polish still looked great. “Don’t Socra-tease Me!” is a great toe color!



For more information on OPI nail products and the company that started it all, check out their website.

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

Announced on April 4th, L’Oreal the world’s leading beauty company, is the new partner for Luminato, Torotno’s Festival of Arts and Creativity. The festival takes place in Toronto, Canada from June 1 to 10th, 2007. Tickets go on sale today Monday, April 16, 2007.

Co-Chairman of the Festival of Arts and Creativity, Tony Gagliano, had this to say of the L’Oreal partnership, “With an international portfolio of creative and innovative brands, L’Oreal is truly Luminato’s ideal partner in creativity. We are very pleased to share the honor and excitement of presenting Toronto’s first Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity with L’Oreal, and look forward to the new ideas that develop out of our long-term collaboration together.”

According to the President and CEO of L’Oreal Canada, Javier San Juan, L’Oreal desired to be a dramatic part of the festival, “From the moment we first heard about Luminato, we knew L’Oreal should plan an important role in presenting to the people of Toronto and to the world this beautiful new festival of arts and creativity.”

For more information on dates, location, schedule and events: www.luminato.com

To purchase tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca

References:

www.luminato.com, Luminato Festival Introduces Its Partner in Creativity… (Online), April 4, 2007

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

Spring cleaning is a thing that I somewhat enjoy when I first start but by the end of the week and the last room is the only one left, I begin to dread it. I love going through my things and finding lost treasures that I have kept over the years. But when it comes to cleaning out that makeup bag it is a little different. We often forget that our cosmetics, like many other things expire. It is always good to clean out your cosmetics every 6 months and trash what is needed. This is also a great time to evaluate your makeup organization and find a way that works best for you.

With trashing cosmetics, often means it is time to shop for some new as well. Although, I find shopping for cosmetics a blast, it can get rather costly. Like our grocery bills and monthly payments, it is always good to have a beauty budget, so that you can afford to look your best at all time.

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

Almost 40 percent of voters felt that it was necessary for women to wear makeup to work to portray a professional image. An additional 30 percent thought maybe it was necessary. While another 30 percent felt that makeup is not a necessity to a professional look or should it help you receive a promotion.

I of course feel that cosmetics is a key to a professional look and there is even some evidence that it helps portray a professional image and in the long run getting a promotion. There are however good and bad makeup looks for the office. Here is a look perfect for going to the office and another to help you spice it up in the evening when you are going out with someone special!

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

I have an older friend of mine that went to a plastic surgeon to have her lip “built” up. She didn’t do collagen or anything like that. And I honestly still don’t understand it. But he injected something at her top lip line to make her lips a little bigger. This woman was so proud of her “new” lips that she clothed them with bright lipstick and pouted around town. The sad/funny thing was, no one noticed. As far as I can tell, she paid $500 for nothing but some pain and embarrassment. I had a couple people that asked if I noticed a difference and I had to honestly say no. She realized about 6 months later that she had very small results, if any at all.

Why do women go to extreme measures for full lips. Women all over the world go to plastic surgeons just for some implants in their lips. I just don’t get it. Can someone explain why they would do such a procedure?

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

My favorites from last night Oscars were Reese Witherspoon and Helen Mirren. I honestly believe that Reese gets more and more beautiful every day. Her look last night was absolutely flawless, from the beautiful dress to the perfect makeup and hair. She looked better than ever. Helen Mirren also looked stunning last night. This woman is absolutely beautiful. What I love about her look is she dresses appropriate for her age but still completely in style. Her makeup and hair were completely flawless.

Now some of these stars however either need to fire their stylist or hire one. I don’t know what is the case. But is it just me or did Gwyneth Paltrow and Kirsten Dunst look like disasters last night??? Kirsten Dunst had I believe the ugliest dress I have ever seen. Nothing on this dress made sense. Same with Gwyneth’s dress…not nearly as ugly as Dunst dress though. But both of these ladies makeup were horrible. They were both sporting red lipstick, which is fine, but again very ugly colors of red. There is a correct way to wear red lipstick and neither one of these ladies did it right last night. Check out Rachel Weisz, she wore red lipstick last night and it looked fabulous on her.

Posted by Chrissy Dolezal

For the past several months I have been fighting acne. This is a battle I have never fought before and truly caught me off guard. I have decided to blame a stressful life for the matter because I take very good care of my skin. My skin was getting so bad that for the first time in my life I could see clogged pores all along my nose and cheeks. It was truly DISGUSTING!

While out with my friend last Saturday we stopped at a Beauty Supply Store. My own little Heaven on earth! My friend has a problem with calluses on her feet and asked the sales associate what was the best product for that, I too suffer from this little problem as well. She showed us the Cyclic Cleansing Bar. I instantly bought it.

I get this little super bar home and began to read the instructions. It fights EVERYTHING. I think the answer to world peace is inside this bar somewhere. For the past week I have used this bar over my entire body. My acne is clearing up, my pores are clear, my feet are becoming super soft (first time ever!) and my hair is soft and shiny. I am in love. I hope it is a publically traded company because I want stock!