Wooo Hooo! Face Atelier (uh-ti-lee-eh) finally helped me end my search for a really great non-SPF foundation to add to my makeup kit. I was looking for a foundation without SPF because SPF is made up of titanium dioxide that can flash back in flash photos and white out your face (it doesn’t always happen because it can also depend on the camera settings/quality too). I am really excited about coming across Face Atelier because it just has amazing medium to full coverage and feels super light on your face. It’s silicone based, so it lays beautifully on top of your skin. No primer is needed & it sets on its own, so no powder is needed either! Also, if it’s good enough for Madonna and Lady Gaga to use on their face, I’d say it’s good enough for my clients! HA!

Side note…..some other non-SPF foundations I have used (but am not in love with) are: Estee Lauder Fresh Air, MAC Face & Body, & Makeup Forever HD. I really didn’t like Kryolan HD Micro Foundation Cache as a foundation (I will keep this in my kit as a concealer) – it’s an extremely thick coverage and has a very strong smell.

One Wedding Expo down, one more to go for Moya Makeup! Come meet me at the Bartlett Hills Country Club on Sunday, February 12th, from 12pm-3pm. I will be doing mini makeovers and I have a great special for all show attendees. As always, there will be great give aways from all the vendors too!

For all the details, click here: http://www.bartletthills.com/special-events/bridal-vendor-show

Attention all Brides-To-Be! Come visit the Moya Makeup booth at this upcoming bridal vendor show on Sunday, January 22nd at the Hilton in Rosemont.

The Bridal Sampler was built with the understanding that just as your wedding day is special, your shopping experience should be that way too. They partner with wedding professionals that understand how to deliver an impeccable product or service at a fair and reasonable price.

Here is the link to get 4 FREE tickets: http://www.bridalsampler.com/tickets.html

I have a bunch of beauty products I have been using  that I want to rave about – so I will include that information in this post. I want to share my daily/weekly beauty regimen with you in case any of it can help with any facial skin problems you might have!  So all you ladies that ask me about it,  here is your one stop shop!

Daily:

Burt’s Bees Citrus Facial Scrub – I use this all natural cleanser every morning and before bed. When you first look at it, it seems that it would be very rough on your skin, but it is actually very none abrasive and smells yummy too!

Murad Age Spot and Pigment Lightening Gel – since I started using this about 7 months ago, I have noticed a more even skin tone and I have not had any of the painful, big pimples I would get every so often.

Olay Complete All Day UV Moisturizer or it’s generic brand – I have used this for YEARS! I like that it has a UV protection, but is just the right amount of thickness to where it doesn’t feel heavy or greasy right after you apply it and keeps my skin moisturized all year round.

Alba Un-petroleum Jelly – I apply this all over my face and neck right after I wash my face before bed. It doesn’t smell the best, but it is all natural & has a more thicker application to where you wake up in the morning with the softest skin! It is thick, but doesn’t feel greasy and shouldn’t make you break out.

Once a week:

Olay ProX Advanced Cleansing System – this brush is made to be gentle enough to use daily, but since I don’t have time to do it that often, once a week seems to be just right! Since I have been using this, I noticed that the blackheads on my nose & on my chin are going away! My skin feels softer and just looks more radiant! It’s a great kit and very affordable!

Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque or it’s generic brand – after I use the Olay cleansing kit, I either apply this all over my face, or just on my nose (since it’s my biggest problem area). It really just feels refreshing after applying this face masque & it removes impurities from your pores (also I notice it helps make my pores look smaller.)

I had to blog about this pressed powder foundation I have been wearing for the past few months because I have been getting so many compliments on how nice my skin looks! I have not used a pressed powder in years (until this one) because of the powders making dry patches on the side of my nose and cheeks look even worse! Well this is totally different than anything I’ve tried before – I have been really impressed with the finish & staying power! As it is advertised, it is like a powder and foundation all in one, which helps give a more moisturized look & feel to your skin. It has a very matte finish (which I love) & it gives a full, flawless coverage. Now, you have to be very careful during the application since it can really look heavy. You want to start light with a brush and work your way up. It’s nice to have the option of how light or how heavy you want to go!

I can’t believe that I am already thinking about Fall, but Summer is flying by and I have been excited to talk about the great makeup looks for the coming months! I love the smokey-metallic gold eye and the various shades of red lips that were on the Fall runways. Some other trends that will be popular this coming season will be bold eye brows, metallic eye shadows (such as reds, golds, emeralds & navy), winged eyeliner, full false lashes, and flawless skin with a luminizer.

While we are at it, let’s talk nails! The crackled look on the nail will continue to be popular. With colors, you will want to switch it up from the very florescent to very pale tones. The reverse french tip with two different colors is a fun twist on the old french manicure. Also try a matte nail color or add some kind of fun design down the nail.

I attended the first Makeup Show in Chicago this past weekend and it was makeup heaven! They had it set up in a two-story, warehouse-type, venue and they had about 30 vendor booths on each floor – some brands I know very well and some I had never heard of. I stopped over at each vendor to see what kind of products they had and although I could have spent hundreds of dollars on buying stuff, I really wanted to stick to my short shopping list of things I really needed! The 2 seminars I got to listen too were really insightful: “The Artistic Advantage” – Floriane David (Makeup Forever) & “The Art of Illumination, Enhancing, Never Masking” – Lori Taylor (Smashbox)

Here is the goodie bag that I left with (I will be doing product reviews on a few of the items soon):

Stila: liquid luminzer/Smashbox: photo finish primer/Naimie’s: small storage tubes & mascara wands/Auraline Beauty: lipstick palette, (2) lip liners, spatula & tray set & curved eyeliner brush

I will be at this event doing makeup for some of the models!

I heard it was a fun summer night last year with over 300 people that came through!

Thanks to my gray roots by age 18, I’ve been coloring my hair for over 10 years (yikes!) I’ve pretty much tried every type of at-home coloring kit on the market and this was the first one that really had a different concept – so I had to blog about it!

Overall the color turned out great and covered the stubborn gray well, but I wouldn’t use this product again. The first thing I didn’t like about the kit were the gloves, they pulled at my hair. Secondly, it was very messy applying it. Even though I shook the container well as it instructed, some of the foam turned watery and the foam itself was just hard to apply precisely. I did like that the hair color didn’t have a strong smell too it and the shampoo and conditioner it came with smelt great too. Although, the conditioner didn’t leave my hair feeling as shiny as other hair coloring kit conditioners have.

At my last facial I was introduced to this product since I complained about my very uneven skin tone. She told me to try it for a while since it is known to work amazing for evening out skin tone. Although it is on the pricey side, I have used Murad products before and really had great results, so I wasn’t too skeptical.

I’ve had uneven skin tone for many years now because of my freckles that vary in color throughout my face (which gets worse in the summer) & I also have darker spots from slight acne scaring. I can report that from the first time I tried this, I feel that I saw immediate results! I’ve been using this for over a month now and can really see that my freckles & darker spots have faded & I just feel my skin has been more clear! I’ve had no drying or breakouts from using this and have only seen the results I was hoping for – A+