Body Lotion of the moment

I've never been much of a scented body lotion person, but on a whim at my local Target, I picked up new Suave Exhale body lotion, scented with Lavender Vanilla. I absolutely love the scent and what I love more is that its not thick and goopy. It's the perfect lotion for the summer months when you don't want to feel the lotion on your skin, but still need moisture. My skin would laugh in it's face in the winter time, but this, I declare is the perfect summer lotion!

Until next time. Thanks, all five of you for reading! ;)

Beauty School Dropout

Make that "drop in". That's right, y'all I've gone and enrolled in beauty school! In 9 weeks I'll have the knowledge and experience to really make my dream of becoming a freelance makeup artist happen! Wish me luck!

My Makeup Idols

As a young girl, I'd dream about being a famous singer like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. When I got seriously into makeup, my day dreams changed. Now I daydream about being a makeup assistant in a fashion show, or arriving on the set of a photo shoot ready to make someone beautiful. Like a goofy groupie I worship the following phenomenal makeup artists and hope to be like them very soon!

Pat McGrath - What can I say about her? She's the Michael Jordan of the beauty biz right now. She does practically every fashion show and probably has more makeup than Sephora. Her work is amazing, genius and it is my dream to assist her one day. Hey, Pat? Are you out there? Call me!

Kevyn Aucoin - A rockin' Saturday night to me is following the techniques from his books and trying to replicate the looks on my own face.
May he rest in peace and even though I never knew him, I hope to one day do him justice when I get my own career off the ground.

Sam Fine - I LOVE him. He made every black woman who ever appeared in a music video in the 90s look amazing. He's done more Essence Magazine covers than I can count. His look is so signature; clean and fresh, but polished, always with the lightened brow, that I am too chicken to try out on myself, but I admit looks awesome. He can pull off the dark lip liner, light lipstick thing and make it look classy and decidedly, un-ghetto.
A few years ago, when I found out he'd done a book I ran right out and bought it and just like Mr. Aucoin, I practice practice practice the techniques on my face...and sometimes my thigh just to get a feel for what it's like to work on another person.

Bobbi Brown - What list of favorite makeup artists would be complete without Bobbi Brown - the queen of invisible makeup. For my 9 to 5 job, I sometimes travel to schools to coordinate PD workshops for teachers. I recently went to one at Jane Addams High School in the Bronx. She has done so much for their cosmetology students, including actually coming to the school to teach master classes! She's also donated makeup chairs and equipment, and donated money. That is awesome, and I wish I could have been there on the days she comes there to teach.

All of these makeup artists inspire me and I can't wait until I'm telling people the story of how I got started and people are inspired by my own signature look...um...when I create one...

Beana's Favorite Eyeliners

I've always loved the look of eyeliner. My favorite way to wear it is just on the top lid. I've always felt eyeliner around the entire eye was overkill, plus it made my eyes look smaller. To look more natural, I went through a phase as a teen/young adult where I wore brown eyeliner every day. I'm back to basic black now, especially after seeing The Devil Wears Prada. It is my personal belief that Anne Hathaway brought eyeliner back just as JT brought "sexy back".

I'm not so steady with eye pencil, though. I haven't found one that glides well enough across my eyes, and I refuse to spend more than five bucks on one. Luckily I've found a few eyeliner products that I absolutely love!

M.A.C. Fluidline - $14.50. Even though you need a brush to apply this gel-like liner, you can't beat how highly pigmented the shades are, and how nicely it goes on. this stuff is perfect for that 1960's glamor girl look with the winged eyeliner and all.





Maybelline Express Finish Easy Lining Pen - Unfortunately, you can't find this stuff much anymore as Maybelline discontinued the product. I still have mine from many years ago and still use it. It gives the prescision of an eye pencil with the look of a liquid liner. It goes on very wet at first so I suggest you keep your eyes closed for at least 30 seconds after applying...that is if you can ever find the stuff! And if you do, let me know where I can get some more!


Photo courtely maccosmetics.com

My Lipgloss is Poppin'

As much as I HATE that song, I couldn't resist using it at a title for my post because my new Carol's Daughter Candy Paint Lip Gloss, $13.50 really is poppin'. I wanted ALL of them. Even the red shade, "Diva"and I'm usually not a red girl. I ended reigning myself in and buying only two. "Hot Mocha" which is a lovely dark brown that is exactly the type of brown I always go for. I also bought "This is me", which is probably the best nude lip gloss I've ever had. I have been waiting a long time for a lipgloss like this and now I finally have it! All the shades are very sheer and are not porn star shiny, but shiny enough to make an impact.

The glosses go on so smooth and feel so good on the lips. They also have a hint of peppermint that is not overpowering at all. I have locs so I don't have the problem of hair sticking to my lip gloss, but they aren't tacky feeling on my lips so I imagine that hair wouldn't stick to it. I will be rocking these lip glosses all summer long!

Wedding Makeup Test

Last week a friend of mine from work came over to test some evening wedding looks as she's getting married in September. If there's one thing I learned from the experience, it's that I need much better lighting in my living room! I need a studio, or at least a good overhead light and a big mirror. Anyway, here are the shots. I think I used a bit too much gold on the browbone, and I'm still not crazy about the lip colors I chose, but anyway here you go! Isn't she purrty?! Never mind the 2002, never could figure out the date feature on my digital camera! LOL And please ignore the mess of video tapes in the back.

All About My Mother

On this beautiful Mother's Day, I'd like to pay homage to the most beautiful woman I know, my mom!

One of the most memorable times in my childhood was watching my mom get ready for work or a night out. My mom is one of those old school, full face of makeup every day people and I loved watching her pull out her dusty, powder stained makeup bag filled with all her goodies and her makeup mirror and bring it to the dining table so she coul glam up for the day. She'd spend at least 30 minutes on her face, which I always thought didn't need makeup. I'd never seen her with a blemish, even now. And my mother is a beautiful woman, with or without makeup.

She's only made a few adjustments to her routine in the 33 years I've known her. Her essential supplies include the ubiquitous big red round sponge she uses to apply powder. She buys them in bulk now because they are getting harder to find; the painted red Maybelline eye pencils in black she'd light with a match to soften the liner. And I'll never forget Maybelline great lash mascara in blackest black (note: she takes the smaller lip inside the tube out so that she can apply thick, black coating of mascara on her lashes. She LIKES the Tammy Fay Baker look, apparently). Her rouge (yeah, she still says "rouge") was always either a cream or she'd just use one of her red lipsticks. She draws crosses on each cheek then blends.

I also remember her liquid foundation. Flori Roberts in "Chroma C". It didn't quite match her skin, and if she didn't blend it correctly, you could see the line around her face as perfectly round as if she were trying to look like a mime. Luckily I've been able to introduce her to the wonderful world of custom blend foundation at Prescriptives.

When I was girl, I would get all up in her makeup at every opportunity. She'd get so mad, but I'd do it anyway. I'd test all of her lipsticks, in various hues of red, on my lips, wiping them off and trying on another one. To my mom, red lipstick equals glamour. I've never seen her in anything other than red lipstick lined with a wine colored lip liner which she REFUSES to blend together, drives me nuts! Sometimes I just want to ambush her, hold her down and swipe on a pretty neutral or brown shade, but she just won't let me! She says, "It's just not 'me".

As much as I love makeup, I don't wear it every day. But when I do sit down to really do my makeup, I do the same thing my mom does. I pull out all my makeup and accessories, sit at my vanity with my super magnified lighted makeup mirror and really take my time with it. We may use different colors and have completely different looks, but It was all influenced by my beautiful, glamorous mommy whom I love very much!