Permanently Beautiful

According to international celebrity makeup artist Claudio Riaz who counts among his clients Nicole Kidman, Hilary Duff and Jennifer Aniston, the five most common makeup mistakes women make are:

1. Overdone bronzer and blush
2. Wrong foundation tone
3. Clumpy mascara
4. Overdrawn lips
5. Incorrectly used eyeliner and concealer

Incorrectly, inexpertly or too heavily applied makeup can not only leave you with a less than polished appearance, it can also add years to your face. But even if correctly applied, using the wrong color of foundation or concealer can have disastrous results. Foundation should be applied with a very light touch and match your skin color as perfectly as possible. Your concealer shade should be just slightly lighter than the shade of your foundation and should be applied with a light touch. Using a cream blush instead of powdered blush will create a flattering, subtle glow instead of overdone clown cheeks.

The best way to avoid common makeup mistakes is with permanent makeup expertly applied by nationally renowned permanent makeup artist Melany Whitney. The added advantage of permanent cosmetics is that small flaws can be permanently corrected during the paramedical tattooing process. Lip lines can be made fuller and more symmetrical. Eyebrows can be filled in and feathered, and brow lines artfully curved. Thin lashes can be made to appear fuller. With permanent makeup you don’t have to worry about makeup faux pas. You can have the confidence that comes with knowing that your makeup is always perfect.

Jen's Natural Look

Jennifer Aniston worked her way into American hearts as Rachel on Friends and never left. She’s the proverbial “girl next door,” fresh and wholesome looking. Jennifer uses a few special makeup tricks to create her very natural look. She may look like she’s not wearing makeup, but it’s a light hand and adept application that give Jen the natural appearance admired by so many.

How does she do it? Jen only applies eyeliner to her top eyelid, usually leaving the bottom lid naked or applying only a faint, thin stroke of liner to the bottom lid. To enhance her natural look, Jennifer chooses eyeliners in pale grays and light browns. She counts on a medium coating of mascara on both top and bottom lashes to make her eyes pop. To enhance her eyes, Jennifer favors barely there, lightly applied eye shadow in pale grays, beiges, pinks and lavenders. Jen sticks to natural looking lip colors in light brown, peach or pink. Her trick is to color her lips just slightly darker than their natural color.

Permanent makeup can give you Jennifer Aniston’s natural look 24 hours a day without tedious time in front of the mirror. You can have permanent eyeliner in a natural shade tattooed on just your upper lid or add a barely there line to your lower lid. Permanent eye shadow can enhance your eyes with natural beauty 24/7 and it never cakes or creases. Your lips will always look naturally beautiful with permanent lip color. Permanent makeup is the ultimate natural look!

Want to see how you’d look with Twilight smoky eyes or neon blue Alice in Wonderland shadow? There’s an app for that! Want to learn how to create zigzag hair or add hair extensions? There’s an app for that! Want to know what this season’s hottest “must have” fashion is going to be? There’s an app for that!

Apps are revolutionizing the way we live. Apple led the way with apps for its iconic iPhone, recently broadening the app market by making its iPod Touch app friendly. Other smartphone makers have entered the fray with their own app stores. Savvy app designers have created universal apps that can work on both Apple and Microsoft-based systems. Apps are not only fun to use; they take the effort out of so many of life’s little chores. It’s no wonder that the beauty and fashion industries have begun embracing apps.

Apps make it possible to try on new looks from makeup to hairstyles to fashion accessories right on your smartphone. Sure you can do these things on the Internet, but now you can experiment with new looks while you’re on the go. Makeup apps can help you see how you’d look with permanent cosmetics. Try out different eyebrow arches, redefine the shape of your lips, experiment with thick or thin eyeliner or find the perfect lip shade. Save your “look” and an expert permanent cosmetics artist like Melany Whitney can create and even improve upon the perfection you seek.

Good news for women of all skin types and skin tones, makeup is going matte! No-shine matte makeup is replacing sheen and gleam for a fresh, natural look this spring. Glimmery makeup was fun during the holidays, but shine emphasizes every tiny facial imperfection. The new matte look minimizes little flaws, allowing them to fade from sight. Matte doesn’t mean dull and flat, though. The new matte look is sheer and satiny, very pretty and natural. Always use moisturizer to prevent a caky look.

The almost air-brushed appearance of matte skin tones lets you focus attention on eyes and lips. Watch for eye shadows in soft earth tones and barely there evening sky colors mixed with pale skin-tone pinks, browns and beiges. Minimal black-brown eyeliner highlights the new downplayed look. And those spiky black stiletto lashes that were such fun during the holidays? Gone; replaced by a soft, natural look. Lashes go au naturel or with just a swipe of soft black-brown mascara. This spring, lips provide the wow! Go retro with bright red, innocent with pale pink or vamp it up with purple. 

If you have permanent makeup, you already have the perfect base for spring’s new natural look. Permanent cosmetics treat you to a salon makeup finish all day long. To change it up, apply cosmetics directly over permanent makeup. Otherwise, just moisturize and you’re out the door!

It doesn’t take long for new moms to loose that wholesome pregnancy glow. Loss of sleep from round-the-clock feeding schedules, learning to juggle new responsibilities, rushing from home to daycare to work and back again — it can leave new moms feeling and looking exhausted. When you’re a new mom, a crying baby trumps taking time to put on your eye makeup. You’re lucky to find time to swipe some lip gloss across your lips. It’s all too easy for new moms to go from glowing, rosy-cheeked excitement to droopy-eyed, sallow-faced frumpiness after the baby is born. New motherhood is challenging enough without feeling depressed about how awful you look.

Permanent cosmetics is the solution. Permanent cosmetics can give new moms that same beautiful rosy glow they had before their baby was born. A specialized form of cosmetic tattooing, permanent makeup enhances your natural beauty so you look beautiful 24 hours a day. There’s nothing more rejuvenating for a new mom than knowing she’ll wake up beautiful and stay beautiful all day long, even when baby’s needs leave no time for primping.

To look bright and fresh, new moms should concentrate on eyes and lips. Add permanent eye shadow in a natural shade of pink, brown or light beige with a thin line of permanent eyeliner to make eyes shine. Make your lips sexy again with permanent lips in your favorite color. Add a hint of rosy glow to cheeks and you’ll feel like a whole new woman!

The economy will continue to drive the way we dress and live in 2010. Realistic fashionistas are going practical with a return to smart basics. Expect clothing to feature good, sturdy fabrics in mixable neutral shades of brown and gray. Clean lines, simple cuts and a more classic look will dominate 2010 fashion. Versatility will be the name of the game. Women will splurge on just a few fabulous pieces that offer multiple ways to dress up or dress down their wardrobe. For example, savvy shoppers will look for items like a sleek leather tunic that can be worn as a mini-dress, vest, tunic over leggings or even light outerwear. Women will continue to look for smart ways to stretch their clothing budgets. Individual expression in the midst of Plain Jane fashions will come from colorful custom-designed jewelry and artfully applied permanent makeup.

This year the eyes have it! In 2010, permanent eye makeup will focus attention on your beautiful face. It’s your eyes that will add that special spark of alluring fire to practical fashions. Perfectly arched and feathered permanent eyebrows will provide a window to eyes exquisitely lined with permanent eyeliner. Add neutral shadows for serious work hours, then go wild with a slash of neon bright shadow for evening wear. The spring release of Tim Burton’s film version of Alice in Wonderland is expected to add a hint of Victorian whimsy and wild psychedelic colors to fashion accessories and makeup pallets this spring.

Packing for a holiday trip? Think of all the items women typically pack in their cosmetics bag: moisturizer, concealer, foundation, powder, blush, eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, eyebrow pencil, lip liner, lipstick, lip gloss — and that’s just the basics! Many women use additional makeup products (bronzer, shading, corrective skin coloring products, etc.). Many more women will pack multiples of many products so they’ll have a selection of colors while they’re visiting. Of course, you also have to pack everything you need to take the whole smear off at the end of the day: makeup remover, cleanser,  nighttime moisturizer, lip moisturizer and more. Then there are all the products you need to repair skin damage caused by wearing all that makeup all day long: skin rejuvenators, blemish control ointments, skin repair creams and more. No wonder the luggage industry makes special makeup cases. By the time you pack up your makeup, there’s hardly room for anything else in your suitcase!

Now compare the contents of a normal makeup case with the contents of a cosmetics bag owned by a woman smart enough to have permanent makeup. A woman with a full face cosmetic enhancement only needs to pack a mild facial cleanser, a good quality moisturizer and a moisturizing lip gloss. Permanent makeup wearers who need to pack light can get by with cleanser and sunscreen, using the sunscreen to moisturize face and lips. When you have permanent makeup, life — and packing — are simple.

The Victoria Secrets super models, music superstars like Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and other celebrity glitterati always look gorgeous. Of course they have an army of backstage makeup artists, hairdressers and stylists to help them achieve that flawless makeup, perfect hair and elegant style that we mere mortals envy. You may be on your own when you open your makeup bag every morning, but you can still achieve beautiful results with these makeup tips from runway pros:

• For a little curl and glop-free mascara application, hold a spoon against your upper lash line and apply mascara against it.
• To create sky-high cheekbones, holding a fan-shaped brush parallel to your hairline, brush frosted cheek color up toward your ear, then from hairline inward toward your nose, stopping just before your nose. Using the same brush, lightly stroke matte blush in the same color right above your jaw line from ear to mouth. Women with olive skin should use a bronzer. A pinker shade is best for fair-skinned women; mauve for medium skin tones.

Professional makeup artists say the key to flawless makeup is to perfectly match makeup to skin tones. Permanent makeup artfully applied by Melany Whitney, a former professional makeup artist herself, is always perfectly selected to match your unique skin tone. Permanent makeup gives you flawless runway model perfection every day — and night — without hours of effort.

Did you catch the Victoria Secrets fashion show last week? Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas certainly held her own against the professional runway competition. She looked utterly amazing in that glittering emerald body suit with its free-flowing cape. In a night filled with plenty of big T and tight A, it was a night of glamour, fantasy and beautiful women. The backstage glimpses of models being made up and stage managers rushing them on stage added to the excitement, but haven’t you always wondered how models achieve that absolutely perfect, flawless on-camera look?  

When asked to reveal their special makeup tips, professional makeup artists agree that totally flawless skin starts with a good moisturizer. Airbrushed foundation application and artistic facial contouring are the techniques the pros use to ensure that models and celebrities put their best face forward. That’s outside the skill set or needs of most women, but there are a number of professional tips you can apply at home.

• For barely there lips, apply a good moisturizer to lips, follow with concealer. Apply pale lip gloss for kissable natural looking lips.
• For a light and luscious lash line, dot along lash line with eyeliner pencil then blend gently with a Q-tip.
• For perfectly groomed eyebrows, fill in and shape brows with a 3B or 6B graphite pencil instead of an eyebrow pencil. While too harsh for blondes, graphite will give brunettes a more natural look.

More tips next time

It’s hard to believe but the ’80s are back! Big hair, football-size shoulder pads, kohl-lined eyes and ruby red lips. In the 1980s women came into their own in the workplace. Clothing fashions, hair styles and makeup reflected women’s new-found power on the job and served to augment her presence in heretofore male-dominated board rooms. Fashions were forceful and imposing and makeup had to be bold and colorful to stand out. In the 1980s women wore more makeup and eye makeup and lip colors were darker and more noticeable than they had been before. It was a look that commanded attention.

Research has shown that every 30 years fashion styles repeat themselves but with a new twist on the original. Today’s makeup styles give the brassy, look at me ’80s a  softer, more sensual appearance that exudes self-confidence and says we’ve arrived and we’re here to stay! The dark kohl-lined Goth eyes of the 1980s have been softened into far more sensuous smoky eyes. Lips are still red; but instead of the bold, brassy reds of the ’80s, lip colors are softer, warmer, earthier reds. It’s the lip liner not the bright color that calls attention to the lips today; but instead of matching liner and lipstick colors, liners are going more brown this season. And put the lip gloss away during the day. Matte-finish lip stick says I’m in charge at the office.

Permanent makeup can give you the perfectly applied lip liner that is the base for today’s powerful, sensuous red lips.