Whatever your New Year Eve’s plan are for this year, ring in the New Year looking your best.  I know I will.  The experts at Flirt! Cosmetics gives us a few New Year Eve looks to make us sparkle that special night!

Kiss-Me Lips

Get ready for your New Year’s kiss with super glossy kissable lips. Our recommendation? FLIRT! Squeeze Me Super Shiny Lip Gloss in Bubbly Berry brings just the right amount of drama and sass with an iridescent berry pay-off that will make your lips look luscious. Pair the bold lip with a soft, shimmering eye look and get ready for your close up!

Eye:To achieve a soft, shimmering eye, try Dreamy Eyes Eyeshadow in Gold Envy – apply all over lid from lashline to browbone and Show Stopper from lashline to crease. For added Holiday glamour, add a touch of Look of Love Eyeliner in Tipoff to the top of your lashline. Complete the look with Lash-a-delic Fast-Defining mascara in Mod Black.

Cheek:Lightly dust apples of cheeks with a complimentary berry shade - Peek-A-Blush in Popsie.

Sultry Eyes (My favorite look!)

Try a smoky, sparkling eye to reel him in! Achieve this look with FLIRT! Dream Eyes Eyeshadow in Wild Night and a few coats of Big Flirt Mascara in Black Wink for seriously voluminous lashes. Complement the look with a sexy, nude lip and get ready to bat those lashes.

Cheek: Dust cheekbones with Peek-A-Blush in Caramel Belle.

Lip:Perfectly nude lips complete the look. Try Chickstick Smooth and Shiny Lipcolor in Shimmy or Honey (a perfect nude lip color!).

A Fresh Glow

It’s cold outside, so warm up your look with a fresh flush of peach. FLIRT! Flowerific Cheek Color in Peach Blossom will give your cheeks that just-came-in-from-the-cold-glow with a festive, iridescent finish. Keep the look glowing with a shimmering lip and eye look in complementing warm shades.

Eye: For a candy-colored glow, try Dreamy Eyes Eyeshadow in Birthday Cake from lashline to brow bone and Cutsie Pie from lashline to crease. Line the top and bottom lashline with Look of Love Eye Pencil in Purple Rain. Smudge into lashes with fingertips.

Lip:Complete the look with Glamourazzi Extreme Lip Lacquer in Dream Girl.

And don’t forget to add my favorite accessory, false lashes, for extra glamour!

Believe it or not, Christmas and New Years Eve is now only weeks away.  Including myself, many of us are planning our holiday party outfits. Hot dress…check.  Hot makeup…check.  However, one of the biggest mistakes women make during the party season, is applying their makeup incorrectly.  FACE atelier Pro Makeup Artist, Amy Zdunowski-Roeder, gives us her Top 5 Holiday  Makeup No, No’s.

Top 5 Holiday Makeup Mistakes

1. Makeup on Flaky Dry Skin will look Flaky
Exfoliate and hydrate (hydration is so important) and use a non-alcoholic based foundation or mineral makeup to create balance.

FAB TIP: Stray away from powder foundation, it will only accentuate your dry skin.  Personally, I would stick with liquid foundation.  For extra hydration, I mix moisturizer with liquid foundation.  And if you’re using any type of topical face treatments (retinoids, acne meds, etc), lay off of them a couple days before the event.

2. Makeup that is too dark for the skin
Some of us purchase makeup a few shades darker because they believe they will give them that festive “bronzed” look.  What happens instead, is the skin looks jarringly unnatural.  Foundation should be tested in natural light, on your wrist, chin or the best place- NECK- since your neck connects your face and decollate, you can find the best tone that will blend perfectly into both areas.

3. Avoid the “Clown” look
Makeup should be fun, creative and exciting.   However, it is very easy to overdo it during the party season. Pick ONE area to emphasize- cheeks, lips or eyes.   For example, if you have bold and dramatic sexy dark eye makeup on, a pale lip and light rosy cheeks will make your eyes pop and you will have a completed look that is just right!

4. Over-Penciling your Eyebrows
An over- penciled eyebrow is the first thing an onlooker notices and has the tendency to look painted on.  Many, many women unknowingly make this mistake, which can be one of the hardest to break. For best results, select an eye shadow color that matches your hair color and apply with a small angled brush using light brush strokes.

FAB TIP: I admit that I am guilty of this.  To combat this, I apply my brow powder with light strokes.  Remember, it’s easier to build up color, than to remove color. Also, using a brow powder rather than an eyebrow pencil won’t make your brows looks so harsh.

5. Blending-. Blending is the Professional Makeup artist’s secret weapon!  It is what creates the flawless face.  Important areas to blend:

• Along the Jaw line- You can see “that line” on someone’s chin a mile away.  Your eyes catch it when the foundation isn’t blended properly into the neck to be fresh and uniform.
• Blend out cheek color so you look flushed not painted (unless you want an 80’s look)
• Blend eye shadow when you use multiple colors and can see “hard” lines
• Blend lip liner into the lip again when there is a “hard” drawn on line that you can see

My best advice is to try out your holiday makeup look a couple days before the actual event.  You definitely want to look your best that day.  Does anyone have any additional tips to add to this list?

Here’s a question for all you makeup mavens, do you apply makeup with fingertips or a brush?  Depending on what cosmetics that I am applying, I use both methods.  Galit Strugano, creator of Girlactik Beauty makeup and celeb makeup artist, explains the techniques of applying makeup with your fingers and applying with tools to achieve the perfect makeup look.

FINGER APPLICATION 

Each of your fingers has a different pressure point affecting the pressure of touch.  Knowing them can be useful in applying makeup.  A bonus with finger application is the oils and heat from your skin melts the product better when it transfers to your skin and provides the coverage you want! For some reason, I imagine that makeup novices use the finger application, because it’s so easy.

Ring finger for Concealer - Applying concealer with your ring finger gives a soft touch around the eye area with no pulling of the skin. The ringer finger has the lightest touch and pats product on perfectly.

Index finger for Shadow Application - This finger possesses a little more pressure making shadow spread evenly but still has that soft touch.  When it comes to eye shadow application, I stick to brushes.

Middle finger for Eye Crease - The middle finger has the most pressure so it is perfect to use to frame your eye, creating definition as you move your finger back and forth. 

Pinkie for Inner Eye– Your smallest digit is perfect to apply makeup to those hard to reach parts.  Great when applying an eye brightener or when you want to highlight.   Your pinkie has a light touch so you won’t accidentally glob on makeup when you’re trying to be precise!
 
BRUSH APPLICATION: It’s all about the texture!
 
When it comes to brushes, it is not about synthetic vs. natural, but rather the firmness of the brush that affects your makeup look.  A rule of thumb:
 
- The firmer the brush, the more color transfer you’ll have.
- The lighter the brush, the lighter the color transfer will be.
 
Think about it this way.  You can be using the same exact blush and end up with 2 different colors depending on whether you are using a firmer or lighter brush.  Switching up brushes is a great way to use your makeup in fun, different ways! 

How do you all apply your makeup? With your fingers, brushes or both?

Awhile back, I advocated the importance of keeping track of beauty expiration dates.  Once beauty products are opened, the spoiling process begins and starts the allowance of bacterial growth - yuck! Nothing is worse than getting an unwanted eye infection or blemish from beauty products past their prime.  Rather than making your own labels (which I currently do), Beauty Alert! can make this process easier my providing you with the pre-made labels!

These labels contain 24 specifically-designed stickers to help you avoid outdated and potentially hazardous beauty products.  All you need to do is write in the date the beauty product was opened.

Product Details:

Approx Price: $8.50 for a pack

Where to Purchase: Online or Ed Wyse Beauty Supply Stores

Look! I’ve already started labeling my beauty products with BeautyAlert! Brownie points for those that can name these beauty products featured below.

Want more information on these Beauty Alert! labels? Check it out here.