A Daily Dose Of Glamour

Just a few films Im looking forward to seeing …

Populaire

Blue Jasmine

Mademoiselle C

I have finally discovered the one treatment product that does it all. I came upon this magic bottle while searching for some type of overnight treatment or mask I could apply before going to bed that would help my strands while I slept…. enter Phyto’s Secret de Nuit. I purchased this from Beauty Habit (it retails for $38, pricey but worth it) and the results have been amazing. Secret de Nuit goes to work as you sleep to regenerate the hair fiber deep down. Upon waking, hair is delicately scented, regenerated and protected. It is shiny, supple and manageable. Well I can’t speak to any sort of delicate scent (Im sure there is a scent involved here it is just really mild, or more mild than the other products I use), I can say without any exaggeration that for the past few mornings I have woken up with incredibly beautiful hair. I have been applying this to my wet hair before bed and have been brushing it through to ensure that I get my hair well coated with the stuff.  Now, every curly haired girl knows a brush and wet hair is a no-no. You’re essentially killing the curl by breaking it up. Well! That just didn’t happen. My curls were even better in the morning!! The curls I haven’t been able to recreate since high school ( I swore my curls died after I hit 25, but they have regenerated with the use of this product!)  And then to top it all off, my hair has been sooo much softer too! I use just a touch of Caudalie Divine Oil in the morning to freshen up my bed head and head to work. My hair has lasted all day with little to no product. I have also applied it dry (before bed and during the day) and the results have been great. Holy grail hair care.

I remember the first time I ever wore lipstick. I was 7 years old and my mother had just taken me for what was to be the first traumatic experience of my childhood; a haircut that took away my much loved long hair, full of big thick curls and left me with a short pixie cut. I use to love my long hair so much that I remember spending way too much time before school brushing and flipping it over my head over and over until it looked full and fluffier (what can I say, I wanted to be a Charlie’s Angel and thought I had the hair to pull it off).  Reflecting back on the change in my look, I can appreciate now just how gamine and adorable I probably (hopefully) looked. At the time though, I just remember feeling like I had lost my femininity. I felt like a boy. In fact I felt like a boy so much that I kept saying it over and over in the car on the ride home. Until mom couldn’t take it any longer. She reached into her purse and handed me a tube of red lipstick. She told me to wear that and tell me if I still felt like a boy. It worked (well at least for the car ride home where I promptly produced fresh tears as proof to my father just how upset I really was). I remember sitting in front of the flipped down mirror applying lipstick on my small tiny lips until I had a few layers of red, enough to look like a 7 year old tarte. Throughout most of my life though I stayed far away from any color on my lips (except for a brief stint in high school where I religiously wore Cover Girl’s Toasted Almond). It hasn’t been until recently that I began to feel confident enough to wear a color on my lips other than my natural with a touch of gloss. I don’t know if its wearing lipstick itself, or the act of putting it on that makes me feel like a grown up lady. But it does. Is there anything else a woman can acceptably do in public besides applying lipstick that announces to the world ‘ I am a woman and I want to be noticed’? I can’t think of it. #83 Keep Wearing Lipstick from ‘100 Ways to Age with Grace, Elegance & Joie De Vivre‘  via  Live the Charmed Life.

Below are a few of my favorite shades of Red, almost all are universal and should work for most skin tones:

An iconic red, Revlon Fire & Ice $7

MAC Russian Red, a beautiful blue based red that is an almost universally flattering red. $15

MAC Lady Danger, a bright poppy red with almost a touch of orange. A classic red in my opinion. $15

Another classic color from MAC Ruby Woo, a beautiful red that goes on matte. Its a stunning shade with a lot of wearability. Be sure to apply this over moisturized lips as it can be a touch drying. $15

Gorgeous packaging and an intense and very beautiful red, Yves Saint Laurent ROUGE VOLUPTÉ – Silky Sensual Radiant Lipstick SPF 15 in 17 Red Muse $34

The ultimate in luxury cosmetics, Tom Ford Cherry Lush $48

A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear – unknown

‘Smile more, it’s an instant facelift’, tip #11 from ‘100 Ways to Age with Grace, Elegance & Joie De Vivre‘  via  Live the Charmed Life . I have to tell you, not only is it an instant facelift, but it makes those around you happier. I was working a makeup event a few months ago, with a team I usually have so much fun around. Not only that, It’s a high energy day where your mainly focused on selling and speaking to customers. So I had a huge grin on my face. All day.  I am one of those people who is unfortunately afflicted by Resting Bitchface Syndrome (RBS),  so when I’m not smiling my face tends to show whatever is on my mind and if it is anywhere near unpleasant or even if I am just feeling calm, I will look like I’m really pissed off. Therefore whenever I am in public I try to keep a smile on my face, or otherwise face the endless question of ‘Are you Ok?’. Yes I’m ok, just resting.

At the event was another makeup artist who I had never worked with. She really had her bitch face on. Everyone all day kept wondering why she was there since she looked so miserable. I passed her by on my way to attend to a customer when for the first time all day she acknowledged me (she had been throwing shade my way the entire day, but waited until now to actually speak to me). Her acknowledgement wasn’t to me in general, but to my smile in particular. She asked me ‘what the deal was’, when I asked her what she meant, she said ‘your smiling… you might want to tone that down a bit…’. I have never in my life heard of anyone questioning someone else’s happiness (she could have used some herself). So I was left feeling a bit stunned and honestly insulted. I spoke with a few other artists that I am friendly with who reassured me that she was nuts and I was fine, that my smile and friendly demeanor is what draws people to me. I knew they were right. All day I had a team of other artists supporting me, laughing with me, and making plans to stay in touch with me after the event ended. The unsmiling artist did not. Her lack of smile (and manners) alienated most everyone around her, which proves my point. When you smile, people are drawn to you, they want to be around you and your smile will make them feel special. A smile really is the easiest way to brighten up yours or someone else’s day.

Wear less makeup. Probably sounds like a ridiculous statement coming from a Makeup Artist, but it actually mirrors my aesthetic as I love a clean, minimal face. I have just never gravitated towards the heavier makeup looks favored by certain reality stars who’s last names start with ‘K’.  So I can actually relate to #63  Wear Less Makeup on the  ‘100 Ways to be Elegant’ list from Live the Charmed Life. It also brings to mind one of my favorite takes on the Wear Less Makeup style which comes from lifestyle guru Jennifer L. Scott, author of the super chic book Madame Chic; 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris. Jennifer calls this the ‘Le No Makeup Look’ and I love the emphasis on wearing just a touch of makeup each day. I believe a woman’s face shouldn’t give away her secrets, and by secrets I mean it shouldn’t be that obvious from such a far distance the exact shade of eyeliner a woman is wearing.  In my opinion, your only focus should be on how gorgeous her eyes are, instead of being distracted by the actual product on her face.  That’s why when I am making up a face I focus on applying makeup where its needed (for your every day makeup routine, foundation all over ones face is honestly not always needed, better to apply it sparingly and only on the areas of the face that actually need the help). It’s also in my taste to apply more natural and neutral tones that bring out a person’s specific and beautiful features. Not saying though that a smokey eye, or a red (or pink, or purple!) lip isnt a fun thing to play with either, but these looks have their occasions and the very limited times I have worn a heavily made up face during the day made me feel too obvious and in fact, less beautiful.

Check out Jennifer’s video on creating the Le No Makeup Look, as well as my previous post on ‘Naked Beauty‘ using some of my favorite products!

So in keeping with my last post on Living a Charmed Life, I wanted to kick things off with #36 ‘Drink more water’, from ‘100 Ways to Age with Grace, Elegance & Joie De Vivre‘. I’ve seen these BKR water bottles everywhere, but the high price tag left me wondering why I should spend $28 on a glass water bottle… I finally relented after receiving an Amazon Gift Card for my Birthday in July. I chose the color ‘Bubble’ (pictured above) which looked like a blush pink online but when it arrived is more a, well, bubble pink, just like its name. Im super pleased with the color choice (so me) and love even more the amount of water I’ve been consuming since I have received it.

It’s a funny thing to find you’ve increased your water intake just due to the fact that you’re now drinking out of a glass water bottle.  But I can say in all honesty that the change of taste from drinking via a glass bottle vs. plastic is distinct. I find the water I am drinking no longer has a taste and goes down a lot smoother. After using the bottle for a few months I feel comfortable saying that I think the high price tag is worth it, not just for the increased water intake but also for all the sweet compliments I get anytime I am seen guzzling from it.

BKR water bottles come in a lovely range of color choices, AND if you are anything like me, you will appreciate that they offer replacement glass bottles if you ever clumsily drop yours ! Happy drinking!!

When I started this blog it was with the intention to focus on one thing glamorous each day. Well, that doesn’t always happen… see I deal with an unfortunate thing called anxiety.  I call it the invisible evil, as it is this invisible monster that gets in the way of me living each day to the fullest. It drags me down and discourages me from living my best life. Although, there is one positive thing that anxiety has given me and that is a need to maintain order in my life. For me its a form of striving to keep control as anxiety takes away a lot of that from me. My point is, when it kicks in, so does my sense of maintaining some sanity, looking for ways to keep myself grounded and engaged. It’s an endless cycle, but the outcome has me trying my best to overcome any negative feelings and pulling myself up and finding something better to focus on. For me, this has developed into a quest to live a (somewhat) glamorous lifestyle (glamour equaling pursuing the best in life and not necessarily a jet set lifestyle).

My aim for the past few years has been to do at least one productive, positive thing each day. I’ll be honest, sometimes the only productive thing I have the energy for is going to the grocery store, but then I will try to make those purchases count by buying healthy foods vs. a box of krispy creme. I guess its the little things….

This long entry is leading somewhere, I promise. I found a new blog today while browsing through Pinterest; Live the Charmed Life – The Elegant Guide to Lifestyle Design. Lifestyle Design, I love it! The author of the blog, Deeanne has put together so many wonderful lists to design your lifestyle. My favorites being ‘100 Ways to be Elegant’, ‘100 Ways to Age with Grace, Elegance & Joie De Vivre‘ & of course ‘100 Reasons to become an Expatriate‘ (because being an expat is my number 1 goal in life).

These lists are so great that I have printed them out and have begun highlighting the ones I have already completed (yay!) and the ones I aim to begin working on. So here is to the quest of pursuing the best me, I’m so excited to see how much progress I can make by the end of the year! And I can’t wait to share it all with you, daily!!