Beauty Brainstorm Blog

Archive for September, 2009

Every business has tools that make their work a little easier.  The same thing applies to the cosmetic industry.  Most people have a hard time applying eye shadow and makeup; or don’t wear it at all because they don’t know how to. 

Are you still using the sponge applicator that came with our OLD eye-shadow?  If so, throw it out! Make it easier on yourself and do what the pros do, get the tools of the trade for the make-up business.

When it comes to applying makeup like a professional, using the right tools can make all the difference. High-quality makeup brushes help to create a smooth, polished look. To help point you in the right direction, here are a few tips and techniques that will help you put your makeup on like a pro, it’s all a matter of using the right brush to get beautiful results.

1. A Powder Brush is a full, fluffy brush designed to evenly distribute powder to the face. To apply, sweep brush across pressed powder or dip into loose powder; tap gently to remove excess and apply to the face from forehead to chin using long, light strokes.
2. A Cheek Brush is used to accentuate bone structure and add a healthy blush to cheeks. Use the tip of this soft, angled brush to apply color to the apples of the cheeks and stroke upward along cheekbones, stopping just below the temples, then blend.  * This brush is also a great tool to use for applying bronzer. Apply across the bridge of your nose, temples, cheekbones and shoulders for a gorgeous, healthy looking glow.
3. An Eye Definer Brush has bristles that are tapered and rounded at the end to shape and define eyes while also blending color evenly. Sweep color softly across the eyelid and then lightly above the crease for a natural, yet refined look.
4. An Eye Crease Brush has long, thin, pointed bristles and is used with mid-tone and darker shades of eye color to add depth to eyes. Begin by placing the brush at the outer corner of the eye and then sweep inward following the natural crease of your eye. This brush can also be used to create a smoky look; by using the brush tip, sweep softly along lower lashes from the outer corner inward.
5. An Eyeliner Brush is used to line eyes and enhance sparse brows with eye color. This flat, angled, short-bristle brush makes it easy to apply a thin line of color along top and bottom lashes. It’s also a great tool to use for blending your eyebrow pencil.
6. Use an Eyebrow Brush to brush brows in the opposite direction from which they grow to remove any excess foundation. Gently brush back, following their natural shape and direction, as a finishing touch to your makeup application.

Quality makeup brushes will allow you to put your makeup exactly where you want it and blend it flawlessly. Be sure and take good care of them by giving them a bath in shampoo or brush cleaner every week or so, then let them get some fresh air, by air drying them on the counter. This will keep them clean and bacteria free! It will also avoid clumping your makeup when you go to put it on.

Dangerous Make-up   – volume 2

In volume 1 of this two part Dangerous Make-up series we talked about what bad bacteria in make-up could do to your skin. Now, I want to take you a little deeper into the realm of dangerous make-up and focus mainly on what you put on your eyes and the bad habits you may have created every night before you go to bed.

Mascara and eye make-up are great things! The right eye make-up combination can really make your eyes pop. And mascara, forget it nothing else can compare when it comes to making your lashes look long and lustrious!

But did you know, that combination that makes your eyes so beautiful through the day, can be very harmful to your eyes and skin at night? So harmful that the habits you have created at bedtime could be causing your skin to be irritated, or even worse your eyelashes to fall out!

Mascara and eye make-up should not be taken to bed with you. They both should be removed every night with an oil free eye make-up remover.  By not removing your eye make-up, you are encouraging the production of eye mites, which can cause eye lashes to fall out.  These are often called; Demodex mites.  These nasty little buggers can cause a variety of other problems including;

• Widened pores. Usually starts on the nose and cheeks.
• Acne. Forms include pimples, pustules, papules, popular eruption etc.
• Red skin. Usually appears on the lower sides of the nose, forehead and cheeks.
• Itching eye brows.
• Excess of facial oils.
• Demodedic rosacea.
• Swollen nose.

You want an oil free eye make-up remover that gently removes eye makeup, including waterproof mascara, without tugging or pulling the delicate skin in the eye area. It should not leave your skin dry.

Dangerous Make-up  : 

Do you know that your make-up can harbor bacteria?  These bacteria can cause skin conditions, sickness such as vomiting and diarrhea and can cause other more serious disorders.  We all know the harm of flu season and how important it is to take precautions to keep ourselves healthy; but who would have ever thought Make-up can be the cause of serious illnesses and skin conditions?

Just like with a toothbrush, you should discard your mascara every three months.  Almost all cosmetics come with a recommended shelf life. Make-up is designed with a special anti bacteria agent that when it expires that only works during the shelf life of the make-up. After the shelf life has run out, what used to be a bacteria fighting agent all of a sudden allows the make up to become infected with bad bacteria. 

Most women who wear a large amount of make-up usually wear it because their skin is not perfect to begin with. These same women 8 times out of 10 are also busy and buy their make-up on the go. So unless each woman who wears make-up goes to esthetician school, how are they suppose to know the proper ways to wear their make-up? How many times has your beauty consultant told you make-up has a shelf life that must be followed to a tee to prevent harmful illnesses and skin disorders?

By following the rules of make-up/attending to the shelf life of the make-up you use, you can prevent bad bacteria from affecting your life.

The following chart is what Mary Kay  recommends:

 According to Dr Mehment Oz, a trusted health expert, best-selling author, and world-renowned cardiac surgeon, (new show starts, 9/14/09  at 10 am on ABC) who was recently on the Today Show; to kill the bacteria that lives in your make-up, you can do the following;

• Lipstick– Dip it into alcohol for 15 minutes, use a clean tissue to wipe off the end, discard tissue and voila, result: bacteria free lipstick
• Foundation – leave in the Freezer overnight.  The cold kills the bacteria that can grow on top of the foundation.  This should be done on a weekly basis to ensure bacteria free foundation.
• Do not share mascara with family, friends or aqcaintences.
• Clean your purse with a treated alcohol swab weekly (both inside and out)
• Discard used tissues right away
• Of course, the old stand by, wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading germs and bacteria from others to yourself and from yourself to others.

Garbage in, garbage out was such a hot topic that we had to continue the tips for healthy lifestyles, we couldn’t just leave you with a couple to go on. So read the additional tipsbelow  to help you lead a healthier lifestyle.

• Diet – Never is garbage in garbage out more true than in diet. Foods we eat can cause acne. Foods such as dairy, and bad fats are major contributors to acne issues. Cooking oils such as canol and vegetable are bad fats and have a major negative effect on your skin. Certain allergens, like gluten can also cause acne. Gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye.

Now…for a change of pace, how about something that we thought for many years was not good for you and turns out to be good! DARK CHOCOLATE turns out to contain many anti-oxidants that are healthy for you. YEAH!!!!

Other foods that nature grows; that are not man made; are also very healthy for your skin and insides. Fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, lettuce all have very valuable “good” garbage resources for your diet.

• Exercise- Getting on a regular exercise program has always been a good stress reliever, but does it really help remove toxins that could cause acne and other issues? The answer is yes and yes! There are many studies that show by perspiring during exercise you remove many of the unwanted deposits of bad bacteria and stimulate the release of good toxins in your body. There are so many choices to get started exercising from videos to trainers to online resources, that there is no reason not to start.

Take these proven helpful tips to living a healthier lifestyle, implement them in your everyday life and become a better you from the inside out.

As you look at the things you put in your body, put on your body, put in your mind and surround yourself with, the old saying garbage in – garbage out could not be more true. How can you deal with this as it relates to you? How do you turn garbage out, if you already have garbage in?

There are some clear steps you can do to “take the garbage out”. It is time you help your teenagers get started with good garbage vs. bad garbage. A lot of this really starts at a youth.

Many teenagers personalities are not only shaped by their peers, parents, and teachers but also shaped by teenage acne. Believe it or not, treating acne and other garbage by-products does not have to be rocket science, there are many proven methods. Below are a few methods to help you become clean from garbage.

• Cleansing – There are body cleanses and skincare cleaners.

o Body Cleanses – This is a more dramatic type of cleansing. These type of cleansers can be found at most health food stores such as Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods Markets or others. These multi-system cleansers not only work on your bowel, but according to Vitamin Shoppe Herbal Pharmacist, David Foreman; they also cleanse your skin, blood, lymphatic system, liver, kidneys, etc. They remove unwanted toxins and clean the major filters of your body. It is recommended to consume plenty of water each day to assure yourself that you are flushing away the toxins.

o Facial Cleansing – Proper hygiene teaches us to clean our face each morning and evening to remove the bacteria that accumulates from our environment all day and night. For teenage acne, VELOCITY is a great product when used regularly, removes the toxins and bacteria that causes acne, from your skin. It deep cleans your face, tones to refresh and exfoliates to remove dead skin cells.

• Probiotics – Lately we have been hearing a lot about this. What we often hear is that probiotics help with digestion. But we also use them to help suppress other disease-causing bacteria that may end up in your digestive tract. Many of these bad bacterias can come from the inside and cause skin issues. WIKIPEDIA defines them as dietary supplements of live microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism.

According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are the most common types of microbes used as probiotics; but also certain yeasts and bacilli are available. In picking a probiotic, my research showed that the best are the ones that have at least 16 strains and 16 billion cells.