CND Shellac Update

Here is my update for CND Shellac LOVE IT!!!! I have been using it on a regular basis since April. As I said before took me a while to learn the correct application process. What I do is I wear it for the 2 weeks, sometimes it does come off before that, then I leave my nails with out the Shellac for maybe a week and make sure I oil them and use my Solar Oil.  I have not had any problems with my nails, as a matter of fact my nails are longer and have not broken, (here and there) as much as before I have used Shellac. So my opinion of the Shellac is I LOVE IT!!  The picture above is my collection of colors so far.  I do love Red Baroness, but I use the lighter colors more. Clearly Pink and Romantique are favorites. I did get the new fall colors, Purple Purple (don't know if I can rock this one LOL!!) Moonlight and Roses, and Zillionaire.  Yesterday I did the shellac on my sister, first time doing someones nails besides mine.  Need to practice my tips better.
The color I used on her is Gottcha. I haven't tried to layer colors yet, will experiment with that soon. 

Beauty Blender and New Fusion of Color Makeup Sponge review

We have found a new sponge on the market that we at Fusion of Color Cosmetics thought we would give a whirl. We try and give our customer the best products we can find and with the economy being in the shape it is in we try and find affordable alternates. As you know I love, love, love the beauty blender, I use it for just about everything. Yes it does work for mineral foundation. So when we found this new sponge we thought we would try it out.  

You can see they are shaped differently and the sponge on he left is denser and firmer than the Beauty Blender on the right. When dampened they both get larger, the sponge on the left does stay firm, but it can be
squished, squeezed,  push together too get in the tight places under the eyes, around the nose etc. the Beauty Blender is much softer and of course does get into those tight places with ease. I used the new one for a week and I do not wash my sponge every tine I use it. So after a week of use I washed both of them. I did use the Beauty Blender cleanser, some dye is still running out of my Beauty Blender after many washing, the new sponge washed up nicely. My self I have more control with the beauty blender than the other sponge. Maybe because it is smaller and softer I can squish it more to my liking. The beauty blender for one is 19.95. The new sponge, which I need to give a name to will be 7.50. Yes we will be carrying it in out line, since it is affordable and does work well. I think it is very similar to the Face Smoothie Sponge and  the Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge sold at Target.

Mineral Makeup at its Best! Fusion of Color Cosmetics

Mineral Makeup at its Best! Fusion of Color Cosmetics

Glamcor - Glamour First Impression Primer

Glamcor is a newest and greatest company to join the beauty world. Shana King and Eric Kaiser are passionate and knowledgeable about the industry, and they are just nice people!  The have products for the make up artist, they have bags, light kits (wonderful), brushes (to die for), make up stations (on my wish list) and now they are venturing into cosmetics. The first product is called  GLAMOUR FIRST IMPRESSION Performance Primer

From their website:
      30ml      $38.00   When paired with our CONTOUR Brush we guarantee our primer will be the highest performing primer in the industry. The formula is hyper light, silky, 100% translucent, and will decrease the amount of cosmetics applications you need during the day.GLAMCOR considers skin primer the most critical step in the makeup application process. Our formula is designed to be the HIGHEST PERFORMING PRIMER IN THE INDUSTRY.
GLAMOUR FIRST IMPRESSION allows foundation to go on smoother and more evenly resulting in better looking and longer-lasting finishes.This product will not compete with foundations, shadows, or other cosmetic product. You will not have that oily shine later in the day, and your makeup payoff will increase significantly. It dries quickly (we recommend a dry time on 30 seconds before applying cosmetics on top).
****This formula can be applied by hand or brush. FOR THE ULTIMATE FINISH apply the primer with our GLAMCOR CONTOUR BRUSH to achieve the highest performing system. It has specifically been designed be further enhanced with the CONTOUR Brush.****

Well I love primers so of course I had to try this out. It is silicone based, for reference like Smashbox. but not as slick. It is clear and dries matte and smooth, not tacky or sticky at all.  So I tested it all week with our mineral foundation. Well when you apply the minerals they stay where they are applied!! You can buff them smooth, but you get  good coverage with the primer under neath. They lasted all day with blush and finishing powder over it. No creeping, no streaking. no cracking. I applied the primer with my fingers. Today I used our cream foundation over it, so far looks like I just put it on (has been 7 hours so far).

The Make up Show Chicago

I am a little behind in my blogging. So here goes. This was the first year that The Famous Make up Show came to Chicago. Thanks to the amazing, talented and funny James Vincent!!  It was a hit to say the least. Lots of great brand names like Inglot, Smashbox, Stila, Make up Forever, Embroylisse attended. Lots of make up artists talking about the industry, giving us insider tips and trick. There were workshop, seminars, education and of course shopping.  Some of the keynote speakers were Michael DeVellis, Crystal Wright, Joanna Schlip, Jinny Houle, Sam Fine, Reggie Wells, Johnny Lavoy and Maurice Stein. They had an all day workshop presented by one of the best Orlando Santiago.
Where can you take classes by these famous people Danessa Myricks, Kathy Argon, Johnny Lavoy, Jon Hennessey Eugenia Weston and  AJ Crimson.  You can ask them questions and pick their brains for their knowledge. I met so many wonderful and talented people like Jennifer James, Sherry Blossom, SanTara Cassmajor, Viola Nicholson and so many more I can't remember. Met friends from twitter which was so much fun. Saw old friend and made some new friends.      
   Here is some information on the http://www.themakeupshow.com/the-makeup-show-blog/?p=3641

CND Shellac Review

As everyone knows I love new things, especially if they pertain to cosmetics/beauty industry. I heard so much about this nail polish called Shellac, lasts for 2 weeks, dries right away no waiting, so of course it peaked my interest. I do not have the greatest nails, they grow so far and crack at the sides of the nail and I have one that has a split down the center, whatever I use it will not go away. So basically I do not polish my nails or go for manicures anymore.

At The Americas Beauty how (ABS) in Chicago CND was there, so of course I had to stop and see what this was all about.  They had 2 big booths at the show and tables set  up doing manicures. So I asked a lot of questions about the products and how to use it. One would think I would have sat down and had my nails done to see how the systems works, but of course not,  So I bought the nail dryer, 3 polishes, base and top coat.

When I got home from the show I took it out of the bag, glanced at the instructions. I didn't have the right alcohol to use so I used what I had.
Took the dryer out of the box, had to put the lights in. Could not figure out how to do it hahahaa, this doesn't come apart that easily. So down to the computer to google CND and see ho this comes apart. FINALLY got it apart and set up.  Back up stairs to set it up and do my nails,  It has pre programed settings, again if I read the instructions I would have known. So I do the basecoat, set the timer on the stove for 10 sec, do the first coat, set the timer for 2 min, next coat 2 mins, topcoat 2 mins.  Hmmmm nails are still tacky!! I am thinking what the heck this stuff doesn;t work or what am I doing wrong.  So I am getting ticked go get the nail polish remover to get this stuff off, Well it doesn;t come off with regular nail polish remover, but the tackiness came off and my nails looked great. 

Now that I have finally read the directions and looked at different sites to see how this works, all I can say is that it does what it says it does.  The next time I did my nail, correctly I might add, I used Red Baroness beautiful red color and yes it lasted for 2 weeks with minimal wear at the tips.   I am really going to enjoy doing my nails now and need to get more colors. 

This link from Nail Magazine explains how the shellac system works:
http://www.nailsmag.com/article/1061/shellac-your-nails

My take on the O2B2 Beauty Tour

The O2B2 Beauty tour,Out of the Beauty Box Tour finally made it to Chicago this weekend. Saturday started with seminars Marketing yourself as a Makeup Artist,  the second Makeup Artist Contracts. Elessa also know as Pursebuzz gives you all the information you need to market yourself and Koren, aka Enkore Makeup, you tube guru extraordinaire, handled how to read a contract so you don't get taken advantage of. They give you knowledge that you cannot find on line or most people will not give out.  I did not take these classes but if you are new to this business I really think this would be something you need to know.

Bag of goodies

The second half of the day was Transitioning to Pro, which I probably should have taken.  I was the model for a few hours, the class covered step by step how to talk to your client, what questions to ask, then step by step make up application and how to do it correctly. I keep stressing the step by step thing and this is something I haven't seen to often in a class, they go thru things slowly and explain the reason for what you are doing. Then you get to do what they have told you on your partner, they walk around watch what you are doing and give you tips on how to do it better or what you are doing wrong.  They make sure you understand what they are teaching you and why you should know it.

Koren answering questions

  I know some girls think that these classes are too much money, but let me tell you, you get a bag of make up that is well thought out and everything you need, from make up, throw away item that you need, headband, brushes. You do not need to buy anything else when you leave the class to start applying make up!! The item they give you are ones that work for the business, they have used products upon products and know what works.  I have taken classes that you sit in a big room and the teacher is up front with a model and all you do is listen and look and have no idea (maybe a small idea) of what to do or what they are saying or referring to and NO GOODIES to bring home.
More cities are being added to the Tour, if ones comes by you PLEASE go to it, they give you enough time to save up.
 To check if they are coming to a city near you, click here

I will do another post about being in the class I took Bridal Make up and my  favorite Air Brushing!!