Beauty Feature: Oh-la-la Summer Nails

Yes, I know summer is almost over but that doesn't mean I can't gush over my top picks for summer nails. My nails were bright and sunny thanks to these hot shades from Zoya and OPI!

1. OPI South Beach Collection in Party in My Cabana: This gorgeous creamy pink is such a pretty colour on fingers and toes. Such a flirty colour it couldn't help but get compliments all the time!
2. Zoya La-Di-Da Collection in Pippa: Sunny banana yellow! Love! Rocked this on tips and toes.
3. Zoya La-Di-Da Collection in Ali: Neon pink is so me! Loved how opaque this colour was, but the finish dried almost like a matte polish. Once I swiped on a top coat it was good to go. Didn't like it so much on my toes - it lost its shine once my toes were in sand. It was also hard to get dirt off the colour.
4. OPI South Beach Collection in Conga-line-Coral: Metallic coral rose - it's like a sunset on your fingers and toes!
5. Zoya La-Di-Da Collection in Paz: I'm so a kid of the 80's because I gravitate to bright neons! Hot neon orange shade for the summer especially on tanned skin!
6. Zoya La-Di-Da Collection in America: This sophisticated bright orange red perfect for those summer cocktail events.

What shades were you rockin' this summer? Makeup Junkie wants to know!

Beauty Feature: Fall Beauty Trends With Makeup Artist Andrea Claire

I love gabbing about beauty trends with other makeup junkies and this season's looks are definitely something to talk about. I had the awesome pleasure of interviewing one of my mentors during my early years as a makeup artist, Andrea Claire, on the latest beauty trends for Fall. Find out Andrea Claire's must-do's and must-don't this season!

Makeup Junkie: What will be the top beauty trends we'll be seeing this Fall?

Andrea Claire: The smokey eye, the matte red lip, 80s revival

MJ: What are some trends women should avoid this season (if any)?

AC: 80s revival! I am the original 'LaRoux' from her Bulletproof video with pictures to prove it. :) I lived it and loved it. I wore 5+ colour shadows on my eyes but I was 15 and immersed in Duran Duran, Ultravox, Love & Rockets etc. I love the look but if you had been there done that and bought the lime green shadow you cannot do that again! Besides, it is very much a 'must have young skin' to pull it off. Bold colour blocking with eye shadows can age you and have you looking like you are stuck in a time warp. This look is only carried off if you are an adolescent so if you are 21 and under I say rock it, over 21 opt for another trend of the season.

80's revival at Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 - Style.com

MJ: What products are a must this Fall in achieving these beauty trends?

AC: I am LOVING all things Yaby these days. Yaby's eye shadow palettes have amazing pigments, blendability and variety. Lipsticks MAC Russian Red or FACEatelier's Magenta. For the smokey eye the trend is to layer a metallic - blue, violet, green or bronze, you can find these in Yaby's palettes or Covergirl's palettes in Dazzling Metallics, Firecracker or Blazing Blues.

MJ: Can you share with our Makeup Junkie readers some expert tips on achieving some of the beauty trends?

AC: Smokey Eyes - layer carbon/charcoal shadows with metallic colour. If you find shadows are difficult to blend with your dark base then layer MAC's Smolder pencil with a Lise Watier's Metallic Eye shine pencil, smudge together with a Q-Tip.

Smokey eyes at Versace Fall 2009 - Style.com

Matte Red lips - the key to a strong lip is to apply the lip liner after the lipstick so it doesn't appear to geometric. If matte is too drying for you and you live in a cold climate then I would dot a smidge of vitamin e on top - not to add gloss but just a little moisture.

Red lips at Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2009 Couture - Style.com

MJ: What is your beauty mantra?

AC: It's so hard not to sound cliche here! lol! Be realistic. Be real. Stay gold Ponyboy. Beauty is not serious - beauty is a moment in your day that can convey confidence, flirtiness, calm. What I mean is, all women 'take 5' in their day by touching up here and there - before a meeting you step into the ladies and reapply lipstick, before a date you curl your lashes, apply gloss; or even before a job interview you matte down shine. Beauty is a moment in time that is forever changing. Embrace those little moments but don't be those moments just live in them. See! I sound cliche! HA! Life is short - enjoy it - have fun with it. That's what beauty and fashion is all about; well, to me anyway. A form of expression that can change day to day, season to season - enjoy the trends but remember to enjoy life too.

Makeup Junkie agrees - beauty is a moment in time that is always changing! So have fun with it - play with trends and figure out what works for you. Thank you to Andrea Claire for taking time to share with our readers her Fall beauty tips!

Andrea Claire is a seasoned beauty expert. She started her career in Kitchener, Ontario before relocating to Toronto in the early 90s. In Toronto, Andrea's career quickly blossomed where she went from salon stylist to session stylist. As both a hairstylist and make up artist, Andrea's passion for the industry and thirst for success motivated and challenged her to continually better herself. We have seen Andrea on Stylin' Gypsies, So Chic, Canadian Idol, tv guest appearances and behind the scenes for NY Fashion Week and Canada's Fashion Week. "Relocating" became a popular word in Andrea's vocabulary. In 2006, Andrea relocated with her family to Singapore where she became a regular team member for Bazaar, ELLE, Amica and VIP shoots as well as wrote many beauty articles with tips, tricks and trends.

Andrea Claire's Work

What's next? Andrea and her family have now relocated to Austin Texas where direct flights to LA, NY and Toronto will still allow her to jetset with her beauty box. Andrea has proudly been a mentor for many up & coming young artists, accessible and willing to give guidance; always about positive energy Andrea believes that today's assistant is tomorrow's trendsetter. Inspire and be inspired.

www.aclairebeauty.com
www.judyinc.com/andreaclaire

Beauty Feature: Fierce Fall Makeup at ChickAdvisor.com

Are we talking about Fall already?? Besides the pretty Fall colours, there are some must-have makeup collections to look forward to! Check out my "Fieerrce Fall Makeup Preview" at www.chickadvisor.com! Stay tuned for more reviews on the hottest collections for Fall!

Hair 101: Styling Tips For Gorgeous Waves

Some are blessed with gorgeous hair that requires little or no styling at all. If you're like me, then a lot of effort is involved in getting that celebrity hair. Nowadays, women want sexy big Gisele hair or boho beach waves like Lauren Conrad. Don't fret my beauties! With some must-have products and a few styling tips you can have celebrity-worthy hair in no time!

Styling Tips:
• For voluminous loose waves, add a volumizing product like 1. Schwartzkopf Professional OSiS Glamour Queen, to the roots and a styling cream with a light hold to the ends. To keep it effortless and easy, this works best when hair is left to air-dry.
• When hair is still wet, scrunch hair in hands after applying a styling cream to encourage some wave or curl.
• Blow dry hair completely dry before styling. Cuts down on damage to the hair and makes styling easier.
• Whether you use a round brush, curling iron, or flat iron it’s all about the direction in which the hair is styled. Achieve volume at the root by blow drying the hair up with your hands or round brush (at the crown or front section to crown).
• You can also use 2. Velcro rollers to achieve volume.
• To give the hair more definition, take pieces here and there and curl with a 3. flat iron for a softer wave or a curling iron for a more defined curl. Twist the flat iron all the way down the hair curling away from the face. Using a curling iron, wrap sections of hair around the barrel.
• To really loosen the curl, flip hair upside down and shake at the root or finger-comb through the hair. You can also brush through the hair for even looser waves.
• For extra volume and hold at the root, use a product that will add volume and texture like 4.
Schwartzkopf Professional OSiS Dust It. This powder looks like baby powder but dissolves right into the scalp. Sprinkle and shake at the root or anywhere you need extra volume. Dust It absorbs oil and is remoldable. If hair starts to go flat mid-day, just shake your hair at the root. Finish hair with a medium hold spray or Glamour Queen.

Schwartzkopf Professional products are sold at most salons and beauty supply stores. In Toronto, you can purchase at Lift Beauty Boutique.

www.schwarzkopf-professional.com

Makeup Junkie Site Restored

Last week my site went through some unfortunate events and a lot of bloggers are going through this right now. Makeup Junkie was being labeled by Google as hosting "malicious software". After trying everything I could, my site was eventually deleted! You can imagine the panic I went through (thanks to my husband for keeping me calm and collected). I'm still not sure what caused it all but I eventually had to take off any third party links to ensure I would get my site back.

I just want my readers to know that my site is back to normal so please don't be scared to come back! :) I suggest any bloggers going through this to post in the Blogger and Google forums listing what happened in the most calm and polite manner. I posted asking why my site was deleted and I received a response rather quickly. My site was back and running the next day thankfully! I remember that moment of feeling like I've lost almost 3 years of my work and thoughts! Good luck to those that are frantically trying to get their site back - I feel for ya! Don't give up because eventually things will be resolved! :)

Hair 101: Healthy Hair Tips

Healthy hair doesn't just happen on its own. Like any relationship, maintaining your hair requires some effort (for some A LOT of effort). How many of you are wishing your hair would just grow? When I used to work at a salon, I used to get women all the time telling me how they were painfully trying to grow out the asymmetrical bob. Read on to see how you can get healthy hair and promote hair growth. Love your hair and your hair will love you back!

1. Lead a healthy lifestyle. I may not always eat the best foods or exercise regularly but I do make an effort! Eating good foods, staying active, and taking multi-vitamins will do wonders for your hair. When I was pregnant, I ate healthy and took multi-vitamins. When I added Calcium pills to my regime in my 3rd trimester, I noticed my hair grow at twice the speed! My hair was always so shiny and thick. My co-workers at the time used to ask me if I got my hair done. I guess it is true when they say what you put in your body counts!

2. Cut your hair every 6-8 weeks. I'm lazy when it comes to this kind of stuff but believe it or not getting regular trims will promote hair growth. Women used to groan when we would tell them to come in more regularly instead of once a year. This didn't go over to well with gals trying to grow out their already short hair. As painful as it may be, trimming your hair regularly means you'll have to get less and less cut off each time you come in. When you don't trim your hair, the breakage will continue until it reaches your root which will eventually make your hair grow slower. If you see a lot of fly-aways or short hairs at your roots, that is breakage.


3. Protect your hair at all times. The majority of us use some sort of hot styling tool everyday which is why it's especially important to protect it. If you protect your hair with a styling product first, it will burn the product off rather than your actual hair. Even if you will be wearing your hair au naturale, you still need a protector in your hair to protect from the sun and pollution. For really damaged hair, curly and frizzy or if you regularly colour your hair, I recommend Moroccanoil Treatment. This oil treatment adds protein to the hair, restoring it back to its natural healthy state. It's light-weight and absorbs quickly into the hair so your hair will never feel oily or heavy. You can use this wet or dry as a style finisher for added shine and to tame frizz. It smells amazing and you can also massage it on your nails and cuticles!

For normal hair, I like to use Schwarzkopf OSiS + Buff Styling Cream. This product is a styling cream, leave-in conditioner, and protects your hair from heat, the sun and pollution. It is light-weight enough for even the finest hair. If your hair has a slight wave and you're going for that beachy wave, apply this to your hair damp and let it air-dry. Then take pieces that are straight, and curl with a flat-iron or curling iron. The results are gorgeous!

Moroccanoil Treatment and Schwarzkopf OSiS + Buff Styling Cream are sold at most salons and beauty supply stores. In Toronto, you can purchase at Lift Beauty Boutique.

Have you tried these products? What do you think? What are your healthy hair tips? Makeup Junkie wants to know!

Tags!

Wow, I've been MIA again for a while...gosh. It's been hard to sneak in some time to post. D:

Geesh, I feel awful. Oh well, that's how it is!

I've been busy with school and all, and I have stuff to do (at least this one will pay!), but yeah...been completely ignoring stuff lately. :( Also, it's been hard for me to get to my stuff because my external hard drive is on the fritz, and all my blog stuff is on there. Grrr.

Okay, so! First things first.
A reader e-mailed me some time back. I promised Denise that I would post about this. Denise is a makeup artist who is also a rep for a high-end brand, Motives. I haven't tried anything or bought anything from the site, so if you decide to try it be careful, etc etc. :) From what I've seen, the products look really interesting, though. Just wish there was more colors to choose from!

To all my new followers (and to all my old ones), thank you so much for following my blog! :) I hope you enjoy reading.

And now for the tags:
MakeupJunkee tagged me to for "6 things that make you happy". I'm sorry but I'll be boring and post this without pics. :/

So! What makes me happy? :)
1) It may be sad, but the Internet makes me all sorts of happy. I like that I meet loads of people on it and make lots of new friends. Also, it's such a huge source of information, I can practically learn about anything I want to by just reading up on it! It's greattt. No wonder I've been hooked on it since I was 8! Oh dear, 10 years. LOL. Back then dial-up was so expensive, too...

2) Music makes me happy, too. I like listening to music, and I'll listen to anything once. I mostly like rock though, but I branch out if I like the song/artist. I love that music lets me express how I feel (I love singing :) I wish I could get back into it!), even just by listening to it. And that it's totally something that I can relate to. Don't you love curling up in bed with a cup of hot choco on rainy days, listening to your fave songs on your iPod/mp3 player/computer? Okay, I'll be honest--I don't drink hot choco nor do I curl up in bed on rainy days--I'm too busy staring out the window. I love rain!

3) Family and friends make me happy. If you notice, I put them under 1 item, and I did that because I consider all my friends family, too. I love my family, and my friends, they just make my life so much easier and whole. (Please pray for my mom, she needs a hysterectomy in the near future for Myoma.)

4) I love my hobbies. I can be under a lot of stress but my hobbies make it a lot easier on me. When I can't deal with something anymore, I watch TV or a movie for a bit (yes I do consider them habits), or I sew, or knit... Or, I play with makeup! ;) Hobbies are great stress busters, don't you agree?

5) Makeup! Do I really need to say any more?

6) Food also makes me happy. Even if it also makes me sad sometimes (eek, I've been piling on the pounds lately!).

For "6 things that make you happy", I tag everyone who hasn't done this yet. Since I haven't been around lately, I don't know who's done it and who hasn't. :(

This next tag came from Maya. The rules are:

1. Open your first photo folder.
2. Scroll down to the tenth photo.
3. Post that photo on your blog and tell us the story behind it...
4. Tag 5 or more (or less) other people to do the same!

Okay, I'll be cheating a little since my laptop is in the shop and my external hard drive is broken. I'll get the photo from my photobucket account.


This is a picture of my college best friend, Sam. This was taken for a project I did for one of my Fine Arts classes. She was supposed to be a marionette, like a doll, but I guess I didn't manage to pull that off all too well. I did her makeup, her hair, and made the pinafore she was wearing (too bad it doesn't really show in the picture). I also took the photo (sorry for the fake eyebrows, eh. meant to do them better in photoshop but ran out of time...yes she does have eyebrows LOL I just erased them for this photo). The theme was the 7 deadly sins...this one was gluttony. Sam loves wafers. :3

Okay, I taggggg...everyone who hasn't done this. >>

I guess that's all for now! My skin is looking great recently, I hope it continues... if it does then I'm totally making like a giddy post about it or something. XD This is the best my skin's been in years! Still oily, but a lot better.

Okay, I'm off to do homework and stuff~!