Jimmy Fallon Rocks the Emmys

I don't normally buy into the whole awards show hoopla - mainly because I get annoyed at the newscasters and prime time hosts asking celebrities inane questions on the red carpet. (You got George Clooney's agent to stop by your microphone and all you wanted to know was whether he wore a similar looking suit to the LAST Emmys? Congratulations, you're the world's biggest idiot).

But this year I had no choice. NBC lured me in by getting one of my all time favorite comedians to host it. That's right, y'all - I don't care how many clips you send me of Jimmy Fallon 'breaking character' on SNL, I won't budge because 1) his breaking character actually makes the skit doubly hilarious 2) he's the sweetest most down-to-earth comedian out there. What? He's not a good interviewer on Late Night, you say? Well that's cuz homeboy gets stage fright - something surprisingly quite common among celebrities and various other people in performance-related fields. He's gotten a lot better - yes, I'm Team Jimmy (and Coco) all the way. Any more jabs and we're gonna have to take this outside, yo's.

I mean, would you honestly want to hold a real conversation with someone like Will Ferrell? The dude is a comic genius, but he'd probably interrupt you and start deadpanning by trying to be some oddball character, and just be weird and awkward like a LOT of comedians are in real life. But not Jimmy - part of his charm is his undeniably approachable nature and 'regular dude'-ness.

Oh and his legendary musical impressions - no one can do them like Jimmy can (check out his album The Bathroom Wall for some spot-on Dave Matthews and The 4 Non Blondes impressions). And last night, he did not disappoint: his amazing Elton John-Boyz-II-Men-Billy-Joe-Armstrong medley saying farewell to the epic trio of ended shows (Lost, 24, and Law and Order) was classic Jimmy - infectiously funny, hilariously accurate (complete with the characteristic Billy Joe head jerk), and undeniably celebratory. Jimmy's imitations are never malicious - just pure admiration in theatrical, comedic form.

And yes, this is a makeup blog so I will say that my favorite look was Keri Russell - a gorgeous muted fuchsia cut quite modernly at the ankle. Her au naturale Boheme look was amazing - clean, and not in competition with the rest of her outfit.



Modern Family did beat 30 Rock's streak though - hmm, I'm gonna have to see what the big fuss is about with this one.

Alleged Suspect Now in Custody in Dry Undereye Case

After an unassuming swipe of Target's eye makeup remover on the back of my hand to remove eyeliner-test-smudgies the other day, I glanced down 20 minutes later and gasped in horror (and if you've ever heard me gasp, you know exactly how serious I'm being right now): Chalky, leathery dryness on the exact spot where I unwittingly rubbed off the makeup. Literally pure white ash-ified flakes on an otherwise tan (not yellow - seriously, have you ever seen a YELLOW-skinned Asian? I mean c'mon...) hand.

And to think that I was massaging this lethal dose of God knows what little else besides pure rubbing alcohol - and no joke, maybe even some kind of undiluted acid - into my poor, already-dried-out peepers. Recession or not, I have always been loyal to Target's low prices and luxury designer partnerships but I have to say that this is just appalling.

Shame on you, Target makeup clinicians! Well, what's a makeup artist if s/he isn't the one who takes one for the team, right? Steer clear of this one ladies and keep those under-eyes pampered! I personally rely on the Holy Trinity of eye makeup removers (depending on where I'm at geographically and financially): Neutrogena's Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, Clinique's Take the Day Off and, when my eyes need some major TLC, Lancome's Bifacil - a super gentle formula that seriously takes EVERYTHING off. I've recently also tried Almay's pre-moistened eye makeup remover pads and those work quite well with no irritation or drying. It's convenient if you don't like bothering with cotton balls/pads (those white fuzzies that get caught in your lashes are no fun).

Which eye makeup remover do you swear by?

Back in Business...Cards to Replace the Post-its

Yes, you read that right. Back in the day, when all I had was one bottle of foundation (you'd be surprised at how far a neutral shade can go) and a janky blowdrier for cooling the Shelaq off bridesmaids' eyelids, I used to scribble my email address on post-its. Okay, well since the gloves are off, what the hey, right? Post-its, the back of old receipts, the back of other makeup artists' business cards (in retrospect, I can see how that one might have backfired)...heck sometimes I would sometimes jet without leaving anything in my wake save dirty used Q-tips. Weddings are I-N-S-A-N-I-T-Y. City hall, anyone? That Carrie Bradshaw is one smart cookie I gotta say.

It's a rough gig when your credit is crap in this country (I recently learned that CHECKING your credit score actually lowers it...WTF?!) and your 1st generation Korean-American parents give you the cold shoulder - i.e. no financial love - for consciously deciding to forgo medical school (2nd generation Asian-Ams who chose to stay sane unite!). Well, you don't get emotional support either but that doesn't change no matter how high your GPA is (I don't need to insert a disclaimer here that I love my parents dearly, now do I?)

Oh the joys of starting your own business. Your day job can often suck the very life out of you because you're literally trying to make ends meet whilst the moonlight wanes on your second career. Hence the shamefully belated update.

Luckily, with the faithful support of talented friends (most of whom are artists in their own right...some with so much indie cred you probably won't even be able to google them yet...ha! Take that Big Brother-net), you find that Gloria Gaynor was right: You will survive (yeah I thought it was Aretha Franklin too).

Check these babies out!





Once my amazing artist friend unveils her designs in all their glory, you can smugly say that you read it here first. :) Until then, check out the newly-updated Galleries link with some fun new makeover pics - my lovely friend Janalyn! Enjoy!

Ode to SATC: The Beauty of Samantha

I think we can safely say that sexual inhibition is Samantha Jones's archenemy - and the one thing this show consciously does away with in order to stage groundbreaking conversations about sex from the female point of view. And what better way to make it interesting than to have a wildly shameless, borderline nympho at the round table?

Kim Cattrall's urbane and sophisticated version of a femme fatale is probably her most famous alter ego to boot: PR executive Samantha Jones. 'Sam', as she is sometimes affectionately called by the girls - a nickname fraught with double meaning as she is the one character who comes the closest to being able to "have sex like a man" - is also known as SATC's pride and joy: the always hilarious, over-the-top anti-wallflower who has yet to be, in Carrie's words following Samantha's characteristically calm announcement of her would-be temporary lesbian status, "outsexed". Samantha's vociferous frankness about everything from (trying to) sleep with a gay couple to quite rationally considering a relationship with a 'young seventy-three' year-old in a May-to-December romance that would last all of three dates is proof that her mantra when it comes to sex is anything but lip service: "I'm a tri-sexual: I'll try anything once."



Regardless of where you stand on the Samantha's-Crazy scale, if you're a true SATC fan, you have to come to terms with the fact that her character is more than just the perennial line-crosser when it comes to what can and can't be censored on national public television. All four women on the show embody the different impulses and desires ALL women have (in different permutations at different seasons in her life) and Samantha is simply the female libido incarnate. As much or as little as you may think you have in common with her, you most certainly cannot ignore the reality and undeniable existence of what she represents. It would be an understatement to say that the show would be missing something without Samantha. Indeed, an essential voice in the often cacophonous (ever watch The View? Damn guests can hardly get a word in edgewise) conversation that is the female experience. Behind closed doors, we all got a little Sam in us!



Underneath Samantha's outrageous hilarity, though, is a deep-seated fear of getting too close and ultimately losing control - and getting hurt. As many jaw-dropping lines of shocking vulgarity Kim Cattrall's character winds up delivering, it's her humanity that keeps her character relatable, and ultimately more than just a raucous headboard-banging scene stealer. Her cancer-surviving, chemo-enduring status gives her ample street cred with real women everywhere, and Michael Patrick King was equally generous in giving Samantha an unshakable commitment to her girls that comes from a real place - she fights tooth and nail to protect the ones she loves, and above all, reminds the audience how important it is to value oneself. Like Miranda, Samantha's character is a fellow female pioneer in the workplace - fighting and standing up for her self in a predominantly male-led industry, and unashamedly announcing her own value both to her colleagues and to the various men who come in and out of her life.



Samantha's style most definitely announces itself before Kim Cattrall even utters a (curse) word. Bright, vibrant shades in various fabrics from silk to sheer to polyester, and audacious jewelry that you might pass off as 'too much' but for some reason, just looks inexplicably fabulous every time - you can tell Pat Fields just goes to town dressing this truly timeless character. Cattrall's makeup ranges from sexy, nude-y understated looks to the ultra-glam and decidedly modern bright lip in fuchsia or bright cherry red. And Samantha's full-faced 80's makeup look was dead-on - especially the heavily contoured blush - my fave! Bravo to the SATC makeup artists!



The goregeousness just doesn't stop! The woman puts us to shame, really.

Stay tuned for my final thoughts on Carrie, the voice and master storyteller of SATC!

Blog Update

Check out the new 'Galleries' link to your left! You can see before and after pictures from some of the weddings I've done. Now you don't have to scroll all the way down the blog to find pictures of my work!

Also just ordered some temporary business cards so I can stop using post-its now. Man, Google is amazing! Really, what can't you find on it?!

In the future, I'll try to organize the various pages on this thing so you left-brainers can stop freaking out every time you see visit and see angry anti-American rants mixed in with product reviews and film recommendations (I'm right-brained if you can't already tell).

More soon. Happy Monday!

Ode to SATC: The Beauty of Miranda

If Charlotte embodies convention domesticity, then Miranda is the epitome of 'unconventional' maternity - i.e. the modern working mother - hardly unconventional these days, though. Many women today are refusing to quit their day jobs, and Miranda's character beautifully represents the modern woman's struggle to maintain a full-time career on top of being a full time mom. In a word? Kick-ass. Props to all our full-time and part-time working mommies out there! You multi-tasking ladies deserve a standing O every time.

Nixon's hard-to-miss, straight-talking character Miranda Hobbes can always be counted on for a good, harsh dose of reality. And let's face it, no matter how emotional us "women" are, it only takes ONE conversation with another woman just SLIGHTLY more emotive than we are to throw this side of our psyche into relief.

Think about it. Ever have a conversation with a girlfriend, and find yourself spouting really practical, and surprisingly rational advice? And then after the conversation is over, you find yourself asking, "Now how come I can't do that for myself?" Well that's easy peasy: because it's nearly impossible to be completely objective when it comes to your own issues. It's like trying to get a good look at your back side without a mirror.

Miranda's character often serves as that mirror for the SATC posse on the show, deftly using her native legalese to express or explain the double standard women face for being stereotyped as illogical creatures relying solely on emotion to make decisions. The inimitable character of Miranda unabashedly announces to the audience that some of us ladies, even without that Y chromosome, exercise this side of the brain more than others because ALL women are so incredibly and beautifully different. Such is the beauty of Miranda. She is all woman, and fiercely logical (though she has had her share of emotional, "irrational" moments - remember when she confesses her love to Steve in the laundry room at Brady's birthday party with her handsome doctor boyfriend in the next room?? Classic foot-in-the-mouth Miranda moment).

She is definitely not afraid of standing out of the crowd, or standing up for her beliefs - a prominent one being her insistence on being treated as an equal in a man's world. It's Miranda's worldly success, and strong, confident voice Candace Bushnell uses to often express the frustration at being a woman who is trying to hold her own in the business/corporate world without being written off as emotional, incompetent or less-than.



There are some amazing scenes in SATC 2 that illustrate this dynamic between male and female co-workers - and Cynthia Nixon hits it out of the park yet again. The Greek word 'catharsis' can hardly do justice to the way so many women must have felt watching the thrillingly bold confrontation Miranda has with her male boss who continues to shush her during board meetings by lifting his index finger up to her face. Bravo, Ms. Nixon! One small step for stellar female thespian, one giant step for womankind-needing-a-voice-in-the-workplace everywhere.

Miranda's makeup and style almost always reflect this kind of bold femininity. Eye-catching ethnic prints, unexpected color palettes and statement jewelry all look right at home on Miranda. Nixon's deep-set eyes and wide double eyelid folds give ample room to showcase subtly deep, jewel-toned eye-shadows which visually communicate her refreshing audacity and unafraid-to-be-blunt personality. Gorgeous work here - and maybe the least believable thing about her character because honestly, with a full-time job AND a kid, who has time to perfect the smoky eye? But it is the movies after all - something's gotta give, eh?



Escapism at its best, my fellow SATC diehards! Up next: Samantha's sexy SATC style!

Ode to SATC: The Beauty of Charlotte

You really can't talk about modern American beauty today without giving credit where it's due: the iconic ladies of SATC.

And I promise this won't be one of "those" entries. You know, where the writer (either a squealing twenty-something girl or an any-something gay) gushes about how justified this sequel is. I mean, is it just me or do filmmakers not try as hard on sequels? I hate it when people rest on their laurels like that. That's 10 bones - and 2 hours of my life, yo's! But seriously, I give you my word that I'm not gonna overuse exclamation marks and embed trailer clips and E! interviews in this entry so you can relax and let down your annoyingly-obnoxious-self-important-blogger defenses now. I mean, if you're anything like me, you're probably wondering if and when these self-appointed authorities on all things SATC will be able to unglue their lips from the asses of Darren Star and Michael Patrick King to actually see the damn thing. (No, I did not wait in line for this movie. I'm a fan but I'm also tired.)

So now that I've made sure you aren't going to write me off as just another SJP-worshipping, Manolo-Blahnik-coveting wannabe-Feminist (in fact, I venture to guess that actual card-holding Feminists would loathe this show for a number of really academic reasons I'm not gonna pretend I know how to explicate), let me also say that I'm a HUGE fan of the show. A collaboration of smart writing and an amazingly talented group of artists of all kinds (the inimitable Pat Fields in costuming along with an equally talented crew of set designers, makeup artists, and cinematographers) always has classic entertainment value through and through.

What's endlessly fascinating about film is its visual capacity to utilize so many different artistic mediums, within its own encompassing visuality, to communicate a story. Since this is a beauty blog of sorts, here's my take on the makeup of Kristin Davis's hilariously prim and proper character Charlotte. Amy Sohn, in her awesome hardback version of the first SATC movie (Yes I purchased this while sober. See? I told you I'm a fan), calls Charlotte's style "Jackie O. Meets Upper East Side Mommy" and I couldn't agree more.

Her makeup is always classic, clean and rarely over the top. Soft browns, mauves and light pink tones are her usual fare, with the occasional smoky eye (but done up subtly if at all). She's a traditional stay-at-home mom who embraces a lot of conventional domestic standards, so her makeup reflects that. She often blends seamlessly into the color palette of her home.



Gorgeous and adorable all at the same time! Stay tuned for odes to the rest of the SATC ladies! Who's your favorite?

Beauty Peeves

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Everybody Hates Tichina Arnold's Makeup Artist

Okay so we don't really hate her (Kokeeta Douglas is her name - most makeup artists don't get much love cuz sadly that's how they play in Hollywood), but you know how girls can get catty and say they hate someone because they're secretly jealous inside. "Ugh, I hate Jessica Alba." "Damn, Beyonce just don't have an off day! Gawd, I hate her." This is not to be confused with genuine and sincere hatred, of course. But we'll save that for another entry.

Everybody Hates Chris, another ingenious creation spawned from the mind of Comic Genius himself, Chris Rock, has Tichina Arnold in an amazing performance as the strict but always loving matriarch Rochelle. Okay so as per usual, I'm about 5 years behind in TV shows. I'm weirdly suspicious of all things new - for some odd reason, it takes me a while to generate genuine interest in something. Either that or I'm too busy being stressed out about something else that I completely miss stuff. But no joke, this show makes me laugh OUT loud - Tyler James Williams is a natural! His facial expressions are inimitable and completely convincing. Love the soundtrack and score - classic 80s tunes. The costuming department also knocked it out of the park! Vintage track suits and old school stripes and plaids - really sets a period vibe.

Aside from Arnold's overall hilariousness, I must give props to Kokeeta Douglas! Some nice eye shadow work here - the blending is always gorgeous and barely detectable towards her browline - always a good sign. And she got a fierce haircut to match too!



Speaking of eye shadow, I get a freebie one at Sephora soon for my birthday! Wheee! The VIB Reward point system is BRILLIANT - now you don't have to wait around until Estee Lauder or Clinique has a free gift promotion at Nordstroms because at Sephora, you'll ALWAYS be earning points no matter what you buy!

"Hi, I'm Jamie and I'm a beauty-aholic." "Hi, Jamie." Yes, my fellow beauty fiends, it's borderline embarrassing, I know. The sweet employees at my local Sephora now recognize me when I walk in. But what's even more embarrassing is that I've stopped FEELING embarrassed about it.



Happy hump day!

Americanisms

As I continue along my quest to search for worthy causes to donate my beauty proceeds to and partner with, I came across this eye-opening documentary: The Beauty Academy of Kabul.

Now, before you cinefiles start Netflixing this, be forewarned: There are some uncomfortable scenes of Western insensitivity in this film. I found myself squirming in my seat, rolling my eyes, and yelling at the screen in horror and disbelief - and I thought only Korean dramas could elicit that kind of response from me. Huh. Go figure.

I mean, some of these clueless women volunteers come traipsing into a war-ravaged country with little to no prior knowledge of what these women have been through, let alone the entire country. At the time of the filming of this documentary (released in 2004), after having been invaded by the Soviet Union in the late 70s to early 80s (Kiterunner is an amazing film and book that is set during this invasion), Afghanistan was infamously under fire from U.S. and British forces following the 9/11 attacks, and in between coups, at the mercy of the resurgent Taliban regime. To cut the history lesson short, all of Afghanistan had been to hell and back. Some of the women interviewed for the film recount horrific stories of women's hands and feet being cut off in public, and watching others being doused in gasoline and set on fire on the streets.

On top of that, it is a culture, like many in Southeast Asia and the Middle East today, which firmly believes in the inferiority and oppression of women. Arranged marriages are hardly questioned as they are almost irrevocably accepted. Certain aspects of Muslim culture teach women not to display much of their hair and face in public so what utterly floored me was the fact that the beauty industry thrived and still thrives in the midst of required disguise. During the Taliban regime, women would set up salons in their homes, and maintain clients by word of mouth. Talk about being an entrepreneur. Puts me to shame really.

After getting their hair and makeup done, the women would joke gamely about covering up their new perms or done up faces before seeing their husbands later in the evening. Some women would even cover their faces completely, their burkas literally becoming makeshift ghost costumes you would see on Halloween made out of old sheets, but minus the cutout holes for eyes. There's chilling footage of this in the film - faceless ghosts floating around dusty streets, or kneeling on the floor, holding children. Imagine looking up at your mother and not seeing her.

I mean, why even get your makeup or hair done if no one will see it, not even your husband? It is a commonly, though not always acknowledged, truth that women need it for themselves. I mean, I can't even quite articulate the kind of camaraderie and solidarity I felt with these women as I saw one mother cover up her freshly permed hair before stepping outside onto the street, skirting watchful soldiers holding rifles; she made sure her niqab (Arabic word for sheet that Middle Eastern women use to cover their faces) swiftly covered up the broad smile she wore after seeing her new perm in the mirror. Or the surge of empathy I felt watching a rogue Afghan beauty student in an fluffy Elvis pompadour, a skinny rockabilly necktie, button down blouse and Katherine Hepburn slacks snip her mannequin's hair. I thought, Why bother to express your uniqueness when the risk of calling attention to yourself is quite literally hazardous to your well-being?

Such is the unbelievable nature of the human spirit. I guess the will to live, even at our worst, always trumps the will to shrink back, wither and die. Even in the midst of collective healing and rehabilitating from unspeakable crimes against their humanity, the throngs of women outside the door on opening day spoke volumes about their very desire to live. And not just to survive, but to thrive.

It's important for us ladies to be able to express ourselves. A friend once told me that all women are artists, and that each morning we decide how to create and portray that art to the world. Our bodies and faces are canvasses upon which we paint colors, adorn jewels. We hold our heads up high, groom ourselves and present our best face to the world in the midst of heartache and unimaginable circumstances. The resilience of the Afghan women is a testament to this need for women to draw strength from each other in order to move forward and be walking masterpieces for the world to see. The beauty salon will always - and everywhere - be a unique and safe space in which such restorative affirmation takes place.

Okay but lemme get my rant in here before I leave. Check out this dialogue between an Afghan translator and an American beauty instructor:

Local Translator: Well, we can't keep the women too late because they will get in trouble with their husbands. They are afraid that their husbands will get upset with them -

Insensitive Obnoxious Volunteer (interrupts the translator because she keenly picks up on something important that must be addressed - good thing she traveled all the way from the States to intervene here because otherwise they wouldn't have caught this): Okay so...wait a minute, what is this fear I'm hearing about? I mean, is there something going on at home? Do these women suffer from...verbal abuse, or some kind of abuse or something? I mean, what is that?

Local Translator:...

Luckily, some of the plucky Afghan women stood up to this particularly obnoxious volunteer and boldly pointed out that American women have freedoms Afghan women do not. Cheers to her for schooling the 'teacher' - one of the bravest moments in the film.

Aside from these Americanisms, I highly recommend this film for any aspiring makeup artist or hairstylist, anyone remotely interested in the beauty industry as a whole (most women), and anyone who is interested in what it means to be human (everyone).

Dry Undereye Bliss

Is it just me, or is the oxymoronic title becoming the cheap shot of online writers everywhere? Bait a creative contradiction, sink your line into the fathomless blogosphere and wait for it...gotcha! Hey, as long as what follows lives up to its hype, it ain't broke yet.

I mean, really, whose definition of bliss is a dry, wrinkly undereye? It's right up there with crows feet, botched Botox jobs and an Oompa-Loompa spray tan - all desperately blinking neon signs that you're actually decades older than the twenty-something Miss Thang next to you at Starbucks ordering a 500-cal frap while flaunting poreless skin and firm ass cheeks.

For all you younguns out there itching to get legal so you can toss your fake IDs, being an adult ain't all that glamorous just so you know. Okay so we so-called "grown-ups" (a relative term if there ever was one) can rent a car and get you kiddies into Dave and Busters (a veritable boozified Chuck E. Cheese minus the creepy mouse in a suit) but tack on adult acne, and trying to hold down a job in this economy and you'll wind up in Depression-ville faster than Justin Beiber can post a new video on Youtube.

And as for the latter, I guess we're still waiting on Obama to hook it up, yo's. Yes, we can...not seem to turn this economy around.

But before I take another swig of my Pinot Grigio, allow me to transition from general lamentation to specific rant. The culprit in question? The aforementioned Unexplainably-Dry-Undereye. We all know the tell-tale signs: your concealer starts flaking like nobody's business, and no amount of eye cream or serum seems to quench the desperately dessicated and already delicate skin. And if you're like me and have what I think optometrists term "chronic dry eye", your eyes themselves are always dry (yet another reason to remain a firm card-holding member of the "Deathly-Afraid-of-Lasik" society). Translation: For us contact lens wearers, this means that - on top of said undereye dryness - any kind of tearduct malfunction can feel like shards of glass are resting calmly atop your parched pupils. ALL. THE. TIME. Add a touch of this season's unrelenting pollen-infested springtime breeze and you got yourself a weepy, someone-get-these-needles-out-of-my-corneas pain every time you step outside.

If there seems to be no rhyme or reason to this unheralded onslaught of dryness, the best interrogation would probably start with, "Have you recently started using new products around your eye that it may be reacting to?" (My personal answer to this: Steer clear of the Target brand eye makeup remover. I think the formula packs in a disproportionate amount of alcohol - my undereyes didn't see immediate results after I stopped using it but methinks it was still an unwitting accomplice to the crime.) But then again, all evil is, at bottom, unexplainable so even answering this question still might not bring you to the end of your quest to right your skin imbalance.

After much toil (and desperately trolling the aisles at Sephora for a magical cure that wouldn't cost me half my life savings), I came across the Bliss Triple Oxygen Eye Mask. Okay, so it will cost you a pretty penny (54 bones! Wahhh - that's 18 'Used-Like New' CDs on Amazon) but check out the pros, my penny-pinching beauty addicts: You get 4 packs in the box, so if this is a chronic problem for you, it's a worthy investment. No joke, my dryness disappeared the morning after. The moisture-drenched mini-towelette was a tad too long for my Asian-sized undereye area (though perfect for Amanda Seyfried - is anyone else scared when this girl looks directly at the camera?) so I would recommend, for us smaller-eyed gals, cutting one eye mask in half and using the two pieces for a single application.

And now for the plugs. Out of deep-seated loyalty to beauty products that, in any and every other circumstance have pulled through for me, I present some of my all time faves.

For undereye concealers, it's always been a toss up between Cle de Peau's stick concealer and YSL's Touche Eclat. (Brownie points for the first person to respond with the correct pronunciation of these Frenchified names, I've been butchering them for YEARS.) For acne scars and undereye circles, a matte, completely-camouflaging coverage is the way to go. But be warned: Clay-deeh-Poe is definitely NOT a recession-friendly brand (I would tell you how much but...my beauty-junkie-shame just kicked in) so be prepared to ask about layaway plans if you've decided to invest. Toosh Eeh-clah, while costing a smidge less than its competition, is still NOT cheap, at least by my standards. But here's what you get - liquid coverage that's brilliantly brightening, magically moisturizing, and effortlessly easy to apply - cheers to the inventor of the click-pen applicator.

A classic, more reasonably priced one for general concealing needs is Amazing Cosmetic's aptly named Amazing Concealer - an ingenious range of colors, perfect thick-but-still-liquidy (read: non-cakey as long as you blend) consistency in a small but lasts-forever tube. And for major pimplage cover-up emergencies, Laura Mercier's Secret Camouflage comes with two pasty cakes of an orange-based (more pigment for more coverage) and yellow-based (blend on top of the orange to match your skin color) concealers. The major con for this one is the need for a good concealer brush - slows down us ladies who need to streamline our already hectic morning routine.

For more on concealer application tips, check out this article by yours truly on how to apply it.

What concealers or eye treatments do you swear by?

Subtleties

It's a tricky thing going into the 'beauty' business. Initially I was hesitant to call myself a makeup artist because of the ways my work might both directly and indirectly further notions of 'beauty' which are not only untrue, but damaging and ultimately disempowering for women. If makeup artists were the ones who were partly responsible for proliferating the ubiquitous smoky-eyed, airbrushed and photoshopped-to-perfection images that inundate women all over the world and make them feel 'Less Than' every second of every day, then I wanted nothing to do with that label.

Don't get me wrong - I love me a good smoky eye. What self-professed (and still-in-the-closet) makeup junkie doesn't? Yeah I see y'all ladies frontin' like you go 'au naturale' pretending like you went to Target for a birthday card when you're really slinking around the Covergirl mascaras. Hey, no judgment here. No woman but the utterly superhuman can walk past Sephora without glancing with the slightest bit of longing and curiosity at their monstrously magnetic ads. I swear, they sprinkle crack in the eyeshadows there. Makeup will always be, through and through, just plain FUN to play with.

I'm concerned with the larger implications of my life work - what larger machine am I being plugged into as a makeup artist in today's world? Ultimately, what kinds of standards am I condoning or would I need to accept and advocate in order to become a 'successful' makeup artist?

My quest has always been to find a way to be a conscious artist, someone who understands how the art of makeup can enhance the inherent beauty of every woman, while being aware of the ways my role as a makeup artist might contribute to the massive media-induced movement towards self-hatred, impossible standards, and ultimately, an untrue notion of what it means to be beautiful. It's a thin line, but a necessary and crucial one nevertheless.

After watching this amazing initiative by the folks at Dove to rehabilitate modern conventional notions of beauty, and being inspired by maverick artists like K'naan, a talented Somali rapper who refuses to write lyrics which promote violence - a childhood spent in a war-torn country rife with child soldiers has gotta be externalized somewhere - I am reminded that I'm definitely not alone, and that there are others out there who I can align myself with in this industry.

But on to lighter fare! Here's a lovely bride who went for a subtler look for her big day.

April, May

Aside from being an adorable French indie designer label, the pretty turn of phrase also announces the advent of wedding season central! But outdoor brides beware: springtime ceremonies are also synonymous with stinging, bleary-eyed misery - pollen-infested breezes might exacerbate those tears of joy into a downpour of irritated, not-as-sweet-as-you-thought-they-would-turn-out photos of what has now come to be known as the "ugly cry face." Thank God for Photoshop (and game bridesmaids who aren't opposed to bra-stuffing - those breast-smushed tissues are KEY).

Luckily, a good makeup job can cushion the blow just as well. Check out a lovely soon-to-be May bride during a makeup trial in April!