The Perfect Eyebrows

Do you have a "trademark", something that people recognize you for? One of my trademarks would have to be my eyebrows, and honestly without my eyebrows I just don't feel the same! I feel a little uncomfortable when they are not filled in and groomed properly. 
It's a make or break the face kinda thing. Without realizing it, you can make yourself look angry, sad, or surprised depending on your eyebrow shape. With that being said, brow shaping must be done correctly according to the structure of your face. First things first, check these 3 points to ensure your eyebrows start, arch, and end in the correct places according to your personal facial features. 

You will need a straight object to help guide your "lines".

1. Where should the brow start? The edge of your nose should line up with the inside corner of your eye...and that's where the beginning of your brow should be. 

2. How to get the perfect arch? Create an imaginary line...start from the bow of your lip, line it up with the edge of your nose...where does it end? It should end at the highest point of your brow, which is your arch. If it's not there, you can grow/pluck or fill in accordingly. 

3. Where does the brow end? Angle your "straight object" from the bow of your lip, line it up with the edge of the nose and the outside corner of the eye. 

Brow trends change season to season, but full brows seem to be sticking around!! In the past, sharp and defined brows were in style... If you are like me, and you over plucked in the early '90's you may be dealing with some sparse areas. My brows do not grow quickly, and when they do grow it is spotty, so I must fill in the gaps. 

I use Christian Dior's Universal Brow Styler to connect my arch, it's a one color fits all, it warms up to your skin so you will always have the most natural color! It has a wax texture on first application, but once your soften it into the skin it becomes more like a powder. Afterwards, I set my brows with Bobbi Brown's Brow Powder with a thick and firm brow brush.

Here are a few tools/brushes I choose to use on a daily basis:

1. MAC's #266 brush has the perfect angle, and is very thin for a precise application.

2. Smashbox's #12 angled brush is stiff and firm for a softer look and great for blending product into the skin for a more natural look.

3. I brush my hair upwards with MAC's #204 Lash Brush

Depending on your preference, and how much time you have to get ready... Brow gel is the fastest application and they are great for hair that has its own agenda, its also great to hide those stubborn little grey hairs! Pencils are the next in ease, but may take a few more seconds for precision. Powder may seem like the most time consuming, however you have more flexibility with the product, resulting in a more natural finish. Waxes are also an option and can add durability to the length of the product during a lengthy (warm) day. 

Now who is rocking the big and bold brows this season??? 

XOXO

Priscilla Francine 

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HP x Glitter Guide: Touch of Luxury from Glitter Guide on Vimeo.

How to achieve Taylor's Daytime Look:

1. Prep skin with BareMinerals Buxom Divine Goddess Luminizer, concentrating the product under the eye area and onto the cheeks... use whats left around the lips and on the tops of the brows with your fingers.
2. Correct any darkness under the eyes with Giorgio Armani's Master Corrector and conceal with Estee Lauder's Double Wear Concealer.
3.  Perfect the skin using Christian Dior's Airflash. Learn how to apply it here.
4. Set any oily areas (mainly the T-Zone and under the chin) with a loose translucent powder.
5. Pink Blush always offers a youthful look, I used BareMinerals Ready Blush in The Tease to create structure and add some life to the complexion.
6. Eyebrows were a main focus for this styled video. I lined the brow with Dior's Universal Brow Styler and than set  the brow with Bobbi Brown's Brow kit for a softer, yet fuller look.
7. The eyes were clean and fresh, using only neutral tones from Dior's 5 Couleurs Pallette, Incognito.
8. Always match your blush's undertone with your lip color's undertone: Taylor is wearing Pink Plaid by MAC.

How to achieve Taylor's Luxury Event/Evening Look:

1. Take the first look from day to night by adding just a few extra steps!!!
2. Add drama to the eyes, and channel the 1960's with a winged liner... learn step by step here! Also, add a beige/taupe blending color in the crease. This will add a nice soft shadow to compliment the liner.
3. Apply False Lashes for extra oomph!
4. Tone down the pink blush with a little bit of foundation...and use a soft matte bronzer for a contoured look. Highlight the top of the cheekbones for a subtle glow using BareMinerals Flawless Radiance.
5. Blot your lips, and go for a nude! I created my own color mixing together a couple of glosses to achieve this peachy-nude. The main gloss was Feathered (LipTar) by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics to make it a creamier texture.

Videography: VIDDYON 
Makeup: Priscilla Francine 
Photography: Delbarr Moradi 
Dresses & Earrings: Rent The Runway 

XOXO
Priscilla Francine

Comfy and Glamorous!

Offer me a day of relaxation at anytime in the week...and I am all there! I'm not sure if it was ingrained in me as a child, but either way my father taught me to love tropical trees and my mother taught me a maxi dress is a staple in your closet. I have come to the conclusion I am definitely my parents daughter. Although I am a fan of glitz and glamour, I will always choose choose to be comfy. So the question is...How do you make comfort, glamorous?

Cotton Spandex Jersey Tube Dress in Imperial Purple {American Apparel} Take for example, eyelashes. Some styles look heavy, and they feel heavy. It's one of the worst feelings to wear a heavy, plastic band that is forcing you to squint the entire night. The lighter the lash band the better to be comfortable. There are 3 options that are easy to apply and easy to wear...  1. Individual lashes are great for someone who has never attempted to wear false lashes, may have sensitive eyes, or chooses to wear little makeup during "regular" life. You can add drama to the ends by applying them in a close bunch and slowing spread them out as you get closer to the inside of the eye.  2. The Half-lash is recommended for those who desire to wear a fuller lash but may not have the desire to go all the way with a full band. This will pick up the ends of the eye and give ya a mini face lift. They are super easy to place on your eyes too!  3. Want a full lash for more drama?! I am wearing the Audrey's by FAUX in this post. Their is a trick to blending your fake lashes with your real lashes...first curl your lashes and add 1-2 coats of your favorite mascara. Next, curl your false lash at the base before apply a small amount of glue to the band. I like to use an eyelash applicator (mine is from Shu Uemura). Always ensure the band is placed directly on your natural lash line for maximum comfort. Lastly, you can curl your lashes once more and than fluff them with your fingers.

Buxom Full-Bodied Lip Gloss In Yoo Hoo

Lip products come in all sorts of textures and flavors. Some like their gloss sticky and some can't stand it! I prefer a more hydrating gloss, one that will eventually absorb without leaving a film on the inside of my mouth. Here are a few lines I like: For a regular lip gloss try Dior Addict Ultra Shine Gloss collection, they are super shiny and still long wearing. I appreciate lip products that do more than just add color, and if you would like a lip plumper with out the tingle, try Bare Minerals Buxom Full-Bodied Lip Gloss.

Curled ends of hair with a 2" Iron {Hot Tools}

As for a foundation, it depends on your preference in formula and texture. Do you like cream? Liquid? Powder? or Minerals? For a comfortable creamy consistency, try the Benefit Play Stick (oily to normal skin type) or the Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick (normal to dry skin-type). There are SO many liquids I can tell you about, but lets start off slowly.... The Estee Lauder BB cream offers wonderful coverage with a light weight feeling (and it will do alot more for your skin in the long run), or try Vitalumiere Aqua Utra Light Skin Perfecting Makeup. MAC is sufficient for a foundation powder, with plenty of color options to choose from! Minerals are a girls second best friend...and if you like them in a loose formula I will always recommend Bare Escentuals. Yep, it's not a powder. It's creamy once you buff it into the skin (the coverage all depends on the brush.)

Once you start playing around with new products you will find makeup can be comfortable, and simplicity is always best! Enhance your natural beauty ladies-don't cover it up!

XOXO
Priscilla Francine 

A lil Va Va Voom {Caught on Tape}

If you haven't seen the new Amazing Spider Man yet, I highly recommend it. When Spider Man grabs Gwen's face and passionately kisses her my heart melted. It was simple, yet so romantic. What type of love scene gives you butterflies when watching a movie? Most movies have them, but its those special innocent ones that give my arm's goosebumps.

My hubby surprised me the other night and took me to the movies on a weekday. It was a simple evening that called for a comfy and playful outfit, so I wore my Free People Denim Bustier Dress with my Tory Burch Flip Flops. Denim can pair well with any other color in the rainbow so I was open to my makeup options. I wanted to be sweet and sultry...just like my outfit. I used a variety of Bare Escentuals products, all in the burgundy family to complete this look.

I prepped my eye lid with Stick Around Eye Primer first, and than layered on Ready Eyeshadow 2.0 in the color The 15 Minutes. The darker shade, Most Requested was pressed near my lash line and swept under my eye to create the sultry look I wanted. The lighter shade Page Six was used to soften the darker color as it faded into my crease. Most Requested helped my hazel eyes transition to a brighter green-it's amazing what a little color can do.

 

The past few months I have wanted to get a raspberry hue for my lips...When I first saw the color Caught on Tape I was ready to keep this new color on a heavy rotation. The Buxom Lip Tarnish is something I now always carry in my clutch (there is a built in sharpener hidden in the lid). It was exactly what I was looking for...a beautiful bold berry color. It's shaped like a pencil, which makes it convenient to line the lips, it hydrates like a balm, shines like a lip gloss, tints like a stain, and it plumps up your pout (with a tingly sensation)!

After, I added my Buxom Full Bodied Lip Gloss in Va Va Voom for some extra shine. There is a gold fleck in this pomegranate colored gloss so for accessories I would recommend using warmer tones (stray away from silver). This Buxom has the same plumping technology without a tingle...so it is perfect for anyone who is not a fan of that type of sensation.

Bronzer is normally a more comfortable cheek color for me... But I really wanted to embrace my pomegranate lip color so I went a little matchy matchy and used Buxom, True Hue Blush in Shangri-La-La. To make the cheeks appear refreshed, they added rhodiola, an arctic plant root!!

Ok, so go see spider man and see a lil Va Va Voom Caught on Tape!!

XOXO
Priscilla Francine

Painted Purple

There is one main concern my clients and dear friends seem to share, and are a little distraught about. I repeatedly hear the sentence, "My makeup disappears by the end of the day." Is this one of your struggles too? Most of the time we are getting ready for the day around 6am, so I have been on the search this month for the perfect long-lasting products on the market. We all loved my Keep It Red find with Maybelline...so let's talk about their Eye Studio Color Tattoo 24HR Cream Gel Shadow today.

Let's start with the good stuff first. Pros: 1. It does not crease. 2. It's hue is intense. 3. Because it is such a pigmented color, the product is really packed into the jar...which means it will last you a very long time. 4. I paid under $4 for Painted Purple on sale at Longs.

Raspberry Sorbet Flavored Lip Shine by Philosophy $10.00

Cons: 1. When applying the cream shadow, it may streak, leaving some areas without any product. 2. I needed to set it with a powder shadow 3. I had to layer the cream gel shadow to create the look I preferred.

Earrings by Francesca's

When using Painted Purple, use the color on your eyelid, stopping at the crease. Smudge the left over color on the brush on your bottom lash line for full eye definition. Next, press on a powder color that is exact in it's shade (I used a discontinued Nars matte shadow). Last, soften the crease with a beige or neutral matte shadow with a pony tail brush.

XOXO
Priscilla Francine

Feeling Fresh

Here today, gone tomorrow...but you can always search on ebay for Mac's limited edition collections. Hey Sailor launched last week, and it's pretty much sold out by now. I wasn't going to give in for this launch, until I saw Feeling Fresh. It is a frost, but it's more pigmented than most frosty colors. There is a sheen to it that makes the color look healthy. Most Mac shadows are intense, but every once in a while I will run across a few that don't apply as well as they look in the pot. I was excited when Feeling Fresh went on super strong-it even stained by brush a tad! 

On lips: Mac's Hey Sailor Salute Lipstick

He wanted to show off his pretty green eyes too!

Feeling daring... try pairing a green shadow with red lips.

To recreate this look, follow these steps:
1. prep eye with Mac's paint pot in painterely
2. use 239 Eye Shader Brush to press Feeling Fresh onto eyelid (stop at your crease) and than line your bottom lashes stopping at the inside of your eye

3. blend a neutral beige matte shadow in your crease with a ponytail brush
4. press a shimmery white or cream shadow in the inside corner of your eye
5. finish with mascara... I have on Bare Escentuals Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthening Mascara
6. pair it with a nude lip for an earthy look, or a red lip for something a bit more adventurous

xoxo
Priscilla Francine