Category Archives: Cosmetics

Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Weekly beauty tip #9 – In-Season Beauty Masks

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It’s autumn & everywhere you look there’s something pumpkin or apple-flavored. Why not try using the seasons two favorite foods to gently exfoliate your skin? Let us know what you think of these masks.

Pumpkin Papaya Mask
½ ripe papaya, 1 cup pumpkin, 1 egg white, beaten until frothy, 1 tsp honey

Skin and seed the papaya; mash with a fork until soft. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until mixture is smooth. Apply to face using a circular motion,. Rinse off after 5 minutes. [Courtesy of Jennifer Jaqua]
The natural acids inside papaya and pumpkin exfoliate your skin, which helps keep your pores clear.

Apple and Tomato Mask
½ tomato, 2 tbsp. plain yogurt, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 egg white, 2 to 4 tbsp whole wheat flour, 2 slices green apple (chopped)

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Spread the mixture on clean skin and let dry for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water. [Courtesy of Sonya Dakar, owner of Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic in Los Angeles]
The natural acids inside tomatoes exfoliate your skin, which helps keep your pores clear.

Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Weekly Beauty Tip #8 – Foundation Basics

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Any skin can look like great skin with the right foundation. In fact it’s the last step in protecting your skin from the harsh world out there.

  1. Find the right color. Smear a stripe on your jaw line, step outside and peer into a compact mirror-if the color looks right in daylight, it’ll look right anywhere.
  2. Smooth your skin. Moisturize and wait five minutes before applying foundation to get rid of flakes. Use foundation primer.
  3. Use four dots of foundation. Apply a dot on each cheek, one on your forehead and the lady one on your chin. Then spread in upward and outward strokes. Make sure to blend, blend, blend. Streaks are never cute.
  4. Powder up. Apply loose, translucent powder to your forehead, nose and chin – oil-magnet areas.
  5. Spritz on water. Misting makes foundation look ultra natural. Hold the bottle at least a foot and a half from your face and you won’t wind up feeling wet. Or alternatively use a setting spray for a dual use product. We mentioned earlier how we love Victoria Secret’s setting spray. Check back later for our review of Avon’s new spray.
Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Mani Madness

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The day flies so quickly when you’re busy…

In our quest to make sure we’re telling you about the best products for your continued wellness we’re currently under a case of manicure madness.

We retail Avon products among other things and want to test out the longevity of the different nail enamel brands. To do this we’re looking for models in the Jacksonville area willing to get a practically FREE manicure! The only cost is we need daily pictures to see when your nail color starts to chip.

Inbox ms.me@ecvtalks.com or DM on Twitter if you’re interested. Meanwhile Here’s a sample of Ms. ME’s first experiment with our new nail sponges.

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Will definitely try to get an ombre look next time.

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Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Clean Your Stinky Head Scarf…and other things – Part 3

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The other things to be discussed in this post are the often forgotten makeup applicators (brushes and sponges).

 

There are great brush cleaners out there with easy to follow directions.  Yet for some reason we’ve run across women who don’t realize that their blemish problems may be a result of a failure to purchase and use one of these cosmetic brush cleaners regularly.

There are a number of Extrav options such as Bobbi Brown, MAC and Estee Lauder. We haven’t personally used any and would love to hear from anyone who has.

The C2 option we recommend is Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner that starts at $7 a bottle. It’s a daily cleanser that’s particularly great for quickly cleaning off your brush when you’re going to use it immediately to apply a different color. Just spray a little on a tissue and wipe your brush off. 

The Value option is using something you already have in your bathroom, your shampoo. Make a applicator bath by mixing some shampoo with warm water in a bowl. Swirl your brush around and rinse. While it won’t disinfect it will sanitize your applicators and brushes.

Whatever you decide upon, make sure to use it at the very least weekly. Your skin is dependent upon your actions for its clarity.

Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Weekly Beauty Tip #5 – Three Steps to Beautiful Eyes

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In the last post some months ago (sorry about that :oops:) we talked about getting clump-free lashes. But what about the rest of your eye?

Step 1.  Apply foundation to entire eyelid to prep skin to hold color. Bush a medium-toned shadow in a neutral shade over the entire lid. Then brush a deeper color along the crease to create depth. Gently smudge colors together to blur any unnatural looking lines.

2.  Use a darker color shadow or eye pencil to rim the lash line. You should make the line thicker at the outside of eye and then get gradually thinner toward the inside corner. For a subtle look, line just the top lash line; for a more dramatic look, line both the bottom and top.

3.  Use a darker color shadow or eye pencil to rim the lash line. You should make the line thicker at the outside of eye and then get gradually thinner toward the inside corner. For a subtle look, line just the top lash line; for a more dramatic look, line both the bottom and top.