And the award goes to...

We are a little bit behind on our posts here at IMPO, but even though Award Season is behind us, we still feel the need to mention our favorite looks and a few products we would use to recreate them.

Let’s begin with the BAFTA’s because we loved Meryl Streep’s look. Who doesn’t love Meryl? She is elegant and always sophisticated. We seriously think she has sold her soul because she seems to totally defy the aging process! Whatever her secret, we are positive that she uses amazing skincare products.

To get Meryl’s flawless skin begin with a wonderful skincare regime. Really pamper yourself like Meryl would before an award show. The Pros recommend the following products from Embryolisse:

Crème Exfoliante (Exfoliating Cream): use to cleanse and exfoliate the skin. This product uses micro-beads to gently resurface, soothe and nourish the skin. Pores will be properly cleansed and bacteria removed. We like to use it with a Clarisonic brush system.

Masque-Crème Hydratant (Hydrating Cream Mask): this product combines the effects of a mask with the effectiveness of a skincare cream to restore hydration levels. This product stimulates and restructures the skin using beeswax, sesame oil, sweet almond oil and vitamins A, E and F.

Serum Anti-Age Redensifiant (Anti-Aging Re-densifying Serum): this product powerfully regenerates the skin with antioxidants for collagen production stimulation. This serum penetrates the skin to firm and plump. Let this product dissolve into the skin for approximately 5 minutes before applying moisturizer.

Redensifiant Contours Yeux-Levres (Re-densifying Eye and Lip Contour Cream): this product contains hyaluronic acid and marine collagen that helps to fade age spots and tone the fragile skin around the eyes. As we age, we sometimes suffer from fine lines around the lips, especially if we are or were a smoker. This product will help fill in and defuse those lines.

Embryolisse’s Crème Anti-Age Raffermissante (Rich Firming Cream): this product is specially formulated with collagen, hyaluronic acid, elastin and vitamins A, E and F. These ingredients will help improve elasticity and skin tone. Allow product to sink into the skin approximately 10 minutes before moving on to makeup application.

Rhianna was a knockout at the 2012 Grammy Awards! She is no stranger to experimenting with bold colors, both with her hair and makeup, but this time she wowed us all with her dewy bronzed skin. To get Rhianna’s glow start with a beautiful foundation and we recommend trying Temptu’s Air Pod System.

This is an airbrush machine that has a specially designed gun, which makes it easy to self apply. The pod system allows for no clean up and because the foundation is silicone based, you can rest assure that all your flaws will be covered and that the foundation will stay put with very little touch up needed.

This airbrush system is designed to give a light to medium coverage to the skin when the airbrush gun is held approximately 4 to 6 inches away from the face, but you can move in closer to dispense more product to the areas that need a little more coverage. You can easily hide redness on the cheeks, age spots, sunspots or a breakout. You may find that you do not need to add concealer after using Temptu, but rule of thumb is to apply your concealer first before you airbrush, like under your eyes and make sure to blend well. Also, you may want to use a primer first before application, if you do make certain that the primer is silcone based.

Rhianna’s Grammy dress was low cut and revealing so we are positive that her makeup artist used some type of body makeup. The Pros recommend using RCK Body Glow by celebrity makeup artist Joanna Schlip. This product diminishes and conceals discoloration, scars, stretch marks, spider veins, premature aging and gives the body a healthy, radiant glow. This product will not transfer to clothing and it is easy to apply.

Another look we loved is Zooey Deschanel at the Golden Globes. She is striking all the time in a very retro girl-next door kind of way, but she can bring out the big glam when the occasion calls for it! To recreate Zooey’s piercing eyes we suggest trying colors from Yaby Cosmetics’ Pearl Paint Collection.

Begin with an all over shadow cream base in a neutral color to make certain that the eye shadow stays put all night. Take First Snow and wash the color all over the lid to the crease. Next, take Cappuccino Dream and smudge it into the crease and wing it out. Blend to erase any harsh crease lines. On the outer corner use Antique and blend into Cappuccino Dream in a "V" shape. Use Lemonade in the inner corner near the water line. Line the entire upper and lower lash line with a black liner and smoke it out using Yaby’s Hematite. Lastly, don't forget to line the lower water line with a white or skin tone colored pencil. This will open your eyes and make the whites of your eyes whiter!

Zooey’s artist used false lashes on both the upper and lower lash line. The upper lash line looks so full that we would not be surprised if two pairs of false lashes were used. The lower lash look can be achieved by placing small individual lashes (three to four) along the waterline.

False Lash Tips:

*Always curl your lashes first and use one coat of black mascara prior to applying false lashes.

*Use a false eyelash glue like DUO and wait about 30 seconds before adhering the lashes to insure the glue becomes tacky.

*ALWAYS measure the lash first and clip off excess from the outer corner of the lashes prior so that the length looks more natural and is more comfortable to wear.

*Make sure to apply one more coat of black mascara to bind your natural lashes to the false lashes.

Sofia Vergara was drop dead gorgeous at the SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) Awards this year and we think her cheekbones were the main attraction (even though some might disagree)! Makeup is all about smoke and mirrors and you can carve out some killer cheekbones simply by using contour and highlight!

To get a Sofia’s chiseled cheeks start with Baja Bronze from Senna Cosmetics and use a fan brush to sculpt in the hollow of your cheek right under the bone from the ear and blend downward. Use sparingly and build the color. If you use too much bronzer then take a clean blending brush and buff the color into the skin or a clean sponge and blend out the edges.

Next take a color that is peachy and pinky like Senna’s Charisma and apply to the apples of the cheeks. This color will tint the cheeks with a sheer, soft glow. Blend into the bronzer. Lastly, use a highlighter in a pinky champagne color like Pure and blend upward from top of cheekbone to brow bone in a "C" shape.

Rooney Mara at this year’s Academy Awards was simply beautiful. Her impeccable red lips should have won a golden statue for their performance on the red carpet! To recreate Rooney’s color we suggest using products from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.

First, make sure to prep your lips by gently exfoliating any flaky, dry skin and then buff a lip balm into the lips when applying your skincare. Let the product sink into the lips while you are applying the rest of your makeup. Blot the lips with a tissue to remove excess lip balm before applying lip color.

You can line your lips first using a compatible red lip liner, but OCC Lip Tar not only dispenses serious pigment, it stays put with no bleeding! We love the colors Harlot - a vibrant red/coral, Stalker - a true blue-based red or NSFW - a true red a la Marilyn Monroe! Choose the color that best matches your skin tone and apply a light layer. Remember, a little goes along way and adding too much product can cause feathering.

All OCC products are 100% Vegan and Cruelty-Free and is also free of parabens and other harsh preservatives. This product will also not feel dry because the formula contains Hemp Oil, Peppermint Oil and vitamin E.

We hope that this post has been useful and will help the next time you need to get award show ready!

Get the look - Valentine's Day!

You always want to look incredible on a day like Valentine’s Day because it symbolizes love, affection and intimacy!  You want to feel beautiful, look sexy and exude passion.  How come everyday isn’t Valentine’s Day?

If you have a hot date on V-Day or maybe you are going out for a girl’s night, you can’t go wrong with smoldering eyes and glossy lips.

The Pro’s want to help you get the look and it’s easy when you use products from Eve Pearl's cosmetic line! Check out our link to Eve's great Valentine's Day makeup offer under our Pro Tips and Tricks section below!

Step 1 – After you cleanse your face, properly prep your skin with Eve Pearl’s Priming Moisturizer with Astaxanthin.  This product is incredible for anti-aging and contains natural sunscreen so you won’t be worried about flash photography!  It also is an essential step that will help your makeup apply smoother and last longer - don't skip it!

Step 2 – decide if you plan to apply your eye makeup first and then your foundation or apply your foundation and then the rest of your makeup.  We recommend applying the eyes first because you can clean up any fall out from the shadow and not ruin your foundation or concealer.

Eve Pearl’s Diamond Eyes palette is perfect for achieving a smoky eye look.  It contains 6 of the most dramatic, pigmented and gorgeous shades in the gold and silver family, which when blended together will make your eyes sexy and seductive!

 

Start with a combination of the deepest shades and apply all over the lid up to the crease.  Using a clean blending brush, blend only in the crease area – as if you are fading the color into that crease and diminishing any lines of demarcation - do not blend the lid – you still want the deepest, darkest hues to be along your lash line area and on the lid.  Take these same shades and run them along the lower lash line and blend, creating that fading effect.

Take a small amount of either the light gold shade or silver shade and pat that color right in the center of the eye lid – which is the most moveable part of your eye – this will act as a highlight.  Don’t forget to take that it shade and apply to the inner corner of the eye too.  The Pro’s like to keep the brow bone completely bare, but you could use the highlight color along the brow bone too. 

Line the upper and lower water line with Eve Pearl’s Kohl Eye Pencil in Blackout and apply at least 2 coats of the Glamour Lash Mascara in Jet Black.

If you are feeling extremely playful, a set of Absolute Eyelashes 104 will really make your eyes pop!  Now, clean up any fallout with a wipe and reapply a tiny amount of the Priming Moisturizer under the eye area – dabbing with your ring finger and begin foundation.

Step 3 - remember foundation comes before concealer.  Many times a great foundation with a medium coverage will cover skin imperfections eliminating the need to use concealer and minimizing the amount of product used on the face. 

Eve’s product line also contains two options for foundation – pressed powder foundation or cream foundation or if you want to apply your makeup like the Pro’s do, then you will want to have both types in your arsenal.

Begin with the HD Dual Foundation in your shade – most people will fall into the Medium category, but Eve’s line makes it easy to find the shade that exactly matches your tone because you will receive two shades in one compact for mixing and matching.

The Pro’s like to use Eve’s method of applying foundation and below is a how-to YouTube video of Eve demonstrating proper foundation application.  Once you have applied and blended your cream foundation using a sponge, brush or fingers, it is time for concealer.

Step 4 – Salmon Concealer & Treatment is the only concealer that the Pro’s use because it will completely erase all signs of dark circles and it applies silky smooth to the under eye area without caking. Eve makes it easy to find the shade that matches your skin tone!

We like to apply this concealer with our fingers and then blend into the skin using a small, tapered, fluffy blending brush (like a crease brush normally used for eye shadow application). You can also spot conceal any blemishes or discolorations at this time.  

The Pro’s use a very small, pointed eyeliner or lipstick brush to conceal small pimples – this is to ensure precise coverage of the blemish and the area around it.

Step 5 – set foundation using the HD Dual Pressed Powder in the matching shade to your HD Dual Foundation cream.  This step will eliminate shine and prep the makeup to receive powder products.  

BONUS – this powder is also a foundation and can be used wet or dry.  If you prefer the light feeling of a pressed powder foundation, this product delivers buildable coverage that adjusts from a sheer to medium to full when applied with a damp brush.  When used dry, this product will create natural highlights and contours of the face for a flawless finish.

Step 6 – it’s time for cheeks!  Using Eve’s Bronzing Highlighter Trio, which are three colors that are ideal for every skin tone and a “fan” brush; sweep the color over the apples of the cheeks.

You can also use the colors individually to create more sculpted cheekbones or as a highlight around the orbital bone area.  The Pro’s use a fan brush to apply this product because the shape of this brush will ensure we do not apply too much color.

If you want a more pop of color on the cheeks, try Eve’s blush trio in Sassy Cheeks, which contains 2 great matte shades that are the perfect pinky and peachy tone and an illuminating bronzer.  Tip: remember if you are rocking that smoky eye using the steps above, then you will want to keep your cheek more neutral or you will look overly made up!

Step 7 – you have got to reach for Eve Pearl’s Pearlicious Lip Gloss Set!  Every girl needs some Foreplay, Climax, Striptease and Ménage in her life and Eve’s set delivers!  Whichever shade you choose to wear, you will have the perfect kissable color on your lips!

If you want to create more definition to your lip line, try using the Kohl Lip Pencil & Brush Combo in Cosmo, which is the perfect natural lip shade that applies creamy.  Fill in the entire lip area and viola!  You have a gorgeous, nude lipstick shade!

Step 8 – step back and look over your entire face.  Now is the time to adjust, add color or blend more.  You may also want to use Eve’s Smudgeproof Liquid Eyeliner in Black Pearl if you are seeing the band from your false eyelashes.  Decide to fill in brows if they are sparse and brush them into place.  The Pro’s use the matte powder eye shadow from the Au Natural palette and a stiff angle brush to lightly feather color into the brows.

By now you should be feeling and looking like a million bucks! Don’t forget to toss your lip color and pressed powder into your handbag for touch ups!

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Pro Tips and Tricks:

Eve has great makeup specials for Valentine’s Day – check out her YouTube promo below and get shopping! Click here to go directly to the Eve Pearl website!