Things You Will Need:

• Cinnamon leaf oil
• Aquaphor
• Liquid Niacin (Vitamin B3)
• Liquid Vitamin B6
• Liquid Cayenne pepper (aka “Capsician”)
• Clove oil
• A clean, empty lip gloss pot

1. You don’t need any sleep to look radiant—if you have Tom Ford Traceless Foundation Stick and finishing powder on hand.
The morning I go to meet Ford at his glitzy London HQ, he has had two hours’ sleep the night before. He has terrible insomnia. However, in his immaculate black suit, white shirt, and black tie, he looks crisp and fresh. I would like to know his secret, I tell him.

“Powder under the eyes,” he declares authoritatively. “The only thing making you have bags is the light hitting the high points of the skin. If there is translucent powder under your eyes,” he says—grabbing a gorgeous glossy brown-and-gold compact and, looking in the mirror, dusting finishing powder under each eye—“and you use a little stick foundation, and then the powder in moderation, the shadows are gone.”

Ford is endearingly vain. For a man so famously handsome and successful, he is as insecure as a teenager about his looks. Even though he spends serious amounts of time peering into his magnifying mirror (a compulsory piece of equipment, according to Ford), it’s not to say, “ ‘Wow, I look great’; it’s to think, I’m getting older and my eyebrows are getting longer and they need a cut, and oh, God, maybe I need a little more Botox here. So all I see are flaws when I look in the mirror—initially, until I correct them.”

The point is, whatever the beautiful 50-year-old Ford is doing, he wears makeup. And the starting point for him—and so for his cosmetics line—is flawless skin. As well as stick foundation, the range includes primer and an extraordinarily light “traceless” liquid foundation. When I try it, it seems to magically disguise any unevenness in my skin without being visible. I usually hate foundation because it’s so obvious, but this feels and looks completely different—like nothing is there at all. “Everything about the Tom Ford world is perfect,” says makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, who helped Ford create the line, “and that includes perfect glowing skin.” I tried Ford’s moisturizers and serums—his collection includes skin care as well—over the space of six weeks, and my complexion seemed to spring into bloom.

2. Get a dressing table now.
One of Ford’s favorite childhood memories is of watching his mother do her face every morning at a dressing table equipped with magnifying mirrors and spotlights at their home in the Houston suburbs. “She looked like Tippi Hedren,” he remembers. “She didn’t wear a lot of eye shadow, but there was definitely foundation, a brow, and lipstick with a very orange, 1960s cast to it. She would tease her hair up between sips of coffee, spraying on the Aqua Net, as it’s called in Texas.”

Tom Ford isn’t about on-the-go makeup. When my box of his new products arrives—mahogany-handled brushes (manufactured by the world’s finest brush factory, in Japan), blushers, powders, kohl pencils, nail colors, lip glosses, and lipsticks—the need for a dressing table is suddenly pressing. I have to spread it out all over my bed just to take it in. “You can’t put this makeup on in the subway or in the car ever,” Ford had told me. “Because if you paint your mouth on slightly crookedly, you no longer have a straight mouth, you have a crooked mouth. Why would you do that?”

3. Manners maketh makeup.
Ford is famously old-fashioned about putting on your face in public. If a girl needs a touch-up, he says, she should go to the powder room. There are, though, exceptions. “If you have a gorgeous hand and gorgeous mannerisms and a gorgeous compact . . . there’s a very well known beauty, I can’t say her name, but I used to see her a bit for dinner,” he confides. “She’d lay out a compact, a lip brush, a lipstick, and it was like part of the knife and fork. After each course, out came the compact and the lipstick, and somehow she pulled it off, because it was so much her thing.”

4. Makeup is the new It bag: Change it and you don’t need a new frock.
“You can take a little black dress,” explains Ford, “and put on twenties makeup, thirties makeup, or seventies makeup, and that dress becomes totally different.”

5. Thou shalt wear “full on” color for evening.
Ford has always believed in color in his clothing. His makeup range contains every shade the Tom Ford woman needs for her face: sexy nudes, glamour reds, moody plums, midnight blues, and titanium blacks for night.

After timidly playing with the colors at home, I’m ready to give them a trial outing. The occasion: insanely fabulous tickets to see Alicia Keys at a one-night-only performance in London.

The look starts with nails. I take a bottle of African Violet—a luscious dark-fuchsia—to Coco Nail Bar on Portobello Road, just about the only place you can get a simultaneous mani-pedi in London. The manicurist whispers that she feels “honored” to be using the first Tom Ford polish. Once my nails are done, I feel the beginnings of a Bianca Jagger moment coming on: The exotic dark pink reminds me of the lacquered, lipsticked icon in her heyday.

It seems right to make up my eyes more daringly than usual. I pick the palette of lilacs and purples, Violet Dusk, and gradually layer on each shade, topping it off with the shimmery “sequin” finish. (Each eye-shadow compact contains four shades of varying intensity and texture in a given color harmony, and represents a complete look curated by Ford.) I add a shot of peacock green along my upper lash line, using the Metallic Moss kohl pencil, and gently shade my lips with the muted Pink Dusk lipstick. I’ve somehow managed to pull off an updated disco-chic look, rather than descending into the Priscilla Queen of the Desert territory I had feared.

I throw on a bias-cut, original 1970s black jersey dress, Moroccan gold earrings, gold Manolos, and grab a dark-brown patent clutch with gold trim. I feel dressy and fun with my lacquered nails and glittering eyes. When I run into a makeup-free Phoebe Philo at the after-party, I momentarily doubt my violet eyelids. But only momentarily. It is so much fun wearing brights that I vow to try the tantalizing greens of the Sahara Haze palette on my next night out.

6. If you don’t have a long neck, draw it.
Ford believes you can create any shape of face you want using his Shade and Illuminate palette—a compact containing a brightening “lifting” cream and a darker “sculpting” one. “If I know that one cheekbone is higher than the other, I can put highlighter on the lower one,” he says, showing me how to do it, “and suddenly my cheeks look symmetrical, because the light bounces off the lower one better.” Ford says you can even create a jawline like Linda Evangelista’s. “If you don’t have that fabulously strong jaw, you could basically highlight where your neck is and shade where your chin is, and you would have a really strong look.” In case this sounds a little intimidating, Ford reassures me that Charlotte Tilbury will be personally training the beauty advisers at every one of his counters worldwide so they can show women exactly how to do this.

7. Change your eyebrows—avoid plastic surgery!
Ford is eyebrow-obsessed. He believes eyebrows are the one thing you can dramatically change on your face without going under the knife. To that end, he has included an angular Brow Sculptor, which allows the user to get a much sharper line than with an ordinary eyebrow pencil. The formula is soft, so it’s great for gentle filling.

8. Old Hollywood glamour is the best Hollywood glamour.
Despite his other job as a movie director, Ford admits he often feels the current Hollywood standard of beauty is “tragic.” He says Hollywoodized women—whether they are in London, L.A., or New York—who all look exactly the same are like “Barbies. Real women shouldn’t look at any of it or think about any of it.” Instead, he tells me, “women should do the same as I did when starting my brand: What colors do I always like? What was my favorite period of makeup? What am I comfortable in? What time in my life did I think I looked my most amazing? What was I wearing? And from just thinking about those things, you can start to put together who you are. Then stick with it. It doesn’t mean your shoulder or heel shouldn’t change a little, but it gives you a base.”
9. Bitter Bitch is the new Vamp.
Enough said about the sexiest chocolate-brown nail polish I’ve ever seen.

10. It’s chic to wear jeans and a T-shirt and be made-up.
Ford tells me that the coolest 20-something girls in his London office come to work in high-street clothes and immaculate makeup. “They grew up in the hip-hop moment of nothing, so they’ve reacted against that and want to be glamorous. They want a lacquered lip.” Ford shows me a crimson lip gloss that recalls the Dallas and Dynasty starlets. It’s fun, fabulous, the perfect orangey red. Ford has always loathed lip gloss, so it took him a while to get to the point where he could add one to the line. His strikes me as different, more grown-up: saturated and opaque, yet not sticky.

Putting a face on suddenly feels chic again.

Credit: Fall 2011 Vogue September Issue

Regen Chen & Neil Snape ©2011 WestEast Magazine Benjamin Kanarek Blog Photo Contest

I have just posted the winners of the WestEast Magazine Benjamin Kanarek Blog Fashion and Beauty Photography Contest.

Thanks to all of you who participated and to those of you who didn’t, perhaps next time.

For those of you interested in the outcome of this contest you may visit this link:

WestEast Magazine Benjamin Kanarek Blog Photo Contest

As someone, who uses a lot of makeup in her day, I was thrilled to discover ‘Show Stopper’.

The bronzer itself is very sparkly, which is perfect for a fresh summer look. Nothing is better than a little glitter on your cheeks when you start to get your tan back. It applies very easily and even though my skin is quite light, it matched my skin well.

In addition, it is also water-resistant, which I think is almost the most thrilling thing about it. This summer we will look fresh and sexy – even by the pool!

The ‘Show Stopper’ is available in stores for $23 now. Get it here.

WINTER GLOW HERE

Even, if these videos are a bit on the lame side, the winter glow is a total thumbs up!

Right now, I’m completely inspired by Alexa Chung (above), a British model/writer/TV host. (I’m not the only one; she just won a British Fashion Award.) Her clothes are quirky but put-together, and her makeup is the same way. Chung somehow makes neutral brown eye shadows pop yet can follow that up for her next outing with just mascara and bold fuchsia lipstick; she seems like the type of woman who would never fall into a beauty rut. In fact, my brown-to-blonde ombré hair color was inspired by her—and since she just chopped her hair into a cute shaggy bob this week, I’m thinking of trying it myself. (Allure)

Whether you go classic or current, who is your beauty icon?

WHAT: Gap sequin jacket

WHY: At this price, do you really need a reason? This glittery little baby works with jeans and skirts and tights and…you get it, it’s versatile. It’s not quite in stores yet (but it arrives on December 13), but since when has it ever been too early to start obsessing about fashion deliveries?

AVAILABLE: $128, gap.com

WHAT: Edward Bess Lip Wardrobe

WHY: Because we’re always losing our favorite colors—which is a perfect excuse to try new ones! So quit worrying, because this ultimate collection of seductive shades will last you through 2011 (and beyond!). Ranging barely-there nudes to deep reds in high gloss, you can find anything to create a perfect pout.

AVAILABLE: $400, bergdorfgoodman.com

WHAT: Chrome Hearts cashmere Scarf

WHY: Because there’s a reason why Karl Lagerfeld, Lenny Kravitz and Rick Owens can’t get enough of this stuff. This seasonless scarf is equal parts goth and luxury, and it promises to work with any old coat or jacket.

AVAILABLE: $1,035, colette.fr

WHAT: NARS Bento Box

WHY: Get geisha-ifed with NARS’ limited-edition set containing two Kabuki cups, hand-poured with two dramatic shades: a red deemed Maiko (“dancing girl/apprentice geisha”) and a pink Sakura (“cherry blossom”). Housed in an exquisite box, you might feel bad using them but founder and creative director Françios Nars thinks otherwise! ”You should use beautiful things, show them off and not hide them,” he explains. “The box and the cups are the keepsake items.”

PRICE: $125

AVAILABLE: NARS

WHAT: 3.1 Phillip Lim Bande Derby

WHY: Why should flats be anything less than luxe? These 3.1 Phillip Lim derbies come in a perfect shade of pale emerald green with a brogue-style toe, but our favorite part might just be the heel, capped in black faux-croc. Don’t they always say it’s the little things in life that bring the most joy?

PRICE: $425

AVAILABLE: Bergdorf Goodman, NYC, BergdorfGoodman.com

Be Jeweled

WHAT: Dolce & Gabbana Lip Jewels lip palette

WHY: The temperatures are cooling, your Starbucks cups have snowflakes on them, the department store holiday windows are looming. We hate to say it, loves, but the holidays are coming (usually we try to wait until after Thanksgiving to acknowledge this). But if you want to get a head start on your shopping, what better gift could there be than this pretty little lip palette by Dolce & Gabbana? Four festive lip shades, packed in a little jewel of a case…we won’t judge if you want to keep one for yourself, too.

PRICE: $60

AVAILABLE: www.saks.com, late November

WHAT: Young&ng antique gold hair comb

WHY: Your jewelry drawers are overflowing, but what about your hair accessories? Whether you’re past the days of barettes et bows or not, this comb by designer Michelle Ng is a lovely little addition to your coif that will hold back those flyaways and double as jewelry in a pinch. Low-maintenance and high fashion? Merci!

PRICE: $330

AVAILABLE: www.youngandng.com

WHAT: Anita Ko 14 karat rose gold Spike Stud earrings

WHY: Sometimes it’s tough to tread that line between ladylike fashion and the rock star ensembles we all know and love (right, Christophe Decarnin?). But sometimes it’s easy—like in the case of these Anita Ko studs. Sure, the spikes are anything but saccharine, but the dainty size and pretty rose gold sweetens them up just enough. If only all our wardrobes were this accommodating!

PRICE: $300

AVAILABLE: www.net-a-porter.com

WHAT: Gucci leather sunglasses

WHY: You have your leather shoes, leather bag, leather jacket, leather leggings—why not have sunnies in the same luxe stuff? Gucci has stepped in to fill the void with these new ’70s-ish shades, with the frames covered in a thin layer of yes, leather. They come in black and two shades of brown, but we’re partial to the slightly off-beat navy pair. The best part? Like all other in cuir, these will only get better with wear.

PRICE: $495

AVAILABLE: Solstice Sunglasses Boutique, in November

Coisas que notei nas roupas femininas: Acho que Hollywood não está sabendo lidar direito com a crise e muitas celebridades (leia-se seus stylists e agentes) ficaram na dúvida entre ir no “glamour total” ou ser “simpatizante” com o resto da nação. O resultado foi interessante e apareceu através de três diferentes versões de vestido: os “cheguei”, os minimalistas e os vestidos “para gente normal”.

• Os “cheguei” (que, na maioria das vezes, não tem nada de cafona) eram os vestidos intricados, com uma quantidade razoavelmente grande de informação. Bordados, brilho, rendas… qualquer fosse o material, dava pra ver que ele era rico e com bastante informação. 
• Já os minimalistas contrastavam – e se destacavam – pela sua falta de detalhes, deixando o foco principal para o corte e o caimento do vestido. Alguns podem achar que são vestidos “pobres”, mas são vestidos ricos em informação – ela só é sutil e discreta. Além disso, são vestidos dificílimos de serem feitos porque seu corte tem que ser impecável e a escolha do material é quase sempre um desafio.
• E os vestidos “para gente normal” foram eleitos pela maioria das mulheres no Emmy. São vestidos que no tapete vermelho não se destacam; não são feios muito menos “erros”, mas tampouco são os showstoppers que se espera de uma cerimônia de premiação. Poderiam ser confundidos com “minimalismo”, mas não são. Muitos deles tem informações como babados, rendas ou brilho, mas em quantidades menores ou de forma mais discreta. Foi um Emmy “chato” pra quem viu o tapete vermelho, mas um Emmy bem rico em informação para quem trabalha com roupa de festa.

Coisas que notei nas maquiagens/cabelos:

• o calor deveria estar infernal em Los Angeles, porque muito poucas celebridades escolheram ir com seus cabelos soltos – algo que estava acontecendo bastante em red carpets anteriores. O problema é que quase todo mundo resolveu usar o mesmo estilo de coque – aquele preso de forma soltinha, com muito laquê pra segurar e alguns fios correndo pelos lados (em algumas). 
• A maquiagem também foi unanimidade e a escolha foi o minimalismo. 11 entre 10 celebridades escolheram a “falta de maquiagem” como a maquiagem da noite, salvo raras exceções que deram um enfoque maior (porém pequeno) nos olhos ou na boca. Batons escolhidos para esse feito foram os vermelhos (destaque para o vermelho alaranjado de Maria Menounos) e rosa pink (destaque para o de Lo Bosworth).
• influência anos 60: tem alguma coisa no ar meio anos 60. Vi alguns olhos marcados com delineador, essa coisa de usar batom nude que já vem de algumas estações… mas o que me chamou mais a atenção foram os cabelos de Tina Fey, Julie Bowen, Paula Abdul, Edie Falco, Jayma Mays, Lo Bosworth e Stephanie Pratt. Todos super armados com Bump it e exalando uma vibe retrô-60s. Alguns mais, outros menos, mas todos definitivamentes com a influência!

Depois que fizer o post sobre os meninos escrevo o que achei das tendências deles.

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SENSE MAGAZINE Website

LINK LOVE:SENSE MAGAZINE JULY 2010 »FLEX YOUR HEAD – JAM HOME MADE« SHOT BY JUNJI HATA

SENSE MAGAZINE Website

LINK LOVE:SENSE MAGAZINE JULY 2010 »FLEX YOUR HEAD – JAM HOME MADE« SHOT BY JUNJI HATA

Head over and join today to participate in this sale!

This beauty edit is more of an accessories edit, and I’m loving it. All too often stand out accessories blend in due to full body shots and overpowering clothing. Here the focus remains exactly where it should: on the hats, headbands, jewelry and colorful eye-makeup.

GALLERY: Prime Time

SOURCE: The Fashion Spot

But it may be awhile before the cosmetic line is released, SO here’s a list of tips of how you too can look like Amanda Lepore…

1. No eyebrows

If you have eyebrows-shave them! Then take a pencil and draw an eyebrow of your choice. Most trannies go with the thin arched eyebrow that makes you look like you’ve had an eyebrow lift.

2. Blowfish Lips

If budget permits get as many collagen injections as you legally are allowed to get. Yes, these injections will set you back a ways, but you can’t get the same look with out them. If budget doesn’t permit, take some red Play Doh and craft your own blowfish lips.

3.Fake Eyelashes

God may have given you two sets of eyelashes, but those were just a starter set. Go down to your local drugstore and pick up two or three sets of fake eyelashes. Get some glue and layer each set over each other. Be sure not to get the glue in your eye.

Nobody wants to lose an eye in the process of looking like Amanda Lepore.

If you are having trouble knowing weather you look ‘tranny’ enough just ask yourself this: ‘Do I look like a blow-up doll’? If the answer is yes, then you have succusfuly made yourself up like Amanda Lepore!