Bare Naked Ladies

Summer Make-Up Faves

I love summer. As a grown up I love the beach, bbqs and icy cocktails, but I am still connected to the summer of youth when days stretched out in an endless row leading to September, and the smell of Ban de Soleil and gas fumes meant vacation. In honor of the long days of summer I am going to share my favorite look - the naked face. What is more youthful, even for us midlife babes than dewy skin with bronzer and highlighter framed by beachy, messy hair.
Start with with a tinted moisturizer with SPF. I love Benefit's You Rebel, $30 at Sephora.com. It's creamy, smells good, gives that summertime glow and a little goes a long way. Then I use an angled blush brush to apply bronzer under the apple and the hollow of the cheeks - I have been using Cargo's Big Bronzer, available at Ulta, for years - there are a lot of good bronzers out there, but Cargo works with my skin tone so I've been pretty faithful to it. You can apply a blush to the apple of your cheeks and blend down into the bronzer - Nars' Orgasm is perfect for summer, and then with a tapered brush apply luminizer, I like Lorac's luminizing powder, to the prominent planes of your face like the nose, chin, forehead, under eye brows, and the cheek bones below the eye sockets. - don't over do it - think luminizing not sparkling. Line the eyes with a little something - I like a brown/black liner, curl lashes and apply mascara. Don't forget to groom and fill in the brows. For the finishing touch - a nude liptstick, I like Nars Belle De Jour, and top with a gloss either clear or pigmented- it's up to you, Nars' Orgasm gloss is a good choice, but sometimes I prefer to keep the mouth untinted- you can also just apply a light balm.
This is a good face for anytime of year, but especially good in summer when less is more, and memories of the long, hot summer come calling on the old land line.

Nail it

With summer fast approaching it's time to care for those feet and toes. After a DIY pedicure this weekend I reached for my bottle of Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Nail Lacquer in Stiletto Red about $4.50 from Walgreens, I got mine on sale for half that.
On first stroke, I thought where has this polish been all my life? What makes it so great? The brush. It's wider, flatter and sleeker than any other nail polish brush I have ever used, and I have used Sally Hansen, OPI, Essie, Hard Candy, Revlon, China Glaze, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, do I need to go on?
The brush makes the application ten times easier - wipe excess polish on the neck as per usual- it goes on thin not globby and spreads easily on the nail bed providing excellent coverage.
I used two coats plus base + top coat. My nails are shiny and with no air bubbles. I can't believe this brush isn't the industry standard.
The downside? This particular formula only comes in 9 shades, but I'm going to buy some more next chance I get. I have seen Rimmel on sale a lot so if you look around you can probably snag a bottle for what I paid - a little over two bucks.
With one fell brush this drugstore brand has stolen my loyalty to the $8 and over brands. Anyone want some China Glaze?

A clean slate

A new year means a new you. So much opportunity for change and self improvement. A clean slate. Whether you believe in resolutions or not, I am taking a good long look at my skin care regime and paring it down to get the most bang for my buck. Simplicity in one area in your life allows focus to be placed where it's needed - like losing those same 20 pounds or remembering to floss everyday.
So the bare bones anti-aging regime is retinol at night to improve tone and firmness and lessen the look of wrinkles and an antioxidant in the morning like Vitamin C, Vitamin E or green tea. Antioxidants help to repair the damage of age and sun.
I like Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Deep Wrinkle Moisture Night, $22 at drugstores. This cream hydrates, works on age spots and wrinkles, and gets really great reviews across the board. Put this cream on after cleansing at night.
In the morning, apply AvalonOrganics Vitamin C Renewal facial cream, $21 from www.avalonorganics.com, also available at Whole Foods and Wegmans. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant good for your body and skin. It helps fight the effects of free radicals. Free radicals cause age spots, loss of tone and firmness and yes, wrinkles.
Don't forget to cleanse skin well and it's important to wear sun protection - especially whilst using a retinoid product as skin can be more susceptible to sun damage.
My new skin care regime incorporates two of my new years' resolutions - frugality and self-care. Whatever your wish for 2012, better skin is easily obtainable with a quick trip to the drugstore.