Makeup By Kim: November 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My Favorite Person in the Whole Wide World

When I first started out with makeup, the one person who always believed in me was my cousin&bestfriend, Anh. She would come over to have her makeup and hair done whenever she had a wedding, girls' night, or a date to attend. Through her, I realized areas where I could improve and do things differently. When everyone was doubtful of my makeup skills, Anh was not afraid to let me experiment. Because of her, I feel one step closer to my dreams of becoming a makeup artist.

Here are some photos of makeup looks I've done for her through the years...

Anh (far right): This is the first makeup I ever did for her. It was

a grey/silver smokey eye for a girls' night out. (do not

mind my nasty ass hair LOL)

pretty waves and purple eyes

sophisticated, musted purples for a hot dinner date

with her husband in Vegas

I did her engagement makeup.

I didn't do Anh's makeup for her wedding, but I was touching

it up throughout the night. (Notice the ugly face I'm making LOL)

I just felt inspired to do this post because Anh's birthday is coming up (Nov. 25th), but we are throwing her a SURPRISE birthday dinner tonight. She is coming over in a few hours for makeup and hair and I will post pictures of how I did her makeup...

Here are the photos of her makeup. We were running late so I couldn't get any really good photos:

I would say this is a diva makeup look. The camera does it no justice.

In person, her eyes were very glittery and sparkly. The full lashes really

put the whole look together.

<3 my cousin soooo much and hope she enjoyed her birthday dinner.

& I hope you guys enjoyed this post.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sephora V.I.B & Spree

Hello!

First, I am going to talk about Sephora's rewards program. At the checkout, Sephora associates always ask "Are you a beauty insider with us?" Basically, if you sign up for the Beauty Insider card, it tracks your order in store and online and for every dollar you spend, you will get 1 point. When you get 100 points, you will get to choose one deluxe sized prize. If there's nothing you want, you can continue to rack up points for their 500-point prize which is a selection of 4-5 deluxe sized prizes. Might not sound all that great, but they have great things to choose from, usually their best-sellers (like Laura Mercier, NARS, Makeup Forever, etc). They give you a free gift for your birthday too!

Sephora also a V.I.B. program (stands for very important beauty insider). Once you spend $350 in a year, you automatically qualify to be a V.I.B. You still get the same point system and prizes for 100 points and 500 points, BUT there are also other little perks, like when you first qualify, you get a complimentary 10% off. Then around Oct/Nov, you get a shopping pass for 20% off. They will also send you emails showing you exclusive products for VIBs only. And you get invited to their private events. :)

From Nov 10th-14th, Sephora just had 20% off for their VIBs. And here are some photos of things I picked up. I bought some of these things from their store and some online.

Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencils

The first 5 came in a set for only $34!

You can use this as a base for powder eyeshadow

or wear it by itself. It's waterproof and really stays on so long!

Clinique Chubby Sticks (love the name!)

These are great! They are light-weight, moisturizing an

have a sheer yet pretty hint of color.

swatches

Urbanc Decay 24-7 liquid liner

love love love this color!

This photo doesn't do this product justice. It's so glittery in person and

just so pretty! Will make for a great holiday makeup look.

Tokidoki compact mirror. I am so in love with this! It's pretty

heavy, but I like that. Feels sturdy.

The Sephora 55 Brush. My absolute fave foundation brush!

I've heard great things about the Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes,

but I'm just not one to buy really expensive mascara, especially since

I'm always disappointed... (my fave is CoverGirl LashBlast!). However,

when I saw this little kit, which has the fullsized ArtLiner and Doll Lash

Mascara AND a mini-sized mascara primer, for only 29.50, I knew

I had to get it! I'm hoping none of these products disappoint!

I also got the twin pack of the delicate face brushes for my Clarisonic.

I will do a review on what I think of the Clarisonic one day. I have mixed feelings.

So now, on to some random things. My friend had just recently come back from a trip to Vietnam and she was so kind to pick me up some makeup! Here's a photo!

In Asia, they have these packs of eyelashes... 10 pairs for $2!! So cheap!

I have yet to try them. My friend said they feel a tad bit uncomfortable just

because they are a little stiffer, but I want to try for myself and see if I can make

them more bearable. We shall see. She also got me a really pretty Boujour blush

in a peachy/pink shade and an eyeshadow palette!

Another friend of mine recently gave me an Urban Decay NAKED palette! L O V E !

I love this palette! So pretty and all the colors are wearable! Great for travel too!

Okay, I will be ending this post here. Thanks for stopping by. Hope everyone is enjoying their week. Oh! I ordered a new traincase for all my makeup, so that will probably be my next post.

<3 you all,

kimtran

Monday, November 14, 2011

Cite Restaurant Commercial

I was the makeup artist for this video production for Cite Restaurant. I did everyone's makeup except for the main girl. :) The video turned out amazing and it was such a great group of people to work with!

Enjoy,
Kim

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Red Lipstick

First off, let me say that red lipstick seems scary to a lot of people, especially those who don't usually wear makeup, but red lipstick looks like you put more effort into your makeup than you actually did! It's fun, sexy and seductive!

Guidelines:
1) If you have warmer (yellow) tones to your skin, pick a red that has a yellow/orange base.
2) If you have cooler (pink) tones to your skin, pick a red that has a bluer base

Guidelines are not necessarily rules that can't be broken. I have a warmer undertone, but I have worn both warmer reds and cooler reds. My best advice would be for you to go to your department store or a cosmetics store, and just try some on. Have fun with it. There are also a lot of different textures to lipsticks in general. You can find a sheerer, creamier red or a matte intense red. I personally love a drier formula because it will last a lot longer and there's less of a chance of it getting on your teeth (yuck!).

As far as eye makeup for red lips. I would say go pretty neutral; browns and golds looks really pretty with red. Even if you decide not to use any shadow, you should line your eyes so there's definition. If you want a dramatic eye makeup without clashing with red lips, I would say apply a mid-tone brown to your crease, do a strong, winged liner and apply lots of mascara (or false lashes if you're comfortable putting them on). If you google red lips, you'll find that most of the people wearing it, will have very low-key eye makeup. Here are some photos of red lips..

Blue-tone red (MAC Russian Red)

gold eyeshadows look great with red lips // warm-toned red (MAC Ruby Woo L/S)


keeping the eyes neutral to have the full focus on the lips (MAC Ruby Woo L/S)

lots of lashes and red lips

neutral shadow, winged liner

As far as clothing goes, I would say avoid red. It can look overdone and dated. But on the bright side, a lot of colors go well with red lips. Nude, white, black, blue, pink... Red lips are a little more glamorous and it's not a t-shirt and sweats kind of makeup. A nice, sleek, classic dress will look best. Here are some photos to give you some ideas.

navy blue

i love the lace on this dress!

TIPS:

1) Apply a little loose powder to your lips before you line them

2) Line your lips with a red lipliner and fill them in.

3) Apply the red lipstick straight from the tube or with a lip brush. If you're applying it straight from the tube, do not just go over your lips in a sweeping motion (this is how a lot of people apply their lipstick). Instead pat onto your lips and layer. This will ensure that the lipstick will last a lot longer.

4) Add bronzer to your face. Red lips can make your complexion look lighter than it actually is.