Favorite Things!

As professionals in the beauty industry and ever since starting this blog, IMPO receives a ton of email asking us to let our readers know what skincare, makeup and personal care items are really in our bathrooms! What do the Pros personally use daily? What are our “go to” products?

So, we decided to channel our inner Oprah and comprise a list of “The Pro’s Favorite Things." Unfortunately, the “plugs” we will be providing to many beauty manufacturers out there will not reap the benefit of a swag (stuff we all get) bag for our readers! Sorry folks!

Hey, maybe someday IMPO will be as big as Oprah and our Fans, Followers and Readers could receive care packages like Oprah audience members do during the taping of her “Favorite Things” segments…a blog’s gotta dream y’all!

Now, putting together this post was not easy and it made the Pros really think about which products we “must have” daily and can’t live without ever, the kind of products that you have to take with you when you travel because you just can’t feel confident without them.

If you read IMPO regularly you are aware of the cosmetics and skincare lines that the makeup Pro uses professionally on her clients, but our readers ask, “do you also use those products on yourself?” and, “do professional products really cross the line over into everyday wear?”

The answer to those questions is a very simple…yes. Some products make the leap and others are manufactured specifically for television, film and photography.

To recap…here is a partial list of cosmetic products inside the makeup Pro’s kit: Nars, Dior, Eve Pearl, Smashbox, M.A.C., Tricia Sawyer Beauty, Three Custom Color, The Lipstick Queen, Bobbi Brown, Jan Marini and La Mer, all of which are consumer friendly beauty products found at major department stores and retailers or online. They work just as well “on” camera as “off” camera for her clients.

The makeup Pro’s kit also contains products found at industry specialty retailers such as Cinema Secrets, Naimes, Frends and Alcone, which work in both the professional makeup industry and for everyday wear. Please check the IMPO blog archive or use the “search” button at the top if you are curious about a particular product line.

It is also important to make clear to our readers that the Pros of IMPO do not “rep” or sell any particular beauty line. We do receive products to test personally and professionally and some we review and others we do not! Just like Bobby Brown: that’s our prerogative!

But, what you really want to know is which beauty care and makeup lines are in our shower, makeup bag and medicine cabinets and it may surprise you to read that as Pros in the beauty industry (and sisters in real life), we have different styles when it comes to our personal routines, so without further ado…

SKINCARE:

The makeup Pro is a firm believer in the Jan Marini Skincare line of products. With 42 creeping up on her door step, she felt it was time to start fighting back the signs of aging skin and the Jan Marini line came to her rescue! Starting with the BioGlycoloic Facial Cleanser both morning and night to cleanse and to remove makeup and bacteria. C-ESTA Serum, Age Intervention Peptide Extreme, Age Intervention Enlighten, Age Intervention Face Cream and Eye Cream. Twice a week she also uses Age Intervention Regeneration Facial Mask. Also used daily is the Jan Marini AntiOxidant Daily Face Protectant sunscreen.

The makeup Pro recently discovered the Talika skincare treatment line and has been using the Eye Dream product at night (on day 15 of the 28 day treatment) in conjunction with Jan Marini products, which has helped rejuvenate her over traveled, delicate skin around her eye area.

The marketing Pro is using Jurlique Balancing Foaming Cleanser once a day (in the shower!) followed by a spritz of Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist and Jurlique Sun Lotion with SPF30+. In the evening, she uses M.A.C. Wipes to remove all her makeup and a touch of Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado around the eye area.

HAIR CARE:

The makeup Pro changes up this product most often because she loves to discover and use different hair care lines almost as much as makeup. Currently, she is in love with the Ever Pure line from L’Oreal. Not only does it keep her color treated hair in tip top shape, it is full of more natural ingredients, which is better for the environment and our body!

The makeup Pro also uses the following styling products on her naturally curly hair: John Freida Frizz-Ease Original Serum, Straight Fixation and Dream Curls Curl Perfecting Spray. L’Oreal Vive Pro Glossy Style Non-Aerosol Hairspray, which provides great hold and shape!

The marketing Pro colors her brunette locks and to maintain that healthy chocolate color, she uses Pantene Pro-V Brunette Expressions shampoo and conditioner. When she wants to blow-dry the curl out of her hair, she uses the best blow dryer ever, the Revlon 1875 Ionic Ceramic Blow Dryer and Redken Satinwear 02 blow-dry lotion. When the hairstyle demands hairspray, her fave is a tried and true brand: AquaNet Extra Super Hold (flash back to the 80’s – she’s with the band man!).

PERSONAL CARE:

The makeup Pro likes to keep it simple when it comes to body lotions because she doesn’t like heavy fragrances competing with her favorite perfumes. Johnson and Johnson Baby Lotion (the one in the pink bottle) is wonderful and keeps this Pro’s skin feeling soft and smooth! Neutrogena Body Wash and Gentle Exfoliating Cream work wonders on dry skin and invigorates her senses after a long day on set! LAVANILA Laboratories, The Healthy Deodorant, in Vanilla Coconut (also because it doesn’t compete with the makeup Pro’s fragrance) is a natural choice to traditional anitperspirants and it works!

The marketing Pro, unlike the makeup Pro, doesn’t mind a light scent in her body lotion and she loves Jaqua’s Pina Colada Body Butter. A must have for the shower is Skintimate Shave Gel for legs and bikini area.

MAKEUP:

The makeup Pro is opening up her personal makeup drawer to our readers! There are staples in her collection that never change (foundation, face powder, eye shadow palettes, mascara) however, frequently she will replace and try new products such as lipgloss, blusher, bronzer, eye liner and lip pencils. Here is a list of the current products that she uses daily:

Primer: M.A.C., Prep & Prime Foundation: Eve Pearl High Definition Dual Foundation/Medium & Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Sand and Nude (she mixes these colors together to achieve the perfect skintone match) Concealer: Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer/Medium Brow: tarte comsetic’s emphasEYES/Taupe & Medium Brown Face Powder: Purely Cosmetics Diamond Powder Palettes: Tricia Sawyer Beauty's Essential Palette & Essential Pretty Palette, Eve Pearl The Eye Palette in Ultimate & Natural Blusher: Eve Pearl Blush Trio in Sassy Bronzer: CoverFX Bronzer in Gold Eye Liner: M.A.,C., Liquidlast Liner in Coco Bar Mascara: CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara in Black Noir, Diorshow Mascara in Black Lips: La Mer Lip Balm, tarte comsetic’s Vitamin-Infused Lipgloss in Liquid Sunshine & OM, Laura Mercier Lipgloss in Bare Beige and Blush, The Eve Pearl Lip Pencil in Caramel, Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Rose Satin 657 and Linen Beige 317 Remover: M.A.C Wipes.

The marketing Pro’s collection; Primer: LORAC aquaPRIME™ Primer Foundation: combination of CoverFX M30 & C30 foundation with 30SPF Concealer: Georgio Armani High Precision Retouch 3.5 Face Powder: SmashBox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in Light Brow: Laura Mercier eye brow pencil in Soft Brunette Palettes: Eve Pearl Au Natural Eye Palette, M.A.C. custom palette for eye in various colors, Smashbox Cream Eyeliner Palette in Backstage Eye Liner: Eve Pearl Black Pearl Smudgeproof Liquid Eyeliner Mascara: tarte mascara and for those lower lashes, Bottoms Up™ Blusher: NARS Orgasm Tint: CoverFX SkinTintFX with sunblock in E Light and tarte tipsy cheek stain Lips: NARS glosses in Orgasm & Bad Education, Sally Hansen’s Lip Inflation in Sheer Mocha, Laura Mercier Natural Lips lip pencil.

PRO TIPS AND TRICKS:

To save money, the Pro’s recommend shopping for personal care, hair care and some cosmetic products, like mascara and lip gloss, at your local drug store, but when it comes to skin care and makeup such as foundation, concealer or powder, splurge on high-end manufacturers to insure that your skin is receiving the best quality plus those product lines tend to last longer throughout the day!

STAY TUNED:

Up next on IMPO: Hitting the spa with our Marketing Pro! IMPO was invited to try a facial featuring the Clarisonic! Discover how this technology has made a difference in the cleansing of the skin!

Beach Babes!

As a professional makeup artist I have seen my share of “makeup don’ts”!  The kind of silly or careless mistakes that make me want to go all cave man and drag a woman by the hair to the nearest restroom and scrub off the crazy cosmetics she has applied to her face! 

This Pro has many cosmetic pet peeves too: applying makeup while driving, too much glitter (at any age), streaked makeup from no blending, dark lip liner combined with very light lipstick, massively overdrawn lips, young girls with too much makeup on, unkempt eyebrows, clumped mascara, foundation build-up around the nose and chin, touching up makeup at the dinner table and most of all…beach babes that have on pounds of cosmetics!

It makes me laugh and want to ask them, “did Tyra crown you the next top Victoria’s Secret model when I wasn’t looking?” or “Are we doing a secret photo shoot and the professional photographer is pretending to be the Life Guard?”  I don’t see lights, reflectors, Miss J or even a little plastic snappy camera, so that leads me to believe that the girl or women is just so vain that they can’t wear less or heaven forbid, no makeup to the beach!

It really does look ridiculous when your face is made up for a night on the town, but your body is sporting athletic apparel!  Plus, you are at the beach, in the heat, in the sand, in the wind, in the water…that is not a good combo! 

Heavy makeup + heat is like sticking a clay pot into a kiln ready to fire!  Eventually your perfectly applied foundation, concealer, powder, bronzer, contour, highlighter, blusher, 3 shades eye shadow, eyeliner, (pause for a deep breath) mascara, lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss are going to crack, run and clog your pores!  Awesome dude!

If you choose to wear cosmetics that are not a waterproof formula and you venture out into the ocean, your makeup will resemble that of a sea hag instead of the gorgeous mermaid!  But, isn’t this elementary my Dear Watson?   This Pro wants to believe that women already understand basic Makeup 101, but I keep seeing it happening this time of year, so I must wrong!

Here is another thought: you’re all made up and you’re looking hot, but according to your internal sundial, it is time to reapply sunscreen.  Uh oh!  Do you apply it to your face over your cosmetic?  Hmmm…how well do you think that sunscreen is going to work to protect your skin from sun damage if you have a thick layer of makeup on? 

Also, if you didn’t apply sunscreen prior to putting all that "stuff" on your face because you thought that your cosmetic had plenty of SPF in it, guess what?  Cosmetic formulas do not have enough sun protection in them and the sun is strong enough to penetrate through your cosmetic.  Now, it is 2 hours later, your face feels warm and your skin tone is pink (but really it is red under the makeup) and you need to add more sunscreen! 

Your lovely face that you worked so hard on is going to be nothing more than a hot mess when you slather on the sunscreen and begin to rub it in and as a bonus, your skin is damaged because it is sunburned!  How pretty are you now?

Ladies…it is much easier on your skin if you cleanse, moisturize, treat and protect your face instead of spending senseless time in the mirror primping prior to sunbathing!  It is much better to throw an oversized helping of self-esteem into your beach bag along with other sea and sand accoutrement and rock that no makeup look with confidence.

Understandably, there are times when a little cosmetic can be appropriate for the beach.  Especially, if you are attending some type of event, party or maybe just attempting to capture the eye of that surfer guy.  I get it!  So, here is this Pro’s approved list of beach babe makeup…

Jan Marini Antioxidant Daily Face Protectant Sunscreen – oil-free matte finish, does not feel heavy or greasy on the skin, beige in color (not white) so you don't need to "rub" into the skin to absorb.

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer – oil-free, hydrating formula.  Provides extra protection from UVB rays and harmful effects of the environment with an SPF 20.  Apply after skin care and sunscreen, use for spot concealing only (dark circles, broken capillaries around nasal labial folds, break outs).  Do not cover entire face!

Becca Beach Tint – waterproof tint adds a hint of color to cheeks and lips.  Oil free, streak free, contains antioxidant vitamin E and is paraben-free.  Use after skin care, sunscreen and tinted moisturizer.  Available in two shades Watermelon and Peach.

fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 - lips are sensitive and with increased sun exposure they can burn just as easily as the rest of your body.  Apply Sugar Lip Treatment before Becca Beach Tint for extra sun protection.

Shu Uemura Waterproof Cream Eye Shadow – if you must wear an eye shadow, then choose one color in a waterproof, cream formula that is a neutral, matte shade.  Shu Uemura eye shadow will not crease or fade under extreme conditions.  Recommended colors: beige, pink or brown (lightest hue). Apply all over eye area with fingertip or brush and blend.

tarte cosmetic's lights, camera, splashes, 4-in-1 natural water proof mascara – apply one coat to the top lashes only for natural, longer looking lashes.  It's great for the beach and will not give you that "overdone" look!

Pass on the face powder (everyone will have the “dewy” look so you will fit right in) and skip everything else you usually put on your face!  Think of it this way, you get a chance to go on vacation from work so, give your face a little cosmetic break too!

Now that you have protected, hidden the sins of the skin and added a little tint to the face using waterproof cosmetics, you can feel free to frolic with Puff the Magic Dragon down by the sea and you can reapply your sunscreen when needed without feeling like you will mess up your makeup!  How liberating!!!!

PRO TIPS AND TRICKS:

Throw the tinted moisturizer into your beach bag and touch up a break out inconspicuously – Laura Mercier’s tube looks like a sunscreen component so you won’t draw attention if you happen to whip it out!  This Pro highly recommends investing in a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher because you want to keep your skin looking gorgeous (and young) for years to come.  Since the LM Tinted Moisturizer is only an SPF 20, you will need to apply sunscreen prior to applying and/or reapplying this product in order to ensure maximum sun protection!

STAY TUNED:

Up next on IMPO:  In keeping with our summer theme, IMPO's next blog post will be all about sunscreen.  The best brands for your face and body!

Teen Queen!

Back when this Pro was a young teen, I spent a lot of my time digging through my mom’s makeup bag and stealing her lipstick, blush and mascara. I would secretly use all her skin care products and pretend that I had no idea why the jars and tubes were almost empty (but she knew).

I was lucky that genetically, I didn’t have to worry much about my skin, but my girlfriends were not so lucky and I remember that by high school, most of them were packing on the product and popping pimples with their Lee Press-On Nails! It was the 80’s and big hair full of Aqua Net, shoulder pads that could poke an eye out and crap loads of makeup were “rad!”



Today’s teenagers (and tweenagers) are way more savvy and they have done their “homework” when it comes to skin care and makeup, but this Pro has found that what they usually want is expensive, colorful and sometimes…unrealistic.

Personally, this Pro feels that it is up to the parents to decide when their daughters are ready to jump into the amazing world of makeup. However, I will say that “in my professional opinion” I think it is very unfair that cosmetic companies are targeting our young girls by enticing them with product lines that are “kitschy” sporting the latest Disney star or cartoon character!



Speaking from experience (I have two teen daughters) some girls are not mature enough to understand the importance of taking care of their skin and can’t remember when an assignment is due, let alone to remove all their makeup before they fall asleep.

When my girls came to me and wanted to begin wearing cosmetics (at around age 13) I told them that I would embrace their need however, I was going to be a “stickler” when it came to cleansing and applying sunscreen. I also made it extremely clear that I would not tolerate turquoise eye shadow, bubble gum pink blush and black lip gloss all worn at the same time. They would have to go through a few makeup classes with yours truly and that it would be “my” way or the “no makeup” highway!



Let’s start with skin care. Most teens should use a mild cleanser and gently wash twice a day concentrating their effort on the hairline and t-zone area. If your daughter (or son) suffers from extreme acne or dry skin then you will want to consult a dermatologist.

Using a cleansing machine like the Clarisonic can be beneficial and give the teen a better advantage. Remember, you want them to remove makeup, dirt, oil and bacteria effectively. They spend a lot of time sweating: during tests, in gym class, flirting, walking home from school. They devour food that we would consider to be more than unacceptable and who knows how much water they actually drink!



Besides the grease and hormones, add the fact that most teens can’t help but touch their less-than-clean hands to their faces a hundred times a day and you can bet a break out will happen at some point. Don’t be a status quo and fall into the “my parents just don’t understand” category. Your child’s complexion is one of the most important things to them and how they look makes or breaks their confidence.

Teen skin care products with this Pro’s seal of approval:

Proactiv Solution



Dermalogica (the new teen line)



Clean & Clear



Makeup is another “beast” and this Pro believes that this is were the “battle” really begins. As a parent, I have found that I must give my girls a little creative outlet and so I do allow them to wear more vibrant eye liner with light, matte, neutral eye shadow, light blush colors and pale lips. Or I will allow a stronger lip color as long as the eyes and cheeks remain neutral.



Make sure that your teen’s makeup does not contain oil – adding to an acne problem by putting oil-based products on top of skin issues is not recommended! In fact, this Pro does not endorse wearing a foundation if your child is under 16 and you should seek the approval of a dermatologist before covering up any major issues.

The choice is up to you, but remember that you were their age once and how did it feel when your mother told you “no” or thought you were not old enough or that you didn’t “fit in” at school. Makeup washes off; purchase quality product, especially in the foundation, concealer and powder categories and you can rest assure you won’t clog the pores!



List of this Pro’s teen makeup must haves:

Purely Cosmetics – incredible mineral line suitable for teen skin - foundation, powder, eye shadows, blushers and bronzers.



tarte Cosmetics – natural line with fun packaging – I recommend the eye shadows, cheek stains, mascara, lip gloss and foundation/concealer/powder products.



M.A.C. – good “color” line for eye liner, eye shadow, lip glosses and their wipes are great for removing eye makeup.



CoverGirl – good and inexpensive “color” line for neutral eye shadows, soft blush pigments and mascara.



Consider investing in a decent set of brushes - I said "decent," not expensive!

Here is the how-to for teen queens:

1. Prep skin with moisturizing sunscreen SPF 30 (oily skin does not need moisturizer, but will need the sun protection).

2. Apply light coverage of foundation and concealer (or spot conceal the occasional pimple). If acne is more severe please consult a dermatologist prior. Use a sponge if skin is oily or foundation brush to blend. Choose foundation that is an exact match to your skin tone and powder foundation is better for younger skin. If you use a cream or liquid then be sure to "set" with face powder. Again, this Pro does not feel it is necessary for a very young teen (under 16 years old) to wear a foundation or concealer.

3. Light dusting of bronzer to cheeks or soft application of cheek stain and blend.

4. Neutral eye shadow (taupe and/or vanilla). Apply taupe to lid and vanilla to brow or just use vanilla shade all over. Line top lash line only with chocolate brown or more vibrant color; plum, green, blue and smudge. If you are going to wear a more colorful eye shadow then keep the liner to a light brown. If you decide to line your lower lash area use the taupe eye shadow lightly and blend. Please do not fill in the eyebrows!

5. Light coat of mascara on top lashes only.

6. Lip gloss - soft pink or nude with a colored eye - a more vibrant lip color should be paired with a very neutral eye and cheek.

PRO TIPS & TRICKS:
Most teens have a natural pink tint to their cheeks so don’t add to that color with more pink. Opt for a bronzer in a light hue. Also, purchase your teen blot papers and teach them to use these to “mop” up excess oil during the day instead of resorting to a face powder! That little “puff” inside that compact will eventually be full of bacteria that your teen will “dip” into the powder contaminating the product and then apply it to her delicate skin! YUCK!!!!



STAY TUNED:
Up next on IMPO: Enter the world of Tricia Sawyer Beauty and learn how to...Flaunt you Face!