Guilt Free Bonbons?

If your New Year's Resolution is to focus on your health, then you may fall in love with this guiltless pleasure.

Makeup artist Vincent Longo has launched a new holiday gift set called the Amaretti Diamond Collection. It's the ultimate in "eye candy" ;)

The 4 baked shadows in this quad are:

midnight blue fudge topped with
silver and 
sapphire pearl frosting


velvet vanilla crème treat
laced with silver sprinkles

rich chocolate brownie iced
with glistening gold

warm copperleaf cake topped
with silvery sugar crystals

Apply the shadows as you would normally, but you can intensify the colour by applying it with a slightly damp brush for the ultimate sultry smoky eye.

Pan Am Style Eyeliner with a Glittery Holiday Twist

This makeup look is basically a simple add on to my recent Pan Am Inspired makeup tutorial that I posted to my youtube channel.

Click on the link if you'd like to watch my recent Pan Am Inspired Makeup tutorial

The only difference is that I added Lise Watier Eye Glitter Liner over top of my black liner, for a little extra holiday glimmer.  Because the holidays are all about shimmer & glitter!!! ( I used the Black Diamond sample that I got in my November Luxe Box by Loose Button).

And here is how it turned out:

Golden Glittery Holiday Makeup

PRODUCTS USED:


FACE:

• Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 120
• Graftobian Powder
• MAC Golden Bronzer
• MAC Margin Blush
• MAC Retrospec eyeshadow

EYES:

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance
• MAC Espresso
• MAC Bamboo
• MAC Brule
• Urban Decay gold eyeshadow from Book of Shadows 2
• MAC Gold Glitter
• MAC Retrospec 
• MAC Zoom lash mascara
• MAC Wedge
• MAC Teddy
• MAC Defiantly Feline liquid liner

LIPS:

• MAC Honeylove
• Make Up For Ever Gold Flash Colour

The Simply Stylish PEI Makeover Team & How It Works

Have you ever wished a team of beauty pros could swoop down from the sky and make you over from head to toe?  Well now it can happen!  Um, well maybe not the swooping from the sky part, but the make over part can definitely happen!

I have joined my makeup artist skills

(Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist) 

with the amazingly talented Cheryl Weeks Hairstylist

and the equally talented Rachel Peters Photography.

So let me explain how the Simply Stylish PEI makeover works.

There are 6 easy steps to rediscovering your gorgeous self with the Simply Stylish PEI team.

Step One:  You call us up and book a makeover (902-393-5112) or email simplystylishpei@gmail.com

Step Two:  We arrive at your home on the planned date and take a before photo of you.

Step Three:  Cheryl has a hair consultation with you.  Then she creates a beautiful hairstyle to suit your needs.  She also teaches you how to style your new do, and also goes through your hair products & tools and gives you recommendations on how to use them.

Step Four:  We go to your closet.  We determine your body shape with a mathematical analysis and tell you what style of clothing you should be wearing, and what you should be avoiding.  And then we help you select an outfit for your photo shoot with Rachel.

Step Five:  Once you're dressed you head to the makeup chair.  After a makeup consultation, I'll create a makeup look for you.  While I'm applying your makeup, I'll be teaching you how to do it as we go along.  I'll also record the makeup to a face chart so you can keep it and refer back to it when you are doing it on your own.  I'll also go through your makeup with you and tell you how to use it properly and what colours work for you and what colours don't.

Step Six:  Strike a pose!  It's picture time, and you will have nothing to worry about!!!  Rachel will make you feel so relaxed.  Honestly I know how it feels.  I hate getting my picture taken, and I feel 100% more comfortable behind the scenes then I do in front of the camera.  But when Rachel has taken my picture, I can truly say she makes me feel at ease and like I'm the most photogenic person in the world.  And the great part about it, she makes every woman feel that way!

Your makeover is now complete!  You'll have a new hairstyle, a new makeup look, you'll know what you should be wearing for your body shape, and you'll have the before and after photos of your magical transformation!  Best of all, you'll be able to take what you've learned from us and create your new look for yourself every day!

Loose Button & Lancome Canada Contest

Luxe Box by Loose Button & Lancome Canada have teamed up and put together a contest.

A special edition box filled with Lancome beauty products is what is up for grabs!

So here's how the contest works:
The top 25 voted best beauty bloggers/vloggers will win 2 of the special edition Lancome boxes.  One to keep for themselves.  The other to giveaway to one of there followers.

So here's how to vote:

1. Go to the Loose Button Facebook page
2. It will direct you to "like" the Lancome Canada Page
3. Then fill in your name, and email address.  Hit the vote now button, then vote for your favourite beauty blogger/vlogger.   
4. My logo is Michelle Cudmore Makeup Artist (I'm about in the middle of the pack right now).  I appreciate all your votes!  Seriously I think it would be so cool for a little makeup artist in the smallest province in Canada to win a nation wide contest!!!!!  
5. You can vote every day, so if you can remember to vote for me I'd be thrilled :)

Contest closes Dec 9, so there's only 3 days left to vote!

Thanks to all my supporters, and to everyone who voted!  You ROCK!!!!

Best & Worst of IMATS Toronto 2011

I'm all unpacked, and my new makeup purchases are all organized and put into their "new home" inside my kit.   Here is a quick snapshot of my new goodies...

Overall, the show was a success for me.  I learned new tips and tricks as well as finding lots of new products.  But like every show, there are some really great highlights and some major misses.

So here are my thoughts on the Best & Worst at  IMATS Toronto:

BEST BOOTH FOR PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP ARTISTS:

• Alcone

WORST LINEUP:

this one is tied...

• Make Up For Ever - I waited almost an hour and a half in lineup at this booth on Saturday morning!!!!!
• NYX - I didn't purchase anything at this booth but the lineup was ridiculous! It was half the length of the trade show floor!  It really made getting around that area, to the other booths, nearly impossible to pass through.

FRIENDLIEST BOOTH:

• Velour Lashes - Angela and Mabel are the sweetest girls and just so friendly.  It was a pleasure meeting them!

MOST ENTHUSIASTIC VENDOR:

• Harry at the Grande Lash MD, this guy danced the WHOLE show!  He IS the Energizer Bunny!

BEST SURPRISE:

• MAC was actually selling product at the show this year!  Last year they didn't have any product, they were just taking info for pro cards.  So this was a nice change this year.

MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE BOOTH:

• The Student Competition Stage.  I could stand there all day and watch those artists create masterpieces.  I love it!

BEST SPEAKER:

• Floraine David with Make Up For Ever.  This lady is crazy talented and my heart was beating like crazy just watching her!  She was so inspiring, and I just loved her work.

THE BIGGEST MISS:

• I really wish this show was for industry professionals only.  Even if Saturday was pro only and then Sunday was open to the public.  I think the quality of the show would be so much better.  Then the seminars on the Saturday could be more focused and intense for the pros, and the Sunday seminars could be more generic for the public.  I really hope that IMATS will someday move towards focusing more on the professional artists.  Here's hoping anyway!

Two Tone Pink Makeup

Products Used:

FACE
Foundation - Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Warm Ivory & Honey
Graftobian -  HD Pro Powder
NARS - Desire blush

EYES
Bobbi Brown - Long Wear Cream Shadow in Malted 17
MAC - Girlie
MAC - Cranberry
MAC - Naked Lunch
Urban Decay - 24/7 pencil in Zero
MAC - Carbon
MAC - Charcoal Brown
Fairy Drops mascara
Eyelure lashes

LIPS
MAC - Cherry lip Pencil
Make Up For Ever - Rouge Artist Intense #36
Barry M - Dazzle Dust in 85

My 2011 Halloween Costume

When I was a little girl, I loved watching Mr. Dress Up on television every weekday morning.  Canadians of a certain age, I know you're with me on this.  But for those of you who don't know who Mr. Dress Up was, he's a man who lived with a puppet Casey and his puppet dog Finnegan.  Yes it sounds a bit strange, but believe me, it worked.  Anyhow, what I loved most about Mr Dress Up was his tickle trunk.  Again, I know it sounds weird, but stay with me here.   So he had this trunk full of costumes, and every day he would dress up in a different costume - and I loved it!!!

So my Mom started her own tickle trunk in our basement when we were young.  In it was a crazy mix of her old clothes from the 60's, her old wigs (my Mom wore wigs in the 60's), some homemade costumes, and those terrible face masks with the eyes cut out of them.  

So long story short, I credit Mr Dress Up for my undying love of Halloween.  It's the one day a year that's ok to dress up in crazy costumes.  And now I have my very own tickle trunk (minus the yucky, sweaty face masks) full of wigs (some of them I inherited from my Mom) and costumes.  And my kids, although they have no idea who Mr Dress Up is, love going through my tickle trunk, trying on all the costumes and wigs.

Now my husband, he's not anti Halloween, but he's just kinda neutral on the whole thing.  The very first year we were together I made him a blue lego man costume.  And he was a good sport and humoured me by wearing it.  I wish I knew where the pictures are, he probably threw them out!  Any way, his go to Halloween costume is Captain Jack Sparrow.  He was Captain Jack last year and he wanted to be Captain Jack again this year so I decided to go along with him this year and I dressed up as Angelica from On Stranger Tides (the Penelope Cruz character).  In terms of makeup difficulty it was super easy.  Just a dark smoky eye and nude lip.  I wore Velour Lashes in Are Those Real.  If it wear up to me I would have picked a more elaborate makeup based look that no one would even recognize me, but it's sometimes fun to dress up in matching couple costumes.

So here we are all dressed up for the Halloween party we were going to.  LOL, he's trying to make a pirate face ;)

Did you dress up last night?  What were your costumes?

Black Wedding Dresses

Vera Wang has designed some amazingly beautiful, BLACK wedding dresses for her 2012 collection.  Yes, I did say black.  Black wedding dresses.   hmmmmm.  What do you think?  Would you wear a black wedding dress?  I think they are gorgeous, and black is so much easier to wear then white.  I'd be willing to jump into a black wedding dress, but I'm not sure how many brides out there would dare to wear black.  Sarah Jessica Parker did back in 1997 when she got married.  God, she's always ahead of the curve isn't she!

Here are some pics of Vera Wang's 2012 wedding dress collection.  And tell me if you would honestly wear a black wedding dress!  I want to know!!!

Glow in the Dark Makeup

Glow in the Dark Makeup, yup, that's right, and just in time to get  your spook on for Halloween.

Make Up For Ever has recently released a new product called Fluo Night Black Light Pigment! ($31US for .10oz jar)

It's a transparent powder that will glow when exposed to UV light!  It can be worn alone on the face or body or you can mix it in to any product (like lipstick or gel eyeliners) to create very cool effects!  If you are a club kinda girl this would be so much fun.  I'm not a club kinda girl any more, BUT I think this would be so fun to wear glow bowling!  Especially since no one would be expecting it!  My daughters are wanting this big time!!!

But if your not the glow in dark face kind of person either, you could always try the new glow in the dark nail polishes that are out right now.  At Shoppers Drug Mart and Wlamart you can get glow in the dark polish by Wet n' Wild for a decent price.  Or you can try the OPI Spookettes line which I have and love!

Kids Halloween Makeup

Hey Guys!

Here are my kids Halloween looks from 2010.  I've been busy doing adult Halloween makeup and my daughter's won't take it any more!

So starting tonight I'm going to be doing a new series of kid's Halloween makeup tutorials.  But until that's ready to go, I'll show you last years :)

And as every parent out there who has attempted to do Halloween makeup on their kids knows - kids don't like to sit still, at all.  So the name of the game is fast application, not perfection.

Avatar

Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts

Frankenstein

vampire

mummy (this one cracks me up!)

zombie

vampire

Ms Spider

Dead Bride

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Halloween

OK, so I think it's a given that you all know how much I love Halloween.  Favourite day ever!!!  So no surprise that when I was at Shoppers Drug Mart today and spotted these Sally Hansen Salon Effects Halloween, that I totally flipped out!  I'm loving them!!!

I bought these two for myself :)

But there are 5 patterns to choose from:

How cute are these little ghosties!?

Tokyo Lash Bar by Shu Uemura

Shu Uemura has created some wild eyes for their 2011 Tokyo Lash Bar.  Their inspiration was tribal and the results - are some pretty amazing and unique lashes!

Shu Uemura describes the lash line as:
"an expert in the art of false eyelashes, shu uemura's tokyo lash bar has established itself to be a hot and trendy beauty staple internationally. 

“ethnocolor-scope” features the beauty of intricate decorations inspired by artistic handicrafts. fashion your own eye décor just as traditional people once weaved and created their own exquisite crafts."

Tribal Patch $36

Green Folklore

Ethnic Charm

Oriental Arch $36

And these little ones are Mini Fancy Bonbon $32

Urban Decay Glitter Body Art

I have one word to describe Urban Decay's Glitter Body Art - LOVE

Yes, I love, love, love their GLITTER BODY ART.

To make myself clear....

Glitter + Body Art = Love

 So beautiful!!!

This is what the kit looks like.  It comes with 5 beautiful shades of glitter, a Starlight glitter glue, a fan brush and...

 and these peel and stick stencils.

The back of the box show some samples of what the glitter tattoos look like.

The kit costs $35 US.

Stick On Makeup

Who came up with this stick on makeup trend?  I'm not sure who came out with it first,, I think it was the eyeshadow stickers.  What do you think of the trend?  Do you like the stick on makeup?  I think some of it is good, and some...not so good.

Stick on eyeshadow.  

I think sometimes good...sometimes not so good.  Can be a total hit or a major miss!

The stick on nail polish...I say amazing!  Thank you Sally Hansen! (and other brands)

Stick on eyeliners by Dior.

I'd like to try these out.  I like the concept.  I think it could be great for those who struggle with their eyeliner.  But does it stick on well enough, and how long does it last?  Is it hard to get off?  I'd like to research these more for sure.

OK, so I think these are the most out there of all the press on/stick on makeup.  Stick on lips.  I think these are awesome if you need a cool looking close up lip shot on a photo shoot.  But in real life, I think a lot of the patterns would look really odd at a distance....  BUT if you're the type who likes to push the boundaries in makeup, then I think these are great.  Totally depends on your makeup personality! 

Have your tried any of these trends or which ones would you like to try?  Let me know what you think!