Makeup Essentials

Fall Eye Makeup: 4-Shadow YSL Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eye Shadow Palette 

Review

Purple is all the rage this Fall, but how do you do plums and burgundies without looking like an overdone clown? The trick is subtlety, and of course it comes down to knowing how to blend, blend and blend. Bright eyeshadows like blues, reds and purples will make a bold statement, but it's important to differentiate between shades that are appropriate for day and night. There are certain colors, you shouldn't wear to the office, and there are certain ones, that were just made for night time glamour. So, whether you're going out for brunch or the hottest new nightclub, it's important to choose colors that will excentuate your look without attracting the wrong type of attention.  

One of my top choices for Fall is Yves Saint Laurent's Pure Chromatics 4-Wet & Dry Eye Shadow Palette. It's priced at $48, (which comes to $12 per eye shadow), and broken down this way, individual shadows are actually less expensive than shadows by other comparable speciality makeup brands like M.A.C, Smashbox, Elizabeth Arden, Benefit, and Stila.

The best thing about this palette is that these eye shadows can be used both dry or wet; use dry for a subtle shimmer, or wet for an intense metallic finish. The YSL Pure Chromatics Palette offers a ton of versatility; it's compact and lightweight, making it the perfect addition to your Fall makeup collection.

So, if you're looking for a compact solution without investing a ton on individual shadows, pigment powder or eyeliner, this compact has it all; you can even use these shadows as liquid liner. Simply take an angled brush (synthetic fibers work best), and dip the brush into water. Next, gently pat the angled tip into the dry shadow (make sure the brush is well-saturated with pigment); apply above the lashline, starting at the middle of your eyelid, sweeping from the center of the lid to the outer corner. Re-wet brush and saturate with pigment; return to the center of the eyelid, sweeping from the middle of the lid to the inner corner [in the direction facing your nose].

Yves Saint Laurent has several eyeshadow palettes available in variety of different colors; for Fall, I recommend YSL Pure Chromatics Wet & Dry Eye Shadow Palette 06, featuring mossy green, soft gold, tea rose pink and dark purple. It has all of the classic shades you'll need this season. 

Day & Night

For a daytime look, use tea rose pink on your eyelid, and soft gold to highlight your brow bone. Finish it off with a subtle sweep of dark purple on the outermost corner of the lid (apply in a circular motion sweeping upward and inward). For a night time look, sweep mossy green on your lid, and use tea rose pink to highlight the space between your browbone and eyelid. To finish off your dramatic night time look, wet an angled synthetic brush, and dip it into the dark purple shadow, and use that color to line your eyes as if your were using liquid liner. Curl Lashes using an eyelash curler, and apply a generous coat of carbon black mascara.  For an even more dramatic night time look, use a deep plum mascara (like tokidoki's Punk Lash Mascara in "Sabochan" (purple) available at Sephora $18). 

Foundation 101: How to Choose the Right Foundation for Your Skin

Choosing the right foundation can be an absolute nightmare. And, while there are many great, affordable drugstore options, it's hard to pick the right color, especially, when sales associates are constantly asking you if "you need help," when in reality, all you need is damn tester. 

Light, Medium or Heavy Coverage

Some things to consider when purchasing foundation are: how much coverage do you want or need? Do you have relatively smooth skin, or do you have a couple of blemishes or pimples you're looking to coverup? If you don't fall into the "flawless skin" category, you have a couple of options; for instance, if you have a red undertone to your skin, you may want to invest in a green color corrector in addition to foundation (Physicians Formula, a drugstore brand makes a great and easy-to-blend corrector: Physicians Formula Conceal Rx Physicians Strength Concealer, Soft Green, $6-8). Using this type of color corrector, you can opt for a lighter-base foundation since green will help neutralize the redness of your skin; you won't have to cake on layers of heavy liquid foundation, concealer or loose powder. Apply (before foundation, and make sure the green fades to a soft white/green-- it should be very faint). Next, apply foundation over the green color corrector, and make sure to blend well (especially by your ears, jawbone and crown). Using this option, you can achieve a more natural look instead of an overdone, plastered matte finish. 

SPF:  The Anti-aging Solution 

 Another question to ask yourself: do I want a foundation with sunscreen protection? Sure, we're entering Fall, but the Sun's damaging rays are still affecting your skin even as the weather gets colder. You may want to invest in a long-wearing foundation with UV protection, but you have to be careful when making your decision, because there are two forms of UV radiation. For full-protection, you'll want to purchase a foundation with both UVA/UVB SPF protection; otherwise, you'll still be getting sun-damage. An excellent choice for natural, buildable medium-to-full coverage with both UVA/UVB protection is Smashbox's Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Foundation SPF 10 (priced at $42; available at Sephora). This incredible foundation is water-based, and oil-free, keeping your skin hydrated and shine-free. It's great for people with blemishes, slight-to-medium imperfections and discoloration, but I wouldn't recommend this foundation for people with heavy acne, and/or other more serious skin problems. 

Tinted Moisturizer

If you're anything like me, and you're into the quick, low-hassle solution, and have relatively clear skin, you may want to skip foundation, and opt for a tinted moisturizer. It's quick and easy-to-apply, and gives your skin a nice rosy or golden glow. As a licensed makeup artist, I'll admit that I'm the first one to detest wearing makeup outside of an event or demo, and I'll also admit that wearing foundation daily, is really bad for your pores (even if you're a zealot, when it comes to removing makeup). The reality is, your skin needs to breathe, and even the lightest or mineral-based foundations do not give your skin enough oxygen it needs, if you're plastering layers of heavy-based liquid foundation on a day-to-day basis. And, if you're one of those people that have to leave the house with makeup on, I'd recommend you use tinted moisturizer a few days out of the week as an alternative to foundation. You'll notice a dramatic improvement in the smoothness, color and hydration of your skin. 

My favorite tinted moisturizer is Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 ($42; available at Sephora); it provides a sheer hint of color and gives my skin a healthy, natural-looking glow. If you don't feel like dropping $42 dollars on a tinted moisturizer, I'll share this affordable alternative. Buy a drugstore brand, hydrating, SPF Moisturizer, and take your existing foundation, or purchase a drugstore brand of your choice (I recommend Loreal; it's made by Lancome, and offers better coverage than other comparable brands). Take the moisturizer of your choice (about a quarter-sized dollop and add 2-3 small drops of foundation; mix well), and Voila! You've just created your very own custom tinted moisturizer at about quarter of the price of Sephora or other luxury brands. 

Choosing the Right Shade of Foundation

The hardest part about choosing foundation is determining which shade is right for your skin. Often, you'll pick up a bottle or use the color swatches against your skin, and you'll get home, apply your newly purchased foundation only to find that you look like a ghost or the newest cast member of The Jersey Shore. If you don't have a tester readily available (especially in a drugstore), I recommend keeping your receipt, and returning it immediately, if you find the color is an awful match. Most drugstores like CVS and Duane Reade have decent return policies, and I recommend that you do some research, and familiarize yourself with a store's return policy before making your purchase. 

A cardinal rule of thumb: when in doubt, always go lighter! Let's say your skin tone is Honey Beige, but you're looking at the bottle, and think it's too light; the shade above that color choice is a Classic Tan. Do not go for the Classic Tan because it will most likely be too dark. Even if you purchase the Honey Beige, you can apply this shade of foundation, and darken it up using, a darker shade of loose powder or bronzer, but you cannot lighten foundation using loose powder or bronzer of a lighter shade. In makeup, it's always wet before dry. So the guiding philosophy is: you can buy a foundation two shades lighter than your actual color, and still use powder/bronzer to achieve a desired look that's truest to your skin tone without making you look too unnatural, too dark or worse... too orange.