The Bronzers That Rock!

By: Shane Terenzi

So it is the first sign of great weather on the East Coast and people are starting to lay out in the sun to get as dark as they can. I love the good weather because it makes everyone so much happier! As the spring and summer are approaching I never think it is too early to start adding a little color to your face- this makes a real suntan not as shocking from your pasty winter skin. The easiest way to do this is adding a touch of bronzer to your everyday makeup – I am not talking about Snookie from the Jersey Shore amount of bronzer (and fake tanning) but just a little to start warming up your face.

My three top bronzers I use vary in price but achieve the same result.

The first bronzer that I had ever tried was Cargo’s Medium Bronzer. Obviously you would pick the shade that best fits your skin tone, but with using any shade, this is a great product. It goes on light, but layers nicely with other foundations and tinted moisturizers. Sometimes with a thick heavy product, you load up your brush and where you place it on your cheek, the product places and does not move or blend well – this is not the case with Cargo’s. It is relatively inexpensive as bronzers go and online at their website you can get it for $25.00

MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder isn’t technically a “bronzer” but I have used it as one. This is perfect if you don’t want to add definition to your cheeks or T-Zone, but just want an overall darker feel. I use a “Handy Buki” brush (at Bare Essentials for $20) and with not attention to detail apply it all over the face. It adds a nice, darker shade to your face without making it look un-natural. This product lists for $28.00

The final bronzer I recommend is a new product to me, but I am already in love with it. It is from Estee Lauder and is called the Bronze Goddess Exotic Bronzing Blush. This is a combination bronzer and blush (will work well for skin tones that have a little red in them). This bronzer is great to apply on your cheekbones and a dash on your T-Zone to tie it all in. I would not use this all over you face as you can the MAC one. This product is such a great addition to their line as it combines two products in one. A lot of women don’t know if they can wear bronzer and blush, and if they want to, do not know how to apply it. This product is both. As I said, apply it like a blush and it will warm and darken your face up to a great sun kissed look! This product is listed at $35.00

Hope this helps and let me know if there are any products you would like recommendations on! Enjoy the nice weather!

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Photo Credits: Company Websites of Each Product

Quick Makeup Tips!

By: Shane Terenzi

I was talking with my sister last night and she asked me for a couple quick things to do with makeup that were easy but made it look like she put effort into her appearance. I totally understand that people don’t have forty-five minutes to do a smoky eye with eyeliner, a smashing bold lip, and full foundation. It is just not realistic. So, I came up with a couple quick makeup tips and products that can help you have a complete look with only spending less than 5 minutes on your makeup!

The first is eye shadow. Sometimes it is fun to spend time coming up with cool color combinations but when you’re late running out the door, you just want to throw on something. Use Urban Decay’s Eye Shadow Primer Potion. If you buy it in Champagne you can put a little on and it gives your eyes a nice shimmer to them. It will dry and not crease which is always nice not to worry about. Once you have the primer, you can also use this before putting on your normal eye shadow and it should make it last longer and also, not crease.

The mascara that I use and swear by is Benefit’s BAD gal Lash. It has a great consistency, does not clump, and does what you want from mascara. The thing that I like about BAD gal is that it lasts. If you put it on before going out for the night, you will not need to go the bathroom to reapply or de-clump your lashes.

Another great, easy thing to do to complete a look is using Smashbox’s O-Gloss. It is the coolest gloss out there. What happens is that you put the gloss on as usual, but then it changes to your lip color and brings a more reddish-pink color to it. It is different for each person (obviously because everyone’s coloring is different) but really creates a nice effect. I was on a photo shoot awhile ago, and after the shoot the model took off all the makeup because she was going to another casting, and whips out O-Gloss and puts it on. In like 2 minutes she turned around, and I was like, “I thought you took off your makeup?” She then told me about O-Gloss and since then I have loved it.

So those are just three really awesome products that make getting ready simple and quick. The eye shadow primer doesn’t require any precision, the mascara is, well, mascara, and the O-Gloss does the work so you don’t have to! Let me know if you guys have any questions and I’ll try to come up with some other tips for the future…


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Photo Credits: Company websites of each product

Too Much Photo Shop!

By: Shane Terenzi

I know my last blog was about the cover of T with Julianne Moore on the cover but this blog is about another cover or covers in general. The new cover of London’s Harper’s Bazaar featuring Megan Fox is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, when you look more into the cover, you find out that it is not all Megan Fox. Widely know, Fox has a “toe thumb”- where her thumb is shorter and resembles a toe, not a finger. Many people have this, not a deformity, just a characteristic. On the cover though, photo shopped is a “normal” thumb from a hand model. I guess my concern is why do you need to do that? Megan Fox is undisputedly sexy. Her thumb is not the first thing any guy or girl looks at when they look at her.

I think this problem of photo shopping has dominated our society and increasingly is taking more and more of a presence. As a makeup artist, I understand wanting your work to look the best it can be. I also do not want my work to not be relevant any more. If someone at a computer can sit there and photo shop makeup on the model, give her a hair style, and take out any imperfection, what then becomes my role as an artist. The only people needed in a photo shoot would be the model and photographer- not the art director, makeup artist, hair stylist, stylist, or manicurist.

Some of the covers that I have had a problem with recently include Tina Fey on Vogue and Demi Moore on W. Tina Fey its less of a problem than think that what they photo shopped could have been avoided. Fey has had a scar on her cheek since her childhood, received from a stranger slashing her face at age 5 in her front lawn. I don’t understand why they had to use that side of her face, if there is a scar on it and you don’t want to show it, shoot the other side! On W Magazine, it was blatant that Demi Moore’s hips were corrected, but corrected poorly. There is a chunk missing out of one. When asked about this, W Magazine denied it saying they did no altering of the photo. It is a professional standard now to send the photos to post production and do corrections- so don’t deny it.

In conclusion- I know that photo shop is needed. There is a level of standard that people expect from a cover. I understand smoothing of skin, correcting bumpy eyeliner, or whitening teeth. But- when you change someone drastically- especially when they are a famous personality – we will notice the obvious changes. Photo shop is to enhance a photo, not change it. Lets make the people that we show across all forms of entertainment, real not fake.

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Photo credits: Bazaar- JustJared.com, Vogue- cocoperez.com, W- popeater.com

Julianne Moore On The Cover

By: Shane Terenzi

Julianne Moore graced the cover this Sunday's T: The New York Times Style Magazine and looks amazing. It always surprises me when a celebrity does such avant-garde makeup for something so widely distributed as this magazine. Her makeup in this shot was a combination of clown and mime makeup- a white foundation, bold red lip and her eye’s had a blue cat eye shape to them. You do not see her hair at all as its pulled back with a black headband. The other pictures from the shoot were highly artistic as well. My favorite was the very ice-y blue picture. Her hair is very relaxed, looked as if it was just brushed out. Her makeup was simple, a nice comparison to the first shot, using a nude/pink lip and stone light blue eye shadow.

In the article, Moore talks a lot about her role in “A Single Man”, the Tom Ford movie that starred Collin

Firth. Also, she talks about her natural hair color, red. This is the question and answer:

“Maybe it’s your hair color. At the beginning of your career, did anyone suggest you dye your natural red hair blond, as, say, Nicole Kidman did?”

“No. [Laughs.] Although my very first director told me that if you have red hair, somebody is casting you for a reason. He said, “There will be parts that you don’t get because, especially onstage, people can see you.” I’ve been wigged plenty of times, but the funny thing is that even when I have a different hair color, people tend to still remember me as having red hair.”

Congrats, Julianne! The issue looks amazing and so does every shot of her.

For a similar look to Moore’s, try Dior Five-Color eye shadow in Night Dust and One-Color eye shadow in Crystal white and Lancôme Color Design Lipstick in Red Stiletto. For the Ice-y blue look, try Dior Addict Lipcolor in Undressed Pink and Dior Blush in A Touch of Blush.

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Photo Credits: Avant-garde: JustJared.com, Ice-y: NY Times