Tame Your Brows

Tags

brow shaping, brow tweezing, brows, eyebrow shaping, eyebrow threading, eyebrows, Rubis, spoolie, threading, tweezers, tweezing

Do you have $20 and about 20 minutes? Then come get your eyebrows threaded or tweezed by Senior Staff Artist Kate Block here at Facade! (Call 713-552-1545 to schedule an appointment.)

But maybe you’re more of a DIY girl? Kate offers her expert advice so you can get the best results at home!

Invest in quality tools.

A. Facade Spoolie, $10. Used to brush the brow hairs in place.

B. Rubis Swiss-Made Angled Tweezers, $40. It is an investment–but these truly are the finest tweezers out there. Expertly get the finest or the shortest hairs with ease!

C. Rubis Scissor, $40. Used to trim excessively long unruly hairs. These are small, sharp, and precise.

Go almost Au Naturale

Full brows have made a comeback in a HUGE way. Altering the shape of your brow too much can look artificial and severe. Plus there’s so much upkeep! Typically what looks best is a more refined version of your own natural brow.

Your eyebrows are SISTERS not twins.

Everyone’s face is slightly asymmetrical–which includes your eyebrows. The goal is to make them look as similar as possible. But don’t be too much of a perfectionist! Sometimes hairs grow in one brow that just DON’T on the other. If you can’t fix it with a tweezer, you can fix it with a brow pencil later!

Step AWAY from the magnifying mirror!

Back it up! Things can look WAY worse up close in a magnifying mirror, so by the time you look back up, you might have taken off WAY. TOO. MUCH.! Instead, try doing all of your shaping first in a regular mirror, and then use a magnifying mirror to get the short stumpy stragglers or the very fine hairs you missed.

To trim or not to trim?

Not everyone needs to trim their brow hairs. Some naturally just seem to grow about the perfect length–others have a slight curl to them or just grow very long. If you choose to trim your brow hairs BE CAREFUL. Use your spoolie to brush them up, and only trim the ones that are EXCESSIVELY long first. I don’t like cutting them flush with the body of the brow, because often when you do this it leaves a sparse patch once it’s brushed back into place. Instead, trim slightly,and constantly brush hairs back into place to see if you need to take off a little bit more. I also like to leave the hairs that grow straight up at the beginning of the brow a little longer so that when they are brushed they can curve a little instead of looking so stiff and pointy after being trimmed short.

Make an appointment with yourself.

Your hair grows in different stages. Obviously you can only remove the hairs that are currently on the surface. But three days from now, more might crop up–DON’T “touch up”. If you get those hairs right away it encourages them to continue growing on a different cycle–if you wait, you’ll get them when you get the other hairs the next time. After awhile, they’ll start to all grow in at the same time–just before you’re ready to tweeze! Do them once now, and in two weeks (February 13th) you’ll be ready to do them again so you’re PERFECT for Valentine’s!

Use the line test as a guide.

A. Using a makeup brush or pencil, hold it next to the side of your nostril to the inner corner of your eye. Where it intersects with your brow is where the beginning should be. Excess hairs, in general, should be removed. A few beyond this point is okay–if ever in doubt leave them alone! (Note: EVERYONE has hairs that stick straight up in the beginning of the brow–don’t try to get rid of all of them–eyebrows that are spaced too far apart make your eyes look too close together!)

B. Now hold the brush or pencil next to the side of your nostril and across the Iris of your eye (when looking straight ahead). The point where it intersects with your brow is generally where the highest point of your arch should be. Remember that generally the prettiest shape is a more refined version of your own. Remove hairs here gradually. Again, if in doubt leave it alone!

C. Keep the pencil at the side of your nostril but so that it also sits at the outer corner of your eye. The point where it intersects the brow should be the end of your brow. Remove additional hairs to keep your face looking open and provide lift. If your brows naturally shorter than this, that’s OKAY! If it bothers you, you can always extend them slightly with a brow pencil later.

Now for some inspiring brows!

Brooke Shields is known for her gorgeous full brows. Her brows are very linear and don’t have a dramatic arch.

Reese Witherspoon‘s brows are much smaller and very angular. They have a pointed arch. They compliment her delicate features and pointed jaw perfectly.

Kate Winslet has curvaceous brows. She has a definite arch that opens up her eyes. Their slightly darker color creates a beautiful contrast with her golden hair.

Lucy Liu has somewhat thin brows, but they don’t have an over-exxagerated curve and end where they should. Many asians have sparse brow hair, but filling in slightly with a brow pencil can give the illusion of more density.

Beyonce Knowles‘ brows are also very curvy. They provide beautiful lift which attracts your eyes to her own.

Penelope Cruz has a strong brow that works perfectly with her angular jaw and prominent cheekbones.

These brows all are so different but suit their owners perfectly–likely because they are similar those they have naturally–but are just tweaked to near-perfection!

Happy Tweezing!

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The Perfect Pout

Tags

Arabella, Cameo, Caradona, Facade #1 Corner Concealer Brush, Facade Beauty, Facade IT concealer, Laguna Beach, LIPSMART, Maverick Pink, Sweet Kate, vanity lipliner, Windflower

Let’s be honest girls– we typically don’t really wear makeup to attract or impress men. It’s more about the way WE feel. They don’t always notice all the trouble you went to, what they DO notice is the confidence it evokes in us when we know we look great.

But with Valentine’s day right around the corner, we can still try to use makeup in a way that will appeal to them. Most men will find a lip that looks like the best version of your own the most attractive–so instead of a bold red lip, try instead a color that is almost the same shade as your natural lip tone. Most girls have a color that ranges from a browny-pink to a soft petal, to even a slight berry tone.

Lips with a little sheen to them look sultry– Begin by lining the lips with a neutral lip liner like FACADE Vanity, and finish by applying a sheer gloss, or a soft lipstick. Don’t goop on too much, though– men typically don’t like it when a gloss or lipstick feels too sticky.

 

 

 

Products to try:

 

 

 

 

(From Left to Right) Facade Lip gloss in SWEET KATE, MAVERICK PINK, and ARABELLA are gorgeous neutral lip tones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(From Left to Right) Facade Lipstick in LAGUNA BEACH, CARADONA, AND CAMEO.

If you’ve been using your LIPSMART or Natura Bisse Lip Recovery Balm, as we suggested in our FIRST Valentine’s post, your lips will FEEL just as good as they look! (And Here’s a tip– for the most natural looking lip, try using ONLY Vanity Lipliner and LIPSMART together!)

Below, take a look at our short video tutorial by Facade Owner, Corinne Williams:

These hands were made for holdin’

Tags

Darphin, Darphin Aromatic Hand Cream, Natura Bisse, Natura Bisse Spa Hand Silk, Natura Bisse Tensolift Hand

We’re all about feeling touchable this Valentine’s—so keep your hands worthy of hand-holding by beginning to use a great hand cream NOW! Make it go farther by using a quality scrub first, or try making your own sugar scrub using white sugar, a few drops of your favorite essential oil, a few drops of lemon juice, and a few drops of olive oil. Scrub well and rinse–then apply one of these hand creams to still-damp hands.

Try

Darphin Aromatic Hand Cream $40, has a light texture, with skin-softening and anti-aging ingredients.

Natura Bisse Spa Hand Silk hand cream $35, a slightly richer texture, which includes sunscreen and a formula that lasts several hours.

or

Natura Bisse Tensolift Hand Cream $105, which contains powerful anti-aging ingredients that reduce the appearance of age spots, and increase the elasticity of the skin on hands.

Extra Luscious Lashes

Tags

eyelashes, mascara, mascara primer, Revitalash, Revitalash primer

Try using Revitalash mascara primer ($24) to give lashes that extra va-va voom!

Bat them every chance you get, and snag yourself a valentine!

Feeling Flirty for Valentine’s Day!

Tags

LIPSMART, Natura Bisse, NBceutical Lip Recovery Balm, valentines day

We’re going to Update with tips EVERY day from now until Valentine’s with tips to feel and look fabulous for one of the most romantic days of the year.

February 14th is just over two weeks away. Start getting ready by softening your lips! Try our two favorite products:

Lipsmart $30

This softens and PLUMPS the lip but doesn’t sting! Has a cumulative effect (which is why you should start NOW!) and leaves a beautiful glossy shine!

and BRAND NEW from Natura Bisse:

NBceutical Lip Recovery Balm $65

Not just any “balm” but an intensive treatment that repairs stressed lip tissue and keeps it supple. Perfect texture for under lipstick.

Happy Smooching!

Under-eye Concealer

Tags

Bye Bye Under Eye, concealer, dark under-eye circles, Facade IT concealer, Invisible Touch Concealer, it Cosmetics, the ditch, under eye pinkness, under-eye circles

Concealing under the eyes can be tricky–you want to make sure that you’re drawing LESS attention to the area and not more. If you have the wrong formula, the wrong color, or the wrong technique for applying it–you’ll look even worse than before you started. We sell two great products for this: Facade’s very own Invisible Touch Concealer (available in two shades: 1 and 2) and it Cosmetics’ BYE BYE Under-Eye (available in four shades: light, neutral-medium, tan, and deep).

Here are some tricks to keep in mind:

1.) Apply foundation FIRST. Use one that can be lightly applied even around the eye area (all of the foundations we sell at Facade are great for this). This starts to conceal discoloration around the eye- especially pink- and allows you to get away with using less concealer. If you applied concealer first, when you apply your foundation, you may end up accidentally removing some of the concealer you already applied!

2.) Find a color that matches your skin almost exactly instead of one that is a few shades lighter. If however, you can’t find an exact match, going with the lighter tone rather than the darker is usually best. If your shade is TOO light, you get the dreaded reverse-raccoon effect!

3.) PAINT & PAT to blend. We’ve all done it before—you use this sweeping painting type motion to blend the color of your concealer, and end up moving the product off the very spot you were trying to conceal! This compromises your coverage and ultimately takes longer. Instead, use a SMALL concealer brush like Facade #1 Corner Concealer to PAINT the concealer exactly where you want it. Then use the flat side of a Facade #3 Concealer brush (or a CLEAN finger) to PAT (or tap) over the area you placed the concealer. This blurs the edge and diffuses where the concealer stops and starts, without moving it from the area you were trying to cover. DO NOT continue to paint/sweep unless you accidentally applied too much and need to remove some. Sometimes I will use my finger to “pat” instead of my brush because the warmth of my skin helps the products sort of “melt” into the skin and look the most natural.

4.) Above all else (except maybe color) placement is key. When you conceal the entire under-eye area, it can look heavy and masked. Plus, if you conceal the whole thing, it takes away the illusion of making the dark areas come forward. Using the “paint and pat” technique, place the color where you need it:

a.)Most women are the darkest right at the orbital bone under the eye, So color needs to be placed directly over this area. Sometimes we refer to this natural dip in the contour of the face as “THE DITCH”…okay it might seem a little harsh, but it gets the point across, right? Put your concealer RIGHT in the ditch!

 

 

 

 

 

b.) Some women have more bluish or pinkish color extending up toward the inner corner of the eye, so I’ll fatten the line of the ditch just in that area. Now pat to blur the edges! (Not everyone needs to do this—so if you don’t have it, keep your “ditch” line thinner…)

 

 

 

 

 

c.) Also some women will have a little pinkness directly under their lower lashes. If this is the case, to make the eyes appear more alert, I will cover the pink by using the concealer to almost LINE the bottom of the eye. Keep it THIN and always PAT using your finger or a brush to blur!

 

 

 

 

 

d.) Most women also want a little lift at the outer corner of their eyes. If this is the case, apply a line that slants up and out from the outer corner of your eye.

 

 

 

 

 

e.) Not every woman will need to cover ALL of these areas. I typically end up applying some in the “ditch” and some at the outer corners of the eye for most women. Pick and choose what is necessary for YOUR face. The less concealer you end up using, the more natural and crisp you will look. Remember to always step back from the mirror to make sure you’re actually making IMPROVEMENTS! Below is what it would look like to cover all the suggested areas before blending. Notice the “puff” part of the eye is never concealed since it already comes forward–the point is to bring all of the areas that don’t appear to come forward to look smooth and flush with this part!

 

 

 

 

 

Stand up and step back from your computer screen to see what an improvement these techniques can make! Especially from far away!

Happy concealing!