TODAY I LOVE....BLUE....

Sometimes I'm particularly attracted by certain colours..I pick them while working, while deciding what to wear or even on smaller details like choosing a wrapping paper.
These days I'm very much into blue, any shades of it.. and want to share with you some lovely images.

This is  an interesting article  that I found about the meaning and the effects of colours.

source: http://crystal-cure.com

Color Blue

Blue is the coolest color - the color of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. The ancient Egyptians used lapis lazuli to represent heaven. Blue symbolizes the Virgin Mary. A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is often the chosen color by conservative people. Blue is the calming color. That makes it a wonderful color to use in the home, especially for babies. Blue is so soothing that is a good choice for pajamas. Dark blue is the color of truth and moderation. A blue iris means your friendship is very important to me. Wednesday's color is blue. Blue gemstones to wear to feel calm are blue sapphire and blue topaz. Lapis lazuli and azurite are said to heighten psychic power. Turquoise is the symbol of youth, both the color and the gemstone. This color has a soothing affect. Turquoise is the color of communication. It contains the growth quality of green with the blue quality of communication. Turquoise has long been used in amulets to provide protection, health, confidence and strength. Aqua is the color of high ideals. Blue Energy Blue gives a feeling of distance. Artists use it to to show perspective. This is a good way to understand the energy of the color blue - it allows us to look beyond and increase our perspective outward. It contains a cool vibration that is helpful to communication. The vibration if blue can be used to open energy flow where it is blocked. Using blue to relax will encourage feelings of communication and peace. Put some blue in your life when you want: calm and relaxation to counteract chaos or agitation to open the flow of communication to broaden your perspective in learning new information solitude and peace

THE GREAT GATSBY

Has everybody seen The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luhrmann?
I initially didn't pay too much attention to it..but after a friend defined it as "a feast for the eyes" I decided
to go see it. And I'm so glad I did!
Everything from the clothes to the decorations, the places, the flowers, the lights, the fireworks, literally EVERYTHING was beautiful.
Hair and Make up in particular were very inspiring for who like me works in the beauty business.
I highly recommend it to the beauty lovers like me, you'll leave the cinema feeling extatic.

PS I purposely didn't mention the plot and the direction not to undervalue them, simply to cover another aspect of the movie.

Here a selection of amazing pictures:

SURPRISE SURPRISE

I found this Shu Uemura product in my skin care box on my make up cupboard. It was given to me as a thanks and never really tried it (sometimes u stick to the products that you know better).Well... It's fab! I've used it the other day for an external  shoot, it was pretty warm.It didn't compromise the finish of my foundation and kept the skin fresh and not overshiny.
LOVE it.

NEW SEASON TRENDS

GET YOUR PALETTE OUT!

SPRING IS AROUND THE CORNER , THE CITY SMELLS OF FLOWERS, THE SUN IS WARMING THE STREETS UP AND ALL WE WANT IS TO GET RID OF  WINTERY CLOTHES AND ENJOYING THE NEW SEASON.

THE CATWALK SHOWS FOR SS 2012 ARE FILLED WITH COLORFUL COLLECTIONS: 

FROM DELICATE PASTEL ICE CREAM PALETTES TO THE VIBRANT SHADES OF AN IMAGINARY MARINE WORLD-LIKE.

FOR THE LAST SEASONS FASHION HAS BEEN OFFERING AN EXPLOSION OF FUN AND COLORS, ALMOST LIKE A REACTION TOWARDS THE DEPRESSING ECONOMIC SITUATION WHICH WE'RE GOING THROUGH.

IT ALREADY HAPPENED IN THE PAST..THINK OF 2ND WORLD WAR TIME.

EVERY TYPE OF CLOTH WAS SHORT WORLDWIDE SO MATERIAL WAS SEVERELY RATIONED.

WOMEN HAD TO GIVE UP ON EXTRA CLOTHES AND WERE ONLY ALLOWED TO BUY ESSENTIALS.

EVEN STOCKINGS WERE FORBIDDEN. INSTEAD THEY WOULD COLOUR THE SKIN WITH GRAVY BROWNING AND DRAW A LINE ON THE BACK OF THE LEGS.

MAX FACTOR USED TO VISIT MUNITIONS FACTORIES AND HAND OUT LIPSTICKS AND THE NEW PANCAKE TO KEEP THEIR MORALE UP.

SO IF FOR SS 12 THE STARS WERE ART DECO, ICE CREAM SHADES, MERMAID-LIKE PATTERNS FOR THE FABRICS, THE CHEERING UP FACTOR ALSO CAME FROM HAIR MAKE UP AND NAILS.

GLITTERAMA WAS THE CHOICE OF D-SQUARED AND ASHIS, WHO ADDED TO THEIR SHOWS A FESTIVAL ATMOSPHERE (THINK GLANSTONBURY, BESTIVAL..)

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ AND THAKOON KEPT THE MAKE-UP QUITE NATURAL BUT WENT COLORAMA ON THE HAIR.

MAKE UP ARTIST SUPREME CHARLOTTE TILBURY DEFINES “AN ORCHID SPROUTING FROM THE MOUTH” THE LIPS LOOK CREATED FOR PRABAL GURUNG, WHILE MARY KATRANTZOU AND STEFFIE CHRISTIAENS PREFER OCEAN TINTS LIKE COLD BLUE AND AQUA.

GOLD AND SILVER ARE EVERGREEN: ON THE EYES GOLD LEAVES FOR FENDI AND SILVER PAINTING FOR 3.1 PHILLIP LIM.

AND MORE...WHITE AND PEACHY PAINTED EYEBROWS AT THE FUJIWARA PRESENTATION, ORANGE LIPS COMBINED WITH BLEACHED EYEBROWS AT RICK OWENS AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST AN ENTIRE SPLASH OF PIGMENTS WAS THE PICK OF VIVIENNE WESTWOOD FOR HER RED LABEL COLLECTION.

THE RUNWAYS SHOWS ARE A SPECTACULAR WAY OF USING INCREDIBLE MATERIALS, FABRICS, MAKE UP, ACCESSORIES TO INSPIRE AND EXCITE PEOPLE, GIVE IDEAS AND DREAM.

WE CAN USE ALL THIS SUGGESTIONS AND CUSTOMIZE THEM ACCORDING TO OUR NEEDS, STYLE, PERSONALITY, IN A MORE CONVENTIONAL WAY IF NECESSARY.

SO IF YOU FEEL LIKE PLAYING THESE ARE SOME OF THE BRANDS THAT OFFER A MASSIVE SELECTION OF COLORS AND TEXTURE FOR MAKEUP AND NAILS:

MAC COSMETICS, INGLOT COSMETICS, SHU UEMURA, ILLAMASQUA, MAKE UP FOREVER, KRYOLAN, BARRY M, DANIEL SANDLER COSMETICS.

FOR HAIR COLORING THE BEST AND SAFEST THING TO DO IS TO CONSULT YOUR HAIRDRESSER OR COLORIST, WHILE IF YOU WANT ONLY A TEMPORARY RESULT YOU CAN FIND AT KRYOLAN PROFESSIONAL COLORED HAIR SPRAY, OR THE NUTRI COLOR CREME BY REVLON IN SEVERAL FUNKY SHADES.

SPRING SUMMER 2011 MAKE UP TRENDS (PART 2)

GET LIPPY!
As you have probably noticed colourful lips are massive this season. Designers who went for colourful clothes also chose colourful make up to go with it. It could be a clever way of fighting the economy crisis that's giving us so much trouble.. Colours are fun and to wear them cheers you up and can make your day happy and light.

First on the list is Jil Sander who went for a bright fluo matt pink. I was part of Peter Philips team for the fashion show and I promise that that lipstick was full on colour.

To recreate this look leave the skin quite bare but make sure you even it out with a light foundation or tinted moisturizer, once that's done the colour will pop out beautifully. The lipstick is matt, you can find this shade at NARS, LORD & BERRY, YSL.

Fendi went for three killer colours: orange, fuchsia and coral, seriously mat.

Again with Peter P. we did immaculate base but this time we eyelined the bottom rim of the eyes with a soft brown and enhanced the inside with a beige lipliner. Couple of coats of mascara to follow.For the lip colours you can find the same shades at LORD & BERRY they have fab fuchsia and orange, also REVLON has excellent choices. For the coral red you can find amazing variety at DOLCE & GABBANA MAKE UP or BOURJOIS.

The look at Gucci was sleeker by giving layers of glassy gloss on top of lipstick.

Any transparent gloss dabbed onto the lipstick will do the job or Elizabeth Arden 8 hours cream.

At Marc by Marc Jacobs the bright orange and coral lipstick is paired up with rosey cheeks which makes the look very fresh and Lolita like.

To replicate it on the lips you can use the Convertible colours by STILA  and on the cheeks the Watercolour by DANIEL SANDLER in Cherub is just perfect.

Instead at Givenchi is DRAMA. Deep cherry lips and soft beigy eyes gives the look a certain sofistication.Bleached eyebrows for modern and dewy skin for freshness.

SPRING SUMMER 2011 MAKE UP TRENDS (PART ONE)

Since lots of you made this request I've decided to write about the make up trends for this fabulous upcoming season, with some special tips on how to achieve the looks. I did some research from the catwalk shows and we can tell there's a bit of a variety on trends, which makes it even more fun!
Clothes wise the key world for spring summer is certainly COLOUR!  from blue to pink, green, purple, yellows, a TUTTI FRUTTI colourful season!
Also the top MUAS got their multi colours palettes out and painted eyes and lips à la Renoir.
We still see some "au naturel" and smokey eyes which are always an evergreen, but what I like the most is the silver and gold trend, I love it, it reminds me of  the goddesses from the Ancient  Greek Literature.
So let's start from this last one : three names: PRADA, ANNA SUI, RODARTE, they all went for the shiny look.
Prada combined  the metallic silvery eyes with thick, marked eyebrows and 20's hairstyle to give the girls a sultry-retro yet modern look.

 Anna Sui went for a much  simpler version of it leaving the gold to speak for itself.

Rodarte chose a sophisticated metallic effect by painting gold lips and tinting fake lashes in gold = GENIUS

How to adapt the silver/gold look to your summer look

As we all know the catwalk looks are inspirational and set the trends but for an everyday/evening look we're not going to reproduce them identically, instead we re going to use the key element and introduce it to our make-up routine. In this case the main element is the gold/silver so I'd start with  an immaculate base with a tinted moisturiser or light (texture) foundation, possibly luminous finish.

Apply your silver or gold eyeshadow, you can use any type of eyeshadows: liquid, loose pigments or regular pressed eyeshadow. 

Bourjois does a gorgeous silver which you can use dry or wet (wet is FAB), while Daniel Sandler 's eye delight loose eye shadow in pinkgold is just perfect for your goldy nites.

Add lots of mascara and kohl eyeliner on the rim of the eyes.

Eyebrows filled in, bronzer to sculpt your cheekbones for the gold look.

A much colder blusher if you go for the silver eyes, you  can add some silvery highlighter for the ultimate chiseled cheekbones.

Transparent super glossy lips and your goddess look is done.

IMAGES FROM http://www.vogue.it/