Finding My Inspiration

So last Saturday, one of my girlfriends and I head to Saks in Downtown SF and were treated to a NARS makeover. I must be on speed dial for certain NARS sales associates at various retailers because I am often contacted when the National Makeup Artist for the line is in town. This also coincided with Saks beauty event - free beach tote with a purchase of $85/over.

I won't go into a whole lot of detail of my makeover with Hank Hoffman, who's worked with J Lo, Kim Kardashian, you know pretty much the Hollywood Bombshell set. Naturally, I felt that I was in good hands. I will say that he's got me craving the Exotic Dance duo - he applied both shades on my lids with his fingers - mixed them together to give it a wet appearance. He must have blended 7 colors in total on my eyes - I got compliments from every sales associate that walked passed me and my girlfriend just gushed over how much she wished Hank would have done her eyes as well. But to the defense of her M.A. she used the Dogon duo on her and it was just as lovely. Dogon looked so different on her than on me.

Here's a peek of Hank's work:



(YES, it's very KIM K!)



From what I can remember Exotic Duo (both sides layered) was used and applied with his fingertip. Then I believe he used Sophia/New York in  the crease. Daphne was also layered on top of Sophia in the outer V. He used Eyliner Stylo in Nuits Blanches to line 3/4 on my top and bottom lashlines. He softened the cat eye with Pandora (black side).

He used Torrid (coral shimmer) blush on me - still thinking about picking that one up because you know I can never have enough NARS blushes - and then he also layered this into my crease.

Yeah, he's crazy like that.

So what did I pick up?

After much debate and inner turmoil, I only picked up the book - Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself. And I am so happy that I did. I could have easily spend over a $100 dollors on more product but this book is actually a new inspiration for me. I love looking at these pictures and I really love the acetate transparent overlay with notes and diagrams where certain shades where applied. It acts as a beauty blueprint. I love how he uses Women and Men of various ages and ethnicities so you can see how color translates and anyone can really use the same shade if they are creative and patient enough to experiment. And because the NARS S.A. is a big sweetheart she still gave me the giveaway bag with a travel sized NARS Makeup Primer w/SPF 20. This is why it pays to be a regular!

Thinking back on Hank's shadow technique - using his fingers - I know this is not revolutionary but it's something I don't do often. I apply this technique on a duo that hasn't seen the light of day in months.

The glitter bomb that is Hula Hula.

Left side is a pretty golden rose and the right side is like a golden hazelnut (it's a bit brighter in person). What's really apparent are those CHUNKS of GLITTER! I know that a lot of bloggers and I have faced challenges with this duo. Do you use Fyrinnae's epoxy or UDPP or even TFSI? I just layered it on top of TFSI (Two Faced Shadow Insurance) on my lids applied the right side first and then I layered the golden pink on top of that. I then took MAC's Showstopper (Matte blackened brown) and applied it into my crease and outer V. I line with the Eyeliner Stylo and apply the black side of Pandora to soften the line - top and bottom lash line. I apply many coats of Chanel's Inmitable mascara in Black as my last step.

I am pretty sure I used Abyssinia as my brow bone highlight - I just remember mentioning that now. Yes, I still see glitter fallout because it's pretty inavoidable with this duo but for the first time I'm not annoyed. I'm just excited that this book has got me excited to play with my makeup again. Also, not just with my NARS collection but everything I have will get a chance to come out of hiding.

But it also created new cravings to colors I never thought about using. Luckily the colors I am now obsessing over are part of the NARS permanent collection.

Bought at Saks but it's also available online - $45/USD.