How To Be A Good Bridesmaid

How To Be A Good Bridesmaid.

At this point in my career I don't even know how many hundred weddings I have done.

Hundreds and hundreds of them.

In the midst of all the fun I always see what's going on, and I've learned a lot about what makes a good bridesmaid.
Here are 10 tips for how to be a good bridesmaid

1. It's not your show.

A really good bridesmaid knows that today she is absolutely NOT the star of the show!

You need to defer to the bride, don't be an attention vampire, don't be the loudest girl in the room.

No matter what goes down, be chill.

2. Say Yes To The Dress.

Who cares what it looks like on you? Tomorrow you can wear something different. As for today, don't complain, don't make snippy comments about how it's not your style. Just roll with it. 

3. Be Makeup Cool.

Hopefully a good makeup artist has been hired for the big day, and is keeping all the bridesmaids looking beautiful. If you change out your lip color, draw on some big contour, or do something wacky with your eyebrows (ahem - Instagram) you will draw attention to yourself and take it away from the bride (and the other bridesmaids) and no doubt ruin every picture that you are in. Most of the time you will look stupid and vain.

Do your big makeup look tomorrow, but today just be chill.

4. Help Where You Can.

A good bridesmaid will be unobtrusively helpful. You can easily fix things, take care of potential problems, do simple things like get the bride a drink, make sure she has something to eat - essentially help her day flow smoothly. Just don't do it in a way that makes you look like you're seeking a pat on the back, or trying to outdo another bridesmaid.

5. Keep The Mood Light And Fun.

A really great bridesmaid will keep the mood in the room light and fun, diffusing any girl-drama that is threatening to break through. The bride needs to remember this as her best day ever, and feel the love and support of her closest friends rather than remember the getting ready portion of her wedding day as being a mean gossip-fest.

6. Bring An Emergency Kit.                               

If there is no wedding planner onsite then bring a few bits and pieces in case something goes wrong. Tampax, safety pins, bobby pins, bandaids, Excedrin, Fashion Tape, Altoids - little things that can make a huge difference.

7. Only Be Positive.

Don't tell her her hair looks wrong or that her dress doesn't fit quite right. Even if they do.
She is probably already feeling vulnerable and this is not the time for some passive aggressive "I'm only telling you because I love you" nonsense.

Tell her she looks beautiful, draw attention away from anything that isn't quite right.

The biggest component of looking beautiful is feeling beautiful. If she feels gorgeous she will radiate gorgeous. No matter how amazing she looks, if she feels like she's not looking her best, then that is what she will project.

8. Don't Get Drunk.

You know your limit. Don't go past it.

The drunk bridesmaid lowers the tone of the event. And she gets immortalized in the wedding album with her half falling down up-do, bleary runny eyes and smeared lips.

No matter how much fun you think you are when you're drunk, to everyone else you look stupid

9. Accept That The Maid Of Honor Is The Leader

Even if you can't stand her.

Don't get your nose out of joint, don't get into any passive aggressive power games, just smile and roll with it. 

10. Have Fun.

And if you're not having fun, act as if you are.

What Is Ultherapy? ~ Beauty Tip Of The Week #18

What is Ultherapy?

The short answer? Just the best thing I have ever done.
I had Ultherapy about 2 weeks ago, and I am already seeing the most spectacular results, even though they said I wouldn't see anything for at least a month.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Here is the long answer:

Ultherapy is a miracle.


It is the only non invasive treatment that is FDA cleared to lift skin on the neck, under the chin and on the eyebrow. It is also approved to improve lines and wrinkles on the decolletage.
You have no down time, no redness, no bruising - nothing. It is amazing!

Ultherapy before and after. Magic, no?

(By the way, none of these images are pictures of me.)

Before Ultherapy if you needed your neck tightened or lifted, if you maybe had a double chin or unattractive under-chin or jawline profile, or maybe your eyebrows needed lifting, the only option was to go under the knife. It was costly, there was a danger element involved - any time you have an elective surgery there is a risk, and on top of that we have all seen face-lifts gone wickedly wrong.

Ultherapy involves no cutting and stitching, no slicing out unwanted flesh, and no battered and bruised visage to wait out the healing process.
Ultherapy delivers focused ultrasound energy to the same foundation layer typically addressed by surgeons during plastic surgery, without cutting or disrupting the surface of the skin.
The energy initiates the body's natural response to stimulate the growth of fresh, new collagen and to strengthen weak collagen.
Some patients see an initial effect right after their treatment, but the real result happens over the coarse of 2 or 3 months as the new collagen builds, gradually lifting and tightening the skin on the face and neck, and smoothing the skin on the chest.

Unlike lasers and radio frequency therapies, Ultherapy bypasses the surface of the skin and delivers ultrasound energy at the optimal depth, temperature and precision. It also uses ultrasound imaging which allows your technician to see the layers of tissue they are treating, ensuring that energy is both delivered safely and to where it is most beneficial.
The technician draws a grid on the area she is working on and is able to direct the treatment to exactly where it is needed.

Unlike lasers and photo-facial treatments Ultherapy is a perfect treatment to have over the summer, because it is not photo-sensitive, the procedure does not affect the skin's surface and you have no down time.
Think of the treatment like the foundation of a house - it holds everything up and in place.

Ultherapy before and after chin and jaw

How Did I Discover Ultherapy?
As a makeup artist I am always looking into ways for my clients to achieve balance in their faces, and to capture youth without looking like they have had surgery. For years now I have been taking clients, both local Arizonians as well as clients from California and Texas, even as far away as Calgary to see the amazing Dr Blume at the Blume Skin Centre in Scottsdale Arizona. 
Dr Blume and his clinical manager Sandra Caldwell take care of my celebrity clientele and my brides, and everyone in between. 
During visits there I started noticing everyone looking younger, and looking revitalized, and I also started noticing double chins disappearing and necks becoming smoother. Whatever was going on with the staff and the customers in the waiting room, I wanted in on the action!
My clients started having Ultherapy and I would see jawlines becoming crisper, collapsing brows lifting back up, and everyone looking sensational. I watched the progression of people's results over the course of several months, and found the results to be universally sensational.

Ultherapy chin and neck before and after

How Long Does Ultherapy Last?
As with anything you do to your face, be it botox, fillers, lasers - any treatment, the result is 100% dependent on the skill of the technician performing the treatment. If your Ultherapy is performed by a master technician, like Sandra Caldwell of the 
Blume Skin Centre you can expect results to last up to 5 years if you are under 50, and 3 years if you are in your 50's

Ultherapy before and after chin lift

Who Is Ultherapy For?
Ultherapy is not necessarily age specific.
It will lift skin, and especially when combined with fillers can replace or stall the need for a face lift. 
But it is also for people who are not looking for a facelift alternative.
Ultherapy is a fantastic option for anyone who has a double chin or a chin/jaw/neck profile that needs trimming or lifting.

Ultherapy before and after under chin

Ultherapy is also an amazing option for anyone wanting a brow lift. That can be someone who as a part of the aging process has eyebrows that have dropped, or anyone who has a heavy brow that is creating excess skin folds in the upper eyelid. 

Ultherapy before and afteer brow lift

Can Young People Have Ultherapy?
Yes they can. Ultherapy is not age specific.
For brides Ultherapy is a wonderful way to correct or enhance the jawline (think of all those profile photos!) and also to waken and revitalize the eye with a brow lift.

Ultherapy before and after chin lift

How Do You Choose A Technician?
This is the single most important decision to make when choosing Ultherapy. 
Avoid Groupon deals (like the plague!) instead opting for a Certified Advanced Technician who can show you before and afters of numerous clients she has worked on. 
There are substantial costs involved for the office performing Ultherapy, so the only way to cut the price is to reduce the amount of energy the technician uses on a client, which in turn will give a marginal result.

I went to Sandra Caldwell, Clinical Manager at the 
Blume Skin Centre in Scottsdale Arizona. Not only is Sandra a Certified Advanced Therapist, but she has performed hundreds of treatments (including treatments on my clients) and her results are consistently amazing.

What Should You Watch Out For?
Watch out for cheap deals. This applies to anything you are having done to your face. I never see fabulous "bargain" botox or filler jobs, in fact discount facial injecting invariably makes up some of the very worst I see. Allowing for the fact that your results will last up to 5 years or more you want to make sure you are going to someone brilliant with a sharp eye for balance and aesthetic beauty.

How Many Treatments Do I Need?
This is a one time treatment. Depending on the area or areas you are having worked on the average treatment will be in the vicinity of an hour. If you are just having a brow lift you will need less time, a full face,neck and decolletage will take a little longer.

Ultherapy before and after brow lift

What Does Ultherapy Cost?
The cost of Ultherapy depends on which areas you are having worked on.
A brow lift runs around $500, which means you will save a huge amount of money versus Botox brow lifting when you consider it will last you around 5 years!
A neck treatment should be around $1500, a full  face costs around $5000

Ultherapy before and after chin and jawline

My Story

I didn't like the way my neck and jawline were looking. My jawline had lost it's crispness, and I felt that my neck was starting to look lined and fleshy. I was also noticing that my brow was dropping, causing the skin on my upper eyelid to look heavy. Which are both signs of having left our 30s.
It was made worse when a local Cosmetic Surgeon cornered me at a social event, telling me I absolutely had to have a brow lift done.
I was horrified!  
I talked to Sandra and Dr. Blume about it for months, going over the best options for me. We looked at the before and after pictures of other Blume Skin Centre clients who had had Ultherapy, but not being one to race into anything I still took my time to make the decision.
I saw a difference within a couple of days of the treatment. 
My neck immediately started looking firmer, smoother and tighter. My jawline is already starting to resemble it's former sharp self and although I never had a double chin, nor was I aware of excess flesh under my chin, the smoothing and firming of that area is sensational!
Everywhere I go people who know me are telling me I look revitalized. I am asked if I have been on vacation, if I have had extra sleep, if I am using a new eye cream. The subtle lifting of the brow area is taking away the heavier upper eyelid, making my eyes look bright and awakened. It's fabulous!
And I only had my Ulthrapy less than a month ago.

Ultherapy before and after chin and neck (with awful lipliner)

Ultherapy before and after chin and neck

Ultherapy before and after brow lift

Ultherapy before and after chin and neck

If you are thinking about having Ultherapy, and are either in Arizona, near Arizona or willing to travel to Arizona (well worthwhile - this is your face afterall!) call or go see the experts at the Blume Skin Centre. 

Blume Skin Centre
(480) 699-7999
8575 East Princess Drive, 
Suite 123
Scottsdale Arizona

The 10 Best BB and CC Creams For Summer

Are you in the market for a new BB or CC cream?

Check out the options that Vogue.com considers to be 

The 10 Best BB and CC Creams For Summer

The official coming of summer has us embracing a newly pared-down routine—streamlining our overloaded makeup bags in favor of multitasking options that channel the almost-bare mood of the season. Translation: If you’re still using the same creamy, medium coverage foundation you swore by all spring, it’s time to lighten up. Fortunately, the newest wave of beauty balms and color correctors—more commonly known as BB and CC creams—pack a checklist of benefits into a single tube while remaining virtually invisible on the skin for straight-from-the-beach touchups. Chanel CC Cream’s featherweight, pigment-evening formula prescription provides SPF 50 along with antiaging peach extract and moisturizing hyaluronic acid. Physicians Formula Super CC+ Eye Cream SPF 30 relieves puffiness and blurs lines—ensuring eyes remain as bright as their cloudless, sun-drenched surroundings—while Giorgio Armani’s supernaturally luminous offeringleaves skin with the kind of glow that rivals a good facialist’s work. Here are the ten tinted balms and creams we’re stocking up on this vacation season.

L’Oréal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream, $11
Chanel CC Cream Complete Correction Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50, $55
Physicians Formula Super CC+ Eye Cream SPF 30, $13
La Roche Posay Effaclar BB Blur Cream Mousse, $30
Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Illuminating Moisturizer, $32
Bobbi Brown BB Cream SPF 35, $20
Peter Thomas Roth CC Cream, $48
Dior Diorsnow UV Shield BB Crème Broad Spectrum SPF 50, $55
Kate Somerville IllumiKate CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 50, $48

Giorgio Armani Luminessence CC Color Control Bright Moisturizer SPF 35, $52

How To Do Charotte Tilbury's Miss 1975 Look ~ Makeup Tutorial

Makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury has re-created Jerry Hall's makeup look from her first Vogue cover, which was shot by legendary photographer Norman Parkinson in Montego Bay Jamaica in 1975.

Miss 1975 makeup look

This is the perfect, summer-sexy makeup look, that radiates light and pops off a fun, sunset red lip.



Start the look with Charlotte's world famous Magic Cream, and prep the lips with her Lip Care to make them soft, supple and ready to take on a sunset red lipstick.
Use Wonderglow primer to soft focus your complexion and make you look like you've been lit from within.
On the eyes start with Eyes To Mesmerize in Veruschka  then line them with Charlotte's Classic Powder Pencil in Audrey, followed by multiple coats of her gorgeous Full Fat Lashes mascara.
Create a sunkissed movie star glow with Filmstar Bronze and Glow
then finish the look with Lip Cheat pencil in Kiss and Tell  paired with Matte Revolution lipstick in 1975 Red.

Check out the video tutorial below

Break For The Border ~ Down Mexico Way

We made a run for the border and didn't stop until we hit the coast.

One of the truly fantastic things about living in Arizona is being so close to the beautiful Mexican resort town of Puerto Penasco.
From Phoenix it's an easy 2 1/2 hour drive to the border followed by an hour to the coast.

I hadn't been to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) in years, and now I can't remember why I ever stopped going? This fishing-village-turned-resort-town is just fabulous.

The drive from the border to Sandy Beach is a straight shot on a perfectly maintained highway. Almost every car you see on the highway has either Arizona or California license plates. I was actually surprised at how many California plates we saw! Anyone who drives from Arizona to Southern California with any regularity will appreciate how bad the condition of the highway is once you cross into California, so I couldn't help but wonder if the Californians noticed how pristine the Mexican highway is?

We have always stayed in an area called Sandy Beach, on a kid friendly stretch of the coast that is populated with gated resorts.

Sandy Beach, Rocky Point, Mexico

The resorts are comprised of privately owned condos, all of which have balconies facing the ocean. We normally stay at the Sonoran Sun, with it's array of pools and swim up bar just steps from the beach, but this time we stayed next door at the beautiful and luxurious Bella Sirena.

Our condo was absolutely gorgeous. It was 1400 square feet, with 2 bedrooms (each of which has an ocean view) and 2 bathrooms, a huge kitchen with an open plan dining and living area. 

the master bedroom 

room with a view

the living room looked out over the ocean

the ceiling lit up at night

Beautifully decorated and fully appointed with everything you could possibly need, and with a huge patio from which the views were just breathtaking. 

breakfast view from our patio

We ate every meal on the patio, also the loveliest spot to enjoy morning coffee and to take in the sunset with a glass of wine. 

the sun sets over the Sea of Cortez while we watch from our balcony

Nights in Phoenix are now paralyzingly hot, so the balmy, ocean breeze filled evenings spent on the patio felt heaven sent.

It was 113 degrees in Phoenix...

The Bella Sirena property itself is beautiful. 

The gardens and foliage lined walkways are lovely.

There are multiple swimming pools including one with a swim up bar, 

hammocks to stretch out on, grassy areas and of course, it's own stretch of beach.

The Bella Sirena offers the choice of different sized condos as well as villas with roof patios for rent.

Villa at Bella Sirena

beach villa at Bella Sirena

Normally I like to rent a condo on one of the higher floors for the unimpeded view. This time we were only on the 2nd floor but still had a glorious view.

Our mini vacation was made possible by Home and Away
Rent the condo we stayed in here

All images are from my iPhone and may not be used without my written permission.