Good Morning TV-land!

Every so often I do makeup segments on various breakfast television shows. These segments tend to be under 3 minutes, and are really just a quick demo or chat about whats happening in the world of makeup and glamor. (the glamor part was something I just thought up - they really only want to know whats happening in makeup!)

To make it more fun, it means a 3 am or 4 am wake-up call, so you can be camera ready and get to the studio, or what ever location you're shooting at before the morning program goes live.
That means some serious under eye drama and repair work!

Will and I were on breakfast TV this morning doing out thing, our on-air time being about 2 minutes. And believe me we worked those 2 minutes up one side and down the other! And, might I add, with his new goatee thing going on he looked devilishly handsome! But sadly ladies, he is completely unavailable to any of us!

I told twitter-world last week all about a breakfast shoot (as it was happening no less), and here are some behind the scenes stills. If you're on twitter you can follow me @Corinnamakeup, or click on the icon over there on the right.



I never remember to think up what I'm going to say beforehand, and only realize it as the camera light goes on, so I'm always hoping I say something coherent...





Theres nothing quite like seeing yourself on camera to make you think all about the squats and lunges that you've been meaning to do, but haven't quite gotten around to!

This one was all about trends in wedding makeup.
It was a fun shoot, as they normally are. If I can get any footage from youtube I'll post it later this week.

Have a gorgeous day!

xo

C

Brush me up baby...

What makes a makeup brush special? There are tons and tons of makeup brushes out there - synthetics, pony, sable, goat, squirrel - the list goes on and on.
So how is a girl supposed to figure out which brushes she needs, and how to choose amongst all the different brands, styles, price points etc?

Here is what I do. If you are buying online, have a really good look at the brush, if you are in a store, pick it up and really feel it.




How densely packed are the hairs? If there aren't enough hairs, and they're not packed together well, then you will have very little control over the product you're trying to work with.
If it is packed too tightly, it will create lines as it moves across your face.

Do the hairs fall out as you play with the brush? If so the quality is not good enough. Also its a complete nuisance to have to keep picking hairs off the surface of your makeup.

What is the brush made from?
I recommend synthetic brushes to move wet products, like foundation, concealer, cream shadows etc, and hair brushes for use with dry products, like powder shadows, blushes etc.

Many brushes out there are made from dyed fiber or dyed hair. These dyes can come away into your product, can irritate your skin, and generally leave you with a brush that breaks down very quickly. You want the brush to maintain its shape years down the line, and not wind up in the junk pile a couple of months in.

I avoid dyed brushes at all costs.

Top quality brushes don't have to be extremely expensive either. You can buy makeup brushes at a medium price point, and get quality that lasts and lasts. Some of the brushes in my kit are 20 years old. They didn't cost any more than other brushes do, they've been worked half to death, all around the world, in all kinds of environments, and they still keep chugging along.

When I was building my makeup brush company, that was actually the main part of my mission statement - brushes that last and last and still deliver up the goods years down the line.

I'll get into discussing shapes of brushes, and how to build your personal brush collection over the next few weeks, but today I'll introduce you to my Powder Brush.

Its made from Badger Hair. The hair is packed just right, so that you can transport powder, and not just be flinging it around.
Some people use a powder brush to apply powder, I normally use it to sweep down the face after powdering, and again at the end of the makeup application to make sure that all excess is removed.
Its a beautiful looking brush, doesn't shed hairs everywhere, is nice and soft, so it doesn't irritate your skin, and being Badger Hair it picks up and moves product like no other!



Isn't it gorgeous?

You can check out my brushes at CorinnaB.com

If you're not buying my brushes, just make sure that quality is your main criteria with whichever brushes you are buying.

xo

C

The Reign In Spain...

I have been so crazy busy lately with shoots, and believe me I love it!

I've been using all kinds of fun and fab products, and one of my absolute die-hard favorites at the moment is the regally tantalizing Reign Collection from Smashbox.
I use a lot of Smashbox products in my kit. I love the quality, I love how the products wear, and I love how they work on camera. And remember, anything that looks gorgeous on an HD camera looks fantastic on us girlies in the real world.

So lets have a little look...

First up the jet set waterproof cream liners. Smashbox always gives sensational color options, and with these four shades you can cover a lot of bases. I put them up first, because Smashbox's formulation is such that you can actually use these as a cream shadow, as a base for your shadows, as a definer and as a liner. I use them in many different ways and have loads of little pots of these in my kit.



Next up there are two shadow sets with both matte and shimmer shadows in them. This one is called Monarch, and the other called Majesty. (Majesty has a more mulberry hue).
Both to die for.
You can use these both wet for more intensity, or dry. You can make a huge, bold eye, or a much softer eye. I love the versatility of them, and again the colors are just beautiful and majestic.



This next piece of gorgeousness is great for everyone, and especially brilliant for the blue and green eyed crowd.
This is the DNA mascara in plum. Plum is such an amazing color around the eyes, infinitely flattering, warm and beautiful. With the Reign Collection it ties everything together for an exquisite finish. For the blueys and the greenies you'll find that a plum mascara will bring out your eye color like nothing else - it'll set your eye color off and really make them 'pop'. (BTW, I can't stand that terminology, but you get what I'm saying...)



Lastly, when you are doing a big, expressive eye, you want to offset it with a soft, luscious mouth. I can't get enough of the new nude lip liners. Use them to either outline, or fill in a perfect soft mouth, then top it off with one of the fabulous Smashbox glosses.





I'll be posting tutorials on the Reign Collection in the next couple of weeks, so you can get a step by step guide in how to maximize the magnificence.

And you can create your own Monarchy, and the boys can kiss your beautiful toes...

xo

C

Elegant Wedding From Victoria Canada Weddings and Events

Style Me Pretty, a national Wedding Blog, posted one of my weddings from last year, and in keeping with the bridal thread that I've been running of late, I thought I'd show you some of it here.
You can click on their link to see more.

The bride used the amazing Victoria Canada, nationally acclaimed event planner. Victoria is just sensationally talented, and does huge events all over the country. I love traveling with her to work on big events! I love working with her here too!

This wedding was at the beautiful Royal Palms resort in Scottsdale AZ, and was shot by photographer Holly Schumacher (her fantastic talent speaks for itself in these pictures).

The bride, Laura, and her bridesmaids, family and friends were an absolute joy to work with!










Please do go to the Style Me Pretty blog, and see these pictures full sized in all their glory! There are all kinds of fabulous details and many more pictures from the event on their blog.

xo

C

Elix Me Something Fabulous!

No matter how fabulous of a makeup job you have done on yourself, if the skin underneath is parched or dehydrated your makeup will never look great. In fact, it probably wont even look good.

So often you see girls wearing dual finish bases, or crushed mineral powder foundations, and their skin looks pulled and tight and powdery. This is because there isn't enough moisture in the skin, so the skin pulls it out of the makeup.
Even those of us wearing regular foundations suffer from dehydration. Apart from looking awful, it is also so very aging - not a combo any of us want!

Sometimes it seems like your skin is great one day, then parched the next, or maybe just certain areas are looking dry and or flaky. Adding more and more moisturizer in the morning isn't always the winning formula either. It can leave a greasy layer on the surface of the skin, and make your makeup slide away.

So whats a gal to do?

Get her hot self to Makeup Forever, that's what!

Makeup Forever has come out with an amazing new product called HD Elixer.






This product was designed to help Makeup Artists out when we're putting someone up on the big screen and dealing with skin dehydration issues. With the advent of HD filming the makeup equation changed considerably. Suddenly everything was magnified 6X, and every little detail showed up. Any little skin flaws suddenly became major glaring features, so a whole new technology with makeup was needed.

Makeup Forever is absolutely a Makeup Artist line, developed to meet professional Makeup Artists needs. The great benefit there is that if a product is created to meet our needs, then for the girl in the street it is off the charts brilliant! And any product that is designed for HD cameras looks completely amazing when seen on regular divas in everyday light.

HD Elixer both hydrates and firms the skin. You can use it by itself when you're not wearing any makeup, or wear it under your foundation for a beautifully smooth, even palette.

In the first 15 minutes it increases hydration by 520%! After 6 hours the skin is still more than 175% more hydrated. This translates to beautiful, flawless looking, firm skin. And we all want that!

I don't write about any product until I've used it extensively. I've had HD Elixir in my kit for several weeks now, and have been testing its performance every which way. I recently had to deal with a 14 hour flying day, which of course, dehydrates the living daylights out of your skin. I figured that would be the ultimate test of the product from the a consumer's point of view. Those of you that do much flying know that by the end of the day your skin, and makeup, can look completely beat up and exhausted. Throughout the day I kept checking my skin, right up until I got home at midnight, and wouldn't you know it - not only did my skin look great, but my makeup had held up beautifully too!

HD Elixir is fantastic for extreme situations, but also fabulous for every day.

I keep a bottle of the HD Elixir in my makeup kit, and another one at home for my personal use.

Check it out - you will love it too!

I Am Jessie James...

...well, actually, no I'm not - I'm CorinnaB....
But for those of you who haven't met her yet, its high time you get to know the real Jessie James



The reason I'm writing about her today is that finally, finally, after a crazy long wait, her debut album "Jessie James" is all set to drop Tuesday August 11th!

And you need to buy it.

Or download it.




Jessie's sound is a cool pop/country/rock fusion. And she is soooo good!
J.J is one of those tiny little things with a mighty, mighty, powerful voice. Reminds me of Christina Aguilera with a touch of Nashville added in.

I wanna wear my hair up in a mess/ cut off jeans / can you get with that?

She's been doing some pretty huge things already, and has built herself a massive following. The pop out player on her myspace page has had more than 7 million hits, and some of them weren't even me! You can actually hear the entire album on myspace.

You may know her song "Blue Jeans" from the Confessions of a Shopaholic soundtrack, or you may know her current single "Wanted"





Put your lips on my mouth/ put your lips on my mouth/ put your lips on my.....


For the past year her song "Guilty" has been on my myspace profile. (You're on myspace? Cool - come friend me!) It's my favorite track on the album, but there are so many good ones in there!
Jessie wrote or co wrote every song on the record, working with the likes of Katy Perry, Jamey Johnson, and Kara Dioguardi.





So here's what you need to do:
Check out her myspace page
If you're on twitter, follow her @iamjessiejames
Facebook? Here's her page. Friend her, or become a fan.

The new album is here, so buy it or download it.

She's touring out there now, so if you go to a show she's opening for, or if you see her on her own, get on your feet and give her a lotta, lotta love!

Meanwhile,

I bite my lip not to scream your name/ oh baby! I feel everything/ but guilty.....

Oh yeah - that's my song!!!

xo

C

Happy Hour!

So last Saturday I met up with my gorgeous, glamorous makeup friend J'me for sushi at a cool place called Kabuki.

It was about a million degrees out, and I wanted something light, crisp and refreshing to drink, so our waiter recommended the Cucumber Mojito. I'd never had one before, but oh my! Talk about fabulicious!
It is now my new thing, and seeing as this week it feels like its 2 million degrees out, with humidity on top, I'm thinking this may just be the little gem to top off a little pool party.




Here's how you make a pitcher of Cucumber Mojitos:

You will need

3 cups of white rum
a big bunch of mint and some extra mint divided
2cucumbers sliced thinly (skin left on)
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of fresh lime juice
10 oz bottle of soda water or sparkling water

Combine the white rum, bunch of mint (torn up a roughly), and half the cucumber. Put them in a covered bowl and let them infuse overnight.

The next day strain this mixture thru a seive, and press out any rum that is soaked into the mint & cucumber. (Discard the mint & cucumber)
Pour the infused rum into a big pitcher.
Add the sugar and lime juice and stir til dissolved.
Add cubed ice, some of the remaining mint leaves and cucumber slices, then add in soda water and stir gently.

Serve in chilled tall glasses with ice, mint leaves and cucumber slices.

So delicious!

If you're not a cucumber lover, check out the Racing Fashionistas - they always have something fab for happy hour on Fridays!

Have a gorgeous weekend,

xo

C